Blue and white are two of my favorite colors - the contrast of blue sky and white boat are what makes the Block Island ferry my very favorite method of transportation in the whole world.

Yes. The whole world. And yes. The slow boat. I love that thing. 

So to work exclusively in blues and white (or cream) this last week was a lot of fun. It almost - *almost* - made up for the fact that I haven't seen the ocean since the weekend before lockdown started in March.

Priorities, people. While everyone was out hoarding toilet paper, Lysol wipes, and pasta, we were staring out at the Atlantic Ocean. It was cold, but it sounds a lot nicer than panic shopping, doesn't it? Even if panic shopping was sadly necessary. 

We still don't have Lysol (we have Mrs. Meyer's instead), but we were able to subscribe to toilet paper delivery, which is nice. It's made from bamboo! Bamboo is a renewable resource! They donate 50% of profits to help build toilets for people who need them, helping to reduce disease in those communities. Some random lady in Massachusetts is using her blog to tell you about them. See? So much upside to that last beach trip back in March.

Where were we? Oh, right. Blue and white patterns. Ocean. Stream of consciousness something-something about toilet paper. Back to patterns. 

For this piece, I worked using a dip pen and ink, then recolored the artwork in Photoshop. I really love the line quality you get from pen and ink, it's almost like painting while drawing. YOU DON'T HAVE TO CHOOSE! YOU CAN DO BOTH! At the same time, no less. 

Then I thought, ya know, I like me a simple pattern, but let's see what happens when we add ALL the other little pen and ink drawings I did to the mix. 

Okay. I'll be honest. These are not ALL the other pen and ink drawings I did. I couldn't stop with the pen and ink, so even if it doesn't look it, I had to be a bit judicious here and leave some drawings behind. 

Then I thought, hey, so it's 8pm and we haven't had dinner because I am clearly obsessed with blue and white patterns - and JR is out collecting eggs from the coop because he's got to do something while he waits for me (after alerting me to the time of day and lack of dinner) - so I've got a few minutes (!!!). How 'bout I try making a really simple pattern with this little floral thing?

Spoiler alert (knowing that I am spoiling not one thing here), he was back with the eggs before I was done, but it was still fairly quick (because the drawing, scanning, clean-up, and organization was done beforehand, of course - that part isn't so quick), quick enough that we ate by 9:30. Not bad, right?

I love me a fishscale pattern, so I painted a couple. Well, more than a couple, but these are the ones that made it to the pattern-making stage. Side note, this is from a different day than the 9:30pm dinner day. 

This one below is a bit more of a sketch. I was trying to go for the slightly off registration look of block prints that you may remember (or not) from those tapestries you had in your early 20's.

Sadly enough, this all represents the end of an amazing three-week class with Victoria Johnson, however, I have so many ideas as a result of the class, I'd definitely keep an eye on this space for cut paper-indigo-symmetrical art. Or any one of those things on its own. :) 

Please stay safe and stay well, and I'll see you here again soon. xoxo! 

fine print! *all work copyright 2020 Amy McCoy. Please do not share without permission and attribution. Thank you!