#creativeunblock

a couple of years ago i went to philadelphia, PA to attend an artsy fartsy, girly meetup with one of my favourite artists/makers (shauna alterio, one half of something's hiding in here and forage haberdashery) and bloggers (danielle krysa, the jealous curator). i'm SO glad i decided to go... in spite of being shy/awkward as fuck, i ended up meeting my friend sam who has changed my life in lots of extremely great ways. ANYWAY, that was a lot of links... where was i going with this? oh, right! so, since the meetup, danielle has released a couple of books and has decided to share some "creative un-block"-ing exercises on her blog. january project (condensed): photocopy an image you like 50x, then draw on it and see what evolves.

all my creative energy lately has been funneled to painting for my stationery line... and from that work, i actually became very torn about how to properly adorn an alpaca i painted last weekend. naturally, danielle's project came to mind for a good way to explore my options! i'm now realizing after x-referencing her blog that i broke the B&W rule... and i did this with my tablet so i could get some practice with it... but... whatevz. i think this weekend i'll do the assignment for real. stay tuned for that...

read all about the january assignment here and also here and follow her blog if you don't already! and without further ado, here is how i spent my morning before work...

and for the grand finale......

pretty things

behold! a page from my sketchbook.

greetings from colorado!

i'm in colorado with my family this week and my heart is already aching knowing that i have to eventually leave this beautiful place. last night, while everyone else went out to check out what's newly legal, i stayed in and began the process of converting some airplane sketches into paintings. you likey? this morning started with a delicious homemade cappuccino (thanks, cousin darrell!) and i convinced my mom and husband to follow me down a black diamond trail! beer & hot tub time, SEE YA!

repeatedly

update: drawing with the tablet is still very weird. but check out this repeat pattern i made! brace yourself for many more to come. future patterns will most likely be less janky. no guarantees though.

christmas! tablet!

merry merry christmas!! we decided to drive home to alabama to see our parents for chistmas, so last night maffew and i drove from raleigh to asheville and enjoyed a papa john's pizza while watching meet me in st. louis in our hotel room. the movie got us curious about world fairs, which we spent several hours of today's drive from asheville to huntsville learning more & more about. if you have an hour or so to fall down a rabbit hole, i highly recommend seeing where this takes you - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_fair.

for christmas, matt got me a wacom tablet so i've been trying to get acquainted... it's weird, y'all. i think i need a few more slices of my mom's homemade cheesecake while i try to figure this thing out. hopefully something good will come of it someday!

floating

i made this hot air balloon ornament for a coworker the other day... it was a rushed hour of frantic painting and gluing and glittering, trying to finish it in time to bring to their christmas party. so much fun! 

this coworker is one of the only people i've met who is just as excited and enchanted by hot air balloons as i am! he and his family lived in albuquerque years ago and have been to the balloon fiesta several times... so jealous. SOMEDAY i'll make it out west for that.

i'm actually going skiing with my family in a couple of weeks and i'm sure we'll see a hot air balloon or two over steamboat... mmmmh! that will be my happy thought! not that there is any shortage of happy thoughts lately...

desk

just a blurry picture to show my card line illustration progress so far! it's helpful for me to look at everything as a collection... even the unfinished pieces. it makes me feel sort of accomplished, even though i have a very long way to go! looking forward to sharing the in focus version with y'all someday...

inspiration

my friend caroline told me about clara rockmore a few weeks ago and i can't get enough. also now i'm dying to have my own theremin... can you even imagine how amazing my harp and theremin compositions could be? sprinkle in a little banjo? mmm, dare to dream...

perry's chemical engineer's handbook

you know what's a great use for perry's chemical engineers' handbook? flattening your ultra warped gouache paintings, that's what!

NSS 2015

well guys i applied for NSS 2015 and i got accepted! BOOTH 1867! so. eek! i had 65 copies of my first finished design printed to use as this year's christmas card. it's so cute! in fact, i anticipate that some of the recipients may find themselves here because of that card... so hi, if that's you!

so here's my plan! complete at least 50 card designs by the end of april.

wish me luck! THIS IS HAPPENING!

thankful

so much to be thankful for! for example, ultra cute half korean children and the strength to give them piggy back rides! we spent this thanksgiving with our good friend's family in chapel hill... we actually started crashing their family's thanksgivings a few years ago since my company is normally up and running on holidays and we don't really have time to travel back home to alabama. i really love that this is becoming a tradition!

let's time travel

haven't made a little video in a long time... here are a few of my favs of yore <3

if you're reading this

if you're reading this and you're interested in seeing my progress on designs for the national stationery show... send me a message that includes your email address using the contact form thingy on the 'say hi' page and i'll share a peek with you :)

i have super mixed feelings about posting my final designs publicly before the show... but i really love sharing my progress on things. so. i think i found a compromise by way of secret, selective sharing!

<3, t

lulz! comedy night poster

my insanely hilarious friend randy asked me to illustrate a poster for a comedy night he's hosting october 1. the ghostbusters references were all his vision. i drew everything by hand in my sketch book with micron pens, photographed it, then threw it in photoshop and figured it out from there. i confirmed a couple of truths with this one - 1. i need a tablet. 2. i need a scanner. anyway... someday...

in the beginning

IN THE BEGINNING, there were ideas transferred from back of lunch receipt to sketchbook... from sketchbook to Dedicated Idea Notebook... from misplaced Dedicated Idea Notebook to For Real This Time Dedicated Idea Notebook... and finally from For Real This Time Dedicated Idea Notebook to fancy, slightly expensive watercolour paper i bought specifically for this project.

so! i've officially started a card line! only you won't see it for a while (whoever you are?)... this post is like one of those pregnancy apps that tells you your baby is the size of a small dollop of paint.

i'm really torn between wanting to share all my status updates and pictures of my progress here and feeling like i need to be sure i pick the right time and forum to share my ideas. so that's where i am! enjoying coffee on a rainy day, 'volcano' candle by capri blue making my house smell awesome, painting SECRET THINGS.