Looking At, Listening to

1.

Carolina Fontoura Alzaga makes amazing chandeliers out of recycled bicycle parts.  She also seems like a very cool lady so watch the video below where she talks about her work.

2.

This place rules.  Lost Type Co-op is a spot where a bunch of designers post their new font designs.  They are available for purchase for whatever you feel like paying, including zero doll hairs.  I've been paying a lot of attention to hand painted signs lately which makes me think about the wonderful wonderful Margaret Kilgallen.

3.

I'm ALWAYS looking at Margaret Kilgallen.  God, I love her.

4.

This lady Nova has a blog called Glitter and Doom where she documents life which includes her awesome job working in a tattoo parlor.

5.

Just google Little Planets and you'll get a lot of cool pictures like this.  I'm not sure where I found out about these, I think Nova's blog?  It's a photo trick that involves panoramic views.

6.

Good music.  This song has a really great change in the middle.  This video has really great fast walking and guns.

Business Shmisness

I really want to be my own boss someday.  I want to make things or provide a service that people need or want.

Here are a couple of businesses that inspire me:

Queen Bee Honey

Stephanie and Paul over at Queen Bee Honey have a bunch hives on the South Shore.  They make treats like granola and baklava, beeswax candles, soaps, lotions and salt scrubs and even insect repellant all out of the wax and honey their bees make.

Queen Bee Honey is based out of Pembroke, MA and their products can be found at many local farmer's markets and other places like Plimouth Plantation and stores such as Local Pottery in Pembroke.

Stephanie and Paul's business has been featured several times in South Shore Living magazine.

A Little Artsy

I recently found the business A Little Artsy out of Dallas, TX through their blog.  This place seems pretty on point for a dream business for me.

Casey and Chris Wiegand, a husband and wife team, own and operate an art studio for people of all ages and abilities.  They aim to focus people on the process of art making and not the end resulting product.  A Little Artsy has been open for five years now and has several employees.  

Parrott Design Studio

Sarah Parrott Bianculli is the heart of Parrott Design Studio.  Starting in 2007 with a Gocco, the studio has grown to include a focus on the art of Letterpress.  

Sarah is based out of Providence and has a couple of grandma presses keeping her studio running dating back to 1898 and 1901.  While wedding invitations seem to the the bread and butter over at the Parrott studio, there is a wide range of products from business cards to thank you's.

Sarah's studio has been featured by Martha Stewart!

Local Pottery

Lisa Howard opened Local Pottery almost 13 years ago.  She is a large contributor to the ceramic work in the shop/studio but has a group of regulars who's work she displays.  Local Pottery showcases one of a kind jewelry (you can sometimes find Stephanie from Queen Bee Honey's work there) and kitchen utensils.   

Interested in learning the art of pottery?  Lisa Howard is also offering a range of classes from independent studies, for those ready with ideas and a little experience to get to work on their projects, to  classes for children and a range of levels for adults.

InstaPair

1. Found Typewriter 

2. Lost TVs

3. Marks Made 

4. Marks Found

5&6. Two interiors 

7. Limb with Fasion

8. Limb with Treats

9. Drawing from a Coffee Shop

10. Coffee Shop

11&12. Shopping Finds

Working Back In

A sketchbook is a complete piece for me.  Whenever I finish a drawing or part of a drawing the first thing I do is start from the first page of the book and flip through to see everything there.  

For the most part I am working straight through, but keeping myself familiar with each page and how the whole book flows together brings me in circles of seemingly endless starts and finishes.
You can see what I'm talking about in the drawings this text is sandwiched between.  The top photo shows how I originally thought the sketch would end and in the bottom photo you can see how I later decided to switch tools and wrap it up.

Thats usually what is going on in my sketchbooks when you see a shift from markers to pen or pen to pencil or pencil to charcoal and so on.

Can you find the switch in this one?  It is a little more subtle than the others.

Looking At, Listening To

Alice Carrier

Gregory Crewdson

First Aid Kit

Obsessed.

Yeaysayer

I like some of this bands stuff, but let's be real.. I'm mostly just in love with the bass player.

Valerie Vargas:

Mark Making

I'm in love with these Faber-Castell PITT artist pens (markers).  I first ran into them at Artist &Craftsman Supply in Cambridge, a wonderful little store I'm glad to call my favorite.

The brush tip gives a greater control over the type of line you want and the Indian ink is not completely opaque so you can layer it up where you want darker tones.  

See:

This tonal layering technique works just as well with hue variation.  Leaving gaps between the colors in some places and overlapping in others allows for a satisfying blending of color.  

See:

Here are a couple portraits done with my beloved markers:

Self Portrait, Summer 2012

Cheryl, Summer 2012