Childrens Books - now available for pre-order

For the past many months I have been working on illustrating a series of Bible Story books for children. The writing is amazing! It is written in rhyme but in a really smart, unique way... a bit similar to "The House that Jack Built". And now 2 of the 4 books "The Beautiful Garden of Eden" and "A Patch on the peak of Ararat" are available for pre-order on Amazon. (HERE and HERE). So exciting!!!

 It was great to work with Tyndale. I can't wait to get my copies and see the book in full. And show more images from it.

birds + a poem

i guess i have a thing for birds... and poems by ee cummings. (i first learned of him in graduate school when i was studying book arts + printmaking at the university of the arts, in philadelphia.)

the thing I love about creating art is you never know where its going to take you...

west elm pop-up!

Hooray! My West Elm Pop-up (in Philadelphia) was such a great day! I had my talented friend Aliza of Aliza Schlabach Photography (see her website here) stop by to take some photos and they came out amazing! I'm excited to share them here below. 

Thank you to all my friends and gamily who came by to say hello, and to shop! I feel like I had another thesis show - or wedding - but I believe it was totally worth it. The store employees were super helpful and to have my products in a store that I am enamored with was pretty much a dream come true. 

Some of my best sellers were my studio-m flower planters, my pouches from DENY, my new spiral notebooks, my little reclaimed wood blocks, and I even sold one of my large whale canvases. I did bring quite a bit of merchandise (some of which I will soon put into an online shop) but my husband always says "go big or go home..." so thats what I did. And, I think it paid off! :)

holiday houses

My Kindred Art Collective just made some lovely downloadable + printable holiday houses. They really are a lovely set! View them all here. 

Here is my winter woods inspired house. Feel free to print, cut out, fold, fill with a treat or hang.

Shown below is my in progress house - made quickly with regular paper... The graphic designer in me just HAD to do this...

house.jpg

cricket cringle - 2015

This past weekend I participated in the 2nd Annual Cricket Cringle - a holiday pop-up outdoor market in Ardmore, PA. There were over 30 merchants and the event was held on a Friday night (5-9) and the following day (10-6). I do not sell at many art/craft shows, but i can say this one was so much FUN to be a participant in. (And to help plan.) I do wish I had been able to walk around a bit more. There were many entertainment options, food trucks, restaurant samples (mmm... pumpkin beer), kids crafts, and even Santa popped by. 

At the market, I sold prints, cards, mugs, tote bags and even a few pillows. I will be adding inventory to my online shop and you can also find my things at Pucci Manuli

Aliza of Aliza Schlabach Photography took some AMAZING photos of my booth at the event. You can see more of the event photos at the Cricket Cringle event page

introducing... kindred art collective!

Some fun news today! Five very non-local friends and I are announcing our new artists collective - named Kindred Art Collective. See our pretty website here.

The six of us gals met online within the last 2 years through the Make Art that Sells course offered by the art agent Lilla Rogers. The fabulously talented Jan Avellana (along with the superstar illustrator Lucy Banaji) & I all roomed together in May 2014 when we went to Surtex. (Surtex stands for Surface Textile and is an annual ginormous tradeshow in NYC where artists show art, meet new and potential clients, and sell and/or license their art to manufacturers, retailers, etc..) The idea of a collective was first floated around then, and thanks to Jan, her vision, her reaching out to some like minded artists, and a lot of Facebook interaction, finally it has come to fruition. Some of us are plan to exhibit at the next Surtex in 2016. (But, more on that in the new few months...)

Here are links to the individual websites of my co-collective mates: Sara BrezziMalu LenziKelly AngelovicJan Avellana, & Antoana Oreski. We literally live ALL over the world. (Philly, Italy, Brazil, Colorado, Croatia, Hawaii). I think we might even represent all the time zones. 

Here is our facebook banner doodle which we all participated in drawing on. (Be sure to visit and like our page if you are so inclined...) Can you tell which ones are mine?

We will each be introducing ourselves daily on our blog/website.

For our first collective project, we each did a Halloween piece. Shown below are the first 2 pieces in my collection. And the rest you can find on the Kindred Art Collective Gallery site here

Wouldn't it be FAB to see this artwork incorporated onto a table cloth for a large home decor manufacturer? Well - OK - now you know one of my dreams + goals.

Thank you for reading this, and do have a wonderful Monday. Let's all have a productive week!

first friday on saturday

In September I participated in a local event called First Friday on Saturday, in Ardmore, PA. It was a beautiful day outside where the community had the opportunity to meet 6 local artists and learn some techniques. I also did the poster design for the event (shown in the gallery below.)

Burst of Floral - fabric design

Trying to get some last minute designs done before SURTEX & my trip to NYC next week. (Wee! SO excited!!)

On a separate note, I've decided to put this out there... I would really LOVE to see my work printed on fabric & have a fabric collection... IN stores.

Here is a recent design I created which I think would look extremely fun on fabric. I could see a tablecloth, a tea towel - or, even a fun flowy skirt!

Oopsy Daisy + Greenbox art!

I am extremely please to announce my new collections which are now available for purchase now over at Oopsy Daisy, Greenbox Art & Wheatpaste. And - theres a sale for 15% off NEW ART till January 21.

View or Purchase GROW + FLOURISH here 

Art for Greenbox Art - created by Barb Chotiner


Art for Oopsy Daisy + Greenbox Art - created by Barb Chotiner

Lastly you can read my little bio on their website right here.