Jewels and Gems: my final assignment for Make It In Design's summer school

Thursday afternoon was the deadline for my third and final beginner's assignment for Make It In Design's free summer school course. The pattern focus was jewels and gems.

Aside from my wedding ring, I am a jewelry-less person and I just wasn't sure how I was going to get inspired. So I bought toned papers and white pencils, and I drew lots and lots of geometric shapes and sparkly bursts. As I continued to look around at gowns and haute couture, though, I realized that I was drawn to more chunky (and sort of klunky) gems. And I felt collage was a better way for me to go.

Navy is my favorite color, so I paired that with a silvery-white gem collage and submitted this design below. Some of my other ideas and runners-up follow.

I'd love to know what you think, and which one you like best?

Just found this reminder for the Tomie dePaola contest (and now I'm a semi-finalist!)

I keep a large NeuYear calendar on my studio wall. It's so big that I had to cut it into four sections. I can post two sections up at a time, which gives me a good six months of reminders and goals that I want to look at — in large type — every day. The reminders are generally about upcoming freelance work, deadlines or doctor's appointments. The goals are often written months in advance: "complete postcard mailer," "contact this agent," "submit to such-and-such contest." The goals might feel unattainable at the time that I write them on my calendar, but by looking at them daily, I feel much more prepared when the time comes.

Anyhow, as I packed up section 2 of my calendar, to make way for section 4, I saw this little reminder about the Tomie dePaola contest. It says "Don't give up."

I had written this message to myself several weeks before. When that week finally arrived, it ended up being a very busy time for me. Had I not re-read this note, I might not have submitted anything at all.

And now, guess what? I'm a semi-finalist! In a few days, I'll be getting my next assignment, and you can bet I'll be tacking up encouraging notes to myself all over my house. (It really helps!)

You can check out my initial post about my 2014 submission here, or check out all the semi-finalists' work on the SCWBI website here.

Quick sketch on the train ride to Grand Central Station

Today I took the train to the city to run in Central Park and to meet some friends for a drink. On the way in, my train was delayed for a bit, so I tried out my new white pencil/grey-toned sketchbook combo. I found the pencil a little rough and uncomfortable, and I was hoping for more contrast, but here's my sketch while the train was held up for a few minutes:

I found another Archer-collaboration this morning

As I mention in many of posts, I love to collaborate with my son, Archer. One of us will start with a drawing or painting, and the other will finish it however we see best. I've used his work in this piece, this one, here, here and many others. This process of working together is not only just fun for me, but by embedding the moment in art, I get to extend the memory of being with him.

This morning, I've been cleaning out his room, recycling old papers from kindergarten, and making space for first grade. Among the piles, I found this little collaboration from the beginning of last school year. We made this on a day that we were both particularly homesick for Brooklyn. He'd come home from school, and we sat in front of our new house, both sad and unsure of how to spend our time. I'd suggested we make something together again.

I'm so glad we did. Like looking back at a journal entry, it's such a wonderful way to remember where we've been, and how much we've changed over this year.

My studio right now, and do you know this artist?

I love it when people share their workspace. I'm always curious about the little things they surround themselves with. Today, I was looking around my own studio, and I wanted to share what I look at every day when I work. But I also wanted to see if anyone can help me identify some of these "Artist Unknown" pieces.

In the lower left corner is a collage sent to me by a NYC artist, whose name I regrettably no longer remember (and I can't decipher his signature). I sat next to him on a plane from LaGuardia to Peoria. He needed one more dollar for a whiskey, and I offered him one. A few weeks later, I received this collage at my work. The woman's dress is made out of a dollar bill. I just loved it. I believe he lived in SoHo or the Lower East Side. He might be about 50 or 60 by now. Take a look at the signature in the closeup below. Do you know who this artist is?

Another year's submission to the Lilla Rogers' Global Talent Search

At this time in 2013, I was on a family vacation, and I remember waking up extremely early one morning to check my email. The 50 short-listed artists for Lilla Rogers' Global Talent Search were being announced, and I was a teensy bit hopeful. The piece that I'd created for last year's Global Talent Search was a new direction for me. I used unfamiliar techniques that intrigued me, and I pulled from a more personal place than I usually had in the past. I'd made a different kind of art for me, and I felt great about it. I was not short-listed, but I was still excited. I knew there was much to look forward to.

This year, I entered the GTS again, ready for a challenge, ready to conceptualize and create and take another step. Our assignment was to make wall art, 7 inches x 9 inches (portrait), with the theme of terrariums. After researching for a bit, I began to draw and watercolor the elements of a terrarium — stones, dirt, leaves and organic, flowering shapes. From there, I thought about what a terrarium is to me — a little, contained world filled with life. I then drew various terrarium worlds that were more about fantasy, filling the space with plants, cats and birds. I made oil pastel paintings and smeared and scratched into them for hours. But I soon realized that I wanted a simpler world. Quieter and more personal. I simplified my idea into a few key shapes that I'd been drawn to in all of the terrariums I'd found. I wrote some personal notes to myself on the scratch paper that I'd been using for my oil pastels, and I scanned it in for my texture. To make this little world feel even more dear to me, I used one of my favorites of my son's paintings to digitally create the leaves, rock and stem.

Below is my submitted piece, followed by its runner-up and more sketches and ideas. I did not get short-listed this year either, but again, I feel there is much to look forward to.

Assignment #2 with Make It In Design's summer school

This week's beginner's track assignment for Make It In Design's summer school was to create a pattern focusing on tribal shapes. I was thrilled. I've never worked in a style like this, but I did work as the assistant to the incredible Emma Amos back in the 90s. She had an immense and beautiful collection of kente cloth that she used in her paintings, and this exercise brought back great memories.

I decided to try a geometric spin on my favorite subject right now, the bird. I created several watercolor sketches, scanned my favorite, and brought it in to Illustrator to assemble into a pattern. I was initially going for a more purple/pastel color scheme, but when I saw this black and green variation, I loved the glow-y, peacock-y feel, and I went with it.

Immediately below is my submitted piece, followed by a summery variation of the pattern, as well as the watercolor sketch that these were created from. As always, your comments are welcome!

Summer school with Make It In Design

The free summer school course with makeitindesign.com has begun! I chose the Beginner's Track, which includes three portfolio-building assignments, informative briefs and tips, and access to a large Facebook group, where we can view other people's work, ask for feedback on our own, get answers to any questions, etc. All for free. It's really a win-win.

The first assignment was to create a pattern with a tropical and/or summer holiday theme.

I started by researching tropical plants and birds. Though I'd always thought of flamingos as a comical and kitschy bird, I realized that I find them extremely beautiful, and I decided to focus on them. I sketched and painted several flamingos and tropical plants, and then I brought them into illustrator to create my pattern. My submitted pattern is immediately below, followed by other ideas, sketches and paintings. You can also check out the full gallery of beginner submissions here. Stay tuned for assignment #2!

Collaboration, blue warblers and 'no the yes'

Last night, before the sun went down and my five year old came home from his kickball game, I realized I had a few minutes to make some art. I currently have my watercolor tray out, so I looked around for any scraps of thick paper.

I love to collaborate with my kid, and we often paint and draw over each other's work, so I quickly chose one of my son's drawings that I've been holding onto. I grabbed my reference book about birds, and this is what I ended up with.

"You, the Magician"

"Observe your performance, your daily routine.
You make yourself up to teach yourself things."
—You, the Magician

This little excerpt is from the upcoming book that I've been illustrating, "You, the Magician." Written by husband and wife team, Jodi and Josh Carothers, this children's book has an incredible message that I think both kids and parents will enjoy and benefit from. I can't wait for people to read it.

Though I'm unsure of the release date (they are still looking at publishing options – suggestions welcome!), they now have a Facebook page that you can Like for more information and updates. Follow them here!

Last submission for MATS Bootcamp

Today was the deadline for my last submission in Lilla Rogers' MATS Bootcamp class. The initial mini-assignment and the overall focus was on our Favorite Beverage. The final piece should be something to give to a dear friend, or something that we'd put on our bedroom wall.

What was very different this month, was that we were asked not to post our works-in-progress on the MATS Facebook group. This prevented us from being influenced (and/or intimidated) by our classmates' work, and from seeking the opinions of others to make our own decisions. I needed to ask myself if I liked my final work and not be concerned with anyone else. Seeking approval can be a big challenge for me, and I loved this exercise.

I worked on my project up to the last minute, wavering between two very different directions. One was more editorial-ish; the other, very personal. I went with the personal one below. As I thought of my favorite drink, I thought more about memories of drinks and mealtimes. I thought of drinking juice in the morning at my Grandma Erma's farm, out of little, glass jelly jars. I thought of the lighting when I would sit down for breakfast, the window to my right, the expansive grass out the window, the big farm sink to my left. And I also thought of my Grandpa Iver, and how much I'd have liked to have him sit down with me for some juice and buttered toast. I used watercolor and graphite paper drawings to create this collage.

Part of me wanted to go with a more obvious Favorite Beverage theme, though, and I created many variations of the collage below. It was based on my coffee cup drawings, and I wanted it to seem soothing, like she was drinking a morning elixir.

As always, your feedback, comments and suggestions as welcome!

A quick watercolor sketch of Grandpa Iver

For an assignment I am currently working on, I have been thinking about who I'd like to have my morning cup of coffee with. Anyone. Who would I want to talk to, ask some questions, smile at, look around, pour another cup...?  My beloved grandfather Iver, whom I've never met and only have heard about, came to mind.

As I looked at old pictures of him today, I decided to sketch him. He was an eel farmer, a restauranteur, and a furniture maker (amongst many other things). He loved classical music, as I do. He was a tall and notoriously kind and patient man. He left such an impression on my mother that I named my son, Archer, after him (in Swedish, Iver = the bowman, the archer). Here's my quick watercolor of him. I love him so!

An artist date to see Neil Gaiman at Carnegie Hall

As I've mentioned in a couple of my very first blog posts, I try to take myself out on artist dates as often as possible. My most recent artist date was to see Neil Gaiman at Carnegie Hall. The performance opened with a few songs by FourPlay String Quartet (amazing!), then Neil came out and read his version of Hansel and Gretel. After a brief intermission, Neil read from his new book, The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains. FourPlay String Quartet performed as he read, and illustrations by artist Eddie Campbell were projected on the wall behind them. It was exactly as I had hoped -- moody, mysterious, exciting and extremely memorable. I loved it.

Here's a quick sketch I made during the performance. You can see the overall set up, as well as Neil's awesome, floppy hair...

Here's my ticket and my pre-show Cabernet:

To find out more about this event, check out this fantastic interview/preview with Neil at hearandnow.wbur.org.

Quick sketch of a dogwood tree

I drew this quick sketch a couple of weeks ago, scanned it, and then left it in a pile with a bunch of other drawings. I found it again last night, and, as I mentioned in this post, I liked it more than I had initially.

Eric Carle's "What's Your Favorite Animal?" Project

I absolutely love Eric Carle. I love his work and his joyful presence. "Brown Bear, Brown Bear. What Do You See?" was given to my son when he was born, and we've been hooked on Carle's work ever since. We frequently have Eric Carle-themed library visits, and our longtime favorite is "Draw Me a Star" (I still tear up whenever we read it).

A few months ago, I saw that there was a digital exhibition at the Eric Carle Museum, called the "What's Your Favorite Animal?" Project, and anyone could upload their art to the online gallery. I've been prodding my son almost daily to create something for it, but today I decided to let him off the hook and just create something for it myself. I submitted this piece, titled Cardinal.

If you or your child would like to participate, submissions are still being accepted until August 1st, 2014, and the online gallery is on display here through August 31st. I highly recommend that you take a look at all the amazing art!

Reviving and recycling my art

It's funny to me how often I love the art that I'd initially ditched and also adamantly dislike what was once a favorite.

A couple of days ago, I ran across some art that I'd created for a client a few months ago. It was ultimately never used, and I suppose I felt it wasn't any good because of it. But when I saw these characters again, I realized how much I did like them, and how much I could see myself in them. I even put a couple of them in my society6 shop, so that I could create prints. And perhaps I'll turn this Crane into a baby onesie.

Though much of my art that I've rejected probably will stay in a folder somewhere, as I get more comfortable in my art-making skin, I can see me and my process in the bad stuff too. And I find that I appreciate those castoffs more and more.

Boats, wall art and MATS Bootcamp

This month's MATS Bootcamp with Lilla Rogers kicked off with a nautical theme. Boats, boats in bottles, oceans, whales...

We had a week to play around, sketch and experiment with these ideas, and at the beginning of the second week, we were given the assignment: square-shaped wall art.

I knew that I wanted to focus on boats, so I drew gobs of sailboats and pirate-y boats, and I assembled them over a variety of background textures. I still haven't decided which final piece to submit, but these two are the contenders. Your feedback is most welcome!

The Happy Earth Bird

With the encouragement of the writer/publisher of the book I've been illustrating, I've created a print of a detail from one of the pages. I call him, "Happy Earth Bird." You'll see him again once the book is available, but for now, you can find him in my Society6 shop here. He's available as a print, a t-shirt or a onesie. Keep checking back for more sneak peeks of this upcoming book!

Creating a new character and sequence, and the Tomie dePaola contest

Yesterday was the deadline for the 2014 Tomie dePaola contest. I learned a lot from participating in the last Tomie contest, and I decided to submit to this one as well.

The assignment was "to create a six-panel sequence that has a beginning, middle and an end that is obvious, featuring a character of your own invention. It can be funny, sad, dramatic or ordinary, but interesting and with lots of invention and finesse, and depicting emotion in 4 to 6 frames."

While I could have done more with the background, and with adding more details, I had many new ideas by working on this. My five year old son felt very strongly that the bird would not fly away forever, and we made up several stories of what they might do together next.

A quick DIY tie for my kid

My family and I are traveling to Florida today to attend my niece's high school graduation. I realized a couple of days ago that I had forgotten to get my son anything fancy to wear to the ceremony. So I made a quick scan of the dress that I'll be wearing, created a tie template in InDesign, and printed the design on iron-on paper. Voila! A new tie to match my dress. What do you think?