Happy Birthday Mouse

I live next door to what was my Grammy Y's house. A few years ago the house was sold for a second time since my grandmother's passing. This time a couple from Manhattan would make it their weekend home. Little did we know that this couple would become dear friends. This mouser is a birthday present for Bobbi.

Thank you Bobbi for making my grandmother's house a home again. And Thanks to Grammy Y for pulling some string from up above to give us the gift of amazing neighbors.

Painted Planet Licensing

I am proud to announce that I have signed on with Painted Planet Licensing. Jan Draheim will be representing my work to be licensed for paper products, housewares, fabric, bedding, garden products - and more. I am thrilled to be working with her and look forward to introducing new work and completed collections at the Atlanta Gift Show in July.

Now I must get back to the drawing board. Today it's woolen mittens and mice for the "Not a Creature was Stirring" series.

Illustration West 48

The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles announced the opening of the Illustration West 48's website today.
Four of my pieces were selected and are on display in the self-promotion category!
Please click to check out Cricket's New Year, Mud Season, Fall Fox and Spring Rabbit.
http://www.si-la.org/48

Forget- me-not!

Even though I wore a scarf yesterday the garden believes it's spring. The wee forget-me-nots have bloomed giving me that reassurance that soon I will be edging, weeding and mulching to my heart's content. As a tribute to these brave little posies here are some pieces from my Garden Border collection.

It's here...

...and it's so thrilling to be included in this beautiful magazine. The other women featured are amazing so please check it out if your near a Barnes and Noble, Borders or a Claire Murray store!

A heartfelt thanks to Linda Kramer, Stacy Bass, Donna Murphy, Laurel Kornhiser and, of course, Claire Murray for this gift.

What's on the board: Santa Bear

Having fun giving my tiny brushes a work-out painting these mittens!

The "La Vie Claire" spring edition is just days away!

La Vie Claire has a sneak peek of the article about my work and home on their website. Click the link below then "turn" to pages 20-21. I can not wait to hold the magazine in my hands - how thrilling!

http://www.clairemurray.com/LVC-SP10.html

Take Heart!

I listened to a great podcast from Tara Reed the other day - an interview with Mary Engelbreit . Tara asked questions for an hour about Mary's life, career, work schedule, and how she balances it all. The nugget I walked away with is that Mary Engelbreit CHOOSES to draw at her table at home after she puts her 9 year old to bed.
I'm always trying to carve out studio time in my day that maximizes my Mom Time so after "bedtime" can be the start of the work day!
It makes me smile knowing that as I sit at my table after I put my son to bed that the Queen of Licensing is also at hers!

Here's a link to Tara Reed's Art Licensing blog,

http://artlicensingblog.com/2010/03/18/mary-engelbreit-was-amazing-on-the-art-licensing-ask-call/

A Merry Christmas Sketch

Let's just say that my studio is an organizational challenge on a good day but especially when things start chugging along. This week there are stockings stuffed and hanging from my easel, yards of braided wool, white pine and hand-carved reindeer adorning my desk. Christmas has come early and this time in the form of a jolly polar bear.

The new addition to my holiday collection is inspired by home spun items in tribute to my Great Grandmother Marinkas. This small Hungarian woman would come to stay at our house for a week at a time to teach my mother how to make braided rugs and crochet. She said little as her small hands braided and crocheted at top speed - we watched in fascination. She would kiss our cheeks goodbye and leave us with the gifts of her labor, a blanket and a rug.

Grandma Marinkas seemed magical - just like one of Santa's helpers!

Snow Day

Poem by Elinor Wylie

Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman

A pefect match of words and picture, this page from Winter Poems sums up

this beautiful snowy day.

a great resource...

Need a way to spend a few dozen hours? The New York Library's digital collection is treasure trove of decorative motifs, patterns and historical ornamentation.
Here's a couple of my favorite links:


Les fleurs animées

La décoration moderne dans le textile

Bouquets et frondaisons

The grammar of ornament

L'animal dans la décoration

Have fun!

Westminster

Yesterday I spent the day at Madison Square Garden with dozens of dachshunds, bassets and PBGVs. What an experience! Westminster is a bench show so you can go back stage and watch the English sheepdogs get their hair teased into a giant afro, pet the Best in Show blood hound and get a lick from an Irish wolf hound. It was a bit of heaven on earth. The fuzzy guy on the left came in second.

There were quite a few new breeds recognized by the Kennel Club for the first time this year. I got to pet one of them - a Norwegian Buhund from Oregon who was held by her owner - no crate for this pup!

It was hard not to shed a tear when the proud owner of the winning afghan hound burst into tears hugging her glamorous dog when they won best in show for the breed - sniff, sniff!

If you attend the show definitely visit the lobby of Hotel Pennsylvania to see their beautiful lobby filled with dozens of dogs, their fancy beds being rolled in on luggage carts and coolers filled with their special mix of gourmet dog food. Then walk half a block to The Nile, a glam bar, and enjoy a cosmo!

New Website

My website is updated thanks to Nancy White Cassidy, illustrator and web designer.
She made the process painless and easy. If you need your site updated or overhauled, she's the person to call. Thank you, Nancy!

Visit her site at:
www.nancycassidy.com

My updated site:
www.jdecker.com

Grady

One of my earliest childhood memories is trying to convince our three-legged dog, Grady, to hold a marker and color in the border of a book of fairy tales. I came across this old snapshot of the both of us. We adopted him after he was hit by a car and needed some special care. He was the perfect childhood pet; waited at the bus stop each afternoon for my arrival and a patient model during dress up. What a pup!

New Year, New Blog, New Possibilities...

The new year brings new resolutions, possibilities and opportunities.
One resolution is to blog. With the exciting things happening in the next few months it would be a shame not to record them. So here it goes....