Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Constellations and Decorative Animals

This year I began working on a set of images which ended up adding a whole new section to my portfolio. It started as just little experiments, playing around with ways to simplify shapes and use flat colors. I find it satisfying to distill an object down to it's most basic, pleasing shape, and these experiments allowed me to fully explore this idea. Eventually it evolved into two separate series.

The first was a set of 12 animal/creature constellations, which I turned into a big, pretty, calendar poster, available for purchase HERE. The calendar is not a Zodiac calendar, although some of the signs are represented. Rather, the constellations are ones that can be found in the Northern Hemisphere during the month they are displayed with.




The second series also involves animals, but they are more decorative, with elements from nature creating small landscapes that the animals sit inside of. When folks looked at these, they regularly suggested I turn them into greeting cards. So I did! There are two sets, the Wild Animals set, and the Domestic Animals set, both available on Etsy.




It is exciting when something that started as just an experiment, something meant as an exercise to stretch my art-making muscles, ends up as products out in the world. There's a lot to be said for allowing oneself to explore new ideas and methods, without any pressure or clients to worry about. You never know what might come from it!

Buy local/from artists this holiday season!