june biz goals

They say when you put it out into the universe, the universe answers. Last month I said my hope was to act on my inspiration and boy did I. As a person who goes to extremes, I was wrapped up in a flurry of creativity all month. I did quite a bit of painting and beading and listed a bunch of new items in my shop! Now I'm ready to go on summer vacation :)

May Goals

• S&J wedding invitation design - I began working on floral illustration studies.
• baby nursery painting - ahoy painting done, mailed to Colorado and super cute!
• design jewelry with resin art pendants - Created a necklace for a giveaway this month on a super awesome blog which I was really happy about, but I was hoping to get more done.
• complete 1 new painting - 2 paintings in progress which is awesome, willow tree with tire swing and a small abstract design I still need to blog about.
• add artwork page to this blog - I added "artwork" and "design" pages and I am feeling fairly comfortable with them. I'm not confident with expressing myself with words and end up over-thinking it a lot. How do you stop editing and decide it's good to go?!
• get involved with creative every day theme  - I didn't work on the theme but, I did check in and see what other artists are up to and am really happy I did.
  
• family art play time - we played with beads
• setup monthly meal plan - ugh forget it. This isn't happening. 
• movement - family walks, yoga and dance - I worked yoga into my schedule more this month then I have in a long time, also got to Zumba class last week. It feels good to move.

 June Goals

• continue work on S & J wedding invitation
• post new beaded necklace and 2 art resin earrings in shop
• creative every day challenge check in
• enjoy two weeks of summer vacation with our families!!!

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.
- John Lubbock

If you would like to join in the Meetup biz goals fun, head on over to Athena Dreams to read more about how we support one another and how to join in.

new items in my shop

With a new month upon us, I wanted to share some new items in my shop plus, let you that I'm having a Summer Vacation Sale! Enter coupon SUMMER20 to save 20% off any order now thru June 5th.

Set of 6 Wood Art Coasters - Made to Order

Delicate Multi Strand Necklace

Recycled Leather Teardrop Earrings

 Nautical Blue and White Necklace

Eco Friendly Braided Bracelet

 

Bejeweled Retro Recycled Magnet Set

Alphabet Bunting Painting - Made to Order

the earth laughs in flowers

My dear friend and long time coworker, Sara, is marrying to her love Josh later this year and I am working on their wedding invitations (yay!).  They are planning a beautiful wedding in their garden so, I thought a good place to start would be with, well, their garden! Lucky for me Sara has shared loads of flower pictures from their yard on their blog so, that's where I went for inspiration. 

Above are Sara's pictures and below are my first round of digital illustrations.

These flowers were truly a joy to draw! I have a few favorites for sure. It has been so nice to have a reason to illustrate. They have lots of orange trees and rose bushes which should be in bloom for the wedding so, we have decided to focus on those two plants in particular. Stay tuned for round two of sketches. I love weddings and flowers so this project is a win-win as Sara & I would say ;)

 Earth laughs in flowers.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Hamatreya"

peek into my sketchbook

Flowers

Vines

wild carrot

Spooky ghost drawn by my son last year when he was 3 years old

ahoy painting

 

I just shipped this sweet little sailboat to Colorado. This was a commissioned 8x10 painting made for a baby boy's nursery based on this Ahoy Mate NoJo bedding set.

 

Here is the progress from start to finish.

At first I was thinking about a border and using the words ahoy! but quickly decided I would simply paint the sweet little sailboat without cluttering it up.

the great balancing act

I wrote about the great balancing act of being a working mother and an artist yesterday over at Soft Flex Company's blog. Click here to read my guest blog post.

what i'm up to

 Happy Monday! Here's a little bit about what I'm up to this month ...

• working on this weeping willow painting, a sailboat painting for a little boys nursery, a painting for a special project I can't tell you about yet and a friend's wedding invitation suite
• listening to The Avett Brothers: I and Love and You
• reading Choosing Simplicity: Real People Finding Peace and Fulfillment in a Complex World
• practicing yoga 10 minutes a day with this facebook group challenge, maybe you'll join me?
• loving my husband 

So, what are you up to? A link or description in the comments is welcome.

painting in progress: willow tree and tire swing

Growing up there was a big beautiful willow tree with a tire swing at my grandparents house. I sometimes wish I can be there in that magical place again. I recently looked up my grandparents old house on Google Earth to see if I could get a look at that tree. Sadly, it didn't give me a clear picture. The tire swing was something my sisters and I loved to play on whenever we visited our grandparents and I especially loved just sitting under that magical tree.  This is a painting in progress of my memories of that weeping willow and tire swing. I feel like there is a long way to go on this one. It's going to be tough expressing just how wonderful this tree is in my minds eye.

art masterpiece: braque

The Round Table by Georges Braque 1929

About the Artist: Georges Braque studied Art in France. He was a painter and a sculptor.

Imagination activity: Close your eyes. Now picture a round table. Imagine objects sitting on that table. These objects could be some of your favorite things. Now open your eyes - show the print.  Is this what you pictured? What did you picture? The name of the painting is The Round Table.

This type of painting is called a Still Life.  Any ideas what that might mean? Still life = objects. This artist created several still life paintings on a round pedestal table. This one contained some of his favorite things.

What objects do you see on the table? Guitar, sheet music, knife and apple, bottle, newspaper and a pipe.

In 1907 George Braque met a man named Picasso. Has anyone heard that name before? Together they created the style Cubism.  Cubism = objects are broken apart and put back together in abstract form. Objects are being seen from different angles at the same time.

Can you see different shapes? Sphere, cylinders, cubes.

What feeling do you get when you look at it?

What do we call art that doesn’t look like real life? Abstract.

George Braque created many large scale paintings. This painting is 57 3/8” x 44 ¾” - good to show the kids a point of reference for this size, I had the tallest kids stand up (he is 54") and explained how the canvas was taller then the boy.

My table would have a book, chocolate, tea or coffee, a handmade ornament (i love ornaments!), slippers and flowers. If you wanted to paint a table with your favorite objects what would they be?

mother's day

“Nothing is more important than reconnecting with your bliss. Nothing is as rich. Nothing is more real.” ~Deepak Chopra

On Mother's day I awoke to find a beautiful basket of pink tulips and handmade cards from my kids. I relaxed at home with my family, went through the day slowly and reconnected with some of my bliss's. 

My wonderful mother in law, aka Nannie, had boys for a sleepover on Friday night.
We enjoyed a family lunch date on Saturday with Nannie and Tom.
My toe polish is eggplant purple thanks to a Mother's Day pedicure from my husband.
Ethan and I looked at The Art Book and reviewed artists we learned in his class.   
Hudson and I played marbles and built a marble track.  
I read a few chapters of Choosing Simplicity and caught up on blog reading.
I finished my tree of life belly cast painting that I began back in January. 
I stole a few minutes in the studio and worked on my newest painting in progress.

To all the beautiful mama's in the world including my mother, mother in law and godmother, I hope you all enjoyed your day too!