Painted on wooden panels for the first time this summer.
Here are the results:
NEW PAINTINGS IN SHOP
Hi. I added new paintings to my shop. Now there are smaller ones that measure 15x11 inches, and larger ones that measure 22x30 inches. Some of these new paintings have added pen marks here and there.
AROUND TOWN
I hung some of my paintings in my local coffee shop, Taproom. Here are some bad photos I took on my phone. The paintings are up until the end of July. Stop over and get some coffee. The coffee is sure to be delicious.
Here is a picture of the info cards that I made. These were surprisingly fun to make.
DIALOGIST
Thanks Dialogist for including my work in your latest issue!
ARTFULLY WALLS
I am happy to say that a handful of my paintings are now available as giclee prints on Artfullywalls!
DON'T GET COMFORTABLE IN THE COMFORT ZONE
I was asked to submit art for competition that required me to work outside my comfort zone. I needed to work in darker, moodier colors than I usually do, and these guys are some of the results. It was surprisingly invigorating riding the discomfort line. These took more pre-planning, which is hard for me since I tend to work instinctually, but all in all I think they turned out A ok. So, the lesson here for me is don't get too comfortable in your comfort zone.
DESIGN CRUSH
Today my work is featured on Design Crush! So excited. Thanks Design Crush!!!
OFFICE PAPER AND A BOX OF CRAYONS
I was feeling stuck and uninspired last week. Do you all ever feel that way? What do you do about it?I kept attempting to make new stencil print paintings but they kept coming out terrible. I was getting nowhere and felt myself spiralling into a negative space, so I decided to stop trying and do something else. I walked into the other room and saw my son’s crayons on the floor. I went to pick them up and thought to myself, why don’t I just sit and color freely like he does? Why don’t I allow myself the freedom to just play without worrying about the cost of materials. So I grabbed some cheap office paper and the box of crayons and sat outside and just colored and colored and colored.. It was so liberating not worrying about wasting expensive art supplies, and that allowed me to get into that magical flow state we all crave. The act of scribbling was fun too! I really need to remember this the next time I am feeling stuck and uninspired! Please share with me what you do when you all are stuck in a rut.
Here is a picture of a pile my crayon drawings and then the two stencil prints that were inspired by them.
THE JEALOUS CURATOR
Last week I was featured on the blog The Jealous Curator. I was pretty excited and honored. I have just started trying to get my work out of the studio and into the world. It's time to stop being a chicken and put myself out there. Anyway, I am glad I did. Here is a screen shot of the post. Take a look if you'd like: The Jealous Curator. She also posted this on her Instagram account. Thanks The Jealous Curator!
THE GOOD PARTS
I save most of my doodles and sketches, even if I don't care much for them. Oftentimes I can look back at them and find some part of them that I like. When I do, I tend to cut that part out and save it, while chucking the rest. Here is a collection of some of the good parts I have saved over the last few months.
I like the gather a small collection and make myself a mood board and pull from the good parts of these bad paintings. This oftentimes inspires me to set out on a new painting adventure!
STENCIL PRINTING
Um, I just had the most fun today in the studio! I stumbled into the print making process of stencil printing! One of the things that I struggle with as a painter is creating images that resemble my digital work in Adobe Illustrator. I miss the ease of copy and paste when I step away from the computer and get my hands dirty with paint. I think this stencil printing process allows me to do just that- copy and paste! I am so excited about the endless possibilities of this process. I feel certain that I will be exploring this in days to come. There is still much to figure out and discover about the process and technique - like which brushes are best, what material is best for making the stencils, what thickness of paint is ideal. But I LOVE this first attempt. I am so happy with how the big bold red flowers printed. I loved too that I can’t get bogged down in details when I am cutting shapes. This pushes me to find creative solutions to simplify the stem and leaves. Oh! and the overprinting that happens when I layer once color over another. I LOVE the new color that is created.
COLD WEATHER PAINTINGS
It's been too cold to be in the studio this week. While I am so thankful to have an art studio, I do wish it was climate controlled. It just gets too cold in the winter to be in there. So, I've been painting in the living room. I have to change up how I work since I am not as free to make giant messes and get paint drips everywhere. I decided to bring some color with me by bringing up some tubes of Holbein acryla gouache. I pulled out a pad of Arches hot press water color block. I’m not sure why but somehow I feel like there is less pressure painting in the living room. Need to remember that the next time I feel stuck creatively. These paintings were so much fun to paint. I hope the bright yellows and reds in combination with the soft pinks and blues makes you feel happy and calm when you look at them.
PATTERN PLAY
Playing with bold color and simple lines.
Sometimes, too many art supplies can be overwhelming. I feel the need to use them all at once and end up with a mess of time. So today, I decided to keep it SIMPLE. I just used black ink and ONE color per pattern. I find having boundaries and constraints or limitations can often inspire creativity as you are pushed to think in more basic and elemental ways. I love how simple these cute little pink circle flowers are. I love the contrast between the sold color and the details in the line work of the leaves. A circle and line, that is all that is really needed to represent a flower. Can’t get more basic than that.
SHOP
Hurray! The shop is now live and up-to-date! I finally got around to putting some of my original drawings and paintings for sale. I much more enjoy the process of creating the art than selling the art, but I am happy to be able to make these paintings available to you all at long last.
HAD TO LET LOOSE
The day after painting the mural, I had to let loose and get messy, and this is what happened!
I really enjoyed painting the mural, but the process was slow and structured and methodical. I had to be neat and tidy and I planned out the painting in attempt to avoid any mistakes or errors. So when I came into the studio today, I had to let loose. I had to work freely with no plan, with no constraints, and no expectations. This is the painting that emerged from that need, that feeling. It was so fun! At the time, I didn’t care much to make a painting I liked, I just wanted to move and create and get into that flow state. But at the end of it all, I actually really love this painting. I love it for two reasons: the physical process of painting it was so fun and damn satisfying, and the end result is a painting that I visually enjoy and connect with. So yeah! I call that a win and a great day in the studio. Not everyday can feel like today, so when days like this happen, it’s important to take notice and enjoy. Hope you can enjoy this painting as much as I have.
MURAL MURAL ON THE WALL
Wow! What an honor it was to be commissioned to paint one of my floral patterns on the wall of a friend’s entryway. It was such an exciting and terrifying project. I was both intimidated and excited to jump right in. It is one thing to paint a painting on paper canvases that can moved around and put up and taken down, but it is a whole new endeavour to permanently paint upon someone’s walls.
Luckily the clients had seen a painting of mine that they really connected with, so I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. This was a huge comfort because I was going to be painting something I was familiar with and using colors that I was comfortable with. The aspect I struggled with the most was trying to keep a sense of spontaneity that happens when I paint on paper. I don’t do any pre-planning as I love the process of just letting things flow and seeing what happens. I don’t mind making mistakes when painting on paper as it pushes me to come up with creative solutions that bring the painting to a place I don’t believe I would get to if I planned everything out. You don’t plan for accidents. I didn’t feel confident taking this free flowing process to the client’s walls, so I did take the time to plan and draw out the composition. I am very happy with the final result and I do feel that despite the planning, the mural does still emit a sense of spontaneity.
Here are some pictures of the process and the final result with their beautiful Great Dane for scale.
PAINTED CLOSE UPS
Here are a couple of close up shots of my latest flower paintings. I thought y’all would like to see some of these paintings closer up so you can see the thickness of the paint and how the paint drips become incorporated into the overall design.
PAINTED ABSTRACTIONS
Below is an update from last week in the studio. I have continued to explore large floral forms. This week, I have made the florals larger and more abstract. I am also really loving this warm red that has taken over these florals. It’s fun to keep painting and discovering new ways to recreate such a simple subject matter as flowers.
PAINTED FLOWERS
The boys are back at school, and I have some time to myself in the studio. Lately I have been working on painting flowers. I am trying to work out their floral forms. I prefer my florals to be stylised and simple. I aim for my paintings to show the essense of the flower while capturing a whimsical and playful mood.
These paintings hanging on my studio wall are painted with acrylic paint.. The three on the right are painted on large pieces of paper. There is a freedom to working in the large format. I love that I can really move around within the painting. I like the physicality of painting big vs. working statically at my desk. I also love working in acrylic as it dries quickly and you can easily apply layer upon layer of paint. This comes in handy when I make mistakes.
I hope to keep exploring and seeing what other floral forms and color combinations I can come up with.
MATHKIT
This is what I have been doing all Spring and Summer. MathKit is a set of hands-on-games and learning tools that help kids master math skills through play. I helped create and launch MathKit in the Spring of 2015. My role was to create a cohesive and playful identity system-from product design to the website getmathkit.com.
