Celebrating Diversity - Art by Raven Muse.

I wanted to do my post on Moaning Minnie tonight, but I needed some photos and the lighting conditions are not up to snub for what I need to do. Plus my 12 year-old son ran away screaming at the thought of modeling them for me. Wuss.

So I thought I would share some of my digital art. What most of you don't know is that I could paint, and sculpt and draw....I mean really draw...sketch my heart away. I never left my home without a sketch pad or my little old mint tin filled with charcoal and a bag with various pencils and erasers. I LOVED to draw. One day it became painfully apparent I could no longer do it. One reason was I was so frustrated at the quality of my work and the other reason was the pain I was starting to experience. I have found out over the years I have this annoying bit of nerve damage from some spinal issues that causes pain and tremor in my hands. At this point I can barely sign my own name any two times and they do not look a bit alike. I like to say I have regal looking doctor hand writing!

Alas! All is not lost as I discovered graphic arts on a computer. Ahhh the wonders of the edit/undo button when I am having an especially "shake it up baby!" kind of day. This opened up all kinds of doors for me, and prevented he waste of lots of supplies.

So I am just going to line up a row of some work done over the past few years for you to peak. And hopefully I will get some decent light for better photos of my hats from Moaning Minnie. I'll get her story up next. Meanwhile you can visit her here. She is quite lovely, and so are her hats, bags, and other goodies you will find. All made in the highest of quality in an eclectic mix of styles where vintage is made contemporary. A very English collection!

On to my art. I do a lot of work designing logos for businesses as well as a lot of autism awareness graphics that you most likely have seen on the internet and never knew where they came from. I have donated autism graphics to the general public for over 10 years. My gift with no strings attached to the autism community. I did this because back in 1995 when the internet was first really up and running there was NO good if any nice autism graphics to create any autism awareness. You can find those graphics on my business site here. A few of the facts about autism need to be updated, but time has not permitted. Hopefully this summer I will have done that as well as creating some new goodies to hand out.

In the mean time if you wish to grab some cool deacals I have designed, you can visit ArtzCars where they produce my puzzle wing butterfly in a removable vinyl decal in any size you wish. It is a fabulous product that I keep using for many of our events.

Why a butterfly instead of a ribbon? I created a butterfly rather than a ribbon beacause I needed a change. I chose a butterfly because they are symbolic of growth and development, something our kids with autism and autism spectrum disorders struggle with day to day. So it just made sense to me.

So here goes....some of my art.

This is me....kinda what is in my head. Scary place. Writing on my head says "Harm None."

Pretty self explanatory. :)

I enjoy doing abstract work a great deal, it is relaxing to me. There are no rules, there is no wrong way to do it. It is just whatever flows from your head to your hand.

Some friends of mine, their two beautiful daughters.

This group participated in one of my fundraisers and had no logo, so I created one on the fly for them for the event. They kept it!

My youngest a few years ago sleeping on the couch.

A flower.

I don't know where I was here, my version of space maybe?

Again, my dreamy version of space or another dimension.

I went through this butterfly stage for a bit.

My universe melting (I have such technical names for things.) I don't like to give my abstract work names, because I don't want to suggest to the viewer what I think. I want them to see what they see.

I did call this one my "Ah Hah!" moment.

Logo I did for another autism group out west.

One of my butterflies, I have them in several colors and can produce any color combo. Please note the butterflies are copyrighted and you need my permission to use. Hate to be that way, but you know how it is these days. Please visit ArtzCars, more coming soon.

A word I live by. Believe in God, Believe in Bhudda, Believe in your toaster. Believe in something. It will help you get through a lot.

One of my first billboards, I was so excited!

A program cover for an auction fundrasier of ours from a few years back.

May need to click on this one, I call it fire and ice. I rarely have names for my collages...but this one just stuck. So be it!

A recent customer looking for a new logo/look.

I maintain menus and ocassional promotional materials for my friends at Prince on Delaware

Here is a sample of a coupon I
did for Prince on Delaware

A wonderfully free spirited silver smithCheck her out today!

Me poking fun at myself.

Logo design for 30th anniversary of my eldest son's school

Often my photos are what inspire me. Frequently I see things others don't.

I hope this gave you a glimpse into my art and the diversity of the work I do for myself, to non-profits and small businesses. My art has even appeared on the hood of a NASCAR Cup Series car and all over other NASCARS on bumpers so they would appear on camera.
You can see more work on my main site at http://www.designbyravenmuse.com/

Namaste,
Raven Muse