Re*Awakening

Earlier this summer, I was asked by my lovely friend Sarah Hawkins of Bergdorf Goodman, to style and contribute some of my handmade accessories for a short fashion film that she was putting together with some other amazing artists. Back in August I posted up some behind-the-scenes photos I snapped, as well as a little written detail about the day.

You can read the full article { here! }

I am so pleased to announce that "Reawakening", a film by Edan Cohen, has been released today!

As promised, I am embedding it here for you to enjoy! Please give it a watch and tell me what you think! If you like it, please do share it with your friends!

reawakening from Edan Cohen on Vimeo.

The film featured many of my pieces (many of which have since been sold!), including: 

You can find my jewelry in { my shop } - I have many new fall pieces up and will be introducing holiday gifts in the next coming week!

{ video by edan cohen // photos by erin mcmanness }

Introspection.

 It is always hard to trust another person, 

but I am finding reason after reason why you're worth the risk.

 { font : la boldyta from dafont.com // photo via pinterest.com }

Dia de los Muertos & Progress

As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to share the progress and completed piece for the Day of the Dead show at Starkweather Arts Center in Detroit.

This piece is actually something darker than I usually do, and the idea came to me after my mister showed me Pan's Labyrinth for the first time. That night I had a terrible nightmare (that I'm actually planning to post from my dream journal tomorrow or Monday - stay tuned!), and woke up clawing at my body, soaked in sweat (and I think I kind of freaked him out, oops!). The next morning after breakfast, I grabbed his sketchpad and a pencil, curled up in his big red chair still in my pajamas, and sketched out an idea that had just stuck in the front of my mind.

That day, I was invited to participate in Dia de los Muertos. My sketch was great inspiration, given that I was dying in my dream.

Instead of exploring only traditional meanings to the holiday, I decided to take a more personal approach, though the subject in the illustration is not intended to be me, or a likeness of me.

Often when I work traditionally, I will make little notes in the "margin" of the masking tape, to remind me of what direction I want to go in. For this image, I used watercolour, graphite, and white acrylic paint.

I really enjoyed using the watercolour in this piece - I've been trying to break free from rendering every aspect of the piece to death, and the subtle washes of colour under graphic lines are really appealing to me.

Unfortunately my room is painted yellow, and I tend to be a night owl with an incandescent bulb in my lamp, so unfortunately the colours in the progress shots are not as true as I'd like them to be. But still gives a good idea of my process.

And the finished piece, 

ready to be framed and hung for the gallery show!

Day of the Dead / Opens October 7th : 7-10 pm / Starkweather Arts Center

{ All images (c) erin mcmanness 2011 }

The Most Annoying Thing

And a preview of the work in progress of my piece for the Dia de los Muertos Show at Starkweather Arts Center in Detroit! 

My very dear friend, Heather Hansma, is curating the show and was kind enough to ask me to participate. Heather is a fellow illustrator with fresh, intriguing work - check out { her blog } !

I've been taking progress shots as I've developed this illustration, and will share them here with the finished product. Since I'm still waffling around with watercolours, I'll probably just use the process shots as a reference for myself in the future ;)

Autumn C o l l e c t i o n

Over the past several weeks, I have been gearing up for fall. Today is one of the first days we've had "fall weather" - the air is chilly, I'm wearing my scarf, and I can feel my addiction to knit sweaters and apple cider start to take hold (seriously, how good is apple cider? So good!)

As I mentioned before, I am gearing up for a show in October (and working on some stuff that's kind of outside my comfort zone, but the haunting, dark soundtrack to Inception is keeping me in the right mood); I've also had some time here and there to put together my Autumn Collection.

Awhile back I was delighted to find my stash of vintage and antique buttons, and have been combining them with shades of rich gold, subtle lavender, royal purple, and pumpkin spice orange to create my line. I love these colour combinations, and they're perfect for pairing with leggings, sweaters, and scarves!

{ the AutumnCollection2011 : ////// etsy shop }

Please feel free to have a look in my Etsy Shop to view the whole collection and all new pieces! 

This weekend I'll be working on my show pieces, and will have some work-in-progress shots to show you! I'm excited to do something a little darker, and a little more introspective; and I'm even more excited to share it with you ~

{ 1st images & design (c) erin mcmanness 2011 } /// { 2nd & 3rd images via pinterest.com }

It's been raining a lot.

Thought I'd kick off the week with a little rainy inspiration...

#'s 1, 2, 5 & 7: via pinterest.com // 

#3: my mister officially asked me to be his girlfriend, silly little doodle I did of us, I haven't shown him yet //

#4: coming soon in my Etsy Shop // 

#6: Gold Ruffle Ring from my New Fall Line currently in my shop //

I hope everyone has a great start to their week!

Update & Food for Thought.

 

 { via pinterest }

Apologies for not being around much... I've been ill, and busy with work (trying to make money for schoooool!), and we're currently being flooded in where I live. But just some small thoughts for you all :)

I'm currently working on putting together some pieces for a gallery show in October, and have gotten some life drawing sessions in, and will have the new Fall Line up shortly! Hope everyone is well and safe tonight!