For the Bees

Work in Progress!

My mom is a bee keeper and a big proponent of native plants. I decided to work on an illustration about which flowers to plant to help bees thrive. I plan to print this on cards and small posters to sell along side her beeswax candles and jars of honey. I’m trying to decide if I should keep this as a digital illustration, or use this as a template for putting paint on paper.

UPDATE! Here’s the painted version, I’m digging the slightly muted colors. I have plans to eventually add the names of the flowers around the outer edge.

December floral illustration

Back in action and trying something new!

I had a baby (hi Winona!) just about four months ago and as much as I love being a stay at home mom, I’m also realizing I need a creative outlet. Not only does it make me feel productive (not that baby talk and activity mats aren’t productive…), but I’ve been experience some real postpartum anxiety — this low level buzzing that I manage by running around trying to get as much done as possible, every second of the day, only to crash, utterly exhausted by 9pm. I’ve started back at my job as a Creative Director, but have scaled my hours back enough that I can also work on personal projects more — and man, I’ve got a lot of ideas.

What I’m most excited about are these floral pattern illustrations I’ve been working on. There’s just something about planning and executing patterns that soothes my mind. I was inspired by folk art and pysanka designs and wanted to keep an organic feel by hand-drawing every element. No duplicating vectors here. The plan is to do one a month based on the birth flower of that month.

First up, December — Poinsettia

I’ve been working on my Lenovo pad with a stylus, a new process for me and one that I’m enjoying getting the feel for. Bonus — it’s so convenient to cary around that I have been doing bits of work here and there in between diaper changes, feedings, etc. Little victories!