My 1st Children's Book

A few years ago while living in Tahoe, I was searching out creative work and stumbled upon a writer meetup. I'm a graphic design and illustrator...writers need me!! and I need them!! So I crashed the writer meetup with homemade carrot cake in hand and was welcomed on all accounts.

One of the writers later asked me to illustrate his children's book, which has been on bucket list since I was a little girl. Well, I said YES, of course! It has been almost three years in the making, but it is finally finished and I am heading to Tahoe today for a book tour around the lake.

PRESS RELEASE
Local Author publishes Children’s book about Lake Tahoe.

Gertrude’s Tahoe Adventures in time, a children’s book about the natural history of Lake Tahoe, was recently published. With colorful and dramatic illustrations the book tells the story of Gertrude, a Tahoe girl who meets a magic maiden who takes her on a fast motion adventure through the history of Lake Tahoe. They watch glaciers march, volcanoes erupt and exotic animals graze while becoming forever friends.

Gertrude is authored by long time Tahoe resident Tim Hauserman, who wrote: Tahoe Rim Trail: The official guide for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians, as well as Monsters in the Woods: Backpacking with Children and Cross-country skiing in the Sierra Nevada. The book is illustrated by Jess Bechtelheimer, who worked hundreds of hours to create the incredible paintings which are the backdrop for the book. Hauserman says, “When I first saw the paintings, tears came to my eyes. I felt so lucky that she joined me in the project.”

Hauserman says “the goal for the book is to give both children and adults a fun and accessible introduction to how Tahoe became the unbelievable place it is today.

Bechtelheimer says,“We found a way to celebrate and playfully immortalize this place that we love - for those who call it home and for those of us that can't always be here and instead dream of Tahoe from afar.”



SCHEDULE
Hauserman and Bechtelheimer will be available to sign copies of Gertrude on:
August 13th at the Bookshelf in Truckee at 6pm.
August 14th at Grassroots Books in Reno at 10:30am-12:30pm,
and Truckee Thursday from 4-6pm.
August 15th at Ruffles and Ruffnecks in Tahoe City from 11am-1pm.
August 16th at Sundance Books in Reno from 3-4:30pm.

August 23rd at Explore Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe (time TBD)






It is available for purchase at The Bookshelf in Truckee; Ruffles and Ruffnecks, The Store and The North Lake Tahoe Visitor Center in Tahoe City; Tahoe Mountain Sports in Kings Beach; Sundance Books and Grass Roots Books in Reno, and online.

Media Monday - Brush Bash

A friend of mine I hadn't seen in quite some time, invited me to a free event of live painting and music. Free. Art. Live music. I'm in! I didn't bother to read the details or check out the bands ahead of time, which brought on a few fun surprises.

My friend was actually one of the artists doing the live painting. He knew I would want to jump in so he brought these cute mini-canvas and paint sets. Another artist friend of mine came with me and we were immediately excited and began painting too. Bonus for her, she now has a super cool activity for guests at her engagement party next week. I love that idea!

They were about 2x2" and had little mini easels too.

When the artists were done painting, one of them was picked to paint a mural and was given a $1000 check. Man! I wish I had heard about this event sooner.

It gets even better. Brody Buster Band and Deadman Flats were the two bands lined up. Brody Buster Band was up first. At this point, my friends had left. And although I didn't mind enjoying the evening by myself, I started calling out to my friends who I knew would be digging the bluesy sound and sweet sweet harmonica.

The name Deadman Flats sounded familiar, but I wasn't sure if I had ever seen them before. Well, I was in love before they even finished the sound check! Half of the first band joined them, including the harmonica. And although they were good without it, honestly, the harmonica put them over the top. The lyrics had me laughing out loud. I could not sit still. And before I knew it, I was singing along to songs I was hearing for the first time. All my bluegrass lovin' friends would have been eating that shit up! I wish they had been able to experience it with me.

(photo source: Anna Blankenship)  deadmanflats.com

I did my best to guess at the song titles, so I could hopefully share a playlist here. Hank O., the bassist for both bands, was patient enough to go through my jumbled mess of a list and help make sense of it. Unfortunately, I was not able to find any streaming music. He did, however, mention they are on itunes if you are into that.

Here's a little taste. 


While we were chatting, the owner of Lucky's and Kirby's (2 bars in town) came over and swapped info with him. Looks like my friends are going to get a second chance to hear them after all! Deadman Flats rock! Keep an eye out for them this fall at Lucky's.

Farm days and Froggies

It's been a pretty busy week. After a nice long vacation with my mom, we woke up in Maui on Monday, flew back to Cali, and spent the night in Sacramento. My cousin was a gracious host and fabulous cook.

Early Tuesday morning, I took mom to the airport. We both somehow missed the turn and didn't realize it until we were many miles past it. Although she arrived only 30 minutes before take off, still had to check in, got in the wrong airline's line, and literally had to run to the gate, she made it in time and actually had others board after her. I made it back to Tahoe that morning in time for breakfast and a much savored shower before catching a movie with friends and then a private-ish wine (beer, cocktails, and food) tasting party. Usually at those kinds of events you get a little taste, but some booths were handing out full glasses. Luckily it was a pina colada and boy was it tasty! After getting up at 4:30 and not being a big drinker, I was asleep by 7 something.

Wednesday night was the monthly Art League meeting. We usually just have a demonstration or lecture after the meeting, but this time we got to play. I made a little frog (with pan pastels) in honor of my nephew. It was his birthday and he choose frogs as his party theme this year.

Thursday I worked at the Art Center and today I volunteered at the Farm Days festival in Carson City. It was fun gettin' dirty with the kids. They each got to take home a lettuce starter. And now I'm getting so hungry smelling bread baking. I created a vegan sunflower seed recipe that I'll share if its worthy. But boy does it smell worthy. mmmm

$$$ that's what i need

I'm in the process of partnering with a writer to illustrate a children's book. I was just reading over the latest version of the contract and remembered this song I heard last night. I had already queued it into my playlist so I had to listen to it again. The line "And if I share with you my story would you share your dollar with me" is so fitting. =)


This is how songs get attached to moments and people in our lives. =)

My Booth

This past weekend, I participated in an outdoor craft fair. We literally set up in the parking lot...see the car parked in the stall next to me?

I picked the spot that led right into the store, Heartstrings. I thought it created a pretty good flow.

A few took the space on the sidewalk/'courtyard' area in front of the store.

Here's my cute table of painted pine cones.

I had a Christmas Side.

And a Fall side. 

I had most of them in sets of 6, although I have since started making more individual ones and have turned them into ornaments.

 I sold this spunky one to a cool chick from Oregon.

Here are some of the dried flowers I mentioned in my last post. I got the two big ones from the nursery and the rest is actually sage brush from our back yard. And isn't my orange pitcher the coolest! My mama gave that to me for my birthday last month.

 And here's the rest of it. The owner was super helpful. Not only did she let me borrow her table and grid panels, but she also helped me set it up.

And here are my best sellers. Since I list these on etsy, I have pictures of most of them. So I printed up my favorite picture of each and made little tags for them. I used diaper pins to fasten them to the legwarmers and keep the pair together. I was so excited to sell my first one of the day, that I forgot to ask for the pin back. =( That was sad and so was that fact that they took home my very favorite pair. Anyone remember which pair is my very favorite? Well, even if you don't remember, you can probably guess. The rainbow striped ones of course! They sold first, then I sold the black sparkly ones, and then the grey/black/red and white pair.

The weather was totally cooperative. There was sunshine and no wind. At exactly the time we started packing up, the slightest little wind started to pick up. Perfect timing. So it turned out to be a pretty decent day.

Project Thursday

I really got in the Fall spirit today. At the nursery, we bundled corn stalks and dried flowers and then used them to decorate the store front. This girl from Kansas felt a little closer to 'home'. Sorry, I didn't snap a photo. However, I did take a few of the corn tassels and flowers home and will for sure be taking some pictures of them this weekend.

I am doing my first outdoor show this Saturday. It will be outside a little gift shop called Heartstrings located at 1572 Hwy 395 in Minden, Nevada. I am bringing my painted pine cones, upcycled clothing, retro racks, and a few paintings I snagged back from the Art Center yesterday.

I had just brought 2 of the paintings to the center last week, managing to squeeze them in by angling a couple of the big ones. Although a tiny bit of room was made because.... I sold my first painting to a stranger last month! You might recall that that was one of the goals on my 31 before 32 list. I only missed it by 10 days, but it's all the same to me. =)

Tomorrow I'm gathering all my goodies and setting up a mock table so I'll be all ready for the show on Saturday. I'll be there from 9am til 3pm. If you're in the area, come say hi! I'm using the corn stalk tassels and flowers to decorate my booth so you might just get into the Fall spirit too.

New Painting - What should I call it?

 
I'm so excited about this one! Would look great in a modern/retro home, cafe, office, or retail space.

 

I plan to make a few more in this style so I'm trying to keep that in mind when picking the name, but I'm having trouble coming up with one. What would you call it?

new painting: Thinking About Babies

I started this painting quite awhile ago, but just finished it this week.

It's called "Thinking About Babies". A subject that seems to spend more and more time occupying my thoughts these days... as I'm sure it does a lot of women.

Pretty sure I'm going to add it to the shop. Plus I finished another painting yesterday that I think is super cool. I'll be sharing it soon.

*update* I did end up adding this painting to the shop. Find it here.

Frolic in the Flowers

That's the title of a painting I've been working on lately. I shared pictures of it a couple months ago, in an early state. I have since then added an element.




I haven't decided if it's 'finished' or not. What do you think?

Bringing Art To Schools

I don't know if it is all of California or just in this county, but art has not been part of the curriculum for years (so I've been told). How sad! Art, of course, was one of my very favorite parts of school. Well, a few other people agree it's pretty sad and started BATS, oh I don't know how many years ago.

Well, a couple weeks ago, I met Joy, the director of BATS and she asked me to join the Visiting Artist Program. Hmmm, let's see. Painting. With Kids. And I get Paid? Um, YEAH!

So I pitched her a few different ideas for projects and we decided to start with "Paint What You Love". She sent the idea out to the teachers and I have received such a huge response back. I have 13 teachers requesting that I come paint with their class! So exciting! Last week, I taught my first class.

These are the paintings I bring to class to show the kids my style and hopefully inspire them.

We discuss what 'abstract' means.



My "Elephant in Rollerskates" was the painting that gave me the idea for this project. We brainstorm all their favorite things, favorite places, activities, etc. I have them pick 5 (or less for the little'ns) and create a scene or story with them.


And today, I finished my 3rd and 4th classes. Here's some of their creations.


The teacher and the helper also got into it. They painted the top 2 little ones.






Seriously, this is an awesome gig! Totally loving it!

Bicycle Art

South Lake Tahoe is hosting the AMGEN Tour of California. It's a bicycle race/tour of California, and it all starts here, today, right now. I made some bicycle art using maps of Lake Tahoe, and it's hanging in the window at the Art Center.




Oh, and those poor cyclist. It's 30 degrees and snowing.

In the need of Spring

As I have been knee deep in some not so fun activities this week (aka, taxes), I am in dire need of some spring cheering up. And although yet another storm is coming and we are getting snowed on as I type.... I am thinking of those warm days and bright colors.

I started this little painting last week. Normally, I don't share them until they are finished, but what the heck. Maybe you need some Spring Cheer too.

Portrait Painting

I don't normally do portrait paintings, but my dad asked me to so how could I say no. :)

I started this a few months ago and finished it a few weeks ago. Then I mailed it to them as a surprise. They didn't even know I was working on it. It was pretty time consuming compared to most of the other paintings I've done, but I'm pretty happy with the results.

work in progress

The finished piece

Just goes to show, that just because you don't normally do something, doesn't mean you aren't capable of doing it.

Happy painting!

as promised

...but sort of cheating. As I mentioned last night, I finished 3 projects yesterday. I shared this one already. Project number 2 is a little painting. I think I'll call her...

Little Miss Blue Hair

She was painted in acrylic on a 10x10" board.


Now. Since I want to keep my word by sharing all 3 with you, but I REALLY want to wait....

here is a Sneak Peak at project #3.




hehe =D

Happy Friday Everyone!!!

jessie b