I t h o u g h t a b o u t b e e s . A n d i t w a s l i k e a d a n c e

Watercolor and charcoal.

When I draw or paint, I hear things. I hear words, phrases...they ripple through my head over and over.

A chant, a song, a mantra, which influences (or becomes) the piece that I am working on:

"I thought about bees, and it was like a dance."

Buzzzing and humming through me...consuming me and my brush.

It was all.

Sketches @ the Strawberry Stand & More!

This is my lame excuse for not having posted for awhile: I have not wanted to waste the little me time I've had by talking about and posting pictures of my doings. That would have been just plain old silly, because all of my precious time would be being consumed by blogger and not by the creative workings of my brain. Thus, I would have had nothing to talk about or post pictures of. I've been really busy-trying to fit in weight lifting workouts around work is just crazy; by the time I get home, all I want to do is shove food down my esophagus, watch Captain Kirk do those fabulous rolls of his, and sleep. I've been so exhausted I've been going to bed around 8:00 at the earliest, 9:30 at the latest. It's felt difficult to have any kind of energy to put toward being creative.

I did manage to finish my dress on time for the wedding, and locally I found some mega-amazing shoes to wear with it (there were a few minor disasters that came about trying to order a pair, but I won't go into that.) I am so happy with it, especially considering that it was my first time working from a pattern. What excites me the most about getting into sewing garments is the sheer enormity of what you could create. What you make is completely customizable and unique to YOU, from the sizing to the fabric to all the fun frills. ^___^

Since I'd like to show y'all what it looks like (and just FYI- I'm not southern, I just have a tendency to talk in weird voices...I guess it carries over into typing, haha) but don't have any GREAT pictures (yet) I'm falling back on a silly snapshot of moi dans la cuisine, taken hurriedly minutes before we dashed out of the door so as not to be late for the wedding. You get the idea :)

My geekish self hamming it up for my sister's camera.

The only other time that I've really had to do any drawing is when I sell strawberries at the stand. Sometimes things get a little slow, and when they do I'M READY! I bought a new sketchbook that's nice and small and easily portable, and I bring it with me. I've come up with some great ideas and characters to pursue further when I have more time. Here are some pictures of my favorite pages/sections of pages:

Joseph, the amazing 8 legged rabbit.

Yorik, who loves everything cute and fuzzy but is a notorious egg robber (his favorite are bluebird's eggs, fried sunny side up)

And some other guys...

A few days ago we had a rain day (yeah!!! You can't pick berries in the rain!!!) and I decided to drag out my paints once again. Here's Yorik in acrylic paint form:

Productivity is a Good Thing.

Yesterday morning = the perfect way to spend the first few hours of a Sunday. Ahhh, Sundays. Not a strawberry in sight...plenty of coffee drinking in flannel pajamas...hardy, home- cooked breakfasts...and drawing to my heart's content! What love. :) I drew allllll morning, and did not feel even an ounce of guilt. I felt very productive. For weeks I've been dying to do some drawings based on some of Kayleigh Morin's 365 project (Delusions of Grandeur.) The concepts for her photos are inspired; when I see her images, I'm filled with the need to create. This particular shoot was centered around the color red, and what emotions it reflects to the artist (you can read more about it in her blog.) I asked her if she would mind if I did some drawing versions, and she said she didn't mind at all! I'm so lucky to have artist friends. They help keep road blocks at bay by continually stimulating fresh thoughts. ^__^

Sketches

Inked

RED PORTRAIT I finished:

India ink, permanent marker, Crayola markers, Faber Castle brush pens.

RED PORTRAIT II finished:

India ink, permanent marker, Crayola markers, Faber Castle brush pens.

RED PORTRAIT III finished:

India ink, permanent marker, Crayola markers, Faber Castle brush pens.

These were the best photos I could get, since I still don't have the use of a scanner :/ I managed to get the inked versions to look decent, because they were in black and white with very sharp lines. I shall try to get my hands on a pretty little scanner as soon as I can, because I really miss having one.

DRESS STATUS: Last night I cut out all the pieces and bought my notions. And I found some AMAZING pairs of shoes that would be fab fab fab to wear with my dress. Not sure which pair yet. And if I do get them, I shall have to train myself to walk in heels. As of now, I stumble even in my mom's clogs. I am far to used to converse and running sneakers >.<

Both are from http://www.shop.ironfistclothing.com/.

He's Got a Cupcake Growing Out of His Forehead.

I am on a new kind of plushie making streak. I got the idea talking to the lovely Lace (http://lacejayne.blogspot.com/) over lunch last week, and I think 'tis a brilliant one :) Here's how it goes: Get a hold of some plain white cloth. Obtain fabric markers. Create amazing character that NEEDS to become 3D. Draw thus character with fabric markers onto previously referred to white cloth. Stitch together and stuff! Weee! I love the idea, because as you know I have been really enjoying turning my drawings into plushie form. While I am a huge fan of buttons and fancy stitching and fun fabrics, this technique gives the finished plushie a unique feel- more like a three-demensional stuffed DRAWING rather than...well, a plushie. It all depends on what you want for a finished product. Here's my first attempt. He was really kind of a guinea pig, because I was trying to get used to the way the fabric markers worked, blended, and went onto the cloth. Plus, now I know that I need to save more room for the seams, because even though I thought I had plenty of room I could use more. I think he looks a little bit squished on there...I would prefer to have more white around the edges.

He doesn't have a name yet, but he's got a cupcake growing out of his forehead (which he likes to eat with a spoon) so he's all good.

And here's my original like-three-second sketch.

I am absolutely OBSESSED with the fabric markers that I used to do this project. They were pretty expensive but they were worth it (plus I'm a working lady now, so I'm trying not to feel too guilty. I need $ to fund my projects!!) They -the markers- blend nicely while they're still wet. Siiighhh. Blissful.

One more new news goody-bit: My cousin is getting married later this month, and since I have absolutely nothing to wear, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make my own dress! I went to the fabric store today and found the PERFECT pattern along with the PERFECT cloth. Yay, I'm so excited ^__^

I'm thinking of making the dress with the green skirt, but without the apron. LOOOOKIT THE CLOTH!!! It's pink with animals!!!!! AWWWWW :D

BEHOLD: THE SUPER STRAWBERRY KNEE PADS.

Ohh, work. Lovely lovely work. 'Tis that season again! I pick strawberries at a local farm during the summers. The people are nice, the pay is good, I get to spend the day outside and it's basically my perfect job except (ow!) the significant amount of back and knee pain. Every year I get what I call "the dreaded rhinoceros knees" which form due to the excessive kneeing that I do. Before they build up their crusty, protective outer layer, the skin stings for days on end and looks all red and puffy :( poor knees, you deserve better. AND YOU SHALL HAVE BETTER! I have taken this grave matter into my own hands, and created ...duh duh duh daaaaa!!!! THE SUPER STRAWBERRY KNEE PADS!!!!

KNEES: Oh, master! Please except our greatest thanks! In return, we shall serve you with hours upon hours of painless kneeling!

ME: What humble servants you are, kneesies. I must say you are one of my favorite body parts! You work hard, yes you do. My wallet and I thank YOU for your ongoing loyalty and servitude.

KNEES: *Quiver with happiness at pleasing their master so*

Reporting for duty! Herm, I think that I like them very much. Unfortunately, I may like them too much to actually USE them :/ I will try to put my attachment aside.

A few side notes before I wrap this up:

1. The skull quilt is coming along swimmingly :) I'm almost half way finished stitching the squares together.
2. I made another more mini plushie recently. He's a cute, simple lil' guy; just a square with an irresistible face. He's inspired me to make many more "shape" plushies ^__^
3. Between working and gym going (muscles good), I am having a hard time finding significant art time. I'll have the week ends and late afternoons, but I probably won't be producing as much as when I had my whole day :( It's sad, but money making has got to be done. So blog entries may become slightly less frequent *sniff* I hope not though!!!

Mr. Squarie-Square takes his place on top of the growing mound of plushies.

Your sister loves you.

A "your sister loves you" present I made for (guess who?) my sister :D I think it's fun to make random presents for people ^__^

Crayola markers, permanent marker, Prisma Color pencils

(Roughly) based off of a picture of her when she was in 8th grade.

Just for fun :)

The Coloring Issue and a Skull Quilt.

TO COLOR OR NOT TO COLOR, THAT IS THE QUESTION...

I've done another self portrait! I like it best out of the three so far. Right now, it's only in the inked stage. I haven't gone any further, because even though at first my plan was to color it, now I'm scared to make the plunge.

Knowing when a piece is "done" (or ready to be "abandoned" as my painting teacher says- "I've never actually ever FINISHED a painting; I've just abandoned them!" So true, so true) is the hardest part of art making in my opinion. There is always the quandary of whether or not it could be improved. The problem comes because just as easily as it COULD be bettered, it could also be made worse (or totally ruined!) And overworked is never good; once you go too far there's no going back, unless you decide to reincarnate it as something else. I asked some people about their opinion on the coloring issue- most of them thought that it was worth trying out the color idea, but that I should try to make a photocopy so that I would still have a black and white version. The drawing is too big for a regular scanner unless I want to try to scan it in pieces, but I can fit most of it on an 11 x 17 piece of paper, which could be done easily on a photocopier. I'm pretty sure that my public library has one, so I'm going to make a few copies to try out different coloring techniques/materials, and keep the original just as it is. I'll keep you posted!

Do you recognize that little guy? (The gross white glare on his eye is from the camera flash. I hate flash, but I couldn't get a proper picture otherwise :/)

This weekend I also embarked on my first quilting adventure. I've never done any quilting, but as you know I love sewing (PLUSHIES!! PLUSHIES!!! ^__^) sew I though I'd give it a go (haha!) It's a skull quilt made entirely from 4 x 4 squares of scrap fabric. I found the idea on one of my favorite websites of all time, Cut Out and Keep. If you're a crafty and kooky person, you should definitely take a look. It has all kinds of great inspiration.

Yesterday I finished cutting out all the squares and laying them out where I wanted them to go. I may start sewing today :)

The skull isn't super prominent because I since I only had scrap fabric to work from, I didn't have many choices. But I think it's kind of cool that way. I had SO much fun cutting out all the squares, as monotonous as it sounds. I could remember what each fabric was originally used for...there were a lot of scraps from various shirts my mom made before I was born, and there are even some squares from some of my old pajama pants!