The Four Elements

Earth, Air, Fire & Water

I came up with these designs around Earth Day 2008. Originally I wanted to design a series of greeting cards for the zodiac using their elemental counterparts. Being inspired by nature I began to imagine what they would be like if they had actual entities behind them. Around this time I was going through a "swirl" drawing period. It was just something I was doodling at the time and it seemed to fit what I had in mind so I grabbed my pencils and watercolors and headed outside to channel some nature. The designs came pretty easy once I got going. I wanted to keep them semi monochromatic, which I was successful at and I wanted the viewer to feel the warmth of the sun, the salty water, the slight breeze and the coolness of the forest. I think at least I hope that the viewer can.

Upon the success of these cards and the interest generated by them I expanded the line to include other products on Zazzle and CafePress. I hope to include them on skateboards in the near future and actually design a different version as well as work on a celestial line involving the moon, stars and sun.

to be continued....

An Introduction of Myself

For those of you who just happen upon me and are not familiar with my work let me introduce myself. My name is Nikki and I started 13 Black Cats Designs around February of 2008. Initially I began posting my work online as a means of therapy, a way to work through a very tough time in my life that was full of extreme loss and sadness, a bit of regret and anger too. In reality it was a way to drag myself out of bed.

I started simply with just CafePress, not expecting much to happen but that was not to be true. I began getting feedback that was all positive and encouragement, both from strangers and friends, it even helped an old friend reconnect with me. Then a few sales happened and I became interested in painting again, which I never thought would ever be and I opened a second store, this time on Zazzle and right after Greeting Card Universe. To connect them all I purchased my own domain and I am now in the process of a major overhaul and hope to have it all updated soon. With all of that I decided to add a blog. I have been fighting it, after all who cares what I have to say or for that matter do I have anything worth saying? Well I am not sure on the last two questions but I thought I would give it a try. Perhaps I will showcase a few designs and tell how they came about, maybe a drawing lesson or two, who knows? I guess it just depends on how the wind blows.

to be continued...