Holiday Card!

This was the first year I was able to set time aside to make a Holiday Card!

I was influenced by various Victorian Christmas cards and cozy little cottages in the snow.

Happy New Year!

Dinosaurs!

I've loved dinosaurs for as long as I can remember. In fact, they were a big source of inspiration when I was a little kid, along with drawing horses and my blond labrador, Lucy. So I was really excited when I was asked by a co-worker to do a series of dinosaurs for a baby boy's nursery. They look friendly enough for a kid (or adult) to hang out with!

New drawings

I almost forgot entirely about some drawings I had done for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Bulletin back in August, until the email I received from Sarah Stern, art director. I believe my girl with balloons will be appearing in the November/December issue. Can't wait to get it!

Here are some others I did. I'll probably turn a couple into paintings.

Dance of the Dead

Today it is 72 degrees and raining..but I know a brisk and delightful autumn is right around the corner. Fall includes so many of my favorite things, I wanted to try and capture some of it a little earlier this year. I was partly inspired by these beautiful headbands made of flowers I saw on Etsy, and of course the celebration of Dia de los Muertos.

Becca Stadtlander

Here is a really lovely interview with artist Becca Stadtlander from illustrationmundo.

I love how her brushstrokes create such a great feeling of texture and movement. I've also always been very attracted to folk art and especially early American folk art. It is simple, yet exquisite and fragile at the same time. 

Summer is Over!

Summer is over...finally! I love the fall so much I've already completed a Halloween piece!

Here are two pieces I completed in the last couple of months.

Bicycle Girl, July 2011

Red Panda, August 2011

I love the red panda. They're an endangered species living quietly in remote areas of the Himalayas, China, and Nepal. Slightly bigger than my fluffiest house cat, they prefer sleeping on a sturdy branch with their legs dangling down. They are also quite fond of sticking their tongues out, or getting photographed with their mouths open--so cute I just had to capture it! 

Portrait with Horses, Cloth Book

This is a piece that I was commissioned to do in the fall of 2010. It was a gift given by my mom's co-worker to her daughter. That's her with her horses. (They are beautiful--wish they were mine!) It was a lot of fun to paint all that light.

I did a fun little side-project recently for work where I got to decorate a 4-page canvas book. It came with a lot of nice materials and it was a good challenge to figure out how I wanted to incorporate them. I definitely want to keep experimenting with making (and filling) my own books this year.

Yes, those are real leaves I used for fall. And yes, they did disintegrate after a few days :)

Happy New Year!

-Caitlin