Hello Friends! This past week has been a blur of new packaging, new product photography/styling, and copious — nay — unholy amounts of coffee. I am getting *so* close to being able to update the etsy shop with all the new work from abroad, so I figured I’d offer a little sneak peek into the fresh new face of Fin and Feather Art.
I might be on a bit of a pastel binge. Although — with the warmer weather, the delicate scents of flowers and sea salt wafting on the breeze, how could I not be?? I regret nothing.
I am super pumped to get all the new work added to etsy. I still have a few more rounds of new paper to test and am waiting on another shipment of cardboard backing boards, but it should all come together shortly. Hopefully. With that in mind, I’ll be offering a few new coupon codes to celebrate the revamp of the store.
Here’s the first one; help me clear out the old work! MAKEROOM14 Is the first new coupon code! Simply enter it when checking out on etsy for a 10% discount!
As always, thanks for stopping by – can’t wait to share all thats in store for my little shop
Usually I shy away from pink. It’s just not a color I find myself drawn to very often, or at all inclined to use. I”m not sure if it’s the warm weather or what, but lately I have not been able to get pink out of my mind, or my palette.
I started working on this ink ram skull atop a bed of flowers and decided that yep- they had to be pink.
This time change is knocking the stuffings out of me. Yesterday I was wide awake and ready to take on the world at 3:30 am.
Thankfully, I’ve got lots to work on in the early morning. First thing on my list, was to make lists. And strawberry-chia smoothies.
Today thankfully I wasn’t awake until 5:30, but it still feels pretty ridiculous. I wanted to finish up a few of the sketches from our foray into the Botanical Gardens, so I made use of the silence this morning with some tea and posted up on our balcony. Once the sun came out it was actually quite nice, a very different (quieter) side to Miami.
I should have some more sale info by the end of the weekend, I am beside myself with excitement for the re-opening on thursday! Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend — go out and make some art!!
Happy April 1st! I hope everyone is wary today — don’t believe anything on the internet. Except maybe for this post, I’ve already gotten the April Fools-ing out of my system today anyway.
So somehow, it’s April already. This means a few things to me; 1.) Holy cow, time flies. 2.) Our European Adventure is almost over. 3.) My shop re-opens soon!
As we prepare to bring our fantastic little trip to a close, I am a whirl of emotion. I am sad to leave behind the exploration and the challenges of living abroad, but I am so, so, ready to sleep in my own bed and get back to real life.
Part of ‘real-life’ (one of my more favorite parts actually) is the running of my etsy shop, Fin and Feather Art. As I mentioned earlier in the year, I closed my shop during our travels to focus on creating my art and to spend a bit of time considering the final touches to the rebranding of the store that I started earlier in the year.
And I am so excited to show off.
April 10th will be the Grand Re-Opening (Bob’s burgers anyone?). To celebrate, I’m having a little kick-off party in my studio that evening, and will also be sending out special gifts with all orders placed that whole weekend! (April 10th – April 13th) Pop over to my facebook page for more information on the upcoming sale
It should be great a few days, and I am a bit antsy to get to it! Though, while I am absolutely pumped about the store, it is our last day here in Barcelona — so we should go outside and enjoy it. I wish everyone a great (and scare-free!) April 1st!
Today we ventured out to the botanical gardens , up in the Montjuic area. It was a rather hefty walk from our apartment to the gardens (looking back, we probably should have just gotten a cab) so by the time we arrived, Dan and I were quite happy to post up on a bench while I sketched and he took in the scenery. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and as we were one of the few people in the park — it made for an extremely peaceful afternoon.
The park itself is pretty great. It is divided into geographic sections devoted to particular region of flora and was teeming with some really interesting specimens. I’ve been to a fair amount of botanical exhibits (it is kinda my job…) and I was impressed at how many plants they had that I had never seen before. Also birds. There were lots of the little animated green Quaker Parakeets putting on shows and squawking with their friends.
How great are these guys?? They look like colorful bottle brushes, or some type of alien q-tip. When we arrived back home (after a siesta of course), I decided to clean up and ink over a few of the sketches in my moleskine. Much to my frustration I somehow managed to lose my trusty xs faber-castell pen while we were in Venice, so the lines are a bit thicker than I would have liked.
I may see if the local art store carries a similar pen, I really prefer my lines as thin as possible when doing work like this. And it will give me a chance to stock up on a bit more watercolor paper before heading back to the states. I’m pretty sure my bag is going to be painfully close on the weight limit for our flight… but how can I pass up afforable Arches paper??? That’s right, I can’t. I can however throw out some shoes…
I wandered around La Boqueria for a good while yesterday afternoon. With only a week left of our adventure – I needed to doubledown on my effort to find souvenirs for our friends and family. Granted, none of the stuff at the market is exactly TSA approved, it was still a wonder to behold. Flowers, nuts, fruits, candies, meats and *very* fresh fish (still bubbling at the mouth…) and people crowding each stand, handing bags of purchased goods over hands reaching with euros. It was a fairly chaotic exchange but thoroughly entertaining.
This morning I felt like playing around in my new pink pantone moleskine (Which I am adoring. The subtle white dots on the page are sort of my favorite thing ever.) With the foliage from the previous day still whirling about my mind I set to draw out a phrase that’s also been circling back in there. A good way to start off a day of work
See the dots? Aren’t they great?
Aaaand a gratuitous shot of the new sketchbook and compass, because they rock my socks right now.
While exploring Barcelona today I stumbled upon one of my favorite things ever.
Macarons.
It took a good amount of willpower, but I managed to get the tasty bits home, photographed and even sketched before eating them. If that’s not artistic dedication, then I don’t know what is.
I made a few studies of the individual cookies, but decided to focus on a poster-sized watercolor instead.
The paper needs a good pressing after the water-heavy washes, but I’ll do that when I’m back in Miami in my studio. Until then, I may just have to go back to the little shop and get more macarons. You know, for research 😉
There are few things as comforting to me as waking up hearing pots and pans being readied for breakfast. Our neighbors typically start their preparations around 6:45, sending delightful scents of coffee and eggs wafting through the courtyard and into our open windows. (The walls in this old building are extraordinarily thin, so every noise above a normal speaking tone carries pretty much throughout the whole place.) It is a lovely, slow way to wake up.
Eventually the smells will make me hungry enough to shed my covers and walk to the kitchen right around the time the kids start filtering into the school across the street.
It is loud, it is bright, it is early and I cannot get enough of it.
This morning was no different. I made my tea, grabbed my new sketchbook (finally bit the bullet and purchased a pantone moleskine!) and started to draw swirls, curves, anything to wake my sleepy brain. This morphed into lettering and from there I made an attempt at a calligraphic alphabet.
I’ve never had a lot of patience for lettering, but this morning it was different. In sunlit stillness I treasured the swirls and strokes of each figure, giving each letter time and breath. And now I’m hooked. It felt like yoga, a process of repetition, a meditation.
And just when I was happy with it, I wrinkled the page. Of course. I know my shaky littler letters have a long way to go, but it was wonderful to try something new
I decided to draw a fawn face, as that was something I could whip up fairly quickly and without *too* much risk of messing up and destroying the bag. Although, I guess at two euro, it wouldn’t be that big of a problem — just a hassle to go out and get another.
Note for future-Ellen; always buy backup materials…
Thankfully I finished it up right as I lost my sunlight. I love the little flat we rented, but after about 5:30, all the good drawing light is gone. And the few lamps in the places don’t offer too much in terms of strong light. Not bad for sketching or making notes, but definitely not great for a project without much room for mistakes.
I am super happy with how it turned out. The original plan was to draw magnolia branches and flowers behind the head, but as I lost the light, I decided to wait. I’ll use it for a bit as is then decide if I want to add anything more.
After a few days shut inside working (and avoiding the chilly dampness) I decided to visit the Berlin Natural History Museum. The museum is a nice little 30 minute tram ride from our flat into Mitte, the center of the city. I was happy to get a seat by the window, I absolutely adore the view from the tram. All the little shops, the graffiti, the people, the Bäckereien… I would seriously just ride the tram in circles looking out the window if I could.
I arrived at the museum about 10 minutes before a downpour, (which is lucky for me, I was carrying all my drawing supplies!) and upon entering I was immediately greeted by two massive, breathtaking mounted Brachiosaurus skeletons. One of them also has the honor of being the tallest mounted skeleton in the world.
I spent forever in this room. Jurassic Park came out when I was in 4th grade and it’s safe to say it left it’s mark on me. The height of the skeleton was staggering, I felt dwarfed, insignificant and I couldn’t help but imagine the beast covered in muscle and gray leathery skin. Munching on leaves. And then the theme music to Jurassic Park started playing in my head, and then I decided it was best if I continued on.
Leaving this room, I entered an alcove with a whole zoo pinned the wall.
Seriously. A whole zoo.
I immediately sought out the nearest bench and whipped out my sketchbook.
Due to the influx of crowds (which seemed to undulate between grade-schoolers and retirees)I didn’t have the time, nor view to draw everything I wanted. Ah well, I suppose that’s what a camera is for. And then, the room of preserved fish.
It is really, a whole room just for *just* preserved fish. Fish from last year, fish from 1905, fish from probably many, many years before, all in various jars, in various states of decay. The room was chilly, it was hard to examine each jar – though I wanted desperately to see the years of embalming. Some species I recognized without knowing the German equivalent, but others were completely alien.
I understand the science behind it, but I was a bit sad that the embalming fluids remove all hint of the animal’s original coloration. I would have really enjoyed seeing a more accurate depiction of the fish in life. That means I should probably go visit the aquarium next.
Sketching here was great. Having access to an animal who is essentially frozen in a pose felt like a combination of a trip to the zoo and the best figure drawing class ever.
