Category Archives for art

Fabric flowers, kraft paper, charcoal and paint

I was going to wait for my new scanner to arrive in the mail, but I just can’t wait to share with you what I’ve been working on this past week! So here are some photos:

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On my most recent trip to Daniel Smith I acquired a pad of Stonehenge Kraft paper – luxurious, soft creamy acid-free sheets that I couldn’t wait to experiment on! So I’ve been experimenting with charcoal, sumi and acrylic. I’m especially excited by how smoothly acrylic paint goes on, and next will try out more than just one color (baby steps here!). ^_^

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Then I had to see how the cut fabric flowers would look contrasted on the brown paper, as I’ve only ever laid them down on white. I have to say, I rather like it! The colors, and the kraft paper feel very homey to me, very soft, warm and comfy.

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Here are some snapshots of four more drawings that have yet to have flowers added. I have mixed feelings about this – I rather like the simple drawings, without anything added. Overdoing drawings/paintings/artworks is one of my biggest fears, art-wise, which is why I love spontaneous drawing so much, and prefer it to planned-out paintings. What do you guys think? How do you know when a piece is finished?

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Thanks for bearing with me through the many pictures. I hope this finds you well – what have you been up to?

T-shirts and Tote bags galore!

I need to apologize in advance for the ridiculous number of pictures to follow. I got these shirts and tote bags back from the printers a couple of days ago, and this morning the sun came out just long enough for us to take some pictures! I’ve hired Nicholas (part time model) to help me out with these:

Percolating silkscreened unisex tee in soft cream and burnt orange. Coffee, coffee, coffee!

Kitty Heaven tee in leaf green, and below in teal.

In girls’ sizes, turquoise and white scoop tees.

This time around I thought we’d print up some flowy racerback tanks, in pebble and white.

Last but not least, there are finally tote bags! For all your book, food and knicknack-haulin’ needs!

In “Moth Girl,” “Percolating,” and “Kitty Heaven.”

So, stocking up for holidy craft shows! If you’re still with me after that exhausting lineup of photos, here’s the holiday art show & craft fair schedule!

 

A special tattoo design

I love when I’m approached to help design a tattoo. It’s such an intimate and special request that I work very hard to make sure it’s perfect. The plan for this one was for a blackwork design of a raven holding a fern in either its beak or its claws.

One of the best parts about these projects is the research, and the sketching, trying to figure out the right composition for where the tattoo will end up being inked on the body. It reminds me that I need to spend more time outside with a camera taking pictures of everything, because you never know when you’ll need a picture of… a raven, a fern, who knows what next?

Here is the sketch we settled on, and the finished drawing. Broke out the microns for this one!!

Happy November, you all!

The 2013 Calendar is here! + a DIY set of monthly calandar blanks for you crafty people, you!

Whoo! I am in full-construction mode piecing together this year’s cute girl calendar, and here it is! They’re now up in the etsy shop, here, and of course will be with me at all the upcoming holiday craft shows in the next couple of months. I say this all the time, but I cannot believe how fast this year is flying by, and the holidays are just around the corner, along with all the cookie-making, mulled-wine, random gift-giving, and happy hibernation.

Every year when I make calendars, I scour the internet to see if I can find some simple, pretty monthly calendar blanks that I can download and use, never with much luck. Most free calendar blanks are kind of ugly, or not proportionate for my use, and I end up drawing my own out with my little brush and ink. This time I decided to whip some up in Photoshop, keep it simple, and share it with you guys, so you can make your own!

This is what they look like, all just in black and white, for you to color as you please. Also, there are no holidays, so you can add or ignore whichever ones you fancy.

Here is the download: 12 separate .jpgs.

2013 blank calendar months for you

Enjoy! I’d love to see what you guys can make with these.

30 paintings in 30 days – the halfway point update

Here’s an update on how all 30 little canvases are coming along, counting down the days till the October 30th deadline for the ’30 Day Art Challenge’ show.

(that’s Robin E Kaplan’s wonderful Star Trek fan art on the wall)

As I’m working on all 30 at once, most of them at this point I consider about half-baked, some more, some less.

Okay, probably shouldn’t show this, but here is Kiki rolling all over the paintings. As long as they’re not wet, I indulge her addiction to flat pieces of paper/cardboard/canvas. Do all cats do this?

After painting in white outlines on all canvases, I went in with some skin-tones, then moved onto hair.

Floating heads, stretched ears-used for mice transport, UFOs and sullen eyes.

Okay! Onto another day of floundering around in this acrylic world, and pretending to know what I’m doing!!