Some Press for Post for the Parks!

Eep!

I am so so honored that the ladies behind Letter Writers Alliance have chosen to feature my project on their blog!



If you're into snail mail and aren't familiar with LWA, you're missing out! They host letter writing socials, sell stationery & letter writing supplies, and talk about mail related things on their blog. And you can become a LIFETIME LWA member or only 5 dollars!

I see this project as having two components - the painting but also the SENDING. Even though the research, sketching and painting are the more time-consuming aspects of PftP, sending the originals out in to the world to the very parks that inspired them is just as important. It's tremendously flattering to have this element of the project catch the eye of some real professionals!

You can read their post about Post for the Parks here!

So thank you Kathy and Donovan! Happy posting!

xo
Sarah

Posting to the Parks - Parcel Parts

My new obsession project, Post for the Parks, is now officially underway. I have mailed paintings to three National Parks - Yellowstone, Sequoia and Yosemite.



Along with each painting are a few extra bits that make each package more substantial.


(click to see full-size on flickr)

To make this seem a little more official and to add a bit of 'paperwork' for myself (since the National Parks Service is a U.S. government branch), I am mailing out each painting with a business card (with the tumblr URL on the back), a form letter (customized for each park), and a certificate that accompanies the painting. The painting and certificate are packaged in a cello bag (I was going to skip the bag but someone mentioned a cup of coffee + an original watercolor = recipe for disaster on someone's ranger station desk) which goes into the wax paper/glassine bag with the business card. Everything is then stuffed in a chipboard mailer, sprinkled with postage stamps, and off it goes!



I'm enjoying the painting, documentation and the packing processes equally.

If you want to see more photos of my process, I started an album on Flickr and along with the main tumblr, I just started posting the finished pieces to a special instagram account as well.

Thanks for following along!
xo
Sarah

A video posted by Sarah Coyne (@eggagogo) on Jan 14, 2015 at 1:40pm PST

A New Project - Post for the Parks

Whoa. It's been a LONG time, blog friends. Apparently I took the summer and autumn off from posting. Good for me.

ANYWAY. HELLO!

Things have been great, I've been drawing things, painting things, printing things and I'm working on something new that I'm so excited about.

What it is... A personal project involving painting and mail. A project celebrating one of my favorite things about this country - the preservation of wild spaces.

How it came about... I was laying in bed a couple months ago, unable to sleep, trying to think of a new project that had a set number of pieces and a process that would put the pieces out into the world. I would document the process online as is done with things like this these days but I wanted it to go further - and farther.

I thought about an alphabet or something about the seasons but those numbers (26 or 4) seemed too small, I needed something a little more ambitious. The thing with a set number I came up with was the U.S. National Parks.


(Sketches)

Here's what I'm going to do... I am researching our 59 national parks, I am filling a small sketchbook with loose painty sketches for each of the parks, and I am making a little watercolor painting inspired by each of the parks.


(Painting for Yellowstone)

Each week of 2015 I will be mailing out a painting to one national park and also posting the painting online. I am completing the paintings and mailing them in the chronological order in which the parks gained their National Park status. I am using the addresses listed as the official mailing addresses of the parks, some are not located within the actual park but hopefully they'll get close.


(Sketches)

This project is part examination of treasured wilderness protected by our government and part thank you love letter to those who work so tirelessly to preserve special places for the plants and animals that live there as well as human visitors. It's also an exercise in routine and process for me. A way to create art I care deeply about but I don't consider so precious that I won't just send it off into the world.

I'm not expecting any response from the parks, but wouldn't that be fun! I am simply sending my art on ahead of me to the parks I haven’t visited yet and back to the parks I have been to.

And there it is, Post for the Parks.


I might document it here occasionally but mostly it will have its own internet space at: Post for the Parks on tumblr. And I'm sure there will glimpses of it on the ol' instagram as well.

It feels great to have a personal project with deadlines and a set schedule for creation. I hope you'll follow along on the journey.

And you know something is super official when you have a stamp for it. :)


If anyone is reading this, I would love to know about your thoughts/feelings/ideas about the National Parks. Do you have a favorite? Is there one you've visited more than once? I've only been to three of the 59 but I hope to add a few more to my list soon.

Thanks for reading!
xo
Sarah


(A photo from my recent trip to a state park - the White Mountains in my native NH.)

Wildflower Revolution illustrations & a garden update

Hello!

Recently I had the great pleasure of working with Jennie of Wildflower Revolution to make a logo and some illustrations for her herbal business.

First I worked with Jennie to create a simple logo that could be used on her Etsy banner and packaging.







Jennie makes tea blends and asked for an illustration that she will use on the tea cards and other printed things.

From Sketch to Watercolor to Digital Image to Printed Materials...










I also made her a REAL LIFE version of her banner to display at fairs and other events. Here it is in-use at Herbstalk!

The banner is cotton that I hemmed, screen printed (the rose) and hand painted (the pinks and text). It was a VERY special project.

It has been so nice working with Jennie and getting to draw all kinds of beautiful helpful plants. We are talking right now about some summer illustration projects and I can't wait to get started!

Aside from drawing plants, I've been tending to them too. Our community garden plot is VERY happy this year (and actually getting all of the attention it deserves after a lot of neglect in 2013 what with the wedding and being in Europe for almost a month!).





Currently photosynthesizing away in our garden we have a few varieties of squash, beets, 10+ tomato plants, lots of basil, calendula, sunflowers, sedum (a gift from a fellow gardener a few plots over), nasturtium, sweet peas and a few weeds. :)

Here's a look at our plot from the beginning of May to today!


That's it for now!
xo
Sarah

spring is for making - part 1

Hello!
Spring was barely upon us the last time I wrote about stuff and now it's in full swing! (The local news has even been calling the past week 'summer' but they're pushing it.)

I have been so lucky lately to work on some really incredible projects, I'm going to wait to show you photos of those... BUT I have some EVENTS coming up!

TOMORROW
Thursday June 5th I will be at JP Knit and Stitch for First Thursday! I will have some paintings and new screen prints up displayed amongst their beautiful things in their beautiful shop. Please stop by and say hello!


THIS WEEKEND
Saturday June 7th and Sunday June 8th - Herbstalk!
I painted the poster for the event and have had the pleasure of working on some extra projects with two of the herbalists involved! I will be exhibiting prints, paintings, stationery and some other printed goods in the marketplace both days. It's free! There are also classes both days on herbal healing, urban gardening and that kind of great stuff.



I will share some of my special projects after this weekend. But until then, here are some other things I've been working on!

New stationery and prints of my bouquet piece...


Some new garden-y screen prints that will be making their debut at first Thursday and Herbstalk...


In other news, our neighborhood has been looking REALLY GOOD lately.






I don't know if it's some kind of spring fever or what but I feel creative and productive and can't wait to tackle the next thing. Here in New England - as in a lot of other places - we had a loooong cold winter and I think I went into super hibernation mode, saving all my energy and making for right now! Fine by me. Off to do some more of it!

xo
Sarah