the pixie hat

That's what they called it in the 1970's issue of Sunset's "Gifts You Can Make". Basically it's just two half circles sewn into a cone (one for outside, one for lining). Pretty easy, but I tried to butch it up a bit by sewing down the "pixie" point of the cone and using a tan canvas. Added bonus, I also found out that Sam stays sitting still if you photograph him while sipping OJ!



Here it is again form the back, rotated 90 degrees so the points face a different direction. You can see the basic shape. Easy, right?!! I want to try to make it again, probably a little bigger. I might even try a really big one for me (pixie point intact? Hmmm....)

strip mall signage

I have a big fascination with strip mall signage. I like the pattern the text makes, the density and variety of information packed into repeating uniform rectangles. I first started noticing it a few years ago, one week in summer. I took a million pictures of various locations in San Diego and LA. That's when I was living in Holland and everything in the US suddenly looked really colorful and new and kinda unconsciously wonderfully artless.

This is the one by my house that I see everyday. I want to make a screen print of it? A drawing? I don't know, something!

that and twenty cents

I found these magazines at the library book store. They cost ten cents each, and probably have more useful instruction in them than some of my $$$ classes at art school:


Studying design basics fascinates me, um, but I don't know why. I'm also really interested in theoretical mathematics, and brick laying, and I think that's somehow all related. Building complexity from simplicity. Universal structures and patterns. Men in suits sketching Mickey Mouse.


Oh my goodness, my automatic blog saver reminds me, I'm up way too late for this kind of discussion.

laziness, chip board, ephemera, etc.

More art submitted for the city gallery; the peach tree piece is already up, so they're turning stuff around pretty quick right now. I'll find out this week if these ones are going in the next show. Based on these pieces, the theme might have been "art in 60 seconds". Is it bad when the framing takes longer than the drawing? When your materials have so much acid in them, they'll crumble in a month? Heck no, I say! ha ha. Makes them more of the moment. As my dad has said, I'm here for a good time, not a long time. They're NFS, anyway. And as they fall apart, I'll just watch them turn into something new. :-)

By the way, did anyone read the recent quote from Phillipe Starck where he says he's basically lazy, and his favorite piece is always the next one? (I'd look it up, but uh, I'm kind of lazy too. Or busy? Or tired? They all blend together sometimes.) Anyway, not really related to this post, except for maybe the lazy part, but interesting!

hailey's plane

Something leftover from the city map that my neice drew on our driveway. Her city was HUGE, the hospital HUGE, the airport and zoo HUGE, with a road that took up the whole span of asphalt. To watch her go is a fascination. She always thinks big and fast and direct, kinda the opposite of me. Very instructional, and I eagerly study her work! There's a lot to learn form a 7 year old....

my muse :-)

I draw Sam a lot. At this age he's pretty oblivious and unconscious about being observed, which is great for me! When I grab a minute or two to draw him though, mostly I do it from memory, channeling a feeling or a moment that I want to keep.

bemelmans book

I went to a yard sale the other weekend and found this amazing book by Ludwig Bemelmans. (...The Madeline guy, right?) I raced to plunk down my $2 so fast, I didn't take time to peruse, but wow, now that I've caught my breath I can see it's really lovely. The book is called The Best of Times. Talk about the golden years of illustration-- shortly after WW II ended, Holiday magazine comissioned the artist to cruise around Europe, paint, write, and do some general brighter side of life looking. For me it really captures that post-war feeling when everyone needed things to be lighter, more hopeful, even if they quite weren't yet.

Anyway, the drawings are really wonderful, so I thought I'd post a few. (I'm sure it will be even better once I actually READ it.) Click on the .jpgs to see bigger.


Paris


Arles


Venice; reminds me of Maira Kalman's work a little, hmmm?....


Not everything is cheerful; Bemelmans' impression of Munich before and after the war...


Bavaria


Switzerland. Aaah, wouldn't a nice cocktail be really good right now...?

droog does it again

Whoa, who saw this honeycomb vase from Droog already? Designer (not including the bees) Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny calls it "slow prototyping". HA HA HA, I'm a product designer's wife and I totally get that joke! Proud, honey?

I heart blogs.

And birds. And not having to code new html from scratch every time I want to post any little thing. Viola! A bazillionth art blog is born. :-)