Pets & Portraits

Pet portraiture is one of things that I would really love to do more often. People LOVE their pets, I know because I have two cats and they're way cooler than you (except when they barf on my stuff). 

So, below is my first pet portrait commission: Lulu.

I worked within the same parameters as my other altarpiece book forms. The portrait is an original ink drawing and I hand-patterned the paper with a dog silhouette stencil I made and colored in with Derwent colored pencil in gray-blue.

Want an altarpiece of your pet? Get at me through my Etsy: Samskrits

"Lulu"

image size is 3.5"x5"

original photo

Treasured

I curated my first Etsy Treasury list today!  I really love seeing what people are crafting, finding, re-purposing and sharing within the Etsy community.

I  love the color gray (grey?) and I use it often in my color palettes and especially in my wardrobe which consists mostly of black, gray and brown. I would like to blame this on working in the service industry but I actually just really love neutral tones.

I picked gray as my unifier because it gave me such a broad range of items to look through. It's also the first thing I think of when I want to describe the fast approaching winter. I love the cold colors of the sky, the crispness in the air and the quiet whiteness of the first snow.

Most of the things I picked remind me of winter or they're just really beautiful and I covet them, the holidays approach nearer my friends (hint). My favorite thing I added was 'one gray hair', someone actually is selling this...AMAZING! How could I NOT add this to my list? I beseech you, I had no choice.

Here are a few items and a link to my curated Treasury: Soft Grey Winter

Pattern & Paper

For my most recent group of book forms for Etsy I couldn't find the right kind of pattern for my end paper so I patterned and hand painted it myself.  It took for-ev-er but it was worth it! Hopefully, as time progresses and I begin to have some small success with my store I will be able to work more and more independently of store bought products. I aspire to be completely self sufficient as far as making my own papers for decorative and drawing purposes. I have a vision of  studio with pulp and screens, drying racks and presses (my inner artist is drooling).

the beginnings of my pattern, post gridded

all finished, sorry for the halo effect. the pencil guidelines reflected in the light of the flash.

brand new 6

end papers

All the end papers are completely different because they were cut from the larger patterned sheet. It was really awesome pairing them up with their drawing counterparts, almost like a design puzzle.

I'm really looking forward to doing more pattern experimenting for my creations so I don't have to rely on the mass marketed patterns in art stores. I try to stick with handmade papers usually from Tibet which I find have the most subtle and beautiful textures and patterns.

Check my Etsy listings to see these guys all set up. Thanks for looking!

Turkey Thursday & Black Friday (& Cyber Monday too)

 I posted a little while ago about a gift I made for Mark before he left for FL for the winter&spring I just added it to my Etsy as an example for a custom option! For the holidays I'm also offering free shipping until the New Year, whaaaat, that's crazy! (I know!) OK I kind of feel a little like a car salesman so I'm going to stop.

Here's some newer pictures of my tiny romantic crafted keepsake as well as the photo I used to paint my little portrait.

This photo is more true to the colors taken in the outdoor natural light

hey!

Salty Sea & Fine Flour

Sarasota has been beautiful and warm just like the people I have met here. I've never walked on a beach with sand as fine as flour until now and I don't think I can go back to Long Island's rocky shores ever again. I've been pretty spoiled with food and scenic shoreline vistas. Not to mention the time I got to spend with my favorite, favorite which has been relaxing and perfect. Back to chilly Philly I must go tomorrow morning and back to work!

happyhappy

never nude

hawk brother

I'll be back in February, Sarasota, thanks for having me!

Other than that, I was featured in an Etsy treasury by whitelightproject ! You can view the treasury here. I have a few new prototypes and forms in my mind that will be manifested 3-dimensionally very soon, looking forward to hearing opinions and critiques on them as soon as they are up!

Trips & Trip-ups

Everything always gets really chaotic all at once! I finally opened the Etsy store only to realize that I have so, so much to learn about making my wares look really appealing. I'm in the process of re-shooting my current works as well as working on some new imagery and prototypes of new forms.

At the same time I thought this would be a great time to try and get my website up and running...I know nothing about websites. BUT my really super awesome friend and photographer Shelby Skumanich does and together we've been trying to install WordPress onto my database with no success. BUT, I know I'll get it soon I think I just have to start all over from scratch. So, samskrits.com will hopefully be live within the next 2 weeks and have something moderately (or fantastically!) interesting on it.

I've been playing with Photoshop to enhance my images and here are some that I treated similarly:

 

I'm also preparing to leave tomorrow morning for Sarasota, FL to visit my man-love, Mark and try to be productive while being inspired by moderate temperatures and the company of one of my most favorite persons. I will bring you all back a seashell.

More Etsy (for your Betsy?)

More reliquary book forms posted to Etsy today, check em' out! more styles are soon to come as well! 

Varada Mudra

Protection

Tarjani

Five For Fighting

It's taken such a very long time for me to find where my heart lies in this vast world of creating but I have finally rested upon a marriage of book form and original artwork, now it's time to get to work!

I've put up five pieces to my brand new Etsy store: samskrits Go check it out and give me some feedback!

All Seeing Reliquary Book Form

Generosity Reliquary Book Form

Vajra Reliquary Book Form

Hamsa Reliquary Book Form

Illuminated Reliquary Book Form

all gift wrapped up just for you!

Namaste!