Ribbons, and Ruffles and Bows: Oh My!

So after spending too much time on a design site, polyvore.com (as I procrastinate cleaning the house)... I've come up with a couple of design schemes, one for a room, one for an outfit. Turns out I like bright colors, black and white contrast, and modern shapes. I kinda new that from my paintings though. Here's what I call the Mad Hatter Den:

I really like the clock, pottery, and pendant lights. My favorite part is adding things that look like they're from another world, slightly surreal, like the legs on the lime green chest and the clock hanging on a branch.

For my next mixture, I came up with four outfits shown below:

It looks like a jumbled mess of color all at once, but each outfit is its own artwork. You'll notice a lot of flowers, ruffles, bows, and what not- so i'm a little girly?... humph. Excuse me while I go fix my make-up...

Bamboo, Sewing, and Doggie Clothes

So, my cool husband, Mark, bought me this Bamboo thing- no not the grass, the brand name. It's a digital notepad so I can now draw not only on paper, canvas, or the wall, but on the computer too! Here's my first try...

Ok, so it didn't go as planned, turns out it's a lot harder to draw in the digital world than the real one. Hmmm. I must practice!

My latest artistic outlet (besides Bamboo) is sewing. It all started with needing to get my jeans hemmed for free... then replacing a button on my husbands shorts... and then before I knew it I was out of control. I've now accomplished a shirt and dress. Here are the pattern pictures from Butterick and Simplicity:




[warning: do not be fooled by the little red box on the dress pattern saying "Yes! It's easy," as that is dependent upon experience...] The dress I made in a navy blue cotton, and the shirt in a light purple cotton with small white vertical stripes.

Now I feel as though the possibilities are endless... clothes of my choice, decorations for the house, gifts (designer line one day?! ok maybe not). For now, my next project is baby curtains for a friend and maybe some pjs for me, Mark, and my dog Remi (come on.. I've never bought him a single piece of clothing, can't I make him something?? (Remi, not Mark))

Olive Orchard

Ok so this painting is a whopping 24x48. It has many layers underneath, since I painted about 3 other scenes before I decided on this one. The canvas is special since my husband gave it to me for my birthday while we were dating and I promised him it would hang in our new home after we got married.

Red and Green

Another experiment with my modeling paste...

My Version of Modern

This is one of my favorites just because I love black and white especially with a bold color. This is one of my experiments with modeling paste, which was used for the white diamonds in the border. The yellow looking splatters are actually gold which is not represented well in the photograph. This is one of my more modern paintings... the taste is not for everyone.

Go Duke

So I received an assignment from my friend Meka, and while I'm not much of a sports person by any means... I'll do almost anything for a friend. This painting contains both the famous Chapel of Duke as well as the indoor Cameron Stadium. Meka is a huge Duke fan, which you can tell since this painting is 24x36 and in her office. Thanks for the support, Meke!

Copy Cat

This is a copycat version of Van Gogh's Wheat Fields. I did this for two of my great friends when they got married. The colors are manipulated to match their decor. Van Gogh is one of my favorite painters mainly because of his use of texture and color. I always learn a lot when I try and replicate artwork I admire. It forces me to see little details and try different brush strokes I wouldn't notice by just visually studying it. Oh yeah, and please, don't compare this to the real one... I would greatly appreciate it.