Several people have asked me what my inspiration was for this, which is probably the most flattering feedback an artist can ask for. It seems to me that when someone asks the question “what was your inspiration”, it’s clear that they are not only moved by the piece, but they are curious as to how you, as the artist, thinks; they want to know more, and they want you to finish telling them the story.

So, what was my inspiration? I’m sorry to say that I did not save the link, but the image that motivated this piece was a beatiful and whimsical illustration of the same subject matter. Truthfully, I didn’t save the link on purpose because I wanted to be left with the initial emotion the image invoked in me and not be compelled to revisit it, thus altering my own process and final illustration. I’m glad I did this because from what I remember of the original piece, it looks nothing like what I’ve created here. So, thank you to the unknown artist and unnamed piece for your moment of inspiration.

This is a new piece I created for the fun of it. I love owls, its no secret, so while the subject may be all too familiar, this piece was more about the process.

I sometimes find I become complacent with my work flow and as a result, I get scared and disillusioned. I think fear is a mainstay when it comes to the artist’s insecure thinking – its all ingrained in us, no point hiding it. So to remedy the issue, I experiment. Sometimes I like what I get, sometimes I don’t. This time, I was pretty happy.

I began by priming some recycled paper with gesso and colored ink. I added some acrylic to desaturate and darken the color. Next, I drew my trees with black India ink and gave them depth with some guache and watercolor.

The next step was the cut paper. Since all my paper was previously “made” (i.e. acrylic paint among other ingredients on paper or fabric) I just cut out the shapes I needed. The background was looking stark, so I added translucent leaves with watercolor. The overall image was still missing something so I covered up 1/5 of the whole piece with copper leaf. Copper leaf doesn’t translate too well when photographed, so the original piece is much stronger.

George, my neighbor, has heard but never seen our resident owl. But this owl soon became important to George as she would sing her song for him while he took his little daughter on their morning stroll.

George felt the owl was communicating with him and maybe even watching over the two of them as they walked along their familiar path.

On two memorable occasions he heard this owl – louder and stronger than normal. And following both occasions were some significant developments in his life. So the owl has become a sort-of totem for George and a protectorate of our little neighborhood.

T Shirt For Dessert is published by WeBook, a publishing company with an innovative way of finding new talent using an open source framework.

There’s been a good buzz going around about the book and below are a few links if you are interested. The book will be available 09/09.

The Miami Herald has done a story on the author Jayne Bonilla. Click here to view the article.

What The Stuff Toy review rated the book with 5 stars. Click here to see the article.