Thanks to all my friends, family and fans (and all of you who cross over into a couple — or all three— of those cherished groups) for remembering me today with your birthday wishes. I’m trying really hard not to feel so…old.
So, how am I going to spend my day? You guessed it: Working! But on fun stuff. I’ve just finished inking the last of my 100 portraits for my Legends of the Blues book from Abrams. I colored one last night; I have 54 more to color by the end of this week (don’t worry; the coloring goes pretty darn fast on these).
Tonight also happens to be a salon night, so that’s where I’ll be this evening. Our group includes an extremely interesting variety of very successful artists, writers, pop stars, designers and a few film folks on occasion. We gather at the end of a cul-de-sac of a prominent Pasadena artist’s (not me) semi-private street full of craftsmen homes that he owns (!) for great (and funny) conversations, good wine and mediocre pizza. It’s a really nice break from the grind…plus, it’s right here in Pasadena (short drive!).
My studio disaster…er…situation: I got a little bit of an extension at my old place, which is good because the guy who owns what I hope to make my new space has a lot of heavy machinery he still needs to move out of there before I can move in — hopefully sooner rather than later, as I don’t want to have to move twice! The packing is going amazingly fast as well. My friends Kris and Matt and I have have packed over 200 boxes of books already — in just four days.
I’m trying not to get too excited about my new space, as we haven’t signed the papers yet — but it’s bigger and nicer than my current studio space, and just a few blocks away from my current studio. Short move! (distance-wise, anyway)
Just one more thing here…This birthday has a bit of sadness to it, as Joe Kubert and I share the same birthday and this is the first year I can’t wish Joe a “Happy Birthday!” on our mutual celebratory day. I miss you, Joe. You never stopped pushing yourself and learning new things, my friend. You and your tremendous work ethic still stand as a role model for us all.
