One of my Agents wanted photos of my work for their new Office Walls. This is what I came up with - a smattering from several recent gigs:

Did you know that I do Face-Painting as well as Caricatures? Well, I do....

Last night I did Face-Painting for the cutest Pre-School Graduation. I arrived early and had some time to play around with some ideas before the event. I came up with a New Idea. Hark! A New Idea!

As of now, I've only done Either Caricatures Or Face-Painting at any one time. Switching Setups back and forth feels crazy. But it could be Fun to try it this new way - the new idea I just came up with. (Stay tuned:-)

I can just Draw the 'face-painting' Onto the caricature. Like this:

Small extra fee because of the extra skills and doubled concentration that this requires.

I ran into the gym just in time for today's appointment with my trainer. Not time to stop. Or so I thought.

A woman in the locker room stopped me - "Hi Alison. I read about you in Newsday today." Whoa, I stopped. "Yeah? The Kidsday article came out today?"

Joyce brought me the tearsheet. Happy Surprise.

The kids were great. The whole article concise and upbeat. And most of all - the Title. Great writing, kids!

btw, it's not unusual for Joyce to know what's going on in Newsday or any other publications. As a professional writer, she's interested in it all. If you need "The Right Words For Your Business", you might want to call her at (516)485-2152.

I'm happy to be able to post this picture. Back in February, I wrote that I want to post some of the pictures I drew so Quickly as per my client's request. And I just got up to it. Here are some of the pictures I drew that night:

The Children were beautiful. They all had much fun at this Dance that the PTA had arranged. Made me wonder about my own childhood. Were we as adorable? As vivacious? As happy? Yes - the answer is Yes. I was There when I was a kid.

But it's hard to visualize what I really looked like. All I remember is how I felt. How I would have been surprised and self-conscious at such an event - not aware of what it was, not aware that I wanted it... But I went along, was led through my life, trained to become a teenager, then trained to become an adult. I remember being so impressed with my older brother. He was so cool. So confident. Trained to become the cool, confident teenager that he later became.

And now I'm wondering if it was such a good idea. I know the adults try to make things easier for us. Try to encourage self-esteem. Try to show us how to handle the events that we will be finding when we're older. But the personalities were so set - based on how we felt, based on what happened during those 'training Dances'. So instead of naturally handling whatever came up when we were 'of age' - based on the more mature convictions that we would have had when we were 'older', our teen years (which then affected how we approached dating, coupling up, marriage, our whole lives, actually), Instead of handling whatever came up when we were old enough to handle it, we ended up handling the things that came up based on how we fit in at the 'training Dance'. Is it good? Is it bad? It is what it is. Who was I? Who would I have been without this sort of care? Just something to ponder. As life goes on.

And on. Another School Dance. Another Graduation. Communion. Sweet 16. Bar Mitzvah. Office Party. Engagement Party. The beat goes on.