ARTIST // KEN TACKETT

Really enjoying these illustrations but Texas based illustrator an design, Ken Tackett. His work has been strongly influenced by anatomy, and you can see this thru his pieces featured here today and that on his personal site (see link below). Hope you enjoy his work. Happy Wednesday!

KEN TACKETT

WEBSITE  //  BLOG

 

GIVE THANKS - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Today, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, it's a reminder of all that I have been blessed with. Beyond anything I am so thankful for my kiddos, Wyeth and Penelope. They make every day an adventure and I can't even imagine how my life was before these two special people. I'm so proud to be called a mom because of them and I am so happy of our little family. For my boyfriend Josh, who is an amazing guy. I love him so much and his love for me and my kiddos is beyond anything I could have imagined. I am thankful for my family, my parents, my brothers, cousins and other relatives both near and far. For my kiddos dad Ben and his family, who play an important part in my kids life. I am thankful for being able to draw and create with my hands, and for the other talents I have been blessed with. For clean water, food in our bellies, a home over our head, my job, my health an so much more. There is so much to be thankful for, what is something you are thankful for this holiday season?   

Kiddo thankful notes below:
Thankful for - Penny, Luna (our cat), Family, Turkey, Wyeth, Mom, Candy, Dad, Josh, Jessie (school friend) - Penny age 4.5
Thankful for - Dad, Mom, Family, TV, Luna, Toys - Wyeth age 6.5

COLOR PALETTE 63 : NATALIE FOSS

Lovely illustration and color palette by Norway based artist Natalie Foss. To see more of her beautiful work, please link below. Happy weekend, hope you're getting in some much needed relaxing an gearing up for Turkey day this week!

MORE WORK BY NATALIE FOSS

FOOD : CHICKEN AVOCADO BURGERS

We are always looking for healthy food options and these chicken avocado burgers were great! They were healthy, quick an easy to make an super tasty, plus paired with the sweet potato fries was an overall yummy meal. Hope you enjoy them too.

 
INGREDIENTS
1 pound ground chicken
1 large ripe avocado - cut into chunks
1/2 cup panko crumbs or other bread crumbs
1 chopped clove of garlic salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Toss the chunks of avocado, breading and garlic together. Blend (I used my hands) mixture into ground chicken being careful not to mush the avocado. Form into 6 small patties and grill until done. We used the Foreman grill an cooked them for approx. 8-10 minutes, an we served ours with sweet potato french fries.
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RECIPE courtesy of Laughing Spatula
PHOTO courtesy of J.Dusel

WHERE'S THERE 11 : MOROCCO

The architecture and great details of the Ben Yusuf Madersa, which was once a school, showcases the beauty and true reflection of the Moroccan art. The structure is now a museum and available for tours. How lovely is this though. If you google the name you will see more photos of the ornante detailing of this place. Have you been here to se it for yourself?


IMAGE CREDIT

ARTIST // APAK STUDIO

Do you know of the husband an wife duo knows as Apak Studio? I would hope so, but if not Aaron & Ayumi Piland are the talented artist behind the work featured today. Their mystical creations, painted from colorful gouache & acrylics explore a utopian land all their own. I love their little characters, which in their more recent works I love how it slightly depicts their little family of 3. To cute! See more of their amazing work by popping over to their studio, an shop below. Enjoy and Happy Tuesday!

APAK STUDIO

WEBSITE  //  SHOP  //  INSTAGRAM USER >> @APAKSTUDIO

 

RACHAEL LUST / 2014 HOOPER OF THE YEAR / GROOVE VIDEO

So tell me you've seen this girl, Rachael Lust. A friend recently shared a link to her online and well, if you haven't seen her, you need to watch the video below. This 26 year old mama is the 2014 Hooper of the year. It sounds silly thinking about hula hooping as a child, which I was horrible at and then seeing something like this girls talents. I am kinda in awe and maybe have watched this video more than a far share of times, but it's quite impressive to say the least. Who knew a plastic hula hoop, the right moves and some dedication could result in this. Enjoy & Happy Friday!


RACHAEL LUST
via YOUTUBE  /  FACEBOOK

*Music in video is "Groove" by Oiki

COLOR PALETTE 62 : COCO ESCRIBANO

Loving this illustration and color palette thanks to artist, Coco Escribano. To see more work by Coco, please click on the link below. Enjoy!

IMAGE SOURCE

#SANDIDOODLES / FLOWERS ARE ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA

I've been working on exploring my own hand lettering. An though, by no means, am I a professional calligrapher, I still like to dabble in the arts of lettering. I see it as a challenge, and personally for me, it's another form of illustration, which is what my background is in. It's shapes, lines, thick and thin markings, all things make up a completed illustration. I like using pens, though they can be a bit scary an unforgiving some, this way I can't erase errors an have to force myself to continue practicing. I go through a bit of paper this way, but it's worth the continued efforts. I've found picking words or quotes is a good place to start so like others I've done this was a recent one from a few nights prior. To see more of my work there are a few links below or come visit me on IG an peek thru my work under the hashtag #sandidoodles. Enjoy! :)

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More doodles and artwork via Pinterest >> HERE 
More #sandidoodles via IG (Instgram) >> HERE
Doodles shared on my prior blog (AdaLou) >> HERE

ARTIST // DAN MORA

I'm really loving these illustrations by character artists & designer, Dan Mora. His digital creations are beyond outstanding and the fine detailing is unreal. The rendering on the batman piece below showcases some of talents, but this is just a small offering of his work an his other illustrations also wow me. Please click on the link below to view more of Dan's portfolio. Enjoy!


DAN MORA >> VISIT HIS PERSONAL SITE 

WHERE'S THERE 10 : NEW YORK

So we got to pass thru New York for a day an a night this Summer. An from what I remember it was beautiful. We did a lot in a short time frame an only were in Brooklyn but it seemed like it had so much more to offer, and I would love to explore it more. Someday I'll go back to peek around a bit. Do you live in NY or have visited there before? What was your favorite must see while there? Happy mid week, sweet friends!

IMAGE CREDIT : PHOTO BY MARK TIERNEY

COLOR PALETTE 62 : MALIKA FAVRE

Loving this bold graphic illustration an color palette by the Malika Favre. To see more of her work please click on the link below. Happy the week is almost over Thursday! :)

IMAGE SOURCE

MUSIC : MAGIC!

Let's be honest, everyone has their quirks. An when it comes to music, I have a little issue with over listening to music. If you know me, you'd realize this, and if you rode in my car (an I apologize to all you friends who have had the honor to ride with me) you'd realize that I listen to the same music over and over. It's not cause I'm lazy and forget to change the cd, because I could surely change it, but it's because I get into a groove of listening to one artist an honestly really just enjoy their music. I'm sure a few of you who know will giggle over this (or eye roll). But a few months ago my boyfriend played a song by this band called Magic! an boy was it magical indeed (see what I did there, boy am I humorous). Their mashed up style of reggae pop rock instantly caught my attention and made me want to listen to more, so I got the album and have been enjoying it ever since. I hope you will enjoy them too… And if you're curious, I peeked at my iTunes today and see I have gladly listened to their album 31x (which does not include in the car, an on my phone) on my computer, haha! Happy Thursday sweet friends.

MAGIC! - WEBSITE
 

LABOR DAY WEEKEND : PART TWO MERAMAC CAVERNS

So the second part of our STL Labor Day weekend away was more nature related. We had planned our trip around the idea of visiting the City Museum, and then camping at the Meramec State Park. So after our day of playing in the city, we jumped in the car and drove and hour south to Stanton Missouri to camp. This was our first camping adventure together, and we will surely do this again, but all in all, it went well after we got all situated (the tent up, the fire started, and a drink in hand). The morning after we venture to the caverns, but before exploring underground we tried out hand at zip-lining thru the sky. Now if you know me, you'd know I have a fear of heights, that I've been working hard on overcoming. We had seen that the park had a zip course so we planned to give it a try, and you know what, after the first run (an we did 4 runs + 3 bridge walks of various lengths) it was actually super fun! I'm not gonna sugar coat it, I was super nervous at first, but I feel it was a great thing for me do. After this (which took about 2 hours) we traveled into the cavern's to explore some. Now these caverns were set up more like an attraction tour, which we did know. But non the less, they are all still original caves that we got to see up close, and boy was it beautiful! Hope you enjoy the few photos we we able to snap while there, an if you are in the St. Louis area I totally think it's worth the drive to check out Meramac. Have a great new week sweet friends. :)

MERAMAC CAVERNS + ZIP LINING  //  WHERE WE CAMPED >> MERAMEC STATE PARK

 

ARTIST // JOANNE NAM

I recently stumbled upon a painting titled "White Forest" (bottom right pictured below) by Joanne Nam and absolutely loved it! After hunting for a link to more of her work, I am just wowed by her pieces. She appears to work in oils on wood panelings and I am beyond impressed with the fine detailing, subject matter and muted color palettes she has chosen. Her stylized look is realistic with a whimsical spin. To see more of her beautiful work please click on the link below or follow her via IG. Happy Tuesday dear friends. :)

JOANNE NAM
WEBSITE  //  INSTAGRAM USER >> @INLANDER

COLOR PALETTE 61 : RAMBLE ON! BY PEDRO LOURENCO

Happy Monday an happy new color palette day which is brought to you today by artist Pedro Lourenco. This piece is titled "Ramble On!" and I just love the graphic styling and tonal hues. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

MORE WORK BY PEDRO LOURENCO

LABOR DAY WEEKEND : PART ONE ST LOUIS

So we visited STL and because I have so many photos plus I want to list what we did, I was going to break down below how our days went. This will be a two part series an I will share more from the next part of our trip on another post. But all in all, we enjoyed each others company, ate good food, played all day, and explored the city some. It's nice that it's just short car ride (approx. 4 hours) away, because we will surely be back to visit there again…



Friday night before dinner we arrived and checked into the HYATT REGENCY AT THE ARCH Located literally on the STL Arch at 315 Chestnut St, St Louis, MO 63102.

We were hungry and got a recommendation for Baileys' Range for dinner. We knew it wasn't to far from so we hiked a few blocks for some burgers, fries, drinks, and a sundae. Yum, yum YUM!!! BAILEYS' RANGE located at 920 Olive St, St Louis, MO 63101.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to rest up for Saturdays adventure… 

 

Have you been to CITY MUSEUM?!! If you haven't been there you need to go! It's place is literally a play place and museum for both children and adults (that's right I said adults!). We actually planned our trip there to test it out to see if my kiddos are ready for it yet... Sadly I think we need to wait a few more years (just to be a bit bigger height and weight wise) but that didn't stop us from having a day of fun! City Museum located at 750 N 16th St, St Louis, MO 63103.

It rained while at City Museum which means the outdoor play area closes (for safety reasons) so we ventured out for lunch. We were told by a friend to go to an IMO's Pizza (photo above near Baileys' photo) for STL style pizza, so we had spotted one a few blocks down which we walked too. IMO'S PIZZA located at 1828 Washington Ave, St Louis, MO 63103.

It had stopped raining over lunch so we headed back to City Museum for more fun and to explore the outdoor area. When we finally felt done (after about 5+hours) we drove to the DELMAR LOOP because there was a comic shop I heard we may enjoy and hoped they would have something tasty for dinner also int he area. The Delmar Loop located at 6504 Delmar Blvd, St Louis, MO 63130.

We started walking the Loop, which is like an outdoor strip of shops and of course I kicked into snacky Sandi mode an spotted Ben and Jerry's and just had to stop. Hahaha! An a few doors down was the comic shop so we popped in there next...


The comic shop was called STAR CLIPPERS and totally worth a trip! I bought some stickers, some comics for myself and my kiddos, a Tim Biskup book and the boyfriend found a book he wanted and some trading cards. This store was cool and offered a great range of graphic novels and books thatI was thoroughly impressed. Star Clippers is located at 6392 Delmar Blvd, St Louis, MO 63130.

We ventured into AVALON EXCHANGE a consignment shop, which they had a bunch of cute stuff and priced fairly too. Found an asian vintage romper, I'll share an #ootd photo on another post. Avalon Exchange was located at 6388 Delmar Blvd, St Louis, MO 63130.

The boyfriend popped across the street into THE WIZARD WAGON to look at collectibles and vinyl toys. It was a cool little shop too, located at 6372 Delmar Blvd, University City, MO 63130.

Next up was dinner and we had heard there was a SEOUL TACO on the Loop so we walked to find food. My eyes were much bigger than my stomach, but it was still delicious. Seoul Taco is located at 571 Melville Ave, St Louis, MO 63130.

After stuffing ourselves for dinner we hiked back to the car and headed on our way to Sullivan, Missouri, about an hour drive, for our next adventure in camping, a cave tour and more… Part two coming soon... Hope you enjoyed all the photos! :)