Booked solid.

Alex's cousin says I should write a book. Your Yoko Ono, published in paperback glory? Careful Meghan, you may have created a monster. No, wait, I take that back. You have created a monster. 

I am channeling Carrie Bradshaw. This isn't good.

But maybe I need more material. Yes, I definitely do. Once the boys are super-duper famous, it should be easy to get published. But, considering the current status of this relatively unknown band, who (besides my mother and a handful of devoted blog followers) would care? I haven't had any terribly juicy stories to share. Yet.

In the meantime, once I have attacked items 1 through 39 on my ever-growing project list, I want to get started on a children's book. Alex and I had always talked about making this a team project, but he's obviously a little busy. I can use a solo project as a warm-up. Illustration was my major, but I'm rusty. Very rusty. I've been too scared of the vastness of the blank canvas for our living room (project #16) - a simple abstract piece is even daunting.

The great imaginations of Charley Harper, Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle to inspire:

I've been excited to get started on this project since we first adopted our second dog, Archie. His face makes me want to paint. Look at him! He's so ridiculous. 

He'll be the subject of my book, which I hope to theme as a story about being adopted, paralleling his experiences with those of adopted kids. I'll definitely need to tap into the memories of my adopted friends. Maybe it will never get much farther than a stack of finished illustrations with captions, but my intention isn't to get it published anyway. If it does? Bonus. 

[ our very favourite books as kids, by Enid Blyton ]

There is a second purpose for this project - a segue into yet another of my many projects: pet portraits. People make some serious cash doing portraits of people's pooches, but I find the majority of the work to be uber-cheesy. I need a bit of a warm-up (hence the book project), but i think I could take pet portraits to another level. These artists have managed to achieve something modern and edgy while still being representational. I am inspired. I know, I know, I sound like one of those crazy pet people. But those crazies have lots of money to burn on their "babies", and I'm counting on them as my customer base one day.

 [ graphic pet portraits by Hugo & Hound ]

 [ Warhol pooch by Hugo & Hound ]

 [ A Paul Boddum portrait hanging in a contemporary space ]

 [ Boston Terrier portrait by Rebecca Collins ]

It's definitely something I could combine with making dog coats (uh-huh, another project) and put up on a new Etsy store. Since I have retired from Naynu (my former little accessories business), I need to get back into the e-commerce swing. It's a natural step towards my own brick-and-mortar store. 

Sigh, one day.