Where We Grow
Deer friends,
I ended last year in a creative rut, but since the new year began I’ve felt a new burst of creativity. Maybe its come along with all the rain.
I want to get my hands on a pottery wheel! And take up painting again! And make jewelry! And try every new art medium out there! But I’ll do my best to take it one thing at a time. And what this means for the print release this week is a piece that is a continuation of a certain style I’ve been developing within illustration and drawing. A few months ago I collaborated with a few other artists to create a series of National Park prints for Buen Dia Design. I almost always gravitate toward flora and fauna when given a relatively open illustration prompt, so when asked to design prints for Badlands, Joshua Tree, Crater Lake, Yosemite, Arches, and the Channel Islands, I dove right in to researching native flora and fauna in each region. Working with what I would consider a contemporary folk style throughout the process, finishing each print got me excited to start on the next, as I felt more and more comfortable with this style that I was developing.
I feel like I’ve always struggled with defining my illustration, art, and design style, and end up jumping from style to style as nothing ever really stuck. But with each print I finished for this collection, it felt more and more natural to me. And upon finishing the project I was ready to expand the illustration style further. So the print I’m releasing this week is a continuation of my newly beloved contemporary folk style, with an ode to my hometown and the flora and fauna that inhabit it. I hope you enjoy.
In this week’s newsletter, I also share the full print collection I designed for Buen Dia , as well as the usual curation of art, images, and objects that I find inspiring at the moment.
Here’s the latest print release:
San Clemente Flora and Fauna
Digital drawing, 2024
Inspired by the diverse flora and fauna along Southern California’s coast, this print features native species such as the Common Dolphin, the California Poppy, seaweed, starfish, and Santa Cruz Island Buckwheat. Illustrated in a contemporary folk style, this piece is the perfect addition to any bohemian or coastal inspired living space.
After my latest print collection with Buen Dia, I wanted to continue to build on the style I was creating. It feels like a mix of the patterns and botanical elements commonly found in folk art, but with a more playful edge, and a color palette that reflects the natural elements in the region the piece is based on. I’m hoping to build out a series featuring different locales to create a cohesive collection, but for now, here’s San Clemente.
You can check it out here.
This week I’m sharing:
The National Parks Print Collection
A collection of illustrated prints for Buen Dia.
These six designs were my portion of the print collection. You can see how the San Clemente print followed in the footsteps of these (I even reused the dolphins from the Channel Islands print if you can spot it), and creating this latest print came so naturally after the first collection. I researched native plants and animals in each National Park, and incorporated them into an eclectic folksy arrangement. I wanted the style to feel consistent across the whole collection, with emphasis on the distinct flora and fauna in each park. The full collection, including artwork by the other artists involved can be found here at Buen Dia!
On to the next…
While typically there’s a loose theme or general idea for the roundup, this time its a little bit all over the place. But truthfully that’s where I’ve been finding inspiration lately. Not all in one place and not where I’d usually expect to see it. So this roundup has everything from ceramics that remind me of petri dishes to deeply freckled skin, to flowers and shades of pink because it’s nearly Valentine’s Day and I couldn’t share a newsletter without at least a liiiiitle pink in there.
But as with every inspo roundup, there’s always something ceramic, something wearable, something painted, and something floral. Because those are the things I cherish most, and I gather them up as inspiration on this board if I can’t have them around me physically.
Check out the full inspo board here.
This week’s inspo:
This newsletter is a creative practice for me, in a similar way to journaling or following the Artist’s Way. I love sharing art with others. Both creating art myself, and curating art in the form of mood boards, playlists, interior design, what have you. And I’m really grateful to have this tiny corner of the internet to do so; to share and grow.
All the best,
Morgan