Summer Is Here…

Posted on May 31, 2011 by weyakin

Summer is here (almost). Socially anyway, summer has arrived, despite the fact that the summer solstice has not yet occurred. Once the spring and summer get into full swing, things really get busy! I’ve been working with some great people on all kinds of projects. I have worked on many websites, done some craft events and worked on art. I’ve also been involved in other activities including dance performances and friend’s and family’s weddings. This time of year always picks up the pace, but sometimes you also need a little break.

I took the opportunity to take a mini-vacation with my husband’s family in Cape Cod this past weekend. Some of my favorite moments were taking hikes on nature trails. The Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge in Chatham, MA was a great spot to visit and gave me the opportunity to bring out the camera for some artistic photos. (Click the photos to view them larger)

The trail starts out at the top of a hill, with steps to walk down to the beach. Normally you’d be able to see Monomoy Island, where the seals come for the season, but it was so foggy you couldn’t even see it. The fog did make for a neat picture though!

Even under your feet, when you might not even think about it, there is life. Tiny barnacles are stuck to a rock on the beach, with small bits of seaweed between. Once a barnacle is attached to a surface, it is there for life.

An interesting juxtaposition. On the left are beach plum blossoms in bloom in the more forested portion of the trail. These flowers will eventually become small plum-like fruits that will feed birds and other wildlife. On the right is the body of a crab, its shell remaining. It too feeds other wildlife, such as seagulls and other sea birds.

A seagull takes flight as I approach, with food in bill. Perhaps it was afraid I would come steal its meal.

To learn more about the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, visit the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s website.

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Listening to Spring…

Posted on April 12, 2011 by weyakin

The weather this week took a beautiful turn forward, looking toward warmer weather and brighter days. Yesterday, it reached nearly 80°F here.

I walked outside with bare feet for the first time in months. I was able to let my toes feel the grass between them, without freezing, without snow on the ground. Just that simple act of feeling the earth warming under my feet was enough to wake up my soul. Taking in deep breaths of warm air, cool enough to be refreshing, warm enough to be comfortable. Even just hearing the wind with the birds and other wildlife flitting about.

This is the kind of inspiration nature can bring when the Earth finally begins to wake up from winter dormancy. If you’re ever in need of inspiration or a feeling of freedom, just take a walk outside in your bare feet in the grass. Just listen. You don’t have to do much. Just walk, listen and become aware of everything that surrounds you.

Be with nature and listen.

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52 Weeks of Photography: Weeks 9-12

Posted on March 28, 2011 by weyakin

Okay okay, I know I’m behind! But, I’m continuing with the 52 Weeks of Photography project, despite my tardiness. I’ll be covering the last four weeks of photography in this post. Week 9 was Old. Week 10 was Transportation. Week 11 was Around the House. And week 12 was Signs of Spring (my favorite).

As the weather gets warmer, I love taking the opportunity to go outside to take photos. For week 9, I found something somewhat old, right in my yard. Last year’s Brussels’ sprouts crop did not work out so well. The looper worms had a field day and ravaged them pretty badly. The sprouts did not grow well enough to be eaten. So, here they sit, months later, old and rotten, still in the ground. I took this photo before I removed them from the bed, to prep the garden beds for new crops this year.

The following week, week 10, was transportation. We have piles of old tires in an old horse shed behind our house. We plan to use these tires to create tire gardens when the weather gets warmer. They will be particularly good to use with crops that tend to spread rapidly. The tires will keep them contained. It’s also a great way to reuse and recycle something formerly used for transportation, to grow something new. This is a close-up of some treads of an old tire in the shed.

Week 11 was Around the House. There are a lot of things around my house that I could have used for this theme. But, one of my favorite parts of my house is the den, which we have transformed into a cozy woodland space. We decorated the vaulted ceiling with tree branches from outside and covered them in warm white LED lights. It makes for a warm, cozy feel, especially since it’s also the room the wood stove sits in.

This past week was Signs of Spring, my favorite theme so far. I love looking for all the little signs that spring is on the way. There were so many photos I took of this theme. But, the little bit of the rhubarb plant sticking it’s bright red color out of the dull dirt was the most inviting. A burst of color saying, “spring is here, finally”!

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Process of a Wedding Invitation

Posted on March 25, 2011 by weyakin

Rough Sketches for the Art Nouveau Wedding Invitation.

A couple of my good friends are getting married in June. They recently commissioned me to create a custom wedding invitation design. They are big fans of the Art Nouveau era, especially the art. One of their favorites is the famous artist, Alphonse Mucha. They wanted to have an invitation with a style similar to Mucha’s, featuring a peacock and the color green and purple (their wedding colors). Of course, I took it upon myself to take some creative liberties with Mucha’s style and added my own touch to it, to make something unique.

I’m going to take you through my process of creating this colorful invitation. I had a lot of fun with this project! I hope you enjoy seeing it come to life from start to finish.

Pencil Drawing Outline for the Art Nouveau Wedding Invitation.

To start with, I made some sketches, as always. When I begin a project, I usually come up with some rough drawings and research photos to get ideas. I found a lot of images of peacocks, feathers and dogwood flowers to get me started. The bride-to-be sent me a few images of things she liked too, to give me some creative juice. (Click each image to view it larger)

The bride an groom-to-be liked the idea sketches and gave the go-ahead to start on the actual painting.

To begin with, I stretched my watercolor paper, drew out the dimensions of the page (scaled up to fit  1/3 of a standard sheet of paper). Then, I drew out the pencil outline. Before proceeding, I sought approval to make sure everything looked good to them. Once the color goes down, it’s hard to change it. Best to make sure it’s right while still in pencil stage!

Starting the Colored Pencil Outlines.

Mucha’s style is known for having heavier outlines around the main figures of the piece. My next step was to create heavy outlines. I chose to use colored pencils for this task. I thought of using pen at first, but I wanted to be able to use as many colors as I wanted and honestly, I just don’t have that many different colored pens. Pencils it was! I find colored pencils and watercolors to be a pretty good combination anyway. My intent was to create the rest of the piece using watercolors.

Filling In the Paint Color.

Which brings us to the next part: filling in the color. I started piece by piece with flat colors and then working in more details with each layer. It was interesting to work in small panels of color, piece by piece.

And just for fun, here is another photo of my workspace. I kept my computer nearby to refer to my reference photos when needed. While finishing up at the end, I looked at peacock tail photos a lot to make sure I was getting the pattern of the tail correct.

My workspace with reference photos.

The Finished Art Nouveau Wedding Invitation Painting.

Once complete, I removed the painting from the board and took on the challenging task of scanning. I ended up having to scan this in three pieces to get it all to fit and look correct. Now that it’s complete, it will be shipped off to print. The back of the card will include the detailed wedding information. This painting will be the front of the card.

This custom work was a lot of fun! If you’d like to contact me about a custom project, please feel free to email me from my contact page.

Click each image to view it larger.

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Woodland Still Life

Posted on March 8, 2011 by weyakin

This past Friday was my birthday. I decided to take the day to do whatever I felt like. This is a rare occurrence that I actually do whatever I feel like without having obligations. It’s nice to give yourself that sort of break from time to time though. After having a nice lunch with my husband, which I brought to his work, I went down the road to the Smith College Museum of Art.

I only had an hour to look through exhibits before their closing time. I decided to spend most of that hour in the permanent collection of historical works from ancient times to the 19th century. If you’re ever in Northampton, MA, be sure to stop by the museum and check it out. It’s worth the visit. I surely would like to return soon to view the rest of the exhibits, permanent and temporary.

Woodland Still Life by Abraham Mignon. Courtesty of the Smith Museum of Art.

Woodland Still Life by Abraham Mignon. Courtesty of the Smith Museum of Art.

One piece that I enjoyed the most was the “Woodland Still Life” by Abraham Mignon. Mignon was a German painter in the mid to late 1600′s, who later settled in the Netherlands. He primary painted still life settings, which tended to have a very dark background with colorful detail. The online reproductions really do it no justice. This painting screamed, “spring is coming soon”! So many little details are in this painting that you can only get a good look at it person. The colors are much more vibrant than the reproduction shows. All the little frogs, snails and flowers pop out from the background, yet they all blend together into a wonderfully detailed scene. Mignon’s painting has inspired me to try my own hand at garden and spring inspired scenes. Sketches are underway for one that I plan to start soon. Of course, my medium of choice is watercolor, not oils. Either way, Mignon sparked some inspiration for me and for that, I appreciate him.

Postcard prints of this image are available for purchase from Smith Museum of Art online, here.

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52 Weeks of Photography: Week 8

Posted on March 3, 2011 by weyakin

On to week 8 of the 52 Weeks of Photography project (which was last week)! The theme last week was Windows and Doors. I took the opportunity to use this theme to do some experimentation with motion and and open shutter. I love experimental photography! It’s so neat to see what you can come up with by doing something a little different with your camera.

For this theme, I took a photo of a window on a door. This is the door of my living room. The previous owners had painted a pretty little scene on this round porthole sort of window at the top of the door. It makes me happy to know that the people who lived here before also had some creative energy of their own. I played around with leaving the shutter of the camera open a little longer and moving the lens in while taking the photo. I liked the result of this particular shot, which gives the scene a nice radiant glow.

Up next: Week 9! Stay tuned for more.

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Isochronic Sounds and Art?

Posted on February 28, 2011 by weyakin

This weekend, I pulled up a website that a colleague of mine had sent me a while ago called iso-tones.com. I’ve heard of isochronic tones for a while, which are sounds (usually in droning noises) that when played through headphones, supposedly can alter brainwave activity. This website has many free sounds to try out, including headache relief sounds, sounds to help with depression or boost self-esteem and even sounds that are meant to assist in past life regression. There are many other websites that have these types of sounds, both for free and pay and some people have put out CDs with the sounds as well. There has even been a scare among parents of their teens taking “digital drugs”, called “i-dosing” by listening to certain sounds that apparently simulate getting high. Wired has an article, seemingly amused by the scare, which some parents think will lead to use of real drugs.

Gateway drug concerns for teens aside… for fun, I listened to a few sounds on Saturday night before going to bed. While I was listening, I thought, “wouldn’t it be fun to try listening to some of these tracks while working on art?” I have no idea what sort of affect it might have on my work, but it may be a fun experiment. I usually listen to music while working anyway.

As a musician myself, music is an important part of my life and I love incorporating it into my visual work by listening. My friend, Tommy Byrnes, of Sovereignty Music, posted an interesting article by Reuters Health on his website about the affect of music on the brain. Music is just as important and rewarding to our brains as food, sex and yes, drugs. Interesting connection with these “drug” sounds, huh?

Even if you’re not interested in trying out isochronic sounds (the “drug” kind or otherwise), music and sound in general can have a big impact on our work and life. Don’t be afraid to listen to sounds that you love most or that make you feel good while you’re working. If I listen to the right music for my mood, it boosts my energy levels and gives me motivation. Certain types of music will inspire new ideas of a style of art I’m working on or get me in the mood to create a specific piece.

At any rate, I think trying out some new sounds while I work may be a fun experiment. I’ll let you know my results. I’m hoping for some wild paintings! If you try out isochronic sounds while working, post a comment and let me know how it turned out for you. Or, let me know how music and sound affect your work and life. I’d love to hear!

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52 Weeks of Photography: Weeks 6 & 7

Posted on February 20, 2011 by weyakin

Continuing with the 52 Weeks of Photography project, yes, once again, I’m a little bit late. That’s what happens when you do so many types of projects all the time! And of course, my clients come first, over my fun photo project. Sorry photos. But, I took the opportunity to take photos for both weeks 6 and 7 while I was in Shelburne Falls, MA the other day. I’m glad I waited, because it was a gorgeous day for taking photos!

For week 6, the theme was Bokeh. Wikipedia describes Bokeh as: “In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or ‘the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.’”

I’ve never actually attempted at a Bokeh technique before, so this was a great opportunity to expand my mind a bit and try something new. I tried many photos, but this one was my favorite of the bunch. It was taken on the middle of the bridge between Shelburne and Buckland. The foreground is the metal bars of the side of the walkway on the bridge. Behind it is ice and water of the Deerfield river. The ice was starting to break up with water showing again on this warmer day and the sunlight caught the motion of the wind over the water with beautiful sparkles.

Week 7, in honor of Valentine’s Day was Love. I was walking around, searching for something that showed love for quite a while. When I was just about to pack up and leave to head back home, I walked by Boswell Books on Bridge Street in Shelburne. They had a window display of books focused on love and one of the books on display, Teachings on Love, was by Vietnamese Buddhist monk author, Thich Nhat Hanh. He is one of my favorite writers and his insights on love are very simple, but effective and profound. So, I shot a photo of this lovely display:

I’m looking forward to this week’s new theme! I’ll be posting again soon. The closer we come to spring, the more excited I am about getting out and capturing the beauty the world has to share with us.

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Loving “Handmade with Love”!

Posted on February 18, 2011 by weyakin

I had the pleasure of participating in “Handmade with Love Craft & Gift Market” last weekend. The pre-Valentine’s Day show was the first one held and there are plans from the organizers to do more shows in the Easthampton, MA space in Eastworks. The turn-out was pretty good and we all had a great time together! It’s always nice when you can spend the day with crafty friends. Several members of Artisans of WMass participated in the show, which made for a very local good time.

Here is a photo of my table set-up at Handmade with Love. I had a window view from the end of a row:

I was set up next to my favorite fake “sibling”, Kendra of Underhill House. We have traditionally been set up next to each other at almost every show and we always have a good time. At the first show, several people asked if we were sisters, which resulted in our nickname for each other, “Sis”.

Karen of Stargazer Studios, hanging out with her apron-wearing dressform.

The event started out with free swag bags for the first 50 customers in the door, which featured items donated by local businesses and organizations. I think that was a great way to get people excited about coming and get them in to see more! I hope the next event also has swag bags.

At Handmade with Love, the awesome organizers, Aviva Sieber of Sieber Designs and Karen Shaw-Suriner of Stargazer Studios also had their wares set up. I love to see the colorful quilts that Aviva has and the fun woven handbags and aprons which Karen carries. Thank you Aviva and Karen for your hard work and wonderful job with the first show! I’m looking forward to participating in more of your events.

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52 Weeks of Photography: Week 5

Posted on February 4, 2011 by weyakin

Here is week 5 of 52 Weeks of Photography! This week’s theme was weather. And boy, did the weather do a number on things here! We have had a snow storm every week since the end of December and there are no signs of it letting up. The amounts of snow and ice that are building up are unfortunately, starting to also cause damage on my house.

These ice dams have been forming on the roof. On most of the house it hasn’t been a huge problem. But, on one section, it started causing problems. We have been trying to bust up the ice dams ourselves, smashing them up with a hammer.

You know it’s a bad sign when icicles are forming under the overhang and they’re brown. That’s a sign of water going where it shouldn’t.

When the ceiling created a puddle on my husband’s pillow, we knew it was time to move the bed away from the wall and put buckets and towels down.

I went to open the shade to get more light in the room to take photos. That’s when I discovered that this window was also leaking snow and ice water.

Thanks heavens for tarps! I discovered part of the way through yesterday that the water had decided to start coming in on the other side of the room. Right over the music equipment! The most drips started forming smack dab over the recording studio desk. That’s when the tarps came out. We started tarping everything in the room and moved some of the equipment out into other rooms. Better safe than sorry!

I think we’ll be looking for a roofing contractor to help us out, sooner rather than later. Know any who need design work?

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