Is It the End of Summer!??

Hi.

For those of you who follow this blog, I haven't posted in several days as my life has been a whirl wind. So nothing ceramic related today. but I'll share whats been going on this week at America's first certified organic grocery store. 

Its that time of year again. Its time for fresh kicks, sparkly gel-pens and organic granola bars. Thats right, its time to go back-to-school kids!!! Wait a minute, didn't a store e-mail just go out reminding employees that there will be a lot more kids in the store now that school is out? Oh well, lets sell some deli meats!

Three more signs of this size & style are in the works

My job as a signmaker and messenger is to voice the unfortunate news, that the days of aloe gel and A1 steak sauce are coming to an end. 

BTS is a sad time for many. But it just so happens to be my favorite holiday to sign for. My last two weeks of work will consist of lunch boxes, primary colors and googly-eyed, talking broccoli...what's better then that? 

Alrighty, I am off to a dear friend's wedding this weekend. Be back next week!

Strawberry Shortcake. Check out the puffs of whipped cream!

I am loving these scribbled marker meat kabobs!!

Tuesday, July 2nd

Cows are the sweetest and most gentle animals on the planet. This guy is being a little nosey as he eats some grass.

These guys were tweetin' this incredible organic grape sale to customers as they walked by.

I slowed down a little today and spent some time on this ricotta, berries, honey sign. yum. Will finish this up tomorrow

It was a Coconut & Chicken Wednesday

"Mom, what's for dinner?"

This snobby lady sips her coconut water with class

Have a Kale-icious Day!

Melty sorbet, my favorite treat, also on sale this week. 

Quick Mural. Super fun.

Various Salads

#OnlyAtWholeFoods

These Bears Can't Believe It!

Airborne Double Stack

yum.

Hot Pepper Ova Here

A quick skinny produce strip of the day. Tomorrow I'll be tackling root tubars.

Lettuce help you...

 Just a few projects of the day starring lettuce, cheese, and mushrooms

Up next: salad dressing, eggplants, peppers, and cucumbers

Signmaking at WFM

Berryfest, Cherryfest, Dad's Day, Summer Fresh, July Fourth, daily signs, recipes, calendars, print outs, posters, A-frames, glass writing, floor writing... 

It is easy to get overwhelmed and stressed out in our office. Nobody (expect Teagan and Amy), truly understands the amount of requests we get a day. The ever constant flow of people and personalities popping in with ideas...Oh the stories I could tell. 

This fast paced environment is NOT a bad thing. It is great to be challenged and always have something to do. 

But here is the thing. Making good & beautiful creative work for the store takes time. If someone comes in with a graphic that is 2" x 3" and wants it to be redesigned to a 22" x 26" poster, that takes time. If someone wants a logo designed, that takes time. If someone wants a team member portrait done, that also takes times. But that "time" is not available in the ever changing retail world. 

So I often find myself sacrificing the quality of work in order to check more things off for the day. 

This post has nothing to do with the good people of Whole Foods, it is more on what I have learned working in a creative role in the corporate retail world.  

1. There will always be frustrating misunderstanding between the corporate, business-minded non-artist and artist. 

2. The creative things you make at work are not your own personal art. Separate the two. Yes they came from you - but you need to know how to handle yourself when someone tells you "that's lame, redo it"(eh hem).

3. There is never enough time in the day so don't over promise. This is my weakness. "Yes, of course I can make an 8' fish out of cardboard by tomorrow".......

I have certainly learned a lot the past year and a half and I have 1.5 months left to make the most of this opportunity. The times I DO spend a little time getting lost in the magic, I constantly tell myself "I can't believe I get paid to do this" (Which what I got to do this week!). Such a blessing. I'll get off my soap box now. Additional work I've done can be found here. 

Love drawing flowers, especially on cardboard. It's the easiest surface for me to work on - sucks up the marker.  Its just like drawing. Work in progress

Some fun floor writing! Gets scratched up a good bit.