Mai Autumn

dog days of summer

listening to ryan adams, dreaming about what i want to make next (a painting? a necklace?) and hoping everyone out there reading this is enjoying themselves in these last days of june. i've been nursing some sort of cold this past week. it was awful! i'm finally feeling about 90% better today and thought i'd share the latest painting that i (finally) finished..

this one is the biggest painting i've completed to date - 24"x36" - a monster! it has morphed from many different things and you may remember me talking about it in this post. if you click over to that far away post from march, you will notice there was once a girl in there. i decided to leave the girl out. the darkness of the piece just completely speaks to me and i felt it didn't need any other components.

this is obviously very different from a lot of the work i've been making lately, and i'm just not sure what direction i'm headed in. sometimes i feel that if i went to graduate school, it would have provided me with the space to experiment and figure all this stuff out before i'm sharing it with all of you... but.. i guess i wouldn't have it any other way, actually! i've always been kind of unconventional in the ways that i express myself and go about living life, so i suppose my art should be no exception. i hope you all enjoy my meandering :) i think i need to accept that that's kind of what makes me, me! hopefully i'll feel more sorted out soon.

oh, i almost forgot!! i'm having a super huge sale over in the etsy shop - almost the whole shop is marked down to 40% off until monday only! i just looove the fourth of july, so i figured i'd celebrate with a big ol sale :)

(you can also find the new painting over there)

see you soon!

let's celebrate!

yes, i know, this is not the absolute most exciting reason to celebrate.. but that yippee up there was just way too fun to pass up! i needed a yipee! and weight calculated shipping is a pretty cool thing, if you think about it - if you only get a teeny print or a teeny necklace, the shop site will now figure out how much your actual shipping cost is! woohoo for that! so go place that itty bitty order you've been wanting to place but couldn't justify the flat rate shipping! go for it!

while you're doing that, i'm going to be celebrating my mastery of my own website a little bit. i've been putting this whole thing off for way too long! and this little addition brings me one step closer to my big plans for the year!

yippee for that for real!

:)

subtle summer

i'm procrastinating a little and decided to turn some of my recent favorites into a treasury. i usually don't make treasuries, but my etsy favs were calling out to me to just do one already.. 

'subtle summer' by MaiAutumn

Gold Leather Lace Around The... LemkaB $25.00	Blackberry Raspberry Brown-S... cupboardcook $7.50
Bamboo Groves Kyoto Japan Treasures4Arte... $10.00	Bohemian Nights Long Iridesc... fancyThatacces... $18.00
La Petite Rose Dangle Earrin... tamar $16.00	Patio Days Serving Tray - Ti... nice $26.00
Black and White Carved Porce... isabelleabrams... $675.00	Wild Oranges 8x8 Photography... WildOrangeStud... $18.00
Vintage 1950's Blue Flow... gingerakesler2 $16.00	That Silly Quail... sarahogren $12.50
Lola, barefeet in a tulle dr... henrydarger $30.00	Three Votive Driftwood Candl... beautifuldetai... $40.00
Tiered Cupcake Stand Cake We... thefunkyshack $125.00	print - Sunny Plums - fruit ... GoldenSection $26.00
Thistle Song Painting: 4&quo... thingsofthisna... $45.00	Shadows and tall trees - Fin... irenesuchocki $30.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

 

procrastination never looked so good :) click on the title above to comment over on etsy and to see the full effect.

peacock no.2

this is the result of yesterday afternoon's painting -

after creating both of these guys, i am actually tempted to keep the originals for myself! they look kind of amazing when flanking my armoire in my bedroom. for an artist, i actually have very little art up in my apartment (let alone my own!) (i actually probably won't get around to picking out frames for them and wouldn't want to hold onto any of my work for too long - makes me itchy or something! lol) 

i'm really starting to get down to making a whole lot more art to fill up the new categories that are going to start popping up over in the shop, so i'm hoping this inspiration streak continues! i really want to create a whole world with my work and express just about everything i can imagine. i have no idea where this notion is going to take me, but the freedom of subject matter i've started to allow myself has been feeling pretty darn liberating! 

on a small side note: in the coming months, i also have plans to unleash a whole bunch of new card designs, now that you can purchase card singles! shipping for one card is only $1.75! (flat rate shipping on the site is actually going away soon. shipping charges will be based on weight, so if you're only ordering teeny things, you pay less for shipping. yippee for that!)

enough about all my miniature empire type plans! off i go to attempt more painting/designing/scheming! :) 

(you can find prints/the original of mr. peacock over in the shop.)

peacocks

i was really inspired to paint some peacocks this week. here is my first..

i'm planning on painting a friend for him this afternoon. i just love how the watercolor made for such an abstract tail. why haven't i thought of painting them before?! :)

prints and the original are over in the shop.

speaking of the shop, the updates i promised last week are going to be a little postponed. as with most web design forays i've attempted, there are a few kinks to work out before the new design goes live. i'll keep you posted! rest assured, though, once you see all these new bells and whistles, it will be well worth the wait!

a quick peek

at my new drawing! i fell in love with my set of pencils these past few days and this is the result.. 

 

all graphite, 18"x24". i haven't drawn anything like this in ten years or so. it felt good to really focus for a while. prints and the original over in the shop.

little inspiration on a wednesday

i'm determined to get down to some actual work today, but the morning has already been escaping me. here's a little of what's inspiring me..

small talk studio

 

suzie chaney

 

olive vintage

 

laura george

 

kiki and polly

 

wood pigeon

 

 

the newest - thank you notes

so, hand lettering with watercolor is surprisingly difficult! after a whole buncha tries, i've finally come up with these sweet little thank you notes. i basically took up a whole sheet of 11x14 paper before i got enough of the letters to look the way i wanted them to! what do you think?

after scanning all the components into my computer, i placed everything where it needed to go within photoshop. cleaned up the lines a wee bit, and voila!

sets of 8 are available for pre-order over in the shop 

more stationery to be coming soon! i've been a busy bee these past few days :)

interview at a place for twiggs

hi everyone! i hope you've all been enjoying june! i just wanted to pop in and let you know about my interview over on a place for twiggs :) i was so excited when claudia approached me to answer a few questions about my wee little biz. you can find out all sorts of fun things about me!

(click on the image above for the full post.)

in other news, the stationery and calendar designs are coming along, and i have also been stirring up some exciting developments for the website! there are going to be lots of extra features added by the end of this month, so stay tuned for the big reveal! :) 

now, off i go to whip up some more watercolor magic! wish me luck :)

creative hiatus

this weekend, i decided it was time for me to disappear for a bit. i'll still be answering emails and sending orders, of course, but all other aspects of my day to day are being put on hold so i can get down to designing the rest of the stationery and calendars that i have planned for the coming winter season. 

in the past, i've found it entirely enjoyable to clear out my whole calendar and bask in the clean white feeling of having nothing to do for weeks. i am the type of person that needs a shift every now and then, and this is the best way for me to get my fix. (eventually, the crazy squirelly planner in me makes up a new schedule for myself, but at least for a week and a half, i do nothing but what i want)(ok, confusing, because i always do what i want, but the difference is that on scheduled days, i try to guide myself with set tasks.. versus on non scheduled days, i just let my whims guide me.. have i lost you yet?) any way, today is the beginning of one of these times. lol

i'm sure i may pop in from time to time to share some progress or thoughts - i'm crazy like that!

i hope you are all enjoying your summer out there and have a great week! see you soon! :)

image via present and correct