The Luna Moth Card and Print

Okay, okay.  I know I said I wasn't going to blog on weekends, but I'm really, really proud of the way this one turned out.

So, I used to see luna moths all the time as a teen, when I was delivering papers with my mom.  In all honesty, they scared the crap out of me.  I mean, you come around the corner on a dark morning when the world is almost too quite, and suddenly you're face to face with this moth the size of your head perched on a wall.  In my little universe, things weren't supposed to be that big.  Being oversized like that was reserved for mutated things in horror movies, like ants and fifty foot women.

Well, I haven't delivered papers in a decade and probably haven't seen a luna moth in as long (probably merely because I'm no longer wandering darkened hallways in the wee hours of the morning).   Then, a few nights ago, I was standing at my back door, having just turned off the porch light when I saw one flutter out of the darkness for just a moment before disappearing into it again. Just for a moment, but long enough for me to realize how pretty they are (at least when they're not perched on walls, scaring young girls) and I knew I had to design a print of one.

So I drew it out and carved it up, and of course, printed it in green and this is how it came out.

Luna Moth Original Linocut

I think it turned out lovely, but being carved into a larger block than I usually work with (5 x 7 inches instead of 4 x 6) I couldn't print it on the front of a card as well....unless I printed it on the back, too.  I took a few tries, but I managed to get it just so the wings wrapped evenly around the front and back of a card.

Luna Moth Wraparound Linocut Card

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, so much so that I am considering carving another version, perhaps of a butterfly this time.

Okay, now I'll go enjoy my weekend.  You do the same.

Ginkgo Leaves

I never thought much of ginkgo leaves until recently.  Then, I saw a beautiful plate on Etsy (the one below, specifically, a gorgeous chartreuse piece by HopeJohnson) and I knew I had to use ginkgo leaves as one of my card designs.

Ginkgo Dipping Dish

I loved the fan shaped leaves on the long thin stems (ah! you know how I love those spindly legs!).  They are just so perfectly odd I had to use them.  I didn't even realize til later that ginkgo leaves are on ginkgo trees.  I prefer to imagine them bobbing on their own in the gentle breeze, growing in tall clumps in a marsh or bog.

Red Ginkgo Card

I also found out a few interesting things about ginkgos along the way.  For one, ginkgo is a living fossil, meaning that it has no close living relatives, having been the one survivor of all major extinction events.  That basically means it's a tree right out of the Jurassic period.   Also, the leaves are unique among seed plants, with their lovely fan shapes.  I like the idea that maybe all the weird plants I illustrate were once at home right alongside the ginkgo.  Perhaps I should look into prehistoric botany.

Ampersand

It's amazing that I've managed to get anything done this week, with the puppy parade going on at my house. I'm pet-sitting my mom's retriever mix who, at maybe 8 months old, is easily twice the size of my dog. He's a big lumbering galoot, and she loves having one around to play with, so everytime I sit down to do something, I am accosted by the thunder of doggie feet as they run around me in circles. I never get very far before I have to take them out or calm them down or feed them.

However, I have managed, amongst all the canine thunder, to carve out one card so far: the ampersand card. That ever-familiar 'and' symbol that has mostly been relegated to formal writing only is one of my favorite symbols and I love everything it represents, a world of infinite possiblity. So I drew up a simple version of it and printed it on cards.

Ampersand Cards

And even now, as I finish up this post, the dogs are growling incessantly as they play tug-of-war with each other.  If I'm lucky they'll wear themselves out and I'll have this afternoon to work.

The Afternoon Walk

A fellow artist friend of mine said he liked how I used to "small window" to look at things.  I've never been one for covering a large canvas or space with my art.  My images are simple and don't need a lot of room to get their view across.  I don't think I've ever made anything larger then 12 x 18 and the majority of my work averages 4 x 6 inches.  Today I made another "small window" onto a another world, where the skyis green on summer afternoons and most of the plant life is bigger than the people.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/73835409/the-afternoon-walk-ooak-original

I like my little windows.  They give me a good view.

The Conjoined Twins

While technically not new, this painting hasn't appeared on this blog before.  I created it last summer and it hung in the coffee shop I worked at until we closed.  Since then it has been sitting in my room, waiting to be photographed and listed on Etsy, for as much as I love my work, I can't keep it forever.

There was a tree by the bus stop I took to work every day and, to me, the tree looked like it was two grown from one seed or two separate tree that grew together as they grew upward.  Regardless of how it happend, I found the way their branches arched out from each other interesting.  To me it looked like they were tired of being together and were trying to grow apart.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/73789832/the-conjoined-twins-ooak-original

On a side note, I'm never sure whether to call them painting or illustrations.  I use mostly watercolor and ink applied with a brush, but I use and hold the brush like a pen much more often than not, as though I am 'drawing' on the color.  What defines a painting, I wonder?

The Pom Trees

I am going to try to make a short post whenever I have a new piece to show.  I finished a whimsical little painting tonight, I call "The Pom Trees."  It's four by six inches on 140 lb cold press watercolor paper (I love watercolor blocks) and was illustrated with water and ink.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/73785987/the-pom-trees-ooak-original-illustration