adventures in branding

Here are a few images, inspiration boards, and collages... (okay let's face it, i made a bit of a design "look book") as proof that i'm accomplishing SOMETHING design wise. it's taken me MONTHS to feel like I've been making any progress because I haven't found anything that's FELT right yet. i've been aimlessly designing so to speak. I'll go further into detail about this particular design process in an upcoming "Letters to Art" post.



you can check out my new look for my web site to see a tad bit of my recent adventures in personal branding. Although I'm sure this isn't 100% my permanent place, I'm very comfortable with what has come and where it will lead.

and yes, that is a button that says "shop". i've been keeping the secret for a little while because i wasn't sure if it would happen or not. but i finally decidded to make the plunge into the etsy world. my shop isnt up yet, but it will be soon.

anyhoo its back to the day job part of my life. 1 more day until austin!

tata for now.

kat ann

inspiration dump.

I always find such lovely photos over at emmadimes pretty blog.





art by amy blackwell.



and a new Julia Pott illustration that i adore.


i hope you find these pictures as swell as i do. well im off to do that domestic housewife thing. tata for now =)

kat ann.

silja goetz. a style i admire.

a year or two ago i fell in love with a tutorial that silja goetz did for computer arts magazine and ever since i've admired her work and particular style. i love how she mixes so many real elements, textures and objects into her digital work. its definitely a style i would love to share with her one day.






holy crap what i wouldn't give for a semester in a class taught by her. I'm not sure why I have been so draw to illustrators lately... considering web design is my primary focus. maybe a career change? im thinking so haha.

(all images credited to her site http://www.siljagoetz.xom)

new love: Ruth Borum

I come across artists via twitter or other blogs that completely just inspire me to create and stir something up inside of me. I found this amazing lady via wayne coyne's twitter.



Ruth Borum's work is full of texture and interesting patterns and graphics. I love love love texture!! I'll buy somthing simply for its texture/pattern. It all has a a bit of dark tone to it but at the same time is happy, and soothing. My favorites are in her "Slinky Love" gallery.




Her work makes me want to sit down and paint/draw for days! so in love with her now! Hope you enjoy her as much as i do!
her cats are also super cute!



tata for now
kat ann

todays therapy...

included:

the cold war kids.
karen O and the kids.
geographer.
& miike snow.



needless to say i feel better. today has just been one of those days. so i made myself break out the pencils, water color and pens and go to work. i burned some sage incense and tried to relax.



here's today creation/self therapy.

Meet Squid.

Happy sunday world! I love sundays because they're lazy and full of coffee.


Sorry for the lack of updates I've been busy and distracted. =)
The new addition:



Meet Squid!

Party invitations are out! My first attempt at stamp making with linoleum. It took long enough but I got the grungy look I wanted eventually.



We've been trying to get our car fixed and its nearly done so i'll be mobile again haha. I've been a crochetin fool lately making lots of headbands and berets and what not to try and stock up for opening my etsy store sometime in the near future. I'll have a sneak peak of those soon! but i'll worry about that when the dinosaur madness is over. =) hope everyone's been well! I'm working on another house piece but this time I'll be sticking to my "pen and ink" media. =) we had a fun night celebrating a friends birthday last night... their kiddos are the best. Conrad has so much fun hanging out with them.



I also have to show this awesome little VW Beatle that my best friend brought back from Costa Rica for us! It'll go awesome next to my little bus! She knows me all too well haha.



Tootaloo until next time folks. I promise to try and update more soon!

im a dreamer.

i think my best friend is slowly talking me into moving to portland.

i changed my mind yet again. because that's what i do. You know that whole "i enjoy planning and dreaming about things more than actually doing them" thing? yeah that's me to a T. (apparently i'm too lazy to hit the shift key as well.) i've decided to just enroll into a local community college for the next semester or two instead of racking up more debt at a trade school. once i get those basics out of the way im going to go to texas a&m commerce to finish up. they have a pretty rad art/design program. im impressed. i'd rather do the work i want and slowly get my education for nearly free than be 40k in the hole and not have the time to work now. i dont really need the education so much as i need the degree. art and design is so self taught or natural. anyways, this will give me much needed time and freedom to get my shop open and be the procrastinating little fool that i am. =) A few awesome treasures:



1.) a while back the best friend and i got matching mushroom mugs! b.) my wonderful sister in law rachel informed me these little jewels were at the corner thrift store. theyll be perfect for conrads birthday! YAY for dinosaur cookie cutters!

let me just say that the way that God works is absolutely amazing. HE places us in the locations and around the people that He wants us around. every place and person we meet serves a purpose in our journey on this planet. every experience teaches us a lesson for life and ultimately helps us to grow into the person God wants us to be. i look around outside and see so much beauty that i cannot NOT believe. life is good and life is beautiful. all is full of love and hope and creation.

i need a new camera and phone. blah me for being such a clutz. i manged to break my phone and camera all in a few short weeks. hopefully ill have a phone by the end of the weekend and ill have to be patient on the camera. ive gotta make conrads birthday invitations this weekend and get them out asap. ive gotta make headbands and hair clips and ship some items off. ive gotta finish that painting that is staring at me from the table and make me feel awkward lol. can you tell i've had too much coffee today? anyways im off to finish this spain/germany game. GO SPAIN! Gotta root for the homeland! Here's a peak at the picture im working on:




ALSO, i cant remember for the life of me who i heard about this documentary from but it seriously inspired me to coop myself up in my room and paint for days it was so inspiring. it's a documentary called Beautiful Losers and it's about how influential these artists from the early 90's are/were. so amazing. please watch. if you have netflix you can watch it instantly. :) p.s. it has a great soundtrack.

Oh my owls. =)

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a crazy owl lady. My apartment is littered with them haha. A while back I came across an amazing cutout piece of two owls that immediately inspired a tattoo.

I didn't know who the genius behind this piece was until my husband and I discovered her online gallery today. And it warms my heart and make me happy beyond words. =) My favorites are the owls and the deer, but they're all lovely and and most depict nature scenes and animals. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!






So expect a tattoo similar soon! =) This weekend we have all kinds of great plans! We're taking the kiddo to a big fire works show tonight complete with bounce houses and all kinds of goodness and them spending the day with family tomorrow at the lake and shooting off fireworks of our own. This afternoon will be filled with some thrifting and treasure hunting. Wish me luck! Happy 4th of July everyone! Be safe and have fun!

lovely old houses.

Favorite new band without a doubt! They make me want to paint for hours. =)

I have old victorian houses on the brain today. I'm planning on doing a series of drawings and paintings of them. They're so beautiful and have so much detail to them. Houses just aren't built like this anymore. If I were passionate enough to go to school to be an architect this is what I would do. They're always in the most beautiful color combos too! Any of these could easily be my dream home. They have so much character. Okay I'll quit drooling and get back to work. Love you all!

two years ago..

It was rainy just like today.. not the gray skies and thunder kind of rainy either. It was the sun shining and 3 rainbows in the sky kind of rainy day. That's the day that my best friend and I got married. It wasn't a bit thing as we were fresh out of high school with little money. We married in a house with a few family members present. It didn't start to rain until we were on our way to our hotel but there was a rainbow in every direction that you looked. It was very beautiful. Those kind of days are special and memorable. (My computer has since crashed so I dont have the actual photos I took of the rainbows.) I still love that sweet hairy man just as much if not more. I got the MOST beautiful card I have ever seen. I teared up as I read it. I love you Nate. =)


"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go on an overnight drunk, and in 10 days I'm going to set out to find the shark that ate my friend and destroy it. Anyone who wants to tag along is more than welcome. " - Steve Zissou

We'll be saving our real celebrating for after pay day, but we sort of celebrated the evening with dinner and one of our all time favorite movies "The Life Aquatic". Any Wes Anderson movie that I watch always inspires me and gives me that nostalgic feeling that I love. Most of them feature Bill Murray, my all time favorite actor, so what more could you want? If you've never seen his films its a must! It's too tough to pick a favorite because they're all equally wonderful and offer a rad soundtrack. One thing I love so much about "The Life Aquatic" is the David Bowie covers by Seu Jorge. My husband and I are big Bowie fans to begin with, so this was a plus.


Royal: "He saved my life, you know. Thirty years ago. I was knifed at a bazaar in Calcutta, and he carried me to the hospital on his back."
Ari: "Who stabbed you?"
Royal: "He did. There was a price on my head, and he was a hired assassin. Stuck me in the gut with a shiv. "

The Royal Tennenbaums was the very first Anderson film and saw and it immediately hooked me so I have a very soft spot in my heart for that movie. It's ridiculously witty like most Anderson films, but also a little bit tragic. There are many times in this movie where I just laughed and thought to myself "WTF?". Like when Gweneth Paltrow's character runs away from home and returns with half of her finger missing. Plus anything with Luke Wilson in it I'm apt to like. =) Might I add, Luke Wilson's beard is epic in this movie. I also want their house. It's so beautiful. One of my favorite parts:



"I love you both but I'm going to have to mace you in the face." -Jack
"I wonder if the three of us would've been friends in real life. Not as brothers, but as people." -Jack

The Darjeeling Limited turned out to be absolutely phenomenal for me. The three main characters Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Adrien Brody (three more of my favorite actors) are brothers on a "spiritual quest" in India after a period of not speaking after their father's death. I may be too quick to call this my favorite, but it's really impossible for it NOT to be my favorite.

With their particular film aesthetic, each film is visual eye candy. Not to mention he's from Texas. =) Yay! The color scheme of all the films are captivating and even the fonts used for the titles and credits are so well thought out and cohesive. His most recent film is The Fantastic Mr. Fox which did NOT disappoint. It had all the usual characters and a few more. I'll be watching it with my kiddo ALL the time I'm sure. I particularly love how they say "cuss" instead of the actual cuss word. That's some funny cuss. He also directed and wrote Rushmore and Bottle Rocket a little bit earlier on in his career and both are great as well! He has a new film in the production according to IMBD, called My Best Friend. I'll be patiently waiting until then.

I wish I could live in a Wes Anderson film. =)

If you have any info about other movies of his let me know! I would LOVE to see them.

EDIT:
i just wanted to add this real quick! A friend of mine did a wes anderson tribute video please check out this video and his youtube channel!

Lily Monster!

This is what I'm jamming today..

Just a little update on our lost dog situation.

At about 12:30 am last night Nate and I were spread out on the living room floor drawing when Nate looks out the door to the porch and says "No way! It's Lily!" (this part is a bit edited since there were words I'm not comfortable repeating haha.) We went to the door to let her in and she took off down the road. So we ended up finding our shoes and Nate jumped on my bike and took off after her. I, in my pajamas and moccasins, was running after him down the road. She managed to run around half the town, through the bank parking lot and through a field before nate cornered her in someone's garage lol. So we were a site to see. I even got stopped by a cop who thought we looked a bit curious. (Remember this is a town of under 1,000 people) I can't blame him. There's no telling what he thought we were up to. So Lily's back home finally. =) She's still a bit skittish but I think she's going to warm up to us quickly. She's already at my heels every step that I take.

I'm having troubles uploading pictures from my phone, but I'll try and post pictures of our drawings. We probably would have finished had it not been for our wonderful visitor. =) But I'm not complaining one bit.