Category Archives: illustration

botanical illustrations

Posted on by Kristin Calhoun
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The trees are showing their silhouettes, and leaves are piling up, but my family is already looking ahead to spring. That’s always how it goes in the greenhouse business- the fall is for planning, and the winter is for planting and growing. In preparation for the new seasons, I created three new designs for their new pots:

This is the first time that we’ll have specially printed pots for these lines of plants.

There’s nothing I enjoy illustrating more than the gorgeous plants my parents grow.

I will post more soon…there’s a lot to catch up on; these days are so full and wonderful.

ravelings

Posted on by Kristin Calhoun
11

The more I do with thread and needle, the more I find myself falling in love with the medium and the process. There’s something about fabric- its softness and durability, its associations with the body, and its infinite uses- that is just irresistible to me. And my two great interests lately, textures and lines, are an inherent part of embroidered work. Sometimes fabric reminds me of skin, and I wanted to find a way to show some feeling about the human body and its strange movements, through this medium.  Here are some of my first works, inspired by nights of blind contour drawings with Andrew, and done on my faithful little singer sewing machine.

gardening time

Posted on by Kristin Calhoun
5

I don’t think I’ve ever rejoiced as much for a spring as I have this year. What a long winter! There is such a drastic difference in seasons both in Columbus and Kansas City that I sometimes feel that I live two completely different lives in the winter and in the rest of the year. And, speaking of spring, now is a very good time to begin gardening. If you live in Kansas City, visit my sister Amy at the Overland Park Farmer’s Market on Saturdays over the next several weekends. She’ll be selling our line of organic herbs and all sorts of other beautiful plants our family grows. Here’s my latest ad for Pantry Garden Herbs, to appear in the upcoming edition of tastebud, the Kansas City culinary magazine:

 

Check out the redesign of the Pantry Garden Herbs website too! It’s full of easy growing tips, delicious recipes using herbs, and other ways to use herbs such as making herb oils, pastes, and teas.

catch of the day

Posted on by Kristin Calhoun
8

I’m hoping to get into more block printing, at a larger and more detailed scale. For now, here is an illustration concept I had, in a somewhat sketchy and rough form:

Textures and lines, textures and lines, that’s what it’s all about for me these days. And strong rhythmic shapes. Who knew design could be so much fun? I feel like it’s a series of new discoveries every day.

welcome to the world

Posted on by Kristin Calhoun
2

My friend Jenny is having a baby next month, an event that I am extremely excited about! Here is the invitation I made for her baby shower (minus the text):

Drawing the nest was one of the most fun experiences I’ve had with pen and watercolor. I’m just now discovering how much I love detail work!

happy boxing day

Posted on by Kristin Calhoun
2

Christmas has been absolutely lovely this year. Thank you to my sweet husband and his family, which is now my new family as well- I have enjoyed every moment of it. Now, it’s the day after Christmas, and though the festivities are mostly over, that still means a few good things:

-rest

-detox

-getting ready to head for KANSAS CITY!!

-I can finally start to show some gifts I made.

Here’s the first, a drawing of my dear longtime friend Jenny, which we gave to her and her husband as a Christmas/long overdue housewarming gift.