new website + a short goodbye

good morning, sweet readers! was your weekends delightful? i hope so!

my new website went live on friday afternoon, so i figured i'd wait until this morning to share it with you, since friday afternoon is not usually the time that most people are sitting on their computers browsing blogs, eh? for me, at least, i'm dreaming about what the weekend holds on friday afternoons and trying to finish up as much work as i can! (or on this partiicular friday afternoon, i was at the gym, getting suckered into signing up for personal training sessions with mario! hot abs, here i come. sore arms, you are already here!)

so, if you get a moment, i'd love it if you'd check out my new website and tell me what you think! it's similar to my old one, but more stream-lined, i think. i'm using squarespace, which i really love so far. i recommend them highly, if any of you are looking for a template-based website building platform. so good.

my other bit of news is that this is going to be my last post for a couple weeks, as ryan and i are leaving tomorrow to go get married, and then we'll be honeymooning from august 4-11. OH MY GOODNESS! and when i get back, i'll officially be JESSICA SWIFT. no more Gonacha! can you believe it? i'm not sure how i'll do the switchover business-wise yet, but it's going to happen, slowly but surely.

so, i leave you with this wedding image by the photographer who will be capturing my big day, ashley thalman. i'm SO looking forward to meeting her in person and seeing her photographs after the wedding! i'm sure i'll have some fabulous ones to share with you. (and yes, i will be sharing indeed!) check out ashley's blog, too-- she's a real gem, and her photographs are just deliciously wonderful!


i'll leave you with this image, too, of the outer banks of north carolina, since this is one of the places we're going on our honeymoon road trip. is that not the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen? i cannot wait!!

*see you all on august 12th!!*

winter horses

here in the midst of the steamy georgia summer, i found myself thinking about winter this morning, and i came across this beautiful photo of horses in the iceland winter.

the photo is from gaeia's flickr photostream, and she also had a link to this amazing site about trekking through iceland on horses tours. add that to my list of things i want to do in my life, please.

floating lanterns in the sky

i'm excited to show you this video, not because it's a really amazing or impressive video, but because what's in it is so awesome!

ryan and i ordered some floating lanterns for our wedding (which, sadly, i don't think we're going to get to use, since southern california is at high risk for fires), but we lit one the other night with our friends and recorded it!

you can hear me behind the camera saying very intelligent things like" isn't it SO COOL?" over and over. ha ha!

if you're interested in ordering some, they are really amazing, and we got ours on ebay.

richard perez

oh YES, i like these pieces by richard perez very much! i saw the top piece over at society 6, so i had to check out his website, of course, because it's just so fun! zombies, kittens, and abraham lincoln? awesome.

you can find richard's work on his website, at society6, on his flickr page, on facebook, and you can follow him on twitter, too! he's everywhere! lucky for us.

alyn carlson: junk mail hats

i had the pleasure of seeing alyn carlson's beautiful watercolors (which i wrote about last month) when i was visiting yes gallery and studio last month in rhode island, and now i'm happy to share something entirely different by alyn with you! these hats are all made out of junk mail. yes, junk mail. and grocery bags, too, all collected from recycling bins. i love that!

alyn will be showing her hats in a one-day-only show in rhode island on august 15th-- they look incredible! you can see many more photos on her flickr page, too.


here is what alyn says about the upcoming event:

I'm installing a turn-of-the-century milliners store at the AS220 FooFest on August 15 in Providence, RI. All of the hats will be made from junk mail and grocery bags I've gathered from friends and my own recycling bins. I've made some discoveries. As a graphic designer I'm getting much joy from cutting up those hideous direct mail cards no one reads and I am blessed never to have to design. I'm proud to say most of us receive very little junk mail but sad that no one ever gets a personal letter or lovely cancelled stamp anymore. I will have many of the beautiful antique letters from my ephemera collection as part of the show. The paper hat merchantile will also be graced by proprietor, Madame Alyn, a southern belle from 1912 who's just blown in with today's trash. She'll be assisted by the lovely art elf, Missy Allison Bruun. Please mark your calendar for the one day only art exhibit and performance. Psssst.. don't forget to check out the Madame's paper bustle, rumored to be fueled, fluffed and feathered by old love letters, poems and IRS notices.

if you're in the area, i would highly recommend going to check out this show!

ps: i want her cheek bones! {so.jealous.}

paintings by leililaloo

good morning and happy monday to you! another weekend come and gone, eh?
i think these lovely paintings by leililaloo are just the happy beginning to the week that i need! this is a big week for me, as it's the last one before i leave to go get married in california-- oh my! there is a lot to do this week.

i love leililaloo's work-- in addition to paintings and illustrations, she makes the most adorable fabric houses and hand-printed ribbon. make sure you visit her etsy shop, as well as her blog, website, and flickr page! what an inspiration.

pattern design: Andreas Köberle

i'm really digging these patterns by andreas köberle (aka: eskimoblood on flickr) this morning-- the color palettes are lovely, and i love how they feel sort-of soft-geometric. the top one is my very favorite! i totally want a skirt made out of it.

you can find more of andreas' work on his flickr page and his website.

animation: clyde and clem's whiskey business

ok, just as a disclaimer, i'm posting this purely because i like the animation style. i endorse neither religion nor whiskey drinking on this blog (or in my life, actually), so please just know while watching it that i was just enamored of the uber-creative animation! i think it's fabulous.
and if you are one who identifies with the religious or whiskey-drinking aspects of this animation, then you might find it all the more funny!

the video was animated and directed by eric power-- check out his site! he's got some amazing work over there.

studio clean out= 2 big paintings on sale!

yesterday was the day i decided i couldn't stand the mess in my studio any longer. stuff had been piling up in corners, messes hiding behind messes, and it was contributing to my scattered and unfocused attention while working. so i said "enough!" and then i cleaned. and now it feels so much better in here! i de-cluttered the walls as well as got rid of a whole lot of junk that just needed to go. i reorganized and vacuumed, and i feel a little bit lighter today. YES!

but one good thing i found amidst the clutter was these 2 paintings that i created several years ago, when my work was quite different than it is now. they are BIG (24x24") monoprints that are covered with glossy resin, and they are quite lovely in person. I'm tempted to keep them and try to find a place in our house for them, but I thought I might offer them up here first to see if anyone is interested in owning them! (sorry, the sweet kitty doesn't come with them.) :)

they are just $150.00 apiece (+shipping), which is a major steal! when i was selling work like this, these pieces were going for $900.00. that's, like, 1/6 of the original price!! if you are interested in purchasing either, or both, of them, please email me! i would be happy to ship them to you whenever you please.

***UPDATE: the top piece is sold, but the one of the church is still available!***

ps- isn't anika cute? she wanted to help take pictures. :)

hernan bas

this is not the type of artwork i typically post about, but WOW, i'm totally into these paintings by hernan bas. i discovered his work when i was checking out the miami-based fredric snitzer gallery website-- and i was checking out THEIR website because i was alerted to this amazing sounding new TV show that will showcase emerging visual artists creating and competing on Bravo. Seriously, you ask? Yes, seriously! They are having open casting calls RIGHT NOW, so if you are in chicago, new york, or miami, you may just want to get your butt over there and show 'em your stuff- click here for the full details.

but back to the artwork-- aren't these paintings incredible? you can see more of hernan's work at the fredric snitzer gallery in miami, lehmann maupin gallery in new york, sandroni.rey gallery in los angeles, and the victoria miro gallery in london.

and did i mention he's just 2 years older than me? sigh.

vintage illustration: w.t. cummings

well well well, another weekend has come and gone. i hope it was a good one for you!
mine was relaxing yet busy at the same time. i like it like that. some things i did: finished clothes shopping for the wedding, applied to renegade craft fair in chicago, sunbathed, made lots of glittery tiny flags to hang around at the wedding, worked on some illustrations for a couple of clients, and went to the gym TWICE. there was lots more, but i don't want to bore you. :)

anyway, this morning i'm smitten with these illustrations from this children's book by w.t. cummings that was published in 1959. what is it about vintage illustrations that is just so charming? i think part of it is that the colors are usually quite limited-- i think i'd love to try working that way more, because i normally use a crazy amount of colors. it would be a good challenge for myself!

i originally saw one of these illustrations over on ffffound, and then clicked through to find this blog post about the book on this super cute blog called doe c doe. definitely worth checking out! in fact, i'm going to add it to my blog roll right now.

we say meow: new blog!

i wanted to make sure you all know about this brand new blog called 'we say meow' that artists/illustrators mary kilvert and anke weckmann have put together. the concept behind it is so wonderful-- they're featuring illustrations of cats and also a photo of the artist's cat(s)! i was honored when they asked me to participate, and excited that i'd get to show off my sweet little kitty, anika.

you can see my cat pattern below, and the top illustration is by leila shetty, the one directly above is by lisa evans.

do check out the blog-- it's marvelous so far! i'm hoping anke and mary will post their own images soon, too, because they're both fantastically talented and inspiring.

i want you: by jesse wright

i love this. that's all there is to say about it.

{by jesse wright. see more from this series on his flickr page, and his gorgeous photography on his website}

flickr favorite day!

my dears, my blog is suffering these days! i'm so sorry-- i'm working on all these projects that i can't show you (as they are for other people and need to be left under wraps), and with all the wedding stuff going on it's preventing me from really doing much of my own work these days!
i hope you'll bear with me-- i'm going to continue to post things that are inspiring me lately, but i'm afraid posts about my own artwork are going to be fewer and further between for a little while.

but here are some things from flickr that have been catching my eye lately-- i hope you enjoy them! flickr favorite mosaics by big huge labs are one of my favorite things.

here is a list of the images:
1. Untitled, 2. londi creations, 3. ice cream chap, 4. 2007 Unicorn, 5. Preparing the Path, 6. Untitled, 7. how to disappear, 8. these girls, 9. star chart, 10. star stack, 11. welcome to the bubble world...:-), 12. gift for Natasha, 13. edward and lola at night, 14. little blue horse in the savannah, 15. Untitled, 16. op game, 17. all the fun of holga, 18. bumpercars, 19. sand mountain, 20. trees, 21. DSC03081, 22. Toothy Blue Whale, 23. Where You Wish, They Will Take You, 24. Pocket journals with handprinted covers, 25. Garden Girl in snow

more soon, i promise!

illustration: maria goldfarb

these gorgeous images are by artist maria goldfarb-- i'm pretty smitten with her color palette, aren't you?

i think her stretched and squished perspectives are really lovely, and the stripes juxtaposed with areas of big flat color are wonderful.

maria doesn't seem to have a website, but you can see more of her work on altpick.

bergdorf goodman + visionary art museum

i just read about this amazing collaboration over on prêt à voyager and had to tell you about it here, because it looks so amazing! bergdorf goodman (on 5th avenue in NYC) teamed up with the american visionary art museum in baltimore to create this fantastic window displays that you can see now through july 20th in manhattan.

the american visionary art museum shows work by outsider artists (self-taught, untrained artists whose work is often guided by inner voices or the soul and are not based on folk art traditions-- a few examples are howard finster, madge gill, and bill traylor.) i think this collaboration is not only intriguing, but also important, as outsider art is fascinating and an entirely different view of what "art" is. i love it.

if you are in nyc, please go check out the windows!! i'd love to hear from someone that's seen the display first hand....

patrick gildersleeves

i've written about patrick gildersleeves once before, but i couldn't resist posting about these 2 pieces-- wow, they're incredible! the color schemes are too good to be true. i love how his work seems to capture a moment in a story, and it leaves me wondering what the story is.

you can find much more of his work on his flickr page, blog, website, and in his etsy shop.

http://wowoutrageous.com/

my first attempt at long exposure photographs

good morning, dears!! gosh, i had such a fun weekend-- what about you? i think the 4th of july is such a fun holiday, and i really love watching fireworks. so this year, inspired by the photos i posted on friday, i dragged my camera and tripod with me to the fireworks display and tried out some long exposure shots. i'm pleased with how they turned out! don't get me wrong- all i did was turn off the flash and click the button on my digital camera (no manually adjusting apertures or anything), but i'm still excited about the photos!

ryan and i barbecued and went to a baseball game for the evening of the 4th, and it was so fun! it doesn't get more all-american than that, my friends. :) some other things i did this weekend: sun-bathed (i'm determined to get a tan!), ate watermelon, made 7 green & white beach blankets for my upcoming wedding, and worked on a whole bunch of sparkly, sculptural type decorations, also for the wedding. all in all, the weekend was a success.

tell me about your weekend! did you see fireworks? did you relax with friends and family?

happy 4th of july!

who doesn't love sparklers? they've always been one of my favorite parts of the fourth of july. and these photos by grey bunny are just amazing. i think i might take my tripod and camera with me to the fireworks display tomorrow night to give some long-exposure shots a try.

i might actually try it tonight, because my little atlanta-suburb town celebrates the 4th of july on july 3rd, with a big fireworks show, a band, skydivers trailing colored smoke..... it's very strange. it's a fun night, but why don't they just do it on the 4th of july, like normal people? so weird.

i hope you have a lovely holiday weekend complete with lots of sun, sitting by a pool, hot dogs (or tofu hot dogs if you are vegetarian like me!), and lots of sparklers.

i'll see you monday!!

{ps- as you may have noticed, my posting is a bit lighter lately.... i'm going to be posting a little less than i normally do this month as i prepare for my wedding on august 1st- there's so much to doooooooo! and lots of work-work on top of it. you understand, i'm sure.} :)

dana davis

love love love this illustration by dana davis. she's a junior at RISD, and oh so talented! more (and varied) work can be seen on her website.

society 6

have you all heard about society 6 yet? i just discovered it yesterday, and boy am i excited! society 6 is a vibrant social networking platform for artists to promote their work and connect with unique opportunities. it's a verycool concept-- you can create studios within your page to showcase different bodies/styles of work, follow other artists, promote other artists' work on your page, and connect with fellow creatives all over the world. plus, they have a crazy awesome artist grant program, where organizations/companies/individuals can offer grants to artists, and the society6 community nominates who they think should receive the grant. and the grants are really amazing! (you can check out the full list here.) i found out about society6 through threadless, who are offering a grant to design an exclusive t-shirt for their select series and $1,000!

anyway, i thought you all might be interested since many of you are artists, and we're all always looking for new ways to promote our work and connect with other like-minded folks. (i started a page and am in the process of getting some work uploaded and starting to follow people and their studios! so much fun.)

*you can also read more about society6 over at cool hunting-- they wrote a great post about it!*