Wrapping up the Summer

Wow, This summer has so far been a whirlwind of back to back travels. So much go go going with just a few days to process the last trip before the next flight. Some of these trips were for work and some for fun and ALL a mix of both. After New York City in May, we headed to my hometown state, Tennessee. This is the longest trip I've taken in the homeland since moving to San Francisco all those years ago. It was glorious: daily thunderstorms that gave way to hot sun and loud buggy noises, every night in a cabin by the river listening to bullfrogs singing their nightly serenade, floating down the lazy stream, mimosa trees perfuming the thick warm air in the evenings, catching lightening bugs with my daughter at dusk... it's definitely my happy place no matter where I may go or live. Scatter my ashes in that river [like my Great Aunt Betty did] and I'll be one happy ghost. From Tennessee, we flew back to SF for five days before flying to Barcelona, another warm-climate place that is the stuff of dreams really. I can't imagine being so familiar with those ancient labyrinthine streets that you actually KNOW your way around them all, but man oh man would I love to spend a year or thirty getting there. Everywhere you wander, there are gorgeous tile patterns, tiny intricate details stuck to walls, buildings with eyeballs all over them, wonderful vintage lettering on signs, lacelike walkways over twisting narrow streets, I could go on for weeks. The husband did a talk at gamelab which is what took us there. Our hosts Ivan and Maria were so helpful and gracious that they helped us navigate to the funicular that takes you up the mountain to Tibidabo, a spectacular vintage amusement park overlooking the city. ..I'm already dreaming of our next trip there. After we packed up and flew back from Barcelona, I packed a bag for Portland. This was a solo trip for me to attend the ICON Illustration conference and holy wow, did i LOVE IT. Typically during a gathering of amazingly creative and accomplished people, I have a deep longing to hide in my hotel room with a bottle of Stumptown and hbo, but! but! I was not at all seized with this urge at icon. I went to workshops by Calef Brown and Allison Cole, talks by Bridget Watson Payne, and Jessica Swift, among others and these workshops and lectures were *before* the main conference even STARTED. Talking about bang for the buck, icon officially began with a literal bang on Friday as a marching band of acrobats took over the stage at the Portland Art Museum. Paula Scher did a talk that I can sum up as just do what you want to do creatively and hire an engineer to do the parts you don't know how to execute. Later Friday evening, I had dinner at a sushi place with my friend Malena [who works with my husband at doublefine, and Kate was also there along with Jon Klassen. I've long been a fan of Kate's work, and Jon Klassen's too...but I had never met him before so I was a little fanned out. They're both so encouraging and positive and I could not have asked for better friends to hang out with in the Rose city. I also made some new friends that I pal'led around with at icon that I hope to see again soon: Tara Lilly and Anisa Makhoul. We met virtually in mats classes, and Tara arranged the meetup with the fabulous and iconic legendary Lilla Rogers, which was also a major highlight of my time there. After Portland, I had six days to get all packed up to go off the grid completely at Camp Mather, with the family for a week. I wrote this blogpost in my sketchbook up there, in fact. I guess that makes me an analoger instead of a blogger. I'm pretty ok with that. haha. So now, we're back in SF and settling back in and it's time for some output after all the input!