letter from the road...

Despite my prolonged neglect of this blog I'm still holding on to it. Since I started my new job this past March, my life has changed and this little journal has become that neglected lone sock that got lost on the floor in the back corner of your closet. Do you know that sock? By the time you find it again, it has become half-sock, half-dusty bunny? I didn't mean for my blog to turn into a dust bunny.
Probably now would be a good time for me to bring it back, so I can feel more normal again.

A week from now, I will be heading back home to Chicago, and will be in town for three weeks - the longest stretch of time I will have been home since this past April. In the meantime, I am in Studio City, California. I'm enjoying California while I can, but it will be good to be back home for so much of October.

This past weekend, I went to the Melrose Trading Post in LA, where I found these typewriters. I also found some old photos and print blocks that I am going to try to incorporate into the 30 day sketch I am currently doing. Here is some of what has unfolded so far:

newest creation...

My most recent necklace creation! I wrapped wood beads in different papers, added a few vintage beads and braided some ribbon to tie it around my neck.

despite the practical self...

I have a tendency from time to time to buy objects that most likely won't serve much purpose in my life outside of being beautiful. This weekend I found a few little treasures that fit that category. As I was standing in the shop holding them, a tug of war between my practical self and my treasure hunter self went on in my head:

practical self: "this is just stuff. stuff that will accumulate and take up space. you don't need it. why are you considering this?"

treasure hunter self: "treasure!"

practical self: "how and when are you going to use these?"

treasure hunter self: "pretty!"

... and on.

This time, my treasure hunter self won out, with it's thorough, compelling, irrefutable arguments. So, for $16, I got this bell, letter opener and pin. I also found eggshell peacock feathers at another spot and splurged $6 on a pair. To me their lovely and I think that sometimes (as absurd and legitimate as the tug of war is) that's all the reason you need.

This last one was free! I found it on my walk on Sunday morning.

going for a little bit of pop...

For this year's set and costume designs for The Original Show, I was given the task of creating a work of art on stage that begins in a nearly colorless state and gradually transforms with pops of it as the show develops. Actually, this was just the beginning of the list of criteria that went into this design, and I found myself vacillating between multiple ideas for a while, trying to find the one that best fit the hopes of the director.

The one I ended up going with was this Roy Lichtenstein inspired design. I really liked doing something playful and vivid like this and I think it will work well with the vibe of the show. The central wall is made up of 6 units - each one with three sides. Each side is painted differently, so the units can be spun around to bring in the pops of color. This stage has red curtains, so I tied those into the design, by painting a continuation of the curtains onto the walls in order to bring them into the work of art. The cast will start out in black, and start changing into a more colorful wardrobe (below) as their characters develop.

The title of the show this year, "It's so... original!" came from my word bubble on the right. :)

another papery treat...

This past Sunday I stopped in Fly Bird and decided to "splurge" and get this $2 treat for myself. It's a paper craft nostalgia postcard by monkey design. The front has this image of a general store and the back has guidelines showing you where to cut and fold. You follow the guidelines to turn a 2D postcard into a little 3D pop up vignette. It took me a couple of hours to make it. I lost one of the rear view mirrors on the bike, (should've gotten a fresh exacto blade!) but other than that, it turned out pretty well.

papery treat...

I was perusing the thrift and vintage shops along Milwaukee in Wicker Park last week and found this bit of wallpaper. Tah-Dah! What am I doing with it? Not sure yet, but what I do know is that I would like some more.

diorama...

This is a scene from my kitchen table this afternoon. I have the sniffles (hence the tissue) and I was finishing up my diorama project for MAKE (a little late!). After having some breakfast and some sudafed this morning, I put on a pot of tea, popped in Now Voyager, and set to work. I don't think I've done a diorama since elementary school, so it was kind of fun to do one. I used an old cigar box and modeled the diorama after a Jorge Castillo painting that I like. Now my diorama is hanging above my buzzer in my apartment. Here are a couple more pictures.

I find it hard to resist photographing a really pretty breakfast. Two days ago, when it was four degrees outside, I decided to make breakfast bars. As it turns out, they didn't really want to stay in one piece, so I decided to crumble them up and eat them over yogurt. So, this is how I started out my first Monday of the new year. As of yet, I have no resolutions for 2010, which is unusual for me, but I think I still have a little time to figure it out.

I am doing a new project for M A K E this month, called reMAKE. The idea is to create a new interpretation of someone else's art in a completely different medium. Not necessarily an original project, but I thought it might be a fun way to start the new year. I got the idea to do reMAKE after reading up on Yinka Shonibare's work back in November.

After my breakfast this morning, I went to the art institute to seek out the work that I would choose as my inspiration. I haven't settled on one piece yet, but I'm thinking of doing a photograph by Gary Stochl. I will probably take a trip to the library to dig through some art books before I make my final decision!