Bluebirdbaby

her big night

the little one was so excited to have her very first official "opening" at a gallery space south of us. she painted a 4 foot long horse (that she drew and mark cut out for her) for the show called "Heads or Tails" and it was a total hit!

they hung it in a superb spot and she was so thrilled about the whole thing. we made a special night out of it and some of our very best friends joined us and my mom, and we wined and dined and then went out for gelato after to complete our night of celebrating!

we crawled into bed at a later hour than usual, completely content and a wee bit exhausted with our special night all thanks to the little one!

we are so proud of you my little e!

p.s.  for you locals, the show is here! her piece is for sale too (i hate to see it go though! i may buy it myself!)

11/52

this week you:

• went on your first plane ride
• journaled...every single day while we were away
• impressed everyone with your awesome style and wonderful behavior
• got really really reeeeaaally bored at the Hirshhorn museum and traveled from couch to couch to lay down
• ate SO.MUCH.FOOD while on vacation. seriously! why can't you do that at home?!
• started a new chapter book called "Twig"
• got to ride on a merry go round twice while in DC
• made fast friends with the musicians from barnaby bright and didn't want becky to leave! she thought you were pretty awesome yourself.
• decided that walking is really tiring and even if it gets you someplace cool, you still wanted a piggyback.
• decided the cheetah's at the national zoo were your favorite. they reminded you of our cats.
• promptly made your own zoo upon returning home, which you made us tour for $1 each...

(Above photo is from the Hirshhorn Museum, and taken with my iPhone!)

leather bracelets

we had the pleasure of going to frank's gallery where we are showing a bunch of our work to make leather bracelets.

the little one got to stamp all kinds of designs into hers. i stamped some linear things into mine and mark left his blank.

it was just the start to an amazing saturday we shared together.

i'm always so grateful for our weekends.

xo

 

boston and a little studio video!

we're headed to boston this weekend!! can anyone recommend must-see galleries? or awesome bookstores? or nice cafes? thank you!

i've been working on this video for about a month. my software program kept freezing up on me, but yesterday i was finally able to put it together (with a few glitches, but mark thinks it's fine the way it is!). this is a typical weekend night in the studio...enjoy!

in the studio from Erin Little on Vimeo.

 

what we call a weekend

Guess what?! Bluebirdbaby is on Facebook! This is a great place to ask questions and find out even more happenings, and likely some photos that didn't make it on the blog...go "like" it now! See you there!

a weekend for us (without the little one) really is just one big blur.

we work in the studio. we talk and plan. we indulge in some champagne while painting.

we go to bed at crazy hours and wake up later than we ever expect to. we take turns each morning going downstairs to start the coffee and tea, and on sundays bacon too. then, while one of us dozes, the other one brings up the feast. we eat in bed, deciding just exactly how we want to spend the day.

sunday we munched on bacon and sipped coffee while starting to plan our wedding. we started a new journal of all the ideas. we set the date, found the photographers, i have my dress, now it's all the fun little details.

we take care of odds and ends around the house. laundry day, the big food shop and meal planning for the week. we take lots of photos, each of us. usually of one another and the little things we are doing.

sometimes we get so caught up with a project that we forget to eat and finally begin making dinner at an hour i'd rather not admit.

and then, in the blink of an eye, the weekend is past us. monday morning comes with the unmistakable and dreaded sound of the alarm, where we are jolted into reality once more. the long work week starts, where we spend far too much time apart just counting down the minutes until we will be together again.

what are your weekends like?

 

 

 

in the studio at, night

we work. every night. in the studio.

he and i.

have a happy wednesday!

xo

scenes from december

images i shot in december and never had a change to upload until now.

enjoy!

 

have a happy weekend and i'll be back with this year's challenge early next week! xo

in the studio

we're setting up the studio tonight.

i brainstormed today. working on a new site. getting film developed and personal portfolio stuff done.

he arranged his painting area. we drank wine and ate our favorite cheese. we talked about my upcoming darkroom.

now we're running between floors cooking salmon, editing photos, listening to tunes, and designing logos. i can hear him whistling downstairs while he chops garlic.

we're pretty good at this multi-tasking.

how are you spending your sunday night? xo

iPhone love

so, i've been very neglectful of my camera lately. i have been shooting weddings and portraits and other professional photo stuff, and well...when it comes to capturing day to day life, i find that i am using my iphone more and more. just for a change. and it really does produce some amazing images.

so this is a little bit of life in the past week. what it includes?

art walks in portland at night.

bits of fall

breakfast with my love

a new design by Luksin (i can't tell you how AMAZING her new designs are for fall/winter. they are so flattering. i look a wee bit awkward in that photo, but the dress is seriously kick butt!

a new gallery exhibit by the little one and mark. they collaborated on these pieces. the ones on the left are called "new snowflakes" and the ones on the right are called "bare hearts". her opening is this friday night at the frank brockman gallery for anyone who is interested

metal work by isabelle pelissier

and well, then there's me.

...

what are you all up to this week? have your little ones started school? the little one is 5 full days now, and i find it so very odd! but i am getting lots of work done...

xo.

 

around here

it's almost the end of august. how is that even possible?

the beach days are slowly coming to an end. the light is changing noticeably each evening. the days are turning drier and cooler. it seems like summer just started and without our traditional ways of marking the summer (berry picking, preserving, gardening, etc.) it seems like we never really had it at all.

but we've been busy. doing new and exciting things this summer. the little one went off to her first overnight with my mom to a camp in western maine. she adored it! what a big milestone.

i've been working hard on wedding stuff, personal portfolio work, painting, gearing up for another e-course, and of course being a mama. and the biggest news of all is i'm trying to buy a house. all on my own, which feels really great. so there's a lot of things happening right now, and i certainly don't want to neglect this space here...

so here are some shots from our days. today is rainy and dark. mark is making me an omelette right now while i sip my tea and munch on bacon. i've got a long day of work ahead and a couple of houses to visit.

i miss you all and this space here. what are you up to today?

his new site

well, i've been working hard designing a new site for mark's work! he's been working hard taking all the pictures and working on some new stuff!

please go and have a look. we are super excited!

the show

thanks for all your sweet comments about my first show. you guys are the sweetest.

i hung some of my latest work. mark hung some of his work.

and we had our first joint show.

for all you locals, it's at Frank Brockman's Gallery on Main Street in Brunswick. third floor.

all images taken with my iPhone.

 

what a weekend we are having. so much fun. this relaxing is something that was much needed and much appreciated.

hope you all are enjoying your weekend too!

xoxo

first show

we've been spending the nights working.

we cook. we eat. i put a little one to bed. i edit, he paints. i stop editing to paint.

we listen to patti smith and talk and dream, painting side by side. we make plans, goals, and drift in and out of the present moment almost simultaneously. drifting off to the future and the unknown. the mystery of it all excites us.

i'm heading down to brunswick today to hang my first show. really excited. i just finished two big pieces that i'm pleased with, although i told mark that i pretty much despise everything i paint. he says that's normal. but the show is exciting nonetheless.

we're finally taking a day off to relax. breathe a little. paint. take photos with my medium format. explore a bit. and there's always dreaming. always.

what are you up to this weekend??

 

boston

his paintings were a hit. they got a prime spot in the gallery and the art walk was packed. people loved them.

we made connections. drank champagne. stayed out past midnight eating and talking and laughing.

walked back to the little European style hotel we were staying at and talked some more.

then it was up early the next day and down the street for americanos and breakfast.

we wandered around the city with my medium format camera, took some shots, then made the long trip home.

we got home and it was back to everyday life. sometimes that can be overwhelming, sometimes we welcome it.

the duality of life is often very intense for me. the pull to city life, fast paced urban living, everything going on and things to do...i crave that so intensely sometimes. it is where i am in my life right now. working, living, exploring, creating, enjoying...it is so much a part of the artist side of me and who i am as an individual.

and then i'm a mama. i'm a mama who loves the outdoors, who loves to garden and raise chickens and cook and clean (yes. i do.) and read stories and snuggle and teach my daughter how absolutely wonderful she is and what life can offer her. i want all that too.

so often i feel as if i am being pulled in two different directions. very strongly. and i don't want one without the other. maybe it's the libra side of me; needing that balance. so i take it upon myself to make it work. make it all work. create that reality, however dual it may seem.

so i guess that's what i'll do. and for now, it will all be okay.

......................................................

all the above photos were taken on my iPhone. some of you requested pics of my new dress and more can be seen here on my tumblr page!

happy weekend! xoxo

a quick trip

we made a quick trip to boston this weekend. after seeing an amazing performance by ingrid michaelson in portland, we headed down to drop off two of mark's paintings that were selected for a juried show. (woohoo!)

we managed to cram in the SOWA market, a visit to the galleries on thayer street, lunch on newbury, and some budget-wise shopping.

i rarely bring my digital camera with me anymore and instead carry around my pentax k1000. the above photos were taken with my iphone.

what did you do this weekend?!

a different way

i've been thinking a lot about how i think. that sounds weird...even just typing it.

i started to remember how i thought as a child. a wee child...even younger than the little one. and even then i knew somehow the way i processed information-the way i took everything in-was different. i didn't understand how others did things, and they certainly didn't understand my processing either.

and for most of my life, the one person i connected with more than any other was my uncle who was an artist. he painted, went to school for art, taught art, created art. he got me and i got him, in a way that was so natural it couldn't even be explained in words. he died when i was 10 year old, which was an experience so profound it deserves a whole other blog post.

but as an adult, i have found it hard to connect with others on a deep level. hard to share the way i function in this world and process information with another person. and now, there's him.

i am continually amazed by the connection. the ease in communication. the mutual understanding. the hopes and dreams of each of us an individuals that mesh together to form one vision.

and to be creating art with another person...to be hoping and dreaming and talking and supporting one another and doing it all with just an ease that is so genuine is like a big deep inhale and slow exhale, knowing that wonderful things are to come. it's just lovely.

he is my best cheerleader. and i, his. we are creative individuals first, and together we are capable of so much.

weekend

put some of my latest stuff up on the wall. it felt good.

finally made a hanging plant inspired by 3191...

rainy day play. oh when, oh when will the sun come out?

we baked scones and ate them with friends.

and a cozy cat.

 

what are you up to this weekend?! xoxo

painting

Yesterday we enjoyed a morning painting in the sun. The little one finished this piece and I just love it. She is so excited about painting that we had to go back to the art store for more! I can't wait to see where this takes her.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! xo

And, I'm in Love

Had my first painting lesson yesterday with Lari. It was amazing and wonderful and I had so much fun. I decided to work on a few collages for an upcoming art night. And I finished three, plus started two other acrylics!

I'm smitten with painting. Absolutely love it. Can't wait to do more. Next week I'm headed to the big city for some supplies!

Thanks Lari!!

 

What are you all working on this week?

a sketch date with my girl

we spent a rainy friday afternoon sketching up in my studio. just the girl and i.

she drew horses, and i doodled. we giggled and had snacks and listened to tunes.

it was a perfect afternoon.

i just can't believe how big she's growing. and reading, and writing, and her pictures are blowing me away.

this growing up thing is crazy sometimes...

 

hope you're all enjoying your weekend! xo