What I am up to during the summer...

After two lovely weeks in Germany seeing family and enjoying some summer fun I am back in Switzerland where we had tons of rain...they actually say it has been the wettest July since weather recording...I believe that. My poor tomatoes are still mainly green.

The bootcamp by Lilla Rogers and Beth Kempton has ended this month and it is kind of sad...no more monthly assignments - it was so much fun.

 I did not finish the last assignment on time due to summer break but I started working on it. 

The topic was beverages...and since I always wanted to paint some cups I thought I can combine this now. So I pulled out my very old water colours I have not used in many, many years due to all the excitement with modern technology and have been painting very slowly. I very much enjoyed the process and happily painted my way. The next challenge was bringing the paintings into the computer...but with a little help here and there I figured it out.

Here you can see my small collection "Tea Time"...I am still working on an illustration.

"Tea Time" collection copyright©Pattern Jots by Maike Thoma 2014

With all the rain I had a lot of tea during the last few days but today the sun came through and I was able to switch to lemon juice.

Happy Thursday !

Happy Summer Time

It is Monday already and I feel terrible that for the first time I did not have a blog post ready on time ( last Thursday ). But with kid's summer holidays started and lovely house guests visiting it just did not happen. 

Today I want to wish all my lovely readers a very Happy Summer Time with lots of sunshine, time to relax and having fun.

"Happy Summer Time " copyright © Pattern Jots by Maike Thoma 2014

But I also want to share some beautiful, patterned gifts I received from our lovely visitors who stayed with us over the weekend.

New origami paper - we had a fun night making origami together.

I received my first Kokeshi doll...remember my post about Kokeshi dolls back in May ? When I started drawing Kokeshis I decided I want to start a collection...just did not know when this would happen since there is nothing like Kokeshi dolls in Switzerland.

And besides my Kokeshi doll I am absolutely in love with, I received these little patterned chopstick rests.

Kokeshi doll and chopstick rests.

Since our friends came via Amsterdam I asked them to grab me the latest Flow magazine not knowing it is a special edition this month and there is this beautiful paper book coming with the magazine - I am so lucky !

Flow magazine with bonus paper book.

Due to kid's summer holidays I have to skip two weeks of blogging and will be back July 31st.

Happy Monday !

Floral Experiment

I am really loving my hydrangeas on my balcony and it seems those are the plants I am doing good with - in general I do not have a green thumb. 

Hydrangea

I planted new ones this year but they are not very pretty yet but the one I planted two years ago is looking amazing this summer. In the evening I took my camera out and made some random shots of the hydrangea plant and uploaded them onto my computer and started playing with it.

Oh the possibilities are endless and it is so much fun...so far I only made patterns out of the photos but I can not wait to mix them with my drawings...

Hydrangea Pattern 1 copyright©Pattern Jots by Maike Thoma 2014

Hydrangea Pattern 2 copyright©Pattern Jots by Maike Thoma 2014

Hydrangea Pattern 3 copyright©Pattern Jots by Maike Thoma 2014

Later today I will head out and take some more photos...hope to find some peonies.

Happy Thursday !

A Quote...

Life is sometimes getting very intense, there are always things to worry about. 

For myself I have found two things calming me down if needed. 

One thing is tea and the other thing is creating art. So when I saw this quote, I immediately thought it is me. 

And giving it an other thought, family members and people close to me live this mantra, too. So it is true and totally works ;)

 If this is new to you, maybe give it a go and see how you feel.

Happy Thursday !

copyright©Pattern Jots by Maike Thoma 2014 ( source for Keep Calm Quotes )

MATS June Boot Camp Final Design

June is almost over and I have finished the MATS Boot Camp assignment "Ship in a Bottle" wall art... 

I have been quite excited about this topic at the beginning but I must admit my excitement faded over the weeks. Somehow I was not able to fully warm up with this theme...I found the bottle restricted me in space ( in my head everything should "happen" inside the bottle ) and this made it difficult for me. I like to explore space and I mainly work large. And nautical in general is not my world - even though I love the sea and I know nautical is a repeating trend in fashion and interior. Of course I could have gone just nautical all over my art board  and forget about the bottle but I was determined to stick to the assignment as much as possible for the challenge. 

So I am ok with my result but not thrilled...anyway it was an other experience and challenge I overall did enjoy. 

Please check out the June gallery with all the amazing nautical wall art over here.

June assignment "Ship in a Bottle": Wall art "Deep Sea" copyright©Pattern Jots by Maike Thoma 2014

Happy Thursday !

What Inspired Me This Week...

Phew...it is so hot over here, I am having a hard time thinking straight. Over 30 C for the past 6 days...on the plus side, the water in the lake is perfectly warm now and I really enjoy my time swimming in the outdoors. 

Lake Zuerich

This week I was inspired by Matisse. The Tate Modern in London is currently showing cut out art by Matisse. I immediately fell in love...the colours, the shapes, the compositions...wished I could beam me over to see it. The exhibition is still on until September 7th 2014. 

This exhibition shows the final chapter of Matisse's career. When Matisse was not healthy enough to paint anymore, he began to cut into painted paper with scissors...he had invented a new medium.

My favourite pieces...

Blue Nude II by Henri Matisse, 1952 ( source )

Polinesia, the sky by Henri Matisse, 1947 ( source )

La Perruche et la Sirene by Henri Matisse, 1952 ( source )

Vegetables by Henri Matisse, 1952

And this video is fabulous...Happy Thursday !

What I am Up To - New Mini Assignment for June MATS Boot Camp

It is June and it is getting hot over here...the lake has warmed up and this weekend I am planning to take the first plunge of the season. 

A new month means a new mini assignment for the MATS Boot Camp. Of course we all have been very curious what new topic Lilla has chosen for us and I would not have guessed right with this one - again. It is a take on nautical : Ships in a bottle ! It includes sea creatures, nautical stuff...everything around the sea. I would say it is a perfect theme for summer. Not sure how I will work it but I love it. It is a topic where details can be important which I really like.

Pirate Ship in a bottle ( source )

And I really love this gigantic ( 4.7 x 2.8 m ) ship in a bottle by artist Yinka Shonibare. Do you see the pattern on the sails ? 

"The richly patterned sails were inspired by Indonesian batik, mass-produced by Dutch traders and sold in West Africa".

If you have time and you are a pattern lover like me, you must check out Yinka Shonibare's work...beautiful patterns everywhere and I also like his collages.

Nelson's Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare at National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London/UK

Here you can see my first sketches...hope I find time to add many more over the weekend before we receive the main assignment on Monday.

Sketches "Ship in a Bottle"

Happy Thursday !