The Love Story Continues: Hedgehog and Pincushion

I've been working on a few more hedgehog and pincushion illustrations lately.   You may have seen the start of their romance in a previous blog post.  Here are their latest adventures.

Hedgehog wants to show pincushion how much he loves her, so he offers her a flower.  He's still a bit shy.

Next, the celebrate their relationship with a night of dancing.  Doesn't pincushion look lovely in her tulle skirt?

These will be available in my shop as soon as I have a chance to get them printed up.  I'm also starting to imagine a series of illustrations where they re-enact famous love scenes.  So far I'm picturing a Romeo and Juliet situation with a balcony.  Any other suggestions?

Pregnant Moose- An Ode to My Son

A little over a year ago, I found out I was pregnant with my sweet baby boy.  I was excited and nervous.  I was also awkward and nauseated.  At one point, while trying to climb into the bathtub, I told my husband I felt like a pregnant moose.  Since it was late at night and we were already sleep-deprived from our very active toddler, we laughed hysterically.  This led to a conversation about all the things "pregnant moose" couldn't fit into.  Eventually, this got translated into paintings.

Here is the original, poor pregnant moose trying to fit in her bathtub.  Her muscles are sore and she just wants to relax.  Too bad her belly is so big.

Next, poor pregnant moose is realizing her clothes no longer fit.  I wonder if there is a moose maternity store?

Now for all of you out there saying, "Hey!  Wait a minute! Female moose don't have antlers!"  You're absolutely right.  But I couldn't picture pregnant moose without them.  So I looked it up and found that hormonal changes can occasionally cause female moose to grow antlers.  I decided that if hormones can cause pregnant humans to drool excessively, my moose could grow antlers. 

I'm hoping to turn these into a series of greeting cards.  But please, only for your friends with a good sense of humor; not everyone wants to be reminded how big they are.

Science Nerd Art

I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm a huge nerd.  I have a degree in molecular biology.  I have a TARDIS in my living room.  I think logic puzzles are fun.

I'm also a big fan of puns.  My dad is the king of puns and he passed on his sense of humor to me.

So what do you get when you combine these two things together with a little bit of paint?  This:

Cell Culture

Guinea Pig Research

Lab Rat

 You're welcome universe.  Prints are available in my shop.

Art with a Toddler

Hey Friends-

Lately I have been having some fun creating some pieces with my little girl.  She is currently 18-months-old and is definitely just learning how to color.  Crayons were hard for her because she couldn't press down on the paper hard enough to make a mark.  So after a little research, I found these watercolor crayons.  They were much easier because if the paper was wet, the color would instantly appear on the paper even with a light touch.  So we started playing.

It is definitely a challenge to my patience.  Half of our "coloring" time is her picking up all the crayons in one hand and moving them around the table.  But it's fun and I love introducing her to a bit of creative fun, even at this early age.

After seeing a few other artists who have created things with their kids art (see here and here), I decided to try my hand at it as well.  I took our finished watercolors and used ink to fill in an image.  I would typically sit there for 5-10 minutes, just staring, trying to figure out what the colors looked like.  It was fun and challenging.  Here's a few that I made:

I will be showing off these pieces at Avanti Art and Design starting this Friday.  A new show is opening up called "Generations in Art" and it's designed to feature all ages of artists.  If you are in the Seattle area, I'd love for you to stop by!

Hedgehog in Love

For awhile now, I have been working on a series of ink and watercolor illustrations in which a hedgehog falls in love with a pincushion.   I'm not really sure where the idea came from, but once I imagined it, it seemed so obvious.

Their eyes meet across a crowded room.  The hedgehog is spiky.  The pincushion is spiky.  It was love.

Hedgehog Loves Pincushion

As any young couple does, they went on their first date.  To an amusement park.  I hope the seatbelts were big enough to fit around the pincushion...

First Date

On a sunny day, they decided to enjoy the great outdoors with a picnic.  Sadly, some ants mistook the pincushion for a real tomato and tried to spoil the day.

Picnic Disaster

After the picnic incident, they decided to stay indoors and see a movie, in 3D of course.  The hedgehog was the only one who ate the popcorn.

At the Movies

 Finally, the hedgehog decided to declare his love by carving their initials on a tree.  The pincushion was happy to help out with this.

Tree Love

That's their love story so far.  I've gotten some questions on whether I'll add to it or not.  I'm not sure yet.  I would like to leave it simple and uncomplicated (because really, let's not even consider their children).