Art meets Soccer

Wow! My soccer team printed the honey badger logo that I drew on our new jerseys! The black areas became white during the printing process, but I'm still proud as punch. Here's a couple photos of me and my friend Veronica modeling the new jerseys after a sweaty first half and a picture of the original drawing. It's so cool to me that two very different parts of my life (art and soccer) came together this way.

Violets and Stars

I've been making thank you postcards and sending them to friends who have come to visit me and my mother this summer. I'm especially proud of this one pictured here, so I thought I'd post it on my blog. On it, I drew some of the black violets that are growing under my mom's porch. I also included a little insert of a night-scape, because my mother and I woke up at an insanely early hour this morning to watch the Perseid meteor shower. This summer has been beautiful during both the days and the nights. And it ain't over yet!

Summer Duckie

My friends had a baby girl last month on my mother's birthday! I put this drawing of a little "summer love duckling" on a card and sent it to the new baby's parents. The top left corner is empty because that's where I put the baby's name and birthday. Like the duckie in the picture, my mom and I have been watching a lot of lightning bugs this summer. She's been pretty sick and I've been staying with her for the last few weeks. She lives in the country and is surrounded every night by hundreds of these twinkling insects. It's a lovely, magical way to pass the time. Anyway, I hope my friends spend lots of fun summers enjoying fireflies with their daughter.

Baby Blue Whale

My friend Sabrina moved to a different state this week. She took her hilarious husband and darling baby boy with her. Before they left, I gave them this little painting of a blue whale. There were whales on the baby shower invitations, so I kept with the theme. I'm going to miss this little family of friends. Part of me wishes that all of my loved ones lived with me on one big commune, so that I could see them all the time. Another part of me likes having friends in different part of the country, since I love to travel and explore different cities. Sabrina can expect a visit once she's settled into her new home!

A Springtime Memory

Spring is finally waking up in Northern Virginia, which made me remember a glorious spring that I experienced nine years ago while studying abroad in France as part of my MFA program. I kept a sketchbook for my Travel Portfolio class. This week, I added a bunch of photos and postcards from my trip to any of the blank pages left in the book. This is one of the spreads about the day I spent in Giverny. Spring was in full swing in Monet's gardens in April 2006. Tulips upon tulips, like little blobs of paint in the yard behind his pale pink house with the bright green steps. I sketched the rowboats in his Japanese garden that day, because sketching the water lilies under the bridge felt too cliche.

Crimson Chameleon

When my students ask me what my favorite color is, I tell them, "I'm an artist, so I love all of the colors!" I'm like this here chameleon that I painted today. He can't pick a favorite color either, but I guess we were both in a red mood this morning. The background is silver paint with black swirls on top. I always like my art to shine or sparkle! (I almost glued red rhinestones to this guy, but he looked too "bedazzled.")

Quick Winter Getaway to Florida

A couple of weeks ago, my mom and I went to visit my sister in Florida. It turns out there wasn't much sun in Orlando, so my sister drove us down south to find some Miami heat. I drew this lifeguard stand while siting on the beach in my bikini. That's the life! Now, I'm back in Virginia and there's snow on the ground. *sigh* The perspective is way off on this drawing, but it was the bright, tropical colors that I wanted to record anyway. :)

The Fearless Honey Badger

One of the soccer teams that I play for is called the Honey Badgers. What a great name! The ladies on my soccer teams inspire me with their courage and crack me up with their jokes. I'm definitely looking forward to Spring soccer! Here's a logo that I drew for the team. It may not ever get used on anything, but I had fun drawing it!

A Bounty of Babies

Several posts back, I blogged about drawing bugs all over a baby shower gift bag for a friend who thinks bugs are creepy. That was just the beginning of my friends turning into baby making machines! It's so nice of them to have children so that I don't have to! (Don't get me wrong, I love kids.... I'd just rather raise a cat). Here are a few of the drawings I've done lately for baby greeting cards:

Art Ain't Always Easy

Sometimes, my students get upset when they don't think that their artworks are successful. I have to remind them that art is a skill that requires practice, like dancing or sports. You're not always going to get it right on the first try! I want them to know that all artists struggle to be satisfied with their art. And that very often, art can be hard work. For example, my friend Sophie asked me to make a logo for her gardening business. She asked for a simple image of basil. Here's what I eventually came up with:

But here's an abbreviated look at the process involved with creating the design: