Photoshop Fun

I just learned this weekend how to put a design in repeat in PHOTOSHOP, and I think it's going to be a huge life changer! Now, these repeats, as you can see, are basic side-by-side style. I have to figure out how to do a half drop repeat, which will give a different look. But still, I can take a design and instantly turn it into a repeated one...so it's really exciting. And of course, I have Danika to help me if I get in a jam and am stuck. And my son David is a Photoshop pro as well. I have a lot of designs in my portfolio that are painted and finished, but not really in repeat...this way I can make them more fully developed, and maybe get them printed up. I found this website called SPOONFLOWER that I had read about last year, and forgot the name. You can upload designs to them, and they'll print them on cotton fabric. You can get samples for $5 a yard, or actually order yardage for $18 - $32 per. So, it sounds like it would be worth a try! I'm not sure what digital quality is like on fabric, if the colors are a rich, but I definitely want to look into it. 

These are some more of my fabrics printed by Michael Miller. You can get them online now at the Fat Quarter Shop website, as they're sold out at MM. Clotilde made dresses out of the cream colored one, which is called "The Old West". They are adorable, trimmed with a brown & white gingham. The red design is called "Ropin'". 

I have to say, it's so much fun to have your paintings made into fabric...there's just something about it that's so tactile....it's very different than having it just stay flat, like a painting on a wall or a print. It moves, folds, drapes, and molds into whatever shape you put it on, like a chair. It's a totally different experience.

Jamestown sketches

We spent the last two weeks in Jamestown, RI.
 We were house sitting for Marisa Quinn& Jay Sisson, watching their two Labs, Maq & Gillie, and their cat, Samson. It was very relaxing, and I spent a lot of time drawing, just using colored pencils. We went to the beach, and hung out in Newport and Wickford, just poking around. 
Here are some pics of Jack Romano, Ray Noonan, and Patrice Arundale. Jack made a trip to Mackerel Cove while recuperating from spinal surgery. He looks fantastic, and is about 8 inches taller! Ray, of course, is never without a guitar, and was plinking away while watching some tv show. And Patrice  was nice enough to sit in her yellow & white striped suit while we were at the beach one late afternoon. The next night she made us a fabulous dinner!

Ginty Pool

This is my son David reading yesterday at our lovely neighborhood pool. I brought my colored pencils along, and he was kind enough to sit for me, in between dives. It was a hot & steamy July day, but we were cool as cucumbers in the shade. It's a beautiful setting; there's always a breeze and Ginty's a perfect pool. It's big and clean and turquoise blue, with lanes for the swimmers, and a deep end for diving. It's surrounded by trees, so by late afternoon it's all shaded over. They actually have a given time every hour for "adult swim"...so anyone over 18 can have a quiet break from the jumping, splashing, shriekingly adorable kids. They couldn't be having more fun. There's nothing better on a summer afternoon than bringing your chair & a book, and taking a swim.  David's brother Ray met us there with some cousins in tow: Tess, Zelda, & Edward Noonan from France, and Michael Tatlow (NJ) + Emmett Noonan (RI). David recently graduated from Vassar College, and was a Biology major. This summer he's doing volunteer research on Zebra Finches and their songs at Rockefeller University's Upstate NY facility.  Ray, who is pre-med at Vassar, just finished an intensive EMT training course, and has joined the Morristown Volunteer Ambulance Squad.
David is most likely meditating on his future here.......plastics?

Vintage book covers

These are two of my favorite book covers ever! I've been collecting vintage books,  especially Young Adult ones, because the cover artwork is always so amazing. I read Jean and Johnny in 7th grade, and totally related to the shy, bespectacled heroine. Of course, Beverly Cleary was one of my most beloved authors growing up, and I remember being so happy to find her in the Junior High library. I adored Beezus and Ramona, Henry and Ribsy, Henry Huggins, Otis Spofford, and all the books about the kids in their neighborhood. Ramona was my absolute all time favorite story book girl...does anyone remember the description of her art teacher and the class? She was so difficult, and I just couldn't get enough of her & her sister. Jean and Johnny was published in 1959, and The Luckiest Girl was published in 1958. I guess I kind of was hoping I looked like Jean on the cover....I had the same harlequin glasses...until my mother insisted I get contacts.

A bit of Emily Dickinson..

Summer makes me think of the poetry of Emily Dickinson...bees, flowers, robins, the sun, the grass.
This is just a little poetry "card" idea. Wouldn't it be nice to receive a note or card in the mail with some poetry on it? I so admire poets...just playing with words and thoughts in a cryptic way that one has to read over & over until maybe you can figure out what they're trying to say.  But you're never sure if you're getting it or not. Emily Dickinson never married or had her own family...she lived in her parents home, and wrote constantly about that world. The summer  really makes you appreciate how she could write an entire poem about a leaf, a bee, or the colors in the sky.

Poe Nevermore, Poe Chardonnay, and Littauer Chardonnay

These are the labels I designed 
for Poe "Nevermore" and Littauer Chardonnay. Littauer was bottled last Fall by our nephew, Trevor Sheehan, and Poe is an up and coming Pinot Noir which is being produced by his sister Samantha. As you can see, the labels are very different, and will appeal to different tastes and types. Littauer is doing extremely well, and is getting rave reviews. Sam & Trevor are both living in Napa, and Samantha is working at a winery, learning the business from the ground up. Their parents, Linda & Bob have recently moved up there as well from Los Angeles. They're all loving it, and the entire family is involved in the wine business. I can't wait to go out & visit...maybe  at Christmas?   PS...The Poe Chardonnay label is the latest addition to the line. It may be coming out this  Fall.