Treasury Tuesday: Nature Walk

It's getting so hot and humid here, and I'm starting to wish I lived in the mountains.  I fantasize about sitting on the bank of a river, a canopy of leafy green over my head, my feet dangling from the rocks into the shallows, watching wildlife creep through the woods.  A little something like this....

'Nature Walk' by cursiveart

Things green and woodland, from plants to forest creatures!

Lovely Vintage Jacket w... $105.00	Green Man - 5x7 Blank G... EmilyBalivet $5.00	Stained Glass Birdie Su... Glasserie $14.00
Patchwork Belt - Robin&... KimsCraftyAppl... $15.00	Handmade silver fox cuf... gailartjewelry $285.00	Little Stag - Print of ... graysparrow $18.00
Natural Vine Wicker Ri... bazketmakr $15.00	A Nettle Leaf against E... lofficina $12.00	Oval Raku Forest Form IllyriaPottery $155.00
Through the gap - 8x10 ... LaFayettePhoto... $25.00	Leaf brooch HoneyCase2 $15.00	Vintage Moccasin Boots ... YetiShack $56.00
SALE - 1 Yard of Joel D... downshadowlane $6.95	Felted mushroom in a ti... HouseOfMoss $8.00	10 Hair Feathers - NATU... Athena111 $42.99
Moss and Ivy - natural ... ForStrangeWome... $30.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Illustration Friday #1 (On Wednesday)

A few weeks ago, I was using my favorite boredom web-tool, StumbleUpon, when I came across a website called IllustrationFriday. The general premise of this website is that every Friday they assign a simple topic and you have until just before the next Friday to upload it to whatever web browser and link it on their site. Then, everyone looks at it and 'oohs' and 'ahs' or maybe they don't.  Basically, it's just a fun little weekly drawing challenge and, frankly, I could use more of those.

So this past Friday, the topic was "Asleep."  Here is what I drew (Tuesday night).  Please excuse the poor photograph (it was taken with my cell phone by the light on my nightstand).

Rather than draw a person sleeping, I drew a tree, as that is what (in my opinion) they do all winter, every winter, just like bears.

I plan (hope) to keep up with this, though in the future, I am hoping to make Illustration Friday actually on Friday and draw the topic on the day I receive it, so people on Illustration Friday have all week to gawk.

Stuff I Love: Trees

Yeah, yeah.  Not a very creative title today, I know, but I'm feeling kind of tired.  The long and short of it is here is some cool handmade awesomeness and art, straight from Etsy.  All of these things come from my favorites list.

This first one is a painted Victorian style silhouette, with trees inside from the shop, theblackbirdsings, which is the art of Natasha Newton.  I love this simply because it combines two thing I love to put in my art, clean lines and, well, trees.  If an original painting is a bit out of your price range, she also carries lots of other beautiful smaller things from moleskines to postcards.

Silhouette of a Lady with Branches

I adore TheHauntedHollowTree's prints, especially her trees.  They are so fitting to the name of her shop and are done very uniquely with the art of pyrography (woodburning).  The art is serene, subtle, dark and so absolutely elegant.

The Companions Signed Print

Okay, so this next one merely has a tree as the logo, However, Julia and her husband, at BelleTerre are not only local soapmakers (which makes me happy), but they make amazing, completely natural soaps while trying as hard as humanly possible to be totally green and organic in doing it (which should make you happy).  Eventually, I will stop buying their soap when I get good at making my own, but I hope all of you, who love natural soap like I do, will try a bar of theirs.

Lemongrass Shea All-Natural Handcrafted Soap

Finally, if there is one thing I love more than trees, it is my first morning cup of coffee.  I recently got a small espresso a machine with some of our wedding money and I start every day out with a latte and these mugs from marywibis would be the perfect size to hold one, with just a dollop of creamy froth peeking over the top.  (I also love that I, inadvertently, picked another North Carolina artists).

Set of Two Winter Mugs

This won't be the last of trees you see from my favorites, I'm sure.

All the Fingers of this Tree

There are two things I love that I don't talk much about loving: e. e. cummings poetry and trees.  Of course, anyone who's seen my art could guess the second and anyone who knows the first well enough has seen his work in many of the titles of mine.  

They both have a lovely disjointed rhythm, never rhyming, never quite balanced in the traditional way, but always splaying out smoothly.  

Recently, I did a large linocut and posted it to my shop, my first that has been over 4 by 6 inches.  It's very simple --a white tree against blue background, leafless and smooth-- but I like it, and I'm sure it won't be the last I do.  I, of course, named it for part of a line from a e. e. cummings poem.  Here is just the first stanza.

  now all the fingers of this tree(darling)have

hands, and all the hands have people; and
more each particular person is(my love)
alive than every world can understand
--e. e. cummings

And here is the linocut. And the link, of course.  

http://www.etsy.com/listing/74025201/all-the-fingers-of-this-tree-original