Drawing and Writing My Way Home.

At home in my notebook.

It's been a while.

The creative impulse, which had felt stifled and sad for many months, seems to be flowing freely once again.

And finally I don't ask what the point is.

It brings me back to my authentic self, my truth, my heart's desire.

And that's good enough for me.

Mounting Stamps

A friend asked me to carve a stamp of a petunia, and it seemed like a great excuse to try something I've been wanting to do for a long time: mount one of my handmade stamps on a block of wood.

I purchased a wooden block from a craft store for about $2 and used this as the template for the stamp.  After the carving was complete, I used a brayer to apply acrylic paint to it and stamped the image on the top of the block.

I suppose I could have waited until after I'd cut the block to stamp it, but was impressed to find that the paint held up so well through the sawing and sanding.

I took the advice of this tutorial I found on a site about letterboxing (something I'd love to try!), and scored the back of the stamp, then used Goop Glue to adhere it to the block.

After everything was dry, I pulled out my watercolors to add some pigment.  I love that the color is a bit transparent and the grain of the wood is still visible.  The final step was coating the entire block with a clear finish.

Hopefully it holds up well.

Have I mentioned that I've been playing with my stamps in Illustrator?  It's a lot of fun!

Tea Time

Long winters call for a wide variety of warming beverages.

Enjoying a hot cuppa on top of Signal Nob in George Washington National Forest.

Getting organized.

We mounted a sheet of metal to the kitchen wall and magnetized our tea tins.

The herbs found glass homes.

Exploring new tea shops.

Inside Lost Dog Coffee in Shepherdstown, WV.

The Stamp Making Process

I can't seem to tear myself away from my desk these days.  I've got a secret project in the works, which hopefully I'll be able to share with you soon.

For now here's a quick look at the process behind the hand-carved stamps I've been making.  

I start with a drawing, which I cut out with a fine-point blade.

Placing the images on the rubber.

With a pencil, I trace the cut-outs to make a silhouette, then add the detail by hand.

Cutting out the individual stamps.

Carving the stamp.

The finished product: An inked stamp and the stamped image on paper.

Hello, World

Spring spring spring.

Breathing new life into my heart and hands.

And I have come home again.  Living in the creative flow.  With a notebook beside my bed, and visions that lure me to my desk in the early hours.

My room my room my room.

It's a pleasant place to lose myself.

Thank You.

Thank You.

Thank You.

Watercolor + Liquid Gold

So I experimented with a few new things yesterday:

1. Fredrix Watercolor Canvas (one of the excellent finds from the studio sale I attended way back in February).

2. Liquid Gold Leaf + Watercolor

The Watercolor Canvas I LOVE.  I've got two more to play around with still, and I'm thinking of continuing use of the liquid gold with watercolor - the effect is pretty cool.  

Spring is here!

...Well, almost.

After a sunny weekend, we got another storm Sunday night, and woke up to a few inches of powder Monday morning.  But already it's on its way out.  As I write this, I can hear the drip-drip-drip of snow quickly melting off the roof. 

Still it's an overcast day, so I decided to brighten it up by pulling out my watercolors and trying my hand and painting some spring flowers.

I love this time of year.  The little buds on the trees are near bursting, and fresh green shoots are poking their way out of the earth.  I can't wait for all the colors to arrive!  They will be well worth the wait :-)

Nesting for Creativity

As I mentioned last week, I recently did a little spring cleaning around the office.  Now my art space - my first, real, all my own spot reserved 24/7 solely for my creative work - is feeling much fresher.

Or at least it was up until I got back to work the following day.  At the moment, my desk is again cluttered with papers, pens and projects in-progress.  Does it help that it's at least all organized into separate piles?

My mind tends to reflect the state of my surroundings, so I generally try my best to keep my space neat and clear.  In fact, one of my favorite morning rituals is sweeping the floor.  Maybe that sounds hopelessly OCD, but it really enhances how I feel and think.  It's like wiping down my mental and emotional chalkboard and starting with a clean slate, first thing in the day. 

But sometimes I get lazy, things get messy, and my mind starts to feel a little scattered or sticky.

For this reason, I am currently working to cultivate a space that feels neat, nurturing and inspiring.

Just as we make nest for our baby-babies, this ritual is equally important in the rearing of our creative-babies.  My goal is to surround myself with colors, images, and textures that nourish my heart and creative spirit.  My hope is that putting a little love into my studio will both motivate me to keep it consistently clean and organized, and also enhance my process and productivity.

I haven't got much to work with starting out, but a quick trip to the Goodwill provided adequate fodder.  For less than $2, I brought home a couple of cute and colorful frames, complete with hangers and matting.

I just wiped down the glass and frame, made a few little snippity snips, and in no time at all had some cute, original artwork to perk up my otherwise bare walls. 

I never seem to get tired of foxes. 

I love thrifty deals and making old things like new :-)

Best Day EVER!

Yes, the sun is out and the snow is gone (for now) and it's the first day of the year that really feels like spring!

But that's not the only thing marking today as so monumentally awesome. 

This morning I drove down to Front Royal where an entire art studio was being cleaned out, and all items being sold for just A DOLLAR.

The last time I scored such an incredible $1 deal was back in December when I found an awesome vintage chair at the Re-Store in Purcerville.

I'm so thankful right now.  Paper, canvas, sketchbooks, so many pencils and fountain pens and nibs and ink and it's all pretty amazing!

I even documented my haul.  The box below and its entire contents were sold to me for $1.

The slides (which are of French Impressionist paintings), bottles of ink, set of brushes and pencils were all purchased for an additional dollar each.  I also brought home canvases, pads of watercolor paper, nice drawing paper, a big sketchbook, and a box of neon acrylic paints (not sure what I'll use those for).  I spent $24 total.

Thank You!!!

I'm ready to get to work :-)

Just a little something.

These two showed up on my desk today.

Spring is coming!

Free Paper Cut Template!

I dunno about the rest of you, but birthday season is coming up for me.  

Which also means: It's card-making time!

As you may recall, a few months back I decided to dabble in paper cutting.

After a brief hiatus, I am back at work with blade in hand!

Today I thought I'd share this cute template with you so you can give it a whirl for yourself.

Once finished, the paper cut may be adhered to the front of a blank card.  And voilà!  Handmade sweetness sure to brighten someone's special day.

Gnome update: I published a book!

And it's available now on CreateSpace!

Here are a few previews: 

 

"Gnomes have a particularly

long history of friendship

with members of the avian kingdom."

"...If you happen to meet a gnome who can carry a tune, 

rest assured that what you are witnessing is the result 

of countless hours of dedicated study."

The process of creating this book was a great experience for me.  I learned a lot, and found out just how easy self-publishing can be!  Most importantly: I realized that there's nothing stopping me from putting out into the world anything my heart can dream up.  It's a pretty powerful revelation.

It's really amazing to think that a few weeks ago, none of this existed at all.  And that the whole journey began with a little spark of inspiration and few ounces of leftover clay I dug out of the closet.

Thanks to everyone who has cheered me on in my creative adventures.

Your support and kind words are more valuable than you may know :)

Like I said, the book is available now on CreateSpace, and should be up on Amazon in about a week. 

So check it out!