"Shapes around us"

  One of the lessons that I learned from "The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design" e-course is that you can find inspiration in virtually anything. I kind of already knew that, based on my experience in the jewelry industry and designing, but it was so much fun all over again to experience looking at common shapes in simple objects and getting downright GIDDY. Yep. Giddy.

   It was great fun walking around downtown Providence, RI taking pictures of architecture, bricks, old paint, anything that caught my eye.  You'll never look at manholes the same way again! I also found all kinds of nifty things inside of my house to photograph as well.  I used my iPhone 4 to take all of the pictures via "Hipstamatic" app, one of the coolest apps around for anyone that's into digital photography. Most if not all were taken using John S lens and Kodot XGrizzled film.

  Spirals. That thingie in the lower left corner is a pod of Cascade dish soap. Lol.  I love incorporating spiral shapes and details in my work.

Mosaics. The top right is from an exhibition of Dale Chihuly's fantastic glass works at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston from last summer. Navajo blankets!  A whole wonderful and colorful wall of them! He collected them as inspiration for patterns in his creations.

Oh yeah, and if you haven't guessed yet, I like bright, bold, and cheerful colors :)  I enjoy going to garden centers and annoying whomever I am with by obsessively taking pictures of flowers. I especially enjoy sketching and drawing flower shapes and themes.

These are "hens and chicks" (Sempervivum tectorum) from Blithewold Gardens, in their small but fabulous greenhouse.

  I'm not the best writer, and I figure that I can post a lot of photos and my own artwork to fill in a lot of the blanks.  Haha.  Right?  And a big ooops, I didn't even post any pics from Providence.  Next time!

  Tata for now, more photos to come...

  Oh, and if you want to Pinterest any of my artwork or photography, please attach a link to this blog and give me credit.  If you don't, I will find you and hurt you ;)