Sprung!

Happy First Day of Spring! Oh I'm so glad it's here.

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Listening to Explode Into Colors.

Bed Please?

I'm still not feeling very well today, and my whole mind is on one track--straight to bed. Perhaps that is what drew me to Andrea Shear.






But really, she has many lovely non-bed-themed sketches, drawings and paintings as well.





Her work is odd, dark and vaguley creepy, but I really love it. I know it is bad to infer things about strangers based merely on works they've created, but something tells me we'd get along.


Listening to The Decemberists.

Blech

Ughhh. Not feeling so hot today. I want this:

and this:

and this:or this:

I really wish I were well. And in Austin.
Listening to Fresh Air.

Message in a Bottle

Oh no! I may have found a new thing to collect/clutter my house with. While perusing the goods at a local antique shop, I ran across some vintage German poison bottles and I about died. I almost grabbed them, but they were running about $150 each, and I just couldn't quite justify it. But it got me thinking about antique bottles. My aunt has a really stellar collection she dug up on her property in Oregon, but I haven't considered getting together a real collection of my own (until now that is). And with sites such as this, and this, I realize there is so much fun history to uncover.









Although this picture is a bit overkill, bottles can be a really fun decorative element:

I especially love the idea of grouping by color.


Also, They make great objects for photography:

↑ Scott Nelles

And finally, they are also great canvases. I think it would be really fun to incorportate paint and collage to some, as Laura Normandin has done. ↓




Listening to Micachu.

Friday the 13 (again?!)

When I was young I had a healthy fascination with the occult, especially all the ceremonial accessories and objects. In honor of the second Friday the 13 in the span of two months, this is a fitting topic for today.

Two items I was really drawn to (aside from candles and Stevie Nicks-esque shawls), were Tarot cards and Ouija boards.

I still love Tarot. I think the cards themselves, beyond their use and the ideas and energy that surround them, are little art pieces. I have always aspired to make my own deck. Here are some I found interesting:




(I especially love these ↑).

(While these ↑ aren't a Tarot deck, I find them stunning and just want to keep looking).



I played with Ouija boards when I was little. They were an especially fun slumber party activity, but they did hold an "evil" stigma that made many parents, including my own, a little wary. Sometimes we had to resort to making our own with paper and an upside down lowball glass. I wonder if our parents would have had so many misgivings if they knew that even Norman Rockwell, the master of capturing scenes of idyllic and innocent America, painted this for the cover of The Saturday Evening Post?:

"Ouija and talking boards were extremely popular from 1900 through the 1950's. At one time virtually every home in America had a Ouija board." And look how wonderful these ads are:



That's all for this week. Back up to see my lovely niece!

Listening to Emilie Simon.

Happy-Making Illustration

I've always been interested in illustration. And I don't foresee that changing, espeically when I find people like Hennie Haworth. I'm completely in love with her bright, boisterous style. It just brightens up the day.







Listening to The Golden Animals.