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playing and painting

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The hubbahubba and I have been together for nearly 15 years. I recall hearing him play guitar in college and feeling chills. There’s this beautiful undercurrent in our relationship – we flow in and out of a constant conversational stream about music and art.

During the first part of our relationship he had a band. He met some sweet guys and they wrote original songs, practiced, invested in studio recording time, produced albums, loaded in and out of shows (playing to hundreds and sometimes a dozen), promoted and pursued his dream.

I watched from the sidelines and supported him wherever I could… He stepped away from his dream to breathe and I began chasing my own dream. I practiced, created original art, invested in supplies and inventory, produced prints and cards, loaded in and out of countless shows (often with zero sales and sometimes with dozens of sales), promoted and pursued my dream.

Part of why we make so much sense is our experience pursuing artistic dreams and supporting each other through the years.

To celebrate our upcoming anniversary, I will be creating music themed work this week.

Here’s to many, many more years of playing and painting together. ^_^

 

walking on sunshine & more

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walkingonsunshine

I returned from San Diego Comicon on Monday and commenced 10-12 hour workdays to complete Pashmina. The convention was my best ever, not because of sales (honestly, they dip every year) rather is was the feeling of being ushered into the greater comics world. Meeting editors, journalists, and librarians – I’ve worked on Pashmina for 4 years and even though Fall 2017 feels far away, it’s closer than I’ve ever been to sharing this book with everyone. I’m nervous but also thrilled.

Plus, I’m almost finished! My deadline is in 2 weeks! My favorite phrase currently is “After Pashmina is done…” I have stacks of books to read, groups of friends to see and trips I am looking forward to enjoying with my family. Oh, and after a multi-year hiatus, sometime in late August I will begin to create & share NEW illustrations  ^_^

Meanwhile, we have an overstock of prints due to some shops we work with shuttering their doors. There are lots of prints on sale on our online shop!

That’s all from me – back to coloring Pashmina. Have a lovely weekend!

 

love in reach

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loveinreach

 

For the daughters who have difficult relationships with their moms,for those who never had a loving mom, for the women who are cat moms,dog moms, office moms, for those that are moms of one, two, or seven –tired, under slept and overextended, for those who tried and tried tobecome a mom but couldn’t, for those who had a being to care for andlost them but never stopped being “mom”, and for those who will neverpursue motherhood and that’s just fine… for all those women Ithought of you as this image came to me one night.

Love comes in many forms. I truly believe it is all around us. Sowhether you are celebrating mother’s day or tucking yourself in the
covers and staying away from social media – I wish you a wonderfulweekend, surrounded by the love that’s within reach.

<3

night bakers

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nightbakers

 

My friend Angela and I were talking about the busyness of parent life. As she was talking, she had the epiphany that we spend most our day saying NO to ourselves: no sleeping in, no time for a run, no time to shower, no time to read a novel… but when it comes to snacks and treats its an easy way we can say YES. It may not be the healthiest but we embrace these small moments where we can allow ourselves pleasure.

So last week the hubbahubba and I relished our two hours before bed, when baby was asleep, and we baked.

happy valentine’s day

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I granted permission to the Brightside to minimally animate my illustrations – it turned out beautifully! Happy Valentine’s day!

new world and sales!

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newworldweb

We’re off to Southern California tomorrow for the release of this Aladdin art andtwo others(Lion King and Lilo & Stitch). If you can’t make it to Downtown Disney you can purchase the piecesvia email at:merchandise.guest.services@disneyparks.comor by telephone at: 877-560-6477. Just let Mail Order know that they are interested in the Nidhi Chanani Disney artwork from WonderGround Gallery West and they would be happy to let you know if the items are currently available.
Meanwhile today is the last day of ourshopsale – enjoy 15% off with the code LOVEBUG
And until February 8th you can take 60% off phone cases in myZazzleshop with the code BRADSDEALS60
Okay – time to pack! Have a great weekend!

nani

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nani

happy birthday to my mom – her first as nani chanani! ^_^

good housekeeping

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Screen shot 2016-01-22 at 9.50.03 AM

 

I am in this month’sGood Housekeeping magazine. In the almost 6 years I’ve been working as a full-time artist I’ve never been in print. I have been rejected countless times by blogs, magazines, stores, etc. At first it would really hurt. After awhile I got used to the rejection and took it as par for the course, because it is. My work isn’t the right fit for every store, every blog or every magazine. In fact my work has the funniest (to me) accusations of being: too colorful, too whimsical, too kid-friendly. I’ve worked hard to develop my own style (and I’m still learning every day) and I won’t change who I am or my work to fit into someone else’s idea of art.
After years creating original art (not fan art), learning how to make a living creating art that represents the underrepresented, failing, late night marketingemails, doubting myself CONSTANTLY, attending workshops, reading books on artistic process, approaching shops in person to carry my prints, being rejected, working, working working… yesterdayI walked into a bookstore and picked up a NATIONAL magazine with my work inside. I cannot put into words how this makes me feel. If you’re around a newsstand, please check it out ^_^
I hope you have a lovely weekend ^_^

in search of snow

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insearchofsnow

i’ve been swamped with holiday commissions, ourmall pop upandpashminapages! but i wanted to share this older illustration that i love – i remember as i drew, thinking about climbing on the roof of our car and waiting for snow… with penguins (of course).
hope you’re having a happy week ^_^

it takes love

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whatittakes1

i rarelytalk about it but i had a traumatic childhood. my family was dysfunctional and i was buried beneath layers of abuse. i blamed them, i blamed myself and i blamed the world.i was angry. i carried my anger with me everywhere and fought my way through my young adult life.

and then i found love.

it wasn’t easy. i was accustomedto fighting, so i fought the love. my love then (who is my love now) kept strong for years and showed me that our love was better. better than anger, better than pain, and full of brightness. i forgave my family. i stopped carrying that darkness with me and ever since my life has been lighter, warmer and simpler.

i am overwhelmed by the violence, fear and hate raging through our world. it would be easy for us to continue down the path of anger. retaliation. ragefeeds rage. the problems we have are not simple and the path to love isn’t easy. change isn’t easy. i knowfrom my own experience that love can heal. it can be as little as a kind gesture during your morning commute or volunteering your time. if we took a moment everyday to add love into our world maybe we could chip away at the anger. it won’t be easy all the time and it may take years.

but i believe a world full of love is worth the work and the wait.

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