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The Little Goddesses Are Back

By in Crafts, etsy, General, Women Tags: , , ,

My little goddesses are back. While getting ready for Reston’s annual Gifts from the HeART, I came upon the pieces I had created but never finished into pendants. So I decided to turn them into pins. I made 24. I have 13 left. I have a feeling there will be more. Meanwhile, here is a little information about the symbols I used.

I began designing the goddesses as gifts for my friends when I was 8 months pregnant with my son in 2012. Originally, they were meant to be fertility goddesses, based on the ancient statue of Astarte. But most of the symbols I chose were about life and renewal. I made several designs using these symbols.

 

Heart Love Goddess

The Glitter Heart Love Goddess. She really just speaks for herself. And she’s all warm and glittery inside. I love the way these came out.

Special days to celebrate love include St. Valentine’s day,  Beltaine, and Tu B’Av (the 15th of the month of Av), the Jewish holiday of love and rebirth. But loving yourself every day is the most important way to begin.

Lotus Goddess

The Lotus Goddess is a mixed cultural metaphor as my design does not represent any of the eastern religions, rather just the symbol of the lotus itself signifying rebirth and enlightenment in the feminine. In Buddhism, the lotus represents spiritual experience and growth on our journey through the world, fortune, and purity. The lotus flower grows from the dark mud under the water and blooms above, unsullied, into the light of day.

Pentacle Goddess

The Pentacle Goddess was inspired by the goddess, Astarte, goddess of war and sex. One of the symbols of this goddess is the star in a circle, indicating the planet Venus. Adopted by the Greeks as Aphrodite and then by the Romans as Venus, she became the goddess of beauty, love, fertility, and sex. In modern times, this symbol represents the Wiccan religion.

Pomegranate Goddess

The Pomegranate Goddess represents the cycle of the seasons, death and rebirth, as well as fertility. Inspired by the Greek myth of Persephone consuming the pomegranate seeds in the underworld and thus being compelled to return there for six months of the year, and the biblical story of the Israelites bringing Moses a pomegranate to demonstrate the fertility of the promised land.

Pregnant Goddess

The Pregnant Goddess design simply represents the bond between mother and child. A strong symbol of fertility and potential.
 

Sea Turtle Goddess

The Sea Turtle Goddess was inspired by the turtle’s ancient association with creation. A sea turtle can lay hundreds of eggs at a time and has become a symbol of longevity, fertility, and good fortune in many coastal cultures. There are so many myths and legends surrounding the sea turtle (and turtles in general) worldwide, that it would be hard to discuss them all here, but among the many attributes of the sea turtle are freedom, patience, virtue, love, wisdom, protection, perseverance, and rebirth.

“The Turtle is considered by some Indigenous North Americans to be one of their the oldest, most sacred symbols. They believed that North America was created on the back of a turtle. To this day most Indigenous peoples refer to North America as Turtle Island. “

Spiral Goddess

The Spiral Goddess is based on a prehistoric goddess design and represents the creative power of the earth mother and the ongoing circle of creation emanating from her womb.

Triskelion Goddess

The Triskelion Goddess was inspired by the ancient Celtic triple spiral which represents the three aspects of women (mother, maiden, and crone). Early Christians also adopted the symbol of the triskelion to represent the father, son, and holy spirit. It may also be a symbol of mystery and rebirth as it was used to decorate many prehistoric tombs, notably Newgrange in Ireland where the sun shines down the passage into the tomb on the shortest day of the year.

Filled Heart Love Goddess

I first painted this original design in watercolor and acrylic on a brown paper shopping bag, probably around 1995. The image is of a woman looking to fill the void inside herself with a heart symbolizing love. Now, almost 20 years later, I thought it would be fun to add her to my goddess collection as a symbol for bringing love into your live.

The evolution of this little goddess: http://www.millefiori.net/?p=1600

 

Pomegranate Love Anew

By in Cards, etsy, General Tags:

And now for something completely different. I started this piece a year ago for a new series concept integrating words and pictures (and food). I finally made time to finish it and I’m very pleased with the results. Though I love the recent trend in hand-lettering in watercolors, this lettering is not my hand, it’s traced  and augmented from a font called “Autumn in November.” Also I use colored pencils, not watercolor with similar but still visually different results.  I think there will be more to come in this series.

“Pomegranate Love Anew” is a piece about renewal. Early last spring I met up with a friend. She was telling me about how she’d discovered her boyfriend had been cheating on her and that she’d left him but had recently fallen hard for a new love who treated her so well – in ways she was not accustomed to.

Originally, I’d wanted to write her a letter and then incorporate part of that into my art. I had been thinking about correspondence and the letter writing that most of us no longer do. I used to spend hours recopying my letters to make sure I had them all exactly right before I sent them. Thanks to computers and email, this is now an arcane art. As it’s been over a year since I began this piece, I decided not to write a letter – I was so far out of that moment in time now. So I searched for a poem that would suffice. I found this from cavalier poet, Sir John Suckling, who – it would seem- was known for irony and wit. As we’re 400 years removed from his original intent I decided to use his words literally.

Text from the poem, “The Honest Lover” by Sir John Suckling (1609–1642):

If by this thou dost discover
That thou art no perfect lover,
And, desiring to love true,
Thou dost begin to love anew,—
Know this:
Thou lov’st amiss,
And, to love true,
Thou must begin again, and love anew.

The pomegranate represents life, rebirth and renewal across many cultures. You may recall the story of Persephone where she is tricked by Hades into eating some of the pomegranate seeds and is then obliged to return to the underworld for part of the year, causing winter. Her return from the underworld, from darkness into the light of spring causes the rebirth of the world and the turning of the seasons. Sometimes we have to go into the darkness to be reborn into a place where we are open to our renewal.

I heard that my friend has recently moved in with her new love and I wish them well. To my other friends who’ve had a rocky time with their relationships in the past year, this piece is also for you.

With love,
Mishka

Original Prismacolor and Derwent colored pencils with white guache on 8″ x 6″ Fluid Hotpress 140lb Watercolor Paper $225

Prints Available: Etsy

Products Available:

Available for license

Pomegranate Love Anew

Artomatic 2017

By in Artomatic, Children's, etsy, General, SCBWI, Shows

Artomatic, the area’s largest free pop-up art museum returns to Crystal City!

This year features over 600 artists, performers, musicians, and creatives of all stripes showcasing their talents on seven vacated floors of a former Department of Homeland Security building at 1800 S. Bell Street in Crystal City, Virginia.

Living in the DC area definitely provides some weird opportunities.

Anyway, look for my work in space#3402 on the third floor behind the movie theater. Look for this sign:

As you see, I’m sharing the room with my talented and creative friend, the incomparable, Alexandra Zealand!

You’ll have to check out the project she’s working on as well!

My little helper. Maybe we should put her to work painting the living room now?

The small works I’m showing this year were created for illustration challenges Kidlitart28…

…and the 100 Days Project that produced a series of food illustrations and the Little Yogis series. It’s also where I discovered that I love working in colored pencil.

I noticed I haven’t posted much about my other works from the 100 Days project. I should fix that.

A tweet that wondered what fairy tales would look like in the style of Erté inspired me to begin a series set in the 1920’s.

Other subjects I frequent include children, food, goddesses, spirituality, and Jewish themes.

My daughter (who is now almost 6) watches me in the studio. She often asks me to print out my line art so she can color it in HER way. She wanted to help create this display. I figured why not?

Where else but Artomatic can you really let your child crayon on the walls? She says she wants to be an artist when she grows up. But she’s an artist now (goddess, help me!)

Prices for original colored pencil pieces range from $35 – $350

Archival quality prints of everything in the show are available — just write me for details. They’re $12 for 5 x 8 — $17 for 8 x 10 exclusive of shipping.

Some prints are currently available in my Etsy shop. 8 x 10 archival prints are $17 until May 8th – throughout the run of the show. Use promotion code, “AoM2017” at checkout.

I will be making more prints available in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, see you tonight at the opening of Artomatic 2017!

“Gold From the Breakfast Tray”

By in Children's, etsy, General, Other Challenges, SCBWI, SCBWI Draw This, Work

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It would appear that I’ve fallen into a hole the past couple of months since the February drawing challenge. I kind of did. I’ve been busy with odds and ends and little things here and there, work projects, the end of school… And I called up my website just now to see my last image posted was a snowman. Hmmm that won’t do for the first day of summer!

So, here’s a a nice summer image. I’m calling it, “Gold From the Breakfast Tray.” If you’re at all familiar with my artwork, you’ll know I’m often inspired by music. The inspiration here is a lyric from the 10,000 Maniacs song, “Verdi Cries“. I’ve loved this song since I first heard it in the late 1980’s.

Natalie Merchant’s choice of words feels so nostalgiac and other-timely. It’s not what I’d call a mood piece from the 1980’s. So I chose to set my piece in 1910 at a Victorian-era rooming house by the sea. I’ve always listened to this song from the perspective of a carefree girl (who I picture much younger than a 20 year old Natalie) just doing as she pleases, not caring so much why the melancholy man in room 119 sat alone, listening to opera every day.

It also seems to have made a good bedtime song for my 4 year old daughter, who has been asking me to sing it to her every night for the last month (and yes, she posed for me.)

My own experiences, of course, influenced the piece’s mood. I’ve spent various wanderings in my life and stays in various places by various seas, enjoying morning light on the beach, sunny days running in the surf, and cool, late afternoon baths ending in slightly sandy, sunburnt naps on crisp white linen. There were bright colors, bright days, cool porches and halls, and brilliant, restful nights of wild stars and storms far out at sea. “Holidays must end, as you know…”

My three girls are staying the summer at this rooming house. They’re equipped for their next grand adventure in the dunes, E. Nesbitt-style with nets, pails, buckets… The blonde girl can’t resist curiosity anymore. Every day she’s passed this breakfast tray returned to the hall with a napkin-covered basket left un-touched. She’s finally stopped and lifted the napkin to discover the delicious pastries left untouched by the man in room 119. “Waste-not, want, not,” she decides and puts them into her picnic basket, pausing to sample one as the other girls call from the porch steps for her to hurry along.

Some technical details… I submitted my first pencil sketch for review on Facebook’s “PB Illustrators Critique Group” Got some great feedback and did some updating, re-sketching, and noodling of layouts in Photoshop. I then printed out the blackline at 20% on watercolor paper and painted over it. I really did NOT intend to do so much of this piece in actual paint (oh heaven forfend! ha.). I did put the whole thing back into Photoshop and messed around with some clean-up and lighting (yes, you can tell). I’m generally pleased with the results, though I feel like I lost a bit of detail from the original sketches. This is probably a good thing because when I color on the computer, not matter how hard I try not to, I always zoom in too much and spend too much time noodling sharp detail in the backgorund. Anyway, I think I will continue to work with this technique. Thank you to Sylvia Liu and Tami Traylor for further critiques and advice.

This piece was created, predominantly, for Susanna Leonard Hill’s “2nd Annual Pretty Much World Famous Illustration Contest For Children’s Illustrators!!!” with the challenge prompt, “Discovery,” and secondarily for the SCBWI’s new monthly showcase (which is not a contest or competition so a few of us decided it would be ok to also submit to SCBWI) called, Draw This! with the challenge prompt “Adventure.” (I believe they change the content of that link on the first of the month so it’s showing last month’s “Bounce” showcase for the next week or so).

I’m also making this illustration available to purchase as a print (contact me for the details). I’m aiming to have a “Prints” section of my Etsy shop on line by the beginning of July.

Now I just want a mojito… Cheers to the beginning of summer.

Happy Hearts Month

By in Cards, coloring cards, etsy, General

valentine_love_tree_lo

Just a little new art for February. This was a teeny tiny sketch that was intended to be just a coloring card. But it turned into this lovely thing as well so I sent it over to GCU. We’ll see if it’s approved in time for Valentine’s Day.

In the meantime, I’ve started working on some new coloring cards. The crayon cards were just not catching on so I switched back to the more traditional black line art. I’ve also got a more cohesive display going on now. The cards are starting to look a little like candy and that’s not a bad thing. I’m going to let my crayon style cards expire and then leave them off in favor of these new ones. These take a lot less time for me to make with a lot less frustration. So I can make a lot more of them.

This is how my little sketch turned out as a coloring card:

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See more at my etsy shop.

Introducing Coloring Cards

By in Cards, Children's, coloring cards, Crafts, etsy, General

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The Pumpkin Princess

Sometimes the best projects begin as collaborations. In the past year, JaegerThing1 (now aged 3.5) has been asking me to draw cards for her so she can finish them. Mostly, we’ve put them on her friend’s birthday presents but we’ve also starting doing a few holiday cards, get well cards, and cards for friends who have moved away. She likes to finish them by doodling completely over the text with markers and putting as maky stickers on the front as she can fit. You might think I’d have taken a photo of these to post but I didn’t becaue I hadn’t had this brilliant idea yet. So stay tuned for a photo.

But now, to tell you about my brilliant idea. I had been trying to come up with a downloadable file project for my Etsy store that involved creative kid crafts. I’ve been making cards for my daughter. Hmmm. Why not make a bunch of half-finished cards to post for other kids to finish at home? Am I brilliant (don’t answer that)?

There are a lot of coloring pages and coloring books out there created with that comfortable and easy-to-do hard black outline. I didn’t want to do that for multiple reasons. Primarilly, I wanted the card to look kind of like the kid drew the entire thing themselves. It’s a bit of a cheat, but it looks a lot nicer to me than that hard black line. Second, when I was a kid, I HATED coloring inside the lines.  Without that hard line, you can color right over the outline it you want. And you can change it’s color.

Yes, the other kids made fun of me because I wasn’t neat and pristine with my inside-line coloring. I still remember standing on a chair in the hall outside my second grade classroom to help color my team’s craft-paper Halloween pagent backdrop, and my classmates demanding I stop because I wasn’t doing the nice neat horizantal line coloring they all were doing. I was totally messing it up. Ok fellow classmates, lessons learned. I don’t always follow the rules. I still went on to get a degree in scenery design after that. But I digress.

Third, you gotta get a gimmick! So Coloring Cards were born. I’ve started with a couple of autumny cards and will be making more for the winter holidays. I’ll be doing these for a very long time. If nothing else, I’m getting the illustration practice and learning what you shouldn’t attempt to do with a crayon (I mean on PAPER! I didn’t put the crayon up my nose, that honor goes to my one-year-old). Look for birthday cards, Valentines that work with Avery tear-off’s, and Thank You notes among many others I plan to post in the coming year. I’m currently offering cards on the same one-time purchase with and without inside greetings in case you want it blank inside. And you can print out as many as you want.

If you have any ideas for cards you’d like me to start for you or your child (or cards for holidays that I might miss like a Diwali card), let me know. If I decide to make them, they’ll be added to my store at the same low price ($.85!) as all of my other cards. To make the card, simply download the file to your computerand print it out on a letter size sheet of plain 8.5 x 11 paper. Fold the printed page in half from top to bottom, and then again from side to side. Go!

Visit the coloring cards section of my shop by clicking here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MishkaJaeger

Happy Halloween!

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Here’s an example of what the printed file looks like before you fold and color it.

 

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