August Apples


Growing up, my Oma made applesauce from their apple tree, and shared it with all of my aunts and cousins. It was a constant "after-dinner-treat, crisp refreshing, and easily accepted by any picky eater (and I sure was one!) In her older years, my Oma would come to our house and make applesauce with my Dad’s help. We’d use our Golden delicious apples, and I would also assist in cutting a boiling the apples.

Last weekend I stayed at my parents house and my Dad wanted to make applesauce with my son, who’s nearing 3 years old. He was excited to show him how the apple slices must be washed and boiled, and he let him turn the food mill handle. It was a delight, seeing my childhood come alive right before my eyes through my son’s experience. The apples were gravenstiens and make the most beautiful pink sauce, and we all enjoyed several bites together.

I’ve been thinking a lot about memories lately. The 90’s playlists I’ve been revisiting, give me a sense of life’s fleeting nature, and I well up with gratitude and love for the good parts of my life- for which there are so many. I’m feeling called to take time with these memories in some creative way. Maybe through art making (as I did today in this apple sauce painting), possibly through songwriting. Or both.

I have handfuls of notebooks from 9-20 years old, detailing my days, my anxieties, my Christmas gifts. We really art built from our memories. Some of them fade, but most of them become the tissue and cell matter that houses our soul, our personhood.

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I invite you to take some time with your memories this week. There might be an old song you haven’t listened to in ages. Maybe you have a memory box of trinkets from school plays and 8th grade dates. How do they make you feel in your body? What did you learn from those memories?

If you’d like to share, please do. I’m always interested.


Extra Extra:

  • You may not know that I have a special freebie section on my website for subscribers. You get free comics, an ebook and some wallpapers. Thank YOU for being on this journey with me. use passcode “comics” here.

  • I have retired from pet portraits, but I am open to painting commissions! In the past I’ve illustrated natal charts, made personal tarot cards, and done intuitive artwork. Just drop me a line.

  • I have added original art for sale on my website. And more to come as I work on more pieces for my Fall collection.



Happy August, Happy Summer days. May they be slow, sweet like honey, and filled with beautiful memories.

With love and lots of applesauce,

Annie

June Newsletter

Hello Creatively Juicy Friends!

June has been a sweet month. My hubband is off work for the Summer and the weather has been wonderfully cool here in our little Valley. Usually it’s scorching, but we’ve been able to enjoy lots of time outside playing in the pool, the garden, and going on walks without terrible sunburns. It’s been wonderful. And I’ve made some progress on music and books, which I’ll share about in a moment.

My artwork for Fly.io is up around San Francisco! It’s fun to see it in the buzz of a big city while people make their way to their jobs and while on errands. Hopefully it adds a little magic to their day.

And another project update: My pal Joshua from Accelerated Tech asked me to create box art for his cool 3D printer expander that he designed. I just got it in the mail and it turned out awesome!

I’m still tuning up the B. Tull bok, making sure it’s as tight and strong as it can be for a publisher’s eye. Everytime I work on a book it feels like the first time!

In music news…did you know I make music?? I uploaded my first album from 2011, to my bandcamp page. Now there’s 1 album and 2 EPs, and I have another batch of 5 songs. I’m working on for my 4th release, due later this Summer, titled: RUNAWAY. Music has always been so special to me, always a sacred outlet. I have too many songs that I’d like to record and share, but who has all the time to do this with a job and two young kids LOL??

This month’s goals are to carve out time for making music and my books, read some literature, and spend enough time doing nothing, too. I hope you get some time to do that, too! This dream weave class from my friend Kelly might interest you. I plan on joining! It looks like a great way to connect with the self, which I know I need!

One last update on the kids: Brother used to hate baths but once he got into the kiddie pool, all of that changed. He is OBSESSED with playing in the water. And sister loves doing anything that he’s doing. :) This is a typical Summer day around here:

Have a great rest of your June and see you in July!

-Annie and the Crew

Along Came May

Happy May, friends! My allergies are in full bloom. If you saw me you’d think I’d been crying but no— it’s just pollen ruining my life.

I’ve been in the studio working on stuff for fly.io, but I also have made progress on my B. Tull story (more on that soon) and I even did a little spring study today. I plan to do more larger studies, and post them up for sale in my web-store.

Here’s what I did:

I drew four rectangles, and reflected on things I’ve loved about this Spring so far. Orange blossoms, Abby’s raspberry birthday cake, making lemonade with my son, and bouquets of garden flowers. I made quick painting sketches of three of them…still need to finish the orange blossoms. Then I did a larger study of Abby’s cake, adding in more detail and fixing the composition. I like who it turned out, but I think I’ll use hot press water color paper next, so that I have less texture.

Small studies in my sketchbook

A larger study of raspberry cake. mmmmmmm.

The title got weird when I painted it, so I cut some paper and redid the lettering. I used gouache and watercolor, then pencil to finish the details. It was fun, simple, and had been a WHILE since I sat down to play so it didn’t feel second-nature. But that’s ok! It feels good to not know what I’m doing sometimes and just make art for art’s sake.

I’ve also been working on some art for fly.io. Here’s a new hero image for the website:

Part of me wants to go even more psychedelic, but we’re not doing a full rebrand right now, so we need to stay consistent with the current style. We’re getting a new designer soon, so I’m anticipating changes and some fun collaborations in my future.

The garden is lush and the veggies are in the ground. The kids and I have been playing a lot outside and enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. My husband is happy and we’re all just trucking right now. I feel very thankful for that. The ebbs and flows of life bring so many things, and sometimes, once in a while…it’s peace and quiet ;)

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If you’re in the Napa area this Thursday, May 8th, I’m doing an event with Chad McComber to talk about his latest book, CamShaft10 that I got to illustrate. The Napa Bookmine is a fabulous bookstore, so please come and check it out. Event starts at 6:00pm.

Wishing you lots of wildflowers and sunshine,

Annie

Another Drawing

Hello and Happy Spring!

I was working on a new image for my company a couple days ago, and I thought I’d film it. It’s kind of fun seeing it come together. I think the initial drawing has so much life in it and raw emotion. The modern painters and poets knew this. Now, I AM a fan of editing, but I do think you need to keep the spirit strong, and stay away from smothering, chopping, and reworking. I’m always trying to find this balance.

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It’s Spring and the flowers are bursting here in my little town. The Poppies show their faces along the rail trail, and the irises are starting to pop. I LOVE this time of year, here. The days aren’t too warm and everywhere you look is colorful and lush. Truly a sigh to see.

My local coffee shop has some seasonal drinks that are chef’s kiss SO GOOD. Lemon merengue coffee, orange blossom latte, and vanilla matcha creme. I had to draw a little picture of them for you:

drawing of orange blossom latte, lemon latte, and matcha green tea latte.

With all of these seasonal flavors, I tried my hand at baking a gluten free, dairy free raspberry cake using this recipe: https://cakedbykatie.com/2023/02/gluten-free-raspberry-cake-dairy-free/ Ok, I FAILED you guys. I read the recipe and tried to get all the right ingredients but I just missed the mark on a couple things and it was horrible. I’m talking clumpy frosting, fallen centers…the raspberry puree turned out good, though.

I’ve been working diligently (though slowly) on a new book. It’s about Mr. B. Tull, and I hope hope hope the book is picked up. We’re working through some edits before we send it out to publishers, so here’s one little drawing I can share.

We have also sold out of The Spacious Tarot which is crazy! What a wonderful jounrney it’s been. I can’t wait to work on the new deck, though. Carrie and I love having the deck out there for purchase, but we need some time—and spaciousness to just create. So more info on that as it comes together. In time, in time.

I wish you all a happy Spring. I’ll be back with more update and drawings soon. Until then, what are you working on? I’d love to know!

Annie