Happy Easter!

A quick doodle to wish you a happy and blessed Easter! Spring is here. :)

New site is up!

Finally, I finished what I was supposed to do long long time ago: I got my website up and running. It wasn't planned that I would get it done this weekend (because what I REALLY need to do this weekend is to sort out my tax and numbers, so I can hand them over to my accountant next Tuesday... yikes!) It was all because I put my profile up on Illustration Mundo last Friday, and Nate suggests me to try Squarespace to build a simple website for myself. So I looked into it, started playing around and just couldn't stop until I could get to a point that the site would look somewhat decent. It took me a long time to figure things out around all the technical stuff, as I am not savvy at all when it comes to building a wensite. Now I have a simple home online. It's nothing fancy, just serves the purpose of an online portfolio. Would you come take a look? Click here.

Memory Game for Ouders Van Nu

I am always giddy to see an Ouders Van Nu magazine in my mail box. I have a piece in this issue, a colorful memory card game for kids. It's a farm themed game with animals, farmers, tractor, and a farm house. The magazine staff specifically asked for a colorful piece, and I had the best time creating it. It was so much fun!

 

Doodle Town + More Snow

I have a new print in my shop. It's a happy town. As you can see, there is no snow, only warm breeze and happy smiles all day long. (Can you tell that I am so ready for Spring to come?)

We just had another around of heavy snow. This is my neighbor's cat Harrison. He came over to check out our snow shoveling progress.



And this is what we had over the weekend. Ouch! It's almost April. Where are you, Spring???

Monday Helpers

 
Mondays are tough!!! I work in the office full time, and it's just so hard to get out of bed and get going on Monday mornings (especially when I am a total night owl). Here is what helps me:
1. a cup of tea
2. doodling
3. chatting birds outside of my office window (a group of common starlings)
4. and my growing baby succulent plant

What about you?

Still blooming

This little baby is still doing well and the flowers keep coming. The tiny little yellow flowers are just so sweet and I have to take more photos while they last.

Pottery class report: Out of the gas kiln

Got my second batch of pots and dishes out of the glass kiln last Tuesday. The result was not what I pictured in mind, but I still would like to share anyway just for my own record, since it's a learning process (and a fun one, too.)

I do most of my pieces with sgraffito technique.



This photo shows how they looked like after the bisque firing, all nice and clean, right?



And this is how the dishes look like after they came out of the gas reduction firing... FAIL!!!!! Oh my!!! I guess didn't brush on enough glaze, so all the bare clay area turned dark brown during the firing, making it really hard to see the designs.



And here is the little vase, it turned out alright. I might plant another succulent in it.



Another bowl, some of the area on the outside turned hazy and dirty because the glaze is too thick (on the back side, you can't see it in the photo).



Continue learning! I am still loving it and having a lot of fun with clay. By the way, I ordered myself a baby electric kiln, a tiny one that can be plugged in a regular household outlet so I can fire and test some small pieces at home without having to wait for the big kiln in the classroom, so excited! I also hope to buy another medium one later this year; I think I will make quicker progress if I own my own kiln. :)

An extra piece that is not in the book

When I was working on the Creative Lettering book, I did a few extra pieces so the publisher can pick and choose the ones they want to use. Here is one of them that is not included in the book. It's quoted from the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, and is hand-written with a black fine line Sharpie pen on watercolor paper.

It's blooming!

It's funny how a simple thing in life could lift my spirit just like that! Last week I planted some succulents in the pots I made from my pottery class, and not only I haven't killed them yet (I am the infamous Black Thumb when it comes to growing plants), one of them is now blooming some sweet small yellow flowers! I am a proud mama!

Creative Lettering

I have a new book to show you. I am very honored to be one of the 16 participating artists for the latest lettering book, Creative Lettering, by Jenny Doh, published by Lark Crafts. With 16 different artists, this book is packed with various lettering styles, pictures, ideas, and step-by-step instructions. Some of my favorite artists in this book are: Aimee Dolich, Madeline and Diane Tompkins, and Rhianna Wurman. On top of the pieces created by each artist, the beginning of the book talks about the language of typography; there is also a list of materials and supplies to help the readers to create their own letterings.



Here are a few spreads of mine. When I am at work, I do a lot of digital lettering using Photoshop and Illustrator. But as most projects in this book, every piece I did here is strictly hand-lettered, no scanner, no computer, so it's easy for people to learn and follow by using simple tools like pencil, ink with dip pen, and markers.  





Jenny has made a YouTube promo for the book; it will give you a better look of its contents.



Complete list of participating artists (according to the table of contents): Flora Chang, Jessica Swift, Pam Garrison, Francois Begnez, Karyn Denten, Aimee Dolich, Andy Ainger, Linda Schneider, Lori Vliegen, Madeline & Diane Tompkins, Stine Kassa, Lisa Engelbrecht, Philippe Debongnie, Barbara Close, Rhianna Wurman, and Martha Lever