Art by Ashley

Wood Reconstructed

2009-10-23T15:21:00.003-06:00

Check out this artist, henrique oliveira and the tri-dimensional goodness he/she (not sure which) comes up with. Can you imagine this on a custom home somehow? Or on a treehouse in the backyard? Or for a studio to add some awesome texture? Think: Recycling old wood + sculpture + architecture = something extremely unique and amazing. Man I wish I had my own home.

London Fashion Week: Rob Ryan for Elle

2009-09-21T16:25:00.004-06:00

Um can you say AWESOME? A couple of artists, 25 to be exact, were commissioned to create posters for London Fashion Week's 25th Anniversary... This papercut by Rob Ryan was just so droll worthy that it also graced the cover of Elle. Check out more of his fabulous work here.

A legend dies: Bernie Fuchs

2009-09-21T15:36:00.006-06:00

I stumbled upon this article this morning while reading the news. Bernie Fuchs, 76 Dies
Bernie Fuchs was definitely someone I have studied and looked up to. A major influence to me (although I would not say on my style) but mostly in underpaintings and lift out techniques. He did some seriously awesome paintings and probably became one of - if not the biggest - influences for contemporary illustration in the later part of the 20th Century.

Dress ups never looked so good

2009-09-16T10:56:00.018-06:00

Well I have been a BUSY, busy girl the last few months and will have plenty of things to post coming up because of all my diligent efforts. First of all I wanted to share a project that has been in the works for the last year (count em' 365! Whew!) I have posted a bit about Style Paige before but now that things are officially underway and product is arriving I can let loose on y'all.

What is Style Paige? A amazing new dress up company born and bread right here in my hometown of Centerville, Utah. Its genius I tell you, genius.

First off, let me introduce the Shailie Starter:

Why hello there pretty pink dress --> :)

This adorable little number is the backbone product of the Style Paige line. Now what is Shailie you ask? It is no ordinary dress up... From the innerworkings of the lovely and O'so talented duo Kari and Connie (my lovely employers) comes a dress up that comes in pieces. In pieces?? Yep.

First you start off with this adorableness:
Its a pink and white polka dotted dressform (childsize of course)for those of you not in the know. Basically its a piece of furniture-yes it is that big.

Then you add on this magical top and skirt called the Base top and skirt that are covered in strips of velcro to attach the previously mentioned dress up pieces! That's Aubrey there showing us just how it works.

Well anyways the awesome thing about it is that you can design on the dress form and when you are done you can take it off and wear it! -------------------->

Or you can design right on your live model! Oh the cuteness just kills me...still! And I have been working on this for a long long time.

So you are probably wondering what I had to do with this project. Well Kari and Connie approached me a year ago to design them a logo, and then that turned into designing catalogs, then photoshoots, than packaging and flyers and press kits and, and, and.... Well you get the idea. Basically I have become the go-to girl for all things design. The lovely bit of it all is that I can go ape wild with all the little girl fantasies that have been bottled up since becoming a full fledged adult. Just letting it all go. Pink and frills and fuss and all that jazz. In my quest for maturity I have generally surpressed my urge to caress ribbons and adorn all things with pink or mix patterns in absurd ways but suddenly (and refreshingly) I was given the opportunity to just embrace that side of me. The joy! It has been a great year needless to say.
OH and did I mention that you can mix and match the pieces and create 100s if not 1000s of different dresses from just one dress?? Plus they have other dress kits that you can buy to add on to your original starter...

These are the Pink Princess, the Prom, and the Fairy. Oh but don't worry. Style Paige is planning on launching new dresses periodically so your collection can grow and grow and grow until you have dress up mayhem.

Now I know you are just squirming in your seats wondering how you can get your hands on one of these for your daughter for Christmas. Have no fear - Shailie will be on sale through FAO Schwartz Catalog and other various local retails for Christmas 2009! Woot Woot! The Style Paige Website is still under construction but when that is up and running they will be selling it online there also. Stay tuned for links and such.

Ok I will post more later this week of what I did for the project, along with a few illustration jobs I have had. I promise I will be better with this blogging thing...

Inspiration

2009-07-21T01:33:00.006-06:00

Determined to be better at posting I have decided to share with you a designer I stumbled upon on flikr named LOV-E. Short for Lorena Vigil-Escalera, this designer and illustrator from Spain made this seriously awesome piece.

Pretty simple but I quite love it.

Also I am swooning over this illustration by Aleks Sennwald that I found on this groovy site called ShareSomeCandy

Oh and PS I really really really want this.

Yes that is a mustache salt and pepper shaker.
Sigh...

Lola's Exercise Diaries

2009-06-02T09:13:00.003-06:00

Hey y'all, one of my old roomies, Laura Garner (Wright) has started a exercise and personal training business called Lola's Exercise Diaries. This woman is a beast in the gym, and I mean that to its extreme. And she has more willpower than anyone I have ever met. Living with her was a constant reminder of my very sad attempts to make the most of my squishy body. She is just chuck full of good advice and can motivate even the wimpyist of wimps.

Anyways, she asked me to design her logo, business card and blog. What a great project! I love this kind of stuff. It was an awesome project and I hope it helps propel her into getting more clients and more biz. Check out her site!
Lola's Exercise Blog

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

2009-04-15T21:41:00.002-06:00

Nothing could make me happier. Nothing.

Friends

2009-03-04T12:24:00.004-07:00

Some finished spreads from "Sometimes Friends are Wrong". I am finishing it up this week and it should be ready for sell in April sometime. The second one is a turn in the book...I am loving it... like really. I have decided I should just stick with painting traditionally because it just feels better. Also, making a rhino look girly is quite hard.

IF: Breezy

2009-03-02T11:59:00.002-07:00

What's better than a warm breezy firefly filled night? Nothing. That's what. I have never actually seen a firefly in person and am dying too...

Spring Mailer

2009-02-24T18:30:00.003-07:00

Some friends and I have joined forces in marketing and created a Illustration Group called Paint Bucket. The other illustrators in our group are Shawna J.C. Tenney, Manelle Oliphant, and David Wilson. This is our first mailer which I had the opportunity to design. I heart design and painting...how do you choose?

Grandma B

2009-01-26T16:35:00.006-07:00

I heart graphic design and my Grandma B.

Her 90th (90 can you believe it??) is next week so I designed invitations for her birthday party. I bet everyone in Orlando will show. That woman is the most amazing, witty, crafty, handy, do-it-yourselfer, chef/beautiful person I know. She is still spry at 90 and has taught me more than I could ever say. I wish I could be there for the party but I am sure it will be kickin'. Anyways, I tried to mimic the stately classic woman that my grandmother is with a slightly modern twist for the design. Oh and damask is a beast to make up - believe me. Just don't try, next time I should buy a patterned brush or something...

I have been doing lots of graphic design lately. Mostly for this awesome start up company Style Paige LLC, and their new product Shailie. From logos, to stationary - catalog's to website, I have been a busy girl. I will throw up some of that design work soon, and a link to their site as soon as it is rolling. Pretty fun and exciting if you ask me.

Christmas Mailer

2008-12-30T15:23:00.004-07:00

So I totally forgot to post this...and they messed up my order so I didn't even send it out...oh well, that's is what I get for putting it off. But it makes me super early for next years mailings!!

In other news:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Something about being in front of a camera which makes you act like a complete idiot. Or forget what you are even talking about...

Love the Gooey Gummy Geese books, and thanks to a friend a pic from Barnes and Noble...

I get to see it on the shelf...woot woot!

Christmas Mailer

2008-11-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here is my sketch for a christmas mailer...critique anyone?

Inspiration

2008-11-18T10:55:00.005-07:00

Where does inspiration come from? Are the great and the good given some unseen gift to create the miracles of the world? What inspires them? What inspires me? What can I inspire? Architecture, math, science, photography, literature, design, medicine....there are so many ideas and so little time. I want to learn it all, see it all, do it all.

I found inspiration by artist Anne Benjamin this morning, especially with this painting "Summer Fun"

This was me growing up... I even had one of those purple banana seat bicycles.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
-Marcel Proust

Guess I am having one of those deep artist moments...lol

Color IQ Test

2008-11-13T00:58:00.004-07:00

Ok so you know you are an art nerd if:
1. Taking a color test is something you think is a vitally important activity at 1:02 a.m. and
2. if doing poorly just kills you....I got a 7 the first round and a 5 the second (lowest is best...).

Take a gander...and then realize how incredibly complicated color, temperature, and intensity really are.

Color Test

Proofs and Press Checks

2008-11-11T23:37:00.002-07:00

Ok so I totally wish I had brought my camera for my very first professional proofs and press checks... but alas no. It was still a pretty monumental occasion though and it was great to finally see something of mine printed. I mean I have had stuff "printed" but I haven't really been able to go to see proofs and do a project that is going to be distributed past the UT/ID borders.... It was soo much fun and while driving home I couldn't help but giggle out of excitement. I should have a book in my hand in the next couple of weeks...and all I can say is, this feeling is AWESOME!

I heart girly things

2008-10-21T12:36:00.002-06:00

So I am the graphic designer for this great new upcoming company and am currently working on their website. Well this company (which shall remain nameless and in mystery until they launch) is sooo completely cutesy, girly and fun! Perfect for me! I love pink and frills and fuss and am having a blast coming up with fun things for their brand.

This is a rough sketch of one of the girls that will be on their site... Wish I could show more but you will just have to wait.

The Lonely Winter

2008-10-13T00:41:00.000-06:00

This is one of my favorite spreads from the Lone Pine book.

Earnest Prayer

2008-10-10T14:00:00.002-06:00

Here is a little self portrait I did for the LDS International Art Competition held every three years for my church. Ok, maybe it doesn't really look like me, but hey she has brown hair, right? Hopefully my head isn't that big.

The theme for the competition was "Remembering the Great Things of God" and I thought that doing a piece very straightforward and honest about how I receive personal revelation was the best solution. I believe that praying and reading the word of God, more than anything else, is the best way for me to find answers and direction in my life, and I wanted to express the feelings of peace and hope that come from accepting the Savior and His atonement. The scripture that inspired me was Jeremiah 28:13 "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." I think that expresses best what I feel about my earnest desire to find truth.

I am pleased with how it turned out, and will possibly work on it a bit more, before the deadline next week. What do you think?

The Lone Pine Tree

2008-09-29T20:58:00.004-06:00

Just a little sneak peek of The Lone Pine Tree book that I am just about done with. Woohoo!

Speak with Me Books

2008-09-23T00:38:00.003-06:00

Wow I have not posted in quite awhile. I guess that may be a good and bad sign. Good cause I am too busy working and bad cause I am SUPER busy working....

Good news! The Gooey Gummy Geese is available for preorder on the Speak With Me Books website. It also should be distributed around Christmas. I just love the author Angela Holzer, and it has been a joy to work with Good Sound Publishing. I am pretty stoked about this so I hope all you 3 adoring fans will run out and buy the books...

I am working on the next one for them right now, and then the third after that. And it has been such a fun project. Oh, how I love kids books.

I am also working on a wonderful book about a pine tree from Alpine UT. Hopefully I can post a glimpse from that soon. Just need to get all this stuff scanned. Whew! I am tired just thinking about it. I should go to bed...

Rabbit and Rhino

2008-07-16T17:58:00.002-06:00

Some character sketches for the new book I am working on "Sometimes Friends are Wrong".

Mita

2008-07-11T13:03:00.002-06:00

For some reason when I get jobs like this one it makes me happy to be an illustrator again. I mean, come on, is she not the cutest thing you have EVER seen? (Ok besides my own nieces and nephews which are incredibly adorable) I also really like this technique and love any chance I can get to use it. Hopefully I can build up a portfolio just full of this style so that I can do it more often.

Old Work

2008-06-26T13:55:00.005-06:00

Looking Back Apr 2006

So I haven't posted in a bit and since I can't post anything that I am currently working on (yet) I thought I would show an old piece that I really quite like. It started as a self portrait but then morphed into something else when I got sick of staring at myself sideways in a mirror. (yes I have heard of a camera, so I have no real excuses) Anyways this piece ended up being quite a turning point in my artistic development. I had a lot of things going on during that time and although it is titled looking back it was quite a looking forward kind of moment. I change a lot about myself as an individual, and changed my artistic direction towards a more children's style. Hence, this piece came to mean a lot to me. Maybe I will even keep this one instead of syphoning it off to one of my siblings....maybe.

A perfect summer...

2008-06-11T13:38:00.006-06:00

I have always wanted a Vespa. I cannot remember a summer where I didn't stare longingly from my broken down '92 Corolla window, drooling as a stylish college student would wisp by (often faster than my own car could go..) without envy. Someday when I finish paying off old school debts, get steady illustration work, have my own place, and throw caution to the wind maybe I will have one of my very own. But until then I will waste perfectly good painting time drawing up images of myself cruising away into the sunset on one.