my blog
illustration
design
about me
say hi

my blog
illustration
design
about me
say hi

Aurora Borealis #1

December 15, 2013

In Uncategorized

← Claire and Jeffrey: Part 3 Claire and Jeffrey: Part 2 →

instagramtastic

Happy Friday, lovelies! I have been on a road trip with my family this week in Vermont, looking for an apartment as we are relocating here this summer. So many changes to process right now, which is always bittersweet, but I really love Vermont and welcome the opportunity to meet new people, form community here, and create new art inspired by this lovely place! We have had a wonderful time, and this morning I finally had a free moment after lunch @pingalacafe to paint for fun, just before we hit the road again. I painted with a bigger round brush to stay loose and paint a bit faster. Hope it brings you joy! Remember to take the time to do something that makes you happy today!

Happy Thursday, lovelies! It is really grey and overcast outside, but I’m mixing up some bright colors and painting stripes today for a hopefully-awesome fabric design... I measured out lines and lightly drew them in pencil, intending (but not always succeeding) to avoid the lines while painting. I’ll erase the lines before I scan. And I still want to add a stripe of darker green in the center of the green stripes... Here goes! I hope you have a lovely day, and remember to take the time to do something that makes you happy!

I’m having fun just playing with folksy florals in indigo, focusing on fun shapes and the balance and spaces in between... I love working with a stark contrast like this sometimes... it is just so pleasing to my eyes! I thought I’d share this with you in progress because it’s fun to watch things develop, right?! Have a great one, lovelies!

Happy Tuesday, lovelies! It is overcast and raining on and off here, but I’m inside, warm and cozy, sipping a cup of hot lemonade and putting my painting time first. I painted a pine toss pattern, with branches and pine cones going every which way. At first I had drawn the scalloped lines on a couple pine cones with my white pen, but I didn’t like the look of it so I lifted it off with water and tried painting the lines on in brown instead. I’m much happier with this result. Mistakes are great teachers! I hope you have a wonderful day and that you take the time to do something that makes you happy today!

And here is how it turned out, lovelies. I added some stripes to the branches and felt that made them come alive a bit more. I decided not to add highlights to the berries because I am really enjoying the flat look of the polka dot shapes without adding any dimension to them. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Saturday, lovelies! It is a mostly grey, chilly day here and I am sitting inside, warm and cozy, painting a pattern of branches and berries that are exactly what I feel like painting, which feels great! Please excuse my absence here. I got completely out of my routine and I stopped prioritizing my own art time when other deadlines and business took over. I wanted so badly to move forward and create new things, and once I had stepped away, it became harder to jump back in and share just anything. I wrote multiple drafts... but I felt an additional pressure to share something special. Then, after realizing just how long it had been, and after receiving some messages and comments from concerned friends here on Instagram, I decided that I needed to just share something today. So here goes. I’m thankful I took the time to paint and have a peaceful afternoon of painting polka dot berries and branches, and I hope you are having a lovely day and remember to take the time to do something that makes you happy! It is good advice, even though I cannot always follow it myself. Haha! Have a good one!

Happy Friday, lovelies! Today was a snowy wintery-looking spring day, so it was a great day to be inside sipping peppermint tea and getting some winter knit patterns made! I painted the rest of the little knit hearts...So many hearts!!! I love doing this sort of repetitive work. I just find it calming and soothing. Then I scanned them and opened them up in Photoshop to adjust levels and remove the paper background using a combination of magic wand, lasso, magnetic lasso, and the eraser. Now, with the background gone, I have started the tedious task of arranging my little knit heart stitches into some fun patterns. I’m regretting not painting the little hearts in the patterns I want them to be in, but I can always paint it again. It is slow going this way, but I think the patterns will be really cool, and now you will have seen it from the beginning! Here goes! I hope you have a lovely weekend, and remember to take the time to do something that makes you happy!

Hello, lovelies! Happy Tuesday! I am knitting with watercolor today, sipping hot peppermint tea, and enjoying the company of my kitty, Eyja. I thoroughly enjoyed taking a break from work and exploring Toronto, but there is something really wonderful about getting back into my usual routine, too. I have some fun projects to work on, so right now I’m going to knit with watercolor and work on this pattern that will be a nice secondary pattern to accompany my gnomes, just in time for the blizzard that is heading our way in just a few days. Prince was right. Sometimes it snows in April! I hope you have a lovely day, and remember to take the time to do something that makes you happy!

Happy Saturday, lovelies! I have been in Toronto for the past few days, exploring the city! I finished up my gnome book and then tagged along on a business trip with my husband and have been enjoying popping in and out of shops and museums. I had lunch and dessert @cosmictreats yesterday , a vegan restaurant with the most delicious ice cream made with a cashew base. I sipped a chai from a crooked mug and drank water from a crooked glass, and every time I tried to photograph them, they just looked normal, or as if the lens of the camera were distorting perspective slightly. Do they look crooked to you? I’m also sharing some photos I’ve taken of things that caught my eye. There is plenty of art on buildings, sidewalks, and in amazing architecture here! Enjoy! I hope you are having a lovely day, and that you take the time to do something that makes you happy!

Happy Sunday, lovelies! I’m working on my last few illustrations today, and snacking on the leftover marzipan I made, which is dangerously delicious! I should probably hide it from myself before I make it all disappear. It’s best to savor these sorts of things! Have you ever made marzipan? Or sculpted marzipan fruits or flowers? It’s pretty fun. I remember helping my mom decorate cakes with marzipan as a kid, and sculpting little pigs and fruits. Hopefully, this illustration beside the recipe will inspire people to get creative and have some fun with marzipan!
I hope you have a lovely day, and remember to take the time to do something that makes you happy!

Happy Thursday, lovelies! I’m testing my recipes and illustrating some spices and fruit for the gnome book I’m working on wrapping up this week. I just made my own non-alcoholic Gløgg and shared a cup with my neighbor. We sipped our hot sweet spiced drinks outside while her chocolate lab frolicked in the yard... We each had seconds, so I now consider that recipe tested and approved. Haha! Next, my kitchen smells of mulled apple cider, which for those of you who are unfamiliar, is an unfiltered apple juice simmered with spices and, in the case of my recipe, some orange slices, too. Smells amazing... After that, marzipan! It’s a delicious day of work for me today. No complaints here. :) I hope you have a delicious day, too, and remember to take the time to do something that makes you happy!

I candied some almonds to test my mom’s recipe and then painted them. This little winter gnome book I’m working on finishing up will have a few recipes in it... and this recipe was so simple and quick and feels like such a treat! Also, it felt really good to paint something different for a change. Back to more gnomes tomorrow, lovelies! I’m posting pretty late in my day, but I’m about to hop into a warm bath and read a little Harry Potter before bed, because that makes me happy. I hope you take the time to do something that makes you happy, too!

Happy Magic Monday, lovelies! The cute factor just got magnified by a goat! I’m not great at math, but I’m sure there is a way to quantify what a goat does to the cute factor of an illustration! Haha! I’m sitting at @canteen3255 this morning, sipping an almond milk chai and painting this gnome feeding a goat. I’m getting closer to finishing this book, but this week is going to be crunch time. I cannot think of a better way to start my week, though, than with a sweet drink at a cafe and painting this little illustration! Monday is off to a good start here! I’m wishing you a lovely day, too, and I hope you take the time to do something that makes you happy today!

Found a bird’s nest today on the sidewalk after my bike ride. I am just in awe of what this bird made without hands! Absolutely amazing, and build so solidly! Do you love finding art in nature, too?

Happy Saturday, lovelies! It is a beautiful sunny day here today, and I’m painting more shoveling gnomes before I go for a bike ride outside. I hope you have a lovely day, and remember to take the time to do something that makes you happy!

society 6

my boots