Plein Air Painting

More than a year ago I bought myself an Art Toolkit and this summer I was finally able to use it. In mid-July we hit up one of our favorite fishing spots in the high Uinta Mountains and the reflection in the water was just beautiful, so I gave it a go. It turned out much better than I expected. The Uintas are a place we go to escape the heat of the Salt Lake Valley in the summer. We’ll bring a lunch and spend a whole day out there; lounging, fishing, painting, and enjoying the quiet with no cell service.

Pass Lake, Uinta Mountains, UT

Since then I’ve used my Art Toolkit a few times on some of our summer travels and even in my friend’s backyard.

Split Mountain Campground, Green River, Dinosaur National Monument, UT

This was such a wonderful little spot to spend an afternoon. We explored some of the Utah side of Dinosaur National Monument, but we had no idea what there was to see other than a museum about dinosaurs. We found some day-use parking at the Split Mountain Campground and we thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful spot. My husband and my oldest son did some fly fishing while my youngest and I chilled in the shade painting and building a sand castle. I cannot wait to get back there someday.

Lucerne Valley Beach, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, UT

Fishing with my son at a local pond

I was reluctant to share this painting when I took my son fishing one early morning before it got hot. I’m actually not happy with it. I had a plan for the water and then a bunch of ducks kept swimming by and made me change it and before I knew it, the water was a mess. Oh well. It was a learning experience. I did go back over the trees with black ink to flush out some of the shapes and I was a little happier with it. But still not happy about the water.

Lone Peak, Wasatch Mountains, UT, view from my friend’s backyard

The Art Toolkit is really thought-out and obviously curated by an artist. It comes decked out with all of the little essentials you’d need for some plein air watercolor painting. It comes with a water brush, pencil, waterproof pen, a tiny squirt bottle, a syringe for refilling the water brush, a little, plastic ruler, two tiny binder clips, and a notebook of watercolor paper that fits perfectly in the big pocket. Lastly, you can choose from a variety of options for the Pocket Pallete

I have since replaced the pen with a couple new ones since I wore out the one that came with it. I have added a second Pocket Palette to my kit; one with warm colors, the other with cool colors. I added a couple more water brushes and I keep a few business cards in one of the pockets. Sometimes I can bring a cup of water with me, so I keep a couple of my favorite regular brushes in there. I never would’ve thought of the little binder clips that come with it, but I use them each and every time I paint.

I really hope to fill up the book that came with the kit. It brings me so much joy to be able to capture a little moment when I see a beautiful landscape.

Strawberry Reservoir, UT

DIY Bookmark

We're all going through such a unique time in our history and we're all doing our best to stay sane and safe. One thing my family has really ramped up while in quarantine is reading. My kids are spending more time reading (sometimes with a fight, sometimes without), and so have I. Even if that means I set up hammocks in the backyard to ensure extreme reading comfort when the weather is beautiful.

Please enjoy this printable DIY bookmark that I created for you and your kids. I designed it for the parenting website I co-founded that’s currently going through a redesign. I will share it there once I have it back up and running.

Most big kids will be able to do this by themselves. Younger kids may need a little help. My 10yo could do it all on his own, my 6yo needed a little help cutting out the teeth. Feel free to share on Instagram and tag me, @alextebowdesigns and also tell me what your favorite book is or what you’re currently reading.

Supplies needed:

• A printer

• Paper or card stock

• Scissors

• Glue stick

• Favorite book

Step 1: Download and print the page with a color printer. Your bookmark will probably last longer if you can print on card stock, but use what you have. Photo paper will work too. Download the file here.

My 6yo and his smirk, hahahah

Step 2: Cut out a bookmark with scissors. My 6yo was able to cut this out by himself with a little help needed to cut out the teeth. 

Step 3: On one bookmark, fold the teeth triangle to the square’s center. Then fold the eyes triangle to the square’s center. 

Step 4:  Apply glue to the back of the eyes triangle and place it back over the teeth triangle. Let the glue dry. A simple glue stick worked great. Some white glue may take a longer to dry.

Step 5: Find a comfy place to sit with your favorite book and use your bookmark to save your spot. Or go sit in a book corner with your book corner! 

Feel free to share on Instagram and tag me @alextebowdesigns and tell me what your favorite book is right now. My 6yo says that Everyone Loves Bacon by Kelly DiPucchio is his current favorite. My 10.5yo’s favorite book right now is Major Impossible by Nathan Hale. I’m currently rereading The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher in anticipation of TWO new books coming out this summer.

What are you currently reading?

Kula Cloth Design Contest

I’ve been a fan of Kula Cloth since I discovered them over a year ago. They make reusable, washable, antimicrobial pee cloths for when nature calls and we’re out on a trail, camping, or on a run with no restroom around. There becomes no need to pack wipes or toilet paper and it’s better for Mother Earth to have less in landfills. They easily clip onto backpacks or fanny packs, they dry quickly, and the best part: they come in beautiful prints; many with artwork created by fellow women artists.

CLICK HERE to vote for my artwork!

Image by Zion Adventure Photog - Arika Bauer

Kula Cloth launched a design contest this week to have a new design printed and asked artists to submit designs. I submitted this watercolor painting I made from Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in southwestern Utah. It’s one of my most favorite places on the planet and home to the endangered desert tortoise, loads of unique wildlife, petroglyphs, and some truly amazing landscapes. Because it’s BLM land, it’s at risk of being developed as the surrounding cities need to accommodate growing communities. There was a proposal to build a highway through part of Red Cliffs and I don’t know if that plan is still happening or if conservationists are still fighting it.

Click on this image to get to the voting page.

Here are a couple gorgeous photos from the Red Cliffs area by Michelle Craig:

Image by Michelle Craig Photography

Image by Michelle Craig Photography

Here are a couple photos I took last year from Red Cliffs:

It’s a stunning part of Utah and worthy of protection from development!

In case you missed the link above, here it is again: CLICK HERE to vote for my artwork! Feel free to share the contest link on social media and vote for your favorites. Voting goes through May 7, 2020 at midnight. Thank you to everyone who’s voted!

Watercolor, Public Lands, and a YouTube Channel

We’re spending a LOT of time at home these days, so of course my desire to be out hiking in our canyons and in the desert is strong! We are on Spring Break this week and our schools have been closed for three weeks already. With our Spring Break travel plans to California canceled because of the Covid-19 virus, I had this inkling of hope that maybe we could escape to the desert instead. Nope! I read a plea from the director of the hospital in Moab and his explanation of how small his hospital is and how it’s not prepared to handle a pandemic AND the number of annual tourists who flock to the area every spring. I understood completely and was not willing to put the small communities in southern Utah at risk of the virus coming with me. Our annual trip to Arches was canceled and spending Spring Break on BLM land outside of Hurricane was done.

Instead, I’m living vicariously through painting. A few months ago I created a painting of Babylon Arch for Shanti and her Hiking My Way Retreats. I loved how it turned out so I decided to think about all of the beautiful landmarks that reside on BLM/public lands and do a series of paintings of them. Maybe I’ll turn them all into stickers one day, I haven’t gone that far yet. Maybe I can donate proceeds to a nonprofit that fights to protect our glorious public lands?

I will eventually do another painting of Babylon Arch (because it’s awesome and so is the surrounding area), but for now I have Fisher Towers, which is outside of Moab, UT:

A little waterfall on the Red Reef Trail in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in southwestern Utah:

Both areas are absolutely beautiful to explore. I plan to do another painting from the Red Reef Trail too.

One of my impulse purchases amid this Covid-19 business was a phone holder and light that lets me record time lapse videos of my painting. I learned the very basics of iMovie and, after some coaxing from my 10yo, I started a YouTube channel. Give my channel a visit and maybe a Like here and there.

Alex Tebow Designs

So far I only have a few videos up there, including a video on how I make Bolognese Lasagne, but I plan to add more in the following weeks.

I’m hoping to get more paintings going, especially since Utah is acting like its normal self in the spring and going back and forth between glorious sunshine and gusting wind and rain; maybe even a little snow.

What are some landmarks on public lands that you think I should do next??

Hike it Baby 30 Challenge - 2019

I had the pleasure of creating stickers to commemorate the two Hike it Baby 30 Challenges for 2019. In previous years, they used to have four challenges every year, but decided to cut it down to just two in April and September. You can see the stickers I created for 2018 here.

For 2019, we stuck with a similar watercolor and ink style and I made the April sticker quintessential to spring with blooming crocus, green grass, patches of melting snow, and the sky streaked for a sunrise.

In an effort to get more folks out on trail with their kids, they created a secondary challenge called Take it Outside. Participants received a sticker that loosely coordinated with the HiB30 sticker along with two sheets of little stickers to use on a calendar page that they printed out. Each day on the calendar page gave ideas for a daily activity designed to motivate people to get outside every day. I love how these turned out and it was awesome to see folks using the calendar page and stickers throughout the challenge.

Here’s the calendar page that I created for participants to download and print:

They received this sticker sheet in the mail shortly after signing up:

You can see a mini version of the Take it Outside sticker too!

When the September challenge rolled around, I created a new sticker and we added a few more hikers to the artwork, wanting to give more of a community feel. The Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina were the inspiration for this sticker.

To go with the September sticker, they did another Take it Outside challenge for new members too, this was the coordinating sticker.

Family Forest Fest

I had the privilege of creating artwork for the Family Forest Fest; a camping experience designed for families with young children. In 2017 they had events in two locations; one on Whidbey Island outside of Seattle, the other at Leaping Lamb Farm in Alsea, Oregon. In 2018, they had one event in Alsea, Oregon. They hosted a teddy bear hunt, outdoor play for kids, live music, bubble professionals, a movie night, a costume carnival, night hikes, family yoga, and so much more. There were also outdoor gear vendors there with gear for campers (and kids) try out. It looked amazing and I was sad to see them stop the events when it was becoming too difficult to make it sustainable.

I designed t-shirts for the events along with magazine ads, social media graphics, event maps, signs, and banners. Here's the adult t-shirt from 2017. It was printed in kelly green for staff members and navy blue for adult attendees.

The kids tees were printed on lime green.

I also created signs to identify different parts of the camp and a map of each location so campers knew where everything was. Some spaces were even sponsored.

Event map for the Oregon event:

For the 2018 event, they were able to use many of the same signs, but we did revamp the t-shirt designs:

Kid’s shirts were bright blue:

For the adult tees, they went with this lovely shade of dark green along with some lighter green and gray options:

Image by Heartbeat Photography

Image by Heartbeat Photography

Image by Heartbeat Photography

Image by Heartbeat Photography

It was such a pleasure to work on all of these items for Family Forest Fest. Thank you so much Shanti and Erin!

Custom Jam Labels

At the end of every summer, I buy a big box of Utah peaches and turn them into jam. It’s one of my favorite jams ever and I look forward to making it every year. Nothing is more satisfying that hearing that POP as the jars seal after sweating over a pot of molten fruit and sugar.

Every year I create a custom label and this year my kids wanted input on the design. They loved the label I made a couple of years ago with the dancing peach and “That’s my peach jam” wording. This year they said the peach needed to be a disc jockey with headphones. After I was done laughing, I got to work figuring out how to turn a vector drawing of a peach into a DJ. Both of my boys approved how it turned out. Mom win! They are looking forward to giving a jar to their teachers.

One friend of ours got her own custom label this year. Hee hee hee She’s very possessive over her annual peach jam.

Both of these new labels have been added to my Etsy shop and can be customized with your name and whatever fruit jam or jelly you’re making.

That’s My Jam Label

My F@#&ing Jam Label

Hike it Baby Artist Series Stickers

I started doing design work for Hike it Baby a little more than a year ago, and it’s been SO much fun to create whatever I can for them.

Every year they host hiking challenges that encourage families to get outside with their kids. Up until 2018, they had quarterly challenges in January, April, September, and November, and the goal is to hike 30 miles in 30 days or spend 30 minutes outside three times each week. Participants can log their miles or time on the Hike it Baby website, they’re entered into drawings to win awesome prizes from sponsors, and they get to join in a Facebook group solely for participants of each challenge where we share photos from our hikes and encourage each other to keep getting outside. We get to see some pretty epic photos from hikes in the Rockies, the Appalachians, the Oregon coast, the mountains in Alaska, and even some great hikes in Japan. It’s an inspiring group to be a part of for those 30 days.

Everyone who registers for a Hike it Baby 30 challenge also gets a sticker to commemorate. In the past stickers have always been a solid color with a fun little graphic. The color and design is different each challenge and participants love to collect them. I had the privilege of designing two of them from 2017; the brown sticker with the foxes and the navy blue sticker with the buck and fawn.

For 2018, the folks at Hike it Baby decided to up the ante on the Hike it Baby 30 stickers and they asked me to do a landscape watercolor painting for the four challenges; each representing the season and a different landscape in the Hike it Baby world.

I was so pleased with how these turned out in sticker form.

January Challenge - still one of my favorites!

April Challenge

September Challenge

November Challenge

Three of these designs made for great t-shirt designs too.

More than a few people have joked that we can’t possibly go back to the older style anymore, so we’re brainstorming ideas for 2019. We shall see how it turns out!