You Were Inspired by What?

I had a memory pop up recently when I was teaching my son a skill all artists must learn... the M birds. You know the birds shaped like the letter M that you put in the sky whenever you make a land or seascape drawing. It brought me back to memories of my Dad teaching me the same thing. I always thought it was the coolest thing in the world and I felt like I knew a big secret. I mean how simple & brilliant was it to make a bird by making a letter M. I think I added those birds to all my pictures for years. I had totally forgotten about them until we were painting a house recently and I thought it was missing something. It was the birds. His turned out to look more like S's, but I think he thought it was as cool as I did when I was 5. In honor of my fond memories of the M birds (If anyone knows a cooler name, please let me know) I created this little pendant with a flock of M birds. Who knows where they're going or where they've been, but they will always remind me of my early art years. For those of you who don't have a past filled with M birds, this pendant could also represent or commemorate a journey (literal, emotional, creative, etc...) For me it represents the journey from making M birds to making a living with my art!












Here are some great flocks I found on Etsy:































































Artist Credits:
1. Flock Smock by Hende.etsy.com
2. Birds in Flight Print by CuriousZoo.etsy.com
3. Birds in Flight Wall Graphic by oneupdesigns.etsy.com
4. Going Up - Together in Chaos - set of 3 prints FRAMED in 11x5 Silver Vintage Frame by flywithme.etsy.com
5. The Birds- gocco screenprinted flatnote stationery set by heatherjeany.etsy.com

M birds & M birds Pendant- blockpartypress.etsy.com
SBirds - Kyle

Finished ACEO & We Have a Winner

The collaborative ACEO is done! I personally love the way that it turned out and I really love that we created it together. Thanks so much to everyone that participated! I had a lot of fun and I am sure I would not have created this exact piece without your input. Well, enough with the pleasantries, I'm sure you all are waiting for the winner! I did the old folded pieces of paper random drawing and the winner is:

















In case you can't read my handwriting, Aurora won the finished ACEO! Thanks again to everyone that participated. If you also created something that was inspired by this project, please don't forget to contact me and I will post it here along with a description and links to your blog or shop! We'll have to do this again soon, so make sure to check back!

ACEO Collaboration - Color + The Last day to comment and be entered to win the finished ACEO

Houston, we have color. I will post the finished piece tomorrow and announce the winner! If you haven't already done so, leave a comment to be entered to win the finished original ACEO. If you haven't been following along, read this post to get the background of this project. Thanks so much to everyone that participated!

Quick Sneak Peak ACEO Collaboration

Here's a little sneak peek to hold you over until the finished piece is unveiled and the winner is announced. It's cooking away as I type. If you haven't already done so, leave a comment to be entered to win the finished original ACEO. If you haven't been following along, read this post to get the background of this project.

Turquoise, Orange & White!!!!!

The votes have been tallied and there was a last minute upset. This morning I began a post and the winner was the monochromatic green, but when I came back to finish, the lead changed and Orange, Turquoise and White were the victors, so since I didn't set a specific end time, I gotta go with the winner at the time of my post. Now voting is officially closed and aside from my completing the ACEO, the project is almost done! Here is a sneak of the carving I did. I hope to have the finished piece up by Friday and announce the winner, but I will continue to post sneak peaks all week. If you haven't been following along, read this post to get the background of this project. You can still leave a comment (if you haven't already during the project) so that you can be entered into the drawing for the finished ACEO! Here are some cool orange, turquoise and white items I found on Etsy:













Monkey See Monkey Do Shirt by brittainroad.etsy.com


















Grecia Earrings by Odds.etsy.com















Golden Fans, Celtic Weave Sewing Journal by KupoKiley.etsy.com

Vote for Your Favorite Color Scheme

Please vote below for your favorite color scheme for the Spring Tree ACEO. I didn't get too many responses for colors, so I added a few of my own. It is a collaboration after all!



Here are few inspirational Spring pics I took while it was 60 degrees yesterday. Today the temperature is back down and it's raining, but the signs of spring a starting to show themselves.




































































And I even saw my first dandelion. Luckily it wasn't in my yard!

The Tree Wins! Now for Some Color

I have to be honest with you, but I really didn't think the tree would win. I thought everyone would be getting tired of my trees, so I purposely only put in one (and it did take some restraining on my part) to try and mix it up a bit, but apparently you haven't had a enough, so the tree it is!

Tree	27%	10
Daffodils	16.2%	6
Fawn	16.2%	6
Nest	8.1%	3
Topiary	8.1%	3
Sprouts growing	5.4%	2
Floral design	5.4%	2
Umbrella	5.4%	2
Iris	2.7%	1
Flower vase	2.7%	1
Bubble flower	2.7%	1
Tulips	0%	0
Multiplying Bunnies	0%	0
total votes: 37

Now that we have the subject, we need the color scheme. Keep in mind that our theme is Spring, so let's see hear some great Spring color combinations. We will need a color for the tree trunk, the leaves,the background and the base clay. Leave a comment with your recommendations, and then I will post a poll so everyone can vote for the final colors. Thanks so much to all of you that have been participating and following along. It's been a lot of fun to hear your input! Don't forget to send me pictures of any work that has been inspired by this project, it's themes and suggestions. I would love to feature it here on the blog!!

One of the Sketches Comes to Life as a Pendant plus a PCAGOE Challenge

Taking a little break from the Collaborative ACEO to promote the PCAGOE March Animal Challenge. You can still vote for your favorite ACEO sketch here and don't forget to comment so that you can be entered into the drawing for the final ACEO. My challenge entry is actually tied to the collaborative project. You will see that it closely resembles my fawn sketch. As soon as I had sketched it for the blog, I knew I wanted it to be a pendant. It is a little celebration of spring and all the new baby animals. I love the way it came out. It reminds me of an old children's book illustration which is exactly how it looked in my head! So.... take some time this weekend and head over to PCAGOE.com and vote for your favorite animal entry. When you vote, you will be entered into a drawing for a fun flora/fauna themed prize pack donated by the talented members of the PCAGOE! You can vote from now until midnight EST on March 3rd and the winners will be announced on the 4th! I will also announce the ACEO sketch winner on the 4th and then it will be time for color suggestions (we're almost done!)

















Be inspired by the animals you see in the PCAGOE Challenge and create your own animal inspired piece of art this weekend! And don't forget to vote!