how is it november again?

so here i was, blogging like a mad woman, 

when suddenly 800 deadlines plus an online class descended on me and

(yep!) radio silence.

so hello, how are you?

remember me?

i used to frequent this web address.

to be fair to myself, there is only so much you can get done in 24 hours.

as matt can attest, i've been pushing it for the last two months with going to bed at 2, 3 and 4 am. i'm not going to say i've been the most stellar parent of late, 

but it is amazing what caffeine (and a lot of help from my husband) can do!

so, the deadlines: i am working on a project i can't quite talk about yet, but it involves 10 cards that will roll out all at once, and potentially 5 pieces of wall art on canvas. i was working like crazy on that in august and september, and now i'm waiting on final tweaks from my art director.

plus, some papyrus work: christmas cards, valentine's day card, with a bit of mother's day thrown in.

enter the 5 week class i signed up for in the summer (before i'd gotten all of these deadlines):

i've been doing freelance greeting cards for ten years now, and love the flexibility and freedom it gives me to be with my kids and work on my paintings. i thought it might be a good idea to take a crash course in some other illustration markets through a big artists' agent. little did i know how intense (and amazing) this 5 week "make art that sells" class through lilla rogers studio school would be!

i learned *so* much- and fumbled through learning photoshop at the same time.

here are my five projects, some which i only did using paint and paper and others which i used some digital processes too:

week 1. bolt fabric- bolt fabric is used for all sorts of things- quilting, curtains, dishtowels, etc...our theme was to include vintage pyrex and berries in some way; now that i've learned some photoshop and a bit of illustrator i would rework this. i did love the cute little pyrex!

week 2. home decor
i kind of loved these plates! this week was the hardest for me since i know NOTHING about photoshop, so i don't know how many hours i poured into this project.

week 3. children's book illustration. we had to illustrate a cover or double page spread for a russian folk tale called "the language of the birds" 

i loved this one, and would love to illustrate a kid's book someday! 

week 4. wall art.

this felt like a weird hybrid between my paintings and my illustrations, but to use collage (which i never do) and play around was so fun! we had to include some kind of text and something floral, and our colors were chosen for us. my palette was limited to red and blue plus neutrals:

i ended up submitting the first one - which one do you prefer?

week 5. gift. our assignment was a zipper pouch incorporating some sort of personal collection, so i used the only thing i collect (besides kid's toys and gray hair), succulents! this one i used photos of my succulents, plus paintings and drawings that i scanned in. thanks to help from my brother, i was able to rock the photoshop and come up with this!

my class is now over, and wow: i learned so much. the funny thing is that my two favorite projects are the ones in which i used both digital and hand painted elements. they were also the biggest challenge for me, but they showed me how i could incorporate my handmade elements with digital in a way that felt authentic to me. now i am taking a breather (for which my husband is rejoicing), but i now want to learn photoshop and illustrator and use them with how i typically work. it was really pretty amazing to learn so much  in such a short amount of time.

i loved the culture of the class- there were some very accomplished artists in the class and yet it felt so supportive and noncompetitive! so refreshing! that is not what my mfa or undergrad experience was like: critiques could be brutal, and although i had supportive peers, the overall culture felt a little more cutthroat!

so nice to be back in this space and share what i've been working on!

happy monday!