A Long Time Ago, In This Very Chair...

... A man regularly updated his art blog. This, my friends, is the future! It's been a BUSY summer! Please do excuse my neglect, dearest readers, as I think of you often, and fall into deep wells of guilt at my long lapses between posts. Here's what's been going on...

Way back in April, my dear friends Mallory (then) Frye and Geoff Wright made with the 'gettins hitched.' It was a great, pretty, fun wedding, and Geoff had a sweet pocket watch and chain incorporated into his groomliness that made the ladies want to scream, 'all aboard!' But, alas, he's a husband now, ladies! This was one of their gifts from Martha and me.

On a similarly marriagey note, our friend Lauren (once Arnold, now Mitchell) purchased this robo-mantic illustration as a first wedding anniversary gift for her husband Phil. Data indicates that it was well received, and I loved painting it.

I hosted my second annual art camp for the children of Lawrence, Kansas! It was an absolute scream, resulting in lots of cute little plushy guys. It was eight against two, girls to fellows, and Drew and I had an almost tangible sense of solidarity, as the only bros in the room. We had a lot of fun - those kids were the best! Here are some photos.

Also, I applied and was accepted to be a seller in this years Renegade Craft Fair! So, um, look for me nowhere but MY DESK between now and September 12th! I'll be selling original paintings, print sets, embroidustrations and MORE!

Lastly, and arguably the most exciting bit of news (and the one that has kept me the busiest I've been in some time) is that I'm illustrating a book for writer and LGBT activist Jennifer Carr! You might not know that name now, but give it a few minutes, and when someone says, 'who's Jennifer Carr?' you can be all, 'that author that hired Ben!', and you'll sound really in-the-know. I'm giving you that one for free...

Here are some behind the scenes shots of the books production, and follow the links above to check out the details on the soon to be break-out, trans-gender phenomenon, Be Who You Are!

As always, look for more, soon(ish) to come! And thanks for reading!