Earth Day Every Day

July 17, 2020

Psyched to share this new illustration today:

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Wilfred Weisser's iconic 1967 poster, "Make Love Not War," was my original inspiration for this design (read more about his poster here). To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on 4/22/20, I wanted to illustrate a modern take on a 60's protest poster; one that could serve as a visual reminder to celebrate and protect the earth every day of the year.

For every 11x14" print sold here in my shop this year, $5 will be donated to the World Wildlife Fund (learn more about their work here).

The illustration features hand-lettering with artwork done in a mix of digital line work and gouache. Below is a detail of the center of the print with names of each tree and sea creature featured, including these three endangered species: the Blue Whale, Green Turtle, and Whale Shark (each name is linked to a WWF page with more info about them).

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9/7/20 Update: I am also excited to share this new tote-bag version of Earth Day Every Day! These totes were made in New Hampshire out of 100% recycled materials (65% recycled cotton + 35% recycled bottles) with a top zipper closure and dark green handles to match the ink. Like their print counterpart, $5 will be donated to WWF for each tote bag sold this year. You can find them here in my shop!

Printable Coloring Pages

March 27, 2020

Over the past week or so, I have compiled a few free coloring pages for you to print and color! The first is adapted from my U.S. State Insects poster, the second is from my Fresh from the Farm Coloring Book, and the third is from a Maine-themed coloring book I contributed to a few years ago. If you’d like some info on how to save and print these, scroll down for instructions. Enjoy!

To print these pages from a laptop or computer: 1) right click to save the image somewhere on your computer where you can find it again, then 2) open the saved file, and click print at 100% (these files are 8.5 x 11” each). Note: the first two pages should be printed as portrait orientation, and the third (buoy shack) page should be printed as landscape to be full-size.

If you’re having trouble printing the above pages at the correct size, you might also try saving them from this page on my website, where the files appear slightly larger than they do in this blog post.

MECA Holiday Sale Window Display

December 1, 2019

I am so excited that my design was chosen for Maine College of Art’s Holiday Sale Window Display this year! I thought I’d share the finished display along with some process photos of the project below:

While brainstorming different ways to fill the window with illustrations in a holiday theme, I decided to design a series of moths in shades of blue - accompanied by a few lanterns to warm up the space. After sketching the full layout of the window to-scale, I made templates of each moth shape/size and used them to make wooden cut outs (thanks to help from my dad):

After priming all 32 moths, I was ready to start painting them based on my sketch. Luckily I had plenty of room to work on both sides of these in a spacious spray booth at my dad’s paint shop:

And after many hours/days spent building up coats and details, I was ready to install them at MECA, along with six kerosene lanterns (shout-out to my mom for her idea for/help filling them with string lights!)

I think my favorite view is at night, when the warmth from the lanterns and icicle string lights really shows:

Below is the artist statement I wrote to accompany the installation:

Through researching pollinators as a frequent theme in my work, I’ve recently become interested in moths and their unique markings. Having been introduced to the philosophy of Cosmic Education this fall, I’m also interested in exploring a theme of universal interconnection through pattern.

I found many visual connections in nature while designing these moths; between wing patterns and leaf veins, stars and snowfall, snowflakes and flowers. Drawing inspiration from Scandinavian folk art, I illustrated these connections throughout this series of thirty-two hand-painted wooden moths.

If you’re local, be sure to check out the Holiday Sale on December 6 + 7th! (more info here).

Many thanks to my parents and husband Kyle for all of their help while I worked on this project - and to MECA for this opportunity and their support! What a way to kick off this holiday season.

*******

12/14/19 Update: Maine College of Art and Portland Stage won Best Spots for a Photo-Op in Portland Downtown’s annual Holiday Window Display Contest! Check out all of this year’s winners here.

Harry and the Potters Gig Poster

August 19, 2019

I had the pleasure of working on such a fun project this month: a gig poster for an upcoming Harry and the Potters show at the Boston Public Library!

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Looking through their archive of shows over the years, I saw that the very first Harry and the Potters show I attended was back in May of 2006 at the Portland Public Library. Throughout high school and college, I saw them many more times in New England - from several Yule Ball performances in Cambridge to a particularly awesome show at my first school, Endicott College.

Sketching through ideas for this poster, it was tough to choose one since there’s so much imagery to work with from Harry and the Potters’ music and the theme of their latest album (Book 7, The Deathly Hallows). I designed a Gringotts Bank/book hybrid to feature Harry, Ron and Hermione’s escape from Gringotts by dragon - also providing the perfect space to add hand-lettering.

To order Harry and the Potters’ new album Lumos, click here. And if you’d like to jam to a Harry and the Potters mix, I put this one together to listen to while I worked on the poster!

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National Pollinator Week 2019

June 17, 2019

To celebrate Pollinator Week AND my birthday week, I’ll be donating 25% of this week’s online shop sales to the Pollinator Partnership! Check out their event page here to learn more about their work and to find an event near you.

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* You can also get free shipping in my shop with the code POLLINATORWEEK - valid now through 6/23 *

ecomaine mural

May 30, 2019

Psyched to share some photos of my latest project: this painted recycling container! A couple of months ago, my design was chosen as one of the winning entries for ecomaine’s 2019 Recycling is a Work of Art contest. In brainstorming how to illustrate their theme of, “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle in Maine,” I landed on the idea of up-cycling old items as planters for pollinators. Sketching some different layouts, I chose a pattern design - consisting of planters, pollinators, and earth-friendly symbols repeated on each side.

This was by far the largest-scale project I have ever done - but luckily I had the perfect place to work on it (outside my dad’s paint shop) and plenty of time. Spring weather in Maine is pretty unpredictable but I got some excellent sunny days!

The container will be picked up at the end of this week and I’m excited to see where it goes! For local Mainers wanting to find out more about ecomaine, you can read about them here, check out their Recyclopedia here and see a list of their Recycling Drop Off Locations here.

Geary Brewing Co. Mural

May 1, 2019

I’m excited to share a project that I just finished last week: a hand-lettered mural for Geary Brewing Co - painted on the door to their Tasting Room in Portland, Maine! I wanted to first share a couple photos of the finished work, then some process photos and insight into something new I tried for this particular project.

This mural had a tight deadline - and considering it required painting outside in April (a bit early for Maine), it was a risky one - especially since it rained almost every day during the week I needed to paint it. But, I got one sunny day - so I backed up my Rav and hunkered down for as long as I could to work on it.

Since I had such a limited amount of time to paint this, I tried something I’ve never done before for a mural project: making stencils. A couple days before I started painting (on a day I was supposed to paint but got rained out!), I made a big Photoshop file of my sketch/the door to-scale, then went over the sketch on my iPad to get higher-resolution lettering in black.

I had prints made of the major elements (like the Geary logo, and ‘NEW ENGLAND’S’), glued each of them to thin cardboard, then painstakingly cut out each letter with an x-acto knife. I figured it would either be a huge waste of time or a huge time-saver and luckily, it worked out great!

I had realized that I just wouldn’t have enough time to lay out the design correctly (exactly as-pictured in my sketch) in pencil or chalk - so luckily it only took me an hour or so to first coat everything with my stencils. After that, I was able to spend the rest of my time adding in the remaining designs, building up the layers and refining the details. There’s something about murals that always seems daunting to me at first - but then so liberating since it’s 100% hand-painted (and a nice break from digital). I’m really happy with how this one turned out!

Upcoming Etsy Workshop at MECA

April 15, 2019

I’m looking forward to teaching an Etsy workshop in June at my alma mater, Maine College of Art! I’ll be sharing everything I’ve learned about running an Etsy shop since opening mine in 2012. Click the class title below to find more info on MECA’s website:

The Artist’s Guide to Opening an Etsy Shop

Thursday, June 13th from 6-8pm

10 STUDIO SOUNDTRACKS

February 22, 2019

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been sharing soundtracks of things I listen to while working in my studio. I’ve just added the 10th and final soundtrack of the series: a compilation of songs by my favorite band, The Monkees! All 10 soundtracks are in chronological order below:

STUDIO SOUNDTRACK #1: NEWPORT FOLK FEST

Posted on 7/7/17

After brainstorming ways to share more about myself and my work, I'm starting a new series of playlists today! Music has always been a big part of my life and I thought sharing what I'm listening to while I work in my studio would be a way to offer some insight into my process. This week's theme is Newport Folk Fest since I'll be heading there tomorrow. It's a mix of tracks by Jim James, Carl Broemel & Fleet Foxes - 3 of my favorite artists in this year's lineup. Hope you enjoy!

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STUDIO SOUNDTRACK #2: MID-CENTURY MODERN JAZZ

Posted on 8/3/17

This week's is a mix of some of my favorite jazz recordings from the 1950s & 60s - listen below:

STUDIO SOUNDTRACK #3: MELLOW

Posted on 8/10/17

This week's playlist was the hardest to consolidate yet. It's a mix of some of my favorite mellow & acoustic tracks - listen below:

STUDIO SOUNDTRACK #4: WES ANDERSON

Posted on 8/17/17

This week's playlist is a compilation of Wes Anderson's amazing soundtracks - in chronological order from Bottle Rocket to The Grand Budapest hotel. Listen below:

STUDIO SOUNDTRACK #5: SEPTEMBER VIBES

Posted on 9/2/17

I may be the only Mainer to say this, but I am not a fan of summer. While there are definitely some things I love about it, I am beyond psyched with the cooler temperatures we've had these past couple days and I literally cannot way for fall. So, here are some welcome end-of-summer vibes via this week's soundtrack:

STUDIO SOUNDTRACK #6: SPOOKY TUNEZ

Posted on 10/26/17

I was originally putting together this 6th soundtrack with no theme in mind...but when I realized the tunez were like 90% spooky, I had to go with it. Listen below:

STUDIO SOUNDTRACK #7: I JUST WASN'T MADE FOR THESE TIMES

Posted on 2/3/18

The headlines are insane and the fight of the resistance can be an exhausting one - but one thing that keeps me sane is music. The songs on this 7th edition of Studio Soundtracks have nothing specific in common - they're all just quite good (in my opinion at least). Listen below:

STUDIO SOUNDTRACK #8: THE 2000'S

Posted on 3/5/18

This 8th Studio Soundtrack is all about the 2000s - a.k.a. what I listened to during my high school and early college years (I've purposely omitted my Green Day phase as it isn't something I'm terribly proud of). Listen below:

STUDIO SOUNDTRACK #9: MAY DAY

Posted on 5/1/18

There's nothing inherently springy in these songs, but I enjoy them all the same. Maybe you will too!

STUDIO SOUNDTRACK #10: THE MONKEES

Posted on 2/22/19

After hearing the heartbreaking news of Peter Tork’s passing yesterday, I’ve been listening to The Monkees non-stop (which actually isn’t that unusual for me but still). I’ve loved The Monkees for over 20 years now and feel very lucky to have seen them play a few times and meet all four of them. Listen to some of my favorite tracks below:

Picnic Holiday Sale

November 9, 2018

The Picnic Holiday Sale is officially one month away! I’ll have a table there again with plenty of totes, prints, patches and pins. My husband Kyle will also be there selling our seed bombs and his terrariums! Hope to see you there.

MECA Spring Class & Workshop

November 1, 2018

I’m super excited to share that I’ll be teaching an adult Continuing Studies class and workshop this spring at my alma mater, Maine College of Art! Click on the names of each below for more info on MECA’s website:

Water-Based Painting for Illustration

Saturdays from January 19th - March 9th, 2019

Hand-Lettering Workshop

March 23rd, 2019

National Pollinator Week 2018

June 18, 2018

It's not only National Pollinator Week, but my birthday week too! To celebrate, I'm having a sale: get 20% off everything in my shop with the code POLLINATORWEEK thru Sunday 6/24.

Seeds for Pollinators is having a sale too! Get 20% both bee & monarch mixes with the same code here.

For more info about Pollinator Week and to search for an event near you, visit pollinator.org/pollinator-week. If you'd like to learn more about pollinators and how to help them, Friends of the Earth has some great info here on their site.

** UPDATE: 50% of all Pollinator Week sales will be donated through ActBlue who will evenly divide the donation between a dozen critical nonprofits working to support kids and families at the border. Thank you so much for your orders this week! **

New website!

February 15, 2018

After thinking about it for a very long time, I've FINALLY set up this new website - I love how much cleaner the design is and how easy it is to navigate through my portfolio. The only downside is letting go of three years of blog posts from my old site - so what I've done is post a few compilations of my favorite ones below to keep them around a little longer. Scroll down to check em out.

BLOG POST COMPILATION: CRAFT FAIR EDITION

February 14, 2018

Looking through my blog posts on my old website, I wanted to compile my craft fair photos here to see how my table set up and inventory has evolved throughout the last couple of years: