creativity: notebook sketches

a few sketchy pages from my notebook today. brainstorming for some little projects and thoughts in my mind... i kinda love rough, awkward line drawings. and doodling a few everyday objects is like mental meditation.

hope you have a beautiful weekend. go out and enjoy the sunshine!

:: coffee & cast iron pans from lillieinthecity / flickr

weekend sun & sunprints

i spent a lot of time in the sun this weekend: in my backyard, at the farmer's market, on my bike, across town, and outside some great echo park coffee shops. i love that summer in LA starts in april.

i finally played with some sunprint paper that i had bought a few months ago. this simple photo paper captures the shadow of objects in bright light. it's a fun art/science that is perfect for a sunny afternoon. i experimented with an assortment of buttons, bread tags, and backyard plants for some simple little prints. check out more inspiring sunprints at anna atkins and boomslice and rinneallen.

hope you took advantage of some sunshine over your weekend.

listening to: rebel rebel by seu jorge (listen)

:: image from lillieinthecity / flickr

the love of glass jars

recently, my mom and my aunt had a shared revelation: they both suffer from (but mostly celebrate) The Love of Glass Jars--the insatiable need to buy, scrub clean, and save any neat glass containers that they find. as their collections build, the jars are repurposed to store food, buttons, art supplies, and collections of all kinds. my auntie phyllie's latest glass loves are the "nice little squat" jars that, in a past life, held salsa. in their new incarnation, they live on her bookshelf displaying this awesome rainbow of colored pencils.

i know this love well myself, as there are rogue jars tucked into every cabinet of our apartment kitchen. too many times, i've bought grocery store items solely because of their containers (the food is like a bonus prize!). spega yogurt jars are one of my favorites.

someday soon i will post photos of our infamous kitchen shelf that is constructed of pine wood planks and 12 enormous jars of pickles.

are you a glass jar lover, too?

listening to: the woodlands national anthem by the arcade fire (listen)

:: image from phyllis mchugh leocha (auntie phyllie)

my first letterpress adventure

earlier this month, i went on a one-day letterpress adventure at the international printing museum in carson (printmuseum.org). their introduction to letterpress workshop (which was i was psyched to attend) was a great mix of fun, informative, and inspiring--and the museum itself is a hidden gem for anyone interested in printmaking.

the day started with a guided tour of their museum and a brief history of printmaking. and then we dove into the type room, learned the the basics of typesetting, and got to work on two basic printing projects. the museum has an awesome collection of type fonts and woodcut images to explore. for my name print, i couldn't resist this woodcut of a windblown cypress tree (for love of the california coast).

if you're in the los angeles area, the museum offers lots of classes about letterpress, book arts, and printmaking. i'm hoping to be back for their intermediate letterpress workshop on april 18. more printmaking soon!

see a few more letterpress pics at lillieinthecity / flickr.

listening to: feeling good by nina simone (listen)

learning letterpress

i'm excited to be attending a one-day letterpress workshop tomorrow at the book arts institute. i've been wanting to do this for months, but timing, cost, and location never seemed to work. and then days after making a resolution to myself, i landed on the book arts website. perfect!

it's a part of the international printing museum, which also sounds fantastic, and located just south of los angeles.

this is a great next step with one of those "new projects" that i mentioned. i'm hoping to share some fun stationery and paper designs soon...

p.s. check out my photo of a Heidelberg letterpress being pushed down the middle of a street in san francisco. crazy! and one of my favorite memories of last weekend.

:: image from moontree press in brooklyn, ny

national day of listening

storycorps has declared the first annual national day of listening on friday, november 28.

each day this week, npr has been playing a story from a different person/place, and on friday, they will play stories throughout the day. this is a "call to action" for americans to take time on friday to sit down with someone you love, ask a question or two, and really listen. read more in this interview.

for today's story, george w. bush's sister doro interviewed the outgoing president and first lady about what they will miss about life in the whitehouse, and like most storycorps responses, the answers were surprisingly sweet.

art: patrick dougherty

Dougherty's works allude to nests, cocoons, hives, and lairs built by animals, as well as the manmade forms of huts, haystacks, and baskets, created by interweaving branches and twigs together. Many of his works look 'found' rather than made, as if they were created by the natural force of a tornado sweeping across the landscape. He intentionally tries for this effortless effect, as if his creations just fell or grew up naturally in their settings. - Linda Johnson, Curator

currently on view at the LA arborteum & botanical garden. (via lacma unframed)

also on view at wheaton college in norton, ma. and more photos available ihere.


:: image from orngejuglr

dahl fashion

charlie bucket stared around him in astonishment.
this was the craziest lift he had ever seen.
- charlie and the chocolate factory


british vogue had a roald-dahl-inspired photo shoot. love it.
at fashion week daily (via annplified)


:: image from british vogue

advice

work hard. play hard.
create something amazing.


- advice to sink in slowly

wish i was at: SMFA art sale

InsideOut: The Museum School Art Sale, November 19–23, 2008

For 28 years the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA) has hosted the annual December Sale, an art sale and fundraiser for student scholarships. Featuring work by hundreds of established and emerging artists each year—including internationally known SMFA alumni and faculty, current students, and affiliated artists—the Sale has become the largest public art sale in New England... more info

School of the Museum of Fine Arts
230 the fenway | boston, massachusetts

diy: geographic lampshade

think of your favorite place each time you turn on the light!
map lamp how-to via chez larsson


:: image from chez larsson

art: penelope dullaghan

artist to explore: penelope dullaghan
her prints are available in her shop.

penelope, please print this golden goldfish.
i want to take him home!

via stephanielevy

art history: woman drawing

young woman drawing, 1801 by marie-denise villers

i think of this picture unusually often. something in her look, the leveling gaze. i remember standing in front of this painting and considering it on more than one occasion during field trips in college. and now when i revisit it, i wonder, why? certainly pretty--mostly quiet and simple, almost plain. but there's something in that gaze that keeps making me remember. and so, worth sharing!

[ new series: art history / images & thoughts ]

photo: all i want to be

another 20x200. think-make-think by clifton burt.

i really should have bought a print of this as soon as it posted--because now i'm very bummed that within hours they are sold out!

photo: colorful but controlled

balloons by juliane eirich--available at 20x200

quote: the power of art

in unsettling times like these,
it would do us good to look at art
and talk about it,
because of the power of art
to console and lift our spirits and
its ability to teach us a thing or two
about our imperfect nature.


- edward goldman for kcrw / please, mr. president, take us on a date

a year of mornings

a recent addition to my book collection: a year of mornings: 3191 miles apart.

at the beginning of 2007, two friends started a photo blog, each sharing an image from their morning. one friend in portland, maine, the other in portland, oregon, 3191 miles apart. their photos capture quiet moments in the early day--and since they started, i've loved the moment in my day when i visit their website. (and along with many coworkers/friends, i started my own daily habit of using their photo pairs as my work&home computer's desktop background.)

now their morning photos have been published in this book.

and this year, they've continued the tradition with a year of evenings.


:: image from a year of mornings

art: carleton watkins

recently saw dialogue among giants at the getty center.
carleton watkins and the rise of photography in california.

in the city: silverlake salvage

a new-to-me LA discovery is silverlake salavage where i found an incredible collection of everything and the kitchen sink--old cabinets, tables and chairs, moldings, hardware, windows and doors, tubs, and on and on. the place is HUGE, and the collection endless and constantly changing.

i didn't come home with anything on my first visit (a bit overwhelmed by possibility), but i will definitely be heading back soon.



Silverlake Salvage
1085 Manzanita St.
Los Angeles, CA 90029
323-667-2875
open daily, 11-6


:: images from myflickr

art in odd places

in the month of october, art projects will be tucked around new york city for pedestrians to stumble upon. see art in odd places.

my favorite...

free books by erin doeinge

A box of books labeled "Free Books" is deposited at various 14th Street locations. A seeming act of generosity, the artist has removed the last few pages from each book. The alteration will only become apparent to the reader after he or she has nearly finished the book, converting the cast-off into a statement of art.

Time/Location: Ongoing throughout October. Four undisclosed locations on 14th Street.

[i once tore the last page out of a danielle steele book and put it back on a communal book shelf. now i feel all the prouder of that little act of rebellion.]


:: image from art in odd places