Sister Love

I'm blushing.

Hardcore: A Lesson In Doing Your Job And Outsourcing The Rest

The chocolate folks told me about the Smithsonian's new "Historically Hardcore" ads when I was finishing up the instillation for their new shop this week. Did you catch these posters around DC?

I for one was super impressed with their rebranding efforts when I heard the news. Who wouldn't get behind the idea of bringing life (and a fresh audience) to important information?

Answer: The Smithsonian

It seems that two students from Atlanta's Creative Circus were actually the masterminds behind these faux posters, hung around the city without the Museum's blessing. Copyright violations aside though, this garnered some pretty clutch attention for what many may have previously overlooked as a dusty Institution. If I were in charge, I'd hire the kids to do my advertising. After all, that is a skill in and of itself.

Happy Weekend!

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The weekend is here! I'm taking a cue from this cutie and busting out the wide leg jeans -- much more forgiving than their skinny cousins at concealing the fact that I have basically been surviving on pizza for the past month! 

Have a good one, friends!

See What You Say?

Is what we see a result of what we say? 

I am very comfortable with the concept of interpretations -- i.e., we all take something slightly different away from our experiences with a work of art. I had not, on the other hand, ever considered the fact that each of us may actually be SEEING something different from the next person.

Max Hirshfeld, “Looking at Looking #5” (2007)/Courtesy Hemphill

Guy Deutscher argues just that in his fascinating New York Times article about the way language may shape the way we think and see. (Now, I know that the nature v. nurture question has enough shades of grey without throwing in linguistics, but this read is worth a little more muddling. You need to check it out. Seriously.) He draws so many jaw-dropping conclusions about the influence of language on thoughts around the globe. One of which is the assertion that we perceive colors through the filter of our native vocabulary. In his words:

"There are radical variations in the way languages carve up the spectrum of visible light; for example, green and blue are distinct colors in English but are considered shades of the same color in many languages. And it turns out that the colors that our language routinely obliges us to treat as distinct can refine our purely visual sensitivity to certain color differences in reality, so that our brains are trained to exaggerate the distance between shades of color if these have different names in our language. As strange as it may sound, our experience of a Chagall painting actually depends to some extent on whether our language has a word for blue. "

Marc Chagall

 Another good reason not to cater your work to the tastes of others! You're probably not seeing the same thing anyway ;)

When Enough Is Enough

"When a painting really lives, has a right to exist on its own strength and weaknesses, I consider it finished. When I have put all I can into it and it really breathes, I stop. There are times when a work has pulled ahead of me and goes on to become something new to me, something that I have never seen before; that is finishing in an exhilarating way."

-Brice Marden

(This lovely quote via the lovely slow painting)

Moday Match (Prayers for The Japanese People)

image via

Japanese
aesthetic
meets
 American palette

Artist, Jun Kumaori, kmr.img

Cheers!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

work by Irish artist, Jim Gola

Beware the Ides of March

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 Not to be dramatic, but it makes so much sense that yesterday was the Ides of March. It was truly a terrible, horrible no good kind of day, the result of which made me realize how physically demanding it is to be an artist. 

Andy Warhol's Silver Factory, East 47th Street in New York City, 1964

Let's just say that I am starting to warm to the idea of the artist factory, complete with its team of assistants to bring my work to fruition.

It does bring up the old question though: Does the Art lie in the concept behind a work, or is in inextricably tied to the process of bringing it into existence?

Monday Match

Shoot! I forget who designed this. Help please?

 Fumio Watanabe via miss moss

Happy Weekend!

Some weeks just beg for a good weekend, don't they? This month I have three projects with the exact same deadline, so I've been dusting off my juggling skills.

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I'm really excited with how everything is coming along, and can't wait to share some pictures! This weekend though, I'm stepping away from the studio for a couple of parties with some fantastic people.

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Viva La Weekend!

Shake It

My painting studio is on the third floor of a three story building otherwise dedicated to yoga.

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As you might imagine, it is thus a very zen place, which I love! Every once in a while though, I start working on a project that really calls for some seriously pumped music. 

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Now is one of those times kids. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Swamped

but happy.

Have It All

At a conference I attended recently, the keynote speaker ventured that everyone in the audience had "everything that (they) really wanted."

This related sentiment comes from the folks at somethings hiding in here.

He wasn't being all Pollyanna. His point was that we either want to grow or we don't, and if we don't, we don't want a thing. But if we do? Well, then we want VERY MUCH, and we work darn hard to get it.

This seems to work with Maslow's motivation theory, which basically says that humans are motivated to act by unsatisfied needs, and that as long as we are motivated to satisfy those cravings, we are moving towards growth.

It feels whiny to want, but this line of thinking suggests that wanting is exactly what helps us evolve into the fullness of the people that we could/should be. What do you think?

Monday Match: A Little Edge and Shimmer

Do you think Jenna Lyons purposely draws inspiration from Romaine Brooks? They certainly seem to share a design aesthetic! 

Quick Comparisons:

*black, white, grey, yellow color palette (portrait's face is really yellow in actuality)

*two black chairs mirroring two dogs

*zebra rug and striped pants = black and white, graphic punch

*ugly doll's ears and portrait's collar = pointed little details creating prickly tone 

*chandelier and eye glass = jewelry to otherwise masculine compositions

Happy Blooming Weekend!

freckle-farm.com

Can you smell it? That fresh, green, growing turn in the still sort of chilly wind? Spring is in the air! I painted outside today to celebrate.

Ode to Dawn

Let me just say that am not a brand name type girl. You can keep your fancy cars and designer clothes, but one thing I absolutely cannot go generic on is Dawn dish detergent. There is NOTHING -- and I mean nothing -- that gets the paint out of my brushes like Dawn. Honestly, it's a little out of control how much I love the stuff.

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(Needless to say, this little artist was not surprised to find out that it was the product of choice for cleaning up wildlife after the Gulf Coast Oil Disaster.)

Sorry to disapoint the masses (hehehe) awaiting my deep thoughts today. I only have a few quick minutes for a well-deserved (yet unpaid!) product placement before I get back to work with my saw and paint.

Chocolates and Georgetown and Sculpture, Oh My!

As most of you know, painting is my thing. The bulk of my commissioned work comes in the form of painted portraits and cityscapes...but I crave making a good sculpture from time to time. Which is why I am thrilled to be working with my sister on one of her current design projects.

 photography by Christina Bernales

Meet Robert Ludlow and Ashley Hubbard. They are the adorable couple responsible for Fleurir Chocolates which opens the doors to its P Street store next month. My sister is working with them to turn the space into something that reflects their fresh, natural, design-forward aesthetic. How do I fit into this picture? Let's just say it involves some large crape myrtle limbs, lots of white paint, a few dozen tomato cans and some tennis balls. To be continued...