the sketchbook project
in williamsburg, i came across a sweet little store filled with great papers, notebooks and other materials one would covet if they loved the sort of tangible things that tend to bring some more pleasure then the act of writing in or drawing on them, themselves.
i’m one of those people that loves the smell and feel of paper, the colors of pencils and the feel of chalk or charcoal on my fingertips. but when i saw the wall full of notebooks that seemed to be used, i inquired and was guided through the concert tour concept of the sketchbook project. i was immediately inspired and so, signed up on the spot.
the basics are this: sign up for $25. choose a theme. receive a sketchbook in the mail. sketch your heart out. then send it back, prepare for the 2012 tour and share your artistic process with the world. your book is unique. just like you. more? go to this link, and sign up now.
my son loves drawing and he just got glasses, we are going to sketch together and try out his new and improved eyesight.
http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject/features
”..we had longer ways to go..”
a couple of my girl friends and i are embarking on a little roadtrip, a last hurrah if you will before i hit the road (literally) and i just can’t wait!!!!!! don’t you love adventures!
nectar & light
on this rainy day with not much to do i decided to find something to do. organizing old polaroids (above) and deciding to finally post them on etsy. which brings me to nectar & light, a blog by photographer jen altman. she who first inspired me to play with vintages cameras.
this woman is an incredible talent. i came across her blog par accident a few years ago, let’s say about 4 or 5 ago. at the time she was blogging, and making and selling jewellry online. then she bought a vintage sx-70 polaroid camera and started snapping and posting the images on her blog. whether it was the fantastic looking food she made, her children, or the unique decor of her home, she always drew me in, and inspired me to buy my own sx-70. then i got busy, checked back once in awhile to see that she was publishing a book, then didn’t check her out until almost 18 months later.
design sponge featured her home: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/09/sneak-peek-jen-altman-park-slope.html
i often obsess about branding, and think alot about personal branding. what would you brand yourself? would i be “enthusiastically blonde?”. jen altman could be, “fiery eyed artist” for her red hair, her keen eye and her polaroids that are nothing less then fine art (at least in my opinion). some people brand themselves without realizing it because they really live their own brand - in jen altmans case, i was in an urban outfitters about a month ago, looking at one of their homeware displays and saw a postcard book of polaroids, picked it up and instantly knew it had to be jen altman - and i was right.
she embarked on this side of her work after she already had 3 children. to me she is the ultimate woman, proving that there is beauty in everything, life is what we make it, the ordinary can be made extraordinary, and although we can’t always have everything, some of us can still have it all.
Arkitip Issue No. 54
i’m in love with sereena’s work.
http://www.serenamitnikmiller.com/
Excerpt from Arkitip Issue No. 54:
Serena Mitnik-Miller executes her painting with watercolor on paper, employing transparent, all over repetitive shapes in vivid colors that reference nature specific to the sea. Mitnik-Miller associates these colors and geometries with organic vocabulary and palette, most importantly its complex dynamic. The paintings become increasingly disorienting with layered internal space and vortex like sensibility shifting the image beyond the paper.
In her photographic work Mitnik-Miller both seduces and alienates the viewer employing graphic and abstract approach to her images. Experiential qualities of light abound within the images, embracing the films grain to create a watercolor-like effect when printed on natural matte paper.
Hand packaged neatly with natural twine is a map she designed of her Treasured Spots of San Francisco. The map lists a handful of places the artist visits frequently, giving the viewer a closer look into her daily travels.
Serena currently lives and works near the ocean in San Francisco, where she helps to run the Mollusk Surf Shop Gallery and her own new venture, General Store.
