I was going to be traveling last week so I went to the bookstore to try and scrounge up some magazines to take with me. There were FOUR– count ‘em, FOUR– glossy magazines about DOGS. Dogs are nice, but really– 4??? Then there are all the fashion and make-up magazines. Airbrushed, size -0 girls, make-up/skincare articles that promise impossible results (which are, frankly, of no use to me at this point in my life) and ridiculously expensive clothes. Those $1200 purses are always good for a laugh, though. I especially like those columns where they have a “splurge” list and a “save” list. For example, on the “splurge” list would be a pair of shoes for $2400. On the “save” list would be a similar pair of shoes for ONLY $575. On what planet do these people live?

“More” magazine is usually good to take on a plane, but if I have to read one more article about how fabulous it is to be over 40, I think I’ll scream. Really– when the kids are grown and there’s no one waiting for you to cook dinner for them every night (although they’d grow old waiting for that at my house), are you really thinking “Thank God, now I can run in a marathon/triathlon/jump out of an airplane/train for the Iditarod/start a brand new business from the ground up”? I’m thinking about sleeping late and eating ice cream for dinner. Period.

Then I looked at what few decorating magazines are left on the newsstand. This is really the kind of magazine I want and there just aren’t any anymore. (By the way, as I write this, another magazine, Metropolitan Home, just went under!) There’s House Beautiful– my favorite– a truly beautiful magazine, a wish book, full of actually-lived-in homes that I never get tired of looking at. At the opposite end of the spectrum, in my opinion, is Architectural Digest, full of cold, badly-lit houses that look like no human being has ever set foot in since the decorator left. In between these two are a few others, some good, some OK, some pitiful. People: don’t show crafts that are right out of the Girl Scout handbook without kicking it up about a thousand notches. And don’t suggest I make my own napkins or tablecloth or wrapping paper or anything I can go to HomeGoods and buy. Who’s got that kind of time? And for god’s sake, don’t tell me how to surround an old bathtub sitting in the middle of a field with candles, fill it with hot water that you’ve somehow lugged from the house, open a bottle of wine and try to tell me that this is “romantic.” There is nothing romantic about this. It is a cry for help, AND an actual article I read in a so-called “lifestyle” magazine. Don’t show me historical houses or period houses or showhouses. I want to see real homes that people live in. I want to see the quirky, personal things they live with. I don’t want to see rooms where everything in them is brand new.

I know what you’re thinking… ”Stop complaining and bring your magazine back!” It was the best, wasn’t it? I can say that because it was our wonderful crew, led by Barbara Martin, who put that out, issue after issue– not me. But there’s a reason all the decorating magazines are closing. They are beyond expensive to produce. It’s all the traveling, styling, and photography that’s involved in every issue. And now I’m so sorry to have to tell you that it just doesn’t look like we’ll be re-launching the Home Companion anytime soon. Never say never, but until the housing and advertising markets come back, I don’t believe it will happen in the near future. Believe me, we’ve tried. We still might figure out a way on the web, but that’s just not the same if you ask me. I’m afraid it’s time to let go and move forward and be thankful for the 11 great years we had! (Obviously, I’m saying this more to myself than you. Repeat after me, “Let go, go on. Let go, go on…..”)

Lots of other things coming out of the studio, though– a constant stream of art and other wonderful things that we’ll let you know about as soon as they become available. For example, we have brand new ornaments and plenty of them at all the Michaels stores right now, plus tons of holiday notebooks, magnets, stationery, packaged Christmas cards and more. And of course, there’s the Home Companion Workshop, an endeavor we hope will continue well into the future with lots of great programs based on the wonderful people and ideas featured in the magazine. Don’t worry, we’ll give you plenty of reasons to keep checking in! As that famous philosopher, Anonymous, says, “Life is all about Plan B.”

It’s so exciting to learn something new, especially about things you thought you already knew backwards and forwards. I met Nancy Wethington at a For Keepsakes event where I gave a little talk after dinner. She asked if we ever used Copic markers and I told her they were my newest obsession since they came in such wonderful colors. I used them in the same way I had always used markers— to color in big areas of flat color, so that I could then go in and get more detail with colored pencils. Nancy said there were ways to use Copic markers that might make that not so necessary and that she was certified to teach us all about it! She came to our studio the other day and spilled all the secrets and it was really fun! We practiced on special Copic paper that is made especially for the markers and the colors really looked bright and clear and seemed to blend seamlessly on it.

I particularly liked the way I was able to do skin color with them— sometimes when I go over marker with pencil on faces it gets kind of muddy-looking if I’m not careful. And they are fantastic for sky and water and large areas of green grass and trees, which are a SERIOUS pain in the neck to do with pencil. If you take the time to use the Sketch markers correctly on large areas—in a slow, circular motion— you will end up with virtually no marker lines, which in my business are worse than visible panty lines and must be avoided at all costs. I’m sure many of you have read somewhere how I usually do my drawings, but for those of you who don’t know— first I draw them in pencil. This is my favorite part but also the most frustrating, since it NEVER goes the way I want it to at first. I have learned not to scream and throw things anymore, though, because now I know to wait and see what happens— the drawing eventually turns into what it wants to look like. When the pencil drawing is finished down to the last detail, I outline everything in a very thin permanent marker, my favorite being the Copic Multiliner in 0.05. Then I color it in with markers, lately doing it in the new way described above, and then I go over the whole thing with colored pencils. I use Berol Prismacolors almost exclusively, and lately I have started using their watercolor pencils to shade faces because then I can blend the colors evenly with the Copic colorless blender. I know this sounds like a big, fat ad for Copic, and they did send me a set of their Sketch markers to try, but I really do love them. And I LOVE learning a new way to do things. I’ve been doing this so long it’s nice to break out of the rut after all this time.

These are some drawings I’m working on for the 2011 calendar, called “All The Happiness You Can Handle”. I’m using all my new marker-knowledge on them, although I still use the pencils to get small details. Coloring the details is so relaxing to me— I’ve always loved that part because that’s when I see the drawing start to really come alive. But now even coloring in the big areas is fun because I learned such new, easy techniques from Nancy. Turns out you actually CAN teach an old dog new tricks! Now I just need to find someone who will spill their secrets about how to time travel so I never have to see the inside of an airport or plane again and then my life will be fairly perfect.

Here’s a picture of our 2010 calendar “Take Good Care”, available now at our website and wherever calendars are sold. Sure, it’s done the old-fashioned way, but it’s still good!

~Mary