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And yet another color scheme for Nouveau Ketubah....

I've been trying to create a deeper, more saturated color scheme for Nouveau, but that pale center wash just doesn't want to cooperate... Making a dark wash paler is not so much of a problem, but deepening a light wash ends up making it look muddy and flat. Argh.

In my various experiments I saw this appear on my screen. No center wash at all. I kinda like the result! And of course I can do the same thing with any of my other color schemes as well. It opens up a whole new realm.. Maybe I should have a different name for this version, like "Floating Nouveau" or something...

Thoughts?

Now it's time for a nap. I was the dutiful daughter and drove my parents to the airport before dawn, and it's coming back to bite me...

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New color schemes for Nouveau ketubah

I created this ketubah, Nouveau, at my calligraphy retreat in 2008, with the intention of making several additional color schemes for brides and grooms to choose from. And we all know what the road to hell is paved with...

Well, I finally got up off my good intentions and did something about it! The hard part of recolorization is pulling myself away from Photoshop (step away from the computer, Melissa...) This is just the tip of the iceberg! I could spend days playing with this, but alas other deadlines await... (And in case you're wondering, the one with the pale lilac/lavender background is the original painting.)

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New ketubah design!

I set a goal for myself to create a new ketubah design this weekend. This is huge for me, but even bigger is the fact that I actually did it! For the past several years, I've spent most of my time handling day-to-day operations, and new creations have been few and far between. In fact, unless it was a piece commissioned by a client, the only new art I've made has been at my spring calligraphy retreat. Sad, but true... I've been determined to change that, and finally it appears some energy has shifted.

I had originally planned to execute a different design that I sketched out a few days ago, but I knew that one would probably take me a few days to complete, and I felt I needed to actually finish something today to really shift the energy. The pics below are the result - the original painting, plus a couple of quick recolorizations (thank you Photoshop! Again, bonus points to anyone who can guess which of these color schemes is the original painting.)

I'm very inspired by the beautiful watercolor letters of Adolf Bernd (http://calligraph.blogspot.com/2007/02/adolf-bernd.html), and have made a few attempts to explore what I might create using his work as a springboard. My alphabet letters were a step in that direction (http://bit.ly/MJNgW), as was a recent commission for a client (http://bit.ly/opLHv), and this brand new design is another part of the experiment. The swash shape was from a random sketch in my journal, and inside the horizontal crossbar you can find the hebrew words "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine," from the Song of Songs.

I look forward to seeing how this design direction evolves, and can't wait to get started on the next attempt! May this be the start of a new era of creativity!




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New ketubah design with modern illuminated initials

Last spring I spent five glorious days at the Friends of Calligraphy annual retreat, making art in the company of 29 other scribes and artists. This brief yearly interlude has (sadly) been my main creative time for the past several years, one of the few consistent chunks of time in which I create for myself, rather than under the direction of a client or art director. It's an island of bliss, right at the end of winter, as wedding season is revving up.

At the 2008 retreat I made four new ketubah designs (three of which you can see here - see the bottom row of designs: 
http://bit.ly/ECFBR. Click on the thumbnails for larger views and more info
.) For me, 4 ketubah designs was an amazing feat, given that previous ketubot have taken anywhere from 30 to 200 hours to complete! I wondered how would I top that in 2009.  

The beautiful thing about the retreat is no matter how much I plan ahead, I never know what will emerge. At this year's retreat in March I didn't make any new ketubot; instead I created an entire illuminated alphabet, with the idea that the letters (and coordinating icons) could be incorporated into new ketubah designs, gift prints, chuppot, invitations, or just about anything! (See a bat mitzvah invitation with the letter R here: 

However, until now I haven't done much beyond scanning (most of) the letters... 

I've felt a creative surge lately, though, and am fired up to finish those UFOs in my files, and this is my first push in that direction. Let me know what you think!

What I especially love about this concept is that the entire thing is so customizable! I can change colors, layout, the number of illuminated squares that are incorporated into the design... It is so flexible! These pics show the same layout, with different color schemes, but any shape/size/layout is possible. (Bonus points if you can guess which is the color scheme of the original painting.)

Back to the drawing board.. I have big goals to get away from my computer screen and actually paint this weekend. Wish me luck!





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Recent book commissions, part I

This year has been fun for book commissions. Years back I accepted a private commission to create a hand-calligraphed book for an 85th birthday present, 80 Reasons Why We Love You, Dad (see it here: http://mddesignworks.com/html/artfram.html and click on Artists Books). Some months later, a friend of the first client commissioned a similar book for her mother's 70th birthday. Cut to several years later, spring of this year: a friend of the first (or was it the second?) client commissioned me to make a book for her husband's 50th birthday, again, which is what you see here. 

A few months after that I got a call from a fourth client, to make a book for her husband's 60th birthday, which I'll post another time (nap first...) 

I wonder if these projects always come in twos... I'm actually in the mood for a fun commission right about now, in case you're interested...




 

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I'm an aunt!

On a personal note, Spencer Jacob Dinwiddie was born September 21, in one fell swoop making my brother a dad, my parents grandparents, and effectively getting me off the hook ;-). Thanks Spence!

I reached my brother on the phone when Spencer was about an hour old, and was thrilled to hear that he takes after his auntie – a redhead! The BF and I had been talking about a trip East, then canceled to save $$, but after I heard about Spencer's arrival I got online and found some frequent flier tickets. We'll get to meet the little guy (finally!) on October 21, on his one-month birthday. He's doing a good job making sure nobody in the household sleeps for more than about an hour at a time, so I guess we'd better stock up on sleep before we go!

(Of our upcoming trip, the BF says: "they all look alike at that age—why not just visit some local baby?" BF is in training to be a curmudgeon, can you tell?)

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A custom ketubah that will be a print... eventually!

I created this Oak Meadow ketubah as a private commission over a year ago, but have yet to do the necessary work to offer it as a print on my ketubahworks.com. (Do any other ketubah artists struggle with creating/producing new art while running the day-to-day business, or is it just me?)

I love working in this collage form! Cutting all the tiny shapes is tedious, but it creates such a textured result.

Goal: pull all the artwork I created previously out of storage, and get it up! (Oy... Big goal... Lots of time in Photoshop tweaking colors, dropping out paper backgrounds, etc.)

More to come...

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