© Thérèse Neelands 2012 watercolour, ink on paper

Lately I’ve been quitting the day and everyone early,

curling up in bed and reading Calvin and Hobbes comics with a glass of beer,

and all the stuff around me disappears.

It’s unsettling how much I relate to a 5 year old with an imaginary live tigar.

And Bill Waterson is an amazing artist.

Detail, Work in Progress, watercolour, pencil, ink © Therese Neelands

Cold, cold, cold today.

Keeping warm by the heat of the desk lamp.

Even the dog can’t withstand the dog park,

she hops around on 3 legs,

her little belly quivering.

]]> http://strawberrysnail.com/2012/01/sneak-peak/feed/ 0 http://strawberrysnail.com/2012/01/new-years-resolution/ http://strawberrysnail.com/2012/01/new-years-resolution/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:28:27 +0000 admin http://strawberrysnail.com/?p=1882

Staying here for as long as possible.

Hi!

I’ve been thinking about some things

and learning sides to myself that I don’t like

and always knew were there, but wasn’t forced to face until now.

I’ve been wondering why I have such a hard time speaking up,

why I can’t believe people when they exclaim they like my work,

why I can’t say thank you when someone told me “good job”.

I know what my dream is–it’s sitting at my desk with ink and paper and scissors and paint

and listening to the CBC and being quiet and still while my hands do their work,

and chortling to myself as I make imagined characters real.

Unfortunately, to do this, I need to charge people in exchange for my work so that I can eat and sleep in a bed and my brain can’t compute this.

It doesn’t understand how the spiritual (that’s what making is for me) has to do with the material.

My brain says after your work is done, give it away for people to enjoy, that’s the important thing.

It doesn’t understand how $5.00 = the joy I had making it or the joy someone had receiving it.

Also, why, in questioning the value of my work, do I always under value my work?

which seems to have started before I could help it–

sprawled out on the kitchen floor drawing pretty ladies and houses and rainbows, and agonizing over whether they were “good enough”.

Good enough for whom, my mother would say, for what.

Why would a 5 year old child think that?

Maybe I was being prescient, and I meant good enough to make a living from them. Maybe I understood the dilemma of what do you do with something after you’ve enjoyed making it, and how do you put a value on it so that you can continue making.

I think that if I didn’t have this deficiency, this inability to make peace with value and making,

then I would be able to answer the dreaded question, what do you do for a living

and I would say with no apology in my voice

I illustrate children’s books.

]]> http://strawberrysnail.com/2011/12/learning-curve/feed/ 4 http://strawberrysnail.com/2011/11/peace/ http://strawberrysnail.com/2011/11/peace/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:11:39 +0000 admin http://therese.neelands.net/?p=1839

Goodness, it’s November 15th already.

I was trying to wait for a sunny day to take some product shots but realized there’s not much time left!

I will have to read up on the Etsy how-to handbook on “photography when it’s raining” as you can see from this photo.

Have a good week!

It’s warm today and raining and not feeling very Christmasy yet. On Sunday we went to the dog park at Trinity Bellwoods and then did some supply shopping at The Paper Place. Then next door to Type. It’s like an art gallery for books. Then Clafouti but they were all out of croissants! It was warm and sunny so we walked to Ella’s Uncle and everyone was hanging around outside drinking coffee. It was a perfect day for finishing up these cards. I’ve got another one in the mix and touching up some final things before I start printing.

Thanks so much to Re:Reading for stocking the new cards in the store!

* you can find the cards on Etsy too.

©Therese Neelands 2011 watercolour, ink on paper

Starting a new job and not having much time for anything else, but here’s what will be printed up soon…

Before I pick up a paintbrush, this is what I look at. Always.

Have you seen these books? His handling of light and shadow,

his brilliant use of empty space,

brilliant ability to edit,

to tell a story in the simplest of ways,

and tug, tug, tug at your heart.

Oliver Jeffers.

© 5 x 7 note card Therese Neelands, Strawberry Snail

Bundle of Joy!

This is from an original watercolour I did a little while ago.

Ooops. A long while ago.

Yeah!

Get it here

Or here (soon).

Have a lovely week.

p.s. In researching storks, I found myriad myths coming from several countries. The simplest explanation regarding storks and babies, is in English folk mythology and old wive’s tales, where storks deliver babies to their mothers by dropping them down chimneys.

© Therese Neelands, Strawberry Snail 2011 watercolour, pencil crayon, ink

Cleaning up the scrap paper in my studio

and making bookmarks.

P.S. My cards are now available in Toronto!

A post on Wednesday about that…