Second.

Happy New Year!

So it's been quite a hiatus for me from the blog, but I am back and ready to start blogging in full force (hopefully!). January 1st marked the 2nd year of sixty four love notes and I am happy to start a new fresh year filled with photography, design and writing.

I am taking a cue from Astrid and starting a one-a-day photo (or more) for every day of 2011. Let's hope I can keep up with it! It is always hard to remember to take daily photos and post them (I'll be posting here and on Flickr) but I think if I have my camera handy at all times I'll remember more.


Did you make any resolutions? Some of mine are to be more optimistic, to learn more and to not hold back in life.

Here's to a wonderfully productive, beautiful year.

Interiors and a sketch book.

Lately I've been experimenting with illustrating interiors of homes. Sometimes they are created from my imagination, but when I started out I focused mostly on interiors from magazines, books, anything that would spark my interest.

Growing as an artist, I never kept a dedicated sketch book to house my thoughts, ideas, basically my 'meanderings' if you will. I think it was always a challenge to carry something with me that would allow me to record my daily life in images. It's kind of frustrating for me because I think that would have been really nice to have later on in life, to look back on. Maybe I should start to keep one.

Do you have a sketch book? Do you keep one regularly, and how do you stay in the habit of keeping one up to date?

Buy handmade.

So in times like these, I wish I lived in Portland, Oregon:

Abby Powell Thompson of Abby Try Again and Chelsea Fuss of Frolic! blog are putting together an arts and crafts show called Little Winter: A handmade Market. It consists of so many talented artists whose wares will be brought together in the Ace Hotel the first weekend in November. So those of you who live in PDX, take advantage of the wonderful opportunity to buy handmade!

Blueprints on Fabric

When I was young I remember my Mother taught me how to make sunprints; the small pieces of light-sensitive paper that, when left in the sun, would expose themselves in a few minutes time. By leaving a section of flower, leaf or anything opaque on top of the paper during the exposure, the after image would remain on the paper long after the flower withered away and died.

I recently saw a blog post by Design Sponge about Blueware, a collection of vases that are treated with light-sensitive chemicals and are kept in a dark room until ready to be exposed by light on a "rotating spit", according to the website, Studio Glithero. Beforehand, flowers or plants of varying types are attached to the vessels so that when they are exposed to the light, the silhouettes of the flowers are left in white; the remainder of the vase is a beautiful prussian blue, reminiscent of the sunprints I would make when I was young.

Does anyone know where you can buy these? If you do, please let me know!

Another discovery thanks to Design Sponge was Blueprints on Fabric. This was something totally new to me - you purchase cotton fabric that is pretreated so that when you expose and then wash the fabric, the afterimage will appear. (Cyanotype.) This would be so fun to try!





Photography Petr Krejci

Circles Print

Lately I have been working on some different art projects. I really enjoyed making the Circles prints I just put up in my shop.  I made five different originals, and am making more every day.

I really love the different dimensions that the circles bring to the viewer's eye, as well as how the watercolor takes on its own personality.

Watercolor in general has been so much fun to work with; I especially love how you can let the paint take control of the paper - or you can completely manipulate it to your own liking.


Hope to be posting more soon! Another shop update is coming as well.


xo

a few images from the weekend

Today is a day for errands, but I wanted to stop here to put down some images from my weekend. I visited a paper place today (kind of like a warehouse) and got some ideas for my store. It is so unbelievably overwhelming going to a place that keeps so many different types of papers in stock. I left empty-handed but with a head full of good ideas.

xo

more botanical prints; production friday.

Today was a pretty productive day.  Though it's been pretty hot in the studio (86 degrees out, yikes!) I've been trying to keep cool with a fan blowing in my direction. Although I'm sure the endless supply of hot coffees I have been consuming haven't added to the cool at all.  Time for iced!

So here's a sum up of some of the things I have done this week:

From my drawing table:

And from the web, a fun and insightful video about bike rush-hour. How crazy and amazing?



video via A Cup of Jo


Happy weekend. I'm looking forward to lunch with a good friend, more artwork, and some lovely cooking - maybe some new recipes!

weekend.

Just a quick post to say hello and wishing everyone a nice weekend.  It's supposed to be beautiful here.

Happy weekend.

Felted rugs make my heart beat faster.

So not to keep linking to NYTimes articles, but this one caught my attention.  It's a slideshow of Dana Barnes' NY loft which she has outfitted with giant felted objects, specifically rugs that she has made by hand.  I especially love the bedroom shot with the grayish-oatmeal colored rug at the foot of the bed. The general low profile furniture makes the loft seem like a wonderful playground for adults and children alike. I would love to own any piece of her art!

Dana Barnes' work will be at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair May 15-18 if you'd like to go see. Read the full article here.

Photo credit: The New York Times

back!

Well, I took quite a break from blogging recently (I apologize!) and I promise to return to regular posting from now on.  I have been working on different designs - many of them reminiscent of botanical prints from the past with a more childlike-illustrative approach.  It is sometimes nice to get a break from creating the same thing over and over again.

In other news, the weather has taken a turn for the colder!  I am sitting here in two sweaters and a blanket around me with the heat on.  And it's mid-May!  It is pretty ridiculous.  I'm ready for skirts and flip flops and windows open.  I think some of my artwork shows how restless I am for the warm as a lot of it is succulent-desert based!

And here is a funny picture of a cat looking at something in our backyard:

I'll be back soon!

New item in shop!

Hi there, I just wanted to post quickly to mention there is a new item in my shop. It's pictured below, and I'm happy to say there will be more on there way. I am planning on doing customized cards in the future, along with personalization! A lot more to come soon; very exciting times!

You can see my shop here.

Watercolor.

I have recently been experimenting with watercolor. This has been a difficult medium for me because it takes such control and practice, and sometimes I can be very impatient. For some reason I feel like I have broken through a bit with the medium and dare I say, have gotten a bit better. A tiny bit better. Very small amount. But it's something! Yesterday as I was drawing I discovered how much I love to combine watercolor with graphite. Placing the graphite on top of the watercolor after it dries allows me to add shading and texture subtly which otherwise would be quite difficult for a beginner. I hope any of you readers aren't tired of rabbits, because here are some more!

More photos on my flickr

April, finally.

March seemed like a very long month. What with the ending of winter, the cold, endless rainy days. April is a welcome change. Today is such a warm, sunny day that it makes all of that yucky weather seem like it happened so long ago. Here's something spring-y to brighten your day. Signing off for the rest of the week but will be back Monday. Have a great weekend!

Tim Knowles, source: Lines and Colors

 

I came across this awhile back, but I thought it would be so nice and appropriate for today, being the first day of a full month of spring.

caffeine = progress. (duh.)

Recently we have been bombarded with day after day of rain.  I definitely get a good case of the SAD from time to time, so it is imperative that I fill these rainy days with the following:

a) copious amounts of coffee

b) art-making (a given)

c) thinking about the chance that there may be a thunderstorm, which always lightens the mood for me

d) a thunderstorm occurs

e) playing good music, loud.

f) more coffee

Hopefully if I am lucky all six listed occur. Today, let's see, five out of six, not bad! (no thunder. boo.) While I am still shaking from all the caffeine I managed to make some artwork and get some new ideas together for future projects.  I also took some pictures of the magnolia and forsythia branches I brought in from my backyard.  I am trying to force them to bloom indoors and today, finally, one of the blossoms did just  that! Success!  I documented my efforts below.  Oh and thankfully, sun is scheduled for the next week or so.  Yay! 

See my flickr for more.