an Ode to Engelbreit!

Okay, so, before we go any further
here with this journey,
I have to stop the train and just pause for a moment
to reveal my great inspiration for illustrating.
Yes, I could draw long before I knew
who my inspiration was,
but the moment I was exposed
to the work of Mary Engelbreit…

I, I, well, I just melted inside.
She illustrates in such a way
that you want to climb into her scenes
and be a part of them.  They are so happy and warm.
Just lovely and perfect.  Whimsical and believable.
I think it's why, to this day,
I struggle with artwork done digitally.
For me, it's not believable.
Sorry, it's just this thing I have.
Even though I draw people with 3 fingers,
the scene has to be believable to me - the proportions,
shadowing, angles, etc.  I feel like digital art,
just by the nature of it,
has to work harder to be believable.
But that is the beauty of art -
it's beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

So, have you seen Mary's work?
It's massive - and licensing all over the place!
She posted a short video yesterday of herself
illustrating a girl from start to finish! HOORAHH!

SO awesome to see a pro in action...fast action!!!

Love. Love. Love Mary Engelbreit.
You can see more HERE!

Thanks so much for allowing me to tell ya about
a big hero of mine.
Check out the link above if you need to feel
all warm and fuzzy inside,
you've probably seen her gazillions of illustrations
in all kinds of places over the years!

See you next time!

In the Beginning...

I’ve decided that I should be documenting this ‘path’
of creativity.  So bear with me….
as we start from ‘the beginning.’

I have always had a passion for doodling
and illustration…
I can remember winning a drawing contest
in the early days of elementary school.
I can even remember exactly what I had drawn
and can remember being very OCD specific
about how it had to look
(it was a house [of course]
with snow on the roof and yard).
I don’t remember specifically being artsy
or crafty for the rest of my school days,
besides doodling on everything
and painting spirit signs -
but I loved doing the lettering!

After high school graduation,
I then attempted a Commercial Art
major in college -
but at that time in the mid 1980′s,
being an artist around here,
meant a big city, very competitive life…
and the thought of that was stressing and was
something my fiance, (whom I met in college)
and I weren’t ready for. At least my time in college
was not in vain…wink, wink!

The artist in me then took on many forms
thru the years -but my first and foremost priority
was being a wife and later,
a mother to 3 beautiful redheaded girls…
my favorite thing….
and motherhood allows you to be crafty
in all sorts of ways.  But the children grow up 

and there are no hairbows to make,
no school projects to design,
no dance recitals to paint shoes for…
and that creativity just simmers and stews.
After it has simmered for just
the right amount of time,
things just start to bubble up and pop out!
Life slows down a bit (wait, whaat?)
and you begin to pull together
all the different aspects of what you’ve learned
along the way (IF you have any brain cells left).
And things just start to click.
That’s when you say, ‘hello artsy path,
I have missed you, welcome back!’

One of my fav writers, Jon Acuff said,
“Finding your true passion is a reunion, not a first date.
An act of recovery, not discovery.”

And so the story continues…….