Illustration for LoseItorLoseIt.com

February 14, 2012

I was really excited when the good folks at LoseItorLoseIt asked me to do this illustration. Just what IS LoseItorLoseIt.com? Basically, it’s a weight loss site. But it’s not just any run of the mill, count your calories and exercise weight loss site because it uses the great motivator that all of us want: MONEY. Cold hard cash. Dinero. What makes it even more awesome is the fact that it you are wagering YOUR OWN MONEY. In short, you put in an amount of money, set a reasonable weight loss goal and if you fail to make your weekly weigh in you LOSE your money! It’s all about being ACCOUNTABLE for your own actions and decisions. Sound interesting? Check out the site HERE.

They wanted me to do an illustration reminiscent of the famous evolution illustration of ape to man but (in their own words) “instead of evolving from ape to human, evolving from big, sloppy, dude to lean dude. It’s a reminder of how EFFIN’ hard it is to go through that process.”

Personally, I’m a huge advocate of the benefits of eating right and exercising to stay healthy or get healthy in body and soul so I jumped at the chance to work on this job. It’s really easy to stay the same and complain about feeling crappy all of the time. It’s a helluva lot harder to make changes and stick to them for the long haul. Props to those individuals who take charge and make themselves accountable for their own health. You are my heroes!

Online Auction to benefit the family of Ranger Anderson of Mt. Rainier National Park

February 10, 2012

Hello all,
I’m getting the word out about an upcoming online eBay auction benefit for the family of Ranger Margaret Anderson of Mt. Rainier National Park who was tragically killed in the line of duty on January 1, 2012. There will be all types of items up for auction, including artwork, helicopter rides, sport tickets, gift certificates and more! For more information on the auction please visit Online Benefit Auction for the family of Ranger Margaret Anderson

I am donating a set of two prints of a 1963 Vespa Scooter and a 60′s era Honda Dream which I have titled, “The Dynamic Duo”. Please check out the auction when it goes live on February 14th and help spread the word about this great cause!
Thanks, Michele

Happy Holidays! End of the Year Wrap

December 24, 2011

Well, it’s time to celebrate! I’m taking a well deserved break to hang out with family, some good friends and do some serious merry-making in the mountains of North Carolina. I’ll be back, ready to rock n’ roll in 2012. So have a great holiday, however you celebrate, and I’ll see you on the flip side. Happy New Year!

The Walking Dead™

October 14, 2011

AMC’s series, “The Walking Dead”*, is best thing on television, period. Then again, I’m partial to zombies and other spooky stuff. After waiting all year for season 2, the premiere is finally upon us (yay!) and I am looking forward to another string of thrilling, edge-of-seat Sunday nights.

I created this promotion to coincide with the season 2 premiere of the show and Halloween because that is a few short weeks away. I’m sending an email and a print campaign with this image to my clients and potential clients. If you are an art director and would like to be added to my contact list or want a printed piece, hit me up!

Here are a few detail crops of the illustration:
Main character Rick Grimes, played on the show by actor Andrew Lincoln.

Rick Grimes, played by actor, Andrew Lincoln

And some of them pesky critters that everyone who breathes on the show is trying their best to avoid. They sure are hungry

Vintage and reproduction retro masks above my studio table. I love the colors!

Halloween Part 2 – The Evolution of the Costume

October 04, 2011

Although there’s the corny factor with the kid’s boxed costumes of the 80′s and before, they do have a certain retro charm. Is it the garish colors? The fact that they came in a box? I don’t know. I like em’ though, and have collected a few new old stock and vintage costumes (with the box!) as decorations in my studio.

Face it, when you were a kid Halloween was all about the costume. There were a few times when we were really little that we got store bought costumes but for the most part we made them ourselves. It was partially due to a shoe string budget but mostly because I usually wanted to be something that wasn’t available anywhere. And, always being the creative, I felt that I could do a much better job making something anyway. Just supplement stuff that you find around the house with a trip to the hobby store – add a stitch, some glue, maybe even a stapler and voilà! You are Miss Piggy! You are a cat! You are a person in a gorilla mask with a sparkly cape! (yeah, that happened.)

I really think that the stuff that they have in the Halloween stores now is lame. Right out of college, I worked as a product designer for a well known novelty chain store that owns one of the largest Halloween retailers in the country. During my time there, I got to create some really unique and fun props and masks. Unfortunately, like many things in our society, Halloween has been overrun with the vanilla, unimaginative, crap-in-a-bag concepts that fill the stores today. Of course, if you want to be a sexy (nurse, witch, devil, nun, vampire, etc.) you’re in luck!

Aside from the times that I bought Easter Bunny and Chicken costumes for Halloween (c’mon, who DOES that?) I still make my own costume if we have a Halloween party to attend. I’m lucky to have an equally creative husband who feels the same as I do. Here’s a sampling of some of our sometimes simple, sometimes complicated hits from years past. Enjoy!