Gingerbread cookies

Christmas without gingerbread cookies? Of course not! They are not just beautiful and delicious, they are fun to bake too. You can make whatever you want :)
 

Little illustration for the Christmas book for children "Päkapikk on detektiiv."

 

Last Christmas I made a gingerbread house for my love. I wanted it to represent our happy future, us in a cute farm house with a beautiful garden, and couple horses, of course ;) 

 

 

Päkapikk on detektiiv II

Here is couple more illustrations from the Christmas book for children "Päkapikk on detektiiv".

 

"Awaiting"

 

"Frost boys"

 

Book presentation

On December 6th in Tallinn was presented a beautiful Christmas book "Päkapikk on detektiiv", wich I illustrated. It was really nice event with gingerbread cookies, muppet show for kids and book signing. I was happy to see so many parents with their kids enjoying this event with us!

 

Me and book writers Tuuli Seinberg and Evelin Banhard.

 

 

Päkapikk on detektiiv

This autumn I made many beautiful illustrations for a childrens Christmas poems book entitled „Päkapikk on detektiiv“ (“Elf is a detective”). It was fun project that put me in a Christmas mood a long before actual holiday :) Now the book is finished and available in book stores! It turned out really cool!

Very soon, on December 6th, there will be a presentation of this book in Tallinn. So exciding! But before that I want to share couple christmassy illustrations.

 

 

More will come.

Follow your dreams!

Some of my resolutions for 2014 was to concentrate more on my own art, to be more creative, and to draw and paint a lot more. And now towards the end of this year, I can say that I did it!

I followed my dreams and changed some things in my life, that were keeping me away from what I really wished for. I can't say it was very easy, but it was definitely worth it!

 

 

This is an experimental, mixed media painting/collage I did last year. 

 

 

 

Dare to dream big and don't be afraid to fly,

Ilona

 

Updates and needle felted creatures

For a couple months I have been pretty quiet in all the social medias, but working on some interesting projects, both large and small. One of them was illustrating a Christmas book with poems for children. Thanks to this I got into the Christmas mood a lot earlier this year :) Working on this project was very exciting and I just can't wait to see the final result. I think it's going to be very pretty. The release date is December 6. After that I will be able to post some illustrations and pictures of the book online. I might even make some sort of book "give away" game... I'll keep you updated :)

 

Recently I felt like I wanted to do something other than drawing and painting, just for a little while, so I kept myself busy by needle felting creatures and making brooches. I made a whole flock of sheep :) Some of them will be presents for my family, as little talismans for the next year, 2015, the year of the sheep.

 

 

I have also updated my Etsy shop. You are welcome to come have a peak!

 

With love,

Ilona

Fairytale sketchbook

I made some photos of some little paintings from my sketchbook. I really enjoy drawing fairytale creatures and princesses! I also practised drawing folds and little patterns in the fabric. That's kind of fun too :)

 

 

 

 

Paintings done with watercolors.

Fixing an old suitcase

My little DIY project. This old suitcase needed a new liner. I used a USSR era wallpaper that I found in my grandma's storage room. I think it fit the style of the suitcase pretty well.

 

 

Our little puppy was making sure that I did everything right.

 

I used PVA glue, also know as wood glue, white glue, or carpenter's glue. First I covered the sides and corners, then I used one longer piece of paper for the rest.

 

And now it's almost like new! Later I will change the handle too. Then it will look even beter :)

 

Delicious Discovery

Watercolor illustration "Delicious Discovery," I made one day and now finally scaned.

 

 

That's how my perfect relaxing day look like :)  I've been painting outside and enjoying sunny and hot day. Yay! Summer finally found Estonia!

 

 

Paintings and brooches with dogs

I did some digital paintings of different dog breeds, and used them for making clay brooches for some breeders as a custom work. Here you can see yorkshire terrier, saluki, english cocker spaniel, cavalier king charles spaniel, airedale terrier and of course chihuahua.

 

 

 

 

For making brooches, I used a very thin matt photo paper for prints, oven baked clay, PVA glue and varnish. I'll try to make a little tutorial with pictures next time, and show you the process of creating clay brooches.

 

And for those, who are interested in having one of this cute dog brooches: very soon they will be available in my Etsy shop for everybody! Yay!

 

With love,

Ilona

 

My etsy shop - The Artist in Love

I reopened my Etsy shop! Yay!!! I'm soo excited about it :)

And now I'm slowly filling it up with my arts and crafts. One of the chalenges for me is taking good photos of the products. I have an older Canon EOS dslr camera, which is a great camera, but not having a good place for photo sessions makes things a little more complicated. So, along with painting, drawing, and crafting, I'm also learning to be a better photographer. I found some really simple and useful tips in a free online book by Christina Greve. Maybe her tips will help you as well.

 

But now I want to welcome you to the shop of The Artist in Love! I hope you will enjoy your visit. Later I'm going to add more to the "About" section as well, where I'll tell you more about the name of the shop.

 

 

 

With love,

Ilona

Brooches

Here is one of my projects - clay brooches with my colorful characters, which you can use on your shirt, scarf, bag and make them look more interesting! 

  

 

 

 

Let me know if you are interested to have one of them :)

 

Hydrangea Girl

Oh oh, it's almost the end of the May and I havn't post anything yet :) It was pretty busy time for me, but here is a little illustration with hydrangea girl and her happy friends - honey bees.

Done with watercolors.

Flowergirl

One more charming woman with hat and flowers.

 

"Night’s Melody" painting and a poem

 

Night’s Melody

-Christopher Gonzales. April 25, 2013

 

Into the azure night they dance and sing

Sweet melodies the moon and stars compose.

And all the hills and hollows are a’ring

With wonders seldom seen and little known. 

What silent eyes smile there behind the trees

And shine with golden glowing light upon

A land where fairies fate our purest dreams

And magic has its lease until the dawn.

A brave and merry squirrel leads the way

Through shadows flickering upon the trail.

Night’s Melody a cheerful elf does play

Until sleep’s weary mask the notes unveil.

 

And far above the forest’s swaying boughs

A lonely deer is startled from its drowse.

This wonderfull poem were writen by my love, Christopher Gonzales, for "Night's Melody" paintings. The first painting of this series was made in the year 2011 and you can see it HERE. The second one, with the deer, was made in the beggining of the year 2013, and in the bottom corner it has the same characters as the first "Night's Melody." Here is a close up picture of them:

Painting done with acrylics on canvas (size 29,5 x 39,5 cm).

With love,

Ilona

 

Flowerman

This gentleman with hat (or just Flowerman, as I call him) was a custom work. I had to make similar painting to another work, that I've done almost four years ago. You can see that work HERE. But this time the painting had to be with a man.

 

 

I had fun working on it, so I created also one more Flowergirl with different type of hat and flowers. And I will share it with you as soon as I scan the painting.

 

 

With love,

Ilona

Bunny Bees

Ah, wouldn't it be cool if Bunny Bees were real? Flying from one flower to another, playing with each other in a beautiful sunny day... :)

 

This drawing from my sketchbook is made with colored pencils.

Rabbit's garden

Spring has come, sun is shining... and I'm getting more and more into gardening mood.

 

Sketchbook of California - part IX

I'll continue with my travel sketches. This time it will be some sketches of San Diego.

 

Sketchbook of California - part VIII

Placerville - also known as Hangtown - is a pretty little town in the mountains.

 

Nature and wild life of California is something that I really enjoyed!

Sketchbook of California - part VII

The Japanese Friendship Garden in Kelley Park, San Jose.

Sketchbook of California - part VI

Sketches in this post are from the Northern California Renaissance Faire, where we spent a day full of fun. Being a big fan of fairytales and fantasy, I felt like I could stay there forever.

Most of the people were wearing costumes, some of them highly detailed. It was very interesting to see people playing the caracters that they chose.

The Salty Siren Stage was probably my favorite thing... old pirate songs, naughty tales and jokes. I enjoyed every single show there, and I was especially happy to see The Sea Dogs live.

Sketchbook of California - part V

This day at Pescadero State Beach I noticed a big wave a little too late, and I got very wet. It was pretty cold and unenjoyeble, but funny at the same time.

Another sketch of Santa Cruz beach.

Sketchbook of California - part IV

I really enjoyed Santa Cruz, its sunny beaches, tide pools, boardwalk, downtown with street artists and musicians...this town has a special spirit to it.

Sketchbook of California - part III

Let's continue :)

We went to Capitola arts and wine festival. It was really nice place. I think I like smaller towns like Capitola much more than big towns.