In The Shop: Colors & Animals

This morning I launched the first four pieces from my newest collection of paintings! "The Fox", "The Moose", "The Raccoon", and "The Skunk", are all available for purchase in the Birch & Bees Art Shop. I've been slowly working towards bringing this series to life and I'm proud to finally share it!

The Birch & Bees Art Shop 

"For years, I've felt the drive and inspiration to create beautiful paintings which could bring happiness and "good vibes" to everyone around me. I decided to dedicate my time, energy, and talent into creating a new series which could accomplish just that.

The inspiration for this series originated when I asked myself; "What makes me feel happy?" The answer was colors and animals. And so, I started to paint." -Kaylee Hinrichs

(read more...) 

(The Fox, by Kaylee Hinrichs. August 2012. W/C. 12" x 8,5" - Available For Purchase -)

(The Moose, by Kaylee Hinrichs. August 2012. W/C. 12" x 8,5" - Available For Purchase -)

(The Raccoon, by Kaylee Hinrichs. August 2012. W/C. 12" x 8,5" - Available For Purchase -)

(The Fox, by Kaylee Hinrichs. August 2012. W/C. 12" x 8,5" - Available For Purchase -)

I also offer commission services for these types of paintings. If you want a specific type of animals or certain colors, I can create a custom painting just for you. Just shoot me a message or email (birchandbees(at)gmail.com), and fill me in on your idea.

Visit the new art shop and bring some happiness into your home.

peace & love,

kaylee

Searching For Artists & Makers

(Underwater Ink Photography by Alberto Seveso)

Well, I've been working hard to get the first Artist Interview ready to share with you all! The first interview will debut in September 2012. I'll be sharing more updates as the launch date approaches.

I'm currently searching for talented artists/creators to interview for my upcoming series. If you, or someone you know, would be interested in having an interview conducted about their work, please contact me at, kayleehinrichs(at)live.com for more information. Whether you make paintings, drawings, sculptures, handmade goods of all sorts, graphic arts/designs, etc. I would love you hear from you.

Lately I've been doing a lot of research to find some awesome creators to interview and I'm discovering so much more beautiful artwork, like these underwater ink photos by Alberto Seveso. (Take a look, you won't be disappointed.)

Happy Friday everyone!

peace & love,

kaylee

Aprile Elcich

The Arthur // A Great Curiosity // Disposition

Aprile Elcich is an incredibly talented Graphic Designer. Her work is just beautiful. Layers upon layers of texture and full of intricate, small details. (I was particularly smitten with her Thesis Project, it's such an original and creative idea.)
Seriously, I could spend hours looking through her work. 

peace & love,

kaylee

The Genius

Elizabeth Gilbert, Your Elusive Creative Genius via TED

"‘Ole!’ to you, just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up.” 

-Elizabeth Gilbert

peace & love,

kaylee

Sneak Peak Sketches

(Drawings/Illustrations in my sketchbook. August 2012. By Kaylee Hinrichs.)

Here is a sneak peak of a new series of paintings I'm developing!

These are the black and white sketches that I created to test out different animal shapes, faces, and proportions. Most of my artworks/creations start out as written ideas/loose sketches, such as these. Having lots of design/sketch books allows me to try out all my ideas, collect inspiring colors, great reference imagery, and see a whole collection before I actually make it.

Next, I'll be sharing some of the colored sketches and palettes that formed a "jumping off point" for the first set of paintings.

peace & love,

kaylee

Project Updates

(Editing lots and lots of photos for the blog, Sketching out lots of ideas for a new series

Beautiful sunlight coming through in my studio, Taking lots of photographs.)

Artist Life Debuts Next Month. In the beginning of September, I'll be sharing the very first Artist Life Interview! Interviewing artists is such an enjoyable activity, I'm hoping I can find more talented folks to feature in the coming months.

Art Shop Opens Winter 2012 - Spring 2013. I'm finally getting ready to re-launch the Birch & Bees Shop as an art shop. I've been developing a brand new series of watercolor paintings for a long time now, and their almost complete. At first I'll be selling originals, but I hope to add a variety of prints eventually.

Open For Commissions. Recently, I have received an amazing amount of requests for commissioned/custom paintings. If you are thinking about getting your very own custom painting by me, you can email me at: birchandbees(at)gmail.com.

I Also...

-Launched a Portfolio website. 

-Made a new blog to share all my creative projects. 

-Started thinking about teaching workshops/courses. 

-Wrote a biography. 

-Have big secret projects that I'm dying to talk about. 

-Decided to re-brand, and get new business cards.

-Updated my CV. 

-Developed a whole new perspective on things.
-Have less than a month in my Photo 365 project.

peace & love,
kaylee

New Branding: KH

(Kaylee Hinrichs, Artist Blog)

(Kaylee Hinrichs, Artist Portfolio)

(Branding & Designs by Kaylee Hinrichs. 2012. Portfolio, Blog, Business Cards, SM Brand Pieces.)

I recently launched a new branding for my personal creative endeavors (apart from Birch & Bees). This is final result. I got a "big idea" a couple weeks ago to make 3 or 4 different designs in varying color combinations and rotate them seasonally. But for now, my go-to yellow/gold/black color scheme is fitting.

Along with this new branding, I also launched two new websites to funnel all of my professional creations/projects into.

MY PORTFOLIO //  MY BLOG

peace & love,

kaylee

No Fear

(Photo by Blue)

(Photo by Christy Cochran)

(Photo by Rino Pizzi)

The Mending Project is an installation/performance artwork, where Artist Beili Liu sits beneath hundreds of downward-facing Chinese Scissors and performs mending work.
This stunning performance piece has been on my mind for days. I will admit, I was confused about the concept of this body of work until I listened to the artist explain in. (In the video below). This performance is beautiful, but also thought-provoking, the true nexus of great art.

(Photos & Video via Beili Liu) 

peace & love,

kaylee

Inspired: Ever After

(via liza shelestun)  

(via feathered)

(via stellarius)

(via littletexts)

(via danielphilip)

peace & love,

kaylee

Obscuro Viridi

Obscuro Viridi, Daniel Icaza, 2012, Sterling Silver, 22ct Green Sapphire (Corundum)  

Months ago, I casually mentioned to Daniel that I don't have any rings with Corundum stones. And because Daniel is so kind, he actually created and gave me this beautiful ring! (More photos of this lovely piece.)

I'm not the type to really like bright, shiny, faceted stones. But this perfect Green Sapphire has totally captivated me with it's shades of cyan, turquoise, and teal. And of course, Daniel's metal-work is always impressive. The spirals, wires, granules, and subtle details turn normal "jewelry objects" into true artworks.

(You can stay updated on the latest works by Daniel over on his blog, on Facebook, or Behance. )

peace & love,

kaylee

Four Critters

("The Deer" By Kaylee Hinrichs. August 2012. W/C, Inks. 4" x 4")

("The Fox" by Kaylee Hinrichs. August 2012. W/C, Inks. 4" x 4")

("Bird of Paradise" by Kaylee Hinrichs. August 2012. W/C, Inks. 9" x 5")

("Moose" by Kaylee Hinrichs. August 2012. W/C, Inks. 9" x 9")

I'm trying to get back into the habit of working on my drawings/paintings every day. Watercolor and inks are some of my favorite mediums, and I love any excuse to play with colors.
(Not to mention how much I adore the deer and fox portraits. They are just so precious!)

peace & love,

kaylee

Synthetic Landscape

  (via shane mcadams)

 These paintings are from a body of work titled, "Synthetic Landscape" by Shane McAdams. (See more pieces from this series here.) The works are so beautiful and intense. The hyper-realistic scenes, ethereal blending, and incredible details have me in awe. My favorite aspect of these paintings is the mysteriousness of the scenes. I would love to jump into one of these vortex-like paintings and have an adventure.

peace & love,

kaylee

Inspired: Curiosity

(via vwmang, "Tonight thousands gathered in Times Square to watch the Curiosity rover safely land on Mars after a 352-million mile, 8.5 month journey.")

(via NASA, Curiosity coming in to land on the surface of Mars.)

(via NASA, Sunset on Mars from Opportunity Rover.)

The Curiosity Rover landed safely on Mars. I've been really enjoying looking at the fuzzy black and white snapshots from the little robot. Soon NASA hopes to have the other camera systems on-line, which delivers Hi-Res images and panoramas of the martian landscape. Apparently these images will be the absolute best images of Mars' surface that we've ever captured. (Which I'm really looking forward to seeing.)

The best part is seeing all these people stopping their daily lives to observe and celebrate Curiosity's landing is simply beautiful. It warms my heart when we can put aside our differences in order to pursue common goals which benefit all of humanity.

peace & love,

kaylee

SHOPLOVE: Blackbird And The Owl

1 | Brown Woven Clutch // 2 | Doily Pouch, Ivory & Blue // 3 | Cardholder, Toffee & Mint 

The Blackbird and The Owl shop is full of handmade leather accessories. From clutches, to pouches, cardholders, and key chains. The designs vary from pieces woven with braids and lacy doilies, to simple color-blocked patterns. There are so many lovely goods in the shop, it's easy to spend a lot of time picking out favorites.

peace & love,

kaylee

Inspired: Close The Gap

(via stricher gerard) (via maxwell.dunn)

(via junehymas)

(via xantheberkeley) (via liisklammer)

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. 

And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” 

-Ira Glass

peace & love,

kaylee