new painting: thoughts change quickly

ok my dears, this is the last painting in the series of large pieces for my show at art & light gallery in greenville, SC that i have to show you-- i whisked them up to the gallery this morning (well, half way there-- teresa, the *incredible* owner of the gallery, met me half way, bless her heart!)

this one is called 'thoughts change quickly' and is 16x24", acrylic, india ink, and hand-carved rubber block printing on masonite.

if you are in the greenville area, there is a fantastic open studios event happening this weekend, saturday from 10-6 and sunday from 12-6. i've heard it's incredible, so you may want to check it out. plus, you could check out my paintings while you're at it!

i hope you all have a fantastic halloween and a great weekend-- see you monday!
xo

my patterns in use!

i was so excited when kristin, writer of the blog life stories books, emailed me to show me what she did with some of the paper in the paper pack she ordered from my etsy shop. how cute are those collaged pieces below? i totally love it!

you can check out her blog right here, and her gorgeous books on etsy right here.
thanks, kristin!

happy halloween!

happy halloween!

here is a funny ghost drawing in honor of this fun holiday. :)

do you have fun plans? i'm spending the afternoon making some last minute costumes for ryan and i-- we are going to be bears dressed up as pumpkins, and we're going to be matching. just so he'll be totally embarrassed. :)

i'll be SURE to post pictures on monday!

secret project revealed!

my dears, it is HERE! the *secret project* i've been teasing you with for weeks is being revealed right now!!

remember how i've been showing you these silly drawings for the past several weeks? well, i've been making them into a super special zine (it's more like a fantastic little book) that is 32-pages long and full gorgeous color. i've printed it on scrumptious matte photo paper, and it is so lovely to hold in your hands. really, it is!

it is 4.25x5.5", and it has a little message that i can't reveal-- you have to get a copy to find out what it is! but i promise you'll love it and it'll make you happy. :)

these photos are just a few peeks at the pages of the zine-- there are 15 drawings in all (a couple i haven't shown you, too!), and fun text to go with all of them.

you can get one in my etsy shop right here for just $10. it's a deal, i tell you! this little book would make such a nice gift, or a stocking stuffer perhaps, or just a little gift to keep in your desk when you need a giggle or a smile.

go check it out! i promise, you'll LOVE it. yay! i'm so excited. :)

pumpkin time!

wow, aren't you impressed with ryan's and my mad pumpkin carving skills? :)

ha! just kidding. those beauties above can be attributed to none other than martha stewart. of course. they are so, so beautiful, and those pumpkins make me want to be martha stewart. seriously. they're too fantastic to even write any more words about them.

now here are ryan's and my pumpkins. his is on the left, mins on the right. ryan said his is "a classic." isn't that cute? and the photo below just feels very halloween-y to me. oooohhh... scary!

have you carved pumpkins yet? it's one of my very favorite parts of halloween! also watching "it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown", which is reserved for tomorrow night before we go to a party. yay! i love halloween. :)

{the pumpkins up top are via pinkshirtsandcarwrecks, via unruly things}

new pattern: new plaid

i am *so into* this pattern for some reason. i just want to make it in, like, 100 color combinations and plaster them all up on my wall in a ridiculous crazy explosion of color. is that weird?

i'm calling it 'new plaid', because it's really just a series of squares and not actually stripes at all-- the white lines are just blank space in between the squares. they are quite wonky and uneven and i love them. heeee!

p.s. halloween pumpkin carving occured last night while we were watching barack obama's 1/2 hour special last night (did you see it? it was awesome) -- pictures to come shortly!

p.p.s. see the new banner? hope you love it!!!

gift certificates now available!

i'm excited to tell you that i just added gift certificates to my etsy shop!!
the ones listed are for $25, but if you'd like one for a different amount, just send me an email and i'll make one specially for you!

i will either email you a PDF version of the gift certificate that you can print out, or mail you a real life version-- your choice.

this is the perfect gift for those people you're just not quite sure what they might like, or those that have everything and don't need anything but like nice things, or how about those work colleagues or nannies? the possibilities are endless!

please do let me know if you have any questions of special requests- i'll be happy to create whatever you please. :)

textural knit bangles by scrumptious

oh my. this could be my new favorite fall accessory. aren't these the best bracelets you've ever seen?? i love them so much! and they seem functional as well as fashionable-- once the cold weather rolls around, i need something knit and warm to cover every inch of my body! these are perfect.

check them out in the scrumptious etsy shop-- there are many to choose from!

kenn goodall

hello, beautiful sketchbooks by ken goodall. you certainly are making my morning.

these are seriously amazing. like, incredible amazing. kenn does paintings and illustration work, too, which you can see on his website, and he also just completed a zine that looks really fantastic-- it's full color, 32 pages, and you can get your hands on it right here. oh, and make sure you visit his blog, too-- it's oh so lovely as well.

[via my love for you is a stampede of horses]

more drawings

good morning, lovelies! thanks for all the well wishes yesterday-- i'm feeling much better. thank goodness! i even took 2 mini naps on the couch yesterday, and i am not a napper. i think they helped, though!

i have a couple new illustrations to share with you today. i'm finding as i draw more that it's getting easier to draw what i'm looking at, and it's been a real thrill for me to watch these particular drawings come together, starting as lines and random shapes and then emerging as a person. i remember in college my favorite professor used to tell us to just paint the shapes that we see and in the end the painting would emerge as the object/scene that we were trying to paint. sound advice, i'd say. plus, it makes it sort-of like a surprise when you start to see it come to life!

anyway, that's that!

...sick sick sick

hey there everybody. i'm a sick little puppy this morning, so i think i'm going to skip posting today. ryan brought home a nasty virus from school (i sound like i'm talking about a little kid! but no, ryan is the fiance who is in med school :)), and i guess my body wanted to jump on the band wagon, too.

i never get sick, so i'm a big ol' baby when i do!

hope you all have a good day and stay healthy!!
xo

{the photo above is me drawing last night, when i was not sick. boo.}

new drawing: what are you looking at?

getting closer, getting closer...... soon i will reveal my little project for which i'm creating these drawings..... in the meantime, i'm really fond of this one. :)

alex ostrowski

what a fantastic idea alex ostrowski had when he decided to create this book for himself, so he could remember simple things that he easily forgets day-today. i absolutely love it. i think we should all create books like this for ourselves. i love having reminders around me!

alex is one seriously creative guy, which you can see from his website-- and you certainly won't want to miss reading about this project that he was a part of. (really. go read it.)

{originally via design is mine}

new painting: protect yourself

good morning, my dear e-friends! did you have a fantastic weekend? mine was spent painting painting painting, and i do believe this series is getting crazier and crazier! i also got my hair cut and went running a couple of times in this beautiful fall weather, and i feel go-oo-ood!

this new piece is called 'protect yourself' and is 24x24", acrylic, india ink, linoleum block printing, and hand-carved rubber block stamping on masonite. isn't it wild? :)

i think i may turn this one into a print to put in the shop..... i'll keep you posted!

new pattern: clouds

more patterny fun comin' to ya on this friday friday friday! this one is called 'clouds', and it makes me happy. i think the colors in the top one feel sort-of seventies-ish.

guess what i'm doing today? VOTING!
yes for early voting, yes for barack obama. that's all i have to say about that. :)

have you voted yet?

kill pixie

ann introduced me to yesterday (why i didn't know of this incredible site before, i'll never know), and i found this interview with sydney-based artist kill pixie, who makes the most awesome artwork ever.

*love* the colors.

his website is sweet, too-- check it out for sure. and fecal face will keep you busy all afternoon, i promise! it's friday after all, isn't it?

new painting: we go our own way

#9 in the series of new paintings... this is called 'we go our own way'. i can't believe i'm only have a few more to go in the 12 i'm creating for this show! they're piling up in my living room and i see ryan eye them every time he walks by (he doesn't like things to be out of place, so a living room full of paintings is not his favorite thing! poor guy...)

this one started out sooooooo badly, but i think i salvaged it. it's much different than i expected, but i like how it turned out.

husmann tschaeni

oh my, i have a feeling today is going to be one of those days where i come across more incredible artwork than my poor brain can handle. isn't this work incredible? these paintings are by husmann tschaeni, and i find them so intriguing and mysterious. they seem to tell stories, but i don't know what the stories are, and i love them. LOVE THEM.

{via shining magazine}

another new drawing

i'm getting closer to putting all these drawings together and showing you what i'm making-- but for now, here is another one to look at today. yay!

jewelry by assymetry

i am a necklace person. i will choose a necklace over any other type of jewelry, every time, no matter what. and this necklace by etsy seller assymetry in particular is reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally quickly moving its way to the top of my list of favorite necklaces. i absolutely adore it.

and lynette, the maker of this gorgeousness, lives in mesa, arizona, which incidentally is the town in which i was born! it must be fate. :)

maureen mcquillan

i seriously can't figure out what these are photographs of, and i think they're just beautiful.
each image is a "unique photogram, silver gelatin print" created by maureen mcquillan-- could any photography aficienado describe to me what this means? i'm so curious!

you can find these images at mckenzie fine art in new york city, and many more on her website.