Awesome. Foer LIFE!

One of my favorite authors, Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything Is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) just had his "unmakeable" book MADE:



I salivate. This is SAVAGE structure. 've always wanted to do this to a book.

My Future Bookshelf will have...

The Grammar of Ornament... By Owen Jones

Laduree: The Sweet Recipes ... by Philippe Andrieu

Alexander McQueen... By Kristin Knox

What Shall I Wear Today?: Style Secrets of a Furry Fashionista... By Fifi Lapin

Three Apples Hello Kitty Exhibit Book... sold at JapanLA

Martha Stewart's Cupcakes ... by Martha Stewart Living Magazine

I Heart Macarons... By Hisako Ogita

The Handy Book of Artistic Printing... By Doug Clouse (et. al.)

Love and Fafiness

Handjob & Over and Over ... both by Mike Perry

by Pamela Clarke Keogh and Hubert de Givenchy

The Sartorialist... by Scott Schuman

Anna Sui... By Andrew Bolton

FriendsWithYou Have Powers ... published by Die Gestalten Verlag

Babycakes: (Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery... by Erika McKenna

Happy Kitty Bunny Pony: A Saccharine Mouthful of Super Cute ... By Popink

The Art of Yumiko Kayukawa by 9mm books

Blossom Buddies... By Elsa Mora

On a cloudy, rainy day

Oh, man. The rainy, foggy and cloudy weather is back. It's always been my favorite! It reminds me of happy, cozy memories of reading in the sheets and walking under the umbrella with my babysitter, growing up.

Now, these days consist of pumpkin pie, coffee and work.

I do miss the reading!

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Look what I got for my birthday from Justin! Aside from the routine 4 layer raspberry iced poppyseed cake he takes me for at Rick's Diner in Sacramento, he got me the Small Stakes Poster book.

Yay! Check that off my wishlist! I love it so much and droll on it so much. Jason Munn's aesthetic is abstract yet communicates the feeling of music. His work feels vintage and illustrative. Of course, I love it.

He has a true gift. And I thank my Justin for his gift!

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http://www.cottoncandyfriends.com/catalog/index.php

One of my favorite stores to visit, looking for concept inspiration!

Check these out. TOTALLY want these!

Polaroid Post-Its

These gorgeous, delicious, luxurious bookmarks! Would be amazing for all those poli sci books I still want to finish!

And, of course... this one is still being sold. When I first saw it, I freaked out.

It's gotten a lot of attention, since.

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Also, working on my design signature for my portfolio class (finally!). I can't wait to share my progress with you.

I do not agree with everything in Leo Tolstoy's 'What Is Art?' but it made me think very deeply about the reason I make art and what defines art. I recommend that all artists read it.

I was forever changed by the book Shoot an Iraqi by Wafaa Bilal. I have no words to offer to sum up this amazing experience. Read it. Especially if you are of my generation.

New loves of my life:

Sebastiaan Bremer's work

http://www.sebastiaanbremer.com/index.php

-Diana cameras!

-John Steinbecks' Cannery Row

-Collage art, in general... I've liked it for a while but now I'm itching to do some!

-The snake cuff Justin got me from Egypt.

-Rings, rings and more rings.

-Bunnies, in general.

-Envelope templates... you can get one at The Spoon Sisters store.

-Baking.

Jason Munn's poster book

I'm sorry I haven't been updating! I haven't forgotten about you.

Just hammered with homework!

In the meantime, these blogs are great!

15 yr. old fashion designer and great photographer

http://esther-fromthesticks.blogspot.com/

sweet photographs taken of the everyday life of a young mother

http://mycakies.blogspot.com/

Hard times

It seems that me and everyone I care about are going through a lot of tough times, loss, confusion and pretty jolty turns in the road.

Let's remember the beautiful things in life - the favorite things that make moments a little easier to bear.

Let's remember how this big world is full of wonders... and so much bigger than the dark we might encounter.

Let's grasp life.

I could not have read this beautiful article at a better time:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/04/06/DI2007040601228.html

If you were busy walking off to your daily routine, would you notice that the man on the corner playing the violin is one of the most famous violinists in the world -who just sold out a concert at $100 a seat- playing one of the most difficult violin solos in history?

Droopy-eyed.

New Goal:

Be so passionate in my classes that I bring up the competitive quality of any classroom I am in.

Anyway.

Here are some doggies.

I have been on a doggie drawing kick.

Also, an illustrated-list-making kick.

"You ever find buttons on a jacket & you can't find their homes & it just DRIVES YOU CRAZY? BUT! Then you do? (aha!) And then the jacket looks that much prettier on you? Buttons are like hearts in life's jacket!"

My classmate read my hand lettering doodle in class and kinda laughed.

I like being ditzy in my art, sometimes- as long as I'm professional when I need to be.

I feel it's a more honest and fun way of infusing visual creativity with humor and whimsy.

I want to post some of my illustrates lists and hand lettered quotes when I can get them to be of nice digital quality.

GOOD READ:

Seven Days in the Art World

Sarah Thornton

The different arenas of the art world, as revealed in this book, are intriguingly and in some cases starkly different. It's a journalistic piece with little gems of facts, insider knowledge and lots of engaging narrative. I really am enjoying seeing how different people value art. The writer seems very perceptive, eager, and thorough. I do not like putting it down! I cannot wait until the chapter that observes one of my favorite Japanese Contemporary artists, Takashi Murakami!

and....

this boy, this boy.

Sketchbook for class.

We sketch in a sketchbook for my illustrative concept class. We sketch in that book 15 minutes, a day. I like duplicating typeface charts and ornamentals by hand, the best. Out of all the typefaces I've tried, so far, Cooper is the hardest. I did like making the Cooper numbers, though. Rockwell was the easiest.

It's fun homework, but it got a little tiring and redundant since I was doing 30 pieces a day (about that many), last week, for my show. That's like over 60 hours summarized. Plus, I was sketching a lot of ornamentals in my other sketchbook, for my internship (about 9 pages dedicated to a water-like crest, now! but it's fun!). However, I always like changing up my illustrative style so I won't get too use to drawing the usual "fat babies with cankles".

This is Justin getting totally absorbed in his new game, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare2, which he talks of, endlessly. I don't mind, though. As long as he's finally having some fun!

This is a caricature. I want to do more of those, since I haven't done them since high school.

Oh! And for you! Here's a great read called The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman.

I watched her speak about the book at TED.com at this link:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/maira_kalman_the_illustrated_woman.html

and have alway's been interested in reading the book! Which I have! In my school library.

This book is a novel made of illustrations that tell the story of Maira Kalman's life through paintings and hand lettering. Yes, it is like a picture book for adults!

I love all the texture, color and emotion behind her journalistic and documentary type illustrations. They are treated with humor and class. I also like the personality behind her handlettering and subject choices!

Her blog is also wonderful!

http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/

oh. my . goodness

so busy these days... lots of art show organization and illustration work... lots of homework! trips to michaels are very tempting but i've got my long list of specific things i MUST buy and the coupon system that will help me save money for it all! oh, all the things i want to craft... you shall have to wait until i am an old lady in the dessert or living in front of a lake in Alaska or something!
seeing this totally makes me feel comforted and rested!


i use to LOVE this little cut in one of my Disney Sing Along Songs videos!

PS- ponyo came out today!

pps- i think AWAY WE GO is cute! and i want to see 500 days of summer.


AND ALSO!
one of the most amazing books i ever saw as a child and admired has FINALLY been found. i collected lots of picture books -mainly little golden books- that my nanny would give me. this one was not a little golden book, and like many of the books, i can still picture many spreads. i remember the smell of the book, the cover textures... i remember how gingerly i treated it- it was a treasure! i remember the story line pretty well, too. and i would search for it sometimes by keywords over and over. It's been years. I finally found it!

whats more...
I FOUND AN OPEN SOURCE PDF OF IT.

by JO FARMAYAN and illustrated by Harriet Sherman
THE WONDERFUL LAMP FROM ISFAHAN
http://www.archive.org/details/TheWonderfulLampFromIsfahan

woo

The Pop art show was pretty cool. I feel greatly rewarded for my hard work/ dedication when i see that I have the ability to put together an event that will promote dedicated artists and deserving venues. I have never been a social butterfly and I find it funny that I can put together such a social event. I look forward to organizing more with Kamon and also artists I have networked with because someday I want to own my own little galleries and this will be contributing experience for that
.

work by Jason Rico

I'm getting use to the responsibilities of networking and the benefits they reap. I've been asked to help coordinate the art show section of a benefit concert put together for a cause I have been supporting since I viewed it's documentary in 2005. It's called Invisible Children, and I am going to be selling some of my past paintings at the event for anywhere between 15%-100% proceeds towards Invisible Children. It will be at a benefit concert Capital Garage, Sacramento, August 29th at 9pm right after the live art show I organized with some friends at Kamon.

Also, this is my last month illustrating for my current commissioner and it's really getting to the point where I wish I had read that illustration book before I signed the contract. Reading is invaluable.

GOOD READ

Playful Type
Gestalten
I could sit and look at it, for hours. totally inspiring. this is added to my WISHLIST*.


by Cees W de Jong et. al
helped me a ton with my poster homework for message making. the work in it is ingenius, inspiring and moving.

New Poster Art