New Close-Up Matryoshka Portraits

Aqua Indian Girl Matryoshka Portrait

Tibetan Girl Matryoshka Portrait

I was experimenting with different layouts today when I got the idea to do some close-up versions of my Matryoshka. So far I've posted these two in my shop; Aqua Indian Girl Matryoshka Portrait, and Tibetan Girl Matryoshka Portrait. I hope you like them! :)

Guatemalan Floral Fabrics Now Available!

Guatemalan Flower fabric design inspired by my Guatemalan Matryoshka

Guatemalan Floral Stripe fabric design inspired by my Guatemalan Matryoshka

Hi everybody! I hope you are having a good week. Time for more fabric designs!! Inspired by my Guatemalan Matryoshka these 2 fabric designs are now available at Spoonflower along with the 6 fabrics I listed earlier this week. If you missed my earlier posts about the fabric you can find them here. I'll be listing more fabrics on Spoonflower over the next few days. :)

Hello Autumn!

Today is the first day of autumn here (I live in North Carolina in the US). I love autumn. The summer was so hot and humid. I love the cooler weather, and the long shadows while playing outside on a late September afternoon. Our autumn leaves don't peak until mid to late October but the anticipation of their magnificent colors, and picking out pumpkins to decorate our front porch and carve as jack-o'-lanterns, is exciting! I am wishing you a beautiful September, where you are, what ever the season. OvO

Above are some of my creations to help celebrate the coming of autumn.

Korean Floral Fabrics Now Available!

Korean Floral Stripe- fabric design inspired by my Korean Matryoshka

Korean Flower- fabric design inspired by my Korean Matryoshka

I'm so excited about my new fabrics I'm posting twice in one day!! :)

Inspired by my Korean Matryoshka illustration, these two fabric designs are now available on Spoonflower.com (along with the four I uploaded earlier). Read more about my fabric designs and Spoonflower on my earlier post.

My First 4 Fabrics Available Now!

Tibetan Clouds- Clouds inspired by my Tibetan Matryoshka illustration.

Peruvian Stripes- Floral stripe inspired by my Peruvian Matryoshka illustration.

Aqua Indian Swirl- Swirl design inspired by my Aqua Indian Girl Matryoshka illustration.

Pink Hanfu Flower- Floral design inspired by my Pink HanFu Chinese Girl Matryoshka illustration.

Now available on Spoonflower.com my first 4 fabric designs! Inspired by my Matryoshka illustrations, these fabrics are designed to accompany my artwork. Whether you collect my illustration prints to decorate your child's nursery or bedroom, or you display my Matryoshka magnets on your kitchen refrigerator, Spoonflower offers a variety of fabric weights to fit a variety of applications. Perfect for crib sets, bedding, drapery, aprons, whatever your fabric needs. 

Spoonflower suggests (and I do too) you order a test swatch first to check that the colors are what you are expecting. Colors appear different from computer screen to computer screen and also print differently on different printers. So the fabric may not match what you see on your screen or my art prints exactly. By ordering a test swatch first, you can test and see if all the planned colors for your decor are in sync and meet your expectations (good idea when planning an entire room down to the paint for the walls). I don't get a percentage from test swatch orders, I just want happy customers. Happy decorating! :)

More fabric designs to come in the next few days!

Vietnamese Matryoshka Sisters- Fire and Water

Vietnamese Fire Matryoshka

Vietnamese Water Matryoshka

Hi everybody, I hope you are having a good week. Thank you for all your comments. I'm eagerly waiting for my fabric swatches to arrive. I was feeling a bit under the weather this past weekend but I'm feeling better and back in a productive mode. I'm proud of myself because I wanted to complete a new Matryoshka this week and it is only Tuesday and I've completed a set of sisters, my Vietnamese Fire and Water Matryoshka Sisters! TA-DA! I hope you like them. Now, who to draw next? ;)

Final Fabric Sneak Peeks!

Cambodian Girl Matryoshka Fabric Designs Sneak Peek

Pakistani Girl Matryoshka Fabric Designs Sneak Peek 

Hi everybody! Happy Friday to you. Well, these are the last two sneak peeks I have planned before I receive my fabric swatches, approve them (hopefully) and begin offering the fabric. I can't wait for the swatches to arrive! Thus far I've designed fabric for twelve of my fourteen Matryoshkas. The two I haven't designed for yet (Violet Tuareg Girl and Hmong Girl) will come later along with future Matryoshka illustrations and their fabrics. Check out my earlier posts to see the rest of the collection of fabrics. Have a great weekend! :)

More Fabric Sneak Peeks!

Korean Girl Matryoshka Fabric Designs

Romanian Saxon Girl Matryoshka Fabric Design

These are sneak peeks of fabric I have designed to go with my Korean Girl Matryoshka and Romanian Saxon Girl Matryoshka. You can read more about my new fabric designs in recent posts here. I'll post more sneak peeks in the upcoming days. Thank you for looking and reading. :)

More Fabric Sneak Peeks!

Tibetan Girl Matryoshka Cloud Fabric Design

Portuguese Girl Matryoshka Fabric Designs

Peruvian Girl Matryoshka Fabric Design

Here are more sneak peeks at fabric I have designed to go with my Matryoshka prints. These three Matryoshka illustrations were designed as a series and share the same color palate. You can read more about my new fabric designs in my posts last week here. I'll post more sneak peeks in the upcoming days. Have a great week! :)

More Fabric Sneak Peeks!

Aqua Indian Matryoshka Swirl Fabric Design

Pink HanFu Chinese Matryoshka Flower Fabric Design

These are sneak peeks at fabric I have designed to go with my Matryoshka prints. You can read all about it on my Fabric Sneak Peek post, Thursday, September 2nd. I'll post more sneak peeks in the upcoming days. Have a Great weekend! :)

Fabric Sneak Peek!

Bahia Brazilian Matryoshka fabric designs Sneak Peek.

Japanese Geisha Matryoshka fabric designs Sneak Peek.

Guatemalan Girl Matryoshka fabric designs Sneak Peek.

You may have seen my tweets and posts about designing fabric to go with my Matryoshka prints. This is a sneak peek of what I've been up to! :)  The fabric company I'm using for this project offers a variety of different fabric types and weights appropriate for home decor and clothing. I've ordered swatches and they should be here in a couple of weeks and I'm bursting with anticipation!! I'm offering these fabrics so that my collectors can have a way to decorate a room, create clothing, etc. based on the designs in my illustrations.

Some suggested uses:
Accent Pillows

Aprons

Bed Coverings
Clothing and Costumes
Crib Sets
Curtains
Shower Curtains
Table Cloths and Cloth Napkins

I have designed one or two fabrics each to go with twelve of my Matryoshka illustrations thus far. Over the next little while, while I wait for the swatches to come, I will post more sneak peeks of the fabric designs. Also, the background color behind each of these Sneak Peeks is a color that exists in the Matryoshka illustration, and I'm showing it here as a possible wall color suggestion.

I've got my eye on the Bahia Brazilian Matryoshka red and white fabric design. I'm thinking it would look lovely as curtains in my kitchen, but the Guatemalan Girl Matryoshka fabric design would be fun too. I have a collection of Blue Ridge Dinnerware hanging around my kitchen that either would work well with.

Based on the results of the swatches I may need to tweak the designs some to perfect them. I just wanted to let you in on what I'm working on and what new things are on their way. I wish you joy! :)

Hmong Girl Matryoshka

Introducing my latest illustration "Hmong Girl Matryoshka". This illustration is inspired by Hmong traditional New Year's celebration clothing. There was so much to be inspired by this beautiful people and their culture. I just adore their beaded hats and pleated skirts, and silver coin decorations! I hope you like her. :)

Guatemalan Girl Matryoshka

Introducing my newest illustration, Guatemalan Girl Matryoshka. I really enjoyed drawing her. She is full of joy! My colorful little cherub. I think she and my Peruvian Girl Matryoshka are going to get along famously! They will look so cute paired together, hanging on the wall! I'm so excited! Can you tell? Her festive colors are putting me in the mood for a party! I hope you adore her too! Shameless I know. Sorry, I can't help myself, I love sweet little children. :)

Romanian Saxon Girl Matryoshka

This is my latest illustration a Romanian Saxon Girl Matryoshka. Lorena (lorenabr) requested this matryoshka and requested she wear traditional black and white Saxon style clothing. It was fun doing a mostly black and white illustration. Very different from what I usually do. I did take the liberty to make designs on the black fabric. I don't know if the traditional fabric would be velvety or not but I made the designs to suggest either detail cut into velvet or embroidered black on black. My matryoshkas are inspired by different cultures, not exact copies of the different costumes, so I take allot of creative liberties with them.

I haven't drawn very many blonds. It was a challenge creating enough contrast with fair hair and fair skin. I gave her dark blue eyes because I wanted to make blueberry eyes. I have dark blue eyes and fair skin, so their is a little bit of me in her.

Thank you Lorena for the suggestion! I have had a suggestion for a Belgian matryoshka but I am having a hard time finding any reference material showing traditional clothing. I haven't forgotten the ballerina request! I'm thinking Sugar Plum Fairy! :)

Matryoshka Magnets

A) HanFu Chinese Matryosha Magnet

B) Aqua Indian Girl Matryosha Magnet

C) Violet Tuareg Matryosha Magnet

D) Peruvian Girl Matryosha Magnet

E) Tibetan Girl Matryosha Magnet

F) Portuguese Girl Matryosha Magnet

G) Bahia Brazilian Matryosha Magnet

H) Cambodian Girl Matryosha Magnet

I) Pakistani Girl Matryosha Magnet

J) Japanese Geisha Matryosha Magnet

K) Korean Girl Matryosha Magnet

These are all my Matryoshka magnets thus far! I can't believe I'm up to K! Now I'm working on a Saxon Romanian Matryoshka. The next couple of weeks are really busy so I probably won't get to work on it as much as I would like to. I'll unveil it here as soon as things calm down and I get things done. :)

Free Color Proof

Japanese Geisha Matryoshka Color Proofs B, C

Pakistani Matryoshka Color Proofs A, C, D

As I mentioned in an earlier post, when working on my illustrations I print out color proofs (same quality as all my prints just not the final illustration). Because I don't want to waste paper and ink, I try to keep my printing down to a minimum and I save my proofs in hopes of coming up with something useful to do with them. These proofs are beginning to pile up, so it is time to come up with a solution! I am offering one free color proof (from photos above) with any purchase in my shop totaling $12 or more. These are one of a kind, so they will go to the first person who asks for each proof. Just leave me a message at check out which color proof you would like. I think "Free" is FUN! That is why I offer free shipping in my shop too. :)

Matryoshka Sketches

These are preliminary sketches I did for my recent Bahia Brazilian (top color image), Korean (middle left), Pakistani (middle right), and Japanese Geisha (bottom two) Matryoshka. I never intended to share these really, they are just sketches I do before I go to the computer. I don't usually scan them into the computer (and I didn't in these instances until today). The sketches just help me work out the design and then I look at them for reference when I begin my computer illustration. I always enjoy seeing other artist's sketches so I hope you enjoy seeing my process. :)

Japanese Geisha Matryoshka

Hi! Today I've been working on my Japanese Geisha Matryoshka! I can't wait to show her to my Mom. My Mom and her family lived in Japan when she was a little girl (my Grandpa was in the military and they lived in many different countries). From their house they had a beautiful view of Mount Fuji. My Mother has very fond memories of living in Japan. She tells me and my daughter stories about her very kind neighbors and her girl friend Miyako.

Polly, I hope you like her too! :)

Korean Girl Matryoshka

I hope you like my latest drawing, a Korean Girl Matryoshka! My last two drawings, the Cambodian and Pakistani drawings, were so detailed with all the gold that I was really looking forward to doing this one with it's simple lines. I think there is a calm serenity in the traditional hanbok dress, and they are so pretty. I hope I did it justice.

My head is swirling with matryoshka ideas these days but next, the plan is to draw a Japanese matryoshka, and then a ballerina. Please keep the suggestions coming! :)

Set of 4 Pakistani Matryoshka Proof prints

When working on an illustration I have gotten much better at not wasting paper and ink by usually only printing 1 or 2 proofs (to proof color) near the end of my creative process. The differences between color on the screen versus printed color, being what they are. The Pakistani Matryoshka was an exception to this rule. I experimented with different skin tones, dress color etc. before coming up with the final piece. I don't want these prints to go to waste though so I am offering them as a set of 4 one of a kind prints at a discounted price! I hope someone would want to frame them and group them together or give them to friends as gifts. If this is a success I will offer more of my proofing prints in my shop in the future. :)

More Matryoshka Magnets!

I have updated my shop to include the 3 most recent matryoshka drawings as magnets. So now my Bahia Brazilian, Cambodian and Pakistani illustrations are magnets too! :)

Also today, I created new header banners for the blog and my shop. I've gone totally matryoshka! In the banners that is. I figure since I'm becoming, "the artist who draws those matryoshkas" I might as well embrace it. :)

Pakistani Girl Matryoshka

This is my latest drawing, a Pakistani Girl Matryoshka! I was so pleased with the Cambodian Matryoshka and all its gold detail that it inspired me to draw from another culture that has beautiful jewelry. Also inspirational was my cousin who wore a gold bridal ensemble that was quite beautiful and I've been getting allot of requests for pink or purple. So, I went somewhere in the middle with a magenta/fuchsia color and lots of gold. I also continued with the white jasmine flowers in her hair to further tie it together with the Cambodian Matryoshka drawing. I hope you like her! :)

Cambodian Girl Matryoshka

This is my latest illustration, a Cambodian Girl Matryoshka! Cambodian women's clothing and gold adornments are so ornate and beautiful. This was a super fun one to draw! My process these days goes pretty much like this— Eureka, good idea! Research, pencil sketch, wait a couple days (noodle time). More research, draw on computer, hopefully sleep on it. Make some adjustments, print out a proof, make any additional adjustments. Then, reveal to you! I hope you like her! :)

Bahia Brazilian Matryoshka print

This is my latest drawing a Bahia, Brazilian Matryoshka. I have had requests for a Brazilian Matryoshka. I found the Bahia traditional dress very inspiring. I may do more Brazilian matryoshkas. If you have any particular culture or style of traditional dress you would like me to draw please let me know. Your suggestions are very welcome. :)

Skunk with Flower Illustration

"Skunk with Flower" is the second in my new black and white animal series. The first is a "Panda with Bamboo" that I wrote about in my last post. This series of drawings is inspired by infants and their liking high contrast black and white. I hope these animals will grace the walls of some newborns and make them very happy. Not that I'm being picky. I hope people enjoy them regardless of their age. :)

Panda Bamboo Illustration

I was thinking about infants and how they see things and decided a black and white animal series would be fun. My Mother has always told me that she had a wall art piece that was white seashells in the shape of flowers on a black background when I was a baby. She said I loved to stare at it as she rocked me. I hope some little babies will enjoy looking at this panda and its high contrast. Love to the babies and all the panda lovers. :)

Orca Girl!

As I said in my last post, I'm taking part in a collective Etsy shop named "HelpTheGulfCoast". I am donating my Orca Girl 4"x6" print to the shop (along with the Owl Jack in the box I posted about earlier). Also, Kate of FlapperDoodle has a Fab illustration entitled Eloise loves pelicans - 4"x6" art print

Please visit the shop. Also, if you would like to donate an item to be sold in the shop you can contact Kate here.

Help The Gulf Coast

I'm taking part in a collective Etsy shop named "HelpTheGulfCoast". I am donating my Owl in the Box Pop Up DIY PDF toy to the shop. Kate of FlapperDoodle opened the shop and you can read about how the BP oil spill in the Gulf inspired her ( her blog ) to want to help out. I was eager to contribute to the shop when I read Kate's blog post . We believe in conservation and my daughter LOVES animals so much I knew if nothing else I should do it for her.

Please visit the shop. Also, if you would like to donate an item to be sold in the shop you can contact Kate here.

Working on Inventory for the Holiday Season

For the past couple of weeks I've been working, making up lots of items to have in inventory for the 2010 holiday season. This is a picture of all the items I've been stocking up on. I've printed and assembled Russian Doll and Snowman Coloring/Activity Books. Printed, cut out, and packaged Matryoshka Magnets. Also, printed and cut out free promo beehive/cat eyeglasses magnets. And lastly, printed and cutout hearts and pinned my Wolves in Love Pinback Buttons to them. I'll take a break for a week or so (give my hands a rest from scissor cutting) and make up more every couple of weeks throughout the summer. That is the plan anyway. :)

Next I've started sketches on a new series of animal drawings I will preview here as I complete each one.

Thank you for your support of my work. I really appreciate it! :)

Gnomette

How do you like my Gnomette? Okay, so I couldn't resist drawing a female version of a gnome. She was really fun to draw! :) I kept with the same color scheme as the male gnome so they can be paired together. If you are familiar with my work you may also notice I gave her a Portuguese inspired embroidered apron. Again, I just couldn't resist! So this isn't true to any particular culture but a mix of some favorite elements from different ones.

Happy weekend to you all and happy long weekend to those of us in the US.

Why Gnot Gnomes?

If you are familiar with my work you have probably noticed that it is somewhat devoid of male images. I don't know why women are so beautiful and the muses of artists throughout history. I'm not the first to be guilty. But occasionally I think, "Well, maybe I should draw a male."

So where to go for inspiration is the next question. I don't know about you, but I feel like I have been several different people at this point of my life. A much younger me was more into fantasy than I am now. One of my favorites were gnomes, and I have to admit still is. And yes, I've loved lots of classic kitsch: mushrooms, ladybugs, frogs (ladybugs and frogs are kitschy too right??). But gnomes. . . Hey! those are male!

So, if you were wondering, "Why gnomes?" I say, "Why gnot gnomes?!" ;)

Exciting Textiles Announcement!

I am very excited to announce that I've joined the Globalweave Textiles open design community! The first design they will be offering is my Aqua Indian Girl Matryoshka. I hope it is a successful design and they ask me for more designs in the future. Learn about Global Weave Textiles, their personalized textiles, and rugs, at global-weave.com or follow them on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr.

Sweet!

I've been dying to see this sign hanging at Etsy Headquarters in Brooklyn but have not had the opportunity to visit there myself. Danielle (super duper sweet, Etsy Seller Education Coordinator) was so kind to take some photos and send to me. Etsy has named their conference rooms after musician's names mixed with foods. They liked my "Sweet Escape" illustration and asked me to make one based on it but instead of saying, "Sweet Escape" they wanted, "Depeche a la Mode". I thought it was too cute and clever, and an honor, so this is what I came up with.