Hot drinks and warm hugs are this season's specialties. In Maryland the trees are in full transition. Bright colors of oranges and yellow mix with deep purples and reds, falling to the ground slowly on calm days or whipped into a frenzy on windy days. It is such great entertainment – the time to sit outside is now! I find fall to be a time re-birth, re-invention, a new year begins, so jotting down notes or goals or dreams is a must. How is your autumn looking and feeling so far? I've lived many places, but all generally on the same longitude.
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Exciting updates are coming to the shop. I've been busy creating new patterns, sourcing more eco-friendly organic cotton products, and researching table linens per customer's requests (samples from Canvistry are coming soon so follow along).
The most exciting news is that new holiday items are now available in the shop! I love the autumn and winter seasons so this is the most exciting development. There are gorgeous wrapping paper sheets luxe colors, earth-tone colors, traditional colors, and more. I'm on the lookout for Christmas stockings, so stay tuned. And in the spirit of Christmas, I've created a curated gifts section of the website so you don't have to scour each product individually. Additionally, the Spoonflower shop is also being simultaneously updated with new patterns. The artworks are available as fabrics so you can make your own creations, or you can choose to purchase an array of soft furnishings already made just for you. Please note that some of the older designs have been archived. As part of my sustainability promise I am working with shops that do not hold inventory and create upon purchase order. This helps to reduce unnecessary waste of material, energy, and labor.
Our moving process began one year prior to us departing and I have found it difficult to cultivate a creative energy. I have been busy snipping the small threads of our lives in England while simultaneously trying to re-sew them into America—all while ensuring the whole piece didn't unravel!
But last week I felt a wave of creative roll through and the citrus painting above is the result. The process was fluid and organic; pure emotional release pouring onto the canvas. While the piece is not completed (is any piece ever really done?) I wanted to share, because maybe it's just what you needed to get your creative energy flowing again, too. It's official – we have moved back to America! In 2015, my husband and I moved away from Washington, DC as two, and are now returning back as a family of four.
Some of my supplies is being shipped, so in the meantime I'll be sharing new inspiration on Pinterest. I'm making plans to re-engage the studio and my art practice now that this major hurdle of internationally moving has been cleared. Part of this will be reintroducing Instagram—my previous account was a personal account and has been made so again, so a new fresh art account has been created.
Pinterest has been a wonderful place for me to share and find inspiration. Recently I've been adding more of my own work to Pinterest. I'm excited to share my inspiration boards with you all as I've been collecting and pinning for a long time now.
I have been wanting to use a cozy homestead as the focus of an illustration for a long time. The palette in this week's challenge seemed to suit the mood of a cozy, indoors moment. I sometimes wonder if I should begin illustrating more often as I find so much joy in creating worlds rather than mimicking what I see on a landscape. What you see is somewhat of a dream home for me: kitty cat by the wood burner, comfy chair and clothes, warm cuppa, Georgian window, a sweater waiting to be knit, stacks of books to be read, and socks warming naturally. Hope you feel cozy and at home when you look through. Creative ProcessI sketched in the darkest color on the palette so I would have the definition at the end (see picture one). Then working in thirds I applied the three additional colors. What I mean by "working in thirds" is I added three locations for each color to make the piece feel balanced. Then I could add dabs here and there to create more depth (see pictures two and three). Once the initial watercolor was painted I then went in with watercolor pencil to add details to items like the flower pot, curtains, and yarn.
I've joined up with artists around the world and one very special Esté MacLeod for the #coloricombo 2022 weekly color palette prompts. I did not sign up in time for Week #1, but here are the sketches from Week #2.
I've been taking an interest in using magazine slices and weaving them into new art. Reusing used materials is appealing to me—breathing new life into something old can be beautiful. Experimenting with acrylic and line art. Lines fascinate me and always have. They create texture, depth, definition, mood with one organic stroke of my hand, one meditation of my brain saying, "A line here. A line here. A line here." I'm excited to explore this.
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Images are ©Ashley Stuart. All reproduction or use of images is prohibited without written consent. If you see an artwork that you would like to own, but it's not in the shop, get in touch and I'll try to make it happen!
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October 2024
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