White Fern Illustrations & Designs: April 2012

Monday, April 30, 2012

First Spring

I finished it! Today was a productive day. I got my mini illustration finished, photographed some sketches that I'll be sharing later this week, watered the garden, finished knitting a honeycomb, and went with my sister to pick up her new car!

colored pencil and ink on Bristol smooth paper

All in all it has been a great Monday. I am going to finish it off with some relaxing knitting time with the blanket that I shared with you in my last post. I love productive days! :)

Monday Update

Last night I came up with a sketch that is still in the works...

graphite on Bristol smooth paper

I have some color combinations brewing that I am eager to add! I hoping to finish it today.

On the knitting end I am working on a baby blanket for my 'Hope Chest'.

The stitch I am using is the Herringbone stitch, which I am really loving!

These are the colors I am using for the stripes...

My next color stripe is the blue one, which I am super excited about! I would have to say that the colors I chose for this blanket is coastal inspired. I love the earthy tones with the muted blue.

Have a great day! Back to work for me. :)

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Macro Fever

This afternoon I was feeling the need for some quite macro shooting...

My aunt has an abundant collection of dresser/door knobs from Anthropologie, which I am in love with!

These are just a few of the many that she has...

Can you tell the gold and flower one's are my favorite? :)

Which one's are your favorite?

...more lovely's...

My aunt is going to be using these knobs for some creative projects she has in mind, and will be for purchase at Nightingale Arts. I will share with you the details when they are finished.

Oh, the possibilities for furniture...'sigh'...

Hope you enjoyed the eye candy. I sure did!

I am back from my break and am going to be diving back into my illustrating and knitting again. There will be upcoming posts of those fruits soon! Hope everyone has a great evening. :)

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Wave Chasing

Yesterday, my fiance and I went to a couple of beaches in Gloucester . We followed a path down to the rocks where the waves were pretty big! I get such a thrill out of being right in front of a huge wave rising, and just before it crashes you are able to see right through it! He are just a few of the MANY photo's that we took...

One of my favorites of Stephen...hehe

mmm...so serene...

We had a great time. Oh how I will miss this place when I move, (something I will tell in more detail at a later time). I'm sorry I don't have much to say. I thought the photo's would better describe this day than I could in words. :)

Monday, April 23, 2012

An Illustration for Monday

Hi everyone! Here is an illustration that I did a few months ago.

Owen The Bunny

colored pencil and ink on Bristol smooth paper

5"x7"

I hope you had a great weekend, and have an inspirational Monday! :)

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Bee Keepers Quilt

Ok, I am apologizing ahead of time for the lack in my posting in the next couple of weeks. I will still be posting, just not as frequent. I am picking up my fiance at the airport! He lives in Canada, so we visit each other every couple-few months. This visit we have lots of wedding planning to do! I will expand more at a later time. :)

This morning I am going to share with you a knitting project that I have in the works. It is called The Bee Keepers Quilt, by Stephanie Dosen at Tiny Owl Knits.

In this Photo is some of the honeycombs I have made. I have other colors that I am going to be incorporating , and I don't think I am going to use the puff that is in the middle to the far right. I have been very picky about what colors to put in the quilt. :P

This project constantly inspires me! I already decided that I am going to be what I call 'hexi-puffing' my whole life, making smaller quilts for my children. Oh, the possibilities for these honey combs! I call it hexi-puffing because they are perfect little hexagons with the perfect amount of puffiness to them, plus it's just fun to say.

I have been working on it now for about 5 months, and figure I have about a year and a half left. I need to make about 750 of these little guys! In my basket I have 29 of them finished, 721 left to go! These honey combs are great on- the go projects, and when you finish one and throw it into the basket, there is a great feeling of accomplishment, (for me anyways). I am going to wait until I have at least 100 until I begin experimenting with how I want them placed. I can't wait to be able to connect all of them together! It is going to be the most coziest quilt, that will be perfect for wrapping up in while knitting and having a cup of tea. :)

What exciting project do you have on your needles?

Hope you have a great day! :)

Monday, April 16, 2012

Bitter Sweet Strokes

Today I am back to posting some of my art . :) This is one of my favorite pieces I did for Nightingale Arts.

watercolor and colored pencils on cold-pressed watercolor paper
© 2011 Heidi Chouinard

This piece was the last piece I painted before the store opened. It was sad to end the wonderful summer of creating side-by-side with my amazing sister! However, we were both looking forward to finally opening the store: Nightingale Arts!

This painting brings back a lot of memories. During the summer of 2011 my sister and I spent every day of the week in the Nightingale studio, doing our best to create unique works of art. I have to say, it is a time I will cherish forever. Many days my sister and I had so much fun blasting David Bowie while painting together. Also, having her around was fantastic for getting inspiration and constructive feedback on everything we made. Of course, there were many frustrations and challenges as well. Being creative and having to produce sellable pieces on a daily basis was at times stressful, and I didn’t always wake up feeling creative.

Now that the store has opened we still work on art behind the counter, but it sure is not the same as being in that creative work zone with no distractions. I will always miss that summer, and I am so thankful that I was given that opportunity (once again was all made possible by Marie Barron; owner of Nightingale Arts).

Sunday, April 15, 2012

A Wonderful Day With My Ladies

Today I spent a beautiful day with my Mom and my sister. We went for lunch at this Polish place in town and the food was so fresh and delicious! Nothing beats fresh authentic cuisine!

After lunch we stopped in The Bee hive. They have some really unique neat stuff there! A great place for gift shopping, which by the way, my mom got this super cute gift for me! Thank you Mom!

Yes. It is an owl. It is made out of wax, and the best part...it glows!

I will have to share a photo of it glowing, once it gets dark out. I already know where I am going to want him in the future. He will be apart of my studio...once I have one, one day! :) Until then I think I may keep him on my dresser and be careful to make sure he doesn't melt!

To finish off the lovely day we of course couldn't go with out a good old Raspberry Lime Rickey from the Salem Willows! It's a summer classic around here. A Deeeeelicious one at that!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Nightingale Arts of Salem

Shawn O'Donell, Marie Barron, Michael Chouinard, Melissa Chouinard(my sister), and me.

My sister painted this fish on an old window. We like the challenge of reverse window painting here at Nightingale Arts. :) The furniture is re-finished by Michael Chouinard and Shawn O'Donell.

Marie Barron found these great napkins at Anthropologie(one of Marie's biggest inspirations for Nightingale Arts). We turned them into these fantastic pillows!

A SPECIAL THANK YOU

I have to thank a very special person. Marie Barron, owner of Nightingale Arts in Salem . She is pretty much an Aunt to me. Marie has given me a wonderful opportunity to grow as an Artist. She has taught me so much! My sister and I work for her at Nightingale Arts, manning the counter and making Artwork for the shop. It is a true blessing!

Marie has had this dream of opening up her own shop since she was young. A lover and appreciator of handmade things/Art/Design, she has put together this amazing shop! Her and my Uncle Mike get unique(sometimes antique)furniture from auctions and then design, re-finish, and re-upholster, putting a modern, classic, original twist on it!

Marie Barron will always be an inspiration to me, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity she has given me.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Counting Stitches

Graphite on Bristol smooth paper

I have finally finished it! Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a passionate knitter. My knitting inspired me to draw this illustration. This probably isn't the last of a knitted inspired piece...I am sure there will be more where that came from. I went through a few of the same sketch before I got the ending result I wanted. I originally was going to do this piece in color, but I was having a hard time coming up with a color scheme in using colored pencils(I have not got my paints yet, so for now I am using my colored pencils).

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Scrumptious Yarn

Along with my passion for Art/Illustration I am also passionate about knitting, and yarn! All the different colors and textures of yarn inspire me on so many different levels. I stumbled upon these awesome fibers on Tanis Fiber Arts Blog. They dye oober amounts of fibers, and do such beautiful work! You can purchase their fibers here.

My Wednesday Morning Inspiration

For Breakfast?

For all you Honey and Chocolate lovers out there, I introduce to you Honey Chocolate Cake! I know this isn't a post of my art work, but this has inspired me this morning. I am a lover of Honey Bee's and Honey...AND of course Chocolate. Honey is actually one of my favorite colors. The bright golden amber with the thick shiny texture. I hope I have inspired all you this morning along with your taste buds. ;)

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