Art and Design by Krystine Kercher : Page 4 of 6 : Creating art from the heart for the joy of sharing with others.

Art Nouveau Seasons

February 8, 2020Krystine KercherFabric Designs on SpoonflowerArt Nouveau, fabric by the yard, home decor, seasons, seasons of life, seasons of the year

Whether it’s the seasons of the year or the seasons of life, Art Nouveau is the perfect design medium for exploring the beautiful changes that time brings.

It takes forty-two six-inch square swatches to fill up a yard of printed fabric. This is important because it’s a much better deal to buy one yard with 42 swatches than it is to buy just a swatch or two at a time from Spoonflower. I just filled up another yard of swatches–so now I get to post these for sale and tell you all about them.

I’ve created six Art Nouveau designs for this fabric collection. Two feature the seasonal vignettes and one celebrates motherhood and boys. I’ve posted them for sale on Spoonflower, and now they’re available for you to buy for your crafting and sewing needs, and enjoy.

Art Nouveau Fabric Collection

February 8, 2020Krystine KercherFabric Designs on Spoonflowerairships, Art Nouveau, clouds, dirigibles, fabric collection, steampunk

I love my new Art Nouveau Fabric Collection! It’s the bomb! Or should I say that it’s the sun peeking out from behind a puffy cloud in my celadon blue sky? Whichever way you look at it, I love it– and I hope you will too. It takes forty-two six-inch square swatches to fill up

Capturing Christmas Lights

January 2, 2020Krystine KercherDesign Tips and TricksChristmas lights, Nikon Coolpix, photography, taking photos at night

When it comes to capturing Christmas lights with a point and shoot camera, it helps to find the right setting. It has taken me a while–years, actually–to find the right setting on my current camera. I used to know exactly how to take night shots with lights on the old camera. It was easy. But

Art Nouveau for a Happy New Year

December 31, 2019Krystine KercherFabric Designs on Spoonflowerairships, dirigibles, pro-life, Spoonflower, steampunk, surface design

Check out my four latest designs for an upcoming Spoonflower challenge dedicated to Art Nouveau:

Steampunk Dirigibles

Momma’s Blessing

Art Nouveau seasons vignettes with spirals wallpaper

Art Nouveau seasons with spirals

Art Nouveau Seasons

While the two with seasonal vignettes are similar in design, the other two designs are very different, yet they are all Art Nouveau. In researching art styles for this challenge, I realized that there are significant differences between Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

Art Nouveau (or ‘the new art’) is more organic: it flows. Colors are more muted but very rich. Blues, greens, and purples provide gorgeous backdrops for brown, gold, and cream tones.
Art Deco is more geometric and structured. It can be boxy and is often very glitzy and glamorous.

Circular designs, curves, and spirals define Art Nouveau. Designs repeat organically and feature layered elements. Themes from nature are juxtaposed with celebrations of the human form and even the odd mechanical wonder from the beginning of the industrial age.

Fall In Love With Color

November 5, 2019Krystine KercherDesign Tips and Trickscolor theory, colors, kaleidoscope designs, mandalas

I fall in love with color all the time. The vibrant color of a blazing sunset; the soft grays and blues of rippling lake water reflecting a cloudy sky; the shiny black-green leaves and blacker berries of an ornamental pepper… I fell in love with colors and shapes all over again when I was creating

What Inspires Me

April 23, 2019Krystine KercherHelpful Hints With A Side Of Humorcreative inspiration, stress and creativity, what gets in the way of inspiration

What inspires me to create art?

That depends. I can get inspired by a set of colors, or a photo I took, a flower, a butterfly, or a special event. Sometimes I’m inspired by special requests for original artwork. Sometimes my inspiration comes from memory.

Poppy Apocalypse -Click on the image to shop artwork was inspired by the super bloom of California poppies this spring.

Click on the image to shop for artwork inspired by the super bloom of California poppies this spring.

The past couple of months, I’ve drawn inspiration from Spoonflower’s challenges. While useful in getting the creative juices flowing, I’ve also found them to be stressful. I want to do well at them, but sometimes my quirky out-of-the-box creative bent takes me off in unanticipated directions.

And sometimes, my original ideas just don’t connect with my intended audience. Stress is bad for creativity. Stress also knocks my inspiration down and stomps all over it. I don’t perform well at all under pressure. Oh, let’s be honest here: introduce stress to the mix, and my creativity and inspiration take a hike and refuse to return for quite a while afterwards.

In talking with other artists, I’ve discovered that

NEW Kiss-cut Stickers from Zazzle

April 6, 2019Krystine KercherSurface Designs on ZazzleBible verse, monogrammed, New sticker designs, stickers, whimsical

This week I’ve been having fun creating new kiss-cut vinyl stickers from Zazzle. Kiss-cut stickers are cut following the outline of the design, which makes them so much nicer than Zazzle’s other stickers–which are still very nice, but limited to basic geometric shapes (i.e., hearts, stars, circles, squares, etc). I wanted to share them with

Yes, I’m An Art Critic

February 21, 2019Krystine KercherHelpful Hints With A Side Of Humorare you an art critic, voting on Spoonflower, what makes a good challenge entry

Yes, I’m an art critic. You probably are one too!

What makes me an art critic? What makes YOU an art critic?

Maybe…it’s an eye for a great design or a beautiful painting, or that perfect pillow or card. Maybe it’s that unerring ability to pick out the perfect necktie or shirt or pair of shoes. You like some designs and not others. Maybe you love abstract designs or floral, or coastal and shabby chic, or farmhouse style. Maybe your style embraces lots of bling or understated elegance.

What makes me an art critic is simple: I want to improve my own artwork, so I seek inspiration from examples of artwork that I like where the composition is excellent and the colors all work together in harmony–or at least with no eye-searing clashing. I can, however, handle a little dissonance… I like a wide range of art and artistic styles. I’ve fallen in love with abstract patterns, with impressionist florals, even with stark modern lines.

Can Elephants Dance the Hula?

February 9, 2019Krystine KercherFabric Designs on Spoonflowerelephants, frangipani, monstera leaves, plumeria, tropical print

Can elephants dance the hula? I wondered as I considered options for new artwork to submit to the Bohemian Paradise Challenge on Spoonflower.

My last effort at a good Bohemian Paradise entry took a hairpin turn into so baby elephant cute, I felt it lost the Bohemian feel altogether.

I really needed to try again. Hmmm… Elephants are tropical, pop a lei and a wrap on one, and it might even look Bohemian. Bohemian elephants dancing…

Shop for cute hula elephants fabric and craft supplies on Zazzle

The Sweetest Momma and Baby Elephant

February 3, 2019Krystine KercherFabric Designs on Spoonflower, Surface Designs on Zazzlecraft designs collection, elephant babies, elephants, fabric collection

Check out this momma and baby elephant! Isn’t this the sweetest momma and baby elephant you’ve ever seen?

Where did they come from? Oh yeah…

Click through to shop my Sweet Elephants Fabric Collection on Zazzle.

I’ve been working on designs for fabrics, wallpaper, and wrapping paper on Spoonflower. I got inspired to create a design to enter in the Bohemian Paradise contest.

At least, that’s where this whole thing started this week. I was just sure I had the right sketch to use for this…

Art and Design by Krystine Kercher

Creating art from the heart for the joy of sharing with others.

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Art Nouveau Seasons

Art Nouveau Fabric Collection

Capturing Christmas Lights

Art Nouveau for a Happy New Year

Fall In Love With Color

What Inspires Me

What inspires me to create art?

NEW Kiss-cut Stickers from Zazzle

Yes, I’m An Art Critic

Yes, I’m an art critic. You probably are one too!

Can Elephants Dance the Hula?

The Sweetest Momma and Baby Elephant

Check out this momma and baby elephant! Isn’t this the sweetest momma and baby elephant you’ve ever seen?