Wright's Department Store

07/03/2022

Two friends remaining from my first batch of Knottabunnies. Each KnottaBunny is a baby toy/rattle/teether with a hand-embroidered face and jersey knit arms that end with a knot. They have colorful cotton fronts, high-contrast black-and-white on their backs, and are firmly stuffed with corn fiber. You can see the rest of the gang in the next picture. More detailed description is in the shop link in my bio. Thank you for looking!

05/30/2022

Are you being served? The original Wright’s Department Store in much-lovelier-then Woonsocket, RI. My grandfather, who owned the building in which ran his store for 30-odd years, is standing first in line on the left. This photo looks to have been taken near the mid-century mark. The building burned down in the early 70s.

03/30/2021

This was taken a few days ago before I received my first dose of the Covid vaccine. I am so awkward when it comes to photos of myself but really wanted to mark this day because SCIENCE is so freaking awesome. The only bummer—I didn’t get a sticker!
If you have questions about the covid vaccine, Alie Ward’s podcast Vaccine Infodemiology (COVID-19 IMMUNITY) with Jessica Malaty Rivera is an amazingly enjoyable discussion of a critically serious subject—they cover everything!

05/09/2020

Sunshine/sunset pillow for a sunny girl’s 2nd birthday! Custom inner pillow with hand stitched baffling to keep its low-profile shape. Zippered cover with stenciled awake/asleep features on each side. AND I got to watch her open it in real time via which was especially delightful.

05/05/2020

Yellow boots. Oil on canvas. My grand-bugginses are my muses much as my daughters have always been. Caught them running up a trail ahead of during a video chat. I wish I could paint their giggles.

03/16/2020

Losira: I must touch you. I beg it. It is my existence.
Kirk: I’ve seen the results of your touch.
Losira: But you are my match, James Kirk. I must touch you. Then I will live as one—even to the structure of your cells, the arrangement of chromosomes.
Kirk: That is how you kill.
—Star Trek TOS, ‘That Which Survives’, s3ep17

Losira is a wonderful (if limited) metaphor for a cell-surface receptor—she has one target she must reach. This scene popped into my head (as Star Trek often does) while sketching my take on the cell-surface receptors that distinguish COVID-19 and which target the lungs. Receptors for seasonal flu, in comparison, prefer the nose and throat. This is one New Thing that I hope gets sorted fast. In the meantime, follow guidelines and updates and be kind!

03/13/2020

Always trust Emily Dickinson to put her finger spot on...anything, really. From my sketchbook.

03/06/2020

Life’s full of surprises. This is the view from my room at Rhode Island Hospital on 8 Feb as I waited for my daughters to take me home three days after having a stroke. I was exceedingly fortunate that it was removed quickly and, after all the tests and assessments, that glow-stick supermoon felt like an award. This is also a love letter—to the amazing, dedicated Neurology staff and my kind, cheerful nurses; to my family who waited through the wee hours, standing by to lighten the mood, and ferrying my daughters from airports; to my brilliant girls who dropped everything, appearing as if by magic, and to the husband and boyfriends who held down their respective forts. I am so damned humbled and proud to have you all in my life. The second picture is a sketch I made on the same day. The phrases are some of the evaluations I read aloud multiple times per day.

01/11/2020

Until the end of January, 100% of the sales of Donna Wilson's special edition Wilbur Koala go to WIRES, the largest wildlife rescue and rehabilitation charity in Australia. I've admired Donna Wilson's work for more than 10 years. Please share this opportunity to both discover her for yourself and support Australian efforts to recover from this devastating round of bush fires.

Until the end of January, we're donating 100% of the sales from this special edition of Wilbur Koala to WIRES, the largest wildlife rescue and

12/22/2019

Elfscape in order after first being away with my wonderful daughters and then acquiring the cold-that-will-not-die. Getting back into business as usual but suddenly want to change everything. First things first--Merry Christmas, froods!

08/03/2019

The scene this morning at the Wrentham water stop for the Pan Mass Challenge where I caught up with my birthday girl riding with besties and . Check out the reflection of all the activity in Peggy's sunglasses. So much great energy! And so proud of these women!

07/18/2019

My favorite bag, sized to accommodate Rolling Stone (among others) before the mag shrunk. The vintage 'Art Museum' fabric is not meant for such a rough purpose but I love it. Years of everyday use left it shredded badly around the handles and the orange accents had faded to ochre. No photo, I'm afraid (I'll get the hang of this one day). I replaced the damaged edges with a vintage floral in almost all the same colors except the bright blue. I mixed a match with screenprinting ink and added petal accents to better link the two fabrics. Mixing more ink, I handpainted the orange back onto the original fabric. Ready for another decade.