i feel like i have been rather photo happy here this week--partly because i can't decide which photos to share with you, and partly to make up for the fact that i am still rather low on energy and don't have much of my own content to show (but it is coming, and i am really excited! as a long parenthetical side note, i just have to say how happy and relieved i am to have a light at the end of the tunnel of the day job. i'm looking forward to some rest and starting to structure my days around what i want to be doing rather than trying--and usually failing--to fit them in around the things i don't value--i.e. my day job).
uh, anyway. . . i have been thinking lately, though, about what i would like to be doing with my blog in the coming months. i like the idea of sharing great arts and crafts that i run across. i found these adorable crocheted macarons by sian keegan over on bakers dozen. i like this little shop, full of goodies created by thirteen artists, in editions of thirteen. the brainchild of australian amy borell, i think this is such a sweet project!

i got curious about sian's other work, so mosied over to her website, where i found more illlustrations, patterns, and stuffed things. because, you know, as much fun as it is to have macarons, it's also important to eat your veggies. the fennels and radishes are my favorites (although i really like the scallions, too! see? it's hard to decide which ones to post!).
sian also posts lovely little things on her blog. and her shop? ack! love it (there are strawberries and cupcakes there! and stuffed animal portraits! see, i'm practicing real restraint here).


totally unrelated: some of you asked about my switch to wordpress, which i am doing for a couple of reasons. i was about to share those reasons here, but i think maybe i will devote a post to that in the next week or so. the short answer is: it's more flexible and allows me to do more. but i'm actually really excited about some new features i have discovered, and the ease with which it allows me to do these things.

happy effing birthday monday!

birthday? yeah, it's my blog's birthday. i can't believe i just typed that, or that i am actually pointing it out (although, my own birthday is right after christmas, and is typically an awkward and sensitive day for me, so why not celebrate the online representation of myself in the summertime?). but when i think about where i was a year ago, when i started writing here, and where i am now, i am just so excited. this seems like an appropriate time to take a look back and a look forward since this is my last week at work (good-bye beige cube! good-bye robot boss! good-bye big fat paychecks!), and i am excited to embark on this new adventure. it has taken a lot of preparation and patience, but now is the right time for me to be stepping out on this limb.
i did a little search for 'balloons' on etsy and found these charming little images by seller aliette! i kind of can't get over them, they are so right up my alley. they are 'automme 1-4' (because she's french! i couldn't not include the whole set!). i think they are beautiful, and she has a lot of other wonderful pieces. if i were not about to walk across the threshold of low-income living again, i would treat myself with the set as a blog-birthday present.
i hope your week is lovely!

weekend!

my friend meg loves maira kalman, and has totally gotten me hooked on her work in a conscious way (if that makes sense). i really like how playful and full of energy her images are. i also like checking in on her blog, where she writes and illustrates little commentaries on various things--lately they are related to history, democracy, and government. here are a couple of excerpts from a piece about her visit to monticello.
i hope you have a wonderful weekend! i will be back on monday (my last monday in a dreaded beige cube!)

happy effing monday!

oh, wow. a couple of things: it really is a monday (maybe because i had a really great, fully weekend)! we managed to get some very final touches done at our house this weekend (shelves and curtains hung, etc.), i made a crazy-good haul at savers on saturday, i prided it up with my dear friend jack on sunday morning, amy and i threw a really fun housewarming shindig. . . and i will say that all that activity, on top of my efforts to get things together for the shop, i am really tired this morning. oh, and! i can't believe how excited i am about this, but: i have an interview at a temp agency today! the shop opens TOMORROW, which will likely be a more modest opening than i had anticipated, but i think july will be a month full of updates and specials. i have a lot of ideas and projects i want to share, so figuring out how to get all those out there is what i am working on. so, i feel a little bit like i am going absolutely nuts, but in a good way (oh yeah, that makes so much sense). anywayyyyyyy. . . . for your viewing pleasure this morning:
a few weeks ago, erin posted about luke irwin, who designs fine rugs. i had never heard of him, but find his work to be absolutely gorgeous. in the image below, i really like the tiny spots of orange, they are so beautifully balanced. not to mention, they look totally appealing for some good barefoot walking, laying around on the floor with a good book action. i hope you enjoy your monday and your week! i will be back with updates and news about the shop tomorrow.

wish list.

for a long time, i have really liked chakrapennywhistle's moneybag wallets on etsy. but, you know, in a boy kind of way (as in, "i like boys, and i like these wallets!" or, "i like these wallets, but they look like they are for boys." or, "i would love to have a boy to whom i could give one of these great wallets!"). i have even thought about buying one of these wallets and saving it for a (hopefully) future mr. someone (is that crazy? did i just out myself on the internet?)


but then! she was the etsy featured seller last week, and from that article, i mosied on over to her shop to discover: moneybag clutches! wheee! now i can have my own bit of a moneybag in a cool, girly form! how's that for nice? and maybe, if i ever find that mr. someone, we can match. yeah, nice (or perhaps a bit much?).

happy effing monday!

hi friends! today i really AM happy, because i am waking up at my parents' house in the woods, next to my sister. and i don't have to go to work! last friday, mrs. french posted about these amazing illustrations and i knew immediately that they would make perfect monday morning eye candy (and really, i just wanted an excuse to look at them some more)! so enjoy these lovely illustrations by japanese artist naomi kobayashi. i really had a hard time choosing just a few to show you! i mean, aren't they all so wonderful?!
there is also a really nice little interview with one of my favorite blogger/creative ladies, chelsea of {frolic}, over at auburn and ivory. she has nice, real, encouraging things to say.

blah blah blah, art (and a new artist i really like).

discovered someone new yesterday, as i dialogued yesterday. it was an interesting discussion, about whether or not the online art world is reflective of the art and gallery scene in the "real" world. it was a discussion that stayed with me all day, and when i went back to see what others had said, i found that most people weren't answering the question, "does the online art community reflect real life", rather they were saying, "the online art community is better than that of real life!" which, in some ways, it is.
but you know what? sometimes i miss real life galleries and art scenes! i like openings, the excitement of preparing for a party, of inviting friends, of the possibility of meeting new ones (not to mention, there is usually free food!). i also miss seeing work in real life, taking in the size and scale, specific details, textures, and colors that sometimes get lost when work is distilled into a photograph and viewed on a screen.
i have been rather isolated in my own art making in the last few years (or in my not making, as the case may be). i have found the online community to be open and accessible. but is it better? i don't know. it is different, that is for sure. after the whole discussion, i feel inspired to get out and get involved in my local real life art scene.
viewing art online is a very private experience--it reminds me of how people used to listen to and perform music in community and that was how it was, but now we all have our ipods and we just listen to our own music and experience it very privately. there is no discussion over images we find online (usually), not much conversation or interaction (and we all know how i like to converse).
but if we are going to talk about the online art community, and how nice it is to stumble across someone whose work you like, then i want to talk about nigel peake. his blog is lovely, with photographs and drawings--mostly houses and structures, which are always good in my book. the photo above is his.

monday morning pretty.

here is the deal with me and mondays: we don't really go well together (i sure don't heart them, but i am glad some people do). when i finally do quit my job and go out on that limb and start making my own way/living in the world, mondays will not be heavy workdays. or, maybe when that happens, i will actually look forward to them! although i will say, if i ever am able to maintain my ideal balance in life, i will only work four days, four and a half tops. until then. . . mondays=ugh (especially since julia told me about the correlation between heart attacks and 8-9am on mondays: that's when most of them occur! eep!).
here is the deal with me and blogging: i am still figuring out what kind of blogger i am/want to be. i am working on being consistent in posting, i am working on finding things that are worthy of turning into possible 'regular features', i am sometimes rebelling against the idea of 'regular features' (let's face it, i am afraid of commitment).
so please bear with me, especially when the mondays + the blogging adolescence collide.
one thing i am sure of: when it comes to things i don't like (i.e. mondays) and something i am trying to get better at (i.e. blogging), i have learned that it is best to look on the bright side.
be optimistic.
look for the good in the situation.
be positive.
henceforth, i will commence with something i feel good about committing to: a monday morning post that is happy and easy on the eyes. something to make me smile, even if i am not looking at it. when i stare at my inbox as it opens, i will think about what i have posted on my blog and smile (probably with closed eyes. that rapidly filling inbox is something i just can't handle watching).
and hopefully you will smile, too.
these are photos from the lovely sophie cuvelier, whose website and blog are so wonderful. i really like her blog, which is basically a huge collection of photos of everyday things, and then how she transforms those things, through colors, shapes, and textures, into garlands. yeah, it's pretty great. first found on jordan's blog. she's also pretty great.
so there you go: happy effing monday.

artists i like: josie lewis

in an effort to bring stability to your lives (or, at least in your expectations of me and my blog), and in an effort to get me to look at more art--arty art, fine art, whatever you want to call it--i bring you the first installment of my appropriately named series, artist i like. here you go.
i really like josie's painting/collages (created out of scraps of found paper and resin layered together) for many reasons. they are colorful and mesmerizing, and they push the boundaries between 2- and 3-dimensional work. i really like boundaries and boundary-pushers. they fascinate me. where is the line between joking and seriousness? good and evil? early and late? faith and foolishness?
ah, i digress. because in her work, ms. lewis (should i write about people like the ny times does? that could be fun) does not discuss boundaries directly, although she does talk about how they are painting, collage, possibly sculpture, and related to photography (since the bits of paper are taken from photographs in magazines.
she also talks about how animals digest their food--comparing to her own consumption of the materials she uses and the resulting pieces that are created.

these images have been in my mind for weeks--months, even. i can't get over their simultaneous flatness and depth, as well as their intense color. the process appeals to me as well--breaking down images into colors, textures, and shapes, then assembling them into a larger whole. it has got to be time consuming, but there is something about it that is really appealing to me. i really have a thing for process. it's one of those things that draws me in and makes me think, "man, i wish i had thought of that." her website is full of images, i encourage you to check it out. oh! and she's from minneapolis. so, you know. we have that going for us. okay, i'll stop drooling now and let you enjoy them.

(all images found on the artist's website.)