Rabbit Train

Due to the high volume of expressed love of  my Snail Train, I decided to do a similar piece: The Rabbit Train. 

The sketching process came natural as it was familiar from my work previously. It flowed well which made the process free flowing and natural-along with quick! Which is good for the buyers :) 

Just incase you are interested in what I eat...I needed a pick me up after my adventure through the hitter coldness of Boston, so I smacked on this! It is honest roasted cashews with vegan/gf chocolates. They are simply tasty. Although I normal led try to avoid sugar, these are made with cane sugar and honey so I have in to a little treat. 

Once I got some Winfrey I began painting and here is what it starting to look like after a few coats of watercolor. 

& I had to brag a bit to my husband about the sunlight I was getting while working in my office (aka our guest room).

As I started adding the blue to resemble to blueprint look I asked my two best girls back home their thoughts. We discussed the background and what we thought would go well with the rest of the piece. 

We all agreed the redish color in the bunny was the best choice. Kind of looks Eastery to be honest, but I like it!  

Just a look back on the path I take to Alewife station....it was nice and slushy for my walk back home...

Not ideal for my boot choice of the day. 

After my longer than expected trip to Micheals craft store, I arrived home with all (plus some) materials needed to finish the piece. This is what the final product ended up like. 

To end with an up close and personal picture...

Happy Friday! Have a fabulous weekend! 

The Riesenrad Octopus

During our visit to Vienna in March of 2014, Ryan & I decided to walk many, many miles to see the oldest ferris wheel. Upon our arrival to Prater we walked across a beautiful long road...it was like straight out of the movies! To be honest, Prater Amusement Park was super creepy....no one was there but there was music playing...the creepy kind of music. Needless to say we didn't stay long. We took a few photos of the Riesenrad and went on our way to our LONG walk back to our hotel. 

The creepy visit inspired me to create this pieces of art. Ryan thought of the idea to go off of the ferris wheel and I went from there. Brainstorming various animals that would work well with the curvature of a giant wheel. This is what I came up with.

Sketching process

Sneak peak photo...I blurred it a bit so I didn't completely give all the details away.

This ferris wheel cabin was drawn based off a direct image of the original cabins of the Riesenrad. 

& once the watercolor was well in the process, it started coming together. 

A close up of the wheel before the wire detail....

& after the wire detail was complete. I, we, used small nails to hold the wire in place. Ryan asked me to wait to do this until he came home from work....I should have know that he really meant, You will not do it how I picture so I shall take it over and do it the correct way....I am pretty sure that was his actually thought process. He did do it better than I so I will give that to him- Dang it! 

I am super happy wit the final product! I think that this piece perfectly express how uncommon my work truly is. The wood used in this piece was an old (very old) cabinet from a lake cabin in northern Minnesota. The original hardware is till in place and might even be used to hang it! I will see what I can do to make that happen. 

Hope you enjoy it! I always love to hear your ideas for new work & thoughts on my current work. Don't be shy- leave a comment! You never know, you might be the one who inspires me and helps me become the artist I one day want to be! 

Stay warm if you are somewhere cold and send warmth if you are somewhere warm. 

Happy Thursday! 

Craned Giraffe

It all started when we went out to explore a bit of Boston....

On our walk to Alewife station Ryan was helping me brainstorm through ideas for my next work of art. I told him I was thinking an animal with a crane but could thing of what would really flow well. As we cross a little creek I glance over to my right to see a giant crane & I yelled a giraffe! Anyone else would think I was crazy but Ryan simply responded with " yeah, that would work." 

The next day I went to his work with him and without any distractions, I got to work. 

Here is the process of the Craned Giraffe. 

This is just after I traced all my graphite drawing with water resistant ink.

I used my watercolor pencils to get the color started.

This show the up to right before I painted the crane and started cutting. 

A close up of the craned giraffe. I used nails and wire to get the full effect.

Just a different angle...

& the final outcome! The reclaimed wood is from an old barn in Minnesota. I went and bought a bunch before we moved out here & man am I glad I did! Reclaimed wood out here is stupid expensive....makes me sad. 

Introducing the Heli-dragon

I want to share this process with you. Below you will find various steps I did to create the, what I am calling it, Heli-Dragon.

The sketching

Starting to add some color

After some color is added using watercolor pencils I went in with watercolor p[aint and blending the two together creating very vibrant green & blue shades

I used some left over card board from moving to create a work space on the ground to prevent glue or other materials from getting on the carpet, along with having a space to cut without worries

Here is my mess.....I started added the watercolor around the focused image to create a worn look to the paper

Testing the space and arrangement of the wings

I used tracing paper to get the transparent look in the wings. I drew the details with graphite and went over it with water resistant ink than added watercolor pencil and watercolor paint to get the full effect.

Here is a close upof all the materials & layers used 

& the final product!

It will be for sale during the month of March at Out of the Blue Art Gallery & More 

in Cambridge, MA. If you happen to be in the area, be sure to stop into the gallery to check it out along with all the other great art they show. 

North Cambridge Apartment

So, as some of you know we were recently relocated to Boston, MA. Ryan is working in Burlington, MA.

                                                                                                                 Side note: 

                                                 The best grocery store EVER is found in                                                                                  Burlington! It is called Wegmans. It is the greatest                               

 place for us both. With the way I ate it can be hard 

                                       to go to the grocery store and get everything we both                                                                                want....but here we can basically get the same                                                exact stuff! The Wegmans brand labels everything 

GF (Gluten Free), V (Vegan), 

LF (Lactose Free), FF (Fat Free) & more! 

This cuts down our time there and 

makes it so much easier for us to shop. 

Thank you Wegmans! 22 minute drive is worth it!

  

This is me on the side of Wegmans...the snow is just insane here. 

Okay- Now to our North Cambridge apartment.....

Here is our new apartment at Vox on Two. So far we really enjoy living here. Location is good...minus the snow effecting the travel everywhere. We have a wonderful view of a wooden area with trails. 

 

So this is before our place was "Amanda'd" out as Ryan would say. 

 Goodwill will be receiving at least 10 boxes of our stuff

as we have absolutely no where to put it all...it is probably time anyways. 

Below you will find our place "Amanda'd" out...some stuff still doesn't have a home yet but I am handling it....like the TV which one day will be on a wall mount above the fire place. It is currently blocking my adorable little coffee area! 

Here is the view from the fireplace side:

Next you will see the kitchen view before 

& after

This is the bathroom in our room. It is such a great size! 

This is is what we (aka I) did with it:

Here is my Craft Cave/Guest room. I do not love it but it is better than no space for guest or all my art! If anyone has any advice to offer an making the most of apartment living I would love to hear it! 

Below is a messier picture...probably more realistic of what it will typically look like with me painting everyday. 

Close up of the make shirt craft area. This is the same table Ryan & I created using two bookshelves from target and the top we built out of scrap wood from other projects. The peg board you see is trimmed in scrap wood and stained to match.  

I figured I would show you the messier version of this as well....

Luckily we have rather large closets & I did my best to completely fill them....I mine like test the strength fill them! This took forever but I finally figure it all out and found a place for everything. There is stuff hidden everywhere...let's hope that we don not need any of it any time soon. 

Our room

We gave in our bought our first bed frame from Overstock

The is the wall opposite from our bed. 

We also got a special gift during our move in.....

SNOW!

so much dang snow here in Boston. This is insane. Coming from MN we are use to snow and cold. The "cold" here is nothing compared to MN but the snow here tops the snow there. The level you see here at decreased and increased 3 times since this photo was taken. 

Two side projects:

Here is a refurbished door that was going to my a sliding barn style door for my craft room back in MN....but plans changed so now it is kinda of like out command center. 

Ryan is making the most of all the natural lighting we have an is taking on growing some fruits & veggies. Here is the Avocado...fingers crossed this one works!

Thanks for your interest! I will be posting again soon on our life here in Boston....if we ever get out to explore. Check back on that if the snow ever stops....it is currently snowing as I am typing....our explorations of Boston might have a to wait awhile.