Notre Lumière. Outside Notre Dame in Paris.

Crystal & Frayed Wire in the Hall of Mirrors at Palace of Versailles.

Container Zéro, 1988. Jean Pierre Raynaud. at Le Centre Pompidou. 

Turn up the lights in here, baby… extra bright… I want y’all to see this.

Tonal Tuesday: neon prepster

Like a popped-collar polo and an actual mohawk.

Psyche revived by the kiss of Love. Antonio Canova.

From our October trip to Paris. We got caught in a rainstorm just after discovering the Catacombs at Notre Dame were closed. We got soaked hunting for cover so we could figure out where the nearest metro station was. Ducked under some gothic architecture and found our way via iPhone. Spent an entire rainy day wandering around the Louvre with my favorite person taking a gazillion photos. Heaven.

Tonal Tuesday: oh darling, it’s valentimes

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Mostly the best though because chocolate is super cheap on the 15th.

Syrinx. Simon Mazière. in the gardens of Versailles.

I’m such a photo hoarder! I’m trying to go through and edit (& therefore share) about a bazillion photos I took when I went to Paris (!) in October with Scott. I hope you don’t mind the slow trickle of photos that shall begin to descend upon you. I’ll do my best to tell a tiny story with each.

October. Paris. Versailles to be more specific. It was chilly and the perfect change from our sunny spot in California. I’ve missed weather. So being in the rainy chill of early October in Paris when all the leaves are changing colors was a dream. Sweater and boots weather. Something like the autumn I miss in Chicago. We spent the whole day walking around Versailles, through the palace, the gardens, to the hamlet and even the farm in the very back. This sculpture watches the swans all day while she hides amongst the reeds.

Say it with Cat Memes!

At long last, my etsy shop is back open! With fabulous new cards and rad new reductions on older merchandise!

Why hello there! From me, to you, February delights— printable calendar, desktop wallpaper and iPhone wallpaper— in both festive colors and a more sedate monotone. Happy February!

Printables
To get the printable February 2013 calendar, click on the picture below. Save as to your computer.

Printer-Friendly February Calendar

Printer-Friendly Greyscale February Calendar

Desktop Wallpaper
To get the full size February 2013 desktop version, click on the image below.
Click to zoom in and then right click & save as to your computer.

February Desktop Wallpaper

February Greyscale Desktop Wallpaper

iPhone Wallpaper
To get the iPhone version, right click on the image below.
Click to zoom in and then right click & save as to your computer.

February iPhone Wallpaper

February Greyscale iPhone Wallpaper

Happy New Year! From me, to you, a well-lit 2013 to us all! <3

Printables
To get the printable December 2012 calendar, click on the picture below. Save as to your computer.

Desktop Wallpaper
To get the full size January 2013 desktop version, click on the image below.
Click to zoom in and then right click & save as to your computer.
 

iPhone Wallpaper
To get the iPhone version, right click on the image below.
Click to zoom in and then right click & save as to your computer.

The First Unicorn; mixed media on watercolor paper. 5.5 x 8.5"

I made this for my darling friend, Zac’s birthday. He loves the book The Last Unicorn and I wanted to do something that related to that. Another friend of mine had loaned me the DVD of the animated children’s movie of the same title. Which I may or may not have watched while creating this. I also might have a few others started, hence “the first”. There might be a few more unicorn silhouettes popping up in the near future.

MAKER NOTES: I referenced the dvd cover for the general unicorn style and created a modified silhouette from it on parchment paper (hot damn, I love Bienfang; a design professor got me hooked in college). I then used my portable light table to transfer the final silhouette (there were a few drafts) from the parchment paper to the watercolor paper. I used masking tape to affix the watercolor paper to a large drawing board to keep the paper from warping from the moisture. Anything flat and sturdy will work; I’ve used clipboards, random pieces of wood or cardboard….pretty much anything I could get my hands on. My masking tape didn’t seal perfectly as illustrated by the small bits of feathering around the edge. I painted white acrylic for just the silhouette and then lined with a pen/nib/ink & filled in the background with the same ink but with a small nylon brush for a smoother (& less tedious) fill.