i was asked to participate in the art in full swing art auction for the cal ripken sr foundation. participants had the option to create something for the auction per their usual materials or to take on the challenge of painting on an actual baseball bat. i decided to break out of my box a little and go for the baseball bat option. my idea is based around learning the life of a tree by reading it’s rings, but instead we are reading the life of cal ripken sr. through a baseball bat. i sliced the bat into 9 pieces for the 9 innings in a baseball game, each piece was painted with acrylic paint in this order starting with the top of the bat: baseball, cal ripken sr, cal ripken jr, billy ripken, maryland flag, orioles bird, the number seven, “you’re out!” and lungs. the last 3 pieces might be some of the lesser known facts, billy and cal ripken sr. both wore the #7 for the orioles, the “you’re out!” is for when cal sr was fired from being coach and the lungs are because cal sr died of lung cancer. each of the 9 pieces are screwed into a diamond shaped piece of wood that has been painted black. the piece can either be hung on a wall or placed on a table. it will be up for auction may 16th at the annapolis yacht club along with many other great pieces, you can check out the event here.

collins+wilson communications, a new pr and marketing firm out of the baltimore area, asked me to create a logo for their company. they were really interested in a monogram type mark that was playful but still felt classy. here is what we ended up with:

back in december my dad’s side of the family collaborated on compiling stories, photos and letters to my grandfather for his 90th birthday. i was tasked with laying it out. i felt like i got to learn so much about my family and couldn’t wait for my grandpop to get the book. i am showing just a few of the entries, they were all fantastic, if you are interested in seeing the whole book you can view it here.

cover:

this was my personal entry to my grandpop:

i watched zeta one for the first time the other day (here is the trailer if you’re interested), it’s pretty hilarious. i will probably end up doing some paintings from it at some point, the lighting was really cool. anyway here is a drawing i did of one of the angvian women…

i had the honor recently to design wedding paper goods for some friends of mine and to top the cake, i was even asked to be in it! this is the first project i have really been involved in from beginning to end, it was definitely a blast. below you will see all the paper products i ended up creating for their big day; wedding invite with wood veneer envelopes, double sided rsvp postcard, single-fold wedding program and a menu. congratulations to the newly weds! xoxo!

p.s. i know i have been m.i.a. but i have many more projects to share that i will be finishing up with soon!

a few months ago i was hired to create a wedding save the date prop for doug and andrea. they asked me to paint on a crab bushel lid with a simple nautical theme that matched their wedding colors. i was excited about this project, it was pretty different from most of the things i get requests for. they recently got their photos done so i am able to post about it now! take a look below, really turned out nice! photo by dunks photo.

i was hired recently to create a logo for a house sitter, but not your usual friend of the neighborhood that will come over and check on your house, this is the real deal! and not only do they house sit they will travel anywhere to make sure your home is safe while you are away. we decided to go with a mark that looked like a stamp - a stamp on a postcard or a stamp that you might see in a passport. there is also an icon that is part of this stamp that is a key, the teeth of the key create the shape of a house. this is a strong icon that reinforces the trust you can have in house sitter international and can be used on it’s own for certain things. take a look at the logos and be on the look out for house sitter international! 

i recently finished another engagement party invitation. the party is being held at kettle hill in baltimore which has a cozy and rustic vibe. lots of rough wood and dark metals in there. i went with the same mood for the invitation, made it a rich brown color with a little bit of texture and sleek typography. i added some flourishes and “cheers”ing champagne glasses at the top to make it a little more interesting and fun.

angie is crisanto’s mom, she turns 50 today (happy birthday angie!) and last night we threw a big party for her at pazo in baltimore. it was a great success and so much fun. i was in charge of the table decorations. we were going with an 80’s theme and angie is a big music person so i used that as a basis for my designs. the table numbers were musicians with boomboxes, bono from U2 (angie’s favorite!), siouxsie and the banshees, madonna, and david bowie. the place cards naturally were cassette tapes with the guests name and the corresponding musician table number. we had personalized m&m’s in decorative candy boxes for each guest as well. take a look, i took some photos of the actual tables but it was really dark in there so it’s a little hard to see everything:

yet another party thrown by lemon and lime. this time it was a party for a woman turning 85 - mary (the birthday girl) is a graduate of albright college and is still quite involved with the school. so we decided to go that route with a retro looking albright cheerleader illustration inviting everyone to come celebrate the special day.

this was for a bridal shower luncheon thrown by the great ladies from lemon and lime. the party was held at the very classy hay adams in washington d.c. so ultimately the design needed to feel like the district and be pretty. cherry blossoms were the perfect “pretty” element this needed. the invitations were printed on slightly textured bamboo paper with rounded corners. check them out:

back in july i had 2 art events - 1 was an art opening at the idle hour with cris and the other was a one night art event through RAW artists. Both were very successful and fun nights. check out some of the photos! thank you to everyone who attended :)

back in 2003 when i was working for a garden center, garden treasures, i would have never imagined that my co worker, amy, would eventually take over the business and that i would be redesigning the logo. it just so happens that is exactly how the story goes. the original logo was kind of outdated so we decided to go with a completely new concept and feel. the general concept is a topiary/container plant and the items that make up the shape of the plant are flowers, a branch, a lady bug and a shovel all of which can be purchased at garden treasures. take a look:

this painting started out as an inspiration from doing research for my last painting, the chelsea. i was doing a lot of research on lingerie and really liked the way stockings held up with a garter belt looked like waves. during the sketch phase i came up with the idea of a hunter that hunts whale hunters, (those dudes are assholes!) and this is how i thought she would look:

the lemon and lime girls are back at it! this time they had me create invitations for a prohibition style party they were planning for one of their clients. the guests received a “teaser” email asking them to rsvp with their mailing address so they could receive the super secret party location in the mail. the printed piece was small and discreet - a business card size black card with white type featuring only the party location. super cool! check the pieces out below:

email invite:

printed piece: