Stationary

Had some fun designing stationary. The pumpkin theme was for my mom's birthday and she loves pumpkins (duh) and the other obviously is for me, I love Circus themes. What a cool concept to make personalized stationary and maybe even logos for people. Kinda cool!

Save The Date Card

Working on wedding invitations and "stuff" and just completed a "Save The Date" card. The couple loves fish (has a big fish tank in their home) and they both work at Disney, so of course I had to think "Disney/Fishie". We'll see if the Bride likes any of them!

I painted the picture of the fish using acrylics, scanned it, did a bit of touching up in Photoshop (needed to add more space at the top and bottom) and then did the layout in Illustrator. I do use Indesign, but I prefer to do stuff like this in illustrator. Once approved, I'll probably do the final piece in Indesign because I'll have to incorporate the details on the back of the postcard. I'll post the final piece when it's done.

I think The Incredible Mr. Limpit was my inspiration

Christmas Land

Now that it's 600 degrees out, I'm working on some Christmas images. In an effort to get inspired, I was thinking if Christmas was like a circus (which it kinda is these days) what would Christmas Land look like? Who would live there and how would they do things. It's a fun exercise. I was also thinking, because of the process I take to do a drawing, I'm gonna create coloring pages of my stuff before I color it in.

Here's what Christmas Land looks like before it's colored in. It can be kinda creepy, cuz I havent drawn in the eyeballs yet.

Candy, presents, animals and elves live in Christmas Land at the moment, and most of them sing and dance when I draw them (if you couldn't tell). The elves are presently in the tent, making gifts. It's a three ring circus after all, they don't have much time !!!

I'm thinking Santa lives in a beautiful coach pulled by reindeer. Also, the more I think, the more I believe there might be some gorillas in Christmas Land too and a bearded elf lady. I'm on a roll. More to come . . . .

Full Set Of Card Images

Chair is done, more stuff on the horizon

The chair is finally done and in place, it's at the Firehouse in New Preston CT. I wasn't thinking and didn't take pictures of the chair, but Chairish the arts did and you can find the finished piece on their website in the artists section under my name (aileen casey). All of the links are not working, but you'll at least be able to see the chair. The auction is in October, I'll post the date shortly.

It's been a busy summer, I have a few more commissioned pieces that I'm working on and I have my first round of note cards printed and ready to roll. I'm thinking about at some point, adding the ability to purchase stuff on my main website . More on that to come.

I'm glad we are finally having some "summer" weather here in the northeast, but they are predicting a heat wave this week (90's all week) and I'm not sure I'm up to it (what a wimp!!), I'll take it over snow any day though!

It's the Autumn Moon Festival and I am off to Dragon Boat races today with my daughter, if I get good shots I'll post them here. I love Chinese festivals, they are always so lively and colorful!

These are pictures of some hand painted boxes I've been working on. Painting them is like meditation for me, so I think by the end of the summer I'll have a thousand boxes (ha, ha, ha).

It's all good baby!

Note Cards Are At The Printer!

Yahoo! My first foray into producing and selling my own work!

I created a series of seven inspirational note cards that are now at the printer. My plan is to take the prototypes around to local shops to see if they would like to carry them.
I designed them with the store Soft Surroundings in mind. It's a popular woman's catalogue with 4 stores throughout the US. One is in Evergreen Walk in South Windsor Ct. (very close to my home). It's probably one of the most beautiful stores I've been into and is truly a cool chick store! So with the help of my friend Claudette we'll be heading over there to see if they'd like to be the first retailer to carry the cards! I'll blog about the outcome!

This is an image of one of the cards. I had a suggestion from a friend in Iowa, to put glitter on the cards and I'm gonna try that out. These will be packaged individually and will sell for about $2.00 each. I still need to figure out pricing for packaging all seven. So, more to come! Also, at some point in the near future you'll be able to purchase stuff from my website fifishead

So stay tuned!

CHAIR Update

Had some time yesterday to work on the chair. It's coming along nicely. I need about another 4 hours and it will be done. Didn't have time to do anything else though, which kinda bummed me out. Need to figure out how to carve out more time.

We did end up going to the Coventry Farmers market, it was awesome. A ton of vendors, super produce and animals (mostly dogs and goats) walking around. Jade even got to get a ride in a horse drawn carriage and a pony cart (all by herself!!). I should have brought the camera!

I'm looking forward to Summer, cant wait till it starts, this weather is driving me insane.

Another Coloring Page!

I just completed another coloring page for Andrees Creations. Claudette Azevedo, the owner of Andrees Creations and the queen of Waffalloons, will be sampling her delicious Belgian Waffalloons at the Coventry Farmers Market this coming Sunday. This coloring page will be available on her website and will be distributed at the farmers market as well.

I understand the Coventry Farmers Market is the largest in Connecticut, so if you live near by, check it out. This Sunday's theme is "farmers breakfast" and the food vendors will be offering free samples. From what I understand, there are also animals to pet, all sorts of locally grown and made food as well as crafts and other fun stuff. My husband, daughter and I are definitely going this week!

P.S. Waffalloons are definitely worth checking out. They are not your typical Waffle, that's why they are called waffalloons! www.waffalloons.com

CHAIRities Chair

I finally purchased the chair that I'll be painting for the CHAIRish the arts event. I was looking around second hand stores (i.e. Goodwill etc.) because I wanted to recycle, and then figured I should probably paint a chair that's in good condition. I'd hate for someone to sit in the chair and have it break (and someone get hurt) - kinda paranoid I guess. So I went to the unfinished furniture place in Manchester and bought this chair "BRANDY-NEW" (as my niece would say). The shape of the chair is great and will be fun to paint my characters on. I'll also paint something on canvas and use it to recover the cushion of the chair.

I had about an hour today in the studio, so I got the primer on. I listened to some David Gray to get me into the creative mindset, I was listening to his White Ladder CD and it was all about love (lost and found) and kinda bummed me out so I switched to Space, a really fun band from the late 90's, I especially like their song "Female of the species"

This is from their first (of two) albums called "Spiders", all of the songs are really creative and fun to listen (and sing!) to. It definitely got me into the right mood for painting!

It's amazing what music can do to your mood! I need to remember that! (ha, ha, ha)

Al Frazza, Page17Design

As I've mentioned in earlier posts I've been working with Al Frazza, owner of Page17Design, doing graphics/illustrations for his clients. He recently reinvented his website and I was lucky enough to be a part of the process, helping him with copy writing and as a sounding board for design.

I can't recommend his business enough, anyone in need of a truly unique website that works both visually and technically, he can do it. You can also trust him to do things well, deliver on time and to have your interests and needs in mind though out the whole process. Check his new site out through the link I've provided above (click on "Al Frazza"), he's done some fantastic work. You can also call him to discuss your website needs if you don't know where to begin, that's exactly what I did before he designed my website.

Goodwill And Discount Shopping

Although it is in my genes, this economy is helping with the ol discount shopping. Lately my cousin and I are hitting all of the discount shops. Our favorite place to go is Goodwill. Not only can you find really great stuff, your purchases help a great cause.

We are lucky, we have quite a few Goodwill stores in close proximity to where we live, we also have a few "Goodwill Boutiques" to go to as well. WOW. So this weekend we were out and about and I was looking for a chair for the CHAIRish the Arts fundraiser, I didn't find a chair for that but I totally scored some chairs for our house. $40 a piece, including the ottomans. Unheard of! They do have to be reupholstered, but still what a score. I am learning though, that you need to buy it when you see it, cuz the good stuff doesn't last. I recently lost out on a great $50 table and chair set cuz I wanted to "sleep on it" - they were gone the next day.

Another great place to shop is Ocean State Job Lot, but you have to be careful because some of their stuff is overpriced. BUT this weekend they had slipcovers on sale for $25 versus the $150 you'd have to pay at Target/Walmart etc. So yes, I did go out and splurge on a few slip covers for the house, mainly for the new (free - thanks peter and Terry!) couch we got for our basement last week. Here are a few pictures, including a shot of some $1.00 baskets I bought to decorate our wall in the basement. And by the way, the slipcover has been jump tested by my 3 year old, that's why it looks so lumpy.

Focus

Been very busy and have been rethinking my fifi's business plan cuz it's not working! Having attended Surtex last year I find I've been very scattered and unsure of my direction (Surtex can be overwhelming from an artists perspective). I've been drawing, painting, doing graphic design etc, but have not felt that I'm making any progress.

Through The Art Of Licensing group (on Yahoo) I connected with Suzanne Cruise an artists agent and owner of Suzanne Cruise Creative Services (cruisecreative.com), she was so generous with her time, and gave me fabulous advice. FOCUS! Find the one thing you love to do and work to be the best at it. Simple huh?!

So I'm going to focus on my illustrations - the pumpkins, veggies, bees and crazy characters will be back in action. I also decided that I was going to focus my energies locally first, gain some traction here, before attacking something like Surtex again. I'll be attending the Glastonbury Applefest this year and will also participate in CHAIRish The Arts tour and auction. It's all good.

I'm also thinking of drawing weeky coloring pages, that will keep me moving. Here's one of my first. Stay tuned for more!

Flowers

This time of year, all I can think about is flowers. Here's the latest in the series of stylized flowers!!

Spring has Sprung!

Got to love Photoshop and family members!

Happy Spring!

Been working on a series of inspirational greeting cards, have done a few more logos and newsletters etc. Am also exploring social media opportunities for artists - boy, there are a ton of ways to get the word out about what you do! Focusing is becoming harder every day! Here's a few samples of the inspirational greeting cards hope you like them (the words and images are all (c) fifishead), let me know what you think!! Email me at aileencasey@fifishead.com

Working on Collection of images

I'm working on a collection of images based on some photo's I've taken at cemeteries. The images are meant to be inspirational, not depressing. If you look at headstones outside of their "context", you can really see the craftsmanship and beauty in the work. I'm hoping these images convey that.

Another Logo Completed

I'm having fun lately working on logos for small businesses. Al Frazza from Page 17 Design connected me with the folks at North Jersey Handyman and I was able to design the logo for their website, I've also been able to do a couple of others lately as well -- citadel packaging llc and media design works, llc .

These are fun to work on for many reasons, mostly becuase they put a face on a business!

Chuckles Saw Her Shadow

6 more weeks of winter - BLAHHHHHH. But That's OK, I kinda like snow.

Photoshop Classes

This year I'm focusing on improving my technical skills.

I'm working with Al Frazza from Page 17 Design - Website Design and Search Engine Optimization. He is teaching me Photoshop remotely, it's cool, we set up the session through "go to meeting" and we conference over the web and he can access my desk top. Very cool stuff and it's definatley helping me out.

Al Frazza also does great web design, so check him out (he's an artist, so he understands artists!). He can be reached through his web site www.page17design.com

Ground Hog Day!

Monday is ground hog day and I will be spending it at the Lutz Children Museum with my buddie Claudette. We will be making Waffalloons for all of the folks who will be waiting to see if "chuckles" a.k.a. Molly will see her shadow.

I created a coloring page that will be on the waffalloon website so if you are inclined, print it out, color it in and have some fun!

I'm hoping chuckles will NOT see her shadow, I'm done with winter!

Waffalloons - Authentic Belgian Waffles


Here's the link to the waffalloon site, these are the best waffles you will ever taste. I had a great time working with Claudette Fantin Azevedo from Andrees Creations LLC and Al Frazza from page17design. check them out, they are worth the trip!

Sassy B'Day Package

Experimenting a bit with styles, I did this one with watercolor, something that scares me to death because you can't fix goofs easily. But it's coming along, I might overlay a bit of colored pencil to add some depth, I like depth!

Having so much fun!

I'm working with Andrees Creations on the launch of their latest product, Waffalloons. I'm creating illustrations for the website which is due to launch any day now. Here's a sample. More details to come.

Happy Birthday

I'm working on some images for a birthday collection. I had a bit of time this morning and I noodled around with coloring my drawing in photoshop. Not my style, but it was fun and I think the images look pretty good.

By the way, the candles are singing "happy birthday to you . . . " if you didn't notice.