i was a devoted domino reader. it was one of my favorite mags and back in the day, my friend liz and i would literally comb through page by page and dissect every image and source. then like all things wonderful it went the way of blueprint and was gone. now, i mysteriously have subscriptions to essence and cookie. hmmm.
i was thrilled today though to see this! http://www.lonnymag.com/ an online mag from some of the former staffers of domino! woo hoo! check it out here! me likey!
" Scene 2 : The Robbery"
Outside the store King and Bobo are sitting on the hood of a car. King is smoking a joint (big surprise) while Bobo is smoking a cigarette. Steve enters the store to buy mints and when he walks out, he does not signal, he walks down the street and King turns to Bobo."
King: I guess it's all clear
Bobo:You sure?
King: Yah, come on let's go.
Bobo and King enter the store and start a fake argument . . .
Most mornings I walk my daughter to preschool. We play little games like "i spy" or we look for local wonders in nature. It's good for us to notice changes on our daily route. Anyway, on the way back after getting my coffee, I came across something very interesting . . .
It was this page from a screenplay. Obviously written and dropped by one of the local college students. Completely novice in style and approach, it reminded me of one thing: there are creative people everywhere! It's easy for me to get all caught up in my own stuff and worry about the ins and outs of MYprocess. What a window into another persons creative world! I'm sure that this simple story of King and Bobo was rich with detail in the authors mind, sure it needs some character development but it is the beginning of something, a direction, something that might have potential. . . . and that is what it is all about - right? what a nice creative reminder for me and completely random on a monday morning at 9:07.
*In case you need a little fire to get this kind of "found" creative thinking going for you - you can check these amazing sites out here :
Where anyone can release their innermost thoughts without judgment ::
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ or http://secrettweet.com/
or finding lists that might have some relevance for you::
I think that I have mentioned a few (hundred) times that I am having a renewed love affair with wallpaper. Well, today's entry takes the cake, weighing in at a cool retail price of 698.00 a roll ( check the stats here ) this paper is a dreamy minimalist take on the text of Shakespears Midsummer Night's Dream. Exclusively available at Anthropologie, the paper is the brainchild of designer Tracy Kendall and if you have a sec, you must click over and check out her site. My absolute faves are her papers with texture and text . . . take a peek here :
Silver Newsprint :: Stack :: Buttons :: top : Midsummer Night's Wallpaper :: All Images from Tracy Kendall (.com)
Grate Full :: 2009
Annus Horribilis. This 1992 phrase from Queen Elizabeth is playing on a continuous loop in my head. However, in my case it's more like "August Horribilis". Somewhere between the seriousness of California's fires and the nonsense surrounding celebrity deaths, it seems like there's more than enough trouble to go around.
The real low point for me though is that our family has been burning a trail to Stanford Cancer Center. Which, oh by the way, if you find yourself at Stanford Hospital, make sure to take the audio tour of the art collection. They have some amazing pieces (my personal faves are on the second floor and very Rothco-esque) and if you're really into it, they even have a link to itunes for major events and lectures...another side note, on the second floor they have a seemingly bottomless basket of jolly ranchers (watermelon!) on the surgical desk . . . it's the little things that make me happy.
Speaking of little things, I find that while going about my way on these crummy days I have to force myself to see. By default, I find myself looking for patterns. Always interesting and readily abundant, patterns are everywhere and if you look at even the most mundane things, there is something beautiful to discover. I especially love to edit an image down to just the basics, a simple composition to find the essence of something I see (and ignore) all the time. I think it was Gauguin who said "It is the eye of ignorance that assigns a fixed and unchangeable color to every object; beware of this stumbling block."
It's an excellent exercise to remind yourself that seeing something as it really is requires a different kind of mindset, moving beyond seeing to compiling a series and giving the images a title is part of the fun too. Enjoy. Check these out :
bumps in the road :: outpouring :: passageways :: post & reply :: 2009
But enough of all that, it's nearly September 1st and I am ready to turn over a new leaf and look forward to what's left of the year. Can't wait to be back on a regular blog schedule again! And many thanks to everyone who emailed me while I was on this unfortunate hiatus - I appreciate it!
Our girl had her surgery and is recuperating nicely . . .
Happy Bastille Day! ! Last week I posted some images of a few things I'm currently working on, you can take a look here to see. I have a couple other studies in progress (all I need is a nice chunk of time to keep working) but I have been wandering around trying to shape up the overall concept that ties these pieces all together and while I was driving around town running errands listening to NPR, I had a bit of an epiphany. The show was an interview with Colin Ellard who wrote a book called "You Are Here: Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon But Get Lost in the Mall". Or the tag line: A Fascinating Exploration of Human Navigation, Both Feat and Foible, in the Age of GPS and GoodgleEarth. It rung some major bells with me and I thought you might like to hear it here. Even though the name about says it all - it's about getting lost or finding your way and the different ways that people adapt to wayfinding. I hope you find it as interesting as I did. Oh and by the way, if you have the time check out his blog, I think he is one cool cat.
Just in case the link to NPR audio player doesn't work for you here is the cut and paste link : http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106350429
and to buy his book : http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Here-Find-Moon/dp/B002FQOHZG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247582693&sr=8-3
Hank Moody (David Duchovny) in the UTK offices. I'm loving that painting so much I wish I was the receptionist there.
One thing I love to do as an interior designer is see how people live. It's fascinating to see the pattern of how people move about their space and what they choose to live with or without. Of course, I just happen to have a quote next to my computer that says " a home is not a mere transient shelter: its essence lies in the personalities of the people who live in it." by H.L. Mencken. And it is this very reason that I don't really subscribe to any of the major shelter magazines, because the personality is missing. Sure, the architecture is ah-mazing and all the furniture is loving selected and nicey nice but at the end of the day I am left wondering "where is all your stuff?" if I wanted to see a kitchen that looks like a showroom I would just go to the SFDC. So, I was really happy when recently I found Californication . . . it's my favorite series and I will sing its praises to anyone who will listen. It's modern, hip and edgy and so are its sets, way more interesting lately than the magazines. . .
I have a bad habit of watching a movie or a television show and stopping it constantly (ta- da! thanks to Tivo) to take a good look at what I'm seeing. I can't tell you how many times I have watched Something's Gotta Give with Diane Keaton because her character had the most incredible beach house (the bedroom alone is worth going frame by frame just to see the Oly chairs and the styling detail is amazing). And all those Bond movies are chock full of killer sets that interestingly still look futuristic and some are more than thirty five years old (check out the floating stainless staircase in Goldfinger).
Anyway, I wanted you to see something that's been inspiring me lately, check out the art in these scenes from Californication . . . me likey! I have no idea how to really source this . . . do you? Got any favorites of your own?
Check out "Karen" Natascha McElhone standing in front of an incredible painting and wait, what's
all that stuff on the table? Are those her papers ? Huh?
old faithful? not so much . . .
Seriously. So I spent the day trying to do some heat transfers and ended up with a little disaster on my hands. Ok, I have to admit that my sixteen year old iron (purchased for the Henry Street studio) is a total fire hazard and I have to be super careful not to electrocute myself when I add water for steam but other than that . . my efforts were thwarted by the crap-tastic transfer paper I was using. I'm not sure that cool press and I were ever meant to be friends.
Changing gears seemed like the only option and with some luck here's where I stand : one faulty iron that turns its self off about every 6 minutes, two very sticky clear transfer image on linen drying in the sun picking up dust and garbage like fly paper, three or four disappointing non-transfer transfers in the garbage and a few semi satisfying pieces in the works. Want to see? Take a peek and btw major photo apologies - it's hard to take macro detail shots in the kitchen at midnight with any degree of success . . .
working title: underwater
working title: measures & waits
the quiet sound :: 2009
I think that I may have mentioned my love of the Diana once or twice. It really is fantastic plastic! (even though i try to live my little eco-friendly life "sans plastique" this particular phrase I decided was worth compromising) Quirky and unpredictable, what's not to love? It's a complete guessing game and you have no idea what awaits when you look at the negatives. Who doesn't love a surprise? So, I thought you might like to see this little series from our time on Daufuskie. Even though it was a sunny afternoon, I shot it on the lowest light setting. I love that quiet, dreamy, ethereal feeling that comes from overexposure. . . and chance.
Now, I know I spend alot of time talking about how I like things just so, but the truth is I am most drawn to that that fine line between organization and chaos. Sometimes you just have to surrender to the process, "surrender, but don't give yourself away" - right? But we'll have to get into that later.
lead away :: content :: untitled :: first key :: ellis hepburn 2009
lovely afternoon :: Daufuskie
Summer is in full swing here and I have a confession to make ~ it's something that I just learned about myself. I think that my favorite time at the pool is after everyone has gone and I can tidy up the clubs pool furniture. Sad, but true! I love being the last family there and walking around the deck, rolling down the umbrellas and arranging the chairs (four per table) and loungers (all backs neatly positioned at the same degree of angle) all the forgotten miscellaneous toys deposited in the lost and found. If you want to call me " little miss hospital corners" ~ I'm fine with it. Seriously! We have some family friends who nicknamed my dad " tidy paws" so something must have rubbed off. I love seeing a pool all calm and still with the furniture arranged just so - it makes it much more inviting than a mess with wet towels, goggles and floats everywhere. Right? I call that visual noise.
Let's see what's inside our beach bag:
Sunglasses - check. Sunscreen - check. Benjamin Moore paint chart - check.
I thought that for real kicks you might like to see which tree this apple fell from. I'm sure that my mother will be completely thrilled that her photo (in a bathing suit no less) is now on the internet but I think that it really tells our story. Isn't she lovely? In case your wondering, the color is 2139-30.
Marsh View on Daufuskie, 2009
What a trip! Completely inspiring on so many levels and great fun to be back home in the lovely low-country. I guess I don't have to tell you that its been a while since I had a chance to post mostly due to the lack of "tech-mology" * available. Of course, I'm still sorting things out here on this end - loads of digital photos, five rolls of 120 film, a few interviews and fragmented notes written on the back of receipts, menus and napkins. Not to mention being overwhelmed by all the great new resources and products I found while on my walkabouts around Savannah. So in the mean while, here's a little portfolio of images that remind me of home. . .
tide reeds :: back island intersection :: silverdew winery
isabelle :: may river dock :: so long skeeter
* thanks to ali - g for "tech-mology" :: if you don't know what I'm talking about then click here to see what I mean and brush up on your Ali-G vocabulary - get with it there's a pop quiz later.
