WE HAVE MOVED!!! 

We are starting a little floral studio in Toronto - BOTANY {floral studio}. I'll keep this blog up, but I'm switching over my postings to BOTANY's blog ... Like BOTANY on facebook to receive amazing weekly coupons ... xo

But here's a final post ...

Inspiration: still lifes and botanical drawings from the following two blogs ...

1. Still Life Quick Heart

2. Scientific Illustration

{Illustration by Ernst Haekel via Scientific Illustration}

{Illustration by Charles Harper via Scientific Illustration}

{Illustration by M. Pagaut & P. Vigier via Scientific Illustration}

{Illustration by M. Pagaut & P. Vigier via Scientific Illustration}

{Illustration by Jacob Marrel via Still Life Quick Heart}

{Illustration by Filippo Arena via Still Life Quick Heart}

{Painting by Edzard Dietz via Still Life Quick Heart}

{Painting by Anneke van Brussel via Still Life Quick Heart}

{Painting by Vernon Ward via Still Life Quick Heart}

{Painting by Simon Verelst via Still Life Quick Heart}

What a crazy November so far, back to working, writing a small article for UPPERCASE magazine, and my little Leo man have all kept me busy!

Here are two inspiring artists ...

I recently stumbled across Catherine Campbell's work ... her illustrations are so cute and charming ... I especially like these ...






I also love Ana Serrano's Cartonlandia. Here's what it looks like ...

Hello! This evening, I finished doing a simple sketch/storyboard of my little story: "look up, look down" ??? I haven't really decided on that title yet, but I'll use it for now ... The entire story can be found below with the page breakdown as well ...


I'll tell you a little about the story - it is meant to show the cyclical nature of growth and seasons ... shown in the growth of a tree. This theme is reflected in the design of the book as well. The book is meant to have no beginning or end, the illustrations bleed into the next page, including the last page that starts the story again ... When printing, I don't think I'll print as a typical book with turning pages, instead I think an accordion style is more appropriate, so that the book can bend and circle back on itself.


Here is the story:

1.Look up, way up in the sky
There is the sun that glows and glows

2.Onto a seed that grows and grows
With the warmth of the sun that glows and glows
From way up in the sky

3.This is the tree that's growing and growing
From a little seed that grew and grew
With all that help from the sun's glowing and glowing
From way up in the sky

4.These are the branches, reaching and reaching
Up and up from the tall, tall tree
That has grown and grown from a tiny, little seed

5.These are the leaves, shiny and green
That have sprouted from those branches
Of the tall, maybe tallest, tall tree

6.All that growing and growing takes a lot of energy
The tree has gathered it up all this time
From when it was a small, maybe smallest, small seed
From the glowing, glowing sun way up in the sky

7.Now, raindrops collect in those lofty leaves
And the water drains all the way down
The branches of the biggest tree of trees
The tree needs all this water to grow and grow
and with the warmth from the sun,
The tree is sure to, you know!

8.But after some time, it turns icy and chilly
And those leaves shiver and wither away
They fall one by one from the tree

9.That is still reaching, but empty-handed today
The tallest tree, all bare now, still stands proud
And the sun embarrassed hides behind a gray snow cloud

10.Look down, down on the ground

Those tired withered leaves
All around the tree surround
Like a giant comfy blanket
Keeping the tree's roots warm in the ground

11.And so the tallest tall tree
Through winter stands warm and proud
[Well maybe a little chilled]
Through the chilliest season
Until the sky is once more sun-filled

12.Look up, way up in the sky
There is the sun that glows and glows

13.Onto a new seed that grows and grows
Under the shade of the tallest tall tree
From the branches that reach way up high
Sprouting new leaves in the warm sunny sky

14.That wave and dance

15.Or drain rain down when its gray and cloudy
Down and down the tree
To the newest new tiny seed

I have started painting sheets and sheets of paper with many different colours and textures, which I plan to cutout and assemble into the book's illustrations ... I will show the progression of the book from start to finish ...

Inspiration: cloudy skies, cityscapes and chaotic illustrations.

This afternoon Leo and I walked down to 17th Avenue so I could photograph my project site. It was a cloudy day, but I like photographing when it's overcast best, its like a natural filter so you don't have to worry about harsh light. Here are some shots I took along the way ...




This amazes and inspires me - I read this article 'Favela Painting by Haas and Hahn' by Frame Magazine:

Haas and Hahn create a community driven artwork spanning over 34 houses, by painting the favela Santa Marta.

In the heart of a favela in Rio de Janero – called Santa Marta – a huge art project has given colour to the streets. The artwork aims to brighten up the neighbourhood, giving the community a boost by educating and employing workers. The project is an initiative by Dutch art duo Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn.

Haas en Hahn (hare and hen) as the artist call themselves, made a flexible design of colourful rays that can easily be expanded, to paint the houses around the central square. A group of locals were trained as painters to work with scaffolding and different materials; during the month it took to paint the buildings, they received training as well as a pay check.

The final artwork is a monument to the community living in the slum. The artists’ goal is to transform the whole hillside favela into one big colourful area, turning it into a community-driven artwork and helping inhabitants on the employment ladder.

(Photos courtesy of Favela Painting)

Natsko Seki is a Japanese mixed-media artist who creates these cheery, fanciful and chaotic cityscapes. She finds inspiration in antique and vintage culture, as well as nostalgia. I love the aesthetic of her work - it is inspiration for my own cityscape project. I especially like these works by Natsko:

(Map of Clerkenwell, 2009)

Mike Perry's illustrations and designs are chaotic -a mix of graffiti, graphic design, poster and street art ... I love it ... there's a sample of his work below and see more here.


Tomorrow we are off to Bragg Creek, so I'll share some pictures from that day trip soon ...

Inspiration: airplane. Here are a couple illustrations I worked on last night and this morning ...




I have blogged about studio mela before - I love her posters!!! Here are a couple of them:

(Don't wait for tomorrow)

(Love is Everything)

See her work ... studio mela blog or here

Here is how she describes herself: i'm an artist. i get paid to draw. i love what i do. i'm also a wine lover, a beer hater. a mommy. a dreamer. a writer. but above all i'm really just a girl who lives a lovely little life. this is a space to keep the good. the deep. the funny. the amazing. the small. the big. the best.

Redbean Design - the portfolio of San Francisco based designer and illustrator - Melissa Crowley. Melissa's work includes identity, print collateral, stationary, website, packaging, event, apparel and surface (wall, textile, decor, paper) design.

(hatch and terrarium pillow cases)

Tamaishi Kayo is a Japanese artist. She studied art with Setsu Nagasawa, one of the preeminent Japanese Fashion illustrators. Kayo's work includes water painting, book cover design, magazine illustration, T-shirt design and more. Here is one of her illustrations:

(What are you thing? 2007)

New portraits in series - a lot more darker than the previous portraits. These took me a little more time than the others, but I am really happy with the way they turned out, the extra effort paid off. Again, I am combining flowers with portraiture, but these are more macabre. I used Kristian Wåhlin's The black flower as my inspiration. I made more variations with this portrait as well, you can see more here.

It feels great to be back in the swing of illustrating - over the past few evenings, I have made portraits inspired by MARUMIYAN's art + design *see May 26 post*

Here are the first two I have worked on. You can see more colour variations here. More to come...

Here are a couple new photographs, I am experimenting a little more in photoshop to make the images appear more raw. More of my photographs.




I really like the following two artists for their amazing line work...

Jason Thielke




Gabriel Moreno




And just something fun to play around with...Autodesk's Project Dragonfly is a free floor plan software, which is extremely user friendly and fun to design with.

"But really, I just want to migrate for the next few years, following warm weather and photographing the train hopping youth of america. I think it's one of the most important, overlooked, and temporary underground cultures of modern times...." Mike Brodie

Hobo style! I really admire the work of Mike Brodie aka The Polaroid Kid. You can see his hobo-esque photographs here.

Below is Mike Brodie's Artist Statement...

Maybe I've just become obsessed with dirty cloth & dull rags, objects that have been touched by a million different hands then set back down--right there--just for me. Things that are made by chance or found on the side of a road, rather than bought or sold. What's a story anyways? Why do people tell them?

My first memory was when I was a year old. Imagine that. Lyin' by a river bed, Arizona is hot in the summer, and even worse when you have an earache. One-year-old with no pants on, screaming and crying like it would help or something, my face bright RED. The blanket I was lying on, made of prickly pear green wool. If that cloth was still around, it would tell you a story. But its long gone, underground somewhere, tired.

I've been shittin' and pissin' for 20 years since that day. Most of the time I miss, but I "make photos" now, valued by some. Who are these people? One of my favorites is still that one my mom took, my dad cuttin' into a turkey like a man--in prison since, my grandma laughin' drunk in the foreground--dead now. I still have that one. As for why, who knows? This is where I am and what I'm doing. Everyone I've ever met is responsible for it, and those eyes of theirs--never blank--always tryin' to focus right there on the pupil. It's always difficult to get a good look at both of 'em. Go ahead and try. You'll just end up starin' right at the bridge of the nose.

The photos. I want people to see 'em just as you'd want to tell someone a good story. Nobody enjoys boredom. And when I'm good and dead, maybe my lungs'll still be around, with some words beneath. Everything comes as a surprise--thank GOD.

Mike Reynolds is an American architect that has dedicated his professional life to ecological and sustainable architecture. He uses discarded items, such as pop bottles and tires insulted with dirt to build his Earthships. With rising concern over global warming, Reynolds has become a pioneer of the green movement, practicing these innovative methods since the early 70's.

Edward Gorey has undoubtedly inspired the imaginations of many artists and especially the macabre-style of Tim Burton. His style is very dark and his stories quirky. Here is a sample of his illustrations.

I came across Brazilian designer Maria Elvira Crosara. She designs clothing under the fashion brand Anunciação. One of her techniques is to commission guest artists to design the prints and embroideries used in her clothing. Artist Catalina Estradda's illustrations appear in the winter 07 collection. Her illustrations are seen in the orange and blue dress below.

What is most striking for me is that the print and embroidery seem to be more meaningful in her collections than the actual design of the clothing. The following picture is an example of embroidery on her clothing. Although the jacket is beautiful, it is overshadowed by the the bright embroidery. I do love how much colour she uses in her designs, and I love the playfulness of the prints she selects.


Another designer-team I love is Jovovich-Hawk. I especially like their collection from Fall/Winter 2005. It is so feminine and tom-boyish at the same time!