Not a Creature was Stirring

...not even a mouse.

"Merry Christmas, Mouse!" Copyright 2012 Jessica Boehman

Thanksgiving Stuffing

...but not the kind I would have expected! A year ago today, my shop was still an idea. I had no business card, no shop, and only a few drawings.  I didn't launch until the end of January, so I am very pleased with these past ten months.  This weekend, I started work on a new line of items: plush ornaments (and soon, toys) for the shop.  I am no seamstress, so my good friend Deb (of www.bunniescandream.etsy.com and www.harlequinlionhead.etsy.com) helped me out with the trial line. My very talented Aunt Judi will be my sewing partner, making sure the quality is very high and that the plush animals are delightful and whimsical.  Here are some shots from the first attempt!

Disaster afoot? Me with scissors.

Master Jeweler Debbie Liu at work with the sewing machine. Woman vs. Machine: who will win?

Stuffless animals.

Stuffed but not stitched...

A fabric menagerie. 

On the Third Day of Christmas

My true love gave to me three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

Unfortunately due to a moving snafu and the start of teaching, I won't be able to complete the fourth day in time for Christmas (and my fall art sale in Chelsea) this year, especially if I hope to complete an envelope liner. But I am very happy with the three plump hens.  They came to fruition on September 11, ten years after such a sad day.  Living in NYC this year, it was more potent than I expected. I was glad to have something for my hands to do.  Do you recognize the same border from the partridge? I think it looks much different with its new French inhabitants. 

"The Third Day of Christmas" Pencil. Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

On the Second Day of Christmas

My true love gave to me...two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

Inspired in part by the song and in part by the two doves who always nested in my parents' backyard. Every year they sat there together on top of the old swingset. Sometimes she was large and pregnant.  Other times we watched them build nests.  They always seemed like such a happy pair.

"The Second Day of Christmas" Pencil Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

Drawing #2 in my 2011 Christmas series.

Christmas in July--A Partridge in a Pear Tree

I'm working on a new series of Christmas designs in keeping with my current shop theme of menagerie.  I've decided to limit the series to the first four days of the Twelve Days of Christmas--the partridge, the turtle doves, the French hens, and the calling birds. These will be printed as luxe cards on metallic stocks with gold envelopes and liners.  I'm pretty excited about how they will look in the end...Christmas is definitely the time for luxurious things. Here's the first day.  Because he's the root of all of the gifts, I've nestled him within a pear tree and a pear and holly mirrored border.   Enjoy!

"The First Day of Christmas" Pencil Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

'Tis the season

"The Multitude of the Heavenly Host" Pencil Drawing. Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

Every year for the past eleven years I've drawn my family's Christmas card.  Because the cards represented the entire family, we always kept the subject, generally proposed by my mother, religious in nature. This year, newly married and so no longer drawing for the family, I was able to go secular, but my friends will have to wait until they get theirs in the mail, the old-fashioned way. Above is a card I made a few years ago. We'd done nativities but never the Annunciation to the Shepherds.  From Luke 2:13-15:
"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath shewed to us."

What would a multitude of angels look like? I tried to capture the entire sky filled with angels, their wings composing the very fabric of the sky, astonishing those humble shepherds.

"Madonna of the Pears" Pencil Drawing. Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

For another card, I decided to dedicate the image to my mother. Re-imagining the traditional depiction of the Madonna and Child, I rendered Mary as a new mother taking pride in her child.  Renaissance images of Mary always show her with a hint of sadness, suggesting she had knowledge of her son's future martyrdom. It robs Mary of her pleasure in her baby, which I am sure she had.  I surrounded the pair with borders of holly and the pear tree.  The partridge in the pear tree seems to be a symbol of Jesus, while the berries and sharp leaves of the holly represent the Passion of Christ.  I based the image off an old photo of my mother with my oldest brother when he was a small baby.

"Angel Annunciate" Pencil Drawing. Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

Last year I was given very short notice for the card.  Hard on the heels of teaching a full semester of Renaissance and Baroque art, I decided to give a nod to the most devout Renaissance artist, Fra Angelico.  This angel is a feminine reimagination of the Angel Gabriel at the moment of the Annunciation.  I kept this card very simple and linear in order to print cleanly, but the simplicity also allowed me to play up the patterns I've been toying around with since living in Rome.  There, I was inspired by the intricate mosaic work on the floors, façades, and columns of churches.   

Wishing everyone a beautiful holiday season!