Blog?  Schmog! Okay...haven't updated my blog in 20 days...but it IS my summer break- and I have been enjoying it.   Plus, for some portion of that time I was deep in the mountains of North Carolina with no Wifi and NO CELL PHONE SIGNAL. Yup, I was 'roughing it'.

(Left) Seriously- look there in the background, that lil' cabin....that's where we stayed. Not a lick of wifi or cell phone signal or lights once it got dark...yikes! (Right) Might as well take a walk down a dirt road with my niece, since we are down on the farm

While we were that far out west, we decided to head on over to Nashville...and I finally got to meet the fabulous Cassie Stephens- and deliver her some copies of the lastest Art Hive Magazine,
'cause she's in it! (I would know, I did the interview!)

Meeting Cassie in person...kinda wasn't a thing because it was like I was meeting up with an old friend, which confused both of our husbands when they found out this was our first time meeting in person- they thought we have known each other for years!  Ha, we sure fooled them!
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No big deal, just sharing this article about this amazing art teacher from TN with...wait a minute...

In honor of Cassie's DIY recently retired crayon shoes, I decided to honor her design skills in my daily art- and I sketched those shoes as my daily art and gave'em to her.  (she already has them up in her classroom art gallery- I feel so honored, that is my second piece!)
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(Left) Me, artin' at the Harris boys place in Nashville, not pictured, Bella the pup- she was my studion assistant. (Middle) Cassie's DIY shoes and my sketch of 'em (Right) Cassie with her new art

While in Nashville, John and I  decided to take an impromptu trip to Louisville, because...well, just because.  Oh, and Justin came with us #RoadTrip

This was by far the best 'temporary studio' set up of my entire trip. 
John booked a great room overlooking the river and I basically took over one of the big ol' windows.

​And that is basically it.  Summer, man- I love it.

But then on June 5th, I saw the news that accessory designer Kate Spade had died- she committed suicide.  And it just really stuck with me.

And I just started thinking,
'Maybe I should do something else this month?'

...it just seemed like everything was pointing towards fashion- again.  

Heck, even Milky seemed to be telling me to go that route;

...and just want to leave this here...

Lovin' me some Liris.

​Goin' GLOBAL

​At the end of my series I started thinking about bridal gowns from different cultures...and that led me down a internet rabbit hole.  I found waaaaaaay too much.  I narrowed it down a bit and just jumped in and started drawing.   Lucky for me my good friend Siddhi was only a text away to give me some leads on designers. I checked out designers she told me about from India, and then found even more...next thing I know I was immediately swooning over all the details, and of course the SPARKLE.  Gahhhhh.   I have already requested that she renew her vows so I can get all gussied up and see this beauty first hand.  (oh, and she also did a traditional american wedding, so she had a second WHITE gorgeous dress...'cause she is fancy like that!)

Here is my girl Siddhi with her husband Chris, and the three pieces I created based off Indian designers; (from Top to bottom) Ritu Kumar, Tarun Tahiliani and House of Kotwara

Sketch of Farida Degel's gown

And then I was thinking...what about a wedding dress created by an African designer?  ​I found WAAAAY too many inspiring gowns- finally decided on this one...but I feel like this will definitely be a starting point when i revisit the series;

Annnnd then I thought, let me go back and check out more Asian designers... Yup, another couple of hours drooling over rich embroidered fabrics.  I finally just picked a gown BY Guo Pei and forced myself to end my search...for now...

​Okay...enough already, here is my daily work, and some extra pieces 'cause I really LOVED this theme!