Friday, July 03, 2009
"They (students) are not privy to process. They may have the illusion that these things really spring full-blown out of the head of some designer. This is a very unsettling perception for young people, because they struggle with their work. They have a go at it...they redo...it gets better...it slips...it gets worse...it comes back...it comes together. And maybe it's something that's pretty good, even excellent. But they say to themselves, 'Gee, it comes hard and it's so difficult. Am I really suited for this?'"
- Saul Bass Labels: quotes
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
The Magical World of Books
I'm pretty enchanted with Su Blackwell's work of book cuts and magical diorama worlds. All my favorite things. You should definitely take a look at her portfolio site, filled with wonderful work like the above.
Oh my my it's July! Will update with own work soon. That is, if I don't evaporate into the summer heat.Labels: inspiration
Monday, June 29, 2009
Things I'm Infatuated With Right Now
Marion Cotillard. So beautiful
Emma Watson's Teen Vogue spread. Look at those teeny tiny ponies! Dream! This spread is SO much better than the Elle UK one. Fashion mags for teenagers > fashion mags for adults.
Finally got my hands on this edition of Hi Fructose magazine, with features on Mark Ryden and Brandi Milne. Love their respective work so much.
And lastly, seersucker & candy stripes and light summer dresses (like this one from Built By Wendy). Cause I'm melting half my body weight away in my first Valley summer.Labels: inspiration
Monday, June 22, 2009
Claire & Gregory
Claire & Gregory
8"x10", acrylic on canvas panel
Hi there & happy Monday! Meet another couple of residents of Wunderland, Claire and her pet nautilus Gregory. They love to take swims together in the morning, while Claire holds onto one of Gregory's tentacles as they cross tough undertows.
Lately I've been staying up until 4am painting, which is bad to get off a regular sleep schedule accommodating 8am classes during the week. I slowly gain momentum through the day - mostly spending the morning/afternoon reading and poking around online, browsing endless graphic design/illustration/fashion/style blogs and sites, answering emails, sketching, making meals, and running errands. Just before/after dinner, I get really started from my sketch-dawdling all day and put on a TV show on DVD, and paint paint paint.
Why is it that at 4am your mind is still racing with brand new ideas and all this new-found motivation while you're forcing yourself to sleep - yet once you wake up, they've all slipped away like ghostly dreams?Labels: artwork, wunderland
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Lovely Packaging
Usually Sunday mornings are reserved for the New York Times online and this week's episodes of Good Food & Splendid Table. But this week I discovered the most incredible blog dedicated to packaging design - Lovely Package. I suspect I'll be spending some time this morning burrowing into the archives.Labels: good links
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Perfect Summer Dessert
A couple weeks ago I was craving a berry dessert at I'm certain an ungodly hour, and as usual, Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours came to my rescue. Well, Dorie's book and my sweetheart, who did the biscuit making. It's a perfect, simple, amazing recipe that we could scrounge up from the ingredients we had in our fridge and pantry - using up half-bags of frozen berries leftover from ambitious days of having fruit and yogurt breakfasts, which have now been replaced by larabars eaten in the car on the way to class.
I'm usually not a big fan of the cobbler because of the overly sweet, treacle-y top and fruit soup underneath, but this one is just perfect if you follow the directions to the T. The top is a sweet, perfect-crumbed biscuit, which soaks up all the fruit syrup that's the leading cause of dessert soup.
Since we used it the recipe exactly, except I only had about 2/3 cup of berries, you can find it in Baking: From My Home To Yours or here on NPR.
If warm, carb-y desserts aren't for you, stay tuned for my new love affair with ice pops.Labels: foodie call
Friday, June 19, 2009
Heating Up
Summer's starting to creep in, with its hot dry fingers clawing at our window screens. I'm trying to soak in what cool breezes I can still get in these last late days of spring, and it's actually been nice to have the bedroom windows open for once. I got these Ikea curtains my senior year of college - so 4 years ago, yikes! - and finally have a little home to hang them in. And the button-stitched ribbons are from Anthropologie's holiday season, as part of their gift packaging. I love when things just come together like that, no?
I also pulled a tendon in my foot at the beginning of the week, and I'm not quite sure how considering my most strenous activities lately involve hunching over a desk and mixing paint furiously with a Bristlette #4 brush. So I've been hobbling to class all week, and now I anticipate a lot more sitting this weekend. Notice I didn't say resting, since there is of course tons of homework to be done. Hopping to it now. Well, maybe homework and furiously reading some Raymond Carver.
Oh, and don't worry. I've got a good little nurse watching over me. Happy weekend, friends!Labels: daily
Monday, June 15, 2009
Hidden Weekend
It's been a quiet but productive weekend. Even if I found myself working mostly between the hours of 9pm and 3am, I did a pretty decent master copy painting for one of my classes and got a good chunk done on another painting in Wunderland. I have one or two more up my sleeve for that series, and then I think I'm ready to move on. I feel overwhelmed lately - if not by the assignments for school, but by the overwhelming paradox of time vs. money. You either have time or you have money. I have time right now, and I'm trying to enjoy all I can of these savory spans of days where I just get to paint and plan and prepare myself for a creative career path. But the anxiety of loans and money, or lack thereof, threatens to drown me sometimes. I guess I just have to keep remember that this too, shall pass.
In other news, R & I visited the Silverlake Flea Market this past Saturday, which was a total bust. But it was nice to get out and get some air. Otherwise, I've found that rewatching Season 1 of True Blood has been the best companion for early a.m. painting.
Oh! And also, I've discovered a newfound love for popsicle making. I made a craveable coconut cream popsicle yesterday, and when those are done I'm scheming up some blackberry lime or orange cream ones to pop in next. Will pop in with those recipes in the next couple days...stay tuned!
P.S. Above pictured is what I wore to the flea market - my favorite vintage 60s dress, warmed up for this June gloom.Labels: daily
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Sometimes it's good to remember.
(print by studio mela)Labels: inspiration
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Flicker of Hope
(photo from BlackBook Magazine)
I just discovered Sarah Sophie Flicker via Anja's post on her splendid blog Clever Nettle. Immediately consumed by the images of this consummate showgirl/artist and her beautiful home, I did some obsessive googling as I am apt to do whenever I get fixated on a figure/film/story/idea. Seriously, I do hours of intensive internet research after almost every movie I see. But anyway - in addition to the Refinery29 interview Anja posted, I also found this interesting interview with Flicker in BlackBook magazine.
(photo from Refinery29)
What a dreamy wardrobe she has. Her sequined star headband reminds me of these dusty vintage stars I found at the flea market a couple weekends ago, when I was feeling curmudgeonly. I think I'm going to go back this week and hope that they're still there. If not, oh well. Something else to post on the wish list. Do you guys have that? A wish list of things to look out for while hunting through flea markets & thrift shops? I think mine would include 1930s-40s fascinators, rhinestones, and bird cage music boxes (also something I found a couple weekends ago, from a grumpy seller that I didn't feel like supporting). I'd love to hear what you're looking for - who knows, maybe I'll stumble across it!Labels: fashion love, inspiration
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