libelle magazine

a two-page spread to accompany a christmas story in libelle magazine from the netherlands. i haven't seen the issue yet, there should be some spot illustrations peppering the text as well.

i wrapped up all of my work for the year, cleaned my studio and am off to montreal early tomorrow morning to enjoy christmas in the great white north. a warm and happy holiday to you all!

russian costume

tsarevna and tsarevich. pen and acryla gouache on paper.

sphinx

last month when i was in ohio, i stopped by dinara mirtalipova's adorable new shop mirdinara home + gifts for a small creative gathering, where the six of us sat around chatting and drawing mythical creatures.

happy hanukkah!

here's a gift idea! the little book of jewish celebrations by ronald tauber for chronicle books, gold foil card by red cap cards, cookie by fancypants baking co.

folded house

the new FLOW book for paper lovers is such a treat filled with decorative papers, stickers, artwork from amazing illustrators and so much more. inside you can find a pullout of a folded paper house that i illustrated specially for this edition. it even comes with little extras that you can cut out and play with!

venetian patterns

venetian patterns, acryla gouache on paper.

a christmas carol: color and pattern

i'm so excited to see inky blue being combined with wines and plums this fall, especially in check and windowpane patterns; it's one of my favorite color combinations and the scheme i chose for a christmas carol. my patterns were inspired by victorian plaids and stripes and it's a beautiful thing to see new iterations of these classics appearing in 2015.

(clockwise from top left: ann taylor / ann taylor / zara / madewell / madewell)

the firebird: khorovod

a khorovod is a slavic circle dance and chorus. this is another piece from my upcoming show the firebird. i chose to paint the background of each piece black to mimic the look of palekh, the russian folk handicraft of painting miniature scenes from folk tales and literature on lacquer papier-mâché boxes. my artist talk next week will touch on this and other folk traditions, as well as my love for ivan bilibin and the revived interest in slavic motifs in late 19th and early 20th century russian graphic arts.

the firebird: folk tales

two pieces from my upcoming exhibition the firebird at KSU stark:
above: vasilisa comes upon the house of baba yaga
below: tsarevich ivan meets his bride for the first time

the firebird

i have a small solo exhibition coming up next month at kent state university stark campus in north canton, ohio. the show is in conjunction with a russian art history course taught by my former MICA professor dr. marie gasper-hulvat. it's entitled the firebird and features miniature paintings of scenes from my favorite russian folk tales and russian 19th century country life. the show opens on thursday november 5th with an artist talk at 2 pm and will be on view through december 4th, 2015.

as usual my lovely frames were custom made for me by signed & numbered in salt lake city, utah.

my new studio

we moved to a new apartment, and for the first time in my life i have my own studio, which is a fabulous luxury. i've worked from a desk in my bedroom until now, and it makes such a difference to have a room designated specifically for work. not only that, but i was able to separate my painting area from my scanning, printing and computer area, which eliminates distraction and helps me separate tasks. all that daylight helps, too!

a christmas carol

my biggest project to date and one that i am very proud of was released today: a fully-illustrated edition of charles dickens' a christmas carol, published by chronicle books. i worked on it all through the heat of last summer but never lost steam or interest for this strange, wintery tale; what an honor to have the chance to contribute to its legacy! the thrill of seeing my name printed next to the beloved author's was well worth the effort.

being a story lit only by fireplaces, candles and gaslight street lamps, the book was a technical challenge for me since my work is quite flat and relies little on dramatic lighting. i'm thankful to designer kristen hewitt for giving me freedom to choose this plummy blue color palette and to feel around outside of my comfort zone to find the right mood for the book.
out today from chronicle books! this book has gilt-edged pages, gold foil details on the cover and a satin bookmark inside, making it a great gift edition - if i do say so myself.

enormous tiny art show no. 18

six new paintings are up at the enormous tiny art show in portsmouth, new hampshire, which opens this friday, september 4th. all six are also available for sale on nahcotta gallery's website.

more nudity

another painting for the upcoming enormous tiny art show in portsmouth, new hampshire.

the nudes

i'm painting miniature nudes for the next enormous tiny art show, opening on friday, september 4th. here are the first two, with the original sketches. both paintings are 5 x 3.5 inches in size.

citizen vintage window

here is the finished window display for citizen vintage, made from hand-cut paper and attached directly to the glass with strategically-placed double-stick tape. thank you so much to everyone who came to the vernissage last night, we had so much fun! the window and my paintings will be up all month long, and prints and cards will be available for sale at the shop. 
boris and i spent all of last weekend in a little cabin on the shore of the saint-laurent river hand-cutting this thing from heavyweight drawing paper. looking at it finished and covering the shop's windows, we can't believe we did it all with two x-acto knives and a smallish cutting mat. it was an ambitious project and we're so happy to see it all done!

uncovered classics: possession

uncovered classics is a project dedicated to promoting female authors of the 20th century by reading and reviewing their work and inviting illustrators and designers to give them new life through imagined book covers. i illustrated a cover for a.s. byatt's novel possession to go with kristen evans' review entitled "love is in the dust-filled air." check back every tuesday for new reviews (the other  covers are so beautiful!)

vernissage at citizen vintage

join us on august 6th for a show of original paintings and a new window display by yelena bryksenkova. prints and greeting cards will be available for sale during the month of august at citizen vintage /// joignez-nous le 6 août pour le vernissage de toiles originales et vitrine de l'artiste yelena bryksenkova. impressions et cartes seront en vente pour la durée du mois au citizen vintage.

if you live in or are just visiting quebec next week, i'd love to see you at this event. beer and music will be provided! i designed a special window display for the shop and some of my original paintings will be displayed alongside the unique clothes and accessories at citizen vintage, 5330 boul. st-laurent, montreal, QC (RSVP)

live performance by radiant baby
sponsored by kronenbourg 1664

roller disco

in each quarterly issue, toronto-based architecture and design magazine BLOCK asks an illustrator: "what would you do with your very own urban infill?" unrestricted by the realities of urban design, i chose to fill the space between two buildings with one groovy roller disco. you can read the summer 2015 edition of the magazine here.

montréal

we moved my workspace to montréal for the summer, so i'll be working from this little nook until late august. all orders from my etsy shop will ship via canada post until then. i'll also have a small show coming up next month - more info on that soon!

red cap cards gold foil collection

i created five new designs for red cap cards' newly launched gold foil collection! each 4.25 x 5.5" illustrated greeting card is printed with soy inks on 60% tree free recycled paper and stamped with gold foil. now available in my shop!

italy + croatia

i've just returned from paradise! after a too-brief visit to rome and florence, we spent the last two weeks traveling around croatia - including split, dubrovnik and plitvička jezera national park. what a perfect way to start summer! the smell of cyprus trees and the salty, impossibly blue water of the adriatic sea still linger on my senses, but i'm happy to be home and settling back into my work.