Thursday, March 27, 2008

Rediscovery

My first experiences with formal art lessons began with watercolors. When I was in 5th grade, I took weekly private lessons from an artist in her home. One memory that I have was painting a large panda based on a national geographic photo. I recall making a grid on the photo in the magazine and then making a grid of 1" squares on my watercolor paper. Next, I painted that panda square by square. I'm sure that it took weeks to finish, but i don't remember that part. So last month I decided it would be fun to give the watercolors another try. I've been thinking about them for quite awhile, but you know how that goes. I illustrated these 2 owls, drew them out in ink and then tried out my paints. I think the hardest thing for me was adding water. And now that I'm thinking about it, I do recall having that same problem in my lessons. I would often daintily dip my brush into the water and be told not to be 'scared' of it. I've got a lot more experimenting to do, but here's my first painting after the rediscovery. It's for sale in my etsy shop, It can be yours if you'd like it.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Work in Progress

I've been working on new artwork and wanted to share. They are taking longer than expected, but I'm excited with the outcome so far. Brian took my black + white drawings and created these beautiful paintings for me! I love him ;) Next step will be painting my creatures. 1 down, 3 to go! I can't wait for you to see the finished pieces...next week.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Easter Fun

Easter was full of wonderful surprises. Our friend's family was kind enough to invite us into their home for the day. One of my favorite surprises were all of the cute little canaries. Last time we visited there were 4 birds, now there are 10 big birds, 2 babies, and 5 eggs. I learned that the male canaries are the ones that make all of the beautiful chirping. They have favorite songs they like to sing to as well. There were also all of these adorable cookies! I've never eaten such cute and yummy cookies. I enjoyed the frosting tail with coconut most of all. Their yard is full of all sorts of plants and flowers that I had never seen. I love this purple. Thanks for all the Easter fun!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Renegade Handmade

I sent out 30 lovely pairs of earrings yesterday to a new stockist Renegade Handmade in Chicago. If you're in the area you can stop by 1924 W. Division St. Open daily 11 AM - 7PM. Also, applications are being accepted for Renegade's First Annual San Francisco Craft Fair! The event will be held Saturday and Sunday July 12 + 13 from 11am - 7pm at the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion!

Friday, March 07, 2008

A hike at the gorge

This morning a friend and I went for a nice hike in the Columbia River Gorge. Thought I'd share the beauty!

Thursday, March 06, 2008

I joined Flickr

It's so hard to keep up with all of these sites that are now available for marketing yourself and your business. I love it! I have an account with myspace, etsy, indie public, lov.li and most recently Flickr. I went ahead and got a pro account so I would be able to upload photos into more than 3 sets. So far I have 11 sets. It's so great being able to see all of my photos in one place. Last night I decided to add my design portfolio in with all of my handmade julz photos. This set represents my work as a designer in dallas, tx. from 2000~07.

Restaurant Week Concept

This was the first poster that I created, while at my first job as a designer. I had no idea how to even begin thinking about how to design a poster and I'm really not even sure I had an illustration style at the time. I just know that I've always been drawn to lots of color and texture. To illustrate my idea I took black and white construction paper and literally cut circles that were about 1.5" out of the black paper and then cut out the shapes of all of the different food from the white paper. I then taped the 'food' onto the 'plate' and proceeded to the copy machine with my 16 circles. Next I shrunk and enlarged the circles to get the rough look that you see. The final step was coloring everything on the computer. After all of that, and the client didn't pick this concept, but it's still one of my favorites.

Beaux Arts Ball Logo

I created this logo for the Dallas Museum of Art's annual fundraiser while at my second job in Dallas. I was pleased with this logo that the client chose as I feel it sophisticated, yet playful and a party that anyone would have liked to attend. To illustrate this I drew everything on the computer in Illustrator.

Fossil Apparel Graphic

My last job in Dallas was an art director for women's apparel graphics. I remember being so excited at the thought of my artwork being translated into artwork for apparel. This was the very first shirt that I designed, of course using every technique that I knew at the time, embroidery, applique, and screenprint.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Octavine Illustation Treasury

I am so excited about being included in my first treasury on etsy I just had to share! The treasury title is : S E A F O A M. See it here for yourself. Many thank yous to Cara of Octavine Illustration for the inclusion. She illustrates the most beautiful art deco inspired art that I have seen out there. This is my current favorite. I love reading her daily blog posts on the Octavine Illustration blog where she shares her artwork or latest custom work and a story to go along with it. Her words are so poetic they bring a smile to my face. You can also visit the Octavine Illustration Etsy Shop. Prints of her beautiful illustrations like the one shown below are available for $25.