sketchbook.

Friday, July 20, 2012

friday field trip (from the sketchbook).

june 2012
antibes, france

i must admit that these are not the cutest of shoes, in fact they border on pure ugly, BUT for comfort they rate number ONE in my book. and though many (ok, most) of my fashion forward friends would not be caught dead in them, i am not afraid to dress for comfort. for traveling where space is an issue, for off roading (beaches, long walks, hiking, rock climbing, working in a studio, etc . . . ), for wading IN fountains (oh, yes i did), for wearing with shorts, dresses, and pants, these are the perfect shoe. plus clean up is a breeze: just hose them down or wear them IN the shower. and some people DID in fact write to me in france to inquire what brand they were. i should be the national spokesperson, i truly love these shoes.

the brand is CHACO.

Friday, July 13, 2012

friday field trip (from the sketchbook).

june 2012
vallauris, france

i love living with minimal wardrobe choices. in france, i knew how big (or rather how small) my closet would be and so i packed accordingly. by bringing just a few of my favorite pieces, i became apt at the art of mixing and matching. getting dressed in the morning was a breeze. i yearn to pare down my closet at home. i would love to have only 5 or 10 beautiful items hanging in there. less is definitely sometimes more. i think it’s time for some summer spring cleaning . . .

Friday, July 06, 2012

friday field trip (from the sketchbook).

june 2012
(the mediterranean sea)
antibes, france

i realize that my friday sketch posts have been severely lagging. this is mostly because i was watch-free + phone-free in france for 6 weeks. i never knew what time it was or even what day it was. this was so wonderfully freeing. i existed purely on my own body’s clock. ate when i was hungry, slept when i was sleepy, worked when i felt moved to work, etc . . . every whim was met and granted with no questions asked. and so i ask myself why life can’t be like this always ? certainly we do need clocks to make our dental appointments and catch our planes, but honestly, shouldn’t we rely more on our own instincts and intuitions in life ? i vow to make even more of an effort to live my life in this way.

for me, it’s about slowing down and existing for the moment in time. not hurrying ahead and not being slowed down by the past.

(p.s. . . this was painted on eden roc using the mediterranean sea as my water with the water colour paints. it was a perfectly profound moment in time that i will always remember fondly)

Friday, June 15, 2012

friday field trip (from the sketchbook).

june 7, 2012
vallauris, france

these loquats were freshly picked from a tree in the south of france. when i was a child, we had a big loquat tree in our backyard. i can remember sitting in that tree eating loquats until my stomach was fully distended. the taste and smell of this fruit brings me right back to my childhood. such very sweet memories.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

the teapot.

here are some quick teapot ideas i sketched out.

and here are a some of them in progress.

Friday, June 08, 2012

friday field trip (from the sketchbook).

june 6, 2012
vallauris, france

i am trying my hand at acrylic painting and am still not quite sold. it is so antithetical to watercolor. the paint just sits there and doesn’t absorb into the canvas, i’m not used to that. i will be spending half of my residency here in france painting. there is so much to be inspired by.

france, macaroons, painting, rae dunn

Friday, June 01, 2012

friday field trip (from the sketchbook).

may 23, 2012
paris, france

i had my first meal on this trip to paris at MERCI. soft boiled eggs and fresh squeezed orange juice. it was tres delicious and memorable.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

let there be light.

i did these very simple drawings for a french company and i love how they came to life on their website . . .

look HERE.

Friday, May 11, 2012

friday field trip (from the sketchbook).

april 2012
emeryville, ca

i recently did a series of fall fruit + vegetable drawings for a company. i’ve always loved the pomegranate. they remind me of my childhood. walking home from our piano lessons, my sisters and i would often stop and pick a pomegranate from a tree along the way, crack it open, and eat it right there on the spot. back then, “stealing” fruit from a stranger’s tree was not considered a crime. plus, i grew up in the central valley where there was an abundance of fruit trees. there was always more than enough.

Friday, April 20, 2012

friday field trip (from the sketch book).

june 2011
nice, france

it is definitely starting to turn sandal weather ! i love this season, where skimpy shoes and little frocks are my daily costume. i’ll be back in the south of france soon and i look forward to seeing (and buying) the new 2012 french sandal ware.

clay in france, watercolor

Friday, April 13, 2012

friday field trip (from the sketch book).

september 2008
mount holly, vermont

we go to vermont every summer for 2-4 weeks. there, we really connect to nature and the earth, leaving behind busy long-hour days at our offices. when you are far away from your reality and completely surrounded by the most beautiful landscape, it is easy to focus on the small things in life, such as the amazing mushrooms that grow wild all around us. i look forward to vermont all year long.

mushrooms, rae dunn, sketch, vermont, watercolor

Friday, April 06, 2012

friday field trip (from the sketch book).

june 2011

nice, france.

my idea of the PERFECT pizza.

france, pizza, rae dunn, watercolor