Have you heard of Big Cartel? It's a cool program that allows small businesses to host an online shop without all of the hassle - or in their words 'Simple Stores for DIY Rockstars'! I decided to create a small store {it's free for 5 items and under} to sell some prints of the nature pattern watercolours I created in my Australian illustration course. I've found a way to print the paintings on watercolour paper so they look almost identical to the original art. Check them out at inBloom Studio Boutique!
Check out these Paint Chip Prints from Secret Leaves - they are antique images printed straight onto paint chips! Pretty nifty. And such a clever way to use old paint chips {I do have a lot of them...right Paintin' Pete?}.
Unbelievably, this week is the 10th anniversary of my journey to Australia where I spent a year studying Plant and Wildlife Illustration. How the heck does 10 years fly by so quickly? I remember it all very clearly, and 10 years ago on precisely this week, I left in bone-chilling -40 degree Celsius Toronto temperatures {is that possible?!}, and arrived in Sydney in blistering +40 degree Celsius heat {is that possible?!}. And right about at this time, while trying to get accustomed to the 80 degree temperature difference, I was 'trampolining' off the thickest, sturdiest spiderwebs I have ever seen {don't get me started on the spiders}, reaching for my shampoo bottle only to grasp a leech that was stuck to the side, and watching in awe as a wallaby hopped past me on my university's campus. That year was such a wonderful experience that I'll never forget. There were many lonely times, there's no doubt - I was a 22 hour flight away from my family and they were usually sleeping while I was awake! But my adventure taught me how to depend on myself. I became very strong and independent...I grew up.
Aside from all that I learned outside of the classroom, I was able to concentrate on painting and drawing for a full year, which was a dream! To commemorate my 10th anniversary, above are some of the illustrations I created, in hopes of creating them into a children's book {I still hope to one day!}. They are patterns in nature, painted in watercolor, and the premise was to get children to look closer at nature, to gain an appreciation for it at a young age.
I will be posting a bit more about my Australian adventure, but in the meantime my thoughts are with those suffering from the horrific bush fires that have been roaring near Melbourne. Here is a blog that is selling various donated handmade items to raise money for those affected - such a wonderful idea.
Writing a post on silhouettes for Bloomerism last week, I found this beauty by Jenny Lee Fowler, and I just wanted to share here too.
I'm not sure where I found this little poem, but I've kept it for years! It inspires me to not take art quite so seriously and to just 'dig in' and create.
Everything I Know About Life, I Learned From Drawing:
Always carry a pen.
The best way is to be still.
Everyone can do it, except those people
who say they can't.
Forget your eraser. There are no
mistakes. Only lessons.
Don't do it for fame. Do it for you.
Don't seek beauty. See it.
Everyone's perfect pen is different.
Learn from others. But don't be an
imitation.
No books, no teachers, no system, can
teach you as much as practice.
If you don't like a drawing, turn the
page and do another.
Study how kids do it.
A forest is just a lot of trees. A tree is
just a lot of leaves. And you
know how to draw a leaf.
Value everything you make.
Give your drawings away.
If you can do it perfectly, it's boring.
It's all about the Now. That's why it's
called a drawing, not a drawn.
Know when to stop.
-Danny Gregory
{the cutest and quirkiest little birdie doodles by Kate Wilson}
HomeSense is such an exciting place to shop...it's like a treasure hunt! There is usually only one of each item, and you really have to hunt to find something good, but when you do, it is usually a pretty great deal. My sisters and I have been looking for some large art for my dad's empty walls to go with our proposed yellow and gray colour scheme. I spotted this the other day at HomeSense...wow! I'm not sure if the sheer size {4 feet by 4 feet} and amazing colour of this piece are accurately portrayed in this photo, but as it sits in my living room, I can't stop looking at it. And the best part? It was only $99! I am quite sure that a blank canvas of this size alone would cost close to $100, not to mention the price of its frame. Score! Except now I'm not sure I can part with it. Sorry dad...
Last night Céleste and I met for our Creative Thursday session, and since I have been feeling pear-y lately, she suggested that I do some pear studies in different mediums that I've wanted to try - a great idea! So last night I painted a little pear study with the water mixable oils she recommended {love them} and I added in a textured background using a palette knife and a heavy gel medium. It's a simple little painting but I'm really happy with how it turned out.
The next medium we are going to try is lino-cut printing which is something I haven't done since university when I stabbed myself with a cutting tool. But onward and upward...I'm excited to make a pear-y print!
This is a great time of year - a fresh beginning, and a time to get set for the year ahead. Stricken with a miserable cold this past week meant that computer work was a bit tricky, and I am actually pleasantly surprised that my previous posts make any sense! But I am a workaholic, so I had to put my energy somewhere. And that somewhere was in organizing and tidying and getting 'set' for the new year - making a new file for my 2009 receipts, starting a fresh new organizer {how I love my organizer} and I bought some of the cutest mini Moleskines to stick in my purse, to record any bursts of design or blog inspiration while I'm out.
In organizing everything, I came across some interesting things I hadn't seen in a while - some blasts from the past! I found my first 'real' pencil drawing {a hunk with rippling muscles holding a baby of all things} created when I was 13 years old. This was the very piece that named me an artiste in my family, and my mom rushed out and signed me up to an art class straightaway.
This mug was also in a box I hadn't been opened for years - my first foray into graphic design! I designed it as a give-away for my Senior Prom. Although I copied the fonts pretty much exactly from a coffee table book {boys and prom dresses were much more of a concern than copyright infringement, apparently}. But I have to admit that it looks pretty good considering it was created using a 1990's version of Word Perfect.
It was fun to find these old treasures, and looking back they were all clues pointing to where I would end up. I took some strange turns, and a twisty journey to where I am now. But it is quite apparent that from a young age, I was in love with art and design.
My friend and neighbour, Céleste {a children's book illustrator} and I have been holding 'Creative Thursday' painting nights. We are both originally painters, but while running our own businesses, and keeping up with the busy-ness of life in general, we realized that we have abandoned our paint brushes. So we decided to hold painting nights once a week, to ensure that we actually sit down guilt-free and create a piece of art just for fun! It's actually a very therapeutic, much needed break from staring zombie-like at the computer.
Yesterday we went to the One of a Kind Show in lieu of our painting night, in search of inspiration, but here is a little, simple painting that I did last Thursday...it didn't take too much time, but I was happy with the result! I hope to do more of these mini-paintings. They are fun and great practice for my carpel tunnel-ridden mouse-shaped 'claw'. So stay tuned for some more mini paintings in the future, brought to you by the very special Creative Thursdays.
I'm very proud to showcase another recently completed website - Canvas Jam! This new company allows children to create abstract paintings on large-scale canvases that fit right into their parent's decor. Clicking through the photos, you can see just how proud all of these kids are, and what a great keepsake for parents {not to mention that they get a cool work of art for their walls}.
This company opted for a 'starter' one-pager website that includes some company information, photos, and contact details. As their company grows, they will be adding more pages to the site. And considering all of the photos I have added in the past month or two, it looks like they are well on their way! Be sure to check out the photos - the artwork is really quite beautiful and the kids, absolutely adorable.
It is an artistic weekend in Toronto! Nuit Blanche, a self-proclaimed 'free, all-night, contemporary art thing' is happening tonight. At precisely 6:52 pm (love this) and until sunrise, the entire city of Toronto will turn into an art gallery, with amazing outdoor exhibitions and the doors of galleries, museums, cultural centres and neighbourhood open all night long.
There are 155 destinations and way too much to see in even 12 hours! I am looking forward to the waterfall 'quilt' made of recycled plastic bottles that will be draped, and illuminated, on the side of the Ontario Power Generation building. I strolled through Nuit Blanche last year in the Queen Street West zone, and it was an incredible experience! I'm looking forward to tonight's expedition.
The 2008 Toronto International Art Fair is on as well. This is my kind of artsy-fartsy weekend!
I've had an Etsy shop - inBloom Boutique - for a while, however it's been sitting empty and lonely for the last year or two! Finally I have added some artwork to it - some little acrylic paintings. I will be added more to the shop too, including some new 'unbusiness card' and 'mommy card' creations. Take a peek!
This month's Canadian House & Home magazine features artist Bobbie Burgers' weekend {weekend!} home in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. Can you even imagine waking up to this view from your bedroom window? I can certainly see how the landscape has inspired Bobbie's fabulous, vibrant paintings. Sigh...to have a weekend home like hers. What must her during-the-week house look like?!
Well it's no secret that I'm smitten with nature motifs and silhouettes...just take a look at my logo! So I fell in love with these delicate Wooden Pop-Up Boxes filled with small, hand-cut paper forests by paper artist Lizzie Thomas. So whimsical and pretty! {as seen in Lucky magazine; photos from Design*Sponge}
Have you heard of Big Cartel? It's a cool program that allows small businesses to host an online shop without all of the hassle - or in their words 'Simple Stores for DIY Rockstars'! I decided to create a small store {it's free for 5 items and under} to sell some prints of the nature pattern watercolours I created in my Australian illustration course. I've found a way to print the paintings on watercolour paper so they look almost identical to the original art. Check them out at inBloom Studio Boutique!
Unbelievably, this week is the 10th anniversary of my journey to Australia where I spent a year studying Plant and Wildlife Illustration. How the heck does 10 years fly by so quickly? I remember it all very clearly, and 10 years ago on precisely this week, I left in bone-chilling -40 degree Celsius Toronto temperatures {is that possible?!}, and arrived in Sydney in blistering +40 degree Celsius heat {is that possible?!}. And right about at this time, while trying to get accustomed to the 80 degree temperature difference, I was 'trampolining' off the thickest, sturdiest spiderwebs I have ever seen {don't get me started on the spiders}, reaching for my shampoo bottle only to grasp a leech that was stuck to the side, and watching in awe as a wallaby hopped past me on my university's campus. That year was such a wonderful experience that I'll never forget. There were many lonely times, there's no doubt - I was a 22 hour flight away from my family and they were usually sleeping while I was awake! But my adventure taught me how to depend on myself. I became very strong and independent...I grew up.
Writing a post on silhouettes for Bloomerism last week, I found this beauty by Jenny Lee Fowler, and I just wanted to share here too. 
I'm not sure where I found this little poem, but I've kept it for years! It inspires me to not take art quite so seriously and to just 'dig in' and create.
HomeSense is such an exciting place to shop...it's like a treasure hunt! There is usually only one of each item, and you really have to hunt to find something good, but when you do, it is usually a pretty great deal. My sisters and I have been looking for some large art for my dad's empty walls to go with our proposed yellow and gray colour scheme. I spotted this the other day at HomeSense...wow! I'm not sure if the sheer size {4 feet by 4 feet} and amazing colour of this piece are accurately portrayed in this photo, but as it sits in my living room, I can't stop looking at it. And the best part? It was only $99! I am quite sure that a blank canvas of this size alone would cost close to $100, not to mention the price of its frame. Score! Except now I'm not sure I can part with it. Sorry dad...
Last night Céleste and I met for our Creative Thursday session, and since I have been feeling pear-y lately, she suggested that I do some pear studies in different mediums that I've wanted to try - a great idea! So last night I painted a little pear study with the water mixable oils she recommended {love them} and I added in a textured background using a palette knife and a heavy gel medium. It's a simple little painting but I'm really happy with how it turned out.
This mug was also in a box I hadn't been opened for years - my first foray into graphic design! I designed it as a give-away for my Senior Prom. Although I copied the fonts pretty much exactly from a coffee table book {boys and prom dresses were much more of a concern than copyright infringement, apparently}. But I have to admit that it looks pretty good considering it was created using a 1990's version of Word Perfect.
It was fun to find these old treasures, and looking back they were all clues pointing to where I would end up. I took some strange turns, and a twisty journey to where I am now. But it is quite apparent that from a young age, I was in love with art and design.
I wish I could be in New York this weekend to attend the Outsider Art Fair. One of my favourite Toronto artists will be exhibiting there - Holly Farrell. I have seen her work up close and personal at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit and I just can't get enough of her beautiful depictions of vintage still life objects. The paintings may appear simple, but as a painter myself, I find her realism incredible! Here are some of my faves, but be sure check out Holly's website for more.
My friend and neighbour, Céleste {a children's book illustrator} and I have been holding 'Creative Thursday' painting nights. We are both originally painters, but while running our own businesses, and keeping up with the busy-ness of life in general, we realized that we have abandoned our paint brushes. So we decided to hold painting nights once a week, to ensure that we actually sit down guilt-free and create a piece of art just for fun! It's actually a very therapeutic, much needed break from staring zombie-like at the computer.
Last year, for my sister's 29th birthday, I gave her a gift certificate for a painting to hang above her bed. And, well...a 30th birthday and a year and a half later, I finally completed it...yay!
I'm very proud to showcase another recently completed website - Canvas Jam! This new company allows children to create abstract paintings on large-scale canvases that fit right into their parent's decor. Clicking through the photos, you can see just how proud all of these kids are, and what a great keepsake for parents {not to mention that they get a cool work of art for their walls}.
As per Jenny's request {thanks for your comments Jenny!} I am posting some photos from Nuit Blanche. Our original Saturday night's plans changed a bit, as Pete and I got last-minute tickets to the Toronto Maple Leaf game. We did walk around the city a bit afterwards, and saw some of the outdoor exhibits though.
It is an artistic weekend in Toronto! Nuit Blanche, a self-proclaimed 'free, all-night, contemporary art thing' is happening tonight. At precisely 6:52 pm (love this) and until sunrise, the entire city of Toronto will turn into an art gallery, with amazing outdoor exhibitions and the doors of galleries, museums, cultural centres and neighbourhood open all night long.
