'if i fits i sits' friday

making a forest revelry - part 1

I have an Arcade Fire gig poster with jungle animals playing instruments (top right). I see it everyday, so I often imagine animals jamming.

I started this piece on a Friday afternoon while Nemo rolled in. Both Dave and I can work remotely, so we went to the store early Friday morning and didn't leave until Saturday morning. Plenty of time for making :) .

 I had never in my life heard such a howling wind. We live on the top floor of the tallest building in our area, and we get insane gusts from the ocean just north of Boston. The image on my iPad shows the power outages that evening. We live in the center of the big red circle. Fortunately, we live in a densely populated square, and our power lines are underground.

I traced the drawing on vellum so I could cut out the patterns. I thought that due to their small size, it would be easiest to hold onto a harder vellum pattern than a floppy piece of paper. I was wrong. It's much easier to photocopy the original drawing and cut out the pieces. The floppiness of the paper is important in order to have flexibility while cutting.

Here are a few Nemo pics!

Mass. Ave, Cambridge, MA 02.09.13

Mass. Ave, Cambridge, MA 02.09.13

Calm after the storm.

Drunk kitty helping me draw.

Party's gettin' started! These shots are taken a few weeks later. It takes roughly a week to cut the fabric pieces for one character and plan the thread colors. It takes about another week to sew it.

~3 months later.

The trees are in a finished state above. Their weight was substantial and texture magnificent from all of the layers and chain stitches.

This photo shows the four racoon pieces. Next I wrapped wire in a single thread for the paws.

• Forest Revelry Print
• Making a forest revelry - part 2

'if i fits i sits' friday

katie and shawn

A view of the State House and Charles fireworks from their roof.

Katie and Shawn. Dave and I had the pleasure of being introduced to them back in 2009. A mutual friend invited us to their home for a clam bake and martinis on their roof in Beacon Hill. Katie and I spent more time together that summer, feeding ourselves lots of wine and good stories. I've loved them both ever since.

This spring, we made the journey out to San Juan Capistrano, CA to see them get married.

John (Chief Cameron, right) introduced us to Katie and Shawn. Us at their murder mystery NYE party, 2011

Katie and Shawn have always known how to throw a party.

Katie, Intercontinental 2011

Shawn, right, 2011

They love their friends, they love great food and drinks. Their wedding was the greatest party they've ever thrown.

In true fairy tale fashion, Shawn enlisted his Air Force comrades for the saber arch.

They were wed in a stunning Spanish-style Basilica. The priest is a dear friend of Katie's family, who have owned an estate nearby for many years.

Dave, John and I

The shin dig was perfectly curated; an homage to the 50's complete with old fashioned cocktails, art deco pieces, cigars and whiskey, and an AMAZING 7 piece band.

Boston <3

Katie, her mom and the lovely bridesmaids designed and created the center pieces. So luxurious.

Many, many well wishes to Katie and Shawn. <3 xoxo

'if i fits i sits' friday

making flowers

Liza asked me to design the table numbers for her wedding at MASS MoCA in August. Draw flowers for a lovely friend for her nuptials? Yes please :).

Liza has beautiful taste. Her wedding was soft, warm, polished, approachable, fun, handmade, and so representative of Liza and Steve. The flowers took a couple attempts, but I think in the end they fit the sophisticated and relaxed vibe of the wedding.

When Liza asked if I'd create the table numbers, the countdown to the wedding was 3 weeks ~ cutting it close if I wanted to sketch, draw, create, possibly print, and ship them. Dave and I were also going away for two of those available weekends. So Liza whipped up an inspiration collage for me post-haste.

The collage reminded me so much of The Sill (the bottom-right Eschevera is from The Sill, and also got cut off from the collage photo). She had also mentioned Rifle Paper Company (center), so of course I checked out their adorable designs (I have these). When I whipped up the first mockup, I was thinking about the golden yellow flowers, the birch holders, and the gold votives.

Quick mock - poorly photographed. Gold branch frame, painted branch numbers, small flower illustrations.

It didn't feel right. I tried honor the inspiration collage components, but it wasn't me and certainly didn't feel like Liza.

At the time, I didn't realize she already had the holders (bachelorette weekend discussions over champagne and tequila = poor retention). The card holders were made from fallen birch trees on Liza's grandmother's property in Lake Placid. Gorgeous.

I texted Liza a pic of the mockup, and she writes back "Big luscious flowers, and more you!!"

Sketches and prelim. drawings

Base drawings

Adding green watercolor and gouache, bringing them to life

First layer

Development

A photograph of 7. I later scanned them.

I had the pieces scanned, and sent them to a printer I've used before for work. Mind you, I have not printed an art-quality piece in some time, so I was unsure what to expect of the business-friendly printer I've been comfortable working with.

True to last-minute form, virtually everything went wrong. I had three days to get the scans and prints right. In three days they had to be scanned thrice, and printed twice ~ only costing me once, but the stress of returning to a business so many times and requiring a reprint nearly destroyed me. The scanners were simply not paying attention, and made several errors. The worst error was when the scanner FTPed the wrong files to the printer - they wouldn't be ready for me to see/pick up the next day - and T-minus 2 days to ship discovered they had to be reprinted. Lol -- I didn't tell the bride. I knew we'd find a way. Dave even often offered to have my dream printer overnighted -- what a guy. Printers take a while to calibrate, though, and I was stressed enough as it was.

Late on Wednesday evening, with a shaky voice, I convinced the printer to open the shop early and meet me so we can find out what happened. I was staring at horrendous prints that cost over $100, and it was unacceptable. At 730 Thursday we realized they had the wrong files. I went home, grabbed the right disk, and brought it back. I picked them up Thursday evening and they were just fine. Phew. Good thing because we were leaving Saturday morning.

I was a bit unprepared for printing this level of detail. The size of the water color prints were unusual, and the company did not have the paper I had hoped in the proper size. At the eleventh hour, shopping around for a printer was no longer an option. My words of advice for anyone accepting a custom job with little time to spare:

1. Identify your weakness up front
• I don't have a handle on printing processes
2. Tackle your biggest problem right away, and develop the parts that come easier to you in tandem/next

• I need to find a scanner, explain my needs upfront, request a portfolio of their work, and perform a test
• I need to find a local printer for fine art illustrations who carries a lovely card stock for a wedding

The drawing and painting come easily to me, and I can do them in bed, on the weekends, at night when I can't sleep...printers and scanners need to be found during the day, and preferably on a day when I'm in the office downtown, and not working from home.

Keeping a plan in order, and identifying gaps up front saves a lot of stress later on. I have this project planning capability at work, and there's no reason not to apply this skill to my craft (which I hope to grow into a business).

My favorite of all, 2

7 and the Man of the Evening, Steve

There were so many reasons to love this project. I was so honored to be asked, and so pleased with the final product. To the store they go!