I posted a few work-in-progress shots of this floral watercolor on instagram back a few weeks ago, and received an incredible response for prints.
SO! I woke up a few hours early this morning and got to work testing the colors. My scanner/printer are pretty well calibrated at this point, so matching the colors to the original only took a few passes. I made tests of 5 x 7s, 8.5 x 11, and 11 x 14 sized prints, and was quite happy with the outcome.
I’m hoping to finish a run of 20 by tomorrow, allowing me to photograph them and put them up in the etsy shop by the end of the week.
I participated in the We Are the Makers Swap brought to you by the lovely Craft your Life Collective and Makers Movement this past month. Each of us submitted images of what we’d like to send, and if chosen to participate we were matched with another maker.
My package was delivered today and HOLY COW. I was matched with Nalani over at Knotty Bloom (seriously, go check out her work!) and was lucky enough to receive one of her gorgeous plant hangers.
I also happened to have a little budding succulent in a small pot that kept getting lost in my forest of plants. The pot fit perfectly in the hanger and I couldn’t have been more pleased.
The cording is soft, the weaving is exceptionally beautiful and it is just a joy to look at.
See that little plant in there? 6 months ago it was a clipping from an older succulent, and it’s starting to grow! I think given it’s new, beautiful home it will do nothing but thrive from here on out! (Right?)And here’s where it will live in the studio, right infront of a nice sunny window, guarding my lenses and camera gadgetry.
A big, giant THANK YOU to KnottyBloom, for sharing this beautiful piece of handmade artistry with me. And of course, to Maker’s Movement and CYLcollective for organizing this fantastic swap!
Hope you all have a lovely weekend <3
****CORRECTION****
Additional BEAUTIFUL piece of weaving pictured above as a bracelet, is not infact a bracelet. It’s a MINI-HANGER!!!! How cute is that???
This week the lovely folks over at MakersMovement have been running a little series on creative spaces on their instagram account.
The tag #Makerspaces has been a fantastic little collection of inspiring studios, artsy interiors and drool-worthy lighting, inciting some serious need to clean up my space.
…which I never really got a chance to do, but decided to take a picture anyway.
This is where my magic happens. Where I play with my paints, cut paper, package orders and daydream up new projects. It’s not much, and it’s pretty cluttered — but it’s my favorite place to be.
I just love the peek into other creative’s lives that this tag offers up — it’s so inspiring to see the workstations of my favorite’s makers!
This week has been a bit of a blur. Long hours in the studio, followed by late nights working on personal projects make for slow, blurry early mornings.
Usually I begin my work day with color studies, emails or printing orders – but this morning all I could seem to muster was a bit of splotchy painting. An hour so later and nearly a full pot of coffee later I was able to wake up a bit.
These sorts of days are not the norm. I usually feel like I have pretty good handle on how to balance my work/sleep schedule, but with an influx of ideas and only two hands, I seemed to have ended up a bit out of whack.
I’m hoping I can use this weekend to catch up on a bit sleep. What do you all do to keep a natural balance of work and sleep?
Sketching for a new commission over the last few days.
Osmosis is a piece about the ebb and flow of life – with my client experiencing a few wonderful (and sudden!) life changes. A painting about growth and acceptance <3
Last week I started working on a commission for a friend featuring the illusive state stone of Michigan — the Petoskey. It is both rock and fossil, created from an ancient coral reef from the Devonian period.
I can remember spending my free time during a few childhood trips to the Traverse area hunched over in the gravel looking for a stone of my own. Which, to my great frustration I never found.
Having no real-life example in my rock collection, I was thankfully able to purchase a few specimens on online
I made a few sketches before moving on to the large version (24 x 24), but found that I enjoyed the sketches so much, I might as well make a few additional paintings after I wrapped up the commissioned work.
I made a small run of prints from this particular painting as well — check them out here!
Whew! It’s been a whirlwind the last few weeks – commissions, meetings, teaching and traveling has left me rather exhausted. I took a few days off after returning from Michigan last week ( a killer cold didn’t help…) to transition back into work mode, and am feeling pretty well and caught up now.
Here’s a few pics from our journey northward
<3<3 Snowcrab <3<3
Lunch Break. Wonderful sour from Grand Rapids Brewing
Sketching for succulent commission in the parent’s sunroom.
One of the many iconic family farms dotting the Michigan roadways.
Back to Miami!
Hope everyone is having an excellent start to the week!
In celebration of this joyous occasion, I’ll be featuring a few aspects of Fin and Feather Art as well as showing off a few shops that I absolutely adore. The maker community is huge and growing fast, and an incredibly inspirational place to be <3 <3
For today – the first day of Small Business Week, I wanted to give you guys a peek into the things that my studio wouldn’t run without. Well, it probably would still run, but not as smoothly.
…Or be as nice-smelling.
So here a few things that I really appreciate having in my work space. What about you? What inspires you on your desk?
1: Voluspa Saijo Persimmon Candle. I first stumbled upon this scent after arriving home from a 2 month adventure in Europe. I was full of inspiration, full of ideas and hungry to make some serious work. Now, every time I light this candle (or subsequent candles — I’ve gone through many.) I am reminded of that feeling and try to channel it into my current projects.
2: Succulents. As many as I can physically keep alive.
3: Faux fur lap blanket. Sometimes I get cold, even in Miami. Wrapping myself up in a FAUX fur blanket while working (not with paint though, too messy) makes me feel warm and medieval-ly.
4: TEA (and/or coffee). For reasons.
5: My ancient Muk-Luks. Seriously, I’ve had them for near 10 years. Nothing keeps my toes warmer.
6: Headphones/Ipod
7: (See 6). My current playlist on repeat; The Skyrim Soundtrack (45 mins of atmospheric sounds? YES PLEASE.) and both Lord Huron albums. Pure poetry.
8: My black swatch watch. I regularly work into the wee hours of the morning and if I’m not hovering by my computer I tend to lose track of time crazy fast. I try not to have my phone out when I’m painting either, I like to commit to distraction-free-paint sessions as often as I can. Rather frequently I’ll realize I worked straight through dinner, or it’s 2 hours before sunrise — so wearing a watch has helped be a subtle reminder to eat, and you know, actually sleep.
Tomorrow I’ll be back with some info on some of my favorite small shops (both local and international), so feel free to drop any suggestions below!
