rainy day!

today was sunny, actually, and i've got great news to share! back when i didn't have a blog i had submitted a mug design to the 2013 Buttercup China Competition, and it was selected as one of the top 10 (along with fellow designer Rosie Simmons). today my design was announced the winner! that means i will be able to have tea in a mug i designed, and needless to say, it's all very exciting!

i usually sketch on a white note pad, and then keep the pages i like in a folder. i prefer this method to keeping a sketchbook because it's less intimidating and also so much cheaper. anything that bothers me goes straight into the recycling bin. for this design, unfortunately all i could find were these initial doodles in my notebook. i must have skipped the pencil drawing, and worked directly on the computer.

initial ideas for rainy day design

and here's my winning entry (without the logo, obviously!) which was inspired from the warm feeling i get when i have tea on a rainy day.

rainy day

tomorrow will be a snowy day. i am looking forward to being stuck here and getting some new work done. and having tea, of course.

happy clouds

cloud motifs

today was not a happy day, but the clouds were happy. it was the funeral of my dear, elegant, and kind aunt, who left us saying her time had come. i am glad there were puffy, white clouds in the neon blue sky. they made me smile. it was a peaceful day. 

going slightly mad at 5:15 am

i woke up at 5:15 am this morning. my daughter coughed and my earplugs are apparently useless. for a moment, i was infuriated that i woke up and she didn't. that's one of the many reasons "i don't wanna grow up", as tom waits, my favorite musician, puts it (you can watch him perform that song here). but i digress. the reason i am sharing this otherwise meaningless event is because i woke up thinking about a future blog post! now, i am not a oh-i-am-so-cool-and-important-that-i-need-to-enlighten-the-world-with-my-clever-insights-every-day kind of person, at least i don't think i am, and i started this blog simply because it will help me focus on what i love to do. so i don't want this to happen ever again. period.

i woke up to a busy schedule: midwife appointment, swimming, random errands, and fortunately, a little bit of designing. i continued working on the leaf motifs i started a couple of days ago. now they are ready to be duplicated, manipulated, moved around, and arranged in a tile that will repeat seamlessly. but i was told they look like pistachios! maybe i should call the pattern "abstract leaf" instead of "leaf" and hope for the best.

leaf motifs

assuming anyone is reading this, i have a small confession to make: i wrote most of this blog post in my head this morning while still in bed. and what's worse: i started typing it as soon as i got up, while sevag, my amazing husband, and the one who thinks my leaves look like pistachios, was cleaning up the mess our daughter made when she tipped the toilet bowl brush over. and here's the worst part: i just started scribbling that future blog post i was thinking about when i woke up at 5:15 am . in the words of another one of my favorite musicians: it finally happened, i'm slightly mad, i'm very slightly mad...(you can enjoy the performance by the beautifully crazy freddie mercury here.)

i am reminded of an important decision i have to make

the photo box project is slowly advancing. i am working without thinking too much, and that's always fun.

may tab for photo box (april tab in background)

painting these flowers reminded me of this illustration i had done a few years back for a kids' magazine (see below). which in turn reminded me that i still need to add a mini portfolio page of my illustrations on this blog. currently, you can see my illustrations on alikart.com (in need of a massive update). 

flower | march 2010 

i need to figure out how to present my surface pattern collections and illustrations side by side on the same website...would they work together or should i have separate websites? it's a good question, to which i am hoping to find an even better answer asap!

a few leaves

today i didn't have a chance to leave the house, or rather the kitchen. it is only a couple of hours ago that i was able to sit at my desk and start working on a motif in my nature collection. since i might fall asleep right here before posting anything, i decided to update my blog with this screen shot showing my work in progress. i first sketch the motifs, scan them, and then redraw them in illustrator.

leaves | motif development

my goal is to complete 10 collections by march. i guess i will have to do less cooking and more designing if i want to finish them on time for my website launch mid-march. in the mean time, if you want to have a peek into these collections, you can check my mini portfolio page on this blog.

30 minutes

today started lazy and ended crazy, and i'll spare you the details. what matters is i did manage to squeeze in half an hour of painting, and i am one small step closer to finishing the tab project i started yesterday. i have been working on these without any prior plan or sketch, something i am not used to, and i am enjoying the freedom that comes with the knowledge that these will end up in a box that will be opened mostly by me.

march tab for photo box

it finally happened: i have a blog

this blog is not about my personal life, but i am starting it for personal reasons; i am starting this blog to make sure i keep on creating something every day. as the mother of a 2 year old girl, and  with another baby joining us in a couple of months, i am anxious that my time and energy will soon drain into the black hole of everyday moments. and although i cherish these moments, i am not fully satisfied with my day unless i have designed, made, painted something, or at least spent time thinking about it. how will this blog help me?  i am hoping a few daily lines or images documenting my work, inspirations, process, ideas or plans will keep me focused on what i love to do. it will give me the sense, however delusive, that i am in control of my day, my life. and that will make me happy. 

i love to make lists and here's one about my goals for the first months of 2013.

• i just opened a little Etsy shop, which was my goal for january. that's done. you can take a look at it here. 
• february's goal was to start a blog, and that's also done.
• need to complete work on 10 pattern collections by march. working on it.
• march 15 is the day when my website needs to be launched. not even close.
• and then i'll have this baby around april first. that's inevitable. then we'll go from there...

to do list, january 2013

and what was i up to today? i started painting these tabs to separate each month's photos in last year's photo box. i think they're more fun than the plastic ones that came with the box. should have more of them tomorrow evening, hopefully.

january tab for photo box (written in armenian)