red and blue flakes

I love the red and blue color combination- it gives a nice cool wintery feeling!

these snowflake doodles were created by those ultra-fine bic pens I found back in september.
I just love how vibrant they are!!

snowflakes galore

can you tell I'm eager for the first snow fall??

these snowflake-y patterns would make wonderful wrapping paper!

Happy December!!

personalized canvas

Waaay back in July (wow, is it really mid november?!!) I drew up four bird ink and watercolors for button designs to be handed out as favors. It was seriously the best project for me since the wedding theme is lovebirds! In the middle of sketches and emails being sent back and forth, the bride-to-be had an awesome idea. Instead of a boring ol traditional guest book she wanted a personalized canvas where all the guests could sign and it would be ready to hang on the wall. seriously, what a fantastic keepsake.

The canvas is 30 inches x 40 inches and features the bride and groom birds along with two smaller birds representing his daughter Lily and their son Gavin. I have to say my favorite part was doing the ink work (see last photo of the corner detail). Working with acrylic on canvas was a bit of a challenge for me, since I've recently moved on from thick textured watercolor paper to working on smooth bristol paper.  But thanks to Matt and his patience with me the canvas has been completed! Best wishes to the love birds Megan and Albert- they get married this Saturday!!!

inspiration found afterwards

Just about a month ago I cracked open a brand new sketch book. It's always so exciting but... always so intimidating to start drawing on those first few crisp white pages. I began doodling a page of fun swirly hearts. This pattern below features my favorite one!

Not much more than a couple weeks later after my page full of hearts did Matt and I make a second trip out to Longwood Gardens... where we discovered this heart pattern! I love finding things like this after I've already drawn my own version.

Here are just a few other snapshots from the gardens... and most certainly future inspiration.

I just love the leaf-like pattern on these gigantic leaves.

This chrysanthemum shield is made up from just one plant- absolutely. amazing.

These little flowers were so delicate and vibrant.

Indie Fixx download!!

So I was on a little weekend get-away to Westmoreland Virginia and I return to see that I'm up on indie fixx today! what a great surprise! (pictures from the trip to be up soon :) )

I am so honored and proud to be a part of the Indie Fixx Feed Your Soul Project! The idea behind the project is to help keep a positive mindset during these rough economic times... the artwork created solely for this project is FREE!!! and for you to download, print, and enjoy!! What an awesome deal, right?! I think it's so fantastic that even though budgets are tighter, you can still enjoy, and be inspired by these pieces of art.

My download is an autumn inspired piece (it's most certainly one of my favorite seasons!) I love most everything about the season including the smells, the weather, all the flavors, the colors... it truly feeds my soul!

Thanks again everyone at Indie Fixx, I'm so happy to be a part of this ever growing project.

go on, check out all of the lovely downloads!!

Longwood Gardens

This past weekend was a fantastic one! Matt and I made a trip to longwood gardens & then to chestnut hill's arts and crafts fest. The weekend was filled with food, walking, and of course tons of inspiration! I took over 200 pictures at longwood- there was so much to see and we only saw about half of it. unbelievable! Here's just a small amount of the pictures I took- I have a feeling I'm going to start uploading my zillions of photos to Flickr..

I imagined this overhead shot of these gorgeous red flowers as a polka-dotted pattern

I just loved the color of this flower, its big shiny petals, and the tiny flowers floating inside of it

these swirled plants were one of my favorite finds

the water lilies were absolutely stunning, look how large they are!

inside part of the conservatory were these topiary bees hanging from the ceiling

this bench reminded me of an owl

can you tell I have a thing for scrolls and swirls? I loved the simplicity of this bench

this was part of a waterfall/fountain I just loved the pattern and texture

the shape and color of this flower reminds me of a paper lantern

Illustration Friday- germs

With the wonderful season of fall comes the ever so lovely season of germs!

Here is my (super disgusting!!) pattern of these oddball germ like characters I doodled up just for fun. Please note I chose the worst colors imaginable (haha!) a pea green, a sickly yellow, week-old rotting orange, and a sea-sick on the verge of fainting green. enjoy!!

illustration Friday- pattern

Happy October!! It was quite chilly today and it definitely felt like fall. So here is a leafy pattern inspired by the season! It just so happens that this weeks illustration friday word is pattern (what are the chances?!) 

I apologize in advance for the repetition (hardy har har!!) of the multiple posts of birds. and patterns. and of course my favorite... patterns filled with rows of birds.  Seriously, it's all I've been drawing in my sketchbook and I just love experimenting with the zillions of possibilites I have once I scan in these itty bitty birds. The colors, shapes, and negative space (which then creates brand  new shapes) is just endless.

This bird was probably my favorite out of the page I doodled on. I love the zig-zaggy feel of these pink and green birdies. 

This one has a retro 70s-ish feel to me. I think it's a combination of the bird shape, the repeating pattern, and the bold colors. I love it.

PS I'm starting a new sketchbook soon. Maybe I'll force myself not to draw birds. I can't make any promises though. 

wacky birds

This wacky bird pattern originated from a recent page of doodled birds in my sketchbook. I couldn't resist scanning it in and creating a fun image. I would love to see this on a journal, or even some bed sheets!

Below is another little sketchbook doodle. Needless to say I was feeling pretty tired and when I'm tired I get goofy, so the outcome is bird versions of Matt and myself. enjoy!

sneak peak

just a peak of some 5x5 prints that will be featured in my etsy shop... these are part of a seasonal series idea I'm playing around with.

No date is set for the re-opening, but it's in the works!

Art Out Loud

wow, it's been a week since the weekend trip to New York!

It was an unbelievably amazing time filled with art, walking, food, and people. Seriously one could spend a whole week there and still not see everything on their to-do list.

I took about 250 pictures and oddly enough I felt like I should've taken more... I feel like I missed a lot of what we saw!

Anyways, here is a miniscule selection of photos from the Art Out Loud event at the Society of Illustrators. Simply stated, it was mind blowing. 5 major illustrators just worked at their easels/drawing tables and painted away like they were in their own studio (with 100 guests walking around them, touching their paint supplies, asking them a zillion questions). It was truly incredible to watch them work away so effortlessly... I felt like was back in my studio painting classes.

Here is a pile of Gregory Manchess' work just sitting on a table... it eventually got spread out to the floor!

awesome find + NYC

I'm quite excited about this awesome find today- ultra fine point Bic colored markers!! I've been on the hunt for some colored pens... I have some microns, they seem to work well but I have very limited color options. I only own the typical black,  blue and red. A week or so ago I picked up some Prismacolor pens- the colors were fantastic (a fun seafoam green and a lovely tangerine-ish orange)!! but when I got home, the pens felt like they were already dried up. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed and ended up returning them.

But finally (!!!) an awesome set of beautiful Bic markers. I'm anxious to use them. Look at the wonderful array of  colors!

In other news I gave my website a little update. I took out the new handwritten section and replaced it was a pattern page! Right now there are only 4 patterns but I promise to update is again soon with more. I love making these patterns and feel that it's definitely something I want to pursue/keep on creating.

And more BIG news this weekend September 12th and 13th I'll be spending in New York. I am beyond excited to be there! Its going to be an art-filled weekend. First on Saturday we will be attending the sold out Art Out Loud event at the society of illustrators where top illustrators will be demonstrating their skills and techniques. Then Sunday is the long awaited trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art !!! It's going to be a fantastic time. Stay tuned for some pictures!

playing with pattern

It's amazing how different both of these are even though it's the same leaf image repeating, same size and even color palette.

The opportunities are endless and I love that.

patterns galore!

Hello september!!! I can't believe its almost fall.

the past week I've been toying around with some ink drawings I've been doodling and turning them into patterns. it is so. much. fun and easy! just scan, edit, copy, repeat, and color.

I know I know... I just said it's almost fall (it certainly feels like it with these super awesome cool temperatures we've been having) and my patterns are summer related (starfish, barnacles, and schools of fish!) so please forgive me.

These are just a few of the patterns I've been creating.

Due to my recent fascination with cacti and succulent plants I decided to purchase and plant some of my own! I find so much inspiration in plants that I'm always doodling my own oddball flowers in my sketchbook and on scrap pieces of paper (I always have so much laying around that I put them to good use!)

framed!

this print measures at a whopping 2.5 x 2.5 inches. 

super tiny (almost always)= super cute.

I love it!!

poor bunny wabbit

This was originally just a pencil doodle in my sketchbook from a few months ago (I'm thinking March when spring was just arriving and I was in full bunny-mode)

I feel bad for the guy, but think it's utterly adorable! I may make a print for myself and put it in a teeny tiny frame.

Illustration Friday- wrapped

All wrapped up and ready to go!

Just a quick drawing for this week's illustration friday... I started drawing lots of tiny presents with fun bows on top but of course I ended up with one that included a feathered friend.

I would love to receive a cute little present with such a happy bird on top!

more super fun ink drawings. 

I'm really loving these. Normally I like my drawings to be simple, light, and airy; but I'm enjoying the heaviness (or maybe busyness?) of them.