Custom Wedding Invitation Art

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

Every so often I am fortunate enough to work on some pretty awesome projects, with some pretty awesome people.

This was one of those times.

I was hired to create the art for the lovely Andria Lindquist and her fiance CJ’s wedding invitation/stationary bundle, and it was FANTASTIC. Working with Andria was dream and the whole process was fun, exciting and just that perfect amount of creative challenge. (I painted about 5 pinatas before I made one I liked…)

The first part of the project was a watercolor portrait, painted at 16 x 20, that image was then digitized for use on the back of the invitations. The second part of the project was a list of icons for use in the wedding info booklet. Each one was hand-painted, then digitized and prepared for placement in the book.

It was an awesome project to work on and came together so excitingly at the end. The paper is PHENOMENAL, her design skills are on on pointe and I was thrilled to be able to help out. Check out her blogpost on the project for more pics and to hear more about the paper (seriously, it’s beautiful.)

Have a great week friends <3

Splotchy Florals

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

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?

—

Scribbles and Adventures

Posted on June 8, 2015June 8, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

Just a quick little scribbly update from the studio today.

A few new shapes, a new running paths, a chicken and a new park!

I’ll be back with some exciting news soon — hope everyone has an excellent start to their week!

Petoskey Stones!

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

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!

Outdoor watercolors. In a sweater.

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

It’s a little bit chilly today in Miami, probably a result of all of the wind/rain last night. I tried to go for my usual Friday night run and actually had to turn around, was pretty sure I’d be blown physically off my feet in mid-sprint.

So for today, I decided to actually wear a sweater (what a strange, foreign thing) and work outside.

Hope everyone has a lovely, warm weekend!

<3<3

Abstract Watercolors now on Great.ly!

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

I’m so excited to announce that I’m launching my abstract watercolor print shop on Great.ly!

If you haven’t been over to the site yet, I encourage you to check it out. It’s a neat way to connect makers and curators, all for the benefit of the shopper. It is organized into sets of boutiques curated by Great.ly approved tastemakers, who bring their individual style and aesthetics to the shop. Think of those nifty little indie shops, nestled in the heart of cities – the ones that only stock vintage trinkets and handmade beauties. Now imagine you can access them at your desk, no plane ticket required. That’s Great.ly.

I’m really excited to see how it pans out, as it is quite a bit different from the usual online shopping experience. I have a lot of a faith behind the Great.ly team though (The Jealous Curator is one of my favorite people in existence), and if anyone can spice up the world of shopping online – it’s totally them.

So if you get a chance, check out the site – see if you can find me

Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend!!!

Morning Sketches

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Ellen Sherman

I love the morning. Those moments when everything outside still silent, (save for a few birds in the palm trees) and the light that filters in is warm and peachy. I’ll crawl out of bed, make a pot of coffee, wrap myself up in my favorite blanket and sit at my easel. Sometimes I’ll work, sometimes I’ll just stare out the window watching as Miami slowly comes to life beneath me.

No breakfast to be made, no calls to return, no email to check — just a bit of quiet time for myself that helps me solidify my intent for the day.

Today I woke up with a few images/color schemes in my mind, so I decided to sketch a bit in the silence.

It never lasts too long though. The bird will figure out it’s daytime and start squawking, which wakes up the husband which wakes up the ferrets. And then it’s onto breakfast and real life

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