Sing from your heart

On this fine day, I'm day dreaming of all things musical. It's incredibly quiet in here now (Bunny bee is taking a nap) and this illustration on my wall looks like the most appealing thing ever. I first read this 'sing from your heart' phrase on a Yogi tea bag (they have these inspiring messages - a unique one with every tea bag) and drew the illustration as a reminder to sing my heart out (in the privacy of home, when I'm alone) and not worry if I got the tune wrong. It is truly liberating.

What about you? Do you need a reminder to sing from your heart too?

I hope your day is amazing in every way!

Sing from your heart, available for purchase here.

Potatoes

Hello Monday! What do you have planned for the week? 

I have lots of (last minute) work to catch-up on, before we leave for Hawaii for  two (yes!!) weeks.  It's my 30 Birthday on September 1, and we are going to celebrate it with sun, sand and a little volcano lava (maybe). Yay!!

I want to share a new food illustration with you today. It's the most versatile vegetable known to us (at least in my book!) - The Potato. What food illustration series could be complete without the Potato, right? I have been working on these Potatoes for  a month or so, somehow I couldn't get it just right. They would either look like spotted eggs or rocks or just big blobs of colors! Well until now :)

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. They are in the same color palette as all my food illustrations too!  

Available for purchase here. 

Peas

How are you doing? I hope all is well in your world : )

I have a very special story to share today. Last week a new mom got in touch with me (via etsy) to share her story and request a Peas illustration for her daughters room. Why Peas?  Well, I'll let Mariana (the new mom) tell you in her own words . "... my husband and I love our big backyard vegetable garden and were out picking peas this June when my water broke and our daughter decided to come two weeks early. So we like to say that she came in with the peas."(awwww!!) She went on to say "I hope perhaps your next one will be a rainbow of spring peas." 

I'm so happy to honor her request! Stories like these make my work so much more meaningful. Thanks Mariana!!

Peas, available for purchase here.

Amour

Hi there! I hope the beginning of this week is treating you well so far :)

I completed this illustration at the start of the month and I see my style shifting once again - I'm using words more frequently in my illustrations. This is something I began doing after working with words for some round  MOO stickers (Bunch of colorful stickers with one/ two word messages on them that turned out nice).  I have quiet a few word (and love!) illustrations lined up in the next few weeks. I'm going to try and space them out as much as I can. 

Sometimes it's more fun communicating through written words, than drawings :)

I hope you all have a good week!

Amour, available for purchase here. 

Bird with antlers

It’s hard to believe, but another week is over! With the end of summer fast approaching (Just a couple of weeks left to enjoy the warm weather!) time has been flying for me.  This weekend we are heading down to Lake george with a bunch of friends and spending an exciting day at Adirondack Extreme! I'm hoping to sketch a lot, take plenty of pictures and gather material for my next series of illustrations  on extreme adventures.

The past few weeks have been super productive. I have been illustrating a lot of glass objects, some flowers and a bunch of antlers (on snails, a wee little tomato and birds of course). Today's illustration is from the antler experiments.  I think the bird looks pretty cute with antlers. Don't you think?

Bird with antlers, available for purchase here.

Bulb Terrarium

When we were in Longwood Gardens a few weeks back, we spent hours sitting in the beautifully landscaped courtyard and gazing at the outdoor water lily display. Curved pools filled with inky water, slight breeze and the lack of mosquitoes (they use some cool fish in the ponds, that eats mosquito larve!) created the perfect setting to look at the exquisite water lilies, relax and get lost in thought. 

I came back wanting to create the same tranquillity at home with  my own lily pond or the next best thing - a lotus terrarium. Is that even possible in real world? Dunno, but in my world all it takes are a bunch of strokes and voila! 

Bulb Terrarium, available for purchase here. 

Paper boat

We have been having lots of rain! It has cooled things off and that's been great! The not-so-good part has been Bunny Bee running scared to hide under the couch every time it thunders. To distract her I have been making lots of paper boats for her to nibble on. 

Paper boats, rain and I go a long way back. When I was little I found it impossible to concentrate on what was happening in the class during monsoons. I coped by tearing sheets of paper from the note books and making lots and lots of paper boats, all the while desperately waiting for the lunch bell to ring. With the first ring of the bell I would run out with the boats stuffed in my skirt pockets to look for flowing rivulets of water. I thought paper boats sailing on rain water rivulet was the coolest things ever!

Paper boat, available for purchase here. 

LOVE

Since, my sister and brother-in-law are visting us for a couple of days (yay!) I was looking at fun things to do/ see in and around Philly. The LOVE statue caught my attention. We have lived here for over a year and yet, I haven't gotten around to visting it or drawing it!

So what better time than now? As you can see I took some artistic liberties (read making it girly) with the letters and its color. A girl's gotta do what  a girl's gotta do :)

Swing on

Oh! I love swings!! Especially the ones on a rope that hangs from a tree. 

The pure unadulterated joy of gliding through the air, hair skimming the ground and toes pointed, almost touching the sky. Just thinking about it makes me smile (and feel about 10 years younger!)

We have a porch swing back home and I have fond memories of sitting on the swing - wrapped in a blanket - watching my cute little nieces and nephews run and play in the front garden, occasionally bring in some treasure (a pebble, dead bug or a wild flower) to show me. It's wonderful how swings are always associated with happy times!

Swing on, available for purchase here.

Enjoy your weekend! 

Tea Cups

Good morning friends! Care to join me for a cup of tea?

When I shared the tea pots illustration a little while back, a reader requested a companion piece with tea cups. I was more than happy to oblige! I'm fascinated with the delicate porcelain and the sensual curve of the handle. Not to mention how easy it is to add a dose of personalized whimsy to a cup. Check out this link to know what I'm talking about. My favorite one has to be the tea bag coffin. I always find myself in a quandary - to store the dripping tea bag in my saucer (yuk!) till I finish my tea or run to the garbage bin and throw it away, while my tea is quickly cooling away. 

I'm waiting for the skies to clear up a little bit so that I can take pictures of both (Tea Pots and Tea Cups) illustration together :)

Cups, available for purchase here.

Deer with bunting on antlers

I hope you all had a beautiful weekend. I was super busy attending back to back baby showers (yes, it seems to be raining babies! ). I enjoyed everything from picking presents for the moms-to-be to the super silly baby shower games and the inevitable giggling and whistling. Fun times! 

Another close friend is going to have a baby girl pretty soon and I drew this lovely deer and bunting illustration for her nursery. I think it's going to be perfect for the little girls room :)

PS. I'm looking for a suitable frame for this print. Any ideas? 

Deer with bunting on antlers, available for purchase here.