An Ode to Coffee - MATS Bootcamp Month 5

For the final assignment in Lilla Rogers' Bootcamp, she instructed us to create a piece of art, for ourselves or a friend, that showcased our favorite beverage. She wanted it to be a personal piece, something we would hang in our homes. She encouraged any (and every) medium.

I'm not going to lie. This was tough for me. I love coffee, but would I hang a coffee painting in my house? This got me thinking about vintage posters—I would definitely hang a vintage beverage poster in my house. So that became my inspiration.

I love the way coffee smells when it's brewing. I love it really, really hot. I love holding a warm mug in my hands, especially in the winter. I love the feel, color and shape of those little roasted beans. Burlap bags, clinking spoons, tall mugs...

I settled on the image above for the gallery, but made a couple of other simple compositions as well. And below are snapshots of some of my explorations along the way.

So cheers to Lilla for another amazing class! I raise my coffee cup to you and all my talented classmates!

New Minted Challenge

I'm back at it with another Minted challenge. Kids Art Prints. I had so many ideas I wanted to execute, but once again I was pressed for time—family visiting for the holiday. I did manage to sneak a few designs in under the deadline, so pop on over and vote for me and all the other creative submissions!

Vote for rise & shine here

Vote for up, up & away here

Vote for I love you here

Lions & Tigers & Bears! Oh My!

I've got a new collection with a couple of ferocious cuties… No tin man, however.

Bootcamp Assignment 4 - Wall Art

This month's Lilla Rogers Make Art That Sells Bootcamp couldn't have been more fun. Nautical inspired wall art. Boy do I love the sea and all it's creatures! Maybe because I am an aquarius….?

Anyway, I knew right away I wanted to design children's wall art. And, for a while I've had the idea of creating a piece based around the tongue-twister "She sell sea shells by the seashore." This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it out—with an octopus of course.

And who wouldn't want his and her wall art? So I created a little sailor-themed piece for the boys.

I thought the navy blue octopus looked strongest at thumbnail size, so I uploaded that one to Lilla's web site. Once again, I was amazed at all the gorgeous art coming out of this class. If you haven't seen the Bootcamp gallery, you can check it out here.

Here are a couple of my sketches with a similar theme that I've recently posted on my instagram year-long daily doodle. Are you following me? @shindigstudio

Bring On Summer...

Sunny. Breezy. Warm.  It's a flowery kind of day today…

Summer Meadow

This time of year I'm so inspired by all the flowers popping up everywhere. So simple and beautiful. Here are a few of the floral patterns I've been working on this week—in between all my sneezing from the grass pollen….

Bootcamp Assigment 3 - Editorial

Once upon a time I was an Art Director for a publishing company. Madison Publishing created customized health care magazines for insurance companies. I loved that job. I worked alongside some amazing people and got to hire lots of talented illustrators and photographers. And I got paid to do it!

So when Lilla Rogers gave us an article on meditation to illustrate for this month's editorial assignment in Make Art That Sells Bootcamp, I felt right at home. Except this time I had to do the illustrating and not the hiring.

I am never short on ideas, so I thought I would approach the assignment in two ways. Meditation makes me think of an illustration style that is rich and layered, organic and conceptual. But the article was about a woman who had a hard time getting past distractions to have a successful meditation experience (umm, sounds familiar). I wanted to illustrate both of these concepts. Then I would choose which finished artwork to submit to the gallery.

I ended up submitting the first illustration because I loved the colors, layers and textures. Although, I must admit, the second one looks a lot more like me when I attempt to meditate. Which style do you prefer?

You can read the original article here. Perhaps you too, could use a little motivation to meditate? Ohmmmmm.