Spring Has Sprung!

Spring has always been my favorite season. The warm breeze, the sounds of the birds finally emerging from their winter hideaways, and most of all, the colors that envelope the landscape, chasing away the dull, muted tones of winter. The flowers, plants, and all of their colors serve as a large source of inspiration for me. I have recently found myself burning (no pun intended!) to create new things! I've been working almost everyday this week on new pieces and am excited to have new products up on my Etsy shop!

Be on the lookout for a new contest coming soon, but in the meantime, hop on over to http://www.etsy.com/shop/whimsicalwooddesigns to check out my new products!

Once upon a time…

I like to start my stories this way, so why not my blog too?

Once upon a time there lived a freckle-faced, red-headed girl named Eirenne (Erin). She grew up in a creative environment with an artist for a mother, and it was soon realized that she had a strange intuition for color and design. She loved to use vibrant colors to paint 3-D pieces, such as furniture or sculptures – or anything for that matter; as well as drawing whimsical squiggly and swirly lines... on everything. Anything that could be altered to her taste, soon was, including (by accident, of course!) clothing, bed-sheets, and the carpet. And we won’t discuss the dashboard of her first car. 

One day, when she was on a homeschool field trip to the Science Center, she realized how much she enjoyed interacting with all of the exhibits. Maybe it was the fact that the displays were worn away from countless children touching the equipment while conducting experiments, or maybe the tactile quality of the surrounding textures that was made and encouraged to be handled. Whatever the reason, Erin discovered that she loved using her all of her senses and feeling the different textures. She couldn’t stand it when in galleries the signs read “Please Don’t Touch.” Where was the fun in that?  

As she grew older and completed her Fine Arts degree, she began searching for her artistic niche. She tried many creative things, like teaching children’s art classes, working as an intern in a glass fusing studio, planning children’s parties and face-painting, graphic design, creating polymer clay figures to sell, and finally became a floral designer for weddings and events. But she continued to search, learning more about herself each time she tried a new hobby or job. Then one day, she found something. Art Nouveau - whimsical yet sophisticated style. It was the art from 1890-1910, made up of vibrant colors, intricate swirly designs, and just pure “Erin-ness”. From there, she began to learn what she liked and why, and began to finally see her niche. This was the start of Whimsical Wood, a combination of vibrant color, swirls and squiggles, and texture that came together in a single piece of creative and usable artwork. 

And so, Eirenne started her side business designing wood-burned art, as well as this blog, and she lived happily ever after… thus far. The end. Or rather, the beginning…