Smarts & Hearts

Why do we think glasses make people look smarter? There's an awful lot of idiots out there with glasses. They correct your eyes, not your brain. I mean reading glasses- that's another story. These people clearly know their A's from their Z's. When someone busts out their half moon spectacles in your vicinity, you know shit just got serious. But when it comes to the average near-sighted, glasses wearer- well the assumption befuddles me. Admittedly, I myself am a hardcore offender - give me someone in glasses over contacts any day. Amiright?! The sight of intelligence (even pretend) always manages to lifts my spirits considerably.

I managed to lose my own glasses in one of my classes junior year and have never since gathered up the energy to go to an eye doctor. The tides are a-turning though; two and a half years later, in true procrastinating form, I'm finally getting around to it. My dad can finally stop yelling at me for stealing his for the occasional Thursday night, self-absorbed photo shoot... his are pretty dashing though, no?

Smarts & Hearts, 

MK

This Snow Globe World

“Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people's legs like house cats. It was magical, this snow globe world.” 

— Sarah Addison Allen —

© 2013 Marie King

It finally came quietly in the night. So I left the warmth of my bed to go galavanting in the midnight cold. I never feel so warm as I do when the snow falls.

Twirling and whirling, 

MK

Lost, Not To Be Found

© 2013, Marie King

I am currently lost in the wonderful meanderings of John Steinbeck's Travels With Charley: In Search of America. Each night I read a few pages in an effort to savor and enjoy each drop of poetic wisdom that drips from his fingers. I have such a fondness for John, I fear I may never recover my spirits enough to love another.

(Well, except for the occasional crush on Chicago basketball players sporting hair buns; 

I promise my heart is not as fickle as it might appear)

Lost, not to be found, 

MK

Work & Play

It's probably not a shock, but I love to Photoshop things... 

so when I get to PS for work, well my heart skips a few beats and my eyes glaze over in delight.

Here, I manipulated the book covers (created by other artists!) into the below banners for one of our imprint's homepage. 

Click on the banners below to check out the books!  

 

 

 

 

 

One Page at a Time

I promised you a sneak peak of Sam and my latest children's book collaboration...

© Marie King & Samantha Biskup

Illustrating is a slow process but I'm getting there, one page at a time. 

Love always, 

MK

The Fullness of Her Being

I found this woman in an old box of photos my grandfather has. I don't know anything about her,

but I think I shall spend my whole life trying to be her, just as she was in this moment. 

Unabashedly yours, 

MK

Crushin' Hearts

Marie King ©

On principle, I don't give my heart to celebrities: a) they're going to cheat on you (probably because they don't realize that the two of you are dating) and b) well, my heart is a gloomy pessimist about the likelihood of these things happening (go figure).

But unfortunately, I had developed a major crush on one. Not just any celebrity- an athlete! The worst kind of celebrity, the biggest cheaters (even when they're in non-imaginary relationships). It was an affliction that all the ladies of Chicago (and probably most of the men) are dealing with... I was in love with Joakim Noah. And even though he's an awesome player and super-duper tall, what it really comes down to is that he has a charity with his mom...for kids. It's a double shot to the heart: mom, kids, mom, kids... I don't know which has me weaker at the knees.

So when I got a free ticket to the Bulls game, I thought my heart might explode. My eyes found him the moment he came into the room... absorbing all six feet, eleven inches of man with a hair bun. After a beer or two on an empty stomach (at those prices you have to have your priorities straight) – I knew like I knew that he was the one.  I professed my love at least 1,064 times that night. By the 4th quarter strangers around me were high-fiving me when he scored, saying 'That's you're guy!'

And then the next morning, just like that, I was cured. The celebrity crush was itself crushed.

And my mind said I told you so, and my heart said I know, I know...

So that concludes my senseless story of love and loss... he's now yours ladies.

Crushin' hearts in Chicago,
MK

Cups and Spoons

My first Bamboo tablet doodle in Photoshop...definitely not as easy as using a pencil. 

Unfortunately this is going to require my least favorite thing: practice. 

On a happier note, I am starting to illustrate another children's book! 

Hopefully I'll have something to show you in the next week or two. 

AND hopefully we'll have a publisher for Willie soon! 

Queries have been written, emails have been sent and fingers have been crossed! 

Cups and spoons 

and cows and moons, 

MK

The Bending of Their Minds

Marie King ©

Climbing a mountain... it's a deeply personal and spiritual experience– to be confronted with the capabilities of your body in such a measurable way. To reach the tallest height and to know that it was your own two feet that got you there, to feel the sweat drip down your back in tribute to your achievement, and the heavy rhythm of your lungs fueling your body with pride.

When I finally made it to the top of this mountain, I sat down in utter exhaustion and wrote the following on a small scrap of paper which I just recently found (and thus triggered my writing of this post):

It was on the backs of men that this world was built 

and it was the bending of their minds from which beauty was to be born.

I miss the mountains with such a depth as some people long for their home.

I've never felt so bound by money as I do now, when I have none and can go nowhere but the longer I am trapped, the more certain I know I can't live without these sleeping giants in my life.

Soon my loves, 
MK

I think I first stumbled upon this song in a Norwegian commercial...
I can't quit it.
Maybe you won't be able to either.

Seaside, Seashore

on the shore
the soft, sweet shore
rest a boat. exhausted,
ravished by the sea it tried to tame.
perhaps the end was beautiful

perhaps the sea swallowed her whole
and when she expired
spit her onto the shores
to rest aside her love
forever


Always yours,
MK

Newton's 3rd

Life is one big contradiction, compiled of a billion little contradictions: live with passion, savor the moment; love fervently, trust carefully; be one with nature, embrace technology; celebrate our diversity, ignore our differences; etc, etc, etc.

I find it hard to determine my priorities in this mess of choices. Nothing is black and white, everything good comes with something equally bad- positives and negatives always seeking to balance each other out. That is nature- that is the human race. To be alive is to be pulled in every which direction.

I started my college years as an International Studies major and every course I took demonized globalization- providing example after example of the adverse affects it was having on various nations and cultures. It was horrifying to say the least. And yet, even with this knowledge, I can't help but feel lucky to live in a world where I could meet and become dear friends with people from all over the world. How lovely it was to sit in a class with Germans, Koreans, and South Africans and learn about their perspective. How fortunate I am to be able to read French literature, study German architecture, watch Bollywood movies, and eat Thai food. Newton's third law doesn't apply to physics alone. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Globalization is both a curse and a blessing. Technology is both liberating and binding. Love is both joy and pain.

I love collecting quotes and there are a million wonderful, eloquent phrases in support of all these opposite philosophies of life- which is what set me off on this tonight- but perhaps the best way to understand and carry on is by finding solace in the old truism- you can't know joy without knowing sorrow. Something can only be understood in context of what it isn't.

Life is about finding balance. It is meant to tear you apart, so that you can put yourself back together with the full knowledge of both who you are and who you choose not to be. 

With all my joy, 

MK

Reader's Block

Lost in the clouds,
MK

Looking At Me, Looking At You

“It is when you lose sight of yourself, that you lose your way. To keep your truth in sight you must keep yourself in sight and the world to you should be a mirror to reflect to you your image; the world should be a mirror that you reflect upon.” 

― C. JoyBell C. ―

A doodle bug is running rampant. I wish it would take hold of me and never let go, but alas, like all bugs, this shall pass.

Cheers to crafty fevers and artsy agitations!

Always yours,

MK

Holes in My Consciousness

“One thousand brilliant stars punched holes in my consciousness, pricking me with longing. I could stare at the stars for hours, their infinite number and depth pulling me into a part of myself that I ignored during the day.” 

—Maggie Stiefvater—

The hustle and bustle of the Christmas season is infecting the world once again and I can't help but smile. 

Cheers to you and yours! 

MK

Enchanted

Happy dreaming, 

MK