Inspiration

As an artist with an appreciation for all aspects of design, I found inspiration from a toy line that Target offers. The company is Just B. You. They have a line of blocks there were the first blocks that I bought for my daughter. They are squeezable, well packaged pieces of fun. They are sculptural which appeals to the tactile side of learning. Each block has a micro-relief sculpture of an animals and numbers correlating with the number of animals on each block. The packaging is spectacular, all the blocks fit in a nice little bag, making clean up for parents simple. What really drew me to this company is the use of color. The color forecast for design across the board has been that of a tribal nature. The colors in paint, furniture and industrial design are teals, yellows, aqua-blues, variations of pinks and purples. This is a great introduction to the baby of tertiary colors. I'm tired of seeing everything in primary colors. This company has thought of ways to make toys and package them responsibly (recycled or post consumer materials.) There is no doubt that we will probably purchase more toys from this company in the future. Just B. You is being carried at Target in the toy section.

It has been a while

Since last year I have had a baby. The baby has changed everything. I don't have to call her, "the baby" anymore since her name is Lucy. Since her arrival our lives are consumed by child rearing in a way that I never thought would happen to me, but that being said, she is the priority at the moment. Now that she is about 7 and half months things have gotten easier. Now I can sit down and have a few thoughts of my own that don't involve, feeding or spit-up or diaper changes.

Pumpkin Pie

We wanted to start out fall with a bang, what a good way to do it!

Baby's room pictures

Piece of art Ray made for the baby's room at the Guaguin exhibit.

Classic story books, note that the Winnie-the-Pooh book is the classic one, not Disney.

Sheep skin rugs from ikea on earthy dark green rug make the room soft.

Sage color curtain which looks better in real life from the store Old Time Pottery for only 8 dollars. Lamp is from Target.

Art that will be hung on side walls of room. One was found at thrift store several years ago for 25 dollars. It is an original print by Annora Spence, a British poster artist. The other piece on the right is a piece I did at the Guaguin exhibit of stamped horses with color pencil. Yellow was Gauguin's favorite color with the influence of Van Gogh.

Hooks that my friend Caren gave us when we moved in, five years later we found a good use for them.

Rocking chair Ray's mom gave us, beautiful piece.

Top of old Ikea entertainment center being used as book shelf and changing table once kit is installed on top surface.

Ikea shelving re-used as baby storage with added cubes for storage and and color.

Artist interview with Jan Weiss

Do you have a website or your own blog?

http://www.artprints-online.com/

www.twitter.com/artprintsonline

http://www.artprints-online.blogspot.com/

What inspires you?

Art inspires me. I have been in the industry for 15 years and I can't imagine doing anything else. It's what makes sense to me. I was laid off my job at Art.com in February and chose to take this opportunity to develop my own business. I went live last week and have orders already! In addition to this site I am a licensed and published artist and my extra money earn from this goes to our vacations.

Do you feel you are effective at time management?

Yes I do. Because it's my own business and I know that no money will come in unless I earn it - it makes me very focused and driven. I got this entire business up and running in two months. Two weeks after my lay off I bought my domain name and the Yahoo store template and went to work.

Have you been able to earn a living doing your art at least part time?

Not yet. But between me, my husband and my sales rep I know I will earn a living at this - just too early to tell anything yet.

CSAs

Community shared agriculture.

MV Knits Video

I saw this on Etsy for months ago and loved her story.