Art Up Phinneywood

For those of you who are in Seattle I am currently displaying a few art pieces for the month of June, including my Duke Ellington show and some new pieces, at Abrams Chiropractic Office in Greenwood. A chiropractors office? Yes kind of random but each month the Art Up Phinneywood art walk has 36 businesses along Greenwood Ave N feature all kinds of artists.

Below is a preview of pieces I have been working on. All are created using paint, cut paper and measure 5 x 5''.  I thoroughly enjoyed taking a break from my children's book and "playing" for a few weeks. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

"Second Star to the Right and Straight on Til' Morning"

"Into the Woods to Grandmother's House"

"Elephants on parade"

"Fishing with Great Expectations"

I made this one because I have been obsessed with whales as of late

"Rapunzel" 

Below is a map of the Phinneywood art walk. Check out http://artupphinneywood.com/ 

to see the different artists that will be featured and where. 

7815 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103 (address to Abram's Chiropractic)

Feathers

Here's a quick gouache study of feathers I created just for fun. Lately I've been working on drafts for my upcoming children's book "Monday is Wash Day" that will be finished in November and published next year by Ripple Grove Press (yea!!). I've been stewing over the drafts for a few months now and to give myself a break I broke out my paints. I miss painting so much and it felt so good to play with color and texture and let loose.

and then I turned it blue in Photoshop

My design is currently being feature on a t shirt for MisterDressup.com. Check it out! The artists featured receive royalties for every t shirt that is purchased. My t shirt is up until March 9.

http://www.misterdressup.com/products/tessa-blackham

It's so much fun to see my design on a t shirt!

Christmas Time Is Here

Dear friends,

Well it's December. I've lived in Seattle for 5 months now and am just loving it! It has been a big year for me. I graduated with my BFA in illustration, moved to Seattle and am a children's illustrator. I finished a commission for the friend magazine and will be a children's book illustrator. That's right. My dream of illustrating a children's book has finally come true (and sooner than I expected). I will be illustrating my first children's book for Ripple Grove Press. It will be finished next year in November and published in 2016. I am so excited! I am grateful for the opportunities that have lead to this point. More on this in future posts.

But for now here is my Christmas post. First off Seattle rarely gets snow. I'm from Utah and, although I hate driving in the stuff, I love snow! I think Andrew made me see past the cold, sticky, icy, demon that it is, and now I see it as beautiful, peaceful and a sign of Christmas. But as you can see below we don't have any snow.
                         

View from my window

 It's usually cloudy and rainy. In fact when the rest of Utah is dead and dry the winter is when Seattle comes to life! The grass is greener than it was in the summer and I even saw blooms (yes flowers people!) on a bush outside my apartment. There is no sign of Christmas snow here. So I created something to make me feel better about the lack of snow where I lived.

sketches

I used white gouache on the glass to give it a snowy effect

Right next to my "Sleigh Bells in the Snow" piece from last Christmas

I tried something new. Instead of cutting each individual piece of paper out to form objects I drew everything and cut it out. This makes it look more rustic and that's what I wanted.

Continue reading if you would like to see 

random pictures of my Christmas tree. 

.    .    .    .    .    .    .    .

I'm all about the real Christmas tree. We ordered it from online and was delivered in an hour after they cut it. "Fresh cut" has a different meaning here than in Utah and it smells divine.

Willow has a bad habit of drinking our trees water.

 But under the Christmas tree is her new favorite place 

to chill and run away from me.

I love the Christmas season and the joyful atmosphere of friendship, love and 

giving that comes with it. It's a time to celebrate our Savior's birth. 

He is the gift. I truly hope all is well in your life and that you are enjoying the 

"most wonderful time of the year"! 

Also, may your Christmas' be white 

(because mine probably won't be).

Your friend,

Tessa

Holding Hands Around the World

I am quite excited to have done my first illustration for the Friend magazine. This spot illustration will be featured in their January music page, and can you guess what the song is about? I created it using cut out paper. I enjoyed designing each child's silhouette. I'm excited to think that kids from all over the world may see this:)

check out the Friend magazine here: https://www.lds.org/friend/2014/10?lang=eng

Practicing the Camera

I am not a photographer. I do enjoy taking pictures though especially since I bought myself a camera for graduation (yea me!). As an illustrator I am constantly taking reference photos so I might as well make them look appealing. Here's me practicing...

man and his dog

The Ladies In Pink

Here's a cut paper project using a limited color palette of only black, white and pink paper. I really enjoyed designing each pink lady's dress to match her personality. I felt like a little fashion designer.

The ladies in pink gracefully waltz down the sparkling hallway 

to attend the annual pink debutante ball. Aren't they fabulous?