Belated thanks & Some trip ephemera

© 2008 Laurel Porter-Gaylord

I've started packing things up around the house and getting my studio tidied to make it easier to move everything and tackled my desk area where my inspiration board is. I love adding & changing things out on it at whim with fresh new stuff!! Of the many things that inspire me are the 'treasures' I receive from artists I've met online. I'm so belated in posting this as Laurel Porter-Gaylord, or as most of us at Illustration Friday know her as, Studio Lolo, sent these to me quite awhile back but anyway here they are, please forgive me Laurel :)

She created the ATC of the bird w/heart sealed envelope just for me (I think I screamed out loud when I opened her package!) and also sent me a gorgeous card with a reproduction of a painting of hers printed on it for me to send to my hubby, I was so very touched by her thoughtfulness.

I just love her posts and the touching stories behind her artwork, her trompe l'oeil work is über-cool! Visit her blog, website, or Etsy shop, you won't be disappointed.

As well, the above photo is some of the ephemera I collected on my trip to the Southwest that I wanted to share.

Items clockwise from top right:
New Mexico postcard, handwoven bookmark by the nuns of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Desert, White Sands Monument entrance ticket, fragrant flower bloom & leaves, retro looking Best Western card & case, Texas Badlands pamphlet, Frontier Airline boarding pass stub, Texas map background

I have more pics to load up soon, especially the items I picked up at an Antiques Fair in New Mexico, so be sure to visit again soon :)

Postcard Exchange - My trade

Finished my postcard for the art exchange I set up with one of my favorite artists, Emila Yusof, so thought I'd share it with you. Emila had sent hers to me a few weeks ago and I only had a general idea of what I was going to create for mine. However, after sketching out my entry for IF's 'Alphabets' last week I was inspired to create this card with the letters H and I (hi) with different greetings from around the world - so fun! I've been totally inspired with these whimsical flower illos and want to thank you all so much for your wonderful feedback and support - and yes I am considering your suggestions to make this into an alphabet book or card collection!! :)

I used a few techniques on this for the watercolor - wet into wet, salt resist, stippling etc. then when dry I detailed it out w/ prismacolor pencils. Finally I sealed it w/ a fine matte finishing spray.

This started out as a sketch in my moleskine, I then cut the page out (eeek! I'm sure if there's any moleskine purists out there, they'd shudder hearing that - however I've learned that if I don't take my supplies too seriously I have the most fun and the BEST results so no problem here 'wrecking this journal' hehe!). To give it more stability for going through the mail and to write my greeting to Emila, I glued another moleskine page to the back, weighted it until flat and then for a nice clean finish, rounded the corners.

Postcard Exchange

Today was a great mail day- yay!!! About a month or so ago I emailed one of my favorite artists, Emila Yusof, a hugely talented illustator, to set up an exchange of original art with her in the form of postcards. I was blown away when I opened my mailbox and found her BEAUTIFUL artwork sitting in there! Not only is it gorgeous it's huge for a postcard, about 4x9 and in my fave colors. It got a little bit marked up going through the mail but hey - it came halfway across the world to get to me!!

Anyhow, I didn't even turn it over to read the back I swear, for at least five minutes. Oh my I will treasure this forever, I love it Emila - thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart!!!!!

Yipes, I haven't finished hers yet so I better get busy! :)















Postcard from Emila, Malaysia
© Emila Yusof