Studio Tour #30 - BumbleBooHandmades

Artichokes by Kailey Lang

Hi there. How have you been? Grab your coat - we are heading north this week to visit Kailey Lang of BumbleBooHandmades.etsy.com. She has kindly offered to show us around her creative corner of the world. Kailey is a 3rd year illustration student at Sheridan College in Ontario. In last week's interview, she mentions a love of nature. You can see evidence of this artist's green thumb in her studio as well as in her artwork.

Did you catch Kailey's interview & giveaway announcement on 12/02? If not, click through & check it out. I'll wait for you here...

Pretty cool stuff, huh? I love the variety in her pieces. When you have a few minutes pop by her etsy shop; you will find a little something for everyone. Now lets take a peek behind the curtain to where the magic happens...

KL: This is where I do pretty much all of my art. It's kind of bad to have the computer right there because it can be distracting, but it's also get for doing research and gathering reference!

KL: This is the side of the my desk where I do most of the work, I rarely work on the other side of my desk. On the left, you can see my female beta's 5 gallon tank, her name is Bea and she is very silly. I think she's sleeping in her coconut house in this picture though, so you can't see her.

KL: This is my distraction station haha. And you can see some of my plants on the left!

KL: A couple of my plants, the tall one is dwarf schefflera, and the one on the right is nepenthes sanguinea. The one in the from is adorable little carnivorous plant called utricularia blanchetti.

KL: Just a closeup of the blanchetti, it's so cute!

KL: This is my 25 gallon tank, there's shrimp, rummynose tetras, neon tetras, and a couple of otto cats. It appears they are camera shy though! All the plants are real, I love aquatic plants (and plants in general!)

KL: My windowsill filled with plants, and my sundew terrarium on the right side. I have herbs and then just some generic flowering plants.

KL: Another shot of the window with the addition of my lovely cat Boo, cleansing himself on my bed.

KL: A close-up of the handsome man himself haha. His nickname is actually "Bumble Boo" which is where I get my shop name from. I adopted him and my other cat Martin from the humane society here in Oakville when I first moved to Ontario back in 2007 for college. And they've been driving me crazy ever since! Nah, I'm kidding they are good boys.

KL: This is my plant rack! Lots of odds and ends here. I wired and attached the lights myself cause light fixtures are expensive. In the closeup from left to right its heliamphora minor, Persian Violet, and cephalotus follicularis. The Persian Violet is still young, I grow a lot of my plants from seed because I love watching them grow up!

KL:  A closeup of the beautiful carnivorous plant, heliamphora minor, or Sun Pitcher.

KL: My beautiful Blue Star Morning Glory growing on the growing rack. Thanks for looking everyone! :)

Thank you, Kailey, for showing us around. And for sponsoring the current giveaway. I can't wait to find out who the lucky winner of Fishes Wishes will be.

Fishes Wishes by Kailey Lang

And thank you, everyone, for popping by & taking the tour today. Please leave a comment before you go. Everyone who leaves a comment on my blog before 12/16 will be entered in the random drawing for the Fishes Wishes print. Also, it is your interest that keeps the artist features, tours & giveaways coming.)

Do you have a space that you would like to showcase? Or is there a studio you would like to see? It can be big or small, fashionable or functional. I'd love to take a peek & share it with anyone who stops by.

Want to know more about Kailey and her art? Visit these links:

http://BumblebooHandmades.etsy.com

http://bumble-boo.deviantart.com/
http://twitter.com/bumblebooHM
http://www.formspring.me/bumblebooo

And be sure to come Thursday to see who gets to take home a new art print. If you've left a comment, the winner could be you....

Visit with artist Kailey Lang & Enter to win a fine art print

Bird Laydee by Kailey Lang

 
Hey there. How are  you today? 

(Want to know who won the Black Baroque random drawing? click here.)

Looking for a fun Artist Feature & new Thursday Giveaway? You've come to the right place. Today we are spending some time with Kailey Lang from the wonderful Etsy shop Bumble Boo Handmades. After too much turkey last week, I was browsing Etsy when this cute little owl avatar  caught my eye.

I just had to click through and see what else the shop would hold. I immediately fell in love with the natural colors and organic feel of Kailey's artwork. Hopefully you will too - click on any of the captions to find out more about the pieces pictured here. (Please note that the actual pieces do not have the Bumble Boo watermark on them.)

Lucky for us, Kailey has popped by for a chat. And I'm so glad you could join us too! Go on, grab a cup of something tasty and put your feet up in front of my imaginary fire....

So, Kailey, When did you first become interested in art?

KL: Well, I started drawing when I was very young, as most kids do. I was obsessed with drawing rabbits (that looked like bees, cause their ears were so huge they looked like wings!), and then I moved to horses. I drew horses for a long time and then started drawing people eventually. I suppose I started to get more serious about art and considered pursuing it as a career in highschool.

Barn Owl Bookmark by Kailey Lang

What are your favorite materials? Styles?

KL: My favourite materials to use would be watercolour, ink, and gouache. I do work with linocut and I like it as well! I like working with collage a little bit too occasionally, incorporating decorative papers and things like that, but it's more rare, and something I'd like to experiment with a little more. I would like to get more into opaque media like acrylic and oils. I use acrylics at school, and very rarely in my own art, but it never really stuck with me, though it has a lot of potential. As for styles, I really like Art Nouveau, The Golden Age Illustrators (Arthur Rackham, Kay Nielsen, and Edmund Dulac being amoung my favourites). Japanese Ukiyo-e prints are very cool as well. I am sure there are more styles that I appreciate, there are so many greats artists and styles out there!

Elemental Art by Kailey Lang

Where do you find inspiration?

KL: Well, naturally I find inspiration from other artists, but also, from nature. I mean, obviously there's a huge "green" movement right now, but I think that people still don't appreciate nature as much as they should. Since I was 7, I lived on a farm in the Lower Mainland in British Columbia, Canada. It's basically 4 acres of forest and field and it's beautiful there. Though I no longer am living there (I'm in Ontario now for college) I realize how much I appreciated it, and how fortunate I was to live there. The beauty of nature is something that I try to incorporate in my art, and certainly something I'd like to explore more and integrate more into my work. I think it's really important to appreciate the beauty of nature, and not see ourselves as separate from the Earth, but as part of it.

Crestfallen by Kailey Lang

Do you listen to anything while creating? If so, what are you listening to lately?

KL: I listen to a lot of different music, but I'd have to say my favourites, in no specific order, are the following: Radiohead, Artic Monkeys, The Beatles, Metric, Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton, Pauline Croze, Queens of the Stone Age, Spoon, Tegan and Sara, The White Stripes... just to name a few! Kind of a weird mix of music, but I like variety. Another thing that might be a little bit odd is... when I'm doing a really long piece of work, I like to listen to movies. I feel like the storyline of the movie keeps me focused, because it's sort of linear, I suppose? As opposed to music (which I always keep on random) kind of destroys my attention span. But sometimes I will get obsessed with particular CDs so that is a good way to keep myself on track too!

1.25" magnet, Twin Owls by Kailey Lang

What do you like to do when you are not creating?

KL: When I am not creating, I love taking care of my plants, fish, and playing with my two adorable cats. I have many plants in my room which I think is a result of me missing all the greenery I have back home, but also something I've always been kind of interested in! I grow herbs, tropical houseplants, carnivorous plants, and then other flowering plants like columbine, morning glories, poppies... stuff like that! As for the fish, I have four fishtanks but maybe I shouldn't go into all the detail there cause then we'd be here all day (or week!).

Anything else you would like to add?

KL: Well... not much! Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate the opportunity. Happy Holidays everyone!

Thanks so much for popping by, Kailey. I am so glad you had the time to share some of your thoughts & creations with us today.

And thank you, Reader, for stopping a awhile. If you are in a rush, scroll down a bit & check out the fabulous giveaway that Kailey is sponsoring. But if you have a minute, refill your cup and let me rant for a moment.... 

Alone by Kailey Lang

If you are familiar with my ramblings, you already know that I only visit with artists whose creations tickle my fancy. One of the things I really love about BumbleBooHandmades is the variety. The inventory is not overwhelming & you can check off  all sorts of art lovers from your gift list. There are not a lot of places where you can pick this a stylin' pencil cup for your (or your kid's) teacher

Linocut Print Blue Birds Pencil Holder by Kailey Lang

 and something for your zombie obsessed friend.

Zombie Nurse by Kailey Lang

Okay, thanks for letting me ramble. (I just had to stick that "walker" in here somewhere.) Now back to business...

Would you like to win a free print of the lovely surreal Fishes Wishes?

Fishes Wishes by Kailey Lang

KL: "Fishes Wishes, an  8x10" print, is professionally printed on 100lb Cardstock. The original painting was done by me in Watercolours, gouache and Inks. The print does not have the "bumble-boo" watermark on it. "
 
How do you enter this random drawing? Just leave a comment on this blog before 1 a.m. (EST) on 12/16. If your profile doesn't have contact info, please leave an email address. This drawing is open worldwide & prize ships free. It is that easy  - so c'mon, share your thoughts; join in the discussion....

Want to see more of Kailey's artwork? 

 http://BumblebooHandmades.etsy.com

http://bumble-boo.deviantart.com/

Or share some thoughts?
http://twitter.com/bumblebooHM
http://www.formspring.me/bumblebooo 

How about a peek behind the curtain? Stop back on Sat 12/11 when this talented artist invites us into her creative space, where all the magic happens.

Thanks again for dropping by and please remember to leave a comment before you go. It is your interest in these features & giveaways that keeps them coming.