coffee. then and now.

As part of the final installment of the Lilla Rogers "Make Art that Sells" Bootcamp, we were to be inspired by our favorite drink. (See all the drinks in their glory here.)

Well, since 1996 mine has been c-o-f-f-e-e. I was working at Wunderman as a jr. art director at my first job out of school, and my first (or second?) client was the coffee company Gevalia. Also known as "The Official Coffee Purveyor of the Royal Court of Sweden." Honestly, ever since then, I have been hooked. Thinking of my good old basic deli NYC cups of coffee always gives me fond memories. Hence, initially I had thought I wanted to do something based upon the famous Anthora cup. Additionally, (as you can see later on in some sketches in this post), in graduate school I did a artist book professing my love for the hot beverage. However,  this time I wanted to do something totally different.

I wanted to show passion and the ZING/POW/POP that my 3:00 coffee gives me every (or most) afternoons. :)

Below are my 2 final pieces. I had so much fun creating these that I definitely want to create more in the series.

These were created by doing a bunch of gouache sketches and then composing them digitally. I have been working this way for a while. Well, kind of. This was the first time with paint. (I have been creating monoprints and textures with paint and ink and then creating complex compositions digitally.) I started doing that for this assignment, but was disappointed in the result. It felt rich and dark like coffee, but not zingy and energetic like I had initially envisioned. 

So, I took out my Acryla-Gouache paints (as i LOVE the colors!!) and started doing small paint studies. It had never been my intention to work as I had with my monoprints - but boy did I have fun once the process began. I had one of those zone moments where everything clicked. I am looking forward to having some time to develop this method further.

and now... a BLAST from the past... Coffee circa 2006

In 2006 I received my MFA from The University of the Arts in Book Arts and Printmaking. At some point there... I created a bunch of sketches around my obsession with coffee.

I created a final book but I actually think the sketches are actually pretty darn funny.

I also created a limited edition 5"x7" silkscreen - that i now have hanging leaning next to my iMac. (Sorry for the not so great photo...)

Wow - Thanks for making it though this post. I welcome any comments or feedback on the above.

grassroots yoga festival

i have been working a a super fun project over the last few months for the upcoming Grassroots Yoga Festival in British Columbia. It looks like it will be a fun couple of days - and the campgrounds look amazing. (If only BC wasn't so far away from Philadelphia! Google maps tells me its only a 44 hour drive.) 

I created the overall look + feel for the festival and shown here are a poster and some postcard designs. I also designed the backdrop for the website and am currently working on a map illustration for the festival as well as a tank top design.

Namaste!

river. sea. ocean.

Just you and me. River. Sea. Ocean.

I just finished working on this large piece of art which was composed together from numerous monoprints. Wouldn't it be lovely to purchase from West Elm or Serena and Lily or One Kings Lane or Ballard? I also personally love GreenBox. A gal can dream, right? Where is your favorite place to get wall art? I'm also thinking now I need to do 2 smaller complementary pieces using the lighter aqua teal blues...

Deep Seal Diving Whales. Artwork available for licensing. © Barb Chotiner 2014

And here is a smaller nautical print I was working on. (But part of the same series.) I thought it might be nice to see them side by side in reverse...

River, Sea, Ocean. Artwork available for licensing. © Barb Chotiner 2014

The above pieces were inspired by one of my favorite songs by the artist Badly Drawn Boy...

Us, you and me
River sea ocean
Moving on so far away and dreaming
Quality sea, makes it to the ocean
Far away far away
Let her go, go far away

- Badly Drawn Boy

breathe in - breathe out - rinse - repeat

Editorial illustration time! This illustration was created for this article about meditation for people who don't like to meditate. I for one do, (thanks to a bunch of awesome mamas at my daughters preschool) but I admit it is very hard to find the time. But once I find it, I find am happy and grateful for finding the time and sitting calmly for 15-20 minutes. 

This piece was originally started in gouache and scanned in. I have been playing around with gouache and recently started a project where i complete a (25 minute) gouache painting a day in a (non precious) sketchbook. It was inspired by my amazingly talented friend Jennifer Orkin Lewis. She has been doing this since January and the results are amazing. I am posting my progress on instagram - which you can follow here. I am starting with the mini goal of 30 days and once that occurs I plan to extend it longer.

Namaste and happy monday!

Meditation - the hardest part is getting started... 

haverford college map

I can finally share a map I was commissioned to illustrate for Haverford College. It is a area map for new and potential students to show many of the things that are around the campus.

"Haverford's campus is situated just 8 miles from Philadelphia, and it's surrounded by restaurants, parks, shops, and more. Check out this (totally not-to-scale) map of the surrounding area." – Haverford College Facebook Page

Map designed for Haverford College - Artwork by Barbara Chotiner

more MATS craziness!

So - i enrolled AGAIN for another round of Lilla Rogers Make art that Sells. I couldn't pass up another chance to create some fabulous pieces of art.

Here is what I created for week one - Bolt Fabric. Topic was Tropical Fruit and Pyrex/Vintage casserole dishes.

Artwork by Barb Chotiner - Available for licensing - Making Art that Sells - Week 1 - #MATS

After I completed the above... I went ahead and created these fun little tea towel mock ups. 

Artwork by Barb Chotiner - Available for licensing - Making Art that Sells - Week 1 - #MATS

Artwork by Barb Chotiner - Available for licensing - Making Art that Sells - Week 1 - #MATS

My DREAM would be to have these licensed and created placed in a store - OR - to be printed on a fabric where crafty gals (& guys) could sew their own fabulous things. Even my husband (not typically a pattern man) loved them.