Grab a Coke!

Well, I'm finally back!  I know it has been a long hiatus, but I

guess I need to sort some things out.  I've decided to shift gears

a bit and focus more on my textile work. I am still trying to

adjust my style so my textile and illustration work can skip along

merrily hand in hand.  There are quite a lot of artists who do this,

one of my favorites being Helen Dardik (http://www.oneluckyhelen.com).

Her work is super cool, and she has a wide range of work in her portfolio.

One thing writing my blog did was to push me to finish illustration sketches.

I know I need that again, so here I go.

Continually inspired by Lilla Rogers (http://www.lillarogers.com/) Studio.

Lilla gives these free inspiration prompts.  One recently was something

like "What is your favorite beverage, and why?"  It immediately made me

think of drinking Coke as a kid at Grandma and Grandpas.  They had

these cool plastic cups that had little straw textured "fabric"inside them.

(I was thrilled to find some at an antique store- Judith's Attic Antiques,

in Ripley, Ohio.)

Grandma would load it down with ice and pour in the Coke.  We rarely

got soda, so this was a big deal.  Now when I pour cola, the scent takes

me back.  Summer weekends playing behind Grandma and Granpa's house in

Cincinnati.  Grandpa would fill the aluminum boat up with water 

(if we were lucky) and we got to cool off in our dry dock pool!

Above is my rough sketch of that moment, and a tracing below.  

I decided to add the adults having cocktails because that is usually

what was happening and it adds to the story.  

    Here is my final watercolor and pencil painting.  I am interested in collage and 

      thought it would be neat to add a piece of lace (scanned and printed onto paper) 

            to look like the tablecloth grandma always had on the dining room table 

beneath the Roseville vase of gladiolas.

What are your fondest memories of childhood?

Grab a Coke and sing along with me..."I'd like to buy the 

world a Coke and keep it company..."