new year: new projects

Man it's been awhile. I apologize for the lack of posting-- so many things on my mind!

The holidays have come and gone and I am now getting back into the swing of things. I had so many commissions over the Christmas break which kept me very well occupied! Thank you to everyone who made orders with me, I am so happy to have contributed to your holiday season.

Now with Christmas done, I have a few remaining projects to do but have found some time as well to start looking to the things this spring/ summer has to hold. One being my lovely sisters wedding in May and or course, the birth of our first little one. : )

There are several projects I am wanting to complete. I'm starting to design the screen print that we will be doing for my sisters wedding invitations, as well as the programs and other small things here and there. And I have been searching like a mad women on etsy finding little trinkets and lovely things to add to our nursery. Below are a few things I've found that I will either be purchasing myself or making a similar version of. (And if you've never heard of etsy.com-- CHECK IT OUT! It's amazing and a great way to support artists and crafters all over the world.)

This is a beautiful mobile made by LilSproutCreations on Etsy.


I am in LOVE with this quilt! It is so bright and colorful! It is made by tinamagee on etsy.


How adorable is this??????? At first glance it seems like it would be better suited for a boy but should we be having a girl I am fully prepared to screen print this myself onto a pink onesie. : )
This is listed on etsy in RockRiverTees shop.

Holiday Sale!

My cousin Tiffany and I got together a few weeks ago and decided we'd like to have a holiday sale where we could sell some of our hand made items as inexpensive Christmas gifts. After discussing it for awhile we discovered that we would have a wide range of items! From children's stocking stuffers to art to bunting banners to Premier Designs Jewelry-- there will be something for everyone!

The sale is going to be in Terre Haute on Friday, December 3rd and in Danville, IL on Saturday, Dec. 4th. All of the items that are sold will be reasonably priced and we will be accepting all forms of payment (cash, check, charge).

There will be FREE GIFT WRAPPING as well as CUSTOM orders.

The Premier Design Jewelry will be sold off the table at 50% off as well as orders from our most current catalogs.

It's going to be a great sale and I hope you all can come out and enjoy it. Even if you don't purchase anything, I'd be happy to see you. : ) Let me know if you have any questions!

Rest

I've been learning a lot about rest these days. Adam gave a message as Campus House on the topic of rest and it struck me that I'm not doing it as I should. It's been a long process trying to figure out my priorities in life with Campus House, my art, and what I think I would like my future career to be/ look like and I think I have come to (a start of) a plan by knowing that I want rest to be included in my life. I want to always work with the things I love around me. Whether it is creating art from my studio at home or more times than not on the couch in the living room with kitties on either side of me-- or meeting with girls from CSF in my living room. I want my life to be a beautifully creative and warm and while I want to accomplish much, I want to also have a balance of rest in my life.

Here are a few pictures that I have taken. My sweet kits Keela and Fiona, and a chair in my best friends home. All images of rest to me.

You're an ACE in my book...

This was a fun piece that stumbled on. I was playing around with simplified shapes of leaves. After creating 10-12 different shapes I noticed that there were some recognizable shapes that were emerging... spade, diamond, club, and heart. So I started with the 4 Aces. I'd love to create an entire deck... It's a project for the future I suppose. Until then I have titled this piece "a screen of impenetrable foliage".

Alphabet Watercolor

Here is another watercolor that I did that involves the alphabet. There are 7 separate sections in the piece. Each section is a play on a landscape/ horizon lines.

line and shape studies (fine art)

Here are a few line studies that I did. These were actually done during grad school and were part of my thesis work. My grad school body of work and even my fine art work now is very much about lines mimicking nature. The shapes I created in these pieces were just organic forms with no clear subject matter in mind. I was trying to use varying shapes vs. open lines. After creating about 7-8 of these drawings I was left with these 2 which I believed to be the most successful. Composition wise they are pleasing and I feel like there is an element of intrigue in them... as if they look like something familiar yet abstract.

These are closer to my fine art work than my craft work however looking back, I had a blast creating these and am thinking about starting over with this basic exercise again to get some fine art juices flowing.

Next time won't you sing with me?

Here is another screen print that I did. I really appreciated the "not so perfect" line up of the letters.

As basic as the alphabet is I think it makes a pretty interesting subject matter. Also, with the variety of fonts these days it really can set a mood even with the simplest of compositions. The green print is poster size and the brown is 12x12.

I think it would look pretty perfect in a nursery or even as a nice graphic print in a living room or office. If you are interested in prices, let me know.