I often hear about other artists seeing ideas in their dreams. They talk about dreaming of a painting or a song, then creating that work in their waking hours.

These are simple sketches created recently for a commission.

I won't bother to take a look to verify (I'll leave that to the reader's curiosity), but I can say with certainty that it has been over a year since I have updated this blog. It is now 2023, and many things have happened and changed in my life since my last post. ​

Doodling on objects digitally not only saves time
in figuring out the direction a piece should take.
It also saves paint!

I use the Pixlr app for android to experiment on images taken with my phone camera.
Click play on the image below to view a slideshow of design trials.

In the midst of a 2+ week studio reorganization, brought on by an inconvenience (read about that here), I found a few conceptual drawings done years ago for paintings I wanted to do. This is not abnormal, and does not mean the ideas were abandoned. Just tabled until the opportunity to jump in head first arises. It's been a practice of mine for years to sketch ideas while they are fresh in mind, even if it could be years before I get to them. No matter. I've trapped them on paper, napkin, scrap, whatever before they escaped. So I have catalogs of unfinished work at the ready. This sketch is one of those. Inspired by my love of libraries and knowledge. But until i can give it the attention it deserves, I won't touch it. I will likely clip it or pin it up somewhere in my work space, in my face until I can't stand the wait anymore. ~

Today I'm working on a commissioned educational display involving a Venn diagram. After I compiled everything I needed to include, inspiration hit, and a clear direction emerged. I did a quick scribbled sketch, to help me work out the general layout. I'm piecing it together now, and will share the finished project later since this jumbled mess is surely only clear to me, lol.

The finished, hand drawn piece, which included dimensional components in clay and felt, and removable velcro elements, for interactive use. The intended audience is a 4th grade class. This project was done within the client's limited window of time and budgetary resources. Given greater resources, I would probably have created a digital design, had it professionally printed, and added the dimensional elements to the print. But it was fun to create!