DIY t-shirts are where it's at!

Hey, how is Tuesday going? Personally, I love Tuesdays. They are a breath of fresh air after my manic Mondays, and they usually involve macaroni...which I will be making shortly, in fact, right after this post.

Fact: college kids are poor and can't afford high end clothing, or at least this college student can't. While browsing Pinterest I keep seeing these amazing printed sweaters and cardigans with the cutest animals on them, but when I look them up online the average price is $200. Say WHAT! No way am I paying that price for a sweater with a cute little fox on it! So, I decided to make my own cute printed clothing. Here's how:
1. I found a blogger who has free t-shirt prints that I could copy (that way I don't steal anyone's designs!).
2. I took a trip to Walmart and invested in some black fabric paint and a $2 white t-shirt.
3. I printed the image at the size that would best fit my shirt and then turned up the music and painted.
Here's how it came out:

Isn't it cute! It's a bear with a bow tie! This is the image I got online:

What can I say? I have an affinity for little animals with bows and hats and such. Anyways, I plan on getting a few more t-shirts and painting them with some really cool designs that I came up with. I am thinking a fox with a party hat on, or a camel. I don't know, just something really interesting and different. I encourage you to go make your own because I love seeing homemade clothing! It's so refreshing! k have a good rest of your Tuesday, loves, bye

Little Furry Friends

Hi there! How's it been? I am just dandy. Been getting a lot of work done. Care to see?

Last post I mentioned my love of foxes and trees; I would like to expand on that by saying that the forest in general inspires me. I love the colors, the feel, the sounds, everything! I love that I live in a state with beautiful forests, I love that I see deer and squirrels and porcupines and skunks on a regular basis. I even get to see reindeer and moose! Seriously, I have it good! So, of course all of these things have been sneaking their way into my artwork. I have done a few really fun watercolors of forest animals, and I even found an image of a bear with a bow tie on pinterest and decided to make it into a shirt. Take a look

I know the lighting is bad on all of the pictures, but I haven't had time to actually take good pictures yet. Most of these were taken at night in a dark apartment right after they were finished. You can see how much fun I have been having though hahahaha. Aren't they all just so cute!

I have also had a whole bunch of inspiration in the last few days and wanted to share some of the images. Enjoy!

I love the bears in the middle there! I also love love love this painting at the bottom! I have seen so (and by so I mean SOOOOOOOOOO) many paintings of mermaids and Ariel and all that good stuff, but this is the only one that I have ever loved. I think it's dramatic, and emotional, and I love that it's uncomfortable for me to see her head under water because it makes me feel like it's hard to breath hahahaha. Whoever did this did an amazing job!

Well, lots of love from the Jen. Enjoy your Sunday. Toodles.

Three things I be lovin

1. Anything remotely tree or forest inspired.

2. Geode jewelry

3. Foxes! They are sneaking into my artwork and my clothing and I am more than overjoyed.

Walter Rane

Sorry it's been a few days and I never posted pictures of my Halloween costume! This Halloween kinda turned into a major stink. I ended up having a huge meltdown, my roommate had an intense asthma attack, and I found out I had a paper due the next day, so I spent the evening in my room doing homework, balling my eyes out, and going through more tissues and paper than I want to think about.

On a happier note I maybe, just maybe get to have one of my drawings on the art wall! As bad as this sounds the art wall is my main motivation for my success in head drawing class. It's pretty much the only reason I do anything. Oh the joy of having one of your pieces on that high and mighty wall! It pretty much says you know what you are doing and you rock at it. We will see if it actually happens though, because my art teacher is all over the place. One day he told me my piece was good enough for the wall, and the next he told me my heads suffer from "onion skin." Yah.....

Well, tonight I got the privilege of listening to Walter Rane speak about his art career and work for the church. If you don't know who Walter Rane is go look him up because his paintings are beautiful! This man has paintings in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City yo! That is intense! It's only like one of my greatest dreams to have a piece of artwork there! One of the things he talked about that really hit me was his emphasis on emotion. He pretty much said that the emotion of a painting is the most important part of any artwork, even higher than composition. I totally agree! Anyone can paint a picture, but only a few have ever overwhelmed me with their beauty and brought me to tears. Here are a few of his that really speak to me.

This is a painting of Moroni when he found his father dead and he realized that he was the only one left of what had once been a large and righteous civilization. Look at the emotion on his face! Holy crow this one hits me hard!

Funny story about this one: I actually saw this painting when I was like 14 or 15. It was in my friend's bathroom and I loved it so much that I took a picture of it on my cell phone and looked at it all the time haha.

This one brings me to tears. Walter Rane talked about how he wanted a different perspective on the garden of Gethsemane, and how he thought no one had ever captured just how much of a burden our sins were on Christ. You can just see the pain in his figure and it breaks my heart. Such a beautiful painting!

The simplicity of this painting is what makes it beautiful. I love the overhead light that lifts your eyes to heaven  and shows the purity and beauty of a resurrected Christ. I also love that it is titled Not Here. How perfect!

Really, his paintings are some of my favorites. He uses the gestures of the body in such a perfect way to bring emotion. He said his favorite artists were Caravaggio and Rubens and you can totally see their influence in his figures. He has the most perfect way of painting angels-they seem to twist out of heaven in a mix of light and power. They are absolutely breathtaking. If you ever get the chance to look at his original pieces do it because it will totally be worth your time! Anyway, I think that's it. Have a wonderful evening and be excited because tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!!!!! k loves bye

Missin my microns

Hey there! Happy Almost Halloween! Only a few more days and I think this year I am gonna be Frida Kahlo. Expect pictures:)

So, I got three compliments at church today, and all three were about how strategically I put my outfit together. So, starting from the bottom: black boots, mint tights, green skirt, black belt, black shirt, cream cardigan, mint necklace. Yah, I didn't realize you could be strategic when you put clothes on, but now I realize I do it all the time! I totally balance all my colors! I think this is why I can pull together a decent outfit even with my zero sense of style hahaha.

Yesterday I decided to take a break from my watercolors and pull out the old linoleum print block and carving tools. I was tired of doing the same thing day after day so, although I have no printing press or ink, I decided to carve myself something fun. Three hours, two insanely sore arms, and one movie later this was born:

I know it's nothing fancy, in fact it's quite small and simple, but I kinda like it and can't wait until I can print it (not sure when that will happen)! I know the lighting is bad, but I wanted you to see the texture.

I also started getting homesick for my micron pens-because you can totally get homesick for art supplies-and  pulled out the sketchbook. Unfortunately I couldn't find my micron pens so, ten minutes, four Mumford songs, and one prismacolor marker later this was also born:

This is an old highschool friend, Tori. She is supes pretty and supes cool and we took art classes together way back when (really it hasnt been that long, only two years). This is a super super rough sketch, but I plan on making a watercolor of her eventually. Isn't her hair fantastic! Some faces just need to be painted. You will probably see a few more drawings of her because her face is one of my favorites! Anyways, I think that's it for today. Have a good one! bye!

Rock me mama like a south-bound train

Well hi there! How about that 10 inches of snow yesterday huh? It went from fall to Christmas in a mere two hours. I just want to break out the christmas tree, holly, and my christmas mix CD's. See that's the problem with snow, it just gets me all excited for my all time favorite holiday that unfortunately is still two holidays away.

Anyways, two things to talk about today. First, I don't know about you, but I love (as in I can listen for six or seven hours straight day after day after day) folk music. Have any of you heard of Mumford and Sons? or Old Crow Medicine Show? These are two of my favorites, and let me tell you they make my soul happy. No joke, I can be sitting in bed crying my eyes out and I will play some Mumford and almost immediately I am wrapped in the warm blanket that is Marcus Mumford's voice. He has more passion in his voice than I have ever heard before and it makes me glad to be alive. Now don't be fooled, I love a lot of music, but I have learned that it is folk that I really really love to listen to. It speaks to my roots, brings back old memories, and just plain makes me want to pick up a harmonica or fiddle or something and play (not that I can play those instruments, but you know if I could play them I would). So, thank you Marcus Mumford for your terrific vocals and for the way you make me cry when I listen to your music on those lonely days, thank you Ben Lovett for your mad accordion skills, thank you Winston Marshall for your twangy banjo, and thank you Ted Dwane for your beautiful bass. And a big thank you to Old Crow for giving me the song Wagon Wheel. Please know that you have made my heart happy.

So, yesterday as I was once again singing along to these two great bands I decided to try a new style of watercolor. You may have noticed that my work tends to be quite tight and meticulous, however, I am trying to branch out. So, I looked up one of my favorite watercolor artists (known on the internet as dimdi) and painted some animals. No pre-drawings, no outlines, no thought, just music and paint. This is what happened:

I think I like it! It is really different for me, but I feel like I could perfect the style a little more and I would really love it. I could see a whole bunch of these in little white frames in a nursery or little boy's room. I don't know, maybe I will do a few more. Anyways, I think that's it for today. Bundle up and stay warm cuz baby it's cold outside! k loves bye!

Baroque

I am currently studying for an epic Art History test on the Baroque Era, so I only have time for a short post.

 This is my favorite still life of all time! And it comes from the Baroque Era which is my all time favorite era of art ever! I feel like everything created during this time period was absolutely amazing and so dramatic. This image sums up the whole era perfectly. The detail in the fruit, the influence of Caravaggio, the lack of religious symbolism, the colors, everything shows the beauty that was this time period.

Seriously, just look at that melon! Feast your eyes on that skill! If one day I can paint even a third of that good, my life will be complete, and it will probably be in the next life so yah haha. Anyways, I have to go, but if you are ever bored just look up some of the Baroque artists and be entertained because they are amazing! Caravaggio, Rubens, Bernini, Rembrant, Vermeer (Vermeer!!!!!!!!!!!), Velasquez, Ruysch, and Steen to name a few. k loves bye