Home for the Holiday

Home for the Holiday, originally uploaded by e14studio.

It was a merry merry Christmas up in western New York with the family. Everyone loved their presents, especially Carla. I gave her a memory book that I created with fabrics and photo transfers.
Now it's time to get ready for a new year. The chef is in the kitchen cooking up cabbage and blacked eyed peas, a southern tradition for good luck and prosperity. I'll be putz-ing around in the studio.
Here is a link to my latest drawing - Diana's Wedding Gown. Before Christmas I had a chance to visit the Museum of Natural Science where there is an exhibit about Princess Diana. When I heard about it, I got it in my head that I wanted draw her wedding dress. (Don't know why... other than I remember watching the wedding on tv and seeing her get out of the carriage wearing that awesome dress.) So here it is 24 years later and she's gone (so sad). Lucky for me they placed a bench right near the case with her wedding dress so I could park myself and draw it. This is something I've never ever done before in all my years of drawing - i.e. draw in a museum. I probably wouldn't have followed through on this if it weren't for Danny Gregory's new book. I'm inspired to draw more in 2006.
What about you? What are you inspired to do in 2006?

A Christmas Message

xmas_card, originally uploaded by e14studio.

May there be Peace...
...and may it begin in the heart of each and every one of us.

To all my blog visitors, thank you for stopping by the14studio site. Come back next year. I hope to continue sharing my art and inspiring others. Happy Holidays from the chef & me.

Rumi Cards

rumicards, originally uploaded by e14studio.

The gift is for my friend who loves the Suffi poet, Rumi. (loves him enough to name her dog after him!). I embellished a box with home-made papers, a photo transfer on muslim and a jewel. Inside I put 12 cards. Each card has one of my tiny drawings which was used to illustrate a quote of Rumi's. The quote you see on this card reads:

"All Day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, and I intend to end up there."

Gift Boxes

xmas_boxes, originally uploaded by e14studio.

Ta-Da!!! Here's what my gift boxes made from catalog pages look like. The bottom picture is a close up showing how the box will look before you flip the flaps inside to finish off the sides. Remember to cut the square for the bottom of the box about 1/4 inch smaller than the top. (instructions mentioned below).

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Next, I'll share the finished gift I made using the 12 tiny drawings. That's what I'm finishing up in the studio this weekend.

Who needs Christmas Wrapping paper?

directions, originally uploaded by e14studio.

I cut out squares from pages of Christmas catalogs (Pier 1 had the best images) about 6-7 inches. Here's the folding instructions. Hope you can figure it out. I made a bunch of small boxes for the butterfly magnets I'm giving this year.
Click here to see a photo of the box construction.

12 tiny drawings

12drawings, originally uploaded by e14studio.

Yay! A day to hang out in the studio!
I show you these 12 little drawings that will be used in something I am designing for my friend's Christmas gift. But I can't go into detail now in case she checks my blog (which I doubt, because so many of my friends are too busy.) When it's all finished, I'll show you where these drawings ended up.
By working on them, I had a chance to use some glittery watercolors I bought when I was in Santa Fe. They come in tiny pots and the colors are very vibrant with shimmer that really makes the image pop. Actually, they're more like guoache (sp?) paints than watercolors in that they go on opaque and not transparent. I wish I kept the package they came in because I have no idea who sells them and I haven't seen them here in Texas. Oh well, another excuse to go back to Santa Fe so I can buy more of these nifty colors.

How I $pent my Saturday

receipt, originally uploaded by e14studio.

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping…and we're not talking Christmas presents. I had a $100 gift certificate to the art store burning a hole in my wallet so today I got to spend it. Indulgence for me included Golden paints, metallic markers, micron pens, another x-acto knife (where did I put the one I had?), not one but two sketchbooks because one of them had to be a moleskine, Somerset Studio magazine and a book of portrait drawings. Merry Christmas to me!