Designing a New Logo; A Story with a Moral.

Do you ever have something that you have to do and you just keep putting it off because you don't think it will go well? Maybe you think it will be hard or in your mind it just has to be perfect and you don't think that will be possible. I wanted to design a new logo/header and kept putting it off-I mean, like, for months.

So many questions were going through my head and if my ears were speakers it would have sounded something like this.

"Will it appropriately represent me, my work? Will it be too colorful? I haven't been using that much bright color lately. Will people like it? Will I like it? How and where do I start? Maybe I should have someone else do it." OY VEY!

Yesterday I decided that it was the day to grab the bull by the horns and JUST DO IT! It went something like this........

I knew that I wanted a cleaner logo with fewer colors and less clutter. The old one was done when I worked in a variety of media. Since then I have been working on honing that in.

Old Logo

The bird was staying, I like the bird and it is on just about every header I have ever made. He is my mascot of sorts. (Hmmmm, he needs a name-I should have a contest).

The signature stayed because, well, it's my signature.

I use variations of the blue pattern as well as the french writing in a lot of my work so I selected those to use as backgrounds. I played around with the color but blue kept coming up so I went with it.

The orange and a branch were added after several emails to my friends, Lori and Robin. Thanks girls!

Before I knew it, it was finished and I kept thinking, what was the big deal?

New Logo

The moral of the story is this. If there is something you have to do and you are dreading it just take a day and say "This is the day". The next thing you know the thing that has been stressing you out and driving you nuts will be over and done with. It's that simple.

Thanks for taking the time to pop in, I really do appreciate it.
xop

Licensing News From the Studio!

I am happy to announce that I have signed with Roaring Brook Art Publishers. They will handle art prints as well as the licensing of select images. RB is a great addition to the roster of companies that I license with; we got off to a great start with Kirkland's picking up my first collection.


In other news, my new website is in the works and soon you will be able to view my entire portfolio online.


Here is a sampling of images represented by Roaring Brook. They are available for licensing as well as prints.

Fashion Chic -More images in this collection

Turquoise Ocean

Checkered Paris Bath-More Tub Collections

Collecting Things

 About a week ago I received an email from my very creative and talented friend, Jane Dagmi.  She an accomplished writer as well as a fellow collector of wonderful things. She was doing an article about unusual collections for the online magazine, Glo, and wanted to know if I could send some shots of one of my collections.

I have been selling off lots of things that I have collected over the years on my Etsy shop, so at first I was stumped as to what to send. Then I remembered the houses, my most favorite things ever.

As is almost always the case, the collection started by accident. The little green and brown one, an old architects model, was the first one. My husband Tom and I saw it in an antique shop and it was way more than we could afford at the time. We walked around for about an hour talking about it and finally went back and got it. We found the needlepoint houses in Black Mountain, NC; someone's mother made them and we hated to break up the trio. The train station model was a gift and so it goes. 

The next thing you know there was a collection happening. 

Hop on over to Glo and check out the other collections. It is interesting to see how people have displayed their obsessions. As you will see, our little houses are in great company. Matthew Mead, Christine Hoffman, Trey Speegle and Cheryl Maeder are just a few of the collectors included in the mix.

Here are a few more photos of the houses. The one with the red roof is my favorite - how about you?

Thinking Inside of the Box: "The Exquisite Doodle" Artist Project

Sometime ago I was invited by the multi talented Alex Mitchell to participate in a project. Inspired by the Exquisite Corpse drawing game of the Paris Surrealists, Alex titled her project "The Exquisite Doodle".  Hooked and then hooked again.

Alex did an incredible amount of work getting artists from all over the globe to participate. She built, painted and sent out all of the boxes with little scrolls and lolly pops that we had to eat (oh the suffering) so we could save the sticks that turned the scrolls.

We were honored that Artspan Blog did an  article about it.

Big thanks to Alex and all of her hard work on this project. I was thrilled to be a part of it.

 It started out like this. Alex even made special boxes for the boxes.

My little box was wrapped so nicely.

 My box was called "Onion Rain" so I ran with the theme of onion soup.

The sacrifice......

Alex started out my piece with some little drawings and I finished with doodles of onion soup ingredients. The narrative was about hopefully getting to meet Alex in Spain and making and eating the soup together.  Hopefully it will come true!

A link to more information and a movie is here.

Here is a list of the artists involved.

Alex Mitchell (http://www.alexmitchellportfolio.com/)
Kristine Suhr (http://www.pop-up.dk/)
Bob Seal (http://home.exetel.com.au/bobseal)
Lisa Kaser (http://www.lisakaser.com/)
John Frame (http://johnframesculpture.com/the-tale)
Paula Joerling (http://www.paulajoerling.com/)
Tom Haney (http://www.tomhaney.com/)
Keith Newstead (http://www.keithnewsteadautomata.com/)
Mary Lou Zeek (http://www.marylouzeekgallery.com/)

Sometimes You Need a Coach.

If anyone has been experiencing a power outage it's probably my fault. So many light bulbs have been going off over here that there has surely been a drain on the grid.

To be honest, I always thought a life coach was a lot of blah, blah, blah. Well...I was wrong.

Thanks to Beth Nichols over at "Do What You Love" I signed up for Jennifer Lee's "The Right Brainer's in Business Video Summit"

We are into week two and I am blown away. The speakers have covered everything from managing money, to following your heart to marketing. My friend Robin is also taking it and after each video we talk about it like two school girl's with a crush. I mean, I had no idea......

For too long I have felt stuck, my business was in control. Well now it's time to bitch slap this business and take it back and man does it feel good.
A week ago if I visualized my business it looked like an episode of "Hoarders" now things have been sorted, thrown out and it's all coming into focus one step at a time. Lists and a schedule have been made  and there are goals, not just deadlines but goals.

I realize that a business is it's own growing organism  and needs to move, grow and change but I can guide it instead of letting it just do it's thing. After the initial slapping I plan to make friends with my business because after all, it is a relationship and it needs nurturing. I just won't be giving it the car keys anytime soon.

She Sells Sea Shells

Well Sea Shell Flags and Mailbox covers at least.

I just received samples of the aforementioned from Custom Decor and I couldn't be happier. The color is spot on, beautiful and bright and the quality is excellent. It's always a pleasure to work with a company and people who care about the final product as much as you do.

Now all I need is a beach house to go with my flag!

The flag comes in two sizes. Garden Flag 12.5" x 18" and House Flag 28" x 40"

It is available here.

The Mailbox Cover is 6.5" x 19"

It is available here.

Pretty cute if I say so myself.

If you are a retailer and you carry either of these please let me know and I will list your site as well.

Art, Craft and Spark

"How I wished I loved in my heart the art I could love in my mind. Big, bold, epic, symphonic. But I love the small, the miniature, the detailed, the complex, the tiny, boundaried world that has it's sources in handiwork."  Molly Peacock. "The Paper Garden : An Artist Begins Her Life's Work at 72"

Recently I started the book "The Paper Garden : An Artist Begins Her Life's Work at 72" by the poet Molly Peacock and the above quote really hit home. The book is a biography about Mary Delany who begins making botanical, paper collages at the age of 72.

I come from a line of creative and artistic people. There were painters, architects, ceramicists as well as knitters, embroiderers and sewers. My mother was an accomplished painter but could also craft the socks off of anyone. There was no distinction between the two. We were always making something be it a functional item or something just for the pure joy of making it.

Although I went to art school and studied painting and photography and have a genuine appreciation for both I can rarely be seen jumping up and down at a gallery. Show me a little piece of vintage embroidery fashioned into a brooch and it's a different story; I might even hyperventilate.

For the longest time I struggled with how I wanted my work to look and I was all over the board with my style. I did straight watercolor, I worked in collage, I stitched but I kept them all in their own separate compartments. While I loved what I did there was some little spark missing. In the past year or so they are all melting together and it's been pure joy.

Whatever your field-if you are doing something you love but you feel like there's something missing-keep plugging away. It will happen and it's never too late.