Throw Back Thursday, Art Edition...

TBT again already? My does time fly when you're havin' fun!

So this week's look back takes us to circa 2008. 

Living in Virginia at the time, the hubster and I enjoyed exploring the many parks in our area. While we were walking one of our favorite trails  I was taking photos as usual and I got an idea. An idea to illustrate a little set of post cards and send them to the children of some friends! Yeah, sort of a post card version of serialized books. 

This would give the kids not only the joy of getting mail but also something to look forward to!

Who doesn't love looking forward to more fun mail?

This was the first one and it set the scene. Since I lived in Virginia and the children I was writing to lived in Ohio, I made it seem like I was writing about a far off magical place. Well to a child who had never been, it may very well be just that.

#2 was trying to instill a sense of wonder. Trying to illustrate that if you observe carefully, you can find wonderous things everywhere!

My mother taught me this :)

#3 speaks to the communities of tiny animals you may find!

#4 tried to illustrate the point that being still in nature is important. Some things can only be observed and enjoyed if you are patient. 

All together a cute little group I think.

I'm SO happy I thought to keep a set for myself.  Most art I create and send in the mail is lost to me foever as I rarely ever even photograph most things. Truly creating and setting art free into the world for those I love to enjoy.

The backs of the Post Cards. 

 I hope to work on some new Mail/Serial Story Project soon. 

I'd love to hear any thoughts you have on what kind of story adventure you'd like to get in the mail!

August is Pink?...

I like my months to be assigned a color. Usually August is orange but this year it's pink and I think I like it that way. Anyone else like their year broken up by different colors?

Anyhoo...It's the first monday of the month and while I am amazed that it's AUGUST already, I love it when I flip the page to a brand new month. 12 times a year I get to start fresh. How exciting is that? For me that fresh feeling everyone gets when the calendar year changes is nice but short lived don't you think? The moment you step on the scale and it's not going as you hoped or the first birthday card you forget to send can derail your new sense of freshess. But for me, I prefer to make it a wee bit more manageable. So 12 times a year I get a fresh start. New ideas start rolling in and things seem easier to manage. 

How do you break up your year?

And yes, I hand draw my calendars. I have for years now and yes,

 it takes time but it makes me so happy! 

Throw Back Thursday, Art Edition...

For those of you who are fellow Facebook Addicts like myself know about TBT or Throw Back Thursday where you post a picture from a time gone by. I've really been enjoying everyone's posts. I mean what is more fun than being given permission to look through someone's old photos?

I thought I would do a TBT "Art Edition".

Here's one of my favorites from 3years ago.

(why does it feel longer than that)

 My first real portrait done in acrylic. It was quite a challenge let me tell you. 

If years from now some art historian were to analyze this painting they will see no less than a BILLION layers of paint as I tried over and over again to get the skin just right. 

 Here is a photo of the finished product with a can of Coke just for scale.

This is a portrait of my dear friend David Cassidy.

The concept was to design a "wine label" utilizing info about his weekly live radio show.

How did I do? 

Every Thursday from 3-5pm EST he does a live radio show from Kiltimagh, County Mayo Ireland!

You can listen live here on Radio 23

Like his Soul Shenanigans Facebook Page

Can't listen live?

Soul Shenanigans Podcast

Trust me, he'll keep your toes tappin for 2hrs straight each and every week!

Chair as Inspiration...

SPOILER ALERT:

If you have an August Birthday and are on my Birthday Card Mailing List 

DO NOT READ!!

Rember the Green Beauty I got last weekend?

Yeah, she's so awesome I had to draw her!

A continuous line drawing in my X-Large Moleskine Cahier Notebook. 

It turned out so well that I couldn't stop looking at it.  I loved it and felt the need to share it with others. 

So a set of 14 was begun!

Each month I make Birthday Cards for Friends, Family and Loved Ones. August is a HUGE Birthday month with 12 people on my mailing list.

These will be used for my August birthday cards!

A little watercolor using some of my favorite greens and a splash of Quinacridone Gold! 

Man I love that Quinacridone Gold. 

Sorry August Birthdays. I'm so excited about these that I just couldn't keep it to myself. 

Sweet Finds = New Studio Additions...

Over the weekend the studio adopted some new furniture! A local photographer and owner of the former Ginger and Spice Marketplace (it closed in November 2013) posted that she was opening her warehouse and selling everything inside. I was intrigued. Then I spied in one of the photos she posted this lovely green beauty. I'm a sucker for a good green. 

The Muse LOVES to help so she eagerly grabbed the mini shop vac and got to work. 

While snagging the Green Beauty at the warehouse sale my heart fluttered over this couch sitting unloved against a side wall. It was covered with hat boxes, misc items and had a sticker price of $40. Yep, you read that right...$40. 

Be still my heart!

At least you can say I have consistant taste as the newly snagged couch matches PERFECTLY to the chair my sister-in-law passed along to me nearly 4years ago now. 

She still can't understand what I see in that chair but I LOVE her! 

A little rearranging and the studio is becoming a real place to hang out! There's nothing I love more than grabbing a cup o' joe in the morning and walking into my studio to find Mr. AB and The Muse elbow deep in Mess Free Coloring Books or lost deep in the pages of a book. 

I can't express enough how lucky I feel to be in my mid thirties and realizing a vision I've had for so long. A studio filled with love, laughter and creativity not just for me but for my family. 

Stolen Moments and the Evolution of a PostCard...

As anyone with children knows, moments alone are rare and moments alone doing something creative are even rarer still. So when I woke up this morning and it appeared that both kids were choosing to sleep in just a little later than normal I stole some moments for myself. I have a little travel art set at the ready for just such an occasion! 

One of my all time favorite cup cozies The Giraffe Cozy was just begging to be drawn. So, I got out my new Uni Pin pens, one of my favorite Fabriano Medioevalis Cards and I was off and running! I loved how it turned out so much that I decided to add some color. 

What better way to add color to a Giraffe patterned coffee cozy than to paint it using real coffee?

I haven't painted with coffee for some time so it felt great to get back into it. 

As I worked I got more and more excited!

The decision to call it done is usually a hard one but this time I think it was easy. 

I was very pleased by the results. 

And it smells wonderful!

A pretty good likeness I think!

I have a hard time keeping most of the art I do.  I had originally intended for this to be a postcard for some lucky person but once it was finished I fell so in love with it that I don't think I can let it go!

Or at the very least I'll hang on to it for a while till I get a new favorite! 

Getting Back into the Swing...

It's been a while...

How have you all been? Still there? I wouldn't blame you...

Quick update:

I redesigned my Logo, refreshed my Blog and Facebook Page, spent some months being too exhaustingly pregnant with baby #2 to actually post anything, had baby #2 in March, now getting enough energy to be inspired and finally get back in the studio! 

Yippie!!!

I'm having that wonderful problem where the ideas are just streaming into my brain but I can't seem to keep up with them all. You know how you can sometimes do your best thinking while in the shower? Well I seem to do my best thinking while I'm stuck in a seated position with my son stuck to a boob nursing and the pen and journal are out of reach! AHHHH! That is always so frustrating. I've yet to learn to just leave a little notebook by the couch. Duh, that would solve all problems but do I learn? Nope!

I do take my notebook with all it's juicy notes to bed with me. Though I'm usually too tired to write at the end of the day. Brownie Points for trying though right?

A peek into the studio from my side of the baby gate. Half of my studio is for me and the other half is for the young ones. The Muse has half the studio that she now has to share with her little brother. Though he doesn't take up too much space, yet anyway. 

Creating while taking care of two little ones is challenging but fun since the studio is always filled with creativity of one form or another. 

There's no greater inspiration than the laughter and giggles of children.