Mushrooms: October

October mushroom work in progress. Why is it some come together so suddenly and some, like July, I still agonize over?

Mushrooms: September

September is an interesting month. I almost didn't finish it in time... September for me is the start of autumn and cooler weather (if it ever does get here!) and good food and my sister's birthday. So the Chanterelle mushroom and this happy carefree dancer summarize everything quite well. ^.^

By the way- I am now open for 8.5x11 or smaller prints of just about anything on my site. I'm looking into getting a storefront put up and expanding the printing options, but for now, just shoot me an email at gwen@gwenphifer.com if you are interested!

Commission: Bacchus

Portrait of Bacchus the Cat

Oh My Gosh! Update!

So. As you know I got into the Juried Show. Well, I just found out I won Second place in drawing/mixed media! Completely unexpected and thrilling. I was in very good company so it took me completely by surprise!

So, I'll just be in the corner squeeing for a bit. ^.^

(edited to add the picture taken by my wonderful Papa!)

New books!

Yay! More books!

Starting where we left off:
53. The Paladin 54. Cloud's Rider both by CJ Cherryh
55. The Lady 56. The Ship Who Sings 57. Dragonquest 58. Dragonsinger 59. the short story "The Girl Who Heard Dragons" all by Anne McCaffery
60. The Runaway Princess by Christina Dodd
61. The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig

And in the To Be Read pile:
The Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov
And still the Odd Thomas trilogy by Kuntz

Scotsgrove!

So, I made brochures for Scotsgrove to use at our booth for the Fun in the Greenville Zoo event. I have to say I'm very pleased with how they turned out. I used Gotprint.com for the printing of 2,500 trifold, full color brochures. Super professional, super fast, and awesome quality (only a two or three so far with a bit of spotting on the cover). Also super cheap.
Emi got the pretty photo of them.
It's good to see my work completed and out in the world. ^.^

The Temple

So I had this dream the other night... about a temple complex and after hastily sketching down the layout I did a more detailed layout:

I've become kinda obsessed with it. I started a short story from the dream. Here's the first paragraph:

It was the red door that changed everything, just an inconspicuous door in a forgotten back alley. An alley she had hoped would lead out onto a main street, but unfortunately dead-ended. Such is the way of learning how to live in a new place. She had even gone passed the door once in hopes the alley turned. No such luck. So it was on the way back that she really stopped to look at it. The sunset cast a golden glow over everything, what photographers sought in the “golden moment” where the illumination is just right. The red door was scratched and scuffed, but not so old to start peeling, in a gothic arch that really set it apart. The doorknob was an ancient piece of hardware, bronze and cast in a swirling pattern of vines, clearly antique and she was surprised a bum hadn’t taken the whole door to be pawned in the first place. Looking around, for it was not a good idea to get too engrossed and forget your surroundings especially as a lone young female, she noted that there wasn’t another soul in the alley. (...) She checked her watch; she still had time for a quick peek. With a sense of adventure she hadn’t felt since she was 12, she turned the knob to open the door and stepped inside. It led into a small dimly lit entryway and a second plainer door, serviceable pine, no paint, undecorated doorknob. The light came from translucent paper panes set into the wall, guarding the plain door. The tile was cool through her sandals and was a relief from the heat outside. The air was damp and tasted of water. She closed the red door behind her to preserve the moisture and to keep things looking ordinary. It wouldn’t do to look suspicious. She opened the simple wood door and was struck speechless with wonder.