Seeing Art in Everyday Life: Instagram Color

Student artwork

Boston in the fog

Frogs in Lynn's pool

Boyfriend in the Summer

Gillian at the fair

Birthday cake

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

Easy Mornings

I've been getting really into baking from a box lately... and then eating a good portion of whatever it is that I've made.  These Pumpkin Muffins were kind of to die for though and I'll probably making them another few times before they are gone for the season, whether or not I can exert any self control when they are around. 

I know it isn't good to open the oven door while cooking, but I love watching things cook so much!  Sometimes I'll pull out a little step stool and watch through the glass as things cook.

Fluffiest muffins of all time.

Morning set-up

My sibling mug!

I'm currently reading Cloud Atlas.  There was a really interesting article in the New Yorker from the beginning of the month about this book and the sister and brother filmmakers, Lana and Andy Wachowski (creators of The Matrix) who have turned it into a film.  I'm not sure when the film is being released but I will definitely be seeing it.  I'm about a third of the way through the book and feel like I am still in the beginning pages.  This is going to be one of those reads where you dread reaching the last page.

And my friend Winston who follows me around the house on slow mornings like these.

Inspiration

A bubbly blackberry cocktail 

I've been looking around for inspiration lately.
For art and for life, transitional periods can be challenging and I am currently finding myself without a studio space and without a solid six month life plan.  To deal with this transitional time, I am indulging in the little things where I can.  I've been enjoying special moments with friends as they make exciting steps in their lives while keeping an eye out for exciting colors and textures while I'm at it.

Here are a few photos from my friend Andrea's Bridal shower along with some color sampling as inspired by a graphic design blog Color Collective.

Michael Kors Watch, Inherited Vintage Bracelets, Adorable mini Tabasco Sauce 

Orange Skirt and Patterned Belt from Loft

View of Boston from Granite Links

Art in Life via Instagram

Seeing art in everyday life is shared and encouraged via the instagram app for iphone.  This is sort of a commercial for them and I'm sort of fine with that.  It is free app that makes quick and easy artmaking accessible for those with the tools (an iphone or ipad).  There are boundaries and freedoms within the mechanics, which is usually a good equation, and seems to be working out pretty well for them and us.

The user is forced to use a square frame, immediately requiring more of a mental focus of the them by taking the typical rectangular cropping device out of play.  Because of this, composition quickly becomes key before you even get into the color adjustments as one cannot thoughtlessly click (or tap) away.

There are 17 filters to choose from to send the photo through if you don't want to keep the original color balance.  There is a black and white filter along with variations that lean towards the respective primaries and also some that will give a vintage look to the shot.

Another app that has come out to help get creative with your photos is Ditpic, which unlike Instagram is not free but pretty cheap, I think it is 2 or 3 dollars.  Using Ditpic the user can photo collage away with templates that have been set up.  There is also the option of altering these templates by dragging the lines between the photos all over the place to change the shape of each piece of the puzzle.

It is so easy to get carried away documenting every second of life, and I'm pretty much doing that all the time.  These apps slow me down just enough to really think about what is happening, and what I want to happen, visually.  

What am I trying to emphasize?  Just above, the orange, and below the glass.  Within those focal points, I'm playing with the contrast between these things and what is hanging out in the rest of the frame.  I can make these decisions very quickly, choose the appropriate filter to bring out the warms, cools and contrasts I'm looking for and share away.

I truly believe that art is anywhere you want it to be and that anybody can make it if they want to.  This app helps us unselfconsciously share the various visual stimuli we get throughout our day to inspire ourselves and our friends.

By the way, I got my Dana Schutz If the Face Had Wheels book in the mail and it has pretty good forward, a great interview, photos of paintings that were not in the show I saw (which rocked) but the photo of painting Licking A Brick was not included!! wth?!  That is the ONE painting that I was anxious to get to it's page as I was flipping through.  Why is there no documentation of this piece online OR in this book??