Finding Oneself

Or maybe this post should be titled giving myself permission to do what I love!  I've started digging my collections out of my office and wet studio and bringing them into my design studio, you know the place were I create!

There's this meme that has been circulating on Facebook that says, essentially, the things you spend the most time doing, that's your passion and that's where we should focus our energies.  Well my passion is nature, gardening, hiking, collecting natural items like shells, bits of bark with lichens on them, rocks, bones, flowers, seed pods, and more.

And art supplies, I love to collect and use art supplies!

And plants!  This spring I will start amassing native prairie plants that love shade and will turn my front and side yards into prairie gardens!

It's been almost three months since I planted the terrariums, and they are thriving! 

Pumpkin Season has Arrived

Typically I buy quite a variety of pumpkins and squash each year, this year I decided to buy a bunch of fake pumpkins and squash.  I'm still looking for a really large fake pumpkin that looks "authentic".
Why would I buy fakes instead of real ones?

Simple.

I'm setting up a still life in my studio for painting, drawing, etc., and the real ones don't last into March, about the time when I'll be designing  collections for next Fall.

I have a ton of  photos for color and texture references (taken at a local pumpkin farm), but there's nothing as nice as working from a real 3D object.

And don't worry my designs won't look anything like these in the photos, they are just a starting point to work from.

Now to find a decent looking fake pomegranate and all will be well in the world of studio props.

Giddy or Jittery

Fabric paint on stabilizer.

I'm not sure if I'm giddy or jittery about the thought of putting some of my collections onto my website tomorrow!  The feeling I have is a whole lot like how I felt on my wedding day, a very strange mix of emotions, starting with how will this all turn out?

Anywho... tomorrow is the big day!