Fried.

I'm feeling a little fried these days. Like there's a lot of output happening, and not much input to replenish myself. Which naturally leads me to thinking about going on vacation. Does this happen to you?

The photo above is somewhere in Bali. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be there right now!

I asked this question on twitter yesterday, and now I want to ask it here.
If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?
Bali is at the top of my list at the moment. Also high on my list:

Iceland:

{photo grabbed here}

Morocco:

{photo from André Pipa's flickr page}

What's your dream trip? I'm in the mood to fantastize about vacation!

i'm starting to love purple

I've never been a purple person. I remember when I was a kid my sister's favorite color was purple, and I thought she was crazy!

I never liked pink as a kid either, but a few years ago I all of a sudden started loving pink. I mean, I started buying all sorts of pink stuff: pink shoes, a pink coat, pink t-shirts..... it was totally weird and unexpected, as I am not at all a girly sort of girl. And yes, I still love pink today.

So, I think the same thing is happening to me with purple now, especially lots of different shades of purple all together, like that dress above. I am craaaazy about that dress! It's a Givenchy from I don't know when... I found it in some google search and then didn't save the link, of course.

Also, these types of fashion-y photographs inspire a lot of my illustrations of women. Can you tell?

what happens when a sweet young artist studies my work?

Several months ago I received the sweetest email from Ellen, a 14-year-old girl in England, who told me her art class was studying artists, and she'd chosen me as her artist to study.

You can imagine how flattered and touched I was to receive this email.

She'd seen one of my paintings on a teacher's computer, which is what led her to her interest in studying me. I love hearing that these young artists are studying contemporary working artists that they can actually get in touch with (rather than studying, say, Picasso or Vermeer, which is also important, but I imagine young art students probably get much more excited to learn about someone who is actually alive and working and making stuff right now.)

So, Ellen told me that she was supposed to emulate my style and create some paintings of her own, so she asked me questions about my process for creating my work, where I get my ideas, etc. I was happy to oblige and gave her as much information as I could, excited to see what she would create. We kept in contact, and I told her I'd love to see some images of the paintings she created when they were finished-- and I'm amazed at what she sent over.

Oh my goodness! Aren't they wonderful? All 4 of these images here were painted by Ellen, and she tells me she's working on one final piece, a big one. (Hopefully she'll want to share that one as well!) I am thrilled at the way she incorporate my style and techniques with her own ideas. She used candy wrappers as the holly leaves in the top piece-- brilliant. And I love how they all share a theme, Christmas. What a young talent, eh?

*A huge thank you to Ellen for letting me share these here on my blog--I'm truly touched that you chose to learn more about me and my work, and I can't wait to see what you keep creating!*

SPRING: we need your input on our next video!

Michelle, Jess, and Carolyn,and I are busy getting ready to tape our next episode of Spring, and we are so excited! The response to our first videos has been fantastic, and we can't wait to continue our conversation with you all.

So, our topic for January is INTENTION. And also resolutions. I don't particularly like resolutions, as I feel they are quite negative by nature, and I prefer to instead set intentions for myself. But what about YOU?WE want to hear what you have to say on this subject.

What are your plans for 2010? Please do share your thoughts over on the Spring website, and we'll be sharing our thoughts in our new video in January!

SPRING: inspiration in bloom

Spring. Inspiration in Bloom.

I am so thrilled to announce this project that I've been working on for the last few months with 3 incredibly inspiring ladies:

*Michelle Ward
*Jess Constable
and
*Carolyn Rubenstein

Spring is about dialogue. We will be creating monthly conversational video posts and blog posts around specific topics-- topics that you want to hear about and participate in! That said, we need your input.

The theme for our first video, which will launch the week of Thanksgiving, is gratitude. What questions/comments/experiences do you have around the idea of gratitude? Through sharing our own experiences and tossing around ideas suggested by you all, we hope to inspire not only ourselves, but also you in the process!

Head on over to our Spring website to learn more about the project and to leave us comments. (You can add comments here, too, or even email us if you want to!)

We have a badge, too, that you're free to put on your blog if you're inspired already:


We can't wait to hear from you and start exploring the topics that emerge!

brand new website: art wall

I am so so excited to introduce you to this brand new website called Art Wall this morning, not only because it's a fantastic concept, but because I created all the illustrations for the site! Katie Stephenson, the mastermind behind Art Wall (and she also runs Save Gocco and a lovely etsy shop,) contacted me back in June, and we've been working together ever since.



I also created this little animation trailer for the site. I love how it turned out!

And here are a few shots of the website pages. You can click on each frame to get a bigger view of the piece of artwork and read a description of it and the artist, and also to purchase. And my oh my, there are some wonderful artists involved!

HUGE congrats to Katie-- I know how hard she's worked on this project, and I can only imagine how thrilled she is that it's up and running this morning!

Please take a peek at the site and let me (and Katie, of course) know what you think!!

AND, you can become a fan on facebook, follow Art Wall on twitter, and check out the Art Wall blog. All the bases are covered. :)

Enjoy!

where the wild things are: FORTS

Good morning and happy Friday! Are you going to see Where the Wild Things Are tonight?
I have an early flight to Boulder tomorrow morning, but I think I may drag my dear husband out to see the movie anyway tonight. It looks so good!

I *loved* the book as a kid (and still do-- doesn't everyone?) and I was definitely a fort-maker, so I was excited when I saw this project over at Booooooom. It's a fort-making contest! Booooooom and Weloveyouso (Spike Jonze & Co.) teamed up for the contest, and the submissions are incredible. Pictured here are some of my favorites, but you really have to go check out all the entries. People went all out. It makes me want to build a fort in my living room right now!

CLICK HERE to see the winners, who were announced yesterday!

{ps-- I'm going to be in Boulder through Tuesday, so I'm taking a mini blogging break. I'll see you back here on Wednesday!}

fly buffalo fly

Oh, Monday, here you are. Did you all have a lovely weekend? I spent mine at the Candler Park Fall Festival here in Atlanta, where I had a booth to sell my art. What a fun weekend! It was rather amazing, actually, because the forecast said it was supposed to rain all weekend, but it ended up raining hard on Friday night, staying clear through the weekend (and yesterday was the PERFECT fall day), and now it's pouring again this morning. The gods were smiling on Atlanta this weekend!

The highlight of my weekend was this:


I'm sad that I didn't get a great picture from the front, but I saw this person walking around in the most amazing buffalo costume EVER, with wings. Which may not seem all that amazing to you, but if you remember this painting of mine:


It becomes a little more wonderful. :)

I feel like there's a message in there somewhere for me, but I'm not sure what it is.... And now I'm dreaming about owning that buffalo costume. Oh, the fun I could have with a big, furry buffalo costume!

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.

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!

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....

bon iver

good morning! monday monday monday.
i woke up smiling this morning thinking about the bon iver show i saw last night here in atlanta. oh my GOODNESS, it was incredible. they were already at the top of my list of favorite bands, but MAN, seeing them play live made me love them even more. one thing that really struck me (besides the music, of course) was how grateful they were towards the audience. they seemed genuinely happy to be there and appreciative that we'd all come out to the show. it was awesome.

this was by far the highlight of my weekend. if you've never listened to them, i highly suggest buying for emma, forever ago right now. justin vernon's voice will slay you. there's really nothing quite like it.

what did you do this weekend?
xxx

ps- that cat he's holding looks a lot like my kitty, anika. just sayin.

flickr favorites

it's been a while since i've shared some of my flickr favorites, so i decided today was a good day for it, and i'm pleased because i love how the mosaic looks! here's where all these lovely images came from:

1. preparing the path, 2. from my heart, 3. my knowledge is in your heart., 4. welcome to the bubble world...:-), 5. not long now.........., 6. like the falling snow..., 7. preparing early........, 8. spirit of the beehive film poster, 9. doing the ritual dance in the sun, 10. yves saint laurent's sister-in-law, 11. 3-headed, winged, lollipop person, 12. 2 fish, 13. line/leaf, 14. heavy zen, 15. betweenie, 16. walk this way

279 days to overnight success

good morning friends! hope your weekend was magnificent!

recently i started reading chris guillebeau's blog, the art of nonconformity, and WOW, it is a treasure trove. i figured this was the perfect way to start out a brand new week!

chris recently published this manifesto, called "279 days to overnight success,"
intended for bloggers, artists, writers, and anyone interested in creating a new career or expanding their influence through social media. i've started reading it, and let me tell you, it is *awesome*. (oh, and did i forget to mention that it's free? chris wants as many people to have access to it as possible!)

i highly recommend reading it, as well as following chris on twitter and reading his blog. he's so inspiring! (currently he's trying to visit every country in the world by april 7, 2013, and he's been to 107 out of 197. what an amazing goal!)

where the hell is matt?

i posted about this project a long time ago, but i just came across it again and got goosebumps watching it! where the hell is matt? is my very favorite project that i've come across since i've been a part of blog land-- i think it's just incredible. if you haven't seen it before, you're in for a real treat. and if you want some more entertainment, read matt's about page. it's pretty dang funny.

oh, and have i mentioned that i have a serious itch to travel these days? where would you go if you could pick up and take a trip today? (i'd go to india. or iceland. oh, or south africa. or, um, morocco. yeah.)

the beckoning of lovely

watch this. and when you want more information about it, go here.
{it is by amy krouse rosenthal, a writer and maker of things...}

your personal moon

wow, i feel like my world just got a little brighter knowing this project, titled 'your personal moon', is out there and was created by someone. i think they might be the most beautiful images i've ever seen. i would love to have my own personal moon, wouldn't you?

[via unruly things, via the unicorn diaries, via english russia and kak.ru]

second lives: remixing the ordinary

wow, i just read about this fantastic exhibit called 'second lives: remixing the ordinary' at the new museum of arts & design in new york city--the artists in the exhibit created "objects and installations comprised of ordinary and everyday manufactured articles, most originally made for another functional purpose." (quoted from here) my favorite is that chandelier made from glasses-- how inventive!

you can read more about it on the mad museum website!

{via cube me blog}

caz taylor

caz taylor is a genius.

here is a description of this project from caz's website:

an edition of A2 screenprinted posters asking the question 'what are your greatest achievements?'. these were designed in response to the fact that we are always thinking of all the things we should be doing rather than the things we have achieved and should be proud of.

aaaaaand, caz made it into a book!
inside are photographs of people with their posters filled in with their achievements-- it looks incredibly inspiring, and i just love this idea so much. click here to see more images.

art from the streets: austin

[dennis williams]

this year for the holidays my family and ryan's family are doing things a bit differently than we normally do-- no gifts, but something more meaningful. ryan's parents are going to donate all the money they qould've spent on gifts to a charity of their choice. my family and i are still in the talking stages, figuring out what we'd like to do, but it's gotten me to thinking about what i'd like to give to the world.

[sam cole]

anyway, while doing a bit of internet research i came across this incredible organization in austin, texas called 'art from the streets.' basically it's an art center where homeless people can come in for twice-weekly open studio art classes, and then sell their work at the annual show (which just happened this past weekend). and the work they create is amazing-- these images are all from the 2008 show-- it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to think about people having the seed of creativity inside them and actually having a place to go to discover and nurture it.

[shaneka campbell]

you can read more about art from the streets right here on their website and see many more images of the recent work right here. you can also read about some of their most loyal and productive artists right here. if i lived in austin, this is where i would be volunteering my time. perhaps atlanta has something similar...? i'll have to do more research. :)

[howard cook]