Bee's Knees Get Well Soon

For: Dare
Occasion: Get Well Soon

After long last, Dare was able to have his knee surgery! To help spur in a speedy recovery, I drew him this picture of a bee on crutches with a brace on his knee. I'm sure Dare will be up and at 'em faster than is reasonably possible!

New Baby

For: Kathy, Alex, and Joey
Occasion: New Baby

Baby Joey was born last week to my cousins Kathy and Alex. To celebrate the little bundle's arrival, I did a watercolor of the new family all together in teal and in love. Here's hoping they are adjusting well to each other!

Yearbook Graduation

For: Jack
Occasion: his high school graduation

To help Jack celebrate his graduation from high school, I took a page out of my own high school experience by illustrating a page of senior portraits. This one features Jack prominently in his cap and gown with the quote "what a long strange trip it's been." This is definitely not the graduation Jack was probably expecting, but we are all proud of him and excited to see what's next!

Wedding Car Congratulations

For: Molly and Barry
Occasion: their marriage

To help Molly and Barry celebrate the start of their marriage, I did a watercolor car complete with cans tied to the bumper and balloons to liven up the drive into the star-light night. Their ceremony was not what they had imagined or planned for, and I hope their steadfastness to each other during uncertain times serves their love and lives together. Can't wait for the party!

Purple Birthday

For: Lydia
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate Lydia's birthday, I did a watercolor of every pattern I could think of in purple, and then added a "happy birthday" message in stamps over some purple patterned sparkly paper. I hope Lydia is doing well out in Ohio and enjoyed her birthday!

Protest Birthday

For: Alex
Occasion: his birthday

For Alex's birthday card, I did a watercolor based off protest art a la the DSA, which he reps out in Illinois. I thought it was a really cool way to highlight his political passion and I love how the watercolor sound comes out of the megaphone. The image end up being more timely than I had anticipated, but the revolution has been on its way for a while. Here's hoping Alex had an awesome birthday!

Beach Birthday

For: Aunt Sioux
Occasion: her birthday

To help Aunt Sioux celebrate her birthday, I did a watercolor of a tropical beach scene with a lovely oversized umbrella. I know Sioux is bummed to be at home, so I hope this card helped provide a few moments of daydream getaway to tide her over until the next trip can happen!

Birthday Data

For: Jess
Occasion: her birthday

Jess is a rock star data lady, so for her birthday card I tried to make a line graph that created a birthday cake! There's a bunch of data points outside of the lines for sprinkles, and I can't really explain the candle (it's "anomalous candle data"). Overall, I am super pleased with this card and had such a great time checking in Jess earlier this week! I hope she had an awesome day.

Nintendo Switch Birthday

For: Goober
Occasion: his birthday

For Goober's birthday card, I did a paper-cut version of a sparkly Nintendo Switch! I drew a pixelated HBD for a happy birthday message. This was really fun to make, and I hope Goober had a wonderful day and got to play lots of games in his week off!

Margarita Birthday

For: Ceci
Occasion: her birthday

To help Ceci celebrate her birthday-at-home, I did a drawing of a margarita in white ink to mimic a chalk board drawing. I hope Ceci was able to have a fun day and celebrate in a fun way!

Cars 2 Birthday

For: Adam
Occasion: his birthday

My dear nephew Adam turned two! He's been super into the Cars movies lately (and the green car Chick Hicks in particular), so I made a card that features an adaptation of the Cars 2 movie poster on the front...

...with a pop-up of three of the characters all ready for a birthday! There's Mater on the left with a balloon, Chick Hicks stealing the show up front with a party hat, and Lightning McQueen with a present on the right. 

I'm so pleased that Adam was able to work the card with "gentle touches" to keep it in tact! It was a real treat trying to make an elaborate card for my bud's birthday, and I cannot wait to see him again! (Maybe I can watch Cars to help pass the time--I've never actually seen the movies!)

Birthday Flowers

For: Janet
Occasion: her birthday

To help Janet celebrate her birthday, I did a watercolor of her red iconic flowers up at the house at The River. We were so happy to hear that Janet had a wonderful time celebrating, and I hope it marks the start of a great year!

Celestial Whippet Birthday

For: Christina
Occasion: her birthday

Christina just got two dogs, named Helio and Luna. (Those names--I can't even!) To celebrate her birthday, I did an illustration of two whippet pups majestically circling the sun and moon. I had such a blast coming up with this design, and I'm so glad Christina liked it! She is a most excellent human and deserving of The Universe conspiring to help her have an awesome birthday. 

Craft Beer Birthday

For: Alex
Occasion: his birthday

Alex is just one of the coolest people I've ever known. To celebrate his birthday this year, I did a marker drawing of a beer bottle with an indie label on it! The beer is called "BDAY" and I am a big fan of the character's hat and balloons (and his big excited eyes!). I miss Alex a lot and hope he had a wonderful day grilling and kicking back with some brews. 

Flower Birthday

For: Terra
Occasion: her birthday

For Terra's birthday card, I painted some happy yellow-orangey flowers with varying sizes of ink outlines for a playful design. I am a big fan of the happy yellows these days, and I hope it added some joy into Terra's big day!

Picasso Birthday

For: Jess
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate Jess's birthday this year, I did a Picasso-style portrait of her! I was pleased that it came out so pretty (I did one of myself recently, with less aesthetically pleasing results) and I hope it helped her celebrate what hopefully will be one of the weirdest birthdays of her life. 

Bubble Birthday

For: Lexi
Occasion: her birthday

To celebrate Lexi's birthday this year, I created some watercolor circles with white ink designs for delightful whimsy. Lexi is just a super cool lady and I miss her a lot -- I hope she had a lovely birthday and had fun with her adult coloring books!

Paper Mama Mother's Day

For: Mommy Twin
Occasion: Mother's Day

Twin is now a Mama twice over, so to celebrate her second Mother's Day, I created a torn-paper card that spells out "mama." Adam is into tearing and gluing paper lately, so I wanted to emulate his awesome style. (Owen is into eating, sleeping, and pooping, so maybe next year we'll have a sense of the kind of card he might make!) Twin is such a wonderful mom, and I'm so glad Owen got her espresso to help her enjoy her day after a few late nights!

You Da Mom Mother's Day

For: Mom
Occasion: Mother's Day

When we were young, the phrase "You da bomb!" swept our household, along with "the bomb.com" and many other variations. I remember my mom being curious about it, and lo and behold, it popped up in my brain just in time for Mother's day. Mom is basically the bomb, or the bomb.com! I hope she had a great Mother's day and got to bask in the glory of us being out of the house and not bringing home lots of weird phrases.

Mother's Day Tea

For: Janet
Occasion: Mother's Day

To celebrate Mother's Day for my mother-in-law, I did a watercolor of a very fancy and fun tea cup and saucer in purples and gold. The idea came to me as I was thinking about her visit to us, when I offered her tea in our cramped apartment -- I hope she was pampered and had a wonderful day! It was fun to see the Keane clan together on a video call to celebrate the materfamilias.

Artsy Birthday

For: Liz
Occasion: her birthday

Liz is a veritable artist, so for her birthday card this year, I tried to come up with the most artistic image I could! This ended up being a swirly blue water color with white ink on top in a flower style. It was really fun and cathartic for me to make--I hope Liz has gotten some good art time in while hunkered up at home.

Chalk Congrats

For: Eileen
Occasion: Graduation

Eileen totally crushed it and graduated! To help her celebrate this amazing accomplishment, I created the brightest happiest card I could using watercolors over a masking fluid where I'd written "congrats" in a cool, chalky font and sketched out a diploma and a mortarboard. Times are definitely tough for the class of 2020, but there is still much to celebrate and I hope Eileen is very proud of all the work she put in.

Cake Birthday

For: Aunt Lauren
Occasion: her birthday

For Aunt Lauren's birthday card, I did a watercolor of a many-tiered cake with fruit decorations! I had a great time painting this and love how light and playful it looks. I hope Aunt Lauren had an equally beautiful cake to help her celebrate her day!

Character Birthday

For: Luke
Occasion: his birthday

For Luke's birthday, I did a drawing of three animal friend characters holding a big cake with lots and lots of calendars to celebrate the big day! I loved working on their faces and their various party hats. I hope Luke was able to do some fun stuff to mark the occasion!

Tulip Birthday

For: Aunt Kelly
Occasion: her birthday

For Aunt Kelly's birthday card, I did a watercolor of a vase of tulips to celebrate her day and the season. I hope it provided a bit of calm and serenity to help with the day's festivities!