Happy Spring!

Illustration Friday - Balloon

Nantucket Lightship Basket (Sankaty)

Since I have known Josh's grandparents I have know of the Nantucket Lightship Baskets. I knew his grandmother made them, but I did not quite understand or appreciate them right away. As the years went on I learned more and more about them until I finally asked Josh's grandmother to teach me how to make one. She let me know that she would be tough on me "not to be mean but to make sure I follow instructions and do it correctly". No problem. I picked out the ivory for the inside center of the basket called scrimshaw. I chose Sankaty Head Lighthouse (housed on Nantucket Island) because it is where Josh proposed to me in 2004. It was such an honor to learn. I enjoyed every step of it and even though 'grammie' was tough, she taught me well. I did get praise too! I am proud of everything I did. I researched the history of the basket and now have a new appreciation for them and understand why it was so important to learn to do everything correctly. The Nantucket Lightship Basket is unique to the island and its traditions must be kept and preserved as time goes on.

Nantucket Island

This post is an introduction to the one to follow. I wanted to share one of my favorite places introduced to me by my husband Josh. His grandparents live on Nantucket Island, a small island off the coast of Massachusetts. He has visited them since he was a toddler and he fell in love with it. 7 years ago he took me for the first time and I have adored it since. We recently made a trip there with our dog Shea. This was her first trip and I think she now loves it too. Here are some pictures...

My new tool

I am excited to share that I ordered a Wacom Intuos3 Tablet and UPS delivered it last night! This is a big step towards switching over to digital illustration. I am impressed with the product thus far even with only having an hour or two to experiment with it. It seems to allow for boundless creativity. I will share more updates soon.

IF - Baby

New Changes

Over the past few months I had been contemplating changing my medium from pastel to digital. I love working in pastels because they have such vibrant colors that can really add to the beauty of art. I never thought that I would switch away from them. I started to realize that the pros of working on the computer might outweigh the cons. I can work much faster digitally, I can work anywhere, and it doesn't make nearly as big of a mess! (Though I never minded being covered in pastels, I really felt a part of my work) :)
Below is my first try on the computer. I love to run, but I am slow but would love to run fast some day, so my little symbol for myself is a snail wearing a rocket on its back. This inspired my illustration below.