The Girlie Show!

The Girlie Show was a blast! I really wish I got some pictures of the crowds, because it was crazy. It was super busy and a lot of fun. I always love meeting customers, and I especially love knowing where my artwork ends up. It makes it much more personal.

Here are a few pics of my booth:

I'll be listing items throughout the week in my Etsy shop -- Christmas cards, new prints and ORIGINALS! So, keep your eyes open for that.

It's Monday, so I thought I would post a video of Marcy Priest, one of the Girlie show musicians who performed on Saturday. I met her while filming some promo videos for the show and she is super nice and incredibly talented. This is one of her songs, "Another Thing":

Music Monday - Gungor

Happy Monday! In honor of The Girlie Show, I thought I would share a song that was part of the inspiration behind one of my illustrations.

This is Gungor, performing "Beautiful Things" at the Relevant magazine office. Gorgeous.

So lovely. It definitely was a big inspiration when creating this piece:

"Beautiful Things, Wonderful Sounds" - available in my Etsy shop.

If you are in the OKC area, be sure to stop by The Girlie Show this Friday and Saturday (November 5 & 6). All of my prints will be $20 each, or two for $35.

Hope to see you there!

xo,

Amy

A Work in Progress

I've been plugging away, preparing for the Girlie Show (which is now just days away!). I get a lot of questions about the process of constructing my original pieces. I was working on one last week and thought I would snap a few pics along the way. They're not the best photos, but I thought it would give you a good idea.

A few steps in. This is the fourth page.

After I finish cutting a page, I then trace it onto the next page. I then redraw the lines that I will cut, allowing for a small margin between the two pages.

Those steps are repeated (over and over again).

The final cuts. Tiny - and nothing at all like the original image.

I then paste the pages together, one by one.

The end result looks something like this:

Hooray!

xo,

Amy

Music Monday + Many Apologies

It's official. I am the world's worst blogger. I haven't posted since...March? Whoops. I had the most excellent intentions, but I have been swallowed up whole over the last few months by a couple of things. The first, and most important, looks a little like this:

This is my niece Sophia. I think it's easy to see why I have been a bit distracted.

More recently, the thing that has been taking up the majority of my time is this:

I'm very excited to be part of the 2010 Girlie Show. It is a must-see if you are in the Oklahoma City area. There are over forty female artists from Oklahoma and beyond. The show is November 5 & 6. If you are not a fan of crowds, loud music, or burlesque dancers, then I would definitely suggest attending on Saturday rather than Friday. But that's what's so great about the Girlie Show -- there's something for everybody. For more info, check out the official website.

Finally, it seemed appropriate to do a Music Monday segment. I feel a bit like a hipster posting about Mumford & Sons, but I do love their new album. It's been the perfect thing to listen to while working in my studio at night - especially since the weather has changed. Enjoy!

Mumford and Sons - "Awake My Soul" from The Tripwire on Vimeo.

Music Monday - She & Him

Yes, I know it's Tuesday. But it just felt right to wait. Today's artist is She & Him, and their much-anticipated second album, Volume Two, was released today. See? It just made sense. She & Him is the collaboration of the utterly adorably Zooey Deschanel and the immensely talented M. Ward. I was already a fan of M. Ward's, so I was naturally drawn to Volume One. I was, however, a little skeptical about Zooey Deschanel. It was the whole artist-turned-musician thing. It very rarely works. Except for this time, when it is perfection. I, admittedly, haven't really listened to much of the new album. I am just that confident that it will be great. Here's a little taste to, hopefully, prove my point:

She & Him - In The Sun from Merge Records on Vimeo.

And, just for fun, some concert posters as well:

She & Him (Insound 20) - two color silkscreen

Sold Out - via The Small Stakes

She & Him Concert Poster

Also by The Small Stakes

It's sold out on their website, but it is available (for $75) at Poster Cabaret

Enjoy!

For the Birds

First of all, let me apologize for the very poor photographs that are included in this post, especially the last one. My days have been a little packed, with very little time for re-shoots. Secondly, I know that I talked a lot about this on the old blog, but I haven't really mentioned it here. My sister and brother-in-law are adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. (Sophia Mekdes. And she's pretty much perfect). This has been an incredibly long process, so the idea that they are leaving in mere days to meet her, and hold her, and then bring her home -- it's a little overwhelming and surreal. This adoption is the whole reason that I first started pursuing visual art. I started Project 8256 to help their family grow, and in return found my passion. We are in a season of abundance and immense gratitude, and we all feel that it was very much worth the wait.

So, understandably, I've been very excited about preparing for Sophia's arrival. And, while my personal taste leans more towards clean lines and my own wardrobe is about 1% pink, I keep finding myself saying things like, "Why wouldn't a tulle skirt be a good idea for a baby?" and "Pom-pom trim would be the perfect addition for those curtains" and "More pink!"..."More ruffles!"...you get the idea. The nursery has been such a fun collaboration -- grey walls, deer, white accents, birch trees...my favorite things. We decided that the trees needed birdhouses, so I've been locked away over the last few weekends creating what I originally thought would be such an easy project. It wasn't really, but that has much more to do with my apparent desire for extremely tedious projects. But, I'm please with the result, and I hope that Sophia will love them as well.











I promise to share pictures of the finished nursery...and of the little girl who gets to live there as well.

Music Monday - The Avett Brothers

My friend Zak and I share very similar tastes in music. We've lived in different cities for the last six years, but whenever we get together we always seem to share our latest music interests. So, when he was in town a couple of weeks ago and suggested I check out The Avett Brothers, I knew I could download two of their albums with confidence. He definitely didn't disappoint. As it says on their website, their style "defies pigeonholing but might be described as a rootsy amalgam of folk, country, bluegrass, rock and pop – even a jab of punk-style dynamics here and there." Their songs vary from gleefully upbeat to extraordinarily melancholy.

Zak recommends: "Die Die Die"
I recommend: "The Perfect Space" and "I and Love and You" (below)




Enjoy! Happy Monday!