Fig & Grape Shake

I recently learned about a great illustrator website called They Draw & Cook (via a favorite blog of mine, Creature Comforts). There's so many great looking illustrated recipes! It's completely addictive to flip through them.

I made this Fig & Grape Shake illustration for their year of the fig contest. I wanted it to look bursting with fresh, pretty fruit. And the turquoise, reds and greens colour pallet is always a favorite of mine.

Fingers crossed!

*UPDATE* Wooo! Just found out I won 3rd place in the fresh fig category!

Midwives Editorial Illustration

I had the pleasure of working with art editor, Carrie Bremner, to create an illustration for Midwives Magazine. You can read the digital version here.

It was fun to illustrate a man for a change! I often illustrate women and children ... and houses. But I'd hate to eliminate men from my portfolio.

This piece is about letting father-to-be sleep over at the hospital, so they wont miss the birth of their night baby.

Original Framed Illustrations

Arctic Synchronized Swim, 17" x 14.5"

Fermina Daza's Sunroom, 19.5" x 14.5"

Gardener, 9" x 12"

I'm really not very good at photographing my framed illustrations. They are all under glass, and I find it very tricky to get a shot without a glare from a light or window. Luckily for me, Jesse is very handy with a camera!

These pieces, as well as a number of prints, are available in my Etsy shop!

The Bouquet

I made a new illustration! For fun! I really like how it turned out and I have the perfect frame for it. The image gives me the impression of both the monster gathering a bouquet, as well as a sullen girl being possessed.

I tried to describe the illustration to my friend, Shawn, over the phone, (a girl, looking like a rose, sort of embraced or possessed, by a sort of monster .. or wolf ...) and I was trying to figure out a story or fable that it might symbolize ... and he told me is sounds like Twilight.

Also, I've been really enjoying listening to The Hunger Games audio book. It's so good! Another good one is The Help. I rent them from the library, but you can also download them on audible.

*UPDATE* Hanna has just informed me that this piece is much more like Beauty and the Beast! And she's so right, I can't believe I didn't catch that myself.

You Can Go Home Again

Here's one more illustration commission I got back in December, this one was for D Home Magazine (the D stands for Dallas!). The article was about visiting your childhood home as an adult, written by Peggy Levinson and art directed by Jamie Laubhan-Oliver.

Visiting my old homes is something I've never done myself, but I often think about doing. The online article can be read here.

Hot Chocolate Illustration

Back in December I was asked by the wonderful creative director, Meg Mateo Ilasco, to do a magazine spread for Anthology Magazine. Anthology is a newer, quarterly, publication filled with great articles about home decor, travel, design, entertaining and culture. It's really a great read.

The article I did the spread for is all about hot chocolate! It was really fun for me to make and I love the fun layout design.

The Unfastened Heart

I was recently informed by Catherine McFarlane, that my Heartstrings illustration is a finalist in the Icon Prize! That means this is being considered for the cover artwork of the novel, The Unfastened Heart by Lane Von Herzen.

In my illustration I wanted to show the intricacies of love by showing the mechanics of a woman's heart and circulatory system. With my line work, I wanted the drawings of the weeds in the background to mirror the veins in the body.

Also, I was interested in the contrasting aesthetic of the silhouette shape of the body, with the hand drawn line art, and the more highly rendered pencil crayon shading in the face. I feel it is a collage of rendering techniques as much as it is a paper collage.

Tiny Aligator Music

I was recently commissioned by Caitlin Smith (a great Canadian, conductor/composer/musician/business woman) to create illustrations for her new website. I made both silhouette and full colour versions of the Tiny Alligator conductors.

I also created two pieces of promotional material for her upcoming performance, Safe And Healthy Homes For Children. There's a facebook invite for the event here.