Bohemian Girl Collection

This is my personal journal from my Bohemian Girl Collection! I always carry it with me, because it is here where I write down all my design inspirations and my million and one projects and ideas.

The design of my Bohemian Girl Collection is a great inspiration for me. Whenever I pick up my journal it brings a smile to my face. You see, behind every art design there is a story. And I have to tell you the story behind my Bohemian Girl Collection.

Several years ago I had the opportunity to explore one of my hidden talents. And that was my passion for Art.

I always loved art through out my life. I never had a chance to go to college or pursue art in any form or fashion. Though whenever I would go to a museum I knew a good piece of art when I saw it. For instance, I always admired the ladies of Alphonse Mucha's art posters and Andy Warhol's colorful pop art. Both artists inspired me to believe that art comes in different forms and colors. And if you're not a Leonardo Da Vinci that's okay, because the definition of art is not confined to only one kind of expression. But art is defined as a product of human activity, made with the intention of stimulating the human senses as well as the human mind by transmitting emotions and or ideas.

So art ideas and inspirations, I had plenty. The problem was skills. I had zero, nothing, nada, no skills, whatsoever. Like many artists, I could describe myself as a self-taught, always-learning, starving artist. It's not that I could only draw stick figures. My art wasn't that bad. But it wasn't that great either. So I knew that I had to work on improving what little talent I had. So I got several of those " How to draw like a pro", "How to draw from the left side of the brain", "How to draw with your eyes closed", "How to draw upside down while eating" books. Mr. Da Vinci, why did you set the bar so high for us?

At that time I had a bigger challenge. The fact that I couldn't draw was the least of my challenges. Yes, like I said on the onset, I had an opportunity to explore my hidden artistic talent. This opportunity that I had is not as great as it sounds. My health made a left hand turn. I was thrown into an unknown, embarrassing world, the world of IBS. This new problem that, by the way, almost shortened my life, had become a new ugly word in my vocabulary. Besides not being able to enjoy foods, social functions, and traveling, I learned every clean and dirty bathroom there was in my town (which a girl should know well). I was tired, frustrated, and cried many nights. I learned the good, the bad, and ugly of IBS.

One of my favorites singer is Bing Crosby. And like the title of one of his songs "Accentuate the Positives" and not the negatives. I had to accentuate the positives in my life. If life gives me lemons, then I will make pink lemonade!

So while I was in my art mood, my dear sister decided to pay for me to take an interior decorating course while I was at home recuperating. While studying my decorating books, I learned an important thing of design: Concept. It is very important for an interior designer to come up with a concept. I developed a concept of how I would like my art to be. So I compiled a more 3D idea concept by looking at magazines, vintage websites, arts ,etc. Anything that will talk to me, that I felt inspired by, I made sure to bookmark it.

After getting all inspired, I then started to draw. But I had problems, because I was concentrating in making things look real. My wonderful husband, who draws better than I, had given me a great, but simple, tip. "Everything comes from simple forms." I knew that, because I had all of these books in my house. Though I never did get it. But after my husband helped me see how he draws, I understood it better. Thank, you Babe! Then my Bohemian Girl started to take shape.

When my art piece was completed, I was so excited for my sister to see it. So that was when she gave me her constructive criticism: "I love your design! But you know what would be nice?"

"What?" I said.

"You know that my hair is curly and not straight, I would love to see your Bohemian Girl have some curly hair. Wouldn't that be nice?"

At that moment I couldn't believe what I was hearing. After all I have been through in learning the abc's of art, that I had no clue about in the first place. Now, that my baby was born, she was not cute enough! Well I thank my sister for that. If it wasn't for her "encouragement", my Bohemian Girl would look a little bald and rough around the edges:


A week later, with smoke coming out of my computer, fingers sticking together and burnt eyelashes. My new and improved Bohemian Girl Collection was born!


...and the rest is history!


If you want to have a cup of coffee with style, go shopping with a retro design jumbo tote bag or get your own Bohemian Girl journal. You are welcome to visit both of my Bohemian Girl Collection shops anytime!