Resolution, Shmesolution

Confession: I Hate New Year's Resolutions

It's just too much pressure for my little self to handle. I also think this time of year is already stressful enough without piling on a bunch of new habits, you know? I recently read somewhere that the month of January should be reserved for reading, eating soup, and cozying up inside... hibernating, basically. I have to agree. Save your big life changes for springtime, when everything feels new and possible, and your inner animal doesn't feel quite so fragile!

me, with my outer animal

Having said that, I do think it's good to have goals. This little business of mine has changed a lot since I started it in the winter of 2008* from a tiny Chicago apartment. If nothing else, a new year is an obvious opportunity to pause, reassess, and consider why you got into this business of art-making in the first place. With the dawn of a new year, I've set my sights on some exciting aspirations that I can't wait to share with you.

Intentions for 2024:

1. Create a Sketchbook Habit
   A sketchbook allows you explore new artistic mediums, push the boundaries of your creativity, and challenge yourself to bring fresh perspective to your work. A sketchbook lets you play, and isn't that why you got into art-making in the first place? If you're a fellow artist looking to prioritize your sketchbook practice, I highly recommend ​this course​ by illustrator, Steph Fizer Coleman. I'll be working my way through it over the next couple of months and I can't wait to share what I've learned!
   

2. Collaborative Projects
   Last year, I was able to work with some amazing people and organizations -- Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston Botanic Garden, Buffalo Bayou Partnership, and Baker Institute for Public Policy, just to name a few. I believe in the power of collaboration to foster new ideas and inspire innovation, and I believe we're stronger together. I'd like to continue these partnerships and create new ones with fellow artists, creators, and clients. Do you have a project you'd like to work on together? Send me a message!
   

3. Update Portfolio Website
   Always on the list 🙄 Did you even know I have an art and illustration portfolio?? Probably not, because I never talk about it! Well, if you're curious check it out and maybe this will encourage me to update it more regularly.
   

4. Prioritize Sustainability
   This is always tricky. Reducing consumption is difficult when you're a business profiting from customers who consume your goods. So what does this mean? I'd like to focus more on handmade and one-of-a-kind products, products made from environmentally-friendly materials, and products which are reusable in some way. Wooden pins? Maybe. Greeting cards which can be framed as art, or planted to produce wildflowers? Quite possibly. I honestly have a thousand ideas on this topic, it’s just a matter of time, energy, and mental focus. Thank goodness for lists. If you’re interested in some quick, easy sustainability hacks, check out this article.
   

5. Animation
   Expanding my creative skills to include animation just makes sense to me considering how much I love being able to tell stories with visuals. I've only experimented with animation a tiny bit thus far, but so far I've found it incredibly time-consuming and highly addictive. If you’re a Procreate user, have you tried Dreams yet? I’d love to hear what you think.
   

6. Art Licensing
   This is an area of the art industry I know very little about. But having the ability to license my work feels like a really important step, in terms of financial stability. The concept of "passive" income is frankly, a bullshit one, but having an available revenue stream while I'm busy doing non-income-generating things (that's a real term, right?) would be a game-changer and allow me to make more of the artwork I feel passionate about. If like me, you’re looking to dip your toes into art licensing, you might check out these courses by illustrator, Elizabeth Silver.

What Fuzzy Grapefruit Has in Store for You:

1. Expanded Bird Collection
   Get ready for more birds! Species immediately on the docket include Ruby Throated Hummingbird, Gambel's Quail, and Tufted Titmouse. There’s a much longer list on my desktop, but these are the ones for which I’ve gotten repeat requests.
   

2. Butterflies
   I can't say too much just yet, but I'm in talks with a local organization to create a variety of illustrations featuring Texas butterflies. If you’re a fan of the Rhopalocera (that’s the scientific name for butterfly) I would love to hear your favorites.
   

3. More Free Art
   If you were around for last year's Game of Shrooms, you know I had a ton of fun creating my shroomy little art pieces and depositing them in the world for foragers to find. I'm hoping to participate again this year, as well as continue giving away free art and downloads to newsletter subscribers. Speaking of...

Wishing you a year filled with inspiration, growth, and boundless creativity!

Lots of love,
Allison

*This is the date I say Fuzzy Grapefruit officially came into existence, when I opened an Etsy shop under the same name. But like most creative endeavors, the exact point of origin is vague. It wasn't until 2010 that I became a legal entity, and it wasn't until much, much later in 2020 when I consciously made the decision to purposely focus on art and illustration as my primary occupation.

What goes into a portrait illustration?

I love portrait projects. I would not have said this ten years ago. In fact, if you had asked me how I felt about drawing people I would have said, “I can’t draw people!” Over the years, my skill has definitely improved. Lots of practice, trial and error in my sketchbook, and many hours of human figure drawing classes have helped me gain experience and confidence. I’ve also loosened up a bit when it comes to the process of drawing people, and allowing myself to use the tools available to me. I’m not ashamed to admit that I sometimes use various tracing techniques in order to capture a person’s unique likeness — when just a millimeter of extra space between a person’s eyes can completely change their face, it’s super important to get the measurements just right. “Eyeballing it” doesn’t cut it!

I recently had the pleasure of getting commissioned to create a wedding portrait for two of my friends here in Houston. While working on the artwork, I was thinking a lot about the importance of allowing yourself time away from a piece in order to see the work with fresh eyes. The amount of time that goes into a drawing or painting can sometimes be a little misleading — it might take ten hours to draw and paint something, but that’s not the amount of time required for the work. It’s probably more like twenty hours… or more. Since this was a topic on my mind, I thought it might be interesting to record a quick video with some behind-the-scenes insight into the process.

If you watched the video above, let me know what you think. Were you surprised to see how many layers go into one piece of artwork?

Sustainability is for Everyone

Okay, let’s get something out of the way…

I know you’re probably like, “Allison, you’re an illustrator, what do you know about sustainability?” And you’re right. I don’t have any professional degrees in Environmental Science. Everything I’ve learned up to this point has been through trial and error, through conversations with other like-minded citizens, and from getting curious and reading up on various issues. And I am still absolutely learning. So if you read something here which you have questions about or you disagree with, please let me know and correct me when you think I’m wrong. Let’s share the knowledge we have and help each other learn from it because at the end of the day, if we are going to make any positive changes in combatting climate change WE ALL NEED TO CARE ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY.

Cool? Cool. The following is a non-exhaustive list of some (very) basic and easy ways in which I’ve tried to live a more sustainable life. Let me know if you try any of these, if you already implement them, and how it’s working for you!!

Stop Buying (New) Stuff

I know this is hard. As someone who makes a living selling artwork and products featuring my artwork, I find this particularly morally challenging. This is partly why I don’t feel comfortable convincing someone to buy my goods. Sure I’d like you to appreciate the things I make, and I’d like to be fairly compensated for them, but talking you into buying something you don’t truly want or need? Not my style (and I wish it wasn’t anyone’s style). But I think it’s all about being aware of your buying habits and making changes where you can. If you desperately need a new pair of jeans because all the pairs you own have holes in them, consider the following options before you head to the mall or start shopping online…

• Can you mend your current pair? Know someone who can?

• Can you do a clothing swap with friends/family? If you message them, I guarantee some of them already have a stack of clothing they’re looking to give away.

• Have you looked at resale shops, thrift stores, secondhand options or eBay? These are usually less costly so bonus points for saving money.

• If you absolutely have to buy a new pair, are you supporting a clothing company which is actively working to make positive changes? Do they pay their workers a living wage? Do they have policies on child labor? Are they reducing their carbon emissions? You might check out goodonyou.eco or thegoodtrade.com for a list of sustainable clothing options (and what it means to be sustainable in the first place — helpful!)

Consider Your Commute

I don’t own a car, but in the interest of full-disclosure: my partner has a car and there are times that I’m really glad he does. I mostly get around by bicycle and by walking but I realize I’m lucky to live in a part of town where that’s possible. I try to save bigger errands for the weekend so we can go together and every now and then I’ll take Lyft or Uber if the distance is too great or there isn’t a nearby bus line. I’ve heard the argument that getting around by bicycle is a luxury because it means you can afford to live inside the city. It’s true that I probably pay more in rent by living inside Houston’s “inner loop” but I definitely save more by not having a car — firstly there’s the cost of the actual vehicle, then the constant filling with gas, car insurance payments, and car maintenance. It adds up. There’s still bike maintenance but the costs are minimal by comparison. Again, you have to make choices based on your lifestyle and your own particular set of needs…

• Can you get there by bike? If your regular commute is bikable you might invest in owning one (check out Craigslist, 5 Mile, Facebook Marketplace, or nearby garage sales to find a used option in your area). If you feel like you don’t know what to look for, bring a bike-savvy friend with you and he/she should help you find something decent without getting ripped off. If you’re tight on space or don’t commute very frequently, Houston BCycle (or your local bike-share) might make more sense.

• Can you carpool with friends/coworkers?

• Can you take public transit? This one is tricky in the midst of a pandemic in my opinion — bring hand sanitizer with you, keep your face mask on (no eating or drinking until you get off the bus) and try to put distance between yourself and other passengers.

• Is it close enough/a nice enough day to walk?

• Can you run all your errands in one afternoon rather than making multiple trips?

• Will your job allow you to work any days from home? (yay, no commute!)

Ditch the Packaging

As much as we all like to promote recycling, sadly, it’s just not enough to combat our obsession with packaging. Plastic is especially nefarious — even if a plastic bottle claims to be recyclable, most have a very finite number of times they can be recycled (like, once or twice 😩).

• Do you have a bulk section in your local grocery store? You might have to ask customer service or get someone to assist you, but most places will even tare containers for you if you bring them from home.

• Can you buy fruits and vegetables at your local farmer’s market? (bring your own bags!)

• Do you have a local CSA (community supported agriculture) program? The added benefit of this is eating seasonally — reduce your carbon footprint AND reduce your consumption of pesticides/preservatives since the further fruits and vegetables have to travel to get to you, the more likely it is that they’ve been treated in order to appear fresh.

• Can you buy what you need in person instead of online? In 2018, Fast Company reported that an estimated 165 billion packages were shipped in the U.S. that year. That’s a LOT of cardboard, poly mailers, and bubble wrap. If we can skip the shipping supplies altogether and shop at local, independent businesses, we’re also reinvesting in our local community (ie our friends and neighbors) rather than supporting big corporations.

• Can you make your own? This is obviously easier for some products than others, but cleaning supplies are a great example of an easy DIY. Water and vinegar are surprisingly effective at disinfecting a variety of surfaces and there is no shortage of DIY recipes out there so I won’t reinvent the wheel — Try an internet search for “homemade cleaner” and you’re sure to find a few using ingredients you already have on hand.

• Do you like sparkling water? I recently invested in a water carbonator and although I miss the convenience of just grabbing a can out of the fridge, I do NOT miss all the aluminum cans I was recycling every week.

Choose Reusable

Related to ditching the packaging in your life is the obvious suggestion of replacing single-use items with multi-use ones. Some of these are more obvious than others and I encourage you to get creative — bonus points if you’re able to reuse the same container/object/tool/thingy for a variety of purposes!

• Going to the grocery store? Store a few reusable grocery bags in your car, in your bike bag, by your back door, in your purse, or wherever you need to so you never forget them. There are even some companies who make reusable bags which fold up small enough to fit on your keychain.

• Going out to eat? Instead of bringing home another takeout container, bring reusable tupperware to the restaurant with you and box the leftovers yourself. Be sure to find something with a leakproof lid if you’re going to store them sideways in your bag (speaking from experience here 🤦‍♀️).

• Love supporting your local coffee shop? Store a reusable coffee cup in your purse or bag so you’re never without it when you’re on the go. My Contigo coffee thermos is literally one of the best purchases I have ever made. That might sound silly but if you’ve ever had to deal with coffee leaking inside your backpack, hot coffee turning cold in less than an hour, or cold coffee turning lukewarm on a hot summer day you know what I mean. It’s the little things.

• Eating on the go? Keep a set of reusable utensils stored in your bag at all times (just don’t forget to wash them after each use and let them dry fully)! I love this set of bamboo utensils and these stainless steel straws from refinement house.

• Spills in the kitchen or at the dinner table? Use fabric towels and napkins instead of paper towels and keep a small wastebasket under your sink as a kitchen laundry basket.

• You know that old holey shirt you can no longer wear? It’s perfect for cutting up and turning into a set of cleaning rags.

Eco-Friendly Beauty

I’m often frustrated by the beauty industry. There are so many unnecessary products and procedures marketed toward women (and men!) in an effort to get them to buy more things, and a lot of those sales tactics are made in the hope of making us feel insecure and unworthy without the item or procedure in question. But guess what? You don’t need to give in to that BS and chances are good that particular face cream won’t suddenly solve all your problems.

• Can you reduce the number of times you wash your hair? With the invention of dry shampoo, this is much more manageable. Unfortunately, some of those formulas are full of chemicals, add yet more packaging to our lives, and come in carcinogenic aerosol form. Making your own dry shampoo powder is actually pretty easy. And if like me you have brown hair, try a combination of cocoa powder, arrowroot powder, and a few drops of peppermint oil. You’ll smell just like a peppermint patty :)

• Have you tried shampoo and conditioner bars instead of the traditional bottles? I like the lemon-fresh scent of Lush Montalbano bars and used to have one of their cedar conditioning bars, but I don’t think they make that scent anymore. Fear not, shampoo and conditioner bars are becoming more popular and easy to find everywhere from Whole Foods to local farmer’s markets.

• Are you a coffee drinker? Use your old coffee grounds to make a DIY shower scrub. You can add sugar, oil (I like avocado and coconut oil), and essential oils — some of my favorite combinations are nutmeg, peppermint, clove, and cedar.

• Have a pair of fleece pajama pants that no longer fit or are starting to fall apart? Cut them into small squares and use them instead of disposable “beauty rounds”. I had a length of fleece fabric that I once bought for a Halloween costume and realized it was perfect for removing eye makeup because the texture is super soft but textured enough to grab all the oil and mascara off my skin. And since the edges don’t fray when I wash them they didn’t even need sewing. I keep them stacked in a little drawstring bag in my medicine cabinet and use them to remove makeup or apply toner.

• Are you a person with a body? Does your body menstruate? Welcome to being human! I know some people are squeamish when it comes to talking about menstrual cycles, but there’s really no reason for embarrassment or shame. Instead of disposable products like tampons and maxi pads, I converted to a menstrual cup, cloth pads, and period underwear and I am here to say I am never going back! I started with cloth pads which were made by someone on Etsy and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well they’ve lasted over the last ten years. I just rinse them after use, wash them in a delicates bag, and hang them to dry before putting them back in my underwear drawer. The first cup I bought was the Lunette and used that for a few years but when my closest grocery store was going out of business and had Diva cups for 75% off I grabbed one. Surprisingly, I found a big difference in fit and the Diva works better for me. But since everyone’s body is different, you might have a totally different experience. Most recently I bought a couple pairs of Thinx and although I don’t love the fit of them, I find that they’re especially helpful for wearing overnight. If I can sleep better and eliminate my paranoia about ruining my sheets, I’d say that makes them worth it. Similar to the cloth pads, I just rinse them after use, wash them in a delicates bag and hang them to dry.

Eco-Friendly Home

There are lots of big ways you can make a difference — opting for more energy efficient appliances, installing solar panels, investing in high performance insulation and ventilation, the list goes on an on. But if like me, you’re not looking to build a new home from scratch or invest thousands of dollars into retrofitting your current home, here are some smaller changes you can implement into your daily habits…

• When washing and drying clothes, do you have room for a clothesline? How about a portable drying rack? The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that your dryer is the second most energy-consuming machine in your household (right after your fridge), so eliminating it or even just reducing the amount of time you use it can make a big difference. When using a dryer, remember to clean the lint filter after every cycle so that it can run more efficiently and use less energy. Instead of dryer sheets, I have a set of wool dryer balls which I really love — they help fluff, eliminate static, and create more airflow to speed up the drying process.

• Do you have room for a garden? Are you composting your fruits and veg? I was initially kind of intimidated by the composting process, but once you get used to it it’s not so bad. I have a small compost pail which lives by my kitchen sink and I fill it with banana peels, onion skins, coffee grounds, vegetable peelings, even eggshells. Then I carry it out to my compost bin to empty once or twice a week. And despite common misconception, if you’re emptying your compost pail every few days your kitchen should not smell like rotting produce. Most compost pails come with charcoal filters in the lid which you can switch out every few months to cut down on smell. And if you’re really worried about it and not interested in composting yourself, you can hire a local composting service who will pick up your composting materials for you.

• Have you noticed it rains a lot in Houston? Are you harvesting rain water? I started putting out a few big buckets every time we have a hard rain, then I store it in a large storage bin next to my house. This is great for watering my plants in the summer and especially helpful when we’re suffering from droughts. If you’re more hard-core (something I would like to be someday), you can invest in rain barrels set up to easily collect water from your gutters and even use it to flush your toilets or for bathing and laundry (but I’m iffy about those last two since the air quality in Houston is not great).

• Do you eat meat? Can you reduce how often you eat it? Another full-disclosure statement: I am not a vegetarian, so I will never tell someone to stop eating meat. A vegetarian or vegan diet is the most sustainable option but if that’s just not an option for you, you might consider limiting your intake to just once or twice a week, eliminating all red meat and pork, or consuming only organic and humanely raised animals. Since it’s estimated that the entire global livestock industry produces as much greenhouse gas emissions as all the automobiles on the planet, if all of us reduced the amount of meat in our diets, that could actually have a big impact on the planet. This is another area in which creativity comes in handy — if you’re following a recipe which calls for meat, can you swap out a veggie burger, roasted cauliflower, toasted walnuts, or fried chickpeas? When I’m cooking vegetarian with the right seasonings and cooking methods, I don’t even miss the meat.

Keep Learning, Try New Things, and Stick With It!

As I mentioned earlier, this is by no means an exhaustive list but hopefully this gives you some ideas for ways to incorporate sustainable practices into your own life. And remember it’s not all-or-nothing. If you have to commute long distances and can’t get rid of your car, don’t beat yourself up. Maybe you feel like you don’t have a green thumb and gardening is just not your thing. That’s okay! Just remember to be mindful of your impact on the environment and make changes where you can. We’re in this together and we need to support each other to make positive changes that last.

Want to talk more about sustainability? Send me a message, I’d love to learn from you! Have a question? Let me know, I’d be happy to discuss :)

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

xoxo,
Allison

Quarantine Art Project: Avocado Dye

Do you guys like homesteading projects? And textile arts? And not spending money? And hoarding avocados? Then you’ll love this little experiment I did with a handful of old shirts and a basketful of avocados!

Exhibit A: This top used to be white.

Truth be told, I’ve never been one of those crazy people obsessed with all things avocado-related. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a delicious topping on tacos or toast or whatever and I’ll even admit I love a good guacamole. But in it’s pure unadulterated form? Meh.

But when I started reading up on natural dyes and found out that there are a whole host of fruits and vegetables you can use to dye fabric with (onion skins, blueberries, beets, the list goes on…) I really wanted to give the mighty avocado a second chance. Instead of tossing my avocado pits and skins in the compost/trash every taco Tuesday (too many avocado pits and skins can slow down the progress of your compost pile), I began considering how I could maximize their usage.

I am by no means an expert at natural dyes, but I did learn a few things. If you try dying with avocado pits, here are some tips I learned along the way…

Soymilk plays a surprising role in preparing your fabric for the avocado dye

Fabric Matters

Natural dyes work best with natural fabrics. You’ll get much better results with cotton, linen, silk, and wool, and in fact synthetic fabrics like polyester just won’t absorb the dye at all. When you think of the fact that polyester fibers are really just plastic, it makes sense to me that it wouldn’t work — the fibers have no way of absorbing the compounds and the dye will slip right off.

Preparing the Fabric

Fabric should be thoroughly cleaned beforehand (a process called “scouring”). A good run through the washer and dryer with detergent should do it to remove oils and debris. After my fabric was washed and dried, I also prepared my fabric with a mordant. I’ll be honest, some of the information I read about mordanting fabrics was a bit over my head (I knew I should have paid closer attention in high school chemistry), but as far as I understand it, fibers will absorb dye differently depending on whether they are cellulose-based (like cotton and linen) or protein-based (like silk and wool). Protein fibers generally absorb the dye much better, so if you’re using cellulose fibers, mordanting can help mimic the proteins found in protein fibers (still following?) I chose to dye three shirts — one was 100% linen and the other two were 100% cotton. The most commonly used mordant for dying is alum powder (alum sulfate), which is a metallic salt, but I really wanted to use materials which were readily available, already in my cupboard, and plant-based. Turns out soy milk is a great binder for this purpose. I soaked my shirts in a large bath of soy milk and water (with a 1:5 ratio) for two days in my garage, making sure that there was enough liquid in the bath to fully saturate all the shirts and allow them to move around a bit (I stirred them a few times because I was paranoid about them not soaking up the soybean goodness uniformly… or maybe I was just bored and looking for something to fuss over). By the way, it should be noted that leaving soy milk to sit out, unrefrigerated WILL result in a smell. It’s not… terrible? But you might want to find a place where it can hang out, without making everyone queasy.

Be Patient

Keep in mind that this whole thing is by no means a quick process. I tend to be generally impatient and guilty of giving in to things which provide instant gratification so this was HARD for me. But it was also really rewarding, gave me something to look forward to every day, and was just really cool to see the magic of plants at work. Just to give you an idea of the timetable, here’s how long each step took me…

Timetable/Steps

• Collecting/hoarding and consuming avocados: 2 weeks (my boyfriend and I managed to eat a total of 13 avocados over the course of two weeks and once they were cleaned of all their green “meat” they were washed, thoroughly dried, and stored in the freezer until I was ready to make the dye bath. Keep in mind you can continue to collect avocado pits/skins while you mordant and cure your fabric

• Washing/drying fabric: 1 day (I chose to line-dry only because one of my shirts was somewhat delicate)

• Mordanting with soy milk: 2 days

• Curing the mordant: 5 days (everything I read said to let the mordant cure for a week but I really wanted to make my dye bath on the weekend and the timing just worked out that way)

• Making the dye bath: 1-2 days (I let the avocado pits/skin do their thing over low heat for 4 or 5 hours, then turned off the heat and let them continue to sit for another 30 hours or so

• Dying the fabric: 1-2 days (after straining all the pits and skins out of the dye pot, I turned the heat back on to let the dye bath simmer, added my fabric, stirred it around and let it continue to simmer for 3 or 4 hours, then turned the heat off and let it sit for another 24 hours)

All the pits and skins, strained from the dye pot after two days

Be Open to the Unexpected

There are so many factors which can affect your results with natural dyes. How ripe were your avocados? How many avocados did you use? What kind of water did you use (filtered? tap water? distilled? rainwater?) Did you use a mordant? How long did the mordanted fabric cure? All of these decisions can produce totally different results, so it’s a good idea to have a sense of adventure about the outcome.

I’m currently in the process of collecting acorns for my next dye experiment. If I manage to have a go at it, maybe I’ll do a better job of documenting that process start-to-finish. I could kick myself now for not getting a decent photo of my white shirt pre-avocado dye, but since it’s become my go-to for Renaissance Festival garb, this goofy shot will have to do…

See? White… and nerdy.

And now pink! (still nerdy)

Planning to try your hand at avocado dye? Let me know if you do, I’d love to see what you create!

Giveawaaaaay 🎉

Guess what?! I’m doing a giveaway over on Instagram in honor of reaching 1,200 followers (ahem, friends). If you don’t follow me yet, now’s your chance to win over $40 worth of cool swag!

Like this cute silkscreen t-shirt handprinted in Houston, Texas…

A sweet little greeting card (send it to someone you’re grateful for)…

And a set of gratitude-inspired stickers…

Check out the official post here, enter to win, and start thinking of all the friends you’re thankful for! Entries open to domestic participants in the US, winners will be chosen at random on 8/12/20 at 2pm CST.

Good luck!!

Quarantine Art Project: Silhouette Self-Portrait

Seven years ago I put together this rainy day art project. It may not be raining where you are, but many of us are looking for new activities while staying at home. As we’re heading into summer, school is letting out and day camp is becoming a thing of the past. I know a lot of you are looking for projects to keep the little ones occupied so I thought I’d repost this for our current quarantine era. This is probably most suitable for older kids (elementary or middle school), but you can make it more or less complex depending on your child. For especially little ones, consider cutting out the silhouettes beforehand to make it easier, and try using colored chalk or crayons instead of charcoal. One final note: I used a large sheet of art paper but you could absolutely use something smaller for a cute, framable 8x10 or 5x7. Make a whole set in coordinating colors to gift to the grandparents and you’re well on your way to becoming “mom’s favorite”.

Here’s the post with the original text…

Last weekend was dreadfully rainy. To cope with my cabin-fever, I worked on an art project. Luckily for you self-proclaimed "non-artists", the process behind this piece was so straightforward (not to mention it didn't require a lick of drawing), I thought I'd share it with you as a simple how-to. I imagine this would be really fun as a rainy-day project for kids. Let me know if you try it and what you think!

What You'll Need:

1. Paper

2. Tape (preferably artists tape or masking tape)

3. A photo of your profile (I snapped a quick shot on my computer and printed it out on cheap paper in black and white -- nothing fancy!)

4. Contact Paper

5. Scissors

6. A patterned stamp (or you could forgo the stamping process and use decorative paper instead)

7. Stamping ink

8. Charcoal (could be vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, chalk, or pastel... each one will have a unique look to it)

9. Paper towel or a chamois cloth for blending

10. An apron (charcoal = messy!)

11. Fixative or spray sealant

Step 1: Tape your photo on top of the contact paper and cut out your profile. Cut any additional shapes you'd like to include out of the contact paper.

Step 2: Tape down your paper along the edges (so it doesn't move around on you), and stamp away!

Step 3: Peel the backing off of your contact paper pieces and adhere the sticky side to your stamped paper (keep in mind wherever the contact paper goes, that area will remain white.)

Step 4: CHARCOAL! I find it works best to use the side of a compressed charcoal stick and try to work from the center of a contact paper piece outward (so you don't accidentally pull up the contact paper... if it happens though, just tell yourself that's part of the beauty of the artistic process -- the unknown!) Blend the charcoal as much or as little as you like, using your paper towel or chamois.

Step 5: Remove your contact paper pieces, carefully pulling from a corner.

Step 6: Admire your work!

After removing the tape from the edges, don't forget to seal the finished piece with a sealant, in a well-ventilated area (outside is best!)

Et voila, c’est finis!

Burnout in the Time of Quarantine

I look at my calendar for the week, schedule yet another social zoom meeting among the myriad of project deadlines, take a deep breath and breathe a heavy sigh. Okay, that’s two meetings on Wednesday, three on Thursday, one on Friday, and the mandatory family zoom on Sunday... “Maybe I can skip one of the Thursday ones?” I ask myself.

I’ve always known I was an introvert, but this fact has not become quite so overwhelmingly clear to me as it has over these last few weeks. Believe me, I love my friends, I love my family, I truly love people. I would honestly go mad, running circles of anxiety in my brain without the benefits that come with companionship. Laughter, engaging dialogue, and physical affection are all such integral parts of being a species rooted in community.

But lately I have loved being alone, I have wanted to be alone. At the beginning of quarantine, I found myself blessed with a multitude of projects. I was trucking along, doing well, keeping busy. Then, a couple of weeks ago I hit a wall. I looked at my to-do list and became completely overwhelmed with deadlines. Even my zoom meetings with friends felt like just another obligation, another set of promises which I would break, another way I would let people down. Instead of organizing my projects and tasks into a coherent hierarchy of priorities and chipping away at them to make some progress, I froze. Mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest started taking up more and more of my time. I downloaded Scrabble onto my phone and instinctively played turn after turn. When I’d completed my turns, I started new games with strangers.

I just didn’t care about anything.

When talking with a friend about this lack of motivation, this shameful “laziness” I was experiencing, she kindly said, “Allison, that doesn’t sound like laziness. It sounds like burnout.”

There’s been a lot of talk recently about all this time we have at our disposal…

“Quarantine is a great time to learn a new skill!”

“I’m finally catching up on everything in my Netflix queue.” (or alternatively, “Ugh, I’ve already watched everything good on Netflix, there’s nothing left!”)

“I’ve already baked a pie and three loaves of bread this week, I don’t know what else to bake.”

I’d hear these exclamations from friends and family, and I’d try to keep my feelings of confusion and guilt hidden from view. “Where is everyone finding this time to get bored,” I’d ask myself? “Where is everyone finding the energy to bake every day?? I must be doing this wrong.”

Here’s the thing about this age we’re currently living in: We do have a lot of time on our hands. You know what else we have a lot of? Emotional stress. And you know what stresses most of us out? Feeling uncertain, like the future is unknown, like we have no control over anything.

This prolonged level of stress affects all of us differently, but chances are high that you, too, are finding yourself more irritable, more detached, or simply in need of more naps than you once were. Bottom line is it’s okay. You’re not quarantining wrong. You’re not broken. You’re not lazy. You’re just dealing with a lot right now.

Some (basic) things which have helped me when I start feeling burnt out:

• Exercise

  This sounds like such a cliché, and I’m stubborn to admit it but I notice a huge difference in my emotional well-being when I sweat on a daily basis. I’ve been really bad about this lately, probably because I’m convinced there are more “pressing” things on my to-do list, but if working out for 30-45 minutes means you’ll be 30-45% more effective for the rest of the day (and for me, it does) I feel like it’s worth it. Maybe you don’t exercise every day, that’s okay. Maybe you don’t do anything too strenuous, that’s okay too. The important thing is that you move your muscles a little and remind your body what it feels like to be alive.

• Talk to someone

  For me, it’s my sisters. For you, it might be a best friend, your mom, or a pastor. But gaining some perspective from outside your own head and finding a place where you can feel seen and heard is really important. I will also say that although I don’t go on a regular basis, the times in my life when I have sought out counseling, I found it to be hugely beneficial. It might be a good idea for you, too, to talk to a licensed therapist or mental health professional.

• Eat well

  This is kind of a no-brainer but it’s easier said than done, especially in times of stress. For me, this means eating leafy greens at least once a day, keeping my sugar intake low, and avoiding gluten (to which I am mildly sensitive). I’m not going to tell you to drink green smoothies and eat steamed broccoli, but I do find that when I fuel my body with what it needs, it just functions better. That doesn’t mean you can’t eat cookies or have a beer from time to time, but maybe don’t only fill your body with cookies and beer.

• Sleep well

  Also a no-brainer. Also difficult in times of stress. Full-disclosure: I am TERRIBLE at putting myself to bed. If I weren't so susceptible to peer-pressure and didn’t have a partner who is a sleep-loving robot, I would probably go to bed around 3am. But when I have a somewhat consistent bedtime I simply feel better. It might sound silly, but I’ve found a bedtime routine is helpful. Drinking some herbal tea (I like peppermint because chamomile is flowery garbage), then reading a book for 30-40 minutes usually puts me in a sleepy frame of mind. Also, I keep a notepad by my bed so when my mind starts working overtime with all the things I have to do the next day, I can jot them down instead of sleeplessly obsessing. And for the love of God, put down your phone. I am a big hypocrite with this one, but when I intend to “just look at Instagram for a couple of minutes” while lying in bed, 9 times out of 10 I will suddenly realize an hour has gone by and I’ve nothing to show for it. This stresses me out even more, making sleep an impossibility.

• Gratitude

  I know, I know, we’re all soooo blessed and have so much to be thankful for and blah blah blah, but hear me out. If you stop and take a moment to really think about all the amazing people and beautiful things you have in your life, it can sometimes give you a little perspective and let you reframe your troubles. The important thing with feeling grateful for all you have is to not let yourself slip into that sneaky trap of feeling guilty. This one’s really hard for me. How does one hold the weight of luck and privilege without guilt? It’s hard. I am so thankful that I am not only healthy, but that my friends and family are healthy. I am so grateful that I have an occupation which allows me to work from home, that I have clients and customers who are still hiring me, that I have savings which would protect me in a worst-case-scenario situation. I am so incredibly lucky to have a roof over my head and food in my fridge. But feeling guilty for having those things doesn’t actually do anything to benefit the people who don’t have those things. So don’t feel guilty for what you have, but if you’re able, consider giving to those less fortunate. If you have money, give to a worthy cause; if you have time and talent, donate your skills to someone who needs them; if you have the gift of empathy, call up a friend who is struggling and just listen. Fill out a postcard to a friend or family member and tell them they’ve been on your mind. Chances are, you’ve been on someone’s mind too.

• Be good to yourself

  I know we are all our own worst enemy and our own harshest critic, but try to cut yourself some slack. If you have a day where you don’t get anything “of substance” done (whatever that means), it’s okay. Tomorrow is a new day, and the next, and the next. We’re all struggling and we’re all figuring out this new way of living. So however you’re coping, just remember that this is new to all of us, that includes you, and all of us (and you!) deserve patience and understanding.

Forever Grateful <3

What a crazy few weeks (months?) it’s been!

Although I’ve been freelancing as a graphic designer and creative for about a decade now (um, decade???) I’ve had my fair share of growing pains over the years. Steadily, a sneaking suspicion has gained strength in my head and heart: design work, though sometimes enjoyable, simply does not “give me life” as the kids say. I have always felt this deep desire to draw, paint, and visually create in a way that graphic design just doesn’t allow me to do. Three years ago I quietly said to myself, “I want to illustrate. I want to be an illustrator.” I also said to myself, “I need a part-time job.”

In 2017 I started working at The Bar Method, a fitness studio devoted to helping you find your strongest self. Since working there I have been blessed to meet some truly incredible people who upon hearing of my illustration pursuits, have been loving, generous, and so supportive. I am forever grateful for that support and I am so. damn. lucky. In early March of this year (which already feels like an eon ago), it was looking likely that my part-time gig would become a thing of the past, at least temporarily. So I started thinking of ways I could amp up my illustration offerings to keep myself busy and keep my income stream flowing. I put out a call for commission requests and boy, did you answer! If I’ve been slow to respond or get back to people over the last two months, it’s because I’ve been busier than ever. If you've hired me to create artwork for you, thank you so much for your support and for helping me navigate this strange, scary time.

In case you missed it, I started running a special on custom illustrated avatars for just $35, and in the process have gotten the opportunity to draw some of your lovely faces…

As of publishing this post my commission queue has gotten pretty full (turnaround is about 3-4 weeks). But if you want your own custom illustrated avatar there’s still time to take advantage of the $35 special — act now because pricing goes up to $60 on May 1st! All I need is a few reference photos, your payment, a couple of days, and you’ll have a whimsical portrait to use on social media.

Want your own illustrated avatar? Shoot me a message and I’ll get back to you asap to get the ball rolling.

And if you’ve already ordered artwork from me: a thousand thank-you’s! It may sound cheesy, but you’re all making it possible for me to live my dream.

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

xoxo,
Allison