Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

And something silly :)

Big and small steps

My! My! Time flies! It's been almost half a year since my last post...

 

Many things happend in my life during the past five to six months. One of the biggest and most important was my wedding... actually two weddings, on two different continents. One in Estonia and one in California, since our homes and families are very far apart. Both weddings were beautiful and full of joy, and we will remember these days all our lives. But it took quite some time to prepare such big events, and some patience from both of us.

 

I'm very happy that we did it, and I hope we will never have to do it again ;)

 

 

Photo by Xenia Shabanova

 

Another big and important step was moving to California, where I'm trying to make this place my home. Planting trees, flowers, and a vegetable garden around the house, and watching them grow, definitely helps in creating the right feeling.

 

Between these two big steps were many little ones. I've been very busy with artwork and school. Yes, I'm happy to say that I'm finaly a Schoolism student, taking my first class (Fundamentals of Character Design with Stephen Silver) and learning a lot. I have never been so excited and happy about school before.

 

 

That's the most important news. So, I will finish here for now with this little illustration of a couple Racka sheep, and try to post some more stuff a little later... hopefully much sooner than half a year later ;) 

 

With love,

Ilona

Black bear

Watercolor illustration "Black Bear".

Koi pond

Watercolor painting "Koi pond."

 

 

Mugs

My "Snowy Owl" painting is now available on mugs!

 

 This hunting fox is also a design for a mug.

If you would like to have a mug with any of these paintings, let me know! :)

Jump

I'm continuing with animal illustrations, so here is a watercolor painting of a hunting fox.

 

 

 

Peacock

One day I'll be sitting under an apple tree in my garden, watching these beautiful birds walking around, and listening to their strange songs :)

 

 

Prints are for sale in my Etsy shop!

 

Blue day of the giraffe

Before coming back to Estonia from CA a few days ago, we visited San Francisco Zoo, where I saw giraffes. Being quite fascinated with these interesting animals, I took a bunch of photos of them, and when I returned home in the evening I made a little painting based on one of my photos.
 

 

Prints are for sale in my Etsy shop!

 

Frog umbrella

My new acrylic painting.

What else do you need to brighten up a rainy day? Just a cute (and waterproof) umbrella, a pretty dress, and a ticket to a place you always wanted to go :)

 

 

New acrylics

I visited a couple arts and crafts stores - Michael's and Jo-Ann, and of course I couldn't leave without some new stuff. Even if I'm not planing to buy anything, I always end up finding something that I "can't live without." But these visits are always inspiring and I leave the stores with a wish to create more.

So, this time I've got some new sketch books, canvases, brushes, and Liquitex acrylic paints.

 

 

And started to play with my new toys :) Here is the result:

 

 

"Summer Time" and "Barn Owl" on the canvas panels (20x25cm).

Details of paintings, like the barn, train, and windmills, are inspired by California.