BOGO Birthday Print Sale!

Hi there. How are you?

Last weekend, I celebrated my birthday with a most awesome trip to California wine country. We enjoyed incredible food, fabulous wine, so many beautiful views, and a epic time with dear friends. It was certainly a birthday to remember.

I had such a good birthday celebration that I've decided to keep it going just a little bit longer with a.....

All prints are buy one get one free in my Etsy shoppe until 9/11/16. Click to shop!

Birthday BOGO Print Sale!

Purchase any print in my Etsy shoppe and get another free. (YES, FREE!)

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Here's all you have to do to get the deal:

• Purchase a print (or more).
• Let me know which free print(s) you'd like in the notes section at checkout.
• You'll get one free print for every one you purchase.
• Unfortunately, fabric prints are not included in this sale.
• Purchase 2 or more prints and I'll throw in an extra 5" x 7" mystery print as well!

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Do act fast!

My inventory is limited. That means if you've got your eye on a piece, you'll want to order today. Sale ends Sunday, September 11th at 10 PM Central time.

Help spread the word

Share this blog post with your art lovin' pals. Thanks for your support friends.

Ciao!

The Ebbs and Flows of Creativity

Hi there. How are you?

For the past few weeks, I've had a burst of creativity. Things were flowing. Making was easy! After many years of consistent studio practice, I know that you have to take advantage of these creative bursts when they come.

For months now, I've planned to make a coloring calendar. I started making drawings for it way back in March, shortly after I'd finished "Elegant Abstracts."

Here are a few of my early illustrations:

A selection of my preliminary sketches for my new coloring calendar. All completed in my trusty Moleskine sketchbook with a Pilot Precise V7 pen.

Then I got stuck.

Really stuck. I couldn't make a drawing suitable for coloring to save my life! I was so frustrated, so disgusted with myself.  When I get to that point, I know it's time to give it a rest, so I put coloring calendar work aside. Maybe I'd come back to it. Maybe not.  The creative spark was gone and it was time to move onto other things.

In mid July, I caught the creative spark once more.

It started with this one (that I didn't end up using) but I was back in the groove and ready to pump out some work!

My sketchbook drawing from July 15th. This was my first foray back into my coloring calendar in months!

While creativity was with me,  the coloring pages flowed. In two weeks time, my coloring calendar was complete. Things were going so well in the studio that I actually made more drawings than I needed and was able to leave out some of my earlier, less polished drawings.

Here's a sampling of what I made during my creative burst:

A selection of drawings I that I made for my forthcoming coloring calendar.

I'm happy to report that my 2017 monthly coloring calendar is now complete and at the printer! Do join my mailing list if you want to get your hands on this limited edition offering. Right now it looks as if I'll just do a run of 50, and mailing list members will have first dibs!

I don't know exactly how I caught the wave of creativity again.

BUT, I do know how to make conditions conducive for creativity to find me. (More about that next week!) If the subject creative practice interests you or you're struggling with finding your creative spark, please do yourself a favor and pick up Elizabeth Gilbert's recent book, Big Magic. Seriously, it was a game changer for me! 

That's all for now.

I'll be back next week to continue my story about the ebbs and flows of creativity and share some of my newest original work. Ciao!

New Work. New Inspiration.

Hi there. How are you?

For the past month, my studio time has been very limited.  Life has simply gotten in the way! Finally, things are slowing down and are mostly back to normal.  It's time to get back to work!  I'm looking forward to a productive July.

An new abstract drawing.

This new original drawing is shown here with a virtual frame. Click to purchase!

Virtual Framing is Cool!

I just finished up this new piece last night. With the power of Photoshop, I was able to show it here in a "virtual" frame. Adding that frame gives it a little more polish. Don't you agree?

Inspired by a Walkabout

You may notice that this hole motif is new. It was inspired by something I noticed along my neighborhood walk the other day.  Light was breaking through the leaves on a tree to create this pattern on the sidewalk. I'm quite taken with this idea, so expect to see more in this style in the future!

Ballpoint pen, Prismacolor marker, and a white gel pen were used to create this abstract work. Click to purchase!

An Experiment with Color

I also did a little experimentation with Prismacolor marker last week. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you probably read/saw the struggle I had with this piece. I almost ruined it when I added the marker!

I shared this artistic misstep online. (I think it's good to show the good, bad, and the ugly sometimes!) I was overwhelmed by the positive feedback I received upon posting. Some liked it as was, others had suggestions on how rectify the composition. All that virtual love was inspiring, and I decided to give this piece another shot. The next morning, armed with some good suggestions, I went back into the studio. With just a little bit of white gel pen and a touch more black ballpoint, I was able to resolve this composition.

All three of these original drawings are now available in my shop. Click to purchase!

Now Available

All three of these new original pieces are available in my shop. They all measure 8.5" x 11" and would work as a trio or could stand alone. I've decided to offer these drawings unframed for a couple of reasons. Framed pieces are difficult and costly to ship and I also think it's nice to be able to tailor frames to your own taste and decor. This pieces were all intended to fit in a standard 8" x 10" frame, which are available everywhere.

One More Thing......

Would you like to purchase these pieces as prints? Do let me know and I will be happy to oblige. Thank you for your continued patronage friends!

Ciao.