I love using sheets of bark to make all kinds of things, and when I got a new wood burnishing tool, I wanted to make some tree carving-inspired Valentine “cards”. Valentine’s Day seems to whizz by, and I liked that this little DIY felt more long-lasting. Maybe your true love with hang it by his desk at our brand design office. Just a idea…
This week, I gave myself a personal challenge to sketch faces for the sketchbook blog. I guess its important to point out that I am not really all that interested in sketching faces. Which means you’re probably asking why do it? Lives can certainly be lived fully and happily without sketching anatomically correct faces.
The drawing classes I took in college centered mainly around fashion illustration. The face was always secondary to how the clothes were represented. An anatomically correct face never extended beyond a hint of red lipstick. Whew! I remember thinking back then. Crisis averted. I don’t need to draw more than that.
But now here I am doing this daily sketching for the project (almost size full months of daily sketching!), and it occurred to me that I’ve never really tried to draw the human face. I talk with my kids often about not saying “I can’t do ____”. So, I decided to take it on as a challenge instead of looking at it as a hinderance I need to work around. Bad sketches and all…
Each night this week I have been sketching these imaginary women. No reference, other than the old formula of drawing the face shape, and adding the lines for where the features would go. From there, I spend some time on the eyes- I like good eyes. The nose always needs work. The mouth is also not the way I want it. But I do like a lot of what I’m doing, little things here and there that I am actually satisfied with. I can feel my hand and arm starting to loosen up more and more.
Who knows, maybe I’ll do another week of faces at some point. I have a LOT to learn!
There is plenty I see in this sketch that I could work on, but I kind a like the fact that I enjoyed the process of making it. Which at this stage of my creative life, it’s so much more about the process for me.
(It’s not me, but I did use my hair for reference).
I decided to try a simple clay pendant project with all the doodling I was doing in my sketchbook. I have a bit of a necklace problem (meaning I have a large collection) and feel like something is missing when I’m not wearing one. These pendants are easy, easy enough for a kid to do in fact (the adult doing the baking part, of course).
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When we were in New Mexico last week, we took a walk on the Paseo del Bosque Trail, which runs along the Rio Grande. I brought home a few rocks from there, because you know we love rocks! Later in the week, I spent some time in my father-in-law’s art studio, painting the rocks. It was so fun to do I thought I’d share.
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This may be the one and only Christmas holiday I’d like to do in neon, so I’m going to just go for it wherever I can. I pulled out my stash of washi tape and created a quick garland for my studio. I think I’ll get the kids to make some more while watching the Macy’s parade on Thanksgiving Day. It easy and bright, just the kind of project I like.
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Another project we did for Emma’s room redo was fill the need for a dressing table and chair. There is a bit more mirror time these days before school, and I thought it would be nice for her to have a place to keep all her earrings, lip gloss, and… slingshot.
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A budget- friendly, DIY headboard project Emma’s room. A little history first- Emma has slept in a great wooden sleigh bed since she moved out of crib (here’s a post from 2006 that shows this bed). It is well-made, really lovely, but the footboard definitely created a visual barrier in a room that stays pretty messy most of the time. I thought it would be fun to change her twin bed to a simple, metal bed frame and make an upholstered headboard ourselves, to give that corner a cozy feel.
These bird cage lights from the Conran Shop have been around for a while now and I’m completely obsessed with them. So gorgeous. The last time I was crazy for something like this, Atilla arrived, but La Voliere is way out of our budget. So, I gaze at them online.READ MORE
Turkey’s Dilemma, acrylic and gouache, 12″ x 12″ wood panel
Echo Star, acrylic and gouache, 10″ x 10″ wood panel
These will be going to New Hampshire in a few weeks. I am still very much in love with painting quilt squares, and as you may have guessed, that’s what these are. The whole process is enjoyable to me. To start with a sketch, then move to a painting, and perhaps even eventually to a physical quilt. Or not.
I have been working on these pieces for the past few weeks. The process went from love… to hate… to love.. to loathe… to love, with each of them. Which I have discovered is part of the process. I never felt those polar opposite feelings on quilts or other projects I’ve done. With my quilts, it either works or it doesn’t, and I tend to know that early on. Pushing past that moment of total loathing is somewhat new for me. (You would be surprised at the number of projects that get discarded.) Usually, I hate wasting time on an idea that just isn’t clicking, I have no patience for what doesn’t feel like its going anywhere. But something about painting and the process of adding the paint layers, over days or even weeks, doesn’t make it feel like a hopeless cause in quite the same way. Usually, when it starts looking awful, I know its time to rinse the brushes and call it a night. It always looks at least a little better in the morning sun. And sometimes a lot better.
