Secret Agent Josephine Extravaganza!

How does one force Ellen the Lazy out of semi-blog hibernation? Well, it helps if you are this fabulous artist--


... and you are asking Ellen the Lazy to be a stop on your new book tour preview for these cool books...

... and you bribe me with chocolate. Not much gets Ellen the Lazy out of semi-blog hibernation besides neat people, books and chocolate. And Brenda still owes me the chocolate.

When Brenda asked me to be the "E" on her new books tour, I was delighted! Firstly, because they truly are cool books that I'd love to help promote and you should go buy one right this very minute (Colors, Numbers, ABCs.) Secondly, because it brought back memories of my early blogging days... Brenda was one of the first blogs I ever read back in 2003, when I first started blogging. We've never personally met, but I feel like she is a dear old friend. Definitely a kindred spirit. And thirdly, because it finally gave me the opportunity to pick the brain of a very creative woman. I love picking creative brains.

So without further ado...

15 Question Interview with Secret Agent Josephine

1) Were you creative as a kid? When did you realize that you wanted to be an artist?

I was. I always liked to draw as long as I can remember. My family tells stories of me flipping over the paper place mats at restaurants and going to town with a pen. It's just what I did. I don't understand why any kid wouldn't do that. I think it was mostly how I kept myself from being bored. That's still why I draw actually. I don't remember ever realizing that I wanted to be an artist I just remember people telling me that I was. My great grandfather was an artist so everyone always told me I took after him. I guess I just believed them and then when I turned out to be horrible at math and kickball I decided that was fine by me.

2) Who are your artistic influences?

Hello Kitty, Paul Frank, Penelope Dullagan, The Octonauts, Lora Lamm, the artists that design packaging for Starbucks and Target whoever they are... I never studied art history in school. I wish I would have. I've got some art books now but I don't find myself poring over them like you'd think. I find inspiration around me everywhere. Blogs, pinterest...I store things visually in my brain without words so I find it difficult to put all the thousands of images I see in my head onto paper. I wish I could say something intellectual like Picasso's blue period or something but really I don't know anything about that and I just made it up.

3) Were you educationally trained as an artist? If so, where? Do you feel that professional training is necessary?

No. When I was six my grandfather knew a woman who was an oil painter. She was down on her luck so my grandpa paid her to give me painting lessons. It was the best thing ever. I learned how to mix colors, how to take care of my brushes, how to shade, what a horizon was and perspective... all as a very young kid. I still remember the things she taught me. I did take a couple of art classes in college just because it was fun. I should have majored in art but I was too afraid of the competition and (stupidly) I thought there was no money in art. I majored in journalism and minored in English which turned out to not make me any money at all. Though working on the school magazine and newspaper did introduce me to computers which eventually lead me to graphic design.

4) How is your current art space set up?

I have a small wooden desk right in the window. This is where I spend most of my time. It has great light and I can look outside and see my daughter playing if she is in the front yard. I keep that desk relatively neat and tidy. I do most of my art on my laptop. I sketch on regular old sheets of cheap printer paper and scan them in for reference but most of my work is just vectors. I really wish I would do more mixed media but I don't. Behind me I have my messy desk. That is where I keep my paints, pens, sewing machine, stacks of folders... really it's just a place to stash everything. If I want to paint I have to clear it all off.


5) Is there anything that you must have with you in order to work?

Coffee and my laptop. I turn on Pandora to a piano solo station. It's kind of weird because that is not my favorite kind of music but it seems to be what I can work too. Soothing and not distracting and it cuts out background noise.

6) What is your favorite item at your work table?

Sharp pencils and those soft white erasers that never get old. I also love pens from Tokyo Pen Shop. They have to be the Unibal .38 fine pens. They are the best!

7) What art tools do you use?

I love water color. I don't use it a lot but I have several of those mini travel kits and they last forever. Sometimes I use my daughter's Crayola kid markers. They work just as well, if not better than my expensive pens. The chimera has three sets of teeth. I use a glue gun a lot. Does that count?


8) What is your typical process for creating art?

I sketch roughly on a sheet of printer paper. I sort of half close my eyes (it's some kind of right brain/left brain trick that works for me for some reason) and just let whatever I see in my mind come out. It's always messy and looks like a kid drew it when I start. Then I start shading things in and smoothing lines. When my sketch looks decent I take a picture of it or scan it into my computer. Then I trace it in Adobe Illustrator and fix it up until I'm happy with it. Sometimes I skip the sketching step but not usually.

9) Can you think of an AHA moment in the past which dramatically changed/influenced your art style?

Yes. I never really thought I was an artist. I drew a lot. It was an outlet for me but I didn't think I was good enough. I was a graphic designer who did layout for junk mail. I was great at graphic design but from time to time we would need art and there wasn't any. We had stock photography that was awful. Terrible models from the 80's and the clients never had the budget for their own photography so sometimes I would just illustrate my own art. Usually for kid-related pieces like grocery store kid clubs and pet clubs. My boss at the time told me that I'd never make it in the illustration world and I believed him. But you do what you love and I illustrated every day just because I felt like it. Gradually I got better and now people call me an illustrator. I still don't think I measure up very well to real illustrators but I love doing what I'm doing so I'll probably never stop.

Actually that's not my aha moment. That came one day when I was sitting at the dinging room table waiting for my husband for some reason or other. He always kept me waiting and it was a pet peeve of mine. It still is really. Anyway, I was annoyed so I drew myself with my eyes rolled and my arm all out of perspective crazy like I was bored out of my skull. It wasn't a great drawing. I was just doodling but my brother-in-law who was also there got a huge kick out of it. He asked if he could keep it. I was baffled because I thought it was a horrible drawing but he insisted it was brilliant. He said it wasn't the perspective being off that was important but the emotion that I caught with a few simple lines. I think him believing in me and giving me that single piece of praise is what set me on fire. From then on I didn't care so much about being perfect. In fact the less correct I draw something the better I like it. It's more about capturing the emotion of something that makes it come to life and be art that someone else can relate to.

10) What inspires you on a daily basis?

My daughter. I love making things for her. She has the best ideas and we feed off of each other.

11) What kills your creativity buzz?

My daughter. Just kidding! But you know how it is. Being a mother isn's always conducive to being a great career woman. I'll be buzzing along making the best art project ever, completely losing myself in what I'm doing, and then suddenly it's time to make dinner for a hungry whining kid. Total buzzkill. But I wouldn't change my life for anything. I know I'm blessed to be able to do what I do and be with her so much of the day. Every moment with her is precious. I'm going to miss her with the heat of a thousand suns when she grows up and moves away from me.

12) If you could change anything about yourself as an artist, what would it be?

I'd make myself a night person. I love being a morning person but I wonder if I would get more done if I could stay up until the wee hours of the morning. I also wish I was better at color. It's a funny thing. People just assume that since you can draw that you are good with color. I'm not. I use whatever palette I have on hand. Often the default palette that comes with Adobe Illustrator. When I paint sometimes I wish I could just paint with one color.


13) What are you most proud of, artistically?

This is a hard one! I don't really know. I fall in and out of love with projects that I've done. I don't know if this is the answer to your question at all but I'm most excited about the projects that are still in my head. I can see them so clearly. I know they are going to be my best work yet. I just need to get time to do them!

14) What advice would you give to aspiring artists in today's world?

Draw every day. Be creative everyday. You get better and better. If you don't have clients start making art for potential clients as gifts. If they like it you'll start getting work and if they don't well, you'll have a great piece for your portfolio. People that are getting things for free are more likely to give you more creative freedom and let you do your best work.

15) What is your dream project?

Magazine editorial illustrations. Maybe a game ap or Secret Agent Josephine toys. I'm full of dreams for my next books. I can't wait to get started on them. I feel like these books that I have out now were just me dipping my toes in the water. I can do so much more.

This is just a stage, right?

Anna: "Mommy, I love your boobies. They are so cute together. It is like they are on a first date and they are going to get married."

Ho Ho Ho!

Just wanted to show you the Christmas present that I made for my folks this year.

(To help with the inside info... my dad is a Lutheran minister, my mom is a teacher, I--the oldest daughter--am an artist, Karen is a writer and Sara is a cook.)

And this is what happens when Daddy is in charge of bathtime...

My "Things I Will Never Do Again" List

I ran across this concept awhile back. Well, the real name of the list is a "F**k It" List (a play on the movie The Bucket List-- you know, things you want to do before you kick the bucket.) The idea is to create your own list about things that you will never do again before you kick the bucket. Since I prefer to not drop the F-Bomb (such an ugly, uncreative word, people), I am calling my list, "Things I Will Never Do Again." (Although, I gotta admit, there's something very definitive about the original name of the list.)

One day, I just realized that there's not too many things that I gotta do to feel like my life's complete. Don't really care about climbing any mountains. Or jumping out of any planes. Or traveling any place in particular (although I'd really like to go back to Italy with Jason and Anna someday. Though if it doesn't happen, eh.) The big things for me have been covered... I have a family and I know Jesus.

But I am reaching an age (35) where I am finding that I am just done with certain things. Maybe it's a woman thing. After years of trying to be a "nice" and accommodating lady, I'm sick and tired of finding myself in frustrating situations... situations that, for the most part, I brought upon myself just for being unable to say "NO." I just realized that life is too darn short.

Ellen's "Things I Will Never Do Again" List

1) Cut my hair super short. Yes, it looks cute for awhile, but the upkeep is not worth it. I am not the type to get my hair cut every six weeks, which is what is required to keep from looking like Ponyo. I always regret it and then it takes me two years to grow it out to ponytail length, which is how I like to wear my hair anyway.

2) Feel spiritual guilt about taking anti-depressants. I go through this every couple of years. I am doing great on my anti-depressants, then someone comes out of the woodwork and starts pressuring me to get off of them. Starts telling me that I am just not praying enough. Or reading my Bible enough. Or allowing God to heal me. At first I blow them off. But then it starts to eat at me and I start to question. I wean off of the meds and I do fine at first. But slowly but surely, the depression creeps back. I wrestle and wrestle with going back on the meds. I finally relent. Bingo. Find myself praising God for the gift of anti-depressants and His amazing mercy. I think I will just skip that cycle from now on.

3) Take responsibility for an animal that I haven't officially adopted. I even thought I might go a step further and say "an animal I haven't paid money for." But then I remembered that I paid money for my demon chihuahua, Squirrel, who held my life hostage for three years. I even thought I might go so far as to end the sentence after the word "animal"... as in, I will never take responsibility for another animal ever again. But that's too final. There might come a day when we are ready to pick out an old lazy, fat, housebroken golden retriever and adopt him. I won't rule that out. But what I will rule out is trying to save and rescue every pathetic creature that comes my way. Letting them poop and pee and hairball all over my house. Taking on animals that aren't my responsibility and having them die in my hands and having to explain it to my daughter-- all because a pet hoarder did not get her 37 cats fixed. No more.

4) Put the my safety (or any member of my family's safety) in danger, due to social pressure. Whether it is "Oh, that's just the way we do it" or "Oh, you are being too uptight" or "Oh, you are being too overprotective" or "Oh, let the kids be kids" or "Oh, it will be fine".... I am done. Forget it. Let your own kid run around wild near the pool. Walk to the end of that darkened parking lot yourself. No, my 5-year-old does not get to walk to the restaurant bathroom herself unsupervised yet. Yes, I leave my shopping cart next to the car and not take it over to the cart corral because I'm not leaving my kid in the car alone. Yes, you may give me dirty looks. But I don't really care anymore.

That's really all I have for now. I'm sure I will add more as I grow older.

Do you have anything you will never do again?

Behold... My Latest Dumb Project

I am a collector of junk and whatnots. Miniature junky whatnots especially make me happy. It doesn't really matter where it comes from... lying in the street, the Chik-Fil-A play area, dragged home by my daughter. Odd button, 1960's wooden Little People doll, salt dough letter "F" from preschool, John Ritter Three's Company sticker that my friend Vu gave me in high school, miniature versions of world monuments... if it is remotely cool, it goes in my Random Box.

I am also an avid reader of the I Spy and Can You See What I See? books. (Anna has no interest in them, but I still pretend that I am checking them out of the library for her.) I had this extra mirror hanging around and starting thinking about my Random Box and "I Spy" and... behold. Yet another large weird project that leaves my husband rolling his eyes.

My problem is this... I am actually running out of whatnots. So, to all my friends and family, if you could keep your eyes peeled for oddwads that you find endearing or special, and save them for me, I would be honored to add your contribution to my I Spy Mirror.

Thank you and good night.

Shake It Like A Polaroid Picture

I love this....