December at the Ann Arbor Distilling Co

This December I’ll have new work on display and available for purchase at the amazing Ann Arbor Distilling Co!

Opening night was December 6th, and it was a great event. Thanks to everyone who came out and who joined in from afar by watching the stories and videos I posted to instagram. (I tried to do a facebook live moment, but had some technical difficulties. Next time!)

If you can’t make out to the show here are a few photos from the space. If you’re interested in any of the work send me a message and I’ll let you know what is still available.

When in Rome and Parhelion. Unstretched canvas, framed.

Hanging Behind the Clouds.

Colorado Color Study i and II, waiting to be up on the walls.

Opening night!

And remember! during this opening weekend I’m also taking 15% of every sale and donating it to the Huron Valley Humane Society. This shelter takes in hundreds of animals, locally and from across the US and gives them a new chance and a home and a family. They do incredible work. It’s also where we found our little puppy - and I’ll be forever grateful.

Let me know if you make it over to the show! They make some AMAZING drinks there too, I’d love to know what you tried <3

Holiday Shopping Announcements - 2019

How is it possibly that time of year already??

Regardless, it’s here. Warm drinks, fuzzy blankets, family chaos and a non-meat turkey await me this weekend, but also, probably a bit of shopping.

Here’s what is going on at my shop for the weekend;

November 27th-Dec 2nd: FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING! No code needed, if you’re shipping to an address within the continental US, your shipping fee will be refunded. Doesn’t matter if it is a print, or an original, in a tiny envelope or a huge box!

November 27th - Dec 8th: 15% of every order will be donated to the Huron Valley Human Society, the shelter that brought us together with our most wonderful little puppy. They do incredible work for animals, and I am forever grateful to them!

I’ll have new work on view at Ann Arbor Distilling Co for whole month of December, so if you’re planning a little in-person shopping make sure to stop by! (More info coming soon)

Stay warm!

Sketches from Mackinac

We went up to the Mackinac/Mackinaw area this weekend.

I’ve been wanting to get away for a weekend; to sleep in, see the water, find a diner for some greasy breakfast and explore nature with the pup (And of course, to paint a bit…) so we decided to make the 4 hour drive northward.

I had just gotten a new sketchbook that I was really excited to try out. It’s an accordion fold from Hahnemule with really heavy watercolor paper. It felt a bit like a AAA map from road trips of yesteryear, so I decided to make some contour drawings of the land and use the colors of our drive to be a ‘map’ in another sense.

I also brought along these water-soluble ink blocks from Derwent that I tried out a few weeks ago.

It was a beautiful drive up. Seriously, Michigan is a gorgeous state.

We got in a bit later than planned, so we let the pup walk around and headed straight to dinner. I was hoping to make a few beach-side color studies but had lost all my light. Sketching would have to wait until tomorrow.

Mackinaw City Sunrise.

The next morning I was greeted with a spectacular sunrise and whatever irritation I felt for missing a chance to sketch by the water last night, was totally gone.

Once the sky had lightened enough I gathered my ink blocks, drawing board and a fresh rolled canvas from Fredrix and set up on the chilly, windy beach.

I didn’t exactly dress for the weather, so this was a quick painting session. The Inktense blocks worked beautifully on the canvas (pre-gessoed) allowing me to get the color and motion down in quick strokes.

A new thing I just discovered with the pup; usually I bring back my work to dry on the hotel floor. I can’t do that anymore unless I want to add little paw prints to the design ( paint is definitely not something that should be on dog feet…) so I had to get creative about where to store the wet canvas overnight.

Luckily, there was a perfect sized luggage rack in the cabin’s closet.

We’ll head home in a few days, hoping to get a few more chances to paint along the water - the colors up here are just so incredible.

Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend!

Falling Leaves at Park Ave Studio

The Falling Leaves series was started on accident.

Since adopting our puppy back in June my time has been a bit jumbled, with the majority of it being spent training and playing - then going to commissions and my own explorations in paint last.

(Which was the plan -- I've waited my entire adult life to finally have a pup friend so I prepared to take time off.)

But I did need to keep making.

A few weeks back I started making contour sketches during our multiple daily walks of falling/fallen leaves. I’d follow their movement as they spun in the air to the ground, draw the lines of their shapes as they curled in on themselves; nothing very in-depth, just a quick scribble in my sketchbook and we would move on.

After enough piled up I decided to take some of my favorites and transfer to paper, then added a few layers of color keeping to the original movement of the sketch.

And the series became a thing.

It was installed at Park Ave Studio on Main Street in Dexter.

Trying out the Derwent Inktense Blocks

(Not sponsored, just excited to try out new materials. This post does contain affiliate links, if you’re interested in trying out these blocks consider purchasing through the link. No extra cost to you, but Amazon sends me a few bucks!)

I’m hoping to plan a weekend getaway soon - we’ve all been cooped up in here for most of the summer and I am ready for a little adventure.

Of course, as with every adventure my supplies come along for the ride - but if we’re gone for just a few days I don’t think I want to bring EVERYTHING I usually do. I might just concentrate on making a few small sketches while away instead.

To this end I picked up these water-soluble ink blocks from Derwent and I’m excited to try them out. They are certainly packable, and if they are versatile enough I might bring these and no other paints.

Dry block, with a bit water

The block are really vibrant dry AND wet.

Testing the layers/translucency

I’m really happy with hows these performed.

Really beautiful pigment when dry, and with water it’s easily blendable and layerable. Perfect for my purposes and exactly what I was looking for in a small set of travel paint/pigment.

We may not have the destination picked out yet, but at least I know what supplies I’m bringing along.

<3 <3