The Occasional Tinkerer

This is an illustration of our 72 Triumph Tiger, rendered in pencil and looking far more reliable on paper than it ever was in person. My husband and I used to tool around on this old bike, often finding ourselves stuck on the side of the road on the dark, cursing the British engineers at Lucas, who supplied the wiring.

Graphite on cold pressed paper, 48" x 36".

This was a fun little project. I hand-illustrated a lawyer’s name into a guitar headstock so he could use this stylized rocker logo as a guitar pic business card.

Pen and ink, printed on guitar pics.

When our nephew Max was awaiting his entrance into this world, I spent time in his to-be nursery painting a 360 degree wall mural inspired by one of my favorite childhood books.

Acrylic on drywall, 12' x 14' room.

"Starry Night" wooden chair. Each child in my daughter’s class burned their name into a star, and I combined them onto a chair. I added Maria Montessori quotes and donated it as a piece for the school auction.

Wooden chair, wood-burned with acrylic paint.

Some good friends launched a brewery and asked me to take on the design of their logo. We worked together on the concept, inspired by their love of the canoes by the lake in our village. Original watercolor painting of canoes and hand-lettered logotype communicate the hand-crafted nature of the product.

Watercolor and digital design.  

Arlo is our half Pyrenees, half Lab. He’s about to cross over to the other side, so I sketched our old boy to hang on our living room wall.

A sampling of different styles of custom paintings for small businesses--in watercolor, acrylic and oil: 

This postcard captures the whimsy and lush charm of Mount Gretna summers, which attract thousands of visitors each year. Available at the Mount Gretna gift shop. Watercolor on cold-pressed paper, 4" x 6".

The olive grove was commissioned by a local olive oil company. Acrylic on glass, 5' x 5'.

The jewel box was commissioned to brand handmade jewelry with a hand-drawn look. Watercolor, 6" x 6".

The farm flowers was created for a flower business, with a hand-drawn feel to compliment the earthy business. Colored pencil, 10" x 10".

The decorative lettering and borders were created for a church, who commissioned a full book of illuminated calligraphy to commemorate gifts to the church. Watercolor and pen & ink, 13" x 13".

The sheep was commissioned by a children's author. Watercolor.

I desiged the label for a private label wine as a side project.

Digital design. 

Sometimes I get a request from a friend to paint their house. Here are a couple of these fun projects.

Watercolor and pen & ink on cold-pressed paper.

When my daughter was young, she loved Swampy (the green frog) and Reesy (the orange frog). I made a wood-burned sign for her room so they could greet her with a smile.

Wood-burning and acrylic on wood panel, 12" x 12".

I love Richard Scarry books, so when we were preparing Kasper’s nursery I painted these fun little canvases. To this day he remembers staring at the characters from his crib.

Acrylic on canvas, 36" x 24".

Fraktur is a traditional form of illuminated Pennsylvania Dutch folk art and black-letter type. I got into the historical form of artwork, and started designing my own modern versions.

Eventually I started to be commissioned to create fraktur pieces for weddings, births, and other special occasions. These examples show a variety of certificates, in addition to a collection of notecards and the reproduction of an original 1800's Pennsylvania German Fraktur. This reproduction was one of a series painted to provide English translations for display in the historical society. 

Watercolor and pen & ink on hand-dyed cold-pressed paper, sizes vary.

Rod and I rehabbed a little cottage in Mount Gretna. It was a complete gut and redesign, and during the two year project I loved the rhododendrons that surrounded the cottage so much that I incorporated them into our cut glass bathroom sink mosaic. It turned out this was a real challenge to keep clean so I don’t recommend for a counter top! Also included is the sign I painted for our little cottage, a nod to how long it take to complete the project. :)

My husband loves the interplay of hawk and raven energy, and asked me to try to combine them in an illustration. I added elements in their tailfeathers — a choice I might not make next time.

Pencil illustration