Friday, July 29, 2011

Printsource

Next week is PRINTSOURCE! I am happy to have worked with Group Four Design Studio for 2 years now! They will have a TON of work for sale so be sure to stop by take a peak.

Actually, I just reached a personal goal of creating 500 pieces of art for Group Four! The past 2 years have been productive. I thoroughly enjoy working with Michael. He is constantly pushing me as an artist to try different styles, strengthen my color stories and think outside the box. It is a great partnership. Thanks Michael for all your support and encouragement!

All the black and white paintings I have been posting over the past two years are just the "sketches" that eventually get scanned into my computer and reworked, colored up and sent to Group Four. I have kept all those paintings and am thinking it may be time to revisit some of them and finish them a real paintings....I will keep you posted.



Wednesday, July 27, 2011

life & life

Life has been crazy this week...one HUGE deadline, 3 conference calls and my sister had a baby! So excited for my little sis and wish I was home to meet little Josie...I am 4700miles away and well...it sucks.

Oh Yeah...did I mention my sweetie turns 40 tomorrow! Where has the time gone?

Hope to be back blogging about life and work in a day or two.

Friday, July 22, 2011

friday painting

Always a nice way to start the last day of the week.
While on the beach at Lake Balaton I thought I would break in my new sketchbook.
And I thought I would try my hand a little something different.


Wednesday, July 20, 2011

a trip to Sümegpraga

We took a mini vacation to the Sümegpraga on Sunday. We got back last night. What an amazing 3 days full of surprises....

Fresh peaches outside the front door of the summer house we stayed in....so sweet and tasty!
The summer house.
I even found a few patterns around the house that inspired me. My friend Evi just laughed as these are true vintage.


We went to "Béke Sztupa" (a Buddhist meditation center) - the largest in Europe. I had no idea this was in Hungary! The road up was bumpy and mysterious. Nothing but forest surrounded us. And then we saw this...
We spent two days swimming and reading at Lake Balaton.
A storm came on the 2nd day and gave us two rainbows and some amazing clouds!

Friday, July 15, 2011

brush in hand

A morning of panting is always a good start to a productive day.



Thursday, July 14, 2011

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I'm back!

I am back in my studio after a 5-day break relaxing, dining and touring around Hungary. Two friends were visiting from Estonia. We had a great time tasting wines in Tokaj, soaking in the sun and water at the Széchenyi baths, cooking delicious meals and reading good books. I actually finished two books--A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and Just Kids by Patti Smith. Both very good books.

Below are a few photos from our Tokaji wine tour.

Grapes at Kikelet Winery

The mold is very characteristic of Tokaj wines.


The wine tour was organized by Taste Hungary (a great way to explore the wines of Hungary). I am looking forward to taking another tour with them in the fall to the Szekszárd wine valley!


Tuesday, July 5, 2011

a mini break

Be back on July 12.

I hope your July 4th was full of laughter, BBQ and fireworks. This is one of those time I really miss being in the states. I miss the food, the celebrating outdoors with family and friends, the fireworks....

Tomorrow starts the beginning of a mini vacation for me. I am so excited that my friends from Estonia are visiting. I have been focusing on getting work to a place where I can take a real break. So starting tomorrow - no computer, no blogging and no work. I will be back on Monday with photos and stories to share! Have a good week!


Cherries. The color is so bright and the fruit so juicy!

Friday, July 1, 2011

color & line - overcoming a creative block

I have been struggling with a design project. I just can't get over the creative block. So, I spent the evening (til 1 am actually) looking through magazines, making color sheets and brainstorming with a brush. As always, this helped.

Why is it so difficult to make time for this? I guess I feel guilty. Is this work? I need to remind myself that from this, work is easier.

Color Study Series





The above came from hours of doing this...

Then came the paintbrush. Playing with brush stokes and line weight.




What do you do to overcome creative blocks?