Favorites from ARoS


Here are a few of my favorite pieces from the ARoS art museum in Århus, Denmark. It’s a great little museum with a nice diversity of exhibits, just enough that you feel like you’ve seen enough but not too much that you are tired of museums at the end.

Ung Dame i Lyseblåt by Harald Giersing, 1918
Little Sister by Fredrik Raddum, 2010

The most recent grand addition to the museum was also very nice, the Rainbow Panorama by Olafur Eliasson. A circular pathway built atop the museum, you can see all of Århus from it thru it’s ever-shifting hues.

Rainbow Panorama by Olafur Eliasson, 2011

Inside the museum were additional parts of the exhibit, my favorite of which was a room filled with fog and that immersed you completely within seconds of entering the room. Sight was limited to three feet in front of you and as you moved around the room the color of light continuously changed, resulting in a very sensory experience.

A room filled with fog and lights. Pretty spectacular.

Monster Jen


Monster Jen is one of my best friends, in part because she enjoys eating just as much (if not more) than I do. That’s why I gave her three mouths for all her food-recycling needs. Now she can eat, drink and talk all at once – a feat that has been sighted only occasionally in the human version.

Monster Jen measures 5.5 x 7.5 inches and was made using 39 cent felt squares, googly eyes and faux fur fabric wrapped around the back/stand portion of IKEA’s Ribba picture frame. The stand was left over from my original monster portraits, which only used the frame portion.

Last Year’s Wrapping Paper


Each year when we receive our Christmas package from my Danish grandparents, my sister and I marvel at the wrapping paper that is almost as old as our grandma. With a soft fabric like quality from years of folding and re-wrapping, some of the prints have been in circulation as long as I can remember. There must have been a wrapping paper sale in 1962 that she has been carefully meting out paper from since. Past tape marks and rips are carefully covered, but often too plentiful to be obscured completely. While I admire her resourcefulness, I am also thankful that the presents inside are always new…I think.

Since it’s been a busy month here at the Bureau, I decided I would take a cue from Grandma. Not worse for the wear, here are five winter wallpapers from last year for use on your digital devices.

All The Future Is New

All The Future Is New wallpaper preview, made from cut out paper Download options for All The Future Is New

Dancing Pole Rats

free wallpaper sample: pole dancing rats Download options for Dancing Pole Rats

White Noise / Let It Snow

Free wallpaper "White Noise / Let it Snow" in blue, silver or charcoal. Download options for White Noise / Let It Snow (three colors available!)

Warm Fuzzies / Cackle Crackle

Warm Fuzzies Free Wallpaper Sample Download options for Warm Fuzzies / Cackle Crackle

Merry, Happy, Joy & Tidings

Merry, Happy, Joy and Tidings wallpaper in peppermint Download options for Merry, Happy, Joy & Tidings (five colors available!)

Last Year's Wrapping Paper


Each year when we receive our Christmas package from my Danish grandparents, my sister and I marvel at the wrapping paper that is almost as old as our grandma. With a soft fabric like quality from years of folding and re-wrapping, some of the prints have been in circulation as long as I can remember. There must have been a wrapping paper sale in 1962 that she has been carefully meting out paper from since. Past tape marks and rips are carefully covered, but often too plentiful to be obscured completely. While I admire her resourcefulness, I am also thankful that the presents inside are always new…I think.

Since it’s been a busy month here at the Bureau, I decided I would take a cue from Grandma. Not worse for the wear, here are five winter wallpapers from last year for use on your digital devices.

All The Future Is New

All The Future Is New wallpaper preview, made from cut out paper Download options for All The Future Is New

Dancing Pole Rats

free wallpaper sample: pole dancing rats Download options for Dancing Pole Rats

White Noise / Let It Snow

Free wallpaper "White Noise / Let it Snow" in blue, silver or charcoal. Download options for White Noise / Let It Snow (three colors available!)

Warm Fuzzies / Cackle Crackle

Warm Fuzzies Free Wallpaper Sample Download options for Warm Fuzzies / Cackle Crackle

Merry, Happy, Joy & Tidings

Merry, Happy, Joy and Tidings wallpaper in peppermint Download options for Merry, Happy, Joy & Tidings (five colors available!)

Monster Dan


Monster Dan is my sister Mollie’s boyfriend, and this portrait was part of a set that I gave her as a birthday present. Dan has “always alarmed” eyes that he uses to stare down his students (he’s an English teacher) and of course a Conjunction Junction button that I bought off of eBay.

Monster Dan measures 5.5 x 7.5 inches and was made using 39 cent felt squares, googly eyes and faux fur fabric wrapped around the back/stand portion of IKEA’s Ribba picture frame. The stand was left over from my original monster portraits, which only used the frame portion.

The Timbers Say Thanks


Here is a nice little ditty I worked on for the Portland Timbers soccer team thru Jelly Helm Studio. I’m not the biggest sports nut around, but I do appreciate the talent and dedication it takes to play a game well. The part that usually rubs me the wrong way is the untouchable icon status that sports figure often inhabit. As my dad would say, “They put their pants on the same way as you do, don’t they? One leg at a time?” Sure enough. So when I was working on this piece, I was pleased that the tribute giving was going both ways. YES, the players are fantastic. YES, the fans are also fantastic. THANK YOU to the whole Timbers community for being what you are, and for the exchange being two way, three way, four way, the best way.

Click the image to zoom in on the notes of thanks from the Timbers soccer team.