Nesting

It's been eight months since my cross-country move back to California, and I'm only just now beginning to unpack art supplies and find my creative groove again. 

Now that I've got a physical space dedicated to making, I'm eager to start taking commissions and finally feel excited about diving back into my own projects. 

First up: Cabbage roses and a pair of sweet mourning doves.

I've really been enjoying taking colored pencils to my stamp proofs. It's a fun and therapeutic way to experiment and gets me excited for future watercolor washes and digital designs.

Fun tip: After coloring with pencil, rub your piece with a lightly oiled Q-Tip. It adds a nice sheen, blends the colors seamlessly, and really makes the picture pop.

Garden Friends Coloring Book

I've just published my first coloring book, and am so excited to share it with the world!

Garden Friends Coloring Book is available now on CreateSpace.

The book features thirty-six of my hand carved linocut prints, including this sweet little mouse. This version has been handprinted and given a watercolor wash.

There are flowers, birds, butterflies and more! Pages are printed single-sided to prevent bleeding.

I pulled out my Prismacolor colored pencils to color my copy. They blend well, and really pop with a dab of of mineral oil. 

Preview more of the book by visiting my Instagram account @smallfoxpress

Child's Play

As a little girl, I was very close to my stuffed animal toys.  Each one felt completely alive.  As an adult, I still feel comforted by the companionship of certain fluffy friends.  Perhaps this is why I decided to immortalize a few of these unique characters in colored pencil drawings. 

 I found this little cat while visiting the coastal town of Puerto Escondido in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico.  Walking through the city streets, I was immediately drawn to the brightly colored, hand-sewn animals that were strewn atop the Mexican blanket along the side of the road.  The women who sold them had warm smiles.  I was low on pesos that night, but they happily accepted US dollars.

I liked the lime green color of this guy in particular.  Maybe that is a magic scarf he's wearing?
  

This trio of bunnies I came across while at a vendor fair in Bangkok, Thailand.  I loved that they came tucked snugly in a zip-up cloth carrot.  It reminded me of a miniature rabbit hutch my great grandmother Hazel gave to me as a child.  It even came with a tiny food dish, and a little latch door to hold two hand-painted wooden rabbits, each no bigger than a grape.
 

This fella also originated in Thailand, and was given to me as a gift.  At first I thought he was a llama, but the chin scruff could also indicate a billy goat.  I like his shape.

These are the sorts of things that keep my inner 3-year-old happy.