I’ve been playing around with a few more sketches along the lines of what I worked
I’m pretty excited to bring these to my large paper. I had fully intended on using the paper I packed, but having stumbled upon the most fantastic little art store ever – I am finding myself incredibly tempted to blow the rest of my budget for the month on new paper.
Aaaaand maybe some new pens.
Valentines Day present to myself perhaps?
Family crests have always intrigued me. I appreciate and enjoy the symbolism (maybe symbolism isn’t correct in all cases — ‘allegory’ might be a better word in certain instances) found in the images and text displayed on rafters, shields or ceremonial pieces. Walking around Schloss Charlottenburg this weekend, taking in the awe-inspiring murals on the ceilings and humongous tapestries all tailored for that specific family (moreover Sophia Charlotte) inspired me to explore the theme a bit further.
I’ve sometimes wished that I could uncover one that might have pertained to my ancestry, but I’ve never had any luck in my research. Without a personal frame to start from, I decided to sketch out a crest that might symbolize what I’ve come to know of Berlin in short time here.
Bear; The Bear is a symbol of Berlin. He’s everywhere here (in pictures, not in real furry bear-form)
Magpies; Berlin has the biggest Magpies I’ve seen in my entire life. The huge, fat black and white crow-like birds dominate the empty spaces of the city. I love them.
Evergreen; abandoned Christmas trees are piled up behind most apartment complexes. I’m amazed they are all still so green and relatively fragrant in their spots in the yard. A lot of them have also been re-purposed to serve as insulation for more fragile plants (roses, etc) which I also love.
Hops; An obvious nod to the beer culture (apparently you can walk around with an open bottle of beer here) but one can also find hops growing along the remains of the Berlin Wall.
I have a few other sketches planned that work with this theme as well. I’m hoping to spend a bit of time on whichever sketch turns out to be my favorite and transfer it to one of the extra large sheets of drawing paper I brought along. For now though, I’m off to the art store to find some workable fixitiv… bit of a necessity when working with pencil 😉
I think we are pretty well settled into our little flat in east Berlin. The jury is still out on the function of a few of the kitchen appliances, but all in all we are feeling pretty comfy and cozy here.
We’ve gone out and done a bit of exploring around our own neighborhood – learning the layout, finding the grocery stores and making note of neat places to eat as we trod along the cobblestones. Also getting bread from nearly every bakery we stumble upon… because why not? Butter stuffed pretzels are apparently a thing here. I feel like I’ve died and gone to a sweet, buttery, salty heaven.
The majority of our time here is of course, still spent working. I’ve been trying to keep regular “studio” hours in the corner of the bedroom, with my paper, pens and pencils strewn about the floor. I’ll admit though – it’s a little hard to stay on task knowing how much neat stuff there is outside that I haven’t seen yet. I’m sure once we get a few more ‘touristy’ activities under our belts that feeling will start to wane.
I’ve also been attempting to spend a good bit of time in the mornings absent-mindedly sketching at the kitchen table. It’s a really great way to start the day here. Or anywhere, really — I’d love for this habit to follow me home. At home it’s easy to fall prey to “I can’t sketch – I need to do laundry.” or “I’ll sketch when I get back from the store…” (which invariably never happens). Here, with both of these distractions minimized if not all together deleted, I feel like I can simply sit at the table while the coffee is brewing and just. draw. Combine that with a butter-filled pretzel and I am in paradise 
What about you? Any tricks for keeping a daily sketching time sacred?
Here’s my big news for the week… I’m temporarily closing the shop on Thursday, January 30th 2014!
While the thought of putting my store on hiatus saddens me, I am also absolutely electric with excitement for our upcoming 2 month adventure in Europe. The combination of feelings is a bit weird I’ll tell you.
I will be leaving my studio behind for an uber-transportable document-tube filled paper and supplies. (I will probably pick up a cheap drawing board once I’m there, as I really don’t want to pack my 18 x 24 sheet of masonite.) I’m really looking forward to working in such a drastically different manner, and very curious to see how (or if!) it changes my process in the long run.
I had debated hiring an assistant to manage my orders while I am away, but upon careful reflection, I don’t think that’s the best option for my buyers or for me. I love, love working one-on-one with my fantastic customers, adding little details to each order before I ship them – and I can’t quite do that to the level of quality I want, when I’m abroad and on the road.
My grandpa used to tell us grandkids, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” And I believe this absolutely applies to my shop. It is totally worth doing (I love my job!) and it is absolutely necessary to do it well. I just don’t feel like I’ll be able to give the orders the attention they deserve whilst adventuring around Europe.
So, I’ll be putting my shop into vacation mode until April 10th, when Fin and Feather Art will reopen bigger and better than ever! (Hopefully with lots of work inspired by this adventure too!)
I will definitely be posting photos, sketches and ramblings on here, my facebook page and instagram, so keep checking those spaces for updates!
My list for the week, caffeine supply, and my sketchbook. I know, I know, 2 pages in and I already ripped out a page. So much for that new years resolution 😉
I decided to wander over to the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) this afternoon. The new museum officially opened back in December, but this is the first chance I’ve had to dedicate an afternoon to exploration.
I’m honestly ashamed it took me this long, it is quite literally 3 blocks away.
So the entrance to the museum is an experience in itself. After you enter the grounds, you are led around a small garden area of alabaster-white molded benches. Winding my way through the seating, I found myself looking above at the massive columns of plants suspended from wood and cement beams. They drip, which is spectacular.
I also wanted to test out my new camera today – as I’ll be leaving for a 2 month adventure to Europe next month. I plan on visiting every art museum I can possibly cram into this time frame, so I wanted to make sure my little camera was up to the task.
I spent most of the afternoon photographing the Ai WeiWei installations. Absolutely brilliant (and heartbreaking) work, I am so glad I finally made it to the exhibit. And also kicking myself for waiting so long.
At the end of the afternoon I got in line for a latte (whats a trip to an art museum if I can’t get a good cup of coffee afterwards???) and walked out onto the terrace around the building. It’s obvious the site is still under construction, but despite that it was a very peaceful and insightful place to sit and drink my delicious coffee. I used that time of silence to plan my list for the week, scribble a few notes and a sketch or two before walking home.
Thats the thing about art museums for me, no where else can I find a similar type of renewal and inspiration.
It’s a good thing the PAMM so close, why didn’t I go sooner???
Hello everyone and welcome to the new blog!
I am thrilled for 2014. I love the rush of excitement for the new year, the lists, the resolutions… the champagne…
Its been a great start thus far. I’ve got a new studio space for creating, printing and packing up orders and am so excited to see how it streamlines the processes of making/distributing work. I am also in the process of redesigning my logo and printed materials and am very hopeful for Fin and Feather’s new fresh face.
Keep checking this space for work-in-progress shots, show details and sale information!
Peace, Love and Happy 2014!
I rue the day I put away Christmas decorations. It has got to be one of my least favorite days ever. Finding all the right boxes, trailing glitter everywhere, stuffing garland and lights back into their homes for the next 10 months makes me incredibly cranky. I just wish I could wave I wand and have Christmas pack itself up.
I suppose this is just one of those adult things I’ll need to get used to.
I took a break after shattering an ornament and I decided to spend a little bit of time sketching (and hopefully forget about the massive trail of pine needles that I’d need to vacuum up shortly thereafter).
The box of pinecones was at my feet (I put pinecones EVERYWHERE during the holidays) so I pulled a few out and played a few contour drawings, and few blind drawings and then finally tried to organize a decent composition.
I’m happy with the turnout, but also acutely aware of the pine needle problem. I hope everyone’s holiday undecorating is going smoothly — I’m off to vacuum!
I pulled out my old rock collection yesterday.
Most of the rocks were found during weekend hikes up in Michigan, with the majority of their original homes lost in the sea of memory. There are a few stones however that I will never forget picking up.
…a chipped shale shard in parking lot under the Skylon tower, a perfect 50/50 gray stone found in the street trying to cross to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris (in hindsight, I should have focused on crossing the huge street and not trying to get the rock!) a pink granite from the Flatirons in Boulder, a small mottled rock from my grandparent’s old house…
As I held each one, I was brought back to the memory of finding it and soon the hours I had planned to dedicate to reorganizing my closet were lost in fond remembrance. Oops. I guess there’s always tomorrow for closet cleaning.
Early this morning I started drawing a few similar geometric forms and decided to design a new set of blank cards from some of my sketches. Luckily, I had a stack of cards and envelopes that has been begging for a design for months, so I decided to create a few runs of the gemstone cards.
I am quite pleased with how they turned out and am excited to use them to send out notes to our friends and family!
I put up a few extra packs for sale on Etsy as too, maybe someone else can get some use of them as well Click here to check them out at my shop!
