All Consumed!

What the heck have I been doing for the past 4 months? Good question! Not nearly enough art. On top of working 5 days a week, I've been volunteering 1 day a week for the Raptor Free Flight Program at the The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum as a bird handler. I love the birds, dearly! I have learned so much and have a new love and deep respect for raptors. I have been getting some amazing photo reference as well - Yes I will be drawing a lot of birds in the near future!!

The Raptor Free Fight Program has , a Ferruginous Hawk, 2 Barn owls, a Great Horned Owl, a Grey Hawk, a Prairie Falcon, and a whole family of Harris Hawks, as well as 2 Chihuahuan Ravens, and a Greater Roadrunner. I volunteer all day on Fridays from 8:00am to 2:30pm. There are about 4-5 volunteers per day and we feed and handle the birds, clean and do odd jobs, help with training and help put on the demonstration twice a day. I've made some great friends who I'm sure I will keep for a life time, and it is honestly the best day of the week for me. They asked me to do an illustration for the t-shirts this season and I was honored, and more than happy to. I couldn't decide between a hawk and an owl, so I did both. Then they couldn't decide which one to print, so they did both! I did them in pen and ink, which was a first for me. I loved doing them and I may do more with pen and ink at some point. It was much much faster than pencil. They wanted me to show a connection between the handlers and the birds so I thought it only fitting to show the bird on a handlers glove. The shirts should be coming in this week and I'm very excited to see them!!

Ferruginous Hawk

Barn Owl

I got a wood burner quite some time ago and had never done anything with it. Because I was so broke this Christmas, I decided to make everyone something. For the girls I made wood burned pendants and for the guys I turned them into keychains. I had a blast making them and several people asked me to make them one. Of course I started playing around with other items and it has sort of taken on a life of its own. I am going to open an etsy shop soon with limited edition giclee prints of my drawings as well as some of the wood and leather burned accessories I've been making. My plan is to hopefully start selling things so I can cut back on my days at work. I would much rather be creating than working : ) Here a few of the items I have been burning!

Pendants:





Pendants wrapped with silver:




Belt buckles:



And last but not least, I've actually started a new drawing! It is just going to take some time to complete. I have several reference photos and plans for new drawings ready to go - I am working on a harris' hawk now, next will be a barn own, a horse and a coopers hawk, not necessarily in that order : ) I may actually do a work in progress on my next drawing and show a bit of my working process and how I plan out a drawing. Hopefully it won't be so long between posts for me, I was feeling a bit guilty for not posting in such a long time : (

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have been really busy - I didn't realize how busy, until I was through with all I had to get done and then I didn't know what to do with myself. So here I am!

I have been volunteering on Fridays for the Raptor Free Flight program at The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It has got to be one of the coolest things I've ever done. The people are all incredibly nice and the birds are amazing. I'm sure I will be posting more on the subject as the season progresses and we start handling the birds more. So far my favorites are the Barn Owls and the Chihuahuan Ravens. I will absolutely be drawing a barn owl soon!

My Pygmy Owl drawing was juried in to an art exhibition at Sundust Gallery which opens Saturday, October 9th in Mesa Arizona.

I have been drawing these little hummingbirds for an upcoming show at the Tubac Center of the Arts, It is a holiday exhibition of small works called " Little Treasures". I will find out on the 16th of Oct. if they are juried in. I added a touch of iridescent powder to these for the color, which is perfect for the hummers beautiful little iridescent feathers. I hope they take them, I love going to Tubac.
"Nesting" 5 1/2" x 8"

"Out on a Limb" 4" x 7 1/4"

"Play Time" 5 1/2" x 8"

"Resting Place" 5 " x 8"

Harley Brown Rocks!!!

I was completely blown away by the generosity of Harley Brown. As the winner of the "Last Photo" contest I was informed that I would be receiving the last photo from Harley. I was completely expecting to get an 8x10 photo with a piece of cardboard in a manilla envelope.... seriously. Late last week I received a package from harley with "the photo" - framed, a nice note written in one of his gorgeous note cards, one of his signed prints, a copy of his book in which he drew a stunning indian and a personal note to me. I couldn't believe it, I am touched! it shows the generosity and spirit of such a great man! Thank you Harley Brown!

I have started reading Harley's book and I am loving it!!! He is so inspirational, and has given me a new outlook on my art and how I feel about my own work. It's an easy read, broken down into small sections. Perfect for someone like myself, with the attention span of a gnat : )

Exciting News!

I was feeling a little down yesterday. I was laid off in January and the job market is getting worse and worse. Ocassionally it gets the best of me. : (

Around 6:00 last night I decided to check my email, and received some news that cheered my right back up!!

Several months ago I came across an article by Harley Brown in the International Artists Magazine. I love his articles. He is, to say the least, amazing and his articles are always interesting and informative. So he had a contest to draw his last photo, of a lighthouse.

I took the challenge and sent in my drawing, and I actually won! The editor of International Artist Magazine wrote me a nice little email informing me that I won and said of the hundreds of entries from all over the world mine stood out. How nice is that to hear?

I will receive the original photo signed by the master himself, Harley Brown, as well as having my drawing published in the next August/September, # 68 issue of International Artists Magazine.

Here is Harley's photo-

And here is my drawing - I used graphite powder on this one. I'm in the process of doing another drawing with the graphite powder. The more I use it the more I like it, and the more comfortable I get with it. It has a different- "looser" look.

Playing with Color Again!

I am going through a weird little faze right now! Being a graphic designer, I always associate a piece of art with coordinating patterns. When working as a designer we always took a main image and added coordinating patterns to make a group.

I often think that way when I am drawing. After completing a drawing I almost always start picturing patterns that would work with the art. I often think about drawing a pattern to coordinate with my main image. I started playing with this idea this week. I have a couple done already because I'm working fairly small right now. I also decided to add a touch of color. I'm doing washes of watercolor. I will post another very soon. What do you think? Good or bad, I would love to get some feedback.

I'm also trying to figure out why my blog is not updating correctly on other's blogs. I'll keep trying, and thanks to those who have been trying to help me with the problem.

NEW DRAWING

Here is my latest drawing. Not sure what to call it yet. The horse belongs to a friend of mine and I can't remember what his name is. It's rather large - 17" x 20". The photo isn't great but you get the idea. I love drawing horses and I have some incredible reference photos, so I may do another one soon. But in the meantime I think I will do a few smaller drawings.

Western Screech Owl 9.5" x 10"

Ok so I was supposed to have this finished like, a month ago! I got a very big freelance design job in - which of course is paying my bills right now. I have also been busy experimenting with acrylics and epoxy coatings so I can mount my art and seal it without having to frame. I guess it's just for no other reason than a different look and an extra added touch. I started this drawing with powdered graphite, which I am still learning and experimenting with. I like the process a lot.

I think this piece still needs some work. It looks a little flat still. I will keep working, but I hadn't posted in so long I was feeling a bit guilty!