stillness

happy 2015, friends!

i apologize for dropping off the face of the earth,

but december definitely kicked me in the arse with

my bubs holiday activities, and then they were home

with me for vacation.

now! i’m in the midst of mad writing to finish my

Serpentine sequel. :D so exciting, but also nerve

wracking. ha! i haven’t had a deadline for an entire

novel since, er, 2010. that’s half a decade ago!

i’m not one to really do recaps. but 2014 was a quiet

year for me, in which i crawled into the “troll hole”

as an author, limiting my events and signings, because

i had no new book out. Serpentine and its sequel sold

unexpectedly to Month9Books, and i’ve only had a wonderful,

collaborative experience with this newer small press.

i’m so grateful and thrilled that Serpentine will be published

by them.

then of course, i visited china for the first time.

it was such an amazing and fantasic trip, and truly

the highlight of my year.

here is one of my latest paintings. i admired my author

friend Liz’s bluebird photo she has posted on her facebook

page, and took the image to inspire me for a painting.

i first tried rendering the bird on white rice paper,

but because its breast is white, its fluffy effect was

lost. so i bought pale green paper and tried again. the

texture of the paper was challenging (controlling my ink)

so you see a halo around the bird. but i was able to get

the fluffy white look of its breast, and i’m very happy with it.

i put him on a rock and had the idea of adding some colorful

flowers around him, but my teacher refused! she said nothing

should take away from the quiet grace of this bird. :)

the calligraphy (by my teacher) says: Peaceful Heart.