Pattern

I love to cruise my local Cost Plus World Market- they always have such interesting things. These papier-mâché bowls were from a special African exhibit. How cool are these patterns!

The bowls are from a South African non-profit, Wala Nani. They are made by women who are affected by HIV and AIDS. A few bowls are still available on the website here.

Bird Inspiration

I purchased this bird tile a few years ago at the flea market and it has been the inspiration for many of my birds, including the following. The tile is marked "mosaic" on the back and I have seen it in other color combinations such as green and yellow.

 

These birds were letterpress printed from my hand carved linoleum blocks and then embellished with pen and ink.

New Tote Bags!

A new project I've been working on is...tote bags! I had these silk screened from my illustrations. I did screen printing back in college but, with my letterpress, I don't really have the room for the set up. So, I had a local shop do these for me. I have to go back and modify my art a bit but I think they came out pretty well. They're now available in my Etsy shop, and I will be selling them at Patchwork next week in Santa Ana.

 

 

I've started with 4 designs- Flower Bouquet in Lavender, Birdie in Pink, Flower Garden in Orange, and Owl Buddies in Aqua. The totes are a really heavy weight cotton, made in the USA.

Spam

I get a lot of spam on my blog which no one ever sees because I moderate my comments. This, however, made me laugh.

"Today, I went to the beach with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said "You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear." She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!"

  I did this watercolor of shells a few years ago.