I bought a planner.

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

At the start of this year one of my major intentions for 2015 was organization.

With no clear organizational hierarchy, my notes, sketches, schedules and ideas were scattered and strewn about my studio and were nearly impossible to prioritize.

Already in scarcity, the time I was spent tracking things down and re-making lists was getting a bit out of hand. At the start of the new year I decided enough was enough, I was going to break down and actually buy a *dramatic pause* planner.

I’ve bought a few in the past, but always found myself writing more in the margins than in the actual date. They were constricting, confining and I hated the process of scheduling in such blocked-out fashion. I decided to do a bit of research this time and found myself reading about the kickstarter project of Angela Trinidad.

I was intrigued by the thought behind the project, but was still wary based on my awful track record with planners. Thankfully, the site offered a pdf copy for download – so after posting to my facebook wall (a requirement for download that I totally understand) I was able to try it out. I don’t even think a full week went by before I ordered a real copy.

It’s the greatest planner I’ve ever used. Loads of blank space for doodles, some great points of self-reflection, goal-tracking… the whole shebang. It’s especially great for me as I keep a separate blank sketchbook too – I am able to make small thumbnails of sketches I want to develop further into the dates of the planner, thus scheduling my studio time more effectively.

My *real* copy arrived the other day, and I just now finished copying the loose-leaf pdf version into the beautiful black book. So excited to keep this organizational ball rolling!

What about you? Any tricks to staying ontop of work/school? You’ve heard mine, leave me comment with your favorite organizational tool

Last Weekend’s Painting : Wet Pebbles (WIP pics)

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

I’ve had an 18 x 24 sheet of watercolor board staring at me from the corner of my studio for weeks now. I set it up on my easel so I would pass by it coming and going, hoping that one day inspiration would strike.

Saturday morning, finally, I walked by and thought ‘pebbles. Wet pebbles.’

Overjoyed to finally have an idea for this gorgeous piece of board, I set up on my table with a doughnut and coffee and got to work.

And that was my weekend.

Hope you all have lovely weekends as well – onto the new week!

Murmurations

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

A murmuration is the name given to the display of avian acrobatics of swirling starlings (and other species of birds) and it is truly a spectacular sight to behold. The birds dash and dive, undulating in strange twisting unisons that form a nearly complete black cloud of teeny birdy bodies. Anytime I’m able to see the occurrence, I just stand mesmerized as the flock travels across the sky, the cloud constantly shape-shifting and reforming — it’s a pretty cool thing to watch.

After seeing a few over the weekend (that time of year, maybe?) I decided to paint a few of the patterns while they were still fresh in my mind.

I’m pretty in love with how they ended up drying. Hopefully tomorrow I see a few more

New Abstract Work available for Pre-Order!

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

Happy Monday folks! Hope you all had excellent weekends!

My weekend seemed to be devoted to the more adult side of life — revolving around taxes, laundry and picking out new floor tiles. No complaints here though, it was all necessary and some of it a good bit of fun. We’re still dealing with some flood damage from back in November, so I am all about with getting the discolored carpet ripped up and replaced with shiny new (flood resistant) tile.

In addition to these pursuits, I was also able to finally color check a run of brand new prints made from my recent abstract watercolors. They passed with flying colors (pun completely intended) so I am super happy to announce that I will be taking preorders for the first 20 prints of each painting! Each work measures 8.5 x 11 inches and is printed on gorgeous, heavy weight fine art paper using archival quality ink.

For all pre-orders I’ll also be reducing the cost from $25.00 per print, to $20 until the first run sells out.

Simply click here to send me an email.

Make sure to note the following;

1.) The letter corresponding to print (see below) that you would like to order.

2.) The quantity of each print you would like to order.

3.) The address of where the print should be sent to.

I will confirm availability and will send a paypal invoice back to the email. Payment must be made within 24 hours of the invoice being sent. Once I’ve received payment, the print will ship within the next 2 business days.

Feel free to contact me with any questions on the offer, or for any additional images of the prints

Watercolor Abstracts available for Pre-Order!

Balance

Posted on February 10, 2015February 11, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about balance.

How to make sure that my energy is distributed as healthily as possible : Between my art practice, commissions, freelance and personal projects, as well as my seriously wonderful husband, our fantastic friends and family, and my own mental well being.

If I have time left over, maybe I’ll get to the dishes.

Making sure to budget time efficiently has always been a bit of stumbling block for me, as I can quickly find myself 6 hours into a painting when I would swear only 2 went by. Alarms, are a utterly fantastic invention.

One of the aspects of my life that has helped to keep me organized, keep me balanced, is my yoga practice. Three times a week usually out at Bayfront park in Miami (or at a nearby studio) has been a source of incredible insight and a wealth of personal growth. Beyond the blocking-off of two hours and the schedule crunch that creates, the poses, the breathing, the reflection has developed an inner voice I did not know I possessed.

After a particularly refreshing class this Saturday, I came home and immediately started to paint. I had a slip of an idea as I walked back from the park in my post-yoga haze and wanted to make sure to get it onto paper before ate breakfast and showered.

Three stones, each bleeding into each other, supporting each other.

I titled it ‘Balance’ and it now sits above my keyboard. It serves as a reminder to myself to honor what is truly important and let a natural balance pervade.

What about you? Do you have any tactics or tricks to keep your schedule/life in check? Leave them below, or send me a tweet!

Illustrated Profile Pic

Posted on February 9, 2015February 10, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

Happy Monday folks!

I put in some time this weekend to work on a project for my favorite beauty blogger and beach buddy, Beti over at Makeup Sessions.

The plan was to create an illustration that would be used as a profile pic across several different platforms. Something artsy, maybe a dab of a fashion illustration influence.

And here’s a few shots of what we came up with;

New branding for Fin and Feather Art!

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

It’s been a few months in the making and I’ve still got quite a bit to go — but it’s a start.

I’ve been using the time in between projects to create a new logo for Fin and Feather, and I am so excited to finally be able to share it. I was looking for something that focused a bit more on the “F +F” part of the brand, and something that would be a bit more iconic than the whole title written out.

I also am really excited to make stamps out of it.

With those considerations in mind, I made hundreds of versions of “F + F”, “F&F” and “ff”s, until I couldn’t recognize the letter anymore. Brain was lettery mush.

It’s a really hard thing to design for yourself I think, to design for your own brand. With clients, though each project is always a good challenge (or I wouldn’t have taken it on) I feel like it is a fairly straight shot from brainstorming, to prototyping, to final work. To objectively portray the qualities in a branding system that effectively delights the client has been not easy persey, but definitely straightforward.

To design for me, however. That was a trick.

I couldn’t tell if I actually liked what I was making in that it spoke how I wanted it to, or it was just pretty to look at. My compass was all off kilter.

Thankfully I’ve got a great network of designers to lean on in times like these. No man (or woman) is an island, and it’s never more apparent to me than when I’m struggling with my work.

All and all, I think the final version is what I was hoping for. It also allows for a lot of play within the confines of the logo – so that makes me happy.

It will also make awesome stamps.

I’ll be in the process of updating everything over the next few weeks, so make sure to check back for a new and improved Fin and Feather <3<3