New Textile Drawings. The Art Underfoot.

Hitting the Mats

Hi. Today I wanted to share two new textile drawings I made recently. Both were inspired by mats (literally the art underfoot!) made in Malawi with wicker/straw or chitenje patterned material.

Above, is one of my new textile drawings called Woven Lotus. The lotus is an international symbol of healing that is also integral to meditation and visualization exercises that help with relaxation and transformation.

I started this travel drawing by Lake Malawi last weekend. The background was inspired by a woven mat at the cottage I was staying at as well as Malawian baskets and handicrafts in general.

See this drawing more closely here.

Since this lotus was so relaxing and fun to make, I am thinking of making more like it, but with other symbols.

If you have a symbol that holds special meaning to you, please leave a comment below and let me know. Who knows? Maybe you’ll see your favorite symbol represented in a future drawing!

The Cat in the Room…

I recently also got a request  to add a cat to my collection of animal spirits and I thought… Hey. Not a bad idea.

However, I couldn’t draw just any feline without paying homage to Oliver, my first ever cat.

He was adopted from an animal shelter in Long Island, NY in 2001. He moved to Italy with me in 2006, then to Myanmar in 2016 where he lived to be a ripe old 19!

He had a huge (New York?) attitude and would eat almost any kind of food, including spicy Mexican salsa!

I drew him as a young and healthy kitten asleep on a chitenje mat I have here in Malawi so he can be here with our family in spirit. (*sniff*)

Cat on a Mat (Gray Tabby) came out a bit more “cutesy” than I intended, but that’s what I get for attempting to draw a kitten. What do you think of the new drawings? Do you have any suggestions for future ones? if so, just leave a comment below this post.

Now for our August Art Print Winner…

We have a winner for the August art print giveaway!

Congratulations to Alicia of who won a watercolor fine art print in the monthly drawing. (*Alicia, please check your email so you can choose your print and it can be on its way to you.)

Just a reminder that I do art print giveaways often throughout the year. I was doing them monthly for a while (for over a year), but Facebook has just changed their rules about running and promoting giveaways, so I’ll be doing them on my own (without Facebook) every other month or so. Everyone on my mailing list will be automatically entered to win. If you are not on it and want to be, just sign up here.

You can get the fastest update on upcoming giveaways by checking on my Facebook and Instagram pages. The winner also gets an email so make sure you check yours too!

Thanks for keeping up with my art and new textile drawings. It means the world to me.

All best wishes,
Kristen

P.S. I have a new mentorship group (live and online) for artists starting NEXT WEEK on Thursday Sept. 7th, at 11AM EST (New York), 6 PM CAT (Paris, Rome, Malawi)

ONLY a few spots available. More info-> HERE