Yoshimi loves to sleep & lounge in odd positions. Thought I'd share her silliness with you. On a side note... some day she will make her way into my art. And she might be "producing some of her own art" as well.
New Work: 00015 - False Lily of the Valley
It's Saturday and I'm still trying to get caught up with posting last weekend's creations. Whew.May I present to you... 00015 of Standard Movement Series.
00015 of Standard Movement – 5" x 7" – purchase print
I even think it's the best piece I've made thus far.
Within this mint green frame are a variety of items, including pages from a vintage accountant workbook and pocket dictionary, an elementary report card dated 1953, a black & white class photograph. Something new this time around... I incorporated a lace tablecloth, cutting it into honeycomb shapes. I've been meaning to incorporate textiles for the longest time, and alas it finally has been done.
Within coffee rings, I drew a plant, False Lily of the Valley that I discovered while hiking near Indian Beach. Scientific name: Maianthemum dilatatum is an aggressive groundcover for moist shade, which was very apparent... I saw heart-shaped leaves & berries in the shadows everywhere on the hike. I read up a little bit on the berries... "they can be used as food, although they are not especially tasty. Other aboriginal uses of the plant include the treatment of cuts, sore eyes, internal injuries and sterility."
In a future work I would like to illustrate the blooming stage of the star shaped flowers, pictured above. The stamens remind me of snails' tentacles.
I have 00015 prints available in my Etsy shop for 16 dollars each. http://www.atealeaf.etsy.com Each print will be signed, numbered (in a limited edition of 30), and shipped in a sturdy bendproof mailer.
Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend!
Berry Picking
Blueberries. Raspberries. Marion berries. Boysenberries!
Last month my husband & I went to Sauvie Island to do a lil' berry pickin'. It was a nice weekend excursion to say the least. I took a handful of my favorite snaps from that day and dropped them into Poladroid. It definitely captures the summery mood.
New Herb Drawing: Coriander
"Used for over 3,000 years, coriander, from Morocco, is sweet and tart. The dried seeds are fruit segments shown as clusters on the plant. They help flavor salads, pickles, pastry, and soups."
Coriander – print – Click here or illustration above to purchase & more info
Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies
This weekend was full of making all sorts of wonderful things, including fresh baked cookies! I seriously love cookies. To be honest... no doubt about it... I'm a cookieaholic. A few minutes after that first batch has been out of the oven... I'm biting down on that warm, mouthwatering, gooey goodness. Can we say Heaven?
I thought I would share my recipe with you. Enjoy!
Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies (About 3 dozen)
2/3 cup granulated sugar 2/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup butter or stick margarine (softened) 1/2 cup shortening 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 3 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup butterscotch chips
- Heat oven to 375°.
- Beat all ingredients except oats, flour, and butterscotch chips in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in oats, flour, and butterscotch chips.
- Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
Check back throughout this week to see more wonderful weekend creations of mine.
Hope your week has started out swell!
Sage drawing
"Most popular American herb, sage is fragrant, a little bitter, good with pork, other meats, baked fish, and salads."
Sage – print – Click here or illustration above to purchase & more info
Relay For Life of Sherwood
I encourage you all to check out Sherwood's Relay for Life event, this Saturday. It will be at Sherwood High School starting at 10:00am and then ending on Sunday, the 9th at 10:00am. It's an awesome overnight event, fundraising for a cure for cancer. In the past years I have enjoyed walking the many laps and connecting with people and spreading awareness.
There are many scheduled events during the two days, including a Luminaria Ceremony, which has been my favorite in the past. Another event will be a silent auction of handmade goods by some Oregon Etsians:
The bidding opens at 11am and has three separate ending times throughout the afternoon.
I would like to thank Mindy of the team "Radiating Hope" of letting me be a part of such an important cause. If you are unable to make the event and would like to help out, feel free check out Mindy's personal fundraising page. She will be accepting donations through August 31st.
Chives drawing
"Related to the onion but more delicate in taste, chives make a favorite garnish for boiled potatoes. They are often mixed with butter and lemon juice or with cheese as a cracker spread. Their flavor helps all salads, like cottage cheese salad."
Chives – print – Click here or illustration above to purchase & more info
Upcoming flicks
Three charming flicks I utterly can not wait to see. *does a little dance*
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View trailer here.
Month of July video
Woosh! And just like that, there goes the month of July. In this month's documentation snippets include— continued visit in Nebraska, traveling back to Oregon, a few trips to Sauvie Island, my first experience at a motocross event, Ecola State Park/Indian Beach (I can't get enough of that big blue ocean), and lastly Skyping with a good friend.
(See a larger version of the video here.)
Savory drawing
Savory!
"An herb of the mint family, savory has tiny leaves which, when dried, have a warm aromatic flavor and make an excellent sauce for string beans. Savory can be used alone or with other herbs to flavor meats, chicken, eggs, salads, sauces, and meat dressings."
Savory – print – Click here or illustration above to purchase & more info
I will be selling 8″ x 10″ prints of the original digital artwork in my Etsy shop for only $10.00! It will be signed, numbered (in a limited edition of 30), and shipped in a sturdy bendproof mailer.
Hope you have a super weekend!
New Dill drawing
Happy happy Friday all!
A few weeks back, during my trip to Nebraska I filled my sketch book's pages full of simple drawings of flavorful herbs. Well this week I yanked out the Epson scanner from it's hideout and began scanning them all in! With my all time favorite program, Illustrator... I added some color and texture. May I present you with my first piece of my herb series...
Dill - print – Click here or illustration above to purchase & more info
I was going for a simple line drawing look and I really liked how it turned out. I did a little reading up on Dill... apparently in the Middle Ages it was used in a love potion and was believed to keep witches away. Already a future illustration idea is brewing up in my head.
I will be selling 8" x 10" prints of the original digital artwork in my Etsy shop for only $10.00! It will be signed, numbered (in a limited edition of 30), and shipped in a sturdy bendproof mailer.
Colored Bubbles called Zubbles
The idea of colored bubbles has never come across my mind. Really. Even with this in-depth imagination I have. I found about about these miraculous suds... through Jackie of Sweetie Pie Pumpkin Noodle. They are non-toxic, non-staining, and so unbelievably vivid. Boy, do they have hefty price on them... 15 bucks for two - 4 oz. bottles.
photo credit: Zubbles
Zubbles in action... video credit: popsci
Month of June
My video for the month of June is complete! Woo-hoo! To fill in those that are unfamiliar, I'm documenting what I encounter each month. I've had this urge ever since I've moved to the west coast. Some of June's snippets include— downtown, work, the Burnside bridge, Indian Beach, Multanomah Falls, friends, Powell's Bookstore, the Max, and a trip to Nebraska.
(See a larger version of the video here.)
A lil' sneak peek
So again I've wandered away from here for quite sometime. Eep! I guess Summer and traveling will do that to you. Anywho... I would love to share a lil' sneak peek of one of my latest design/illustration projects. I have been assigned to illustrate a short story about the Tualatin River. It will be published in a future coffee table book called Our Portland Story.
Do you spot a paddle, bullfrong or Kingfisher?
I can't wait on a later date, after approval to show you the whole page.
Lullaby for the Working Class
Don't you love it when you rediscover a band? I sure do. I totally forgot about Lullaby for the Working Class and then I found a CD I own of theirs that I bought 6 years ago. Man... they created some amazing songs. I dreamt I was an astronaut safely orbiting the womb I came across my wife and baby already clinging to this singularity dear wife, please forgive me if I sometimes forget what blessings I should be rejoicing the prophet is a shipwrecked son keeps waking up here the kingdom still is a hoax gotta build your own, son I dreamt I was a firefighter but the flames were never real I dreamt I was an engineer and I designed it, dear the world's perfect treadmill I dreamt I was a hypnotist a farmer and an architect a poet and an acrobat I dreamt the flames were real the prophet is a shipwrecked son keeps waking up here the kingdom still is a hoax gotta build your own, son I dreamt I was an astronaut.
The lil' boy in the helmet makes me giggle.
Their page on Last.fm... http://www.last.fm/music/Lullaby+for+the+Working+Class
Where have I been
Why yes, I am still quite alive. I apologize for my absence, but these last few weeks of May have been busy for me... for sure. And... the weather here has been GORGEOUS, so it has been challenging for me to stay indoors and give attention to my blog and my art. I promise this coming week that I will be better about these two items. So for quite some time now, well, since I moved to the west coast, I've had this urge to do some film documentation of what I encounter. My plan is finally getting played out, someone has inspired me to kick it in gear. So the plan is (hopefully I can keep it up) to film five to 10 second snippets during the month and then make it into a two to five minute film at the end. So here we begin with the month of May...
Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye
I'm really into this song today. Enjoy...
Mother's Day pendants
Since I've heard that both my mom and my mother-in-law, have received their Mother's Day surprise packages, I can now share them with you!
Nurture thy Mind No.8 Pendant Necklace - Mother's Day - Jade
For my mother-in-law's pendant, I incorporated my favorite coastal plant to draw... jade. I also included my signature globes, orbs, honeycomb and those cute lil' spiderweb-like stitchings. The week before Mother's Day, her and I were chit-chatting on the phone. She was telling me how she is so appreciative of all the artwork I have done for her in the years past. I am so grateful to have such a supportive mother-in-law. The topic of my art was brought up because she was rearranging her sitting room. She had gathered all my artworks and decorated the room with them. So when this petite artwork showed up in her mailbox, you can imagine her reaction. And discovering that it was just not art... but also jewelry!
And get a glimpse of the back!
I incorporated a vintage map of my "born n' raised" state, Nebraska and scattered some doodles. Off to the left you can see a snippet of the term family and it's definition from an antique pocket-sized dictionary.
Nurture thy Mind No.9 Pendant Necklace - Mother's Day - Pine
For my mom's pendant, I incorporated some sort of pine that I discovered on a trail on Germantown Road. I have yet to research it! I also included orbs, honeycomb and those cute lil' spiderweb-like stitchings too. Discovering this tree connected thoughts in my head of memories playing around the pine trees that my parents have in their backyard. When they planted them I was seven years old they were probably 4 feet or so... and now having quadrupled in size, they've long outgrown my height.
And No.9's backside...
This is ultimately my favorite back that I have ever. ever. done. To go into detail about this, would be like writing a book. This portion of Omaha has a lot of history, a lot of memories for my mom as well as for me. After using a definition in my mother-in-law's pendant, I fell in love with incorporating terms. So on my mom's pendant I incorporated a snippet of the word "together" and it's definition. I finished the back by stamping my birthdate at the very top, which happens to be tomorrow or in an hour, however you look at it. I'm very content with these two pieces. It's so tranquil that, through art, you can elaborate on these memories.
Saturday sunshine
Every once in awhile, I love hitting the open road with some good tunes. Saturday was one of those days. With the sun gleaming down I headed out west with no planned destination. I picked up a new pair of the biggest sunglasses I could find at Target. I'm in love with the rims, they are a transparent golden yellow. My drive met Astoria and Seaside. It was my first visit to Astoria, second to Seaside. I was amazed and nervous at how long the Astoria-Megler bridge was. I'm not sure the exact length but I've heard it is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. As I started driving up it, it felt as if I was trudging up a roller coaster. Wild. It was good to visit Seaside again. Half remains of Sand dollars were all over the shore. It was so bizarre to see since I didn't find a single one on my last visit. I always forget how cold the coast is in comparison to Portland. It was nice to end my visit with a cup of hot clam chowder.