ICON 6 in LA

Just a few days ago, we returned to Maui from our trip to the mainland. We, David (hubby), Adrian (son) and me were gone for a total of 14 days.
I had left earlier than David and Adrian to attend the Illustrator's conference in LA.  This was the second time I attended the conference. My first time was about 10 years ago in Santa Fe.
I totally loved the conference. It was great connecting with a lot of  fellow illustrators and getting updated about things happening in the world of illustration.
The conference was attended by some brilliant speakers/artists and many wonderful illustrators. I also got a chance to meet, for the first time in person,  my rep Steve Munro and his wonderful wife Renee.
Living on Maui/Hawaii is for the most part great, but at times you notice how far off the grid we are over here. Smelling some LA air and having lots of time to meet with other illustrators and people connected to illustration really filled my cup.
I wish we could have an Illustrator's conference one day in Hawaii.

Another big highlight for me at the ICON was winning the Intuos 4 Wacom tablet. This is a fun story. At the beginning of the conference, we all received a raffle ticket. I have never won a thing in any raffle. This time, I somehow knew this ticket would win me something.
Throughout the conference I got nervous, when I couldn't find my ticket. When they announced on the last day of the conference, that the Wacom tablet would be raffled off, I thought to myself "I am going to win this". I announced my intentions to my friends Adam McCauley and Cynthia Wigginton as well and started walking towards the front, where I had been sitting.
I wasn't just walking, but pretending in my head, that I was walking to receive my new Wacom. When I was half way down the isle, they pulled out the ticket and it was - not mine! "Bummer" I thought to myself "All the positive, affirmative thinking for nothing" Nevertheless, I wasn't quite ready to give up believing. Sure enough, the owner of the ticket didn't show and they had to draw another one, which was my number.  WOW! I was totally ecstatic and happy! For the remaining few hours of the conference I got to sketch on my laptop with my new tablet. Fun, fun, fun!

Adam and I at the conference

After the conference had ended, I met up with David and Adrian at LAX to catch a flight to San Francisco, where we visited with David's dad, sister and his brother's family for another 10 days. The whole family went up to Tahoe for a week. We all loved being together surrounded by gorgeous nature, away from home and any business.