for the love of

for the love of PANTONE: just try to NOT want these

Pantone bicycle bag
thanks, designapplause
to go with your Pantone Bike

Pantone Rubix cube (Rubitone concept pieceby Ignacio Pilotto)

and the Pantone HOTEL in Brussels!


for the love of TRAVEL:
I've been daydreaming about traveling around the globe. Brussels ranks high on my list, and this new Pantone Hotel has moved it up a notch. In a perfect world, we could start by visiting colleagues in Prague (ahoj Alena a Petr!), take the overnight to Belgium to explore for a few days and staying in the Pantone Hotel, take the Eurail to stay at the Fox Hotel in Denmark, followed by Tim's dream-vacation in Sweden.

for the love of SWEDEN (goals):
Eat at a smorgasbord with only white-colored foods
Learn the differences (and names) of each of Stockholm's 14 islands
Find Tim's extended family/eat their food
Hike the Kungsleden trail
Buy beautiful, nerdy sweaters

thanks, knitting iris (flickr)

like a monkey with a miniature symbol

Wow.
I should be (and am, slowly) working on this:

but instead have been focusing on this^

 I am so immeasurably excited to begin, so blinded by reluctance to leave what's good, and so wishing for more (time, space, lung capacity). There is so much to be discovered, so much to be written, and so much to be thought.

Tomorrow Tuesday (completely forgot that long weekend = no USPS) I'm shipping out my dearest belongings and praying they reach NYC before I do. I booked my train ticket yesterday to Rochester (yay for visiting friends!) and my ticket that will drop me in the middle of hectic, beautiful, adventure-filled New York City. I'm even budgeting out my stipend with major expenses in an attempt to keep some semblance of control on my impending city-induced money crunch.

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In the mean time, I want to share my love of and obsession with Eva Hesse's work. Partially a response to the impersonal nature of Minimalism, Hesse's work is soft, noncube, organic, and beautiful. As soon as I saw her work, I loved it. I felt immediately connected to it, enraptured by it, taken in by it. Then I saw one in person last summer at the MoMA. I just walked around a corner and it was THERE. Staring me in the face. The happiest surprise of the day (though seeing my first Rothko came in at a close second, but that was expected, planned, and this was not). 

(thanks, newsgrist.typepad)

I hope you enjoy her work, too. And please. Go see it in person. Now.

The chills

I love Michele Bosak's new work.

These gouache paintings feel intimate, feminine, and well cared for. They remind me of some books I'm working on about texture. (Yes, books. Books are my solution to my lack of space and money problems thanks to my impending city livin' situation).

Speaking of... 

               I've finally decided on my narrowed-down list of supplies:

               1. This series continued

               2. Books books books 

               3. Watercolor posters: somethings I've been working on for awhile, really detailed line drawings that may or may not become non-traditional prints

               4. The Necessities: a sketchbook to hold all of the my ideas that will undoubtedly involve large, costly materials; pastels, because they fulfill my color mixing needs when I'm away from tried and true paint; and my small-but-nice pencil and pen set that I've accumulated over the years.

it's a lot, but compared to bags and bags of paint, unstretched canvas, paper brushes, lino supplies, and screen printing supplies, I'm totally content. All that stands between now-art-making and then-art-making are four paintings and time. I can't wait!

don't shoot me down

Paintball paintings from facade painter

This machine has some really interesting (and mostly illegal) implications... I want one!

Sha la la

I can't stop painting, building canvases, sketching, and buying art supplies. Photo updates as soon as I have a camera again. In the mean time I've been meandering around the internet and found this:

photocredit heliotrope

I am color obsessed. This may explain my fascination with these Pantone chairs by Seletti. So cool!

I got 99 problems

photo credit: ioffer

The One

I have an old friend that works at Best Buy who finally confirmed it: my old camera is dead and gone. As part of the mourning process, I bought a new camera! It's beautiful. Hopefully I'll have some photos to update soon.

something happens and I'm head over heels

After all of my posts about longing for paint, betraying paint, and dreaming of future paintings.. I made it! and it's everything I hoped and dreamed... I've started small, with my ever-beloved, never-ending series seen here (apologies for the poor photo quality, as you know, my camera situation is sub-par for the moment)

And today I'm sketching out two larger paintings and putting the first color down on one of them. Yes! 

However, I've been thinking.. how am I going to paint in a (basically) dorm room in NYC? Any thoughts, materials, advice, or artists that deal with this problem in interesting ways would be much appreciated! (as are any/all comments)

And if a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough

Not having my camera is so difficult right now!

Today I spent 10 hours in a car moving half of my earthly possessions from one place to another with Judd Nelson (also known as CrocodileMD):

It was incredibly fun. 

Fun enough that I feel like we definitely need to share the secrets to our road trip success:

Top 5 road trip tunes:

Johnny Cash- any/all

O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack

Beastie Boys- License to Ill

Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire- The Swimming Hour

The Cranberries (there is absolutely nothing better than yodeling along to Dreams in a Ford Focus in traffic in the somewhat great state of Ohio!)

Top 5 road trip stops and snacks:

Something sweet: after a beautiful last evening in NY spent with great friends, pie, ice cream, and our beloved Twin Peaks we decided eating a box of Tim Horton's donuts was more than necessary

Something salty: the worse the better. we choose Cheez-Its

Something caffeinated: copious amounts of coffee and frozen coke

Something real: stopped at Panera for a slightly less-processed, salad-based dinner
Something else: onion rings. glorious onion rings.

5 things I wish we had:

GPS/wifi

Snoop Dog: live, via GPS voice, or via MP3

a little more leg room

Mountain Dew and/or Dr. Pepper slurpees

fresh, road side cherries (one of my all-time favorite things about driving up north in the summer!)

personal masseuse(s)

Enjoy! I'd love to hear about your road trip favorites/rituals/etc. In the mean time, I'm enjoying my respite and commencing painting as soon as I'm unpacked. I can't wait! Happy Summer!

sweetheart I'm tellin' you

Today I editioned my last edition before semester projects end and summer projects begin. (Up next: PAINT!) Seeing my work from the past four or so months all laid out was both underwhelming and satisfying. I wish I had had more time: I wish I had done so much more. And yet... standing there, looking down on my eight precious editions, I felt like I made something that represented me as an artist. All I could think was, "I did it!". And then I ate my weight in pizza.

Today was also my last day with access to a press for a few months, and I have to say I'll miss it. As much as I love painting and can't wait to start on all of the projects I pushed back all semester, I'll miss printing. A lot. In the mean time, I've got my work cut out for me.

Happy Summer!

Important news: If you're in the Rochester, NY area this weekend, there are some amazing openings you should check out during First Friday: Jen Burger, Luke Shaw, Macie McGowan. I guarantee you will not be disappointed!

Also, Eva Xie has some beautiful work in University of Rochester's Art and Music Library, opening Thursday, May 6 4:30-6:30pm. Her work will be on display as a part of First Friday as well!

somethin' like a phenomena

Things have been crazy for some time. A lack of sleep, too much work, and no end in sight can get overwhelming. So, today I made lunch. No microwaves or pre-mades.

I feel one thousand percent better.

eggplant chip lunch: sliced eggplants (3 minis) into thin strips, blotted with pressure and paper towel to remove bitterness, lightly coated with olive oil and garlic mixture, then baked in the oven for 10 minutes, flipped, then an additional 10 minutes. sprinkled some salt and pepper on top and served with tomato and goat cheese.

Enjoy the beautiful weather, for those who have it!