Occasionally, off-the-wall things strike me funny and sometimes from that comes a design. This is one of those times. From something that struck me funny on an episode of American Dad.

Alligator Shout-Out Shirt by sfcount
See other Alligator T-Shirts

Japanese Screen & Pink Blossoms Wedding Invitation by sfcount
Browse other custom printed invites on zazzle

Wednesday Favorites

Fabulous retro image in cheerful, eye-popping colors from designs2inspire!

Pretty in pastel Whimsical Candy Bar Sticker from CandyBuffet!

Elegant black and gold wedding invitation with peacock feather accent from NiteOwlStudio!

Lovely, simple design with blue tulips in a blue striped vase from FloatingLemons!


A very handsome recipe binder for your crockpot recipes from Klassy_Kitchen!

Influences

It was years ago. (I think it was probably shortly after suffering my last bearable indignity in high school and I had left for the last time.) It happened that I hadn't been awake until the wee hours of the morning and I was up early enough to be watching The Today Show. They were doing a segment on Milton Glaser and it was, during that short segment, when I decided I wanted to be a graphic artist. More specifically, it was this image that inspired the decision:The juxtaposition of the natural fluidity of the flowers and the rigid geometry of the grid left me awed. It had never occurred to me before that you could do such a thing! It completely changed the way I thought of art, making me realize that everything wasn't just the same prosaic paintings that hung on my grandmother's walls. Although I've since discovered many other wonderful artists since then, Mr. Glaser seems to be always at the back of my mind and continues be an influence in my work.

It's Giveaway Time!

To show my appreciation to all the fantastic fans of SFCount Designs on Facebook, I'm offering the chance to win my Folk Art Flowers iPad case! (This case is for the original iPad - not the iPad 2) It has never been used, although it was on display at the Sundance Film Festival gift lounge earlier this year.


To enter, just leave a comment (including your name) on this post between now and July 19th. You can also comment on my Facebook page on the discussion board under the "iPad Case" topic for another chance. Each entry will be given a number. At the end of the entry time, I will generate the winning number through http://www.random.org/ and announce the winner on my page.

Once again, thanks so much for your support and good luck!

Fishing Buddies

For two mornings in a row, I was outside on my porch when a man went by in a Jeep with a rusty, old canoe strapped to the top and his big, black Lab in the passenger seat. I couldn't help but be inspired by the sight and a little envious of the nice, peaceful time they were going to have.

Welcome visitor

My mother lived in a rural area on a very large plot of land and few close neighbors. You could frequently hear Eastern Towhees scratching in the line of pine trees at the edge of her property and saying "tweet". (Although the experts say their call is "to-wheee", to me it sounds more like they are succinctly pronouncing the word "tweet" - "tuh-wee-t". I've always thought that was just so cute.) After my mother passed away five years ago, we moved into town and I never saw or heard those sweet little birds anymore. A couple of days ago, being such a beautiful spring day, I had the windows wide open to let the warm breezes in and lo and behold what do I hear? "Tweet!" I immediately got up and started trying to locate where the sound was coming from, but never could. The next day I heard that same call and heard the familiar scratching along the treeline at the back of our property. There he was! At that moment, I knew I had to paint him. Welcome to our home, little Towhee.

Kate and Calla Lilies

Ah, Katherine Hepburn. Whenever I see calla lilies I think of her. I've seen many interviews with her in which she flatly denied ever saying "the calla lilies are in bloom again". Not only did she say it, but she said it in one of her most stunning performances as Terry Randall in Stage Door. She's nothing less than jaw-dropping in that role. I'm not sure why she was so adamant about having not said it. Maybe she wanted to distance herself from all the camp impersonations of her using that very same line. Whatever her reasons, they were her reasons and that makes them just fine with me. Here's to you brilliant, wonderful Kate.

A Scary Moment

Once when I was a child, my mother got a call that my oldest brother had been in an accident. The accident had happened just a couple of blocks away from our house and my mother didn't drive, so she rushed down there on foot. Of course, being as young as I was she couldn't leave me home alone, so she took me by the hand and off we went. In my memory of this, I can almost see my feet coming off the ground as we hurried to find out how my brother was. That memory was the inspiration for this mixed media design.By the way, my brother 's leg was broken and he had a few other scrapes and bruises, but no permanent damage. In fact, today he's a marathon runner. :-)