gifts from god

Inspired by the old saying "Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy"; are products that make our lives easier or "better" actually gifts from god? Is a less labor-intensive life filled with material objects better than one without?

Where do products come from, what are they made of, and why do some of them even exist? These are questions that may never cross the mind of the average American, so these consumer goods might as well be sent down from god, right?

freshly painted birds

I just finished painting some of my larger (22" wingspan) birds. Now I'm working on some for myself... strangely enough, I don't have any of my own trees or birds for keeps, all that I have is my Etsy inventory.

thumbnails

It's been a while since I updated this, because I have been busy going on interviews and an amazing trip to Alaska. I've accepted an offer so my handmaking/Etsy/starving artist life is about to change. But anyway, here are some recent sketches... they aren't anything special, but this is the typical way I begin developing ideas

tree growth & Ayn Rand

I finished these trees in the last few days. This is the first mustard yellow tree ever, but I quite like it. These burnt orange cacti sell pretty well, for some reason or other. Lots of times I feel like I'm just remaking designs over and over. But, it seems a little silly to work on new things when I don't have my original items in stock, so maybe in a few days I can start on something new.

I am totally obsessed with Ayn Rand, and here is a quote by her that I think most creative folks, or at least I, can relate to:

"There will be days when you'll look at your hands and you'll want to take something and smash every bone in them, because they'll be taunting you with what they could do, if you found a chance for them to do it, and you can't find that chance, and you can't bear your living body because it has failed those hands somewhere."

handbook to handmade - volume 4

"the handbook to handmade" is a 80 page monthly volume of 35 ETSY artists and their shops...this is a promotional tool that is used to help promote artists and etsy. the first volume was a success, with a great mix of artists from 36 different cities from around the world.

I'm going to be in the 4th volume!

Timothy Adam puts out The Handbook to Handmade. Visit the blog for more information!

(shameless) self-promotion

I'm having these postcards printed because some of my jewelry displays are going to be at the Philadelphia Buyer's Market of American Craft. A few other SCAD students and I are going to be exhibiting under the name Creative Collective.

products from the sky

products from the sky 18" x 18"

I'm pretty pleased with it. I love working at this larger scale, but I feel like I'm going through paper like crazy. As I explained in my last post, the scene is based on a general thought I had. But, the resulting print just looks so surreal, almost like all elements were chosen at random. I think the viewer would maybe assume the meaning has something to do with consumption or maybe polution, but not quite my original inspiration for it... which is totally fine by me.

Anyway, you (whoever you are) should click on the image and view it larger so you can see some of the detail.