Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Activity Book Zine!

Merlin’s Beard! I sure am excited to share the zine I created for Light Grey Art Lab's Stacks exhibition, a collection of zines created to commemorate each of the past 30 years! I was given the year 2007, so my mind immediately went to Harry Potter (but then, whenever does it not?). It is timely that I’m sharing this with you today, because it was on this exact date in 2007 that the final Harry Potter book was released to eager wizards and muggles worldwide!

I considered approaching this, my first ever zine, in a number of ways. I wanted to make something that could be interactive in some way, so I came up with the idea of an activity book. It was fun to include little moments and details that weren’t included in the movies and to make the characters look the way I think they look based on the canon, rather than the movie version. I’m pretty sure hardcore Pottheads and casual fans alike will have fun filling this out! I’ve included some of my favorite pages here and a gif that shows all of the spreads.

This zine will be sold in person at Light Grey Art Lab and on Light Grey’s online shop starting August 1st. They’re a very limited edition so if you want one, get on it quick!

Jimmy & Zac

I painted this plate as a wedding gift for two of my best friends in the whole wide world, illustrator Jimmy Malone and fine artist/teacher Zac Lawhon. I wanted to make something to commemorate their marriage that could look pretty on a wall if they wanted but could also be utilitarian. I included images of them as well as images and symbols that remind me of them, including MICA pre-college lanyards from the summer we all met.

To make this I went to a paint-your-own-pottery place for the first time since I was a kid. It was a lot of work but I had so much fun doing this! There is something so gratifying about painting all these layers of glaze and not knowing quite what it will look like, then having it fired and seeing everything in its smooth, fully-saturated glory. I fully intend to go back and paint some more pottery. Someone should commission me to paint a commemorative plate!

Blooms of Nigeria

I was disgusted and heartbroken when I heard about the recent kidnapping of nearly 300 girls from their school in Nigeria. That's why when my friend and former MICA instructor, Rebecca Bradley, contacted me to see if I would be interested in doing something for the girls through illustration, I was eager to see what we could do. Together we came up with Blooms of Nigeria, an online tribute gallery to spread awareness and show solidarity with the missing girls and the people of Nigeria.

Blooms of Nigeria logo

We have reached out to 180 female artists to create flowers for each of the 180 missing girls whose names have so far been released to the public. We're only a few days into the project but so far there are already dozens of beautifully illustrated flowers on the site! I'm so excited by the talented artists who have agreed to participate in the project!

My flower for Tabitha

Obviously what has happened to these girls is a big problem, and what we're doing is a very small gesture. My dream is that all of the missing girls will be brought home safe and sound and know that they were not forgotten, that people all over the world cared for them while they were gone and still care for their futures. I want for these girls to be able to go back to school, where they will blossom into intelligent and compassionate leaders of tomorrow. If this is also your dream, I hope that you will consider donating an organizations such as  Girl Rising, which is helping to provide education for girls in Africa and around the world.

You can follow Blooms of Nigeria on Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter.

Happy Easter!

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday before running off to a family gathering. I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday!

St. Patrick and the Snakes

Happy St. Patrick's Day, friends! Among other things, St. Patrick is famous for driving all of the snakes out of Ireland. 

Split Ends

I'm trying to get back into using old book pages as painting surfaces. I suspect that because the page already has some sort of composition and visual interest provided by the text, I then feel free to paint in a more expressive and spontaneous way than I would on a blank page. 

Bird Botanical

It's been a pretty harsh and dreary winter this year. Lately, I just can't get images of springtime out of my head!

This design is available on various products in my Society 6 shop, including prints, clocks, greeting cards, onesies, mugs, totes, hoodies, i-phone cases, and many more!

Let's Make Out!

Still need a Valentine for your crush or main squeeze? I've got you covered with this free printable. Click here to download!

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! 

Jindo Rescue Calendar to the Rescue!

Love dogs and still in need of a 2014 calendar? Pick up this awesome 2014 Jindo Rescue Calendar! 100% of the money from sales goes to rescuing Jindos! I did the illustration for May and a number of my very talented friends and former classmates have also contributed pages.

The Spirits of Autumn

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
Don't you just love that crisp scent in the air? The apple cider on the store shelves? The disappearance of mosquitos? I created this piece in celebration of all the things that make Autumn so wonderful.

Prints, laptop cases, mugs (ooOooh!) and more are available in the shop!

New Self-Portrait

I made this little self-portrait to use as a new avatar on the various social networks I feel societal pressure to belong to. 

Bow Girl

I made this bow-decked girl as a part of a little personal project I'm working on. I'll give you more information on that when I'm done! Prints of this piece (as well as iPhone cases, T-shirts, and tote bags!) are available for sale in my shop.

Bookforum

My gelato illustration is in the current issue of Bookforum magazine! 

CVP

Here's a little painting I did on St. Paul Street in Baltimore's Charles Village, the other day. I want to make a habit of going out and painting outside more often. 

American Illustration 32

I am super-duper excited to inform you all that one of my pieces will be included in the upcoming American Illustration 32 annual! The piece that was selected is the Lizard Queen illustration I created for Ten Paces and Draw's 2012 fashion swap. I owe much gratitude to this year's AI judges and to Alyssa and Rachel of Ten Paces for asking me to participate!

Don't Call Me Honney

Hello all! You may recall the hand-crafted brooches I made to sell at the MICA Art Market in December. Well, I was asked by the lovely Sara Barnes of Eyra Illustration Gallery to make a new batch. They are included in the current Eyra show, "Don't Call Me Honney," which has a Baltimore theme. We all know how much I love my hometown, so I had a lot of fun making these.

Each brooch is 100% one-of-a-kind and only $18 a piece! You can see the entire show online here, and you can purchase my brooches here!

Big thanks to Sara Barnes for inviting me to participate!

Go Ravens!!!

Baltimore is a very exciting place to be right now! Everyone is psyched and ready for the Superbowl (even weirdo artists who don't normally care about sports). Go Ravens!

Brown Paper Bag's Collage Scrap Exchange

I'm really glad I had the chance to do some collages for Brown Paper Bag Blog's third Collage Scrap Exchange. I swapped scraps with Paul Bernard, who sent me some lovely stuff to work with. Below are two of the five pieces I made for the swap. You can see all five on the Collage Scrap Exchange site!

Big thanks to Sara Barnes for organizing the swap!

Collagical Girl

Just playing around with some scraps! 

New World Order: An Illuminati Image Search!

Or (alternate blog entry title): "In Which Janna Spends Way Too Much Time Jabbering About the Illuminati"

I have a piece in Light Grey Art Lab Gallery's upcoming Message in a Bottle show! The theme of the show is illustrations that are cryptic, secretive, and/or have hidden images or illusions. I've always been interested in secret societies, so I decided to make a piece about one of the most famous ones, the Illuminati. 

Detail: horns galore!

The Illuminati was started by Adam Weishaupt in Bavaria in 1776 as a group for Enlightenment-minded men to - supposedly - just talk shop and chillax. Ten years later the Bavarian government shut the group down and most scholars say that was that. Many other people, however, believe that the Illuminati persisted in secret, its members infiltrating various existing societies (such as the Freemasons) and world governments (such as our own U.S. of A). Some even believe that the Illuminati goes back even further than 1776, relating them back to the infamous Knights Templar of the Middle Ages and even further back, to ancient Egypt. 

Detail: Jammin'

For hundreds of years the Illuminati have been blamed for everything from causing world wars, to poisoning the populous with fast food and toxic "chemtrails" in the sky, to covering up alien abductions and reptilian humanoids living under the earth. However their ultimate goal, most believers say, is to create one world government led by the Antichrist. Pretty much every politician and celebrity you can think of has been accused of Illuminati ties, including (bizarrely) many popular rappers, in recent years. Illuminati conspiracy theorists can be anyone from gun-toting, apocalypse shelter-owners to teenage kids in hip-hop clubs. Poll your friends and relations and you may find a few Illuminati conspiracy theorists among them (I've found a couple)!

Detail: hip-hop royalty

I've been wanting to do an image search piece for a while, and I figured the mysterious world of the Illuminati was a great theme to work with. I spent three days alone in my room doing nothing but reading Illuminati conspiracy theory blogs and message boards in order to find out what people are currently saying about the Illuminati. It was fascinating and fun and incredibly creepy. Every celebrity, character, and symbol in the image search references real Illuminati conspiracy theories I found in my search. 

Detail: Perhaps the best thing I have ever painted, ever.

Okay, I know that trip to the department of back story was totally superfluous, but thanks for sticking with me anyway. Click on the image below to find all of  the Illuminati figures and symbols, BEFORE THEY FIND YOU!

PS: Extra points if you can find me, the artist! 

PPS: The Message in a Bottle show opens January 25th at Light Grey Art Lab and runs through February 15th. If you're in the area of Minneapolis, Minnesota please check it out and snap some photos for me!

PPPS: If you're fond of "New World Order: An Illuminati Image Search" and want to look at it all the time (or hate it and want to throw darts at it), PLEASE PURCHASE PRINTS HERE.