japanese pop art

yoshitomo nara is one of my favorites. i love the character riding in a pickle!

i love lotta jansdotter

i could look at her work all day long. her great color combinations, the simple style... i just love it. check out her site here.

cool illustrator... daniele young

these are so much fun. check out more of daniele's drawings here.

cool artist...melinda hackett

these cool paintings by melinda hackett remind me of snow. i'll have to see them in person next time i'm in boston. you can find her at pepper gallery on newbury street...

cool designer...enid wilson

i came across some really beautiful cards the other day that i just loved by enid wilson in bellingham, washington. check out her collections on her website-- they're striking and simple and i just adore them!

new mexican adventure

back from a weekend in new mexico, the sun is shining in boulder, and it's monday morning. i got up at 6 am and it was already light out! i have really been enjoying getting up really early when it's still dark outside, and the quiet mornings are all mine. but now daylight savings time has changed all that, and it's going to be dark at 5pm, and it always takes me some getting used to. but it also always makes me start to get excited for the holidays, so that's fun!

these are photos from the trip. southwest style is not really my thing, but i love the ristras and the day of the dead decor.

tasks for the week:

* carve pumpkins with ryan (tonight)
* make pumpkin pie
* buy wood and make new frames
* begin making christmas ornaments for the ornament swap!
* write a letter to jake
* begin printing cards with gocco printer
*organize craft fair for december

a busy week full of great stuff........

a little glittery painting

well, i'm off to albuquerque with ryan for the weekend, so i thought i'd leave you with a photo a little painting of mine before i go. i'll be ure to get back to the lastop asap wheni get there! i'm hoping albuquerque has some photo-worthy spots...

until then!

cool wall coverings

what a fun way to texture your walls! i love these wall flats from inhabit (find them at 2modern)

miniature trees

at an art opening tonight at the st. julien hotel in boulder, they had these miniature lemon and apple trees on the table with the fancy hor d'ouevres, and i couldn't resist snapping some shots! they are super cute and such a fun way to dress up a table.

gocco is for fun!

(image courtesy of onsmithcomics.com)

i am the proud new owner of a gocco printer!! when my friend kristen showed me hers, i had to have one immediately. the trouble was that they are not manufactured anymore, so it was quite the process to get my hands on one. but a kind lady on ebay was selling hers right here in boulder, and now it's MINE!! i can't wait to start using it...

fashion show and auction for breast cancer!

my friend rachel is one wondrous woman. she does it all: fashion design, painting, coordinating fundraisers, and on and on and on. this one coming up on sunday called "viva: the best of the breast," is for breast cancer awareness (in honor of breast cancer awareness month,) and all the proceeds will go to Keep A Breast, a creative non-profit committed to raising awareness (and money!) for breast cancer research through the art community. read more about them here.

rachel asked artists around boulder to decorate plaster cast busts that she and her amazing entourage of lady friends made that will be auctioned off at the event-- this one pictured is my donation!

glitter glitter glitter....

happy snow day!

i want to make a snow angel!

it is snowing here again, and i don't want to leave the house. my laptop is positioned right in front of the window where i can watch it coming down, inch by inch by slow inch, and it seems so much nicer than actually being out in it! but there are projects to accomplish, wood to buy, fabric stores to visit, and a new domino magazine to buy, so off i go, into the annual pre-halloween boulder blizzard...

cool company... eunco

i came across some journals from this company the other day and immediately loved them. eunco is a company of 3 sisters based in california, and their products are fun, colorful, and supremely charming! check out their website here.

bright colors all in a row

i am loving these brightly colored suitcases i saw at two hands paperie. they are from the czech republic and oh so cute!

paper paper paper

two hands paperie is the best in boulder...

i'm feeling foxy

these are my favorite necklaces ever. i have two of them, and i get comments on how great they are every time I wear one. the best part is that they have a different color on each side, so they are reversible. two necklaces in one! check out more Foxy jewelry here.

amazing artist... liza lou

ever heard of liza lou? can you imagine using little tiny crafty beads to cover an entire kitchen? well, that's what she did, and the results are unbelievable. i can't even begin to think about how long this must've taken her to finih. pretty amazing... see more of her work here.

buddhas in the afternoon

as i was walking back to my studio from a meeting today i stopped at Decorasian to check out some asian art and design. i am LOVING the red and gold combos-- it seemed to be a theme in the store. i also loved all the ornate metallic textiles-- i'd love to see a historical asian textile exhibit somewhere...

i also saw this great book that will help me in the design of my dream house one day...... dream dream dream. twinkle twinkle twinkle. gotta dream and visualize it in detail to make it happen!

check it out here.

nighty night!

painting today...

painting today... i am in the studio, and i just stopped for a quick lunch and blog post. this painting is called "curling." it is oil, acrylic, and photo transfer on masonite. for more check out my website!

cool wallpaper designer...jocelyn warner

(images c/o design*sponge and designboom)

jocelyn warner makes these gorgeous wallpapers that are completely inspiring. i love the color combinations and the metallic thing she has going on.

must have book

i have to get my hands on this book.... amazon.com, here i come...

if you have to buy a card....

i think today was the first day ever that i gave someone a card that i didn't make myself. i never really saw the point of buying cards when i could just make them myself, so imagine my shock when i fell in love with uncooked's hilarious cards.

i hid one for ryan this morning in his school bag (he's getting ready to go to med school... yikes!) as an 'i love you/good luck on your 3 tests this week.' He thought it was funny, too. :)
(this is ryan and me in laguna beach this summer...)

uncooked makes these cards that are just absurd, and if you're looking for something a little bit morbid or strange to give to your loved one/sister/friend/anyone, then this is the place to go. some are funnier than others in my opinion, but the funny ones really crack me up!

1926 animation

wow-- i just turned on my computer to simply check my email, and lo and behold, look what i found! my home page is set to the New York Times arts page, and one of these images from Prince Achmed caught my eye immediately-- what innovative things they were doing in 1926! i love the eastern-inspired imagery and simple, stark colors.

These images are from the world's first feature-length animated film, called Prince Achmed, which was done with paper silhouttes and stop-motion animation. It was made by Lotte Reiniger (German) and was adapted from the Arabian Nights, and I have to get my hands on this.

I love images and illustrations where the foreground is all in shadow and the background is really brightly colored. There's a fairly recent children's book that i saw with the same idea for illustrations-- i'll have to find it. it had something to do with babies...

i wonder if tim burton (an absolute FAVE of mine) was inspired at all by this film.....

mmmm... chocolate....

now i am not really a chocolate person. i mean, i like the occasional piece, but i definitely don't have the chocolate binge gene. but these chocolates from Vosges Haut-Chocolat in Chicago look splurge-worthy. with uniquely-named flavors from around the world like woolloomooloo, absinthe, oaxaca, ambrosia, black pearl, and red fire, i'm ready to order a box right now. i'm totally intrigued.
get a catalog if you can-- the images are much nicer than on the website, and it is really fun to drool over!

wallpaper knockout

absolutely gorgeous!! this wallpaper from harlequin in britain is to die for. when i buy a house (one day in the future...) and am able to cover my walls, i'm going to have a hard time choosing between all the amazing patterns out there. many of these from harlequin will be at the top of my list! i wonder what ryan will think of all this...

white shadow

this is a painting of mine called "white shadow," and it seems to be everyone's favorite who sees my work. i think it's the green glitter down the left side...
it's done on masonite, and i need to make a frame for it. check out more of my paintings from this series on my website!

designer discovery

i just discovered virginia johnson. my oh my! her fabrics are lovely. colorful and quirky. It makes me want to be a textile designer. uh oh.......
this is her 2007 line.

holiday ornament swap!

i am so excited. i signed myself up for the holiday ornament swap that i found out about from the oh joy! blog yesterday. 2 really cool design and craft blogs (cake + pie and freshly{blended}) got together to begin the first annual holiday ornament swap, and it's a really brilliant idea.
how it works: you make 8-10 ornaments, you get emailed a list of 8-10 people to send them to, then you send them by december 1, and you'll get 8-10 back in the mail! cool, eh? the best part is that it's open to any and all artists/crafters/designers/doodlers/whatever. make sure you sign up by november 1st!! i can't wait to make some killer ornaments...

alternative bookmaking is cool

it's done! i finished the scrolling photo album book for biz this afternoon and gave it to her tonight. she LOVED it. i already have an order for another one for my friend caroline.

i also started screen printing my elephant idea for wallpaper today. i have visions of a wallpaper factory in my future......

off to the studio!

it's another snowy day here in boulder, and i'm off to spend it in the studio. first mission of the day: finish biz's birthday present. she's 16 today!! I can't believe it. my little baby sister, "all growns up." (vince vaughan, swingers... anybody?)

i'm making her the coolest present ever. a scrolling book full of pictures of us (like the ones i posted last week.) i'll be sure to post photos of it as soon as i'm done.

happy saturday!

BMoCA Contemporary Art Auction

these are some highlights from the BMoCA art auction last night. starting at the top left to the bottom right: julia lunk, patricia bramsen, sam bean, jane hammond.

here is a photo of the actual event in progress...



hot art and all the important folks of boulder buying it.

tights with a sheen

i am loving this photo from Harper's Bazaar. I want those brown tights with a bit of sparkle to them. the brown and gold thing that's going on is inspiring-- i think i'll make a painting in the same color scheme. inspiration from unexpected places!

elephant

i love this magazine. it is published and printed right here in boulder by a man named waylon lewis, who seems to somehow have enough time to publish a magazine, ride his cool vintage bike around town in vintage plaid pants, shop at the farmer's market, sip fancy lattes at vic's coffeeshop (local gem) while simultaneously typing up brilliant observations on his laptop and holding an enthralling conversation, attending all the cool art and music events, and hosting them as well. whew! inspiring, no doubt about it.

anyway, i love reading this magazine because it's all about green and mindful living, and the cover of this latest issue couldn't put it any more bluntly. but in an artistic and hand-drawn way. :) i love it.

check out the magazine here

the cutest espresso maker ever

if i had an espresso maker like this it would be sure to raise my minor coffee addiction to the highest level. it's so retro and funky and totally cool! i would just want to use it as many times as i could throughout the day. maybe i would get more done with 18 shots of espresso coursing through me every day... on the other hand, maybe i would pass out in a vibrating stupor. it's hard to say.

bookmaking satisfaction

i love this book! i have a project in mind for this weekend using the scrolling book technique that is described in this gem of a book. my little sister bizzy's 16th birthday is this saturday, and i want to make her a scrolling photo book of all the funny photos of us that we've taken together. i think she'll love it. i will post pictures as soon as it's done.

fun and colorful art!

4 little paintings of mine. they are 12x12" each, and framed in handmade shadowbox frames!! from top left to bottom right they are called: "Snowflake," "A Crossing," "Cheerios," and "Picture Windows." Enjoy!

winter wonderland

happy first snow!!! it started coming down around 11:00 and it seemed like it was going to be wimpy, but now it's winter out there. ryan and i barbecued in the backyard on sunday night and now it's tuesday and we have 3 inches of snow already. that's boulder for you. never can predict the weather.

i spent the day at bmoca (boulder museum of contemporary art) where i work part time doing installations. it's a pretty cushy deal i have going on-- i get to go in every few months for a couple of weeks when the current exhibit is coming down and the new one is going up. so i go in, do that work with travis, and then go back on my merry way to work on my art in my studio. no staff meetings, so regular hours.... i love it. plus, it keeps me connected to the people there and what's going on.




anyway, travis and i hung the back gallery for the annual art auction today. 8 hours straight, with only one brief five minute break to eat lunch. whew! then driving in the snow... i am glad to be home! i will be sure to take some photos of the artwork-- there are some pretty awesome pieces. the auction is thursday, so i'll be sure to report.