i just absolutely fell in love with this idea. those suspended jars are clever, no? i want to run to ikea and get a shelf and some jars and make one for my studio right away! i see those jars full of paper clips, thumb tacks, beads......
genius, in my opinion. this one's going straight to the files for house inspiration. ryan and i are hopefully going to be buying a house this summer, so this will come in handy for sure.
after seeing this photo on pret a voyager's flickr photo stream, i can't stop thinking about traveling today.
and then i clicked over to grain edit (which i recently discovered through book by its cover, julia rothman's fantastic blog), and saw this image. all i can say is wow. there is a whole world of travel-related midcentury gorgeousness that i didn't even know existed!
{label promoting travel to africa, by sabena airlines}
as i mentioned yesterday, i am working on a new series of gocco prints, and i have 3 out of the 4 to show you today. they are framed in chunky white frames and are inspired by my new love of typography as art. i am so excited to be using my gocco printer again-- instant satisfaction when you can quickly make a whole pile of prints!
i've been thinking a lot about positive affirmations in my life lately-- it's always good to have visual reminders, in my experience. these little prints are a way for me to remind myself of the good in the world and in myself.
do you need a little reminder? perhaps you have the perfect spot in your house/office for one of these prints, to remind you of the good in you?
the 'everything will be alright' framed and unframed prints are available in my etsy shop right here, and the others will make their way into the shop in the next few days. they are available framed and unframed. (unframed just $7! framed prints are $40.) if you see one that you like but wish it was printed in a different color, let me know! i can print one especially for you.
as always, please do let me know what you think-- i love getting feedback form you, my dear readers!
sorry for the late posting today, but better late than never, because today's {creative history} is a fun one-- tim burton!
i've always been a big fan of tim burton's movies, but i've never actually learned anything about him. i am so drawn to his quirky, kind-of dark, and intensely creative films-- the curling, spiraling, hills, the pale skin and dark ratty hair look, the lonely outcast feeling of his characters..... i think he must live in a different world than the rest of us. and he is engaged to helena bonham carter, and what's not to love about her?
tim burton grew up in burbank, california, which seems SO the opposite of his films (dark, twisted, quirky vs. hollywood glitz and glamour!), but i guess living near hollywood gave him a sense early on that he would like to make films later on in life.
and, where have i been, did you know that tim burton directed pee wee's big adventure??? one of my favorite childhood movies! it all makes perfect sense now.... the morbid scenes where francis has pee wee's bike, the bizarre film sets when pee wee steals his bike back from the faux nun.... ahhhh, childhood memories. :)
anyway, back to tim burton. pee wee's big adventure was one of his first big projects, in 1985. the next big film he made was beetlejuice, in 1989, starring winona ryder and michael keaton. (oh, how i love this movie!) and then his first big budget film was batman, in 1989, also starring michael keaton.
(interesting fact: before he started making films, after college tim burton worked for disney as an animator apprentice! his job was to draw 'the fox and the hound,' but he didn't like the artistic direction of the movie. he made several short films intended for children that were not quite what disney had in mind when they hired him, and had very limited releases, as disney did not know what to do with them. ) (cited from wikipedia)
in 1990, burton made edward scissorhands, which was one of his first well-received films. "elements of gothic horror were introduced into a contemporary suburban milieu... which suggest... that the evils of suburban living were far more terrifying than anything a mere mad scientist could cook up." (cited from senses of cinema)
in 1993 came the nightmare before christmas, which tim burton did not actually direct (he was filming batman returns at the time.) henry selick, whom burton knew from disney, directed the film. it is the first full-legth stop-motion film ever produced by disney.
more recent films include: ed wood (1994), mars attacks! (1999), big fish (2003), charlie and the chocolate factory (2005), and sweeney tood (2007), among others.
and if you would like to watch a couple of burton's earliest stop motion animations, here ya go! first is "frankenweenie," and second is "vincent."
lately i am really into typography as art. i'm sure you've been seeing it around. there is the poster above, which i first noticed in a photo of lisa congdon's apartment.
and then there's this one, also in lisa congdon's apartment (i swear, i don't know how that woman ever leaves her house-- it's so colorful and perfect!!)
and then there's my new little project. this is the first installment. it is a 4x4" gocco print in a chunky white frame.what do you think? there will be 3 more to come, but i'll have to keep you in suspense for now. this one is available in my etsy shop, framed and ready to go! check it out! and do let me know what you think-- comments are much appreciated.
yesterday i received this print by christina romeo in the mail, and i am in love with it. we decided to do a trade a while back, and it was such a nice surprise to open up my mailbox yesterday to find this in it.
i promptly went to ikea to buy a frame, and now it hangs proudly on my wall. one of the best parts of being an artist, in my opinion, is getting to trade with other artists.
i am really loving sian keegan's work this morning. it makes me want to drop everything and sew! you can see a lot of sian's work on her website, flickr page, etsy shop, and blog. whew!
keeping on the earth day theme, i received an email from greenpeace today about 'greenwashing' in businesses. greenwash is "used to describe the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.." (cited from stopgreenwash.org)
greenpeace has launched a new website called stopgreenwash.org, where people like you and me can submit ads that we see that we suspect to be not so green as they claim to be.
you can see some examples of greenwashing corporate ads from the website right here .
you can also sign a petition against "clean coal" right here.
don't let them fool you!! check out the website-- the ads range from hummer ads yeah- so environmentally friendly!) to a clean coal success story.
on this 38th earth day, i find myself wondering what difference i can make today.
the one that is coming to mind first thing this morning is COMPOSTING. when i lived in boulder i was an avid composter-- i'd keep the compostables in the freezer (i know, that sounds really gross!) until it was time to take them to the community compost pile. i tried the bucket method, but it was soooooo stinky! when i lived in ithaca, ny, my college roommates and i would take our compost out to a pile we made behind some bushes in our yard.but since moving to georgia and into an apartment complex, things have changed. i have never lived in an apartment complex before, and i have certainly never lived in a place that does so little in the way of recycling and taking care of our earth as duluth, georgia. when i asked the apartment complex people if there was recycling pick-up, they looked at me like i had 2 heads. there are a few newspaper recycling bins near the overflowing trash compacter in the complex, but no one uses them. so ryan and i faithfully truck our recyclables to the county recycling center every few weeks when it really starts to pile up. at least when we go there it looks like there are quite a few other people in our town recycling as well, but i still end up feeling so sad.
and i am not proud to admit this, but since moving to georgia, i have stopped composting. we don't have a yard in which to start a pile, and i think i've just gotten lazy. which is no excuse.
*so, my earth day commitment today is to start composting again.*
i've seen some composters that you can put under your sink that seem quite nice, but the downside is that they are a bit pricey.
in my illustration craze of late, i got to thinking of the animated film "yellow submarine." i began wondering who was behind the fantastic (and often bizarre) drawings that make up the film, and thought this would be a perfect place to explore it!
it turns out the film was animated by over 200 artists (200!!), and it took 11 months. the film was directed by george dunning, and the art director was heinz edelmann.
heinz edelmann, along with milton glaser, were at the forefront of the psychedelic art style that is the basis of "yellow submarine" and dominated the visual style of the 1960s pop culture.
something i find interesting is that the beatles were not initially enthusiastic about making "yellow submarine," but they had a 3-picture deal with united artists that they needed to fulfill. once they saw the beginnings of the animation, though, they warmed up to the idea and even agreed to appear in a cameo at the end of the film.
the psychedelic period in art was part of the anti-establishment thinking of the 1960s, and a reaction to the conservativism of the 1950s. it is a visual representation of the desire for change that dominated the thinking of the generation's youth.
(information cited from design history mashup... a great article about peter max from april 1, 2008, as well as the ever-useful wikipedia).
here is a video you can watch, and there are many more on you tube:
stay tuned for next week's installment of {creative history}!
i am in a serious painting frenzy at the moment. here are some of the newest ones; they are for a couple different things: a show at youngblood gallery here in atlanta, a bird and bunny themed show at yes gallery and studio in warren, rhode island.
"bunny of a thousand colors"
"oh my peacock" "unworldly powers"
"don't steal my heart"
"ritual"
some of these are going to be framed, so i will show you those as soon as they are done. in the meantime, check out my etsy shop-- there are some print versions available, and more to come!
ps: yes, if you're wondering if i'm obsessed with working, the answer is a big fat YES. although, i am looking forward to taking a break soon!
this feels very apt for me right now. i've been asking myself the question "what if i just had fun doing this?" sometimes i tend to complain a lot, and lately i've been complaining a lot, and it knocks the energy out of me and makes everything very un-fun. so, i've been wondering how to make things more FUN, and rule's #9 and #4 are particularly speaking to me. also #7 an #8, because it makes me feel like my constant working is leading me somewhere amazing! (but isn't this moment right now amazing, if you think about it differently?)
anyway, happy friday, and i hope you all have a great weekend! i will be painting up a storm and will have more photos to show for it soon.
(sorry to sound like a negative nancy above..... ack! the overwhelm! sometimes it bites me and hangs on for a few days....)
