custom art for singer-songwriter Christina Perri!

I met one of my all-time favorite singer-songwriters (and human beings) on Saturday, Christina Perri! What does this have to do with art? Keep reading!  :) Christina is someone who has inspired me deeply as an artist and a person, to keep creating, to keep living, to keep loving, and to be beautifully human. She's such a light & I love her so much. It meant so much to me to finally meet her.

I wanted to make her something special as a gift & a thank you for all the music she's created that I love so much. So I made her a custom 8x10 watercolor piece of her 4 favorite places (I've learned from her many tweets about them!). I chose two of my favorite lyrics about home from her song "Miles,"  and then I made the division a compass, since she's always on the road, touring and working on music. The "LOVE" sculpture is from her hometown of Philadelphia, the "Imagine" circle is from her favorite place in New York City (the memorial for John Lennon), the "101 Coffee Shop" is her favorite place in LA (her current home), and the map of Italy pays homage to her Italian roots & her favorite place she's ever been.

Here are two of my favorite photos I took during the concert:

I really love to make custom art pieces like this for people. I get so giddy while I'm making them, and when I finish I get so excited thinking about how they will react when they see it! Christina's reaction was my favorite ever. Her jaw dropped open and stayed that way, and she didn't even say anything until finally she said "I'm trying not to cry…" She told me (like 3 times) that she was going to frame it & she loved it.

That is the reason I make art. To make people feel happy and full of love and like it's a piece of home, because art that connects with someone can bring such powerful emotions to the surface, and when it's displayed somewhere, it can serve as a source of happiness each day. That's what it does for me.

xo, Michelle

If you'd like me to do a custom piece of artwork like this for you, please don't hesitate to email me! We can brainstorm and come up with something special :)

My art on a t-shirt!

I got to be a part of something so special on Monday night. My long time friend, Dani Kerry, worked really hard and is super talented, and she released an EP of original music! About a month ago, she asked me to design a shirt for her release party! I want to tell you about it!

Her album (EP) release party was on Monday at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney (which is like, hello, a big deal). Because I designed the shirts, I worked the merch table for her show. It was so insanely busy! Non-stop people buying shirts & CDs! I had to have my sister & mom help me toward at the end! It was a ridiculously huge success, and it was crazy to see so many people buying my art on a shirt! I’ve never done anything like that before. It was amazing. Dani performed her music and some cover songs, and I watched from the back at the merch table like a proud mom. She is a natural performer and sounded so good, and it was just so cool to see a friend I’ve known for over 10 years doing something she loves, in front of so many people.

(It was all very inspirational as a different kind of artist. I saw so many ties to what makes someone successful in a creative field: obviously talent, but also a lot of practice, some business sense,  tons of hard work, a passion for it, and a drive/determination/gusto to make it happen. You have to really want it. There are so many talented people, but to actually make things happen is a whole other challenge.)

So here are some concept sketches and the final t-shirt design I made! I really loved doing this because before I decided to create Mary & Luna, I wanted to do cover art for musicians’ albums. So this was right up my alley!

Dani’s music is very lyrical and emotional. I gathered inspiration from her lyrics and her photoshoot for the album, but mostly just from the feeling I got when I listened to her sing. I actually started sketching this design before I even saw her photoshoot, so when I saw her beachy/gloomy photos, I knew I was on the right track!

 

Here's what the merchandise table looked like. Dani told me to set up my artwork so I could get more exposure.

And lastly, here's Dani up on stage:

I’m so glad I was a part of making Dani’s dream happen. I love being involved in bigger creative projects.

Go follow Dani Kerry’s Facebook page  :)

xoxo, Michelle