Happy Year of the Monkey – Inspiration

Happy 2016, Y’all! I’m working hard to get the new basement studio in working order, clearing out lots of amassed useless materials (How many twisty-ties and crusty rubber bands does one girl need? Apparently, all of them.) and piles of junk I’ve accumulated (Yes! The Magic of Tidying Up) .

Happy Year of the Ram!

The seasons are changing here, and I can feel my winter blahs evaporating. For months I’ve been hibernating and chewing through piles of design work and “guilty pleasure” books (and, yes, more than a little wine). The sun and warm breezes are a welcome wake-up call.  Cheerful purple and yellow crocuses have been popping through the winter muck for a few weeks. The cherry tree out front is budding. My neighbor is washing the car. Winter is bowing out for now.

To celebrate, I printed my annual Lunar New Year card on Friday, the first day of Spring. In the Chinese zodiac, the Sheep/Ram’s lucky color is yellow, so it seemed like a great fit for this year’s design.

Tiki Time: Luna Lounge Signage Design

Sketching around with a tiki theme

Recently had lots of fun worked with Luna Lounge & Tiki Bar on their brand and signage. The Tiki Bar just opened in downtown Winston-Salem, so—do not invoke the wrath of the Tiki!— stop by and soak in the awesome Polynesian vibe, check out the outdoor patio and delicious specialty drinks as soon as you can!

scanning a few tiki sketches for further exploration

The final Luna Lounge & Tiki Bar signage will be backlit, giving a warm, tropical glow to the moon.

Luna Lounge and Tiki Bar
Wed – Sat: 4:00 pm – 2:00 am
(336) 682-3527
701 N. Trade St.
Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27101

Pretty in NEON Pink: film-inspired artwork and homemade prom dresses

As I’ve mentioned before, I love me some High School movie goodness. Several of my favorites are from the King of High School Movies himself—John Hughes. So, when the folks at Aperture Cinema asked me to participate in their Screen Club series, Pretty In Pink made the short list* of movies I’d enjoy creating an original poster for.

NEW HankiePankies delivered to Art-O-Mat HQ

Birds of a feather…

It’s been a wild, mad-dash summer so far. Just got back from a little me-time, family-time and toes-in-the-sand time and I’m digging back in. I delivered a big batch of Hankie Pankie art hankies to Art-O-Mat HQ a few weeks ago. Here’s a few snaps of the creative process for those 4 new designs:

 

 

 

 

sketching new box designs

Experimenting with new processes; Inspired by others’ art spaces

I’ve been mucking about in the studio; experimenting with new processes

I thoroughly enjoyed Sawtooth School for Visual Art’s studio share this Saturday. It’s very inspiring to see the spaces artists create in and hear them talk about their work. Thank you to everyone who participated.

As part of my leg of the tour I demonstrated a variant of “deconstructed” screen printing; here you can see our results:

some of the elements used to make this “deconstructed” print: Paper cut-outs, string, bubble wrap and a plastic bag

the finished print is one-of-a-kind

If you’d like to learn more about screen printing and experiment with the process, I’m teaching several workshops in Winston this spring; you can read  more about the workshop on the Sawtooth Website. And stay tuned for the next studio tour dates; hopefully coming this summer!

EXPERIMENTAL SCREEN PRINTING WORKSHOP

This one day workshop explores non-photographic screen printing techniques including painting with screen fillers and blockers, using stencils and masking techniques, deconstructed screen printing, and printing with found objects—all printing methods you can easily use in your own home using safe, non-toxic materials. You’ll experiment with combining methods to create unexpected works of art on paper and fabric. All ages and levels welcome. Participants are encouraged to bring found objects like string, bubble-wrap and cardboard to class to include in printmaking experiments.

Saturday 03/08 – 03/08 | 10:00 AM – 03:00 AM

and Saturday 05/03 – 05/03 | 10:00 AM – 03:00 A

Here’s another print, in progress.

Inspiration: Exuberant drips and Glitter Puddles

I’ve got a table full of exuberant drips, bright shapes, giant paintbrush splashes, primary colors and glitter puddles. All this lively artwork was created by small hands/young minds in the art room at the Children’s Museum of Winston-Salem last week and it’s my inspiration. I have till this Monday to create a work of art inspired by these paintings as part of The Children’s Museum Telephone Project.

Time to dig in! You may remember the last iteration of The Telephone Project I participated in.  I hope this one proves to be as interesting and fun. Looks like I’m gonna need a bigger glitter bucket. Here are a few more photos of the artwork that’s brightening the studio this snowy Friday:

Playing with the monkeys on my back

Working through the details for my New Years card design; the monkey’s the one causing all the trouble. Isn’t that always the way?

Life is a whirlwind around me these days with so many fresh starts––new perspectives, new babies, weddings, career moves––so many exciting and terrifying things whipping past, including whole years.

An article I read recently talked about measuring your years in the experiences they bring rather than the big, judgmental milestones we often drop on ourselves this time of year. What new friendships have you made or solidified? When did you learn the life lesson that gave you your new mantra? As the years tick by, it’s those moments that we should savor. Our experiences build us into who we are, one conversation and bedtime story at a time.

About four years ago I switched my holiday card mailing to the Lunar New year, which means I have a little breathing room apart from the standard holiday rush to enjoy the process. Today I’ve savoring the thinking, the noodling and doodling. 2014 is the year of the wood/green horse in the Chinese zodiac so I’m sketching ideas around that theme.

I’m pairing my whirlwind thoughts with the Town Musicians of Bremen folktale for playful twist on the way the years stack up around us, behind and ahead. No matter where we are, we’re just starting out. The three years winking ahead of the year of the horse are the sheep, monkey, and the rooster. What adventures await?

Welcome 2014! Don’t sweep all your good luck away.

Detail of work in progress: “Scratch”

Happy New Year, everyone! How goes it, so far?

2013 held some great surprises and lessons in letting go and saying YES (and saying NO, too) for me. I’m looking forward to expanding those lessons by reaching out to interact, support and collaborate with others and enjoying the focus/blur of full, messy emersion even more this lap around the calendar. Here’s hoping 2014 will be full of inspiration and artful exploration for us all.

The holidays can really take it out of you. Doll Baby looks plum worn out.

This January I’m wrapping up several works in-progress for the SEED Collective group show opening next week (some images below) as well as prepping for a screen printing workshop I’ll be teaching at The Sawtooth Center in March on combining printing techniques and working experimentally with the medium. I’m also working on my 2014 Chinese zodiac card.  I have until January 31st–one reason why I like to go with the Chinese calendar for my holiday cards. This year is the year of the wooden, or green, horse–hopefully some ideas will come galloping by any minute.

The “streamers” in the studio are going back up, it’s time to dig back into making art.

Another detail shot of “Scratch”, in progress.

On a side note: I just came across this note on traditional China celebrations of the New Year and Spring Festival:

Families tend to clean their homes in the days leading up to the celebration but all dusts and brooms are hidden during holiday so that “good luck can not be swept away.” (via)

So, put away those thoughts of spring cleaning and take a moment to savor the freshness of a new year.

Sketching – Tea Towel Time!

Working on ideas for some new tea towel designs for the fall/winter craft fairs coming up. Mark your calendars!  I’ll be at the Hand to Hand Market in Greensboro Dec. 1st and Krankies Craft Fair Dec. 13th-14th. Gotta get cracking on some new prints, thinking about making some new mask posters, too.

And a big THANKS to my HankiePankie Print Workshop students for sharing Saturday with me at Sawtooth School for Visual Art . I had a wonderful time introducing them to the fun of screen printing and seeing the different, inventive ways people tackle the creative process. Truly looking forward to my next class, now! Here are a few pictures from the class, though I was too busy to take very many:

A student’s design–from sketch to screen to finished print.