UPSIDE

Before you ask....yes I do know this photo is blurry and the other is upside down.  I also know the header on my blog is not centered for some reason.  I also know I have horrible grammar and spelling, and probably should never write on a blog. Sharing these photos is a celebration of beauty and appreciation for the imperfect.  I am very thankful for family and friends to help me with my imperfections and keep moving forward.

This past week, I have been messing around with test shots in the studio for an upcoming photo shoot.  I am testing different garments and color combinations to get an idea of what looks best with my bags.  These photos came out of the batch of tests.   I am a very intuitive person, which means I tend to trust in my initial feelings and plans regardless of trend or pressures.  But...then the second guessing ALWAYS creeps in.  I have been feeling blurry and upside down these past few weeks.  But the fact that I am writing this post does help the blur become more clear.

FLORA PIGMENTS

I have to admit the studio is a little slow these days.  The bright side is I can focus on the business side of production.  I have time to refine my ideas, set goals, and plan ahead for fall.  Right now I am trying to pull fall color inspiration for an upcoming photo shoot.  These dried flowers were collected on my honeymoon in Europe.  The lighter thistle and wheat looking are from Arles, France, where Van Gogh made alot of his paintings.  The yellow and blue flowers are from the Swiss Alps where we went hiking.  The fern is from Murren, our homebase village in the Alps.  The purple/blue bells are from Versailles, France, just outside Marie Antoinette's country "farm."  

HAND PAINTED

You may be wondering how I hand paint the linings of the leather bags and the fabric for the Easy Circle Tote.  Here are a few shots I took during the process.  Originally, I intended to switch to silkscreening to make the process quicker, but I am still hand painting everything.  The amount of time and money to figure out how to silkscreen would not be worth the hassle right now.  I know how to paint, so I can stick with that for now.  As a one woman studio, I need to save my time and money for many other aspects of my business. I also realized hand painting fabrics is one of the most enjoyable aspects of making my bags.  So for now, I am happy keeping this painting assembly line the way it is.