august recap

In August...I got new art on the walls. Well some. 

 


I've still got many more ideas and pieces that need homes.

I got my studio a bit more organized.

 
this is my favorite drawer. filled with envelopes, tags, stickers, and wonderful little items. 

Didn't even make it close to getting started on my Africa book.

I started to bring life to a little book that I've been planning for over the last year.

 

But its not quite finished yet. Sometimes life throws curve balls, and the past couple of days have been very curvey. And I've decided I need to not rush through life, even though I have so much I want to do. 

So for now, here is my August page:

august:

She went camping. She painted jellyfish.

 

She got pictures taken at a photobooth.

She went camping again. She hiked to waterfalls. She photographed mushrooms. She drank margaritas and made jiffypop.

 

She cleaned up her studio. She helped her dad build the fence.

This weekend I'm holed up alone with my little dog and my surface design class. Should be a good one! 

patterns, patterns everywhere

Today is the start of The Art and Business of surface design online class.

And by happy coincidence, its also the day I found this delicious pattern book in the discount section of my book store.


And its a day of noticing patterns and finding the daily patterns in life that inspire me.

graphic jellies

Before I watercolored it, I scanned Monday's jellyfish doodle and brought it into Illustrator. Now I can manipulate it and add colors as I choose.

Foam Stamp Jelly

Using one of my favorite Alisa Burke techniques I created a foam stamp using a pen to carve in my doodle.

I always forget how much I love this technique, and how awesome they always come out. I love how cheap, quick, and easy it is to make prints on fabric and paper. Even my boyfriend said "wow that turned out awesome". So that's always inspiring.

Two prints, one one fabric, one on paper.

I came back after the ink dried and added more acrylic paint to my jellies, then came back into it with my black pen.

Free motion Jelly

While looking at photos of jellyfish I noticed their tangle of swirly tentacles, and right away I thought of free motion stitching.

This one started out as watercolor, then I added some messy free motion stitches, some black outlines, and a little bit of acrylic paint. 

And I had some empty frames sitting around in my effort to get more art up on my walls, so I popped it in a frame and mat...and I'm loving how it looks sitting on my shelf. 

Jellyfish Week!

I've had schools of jellyfish swimming around my head lately. It all started with the jellyfish at the San Francisco Aquarium of the Bay.

Ever since then, I've needed to get my jellies out of my head and onto paper (or fabric, or canvas). As soon as I get one done, another technique or style pops into my head and I need to make another jelly.

So this week I'll be sharing the little jellyfish creations I have swirling around my studio.