Paper = Magic

There's something magical that happens when I actually get to print a design I've been working on. No matter how detailed my color mock-up is, complete with a scan of the paper I'll be using, and just the right color to approximate the ink, it's always better on paper.

I've been doing test prints of some of the designs I've been working on for my August 1st official launch as a wedding invitation designer and printer, and they've been coming out great. Incredibly satisfying, the act of printing.


I don't know if that's just me, being an artist of tangible things. I like to get my hands dirty in my work; if it's someone else's, I like looking at an angle to see the shadows under each brush stroke, being able to visually feel their imprint on the piece. It's the reason no digital print, no matter how exact, precise and 'perfect', can ever compare to a hand-pulled print. It's that special something.

Structure...

I'm feeling really good about where this is going...

And in other news, I'm (super-extra) happy to announce that Plan B is the first brick-and-mortar store in the Portland area! Go in and check out this gallery-slash-gift shop on 2415 N.E. Broadway, and say hi to Brad and his adorable itty bitty dog, Pearl.

Desert Wedding

I finished putting together a set of wedding invitations late last week, and thought I would share. They turned out quite nice -- very simple, but that's exactly what they wanted.
Joel and Jessica came to me with the photo you see in the shot to the right. They were having what would probably be categorized as a destination wedding, but also a fairly small gathering of mostly family. They didn't want to go over the top on the invitations, like many destination weddings do. They just wanted one piece to announce the basic information, and were going to use the web for everything from RSVPs to directions.

I had paper in mind that I thought might be perfect -- Neenah's Peppered Bronze in a laid finish; the variegated color of the paper makes it look incredibly textured, but it doesn't present problems when it comes to screenprinting on it. Jessica liked it, and paired it with French Speckletone envelopes in 'Chocolate.' For ink we simply used the color of the opposite paper, and a clean script for the text.

The result is a compact little treasure, equally comfortable in a frame or on the fridge of its lucky recipients.

On a separate but related note, the rock garden is growing like crazy and blooming all over the place. It made for the perfect place to snap some shots of the new invitations.

Divide and Conquer...

Gotta start somewhere...

Mmmm... new. I don't regularly get to use Pthalo blue at all, much less as the base of a painting. But this painting isn't quite my regular thing, exactly.

In other news: after another cleaning session with A acting as facilitator and motivator, the studio is still not clean. The never-ending battle. Losing battle in his view, but I think it's actually much improved. Suffice it to say we have different standards.

Je Suis Arrivé

My new site is up. Finally. Yay! Only about a month later than I had promised people. Tomorrow is the second Craft in the Village -- at last month's, I was telling people that the new site would be up in only a few days. This time I would like to be able to tell people that it IS up.

I only have one good excuse, and that is that it's incredibly difficult to do php coding when your only tool is trial-and-error and access to google. In that vein, slowly I will add a couple more contact and inquiry forms, but for now you'll have to be satisfied with my e-mail list subscription form.

Anyway, go browse around! You'll see I have a fine art section and a design section, so paintings, prints, cards, wedding invitations, and so forth are all available in the same place now. Plus, there's an event calendar, which is pretty full these days. Come out and say hey!

Plugging along...

invitation open

I'm making measurable progress on my updated website. But since its ETA is still unknown and likely farther off than I'd like, I thought I'd share the photos of the wedding invitations I designed recently.

Krista's wedding was loosely butterfly-themed, with a palette of dark purple and ivory. From there, she let me fly free on the design. In my paper-shopping adventures, I found this gorgeous feltweave textured eggplant paper, perfect for this project. This was used for the main invitation, printed in custom-mixed lighter purple and white gold inks.

invitation closed


rsvp postcard

Then, for the RSVP postcard, map, and envelope, we chose from the vast array of iridescent cream/ivory/off-white papers available, printed with the same custom mixed purple.

Her wedding was also going to be a small, intimate gathering, and the invitations reflected this. The physical dimensions of the assembled package was kept small, and the invitation itself involved folding and a self-closure element, making it an unusual size. Part of the joy of wedding invitations is in the recipients' experience of opening them: Krista's tiny shimmering envelopes would announce themselves as little mail-borne treasures, and reveal layers of interactive discovery.

That was the idea, at least. To make something awesome and beautiful without going all-out on the budget end of things. The small size of things, in addition to being intimate, kept material and postage costs very reasonable. And judging by the positive response Krista's been receiving (even from male coworkers!) I think it's safe to say that they turned out pretty nice.