makeshift studio

TONIGHT I'M DOING SOME WORK in the studio. My night started with photographing a few little objects for a graphic design project. I set up my little seamless backdrop and borrowed a few lights from the drawing studio to construct a makeshift mini studio…

I've learned lighting so many times — through working at Otis & James and during my internship this summer—but it always escapes me. It's trial and error, really. I'm hoping to come up with a technique so that I can photograph a bunch of stuff for my etsy shop (that has been dormant for a long, long time) and get the ball rolling. So it was nice to experiment with the setup!

To demonstrate, here are a few samples of my purse. I used hard light coming from just one angle, and photographed with my point-and-shoot Canon Powershot.

…and the contents inside:

The best part is, the whole setup cost me $0 to make! Score!

Any lighting tips welcomed and appreciated.

Lots more to come!

xx

j

Check out what this week is going to bring…

palette :: widgets

Today's palette comes from none other than my dashboard! (Some contents have been censored…)

PS: Notice how warm it is here. Yeah. Not warm at all.

New things are happening right now…and boy, I'm excited!

milan meets midwest

New. Favorite.
I want to know this woman!

via Sartorialist

cab fare

I found this outside my neighbor's house. What does it mean!?
Well, made me smile.

palette :: bk meal

I really couldn't help myself!
(PS: You'll probably be seeing one of these every day from now on.)

I miss family, and C., and San Francisco, and being on the road.

That's all…end lament.

palette :: oxford afternoon

THIS SPRING SIGNALS THE PASSING of two years since my visit to England. Despite the time lapse, I continually find memories, hope and inspiration from the entire experience. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it truly changed my life.

This photograph was taken one afternoon during a solo venture to a fancy thrift store near the botanical gardens in Oxford. It was such a sunny yet brisk, sleepy afternoon. The back room was lined with beautiful gowns and costume jewelry, and the left side brimming with gentlemens' suits. I bought a sheer yellow scarf with black plaid around the trim, and unfortunately, never returned…

England, I will find you again some day!

I WAS WATCHING ONE OF MY FAVORITE SHOWS, Pawn Stars, this afternoon on the History Channel. There was a marathon on and I think I watched for 6 hours straight.

During one episode (Season 2 Episode 6), a customer came in with a 1758 lottery ticket signed by George Washington. As the story goes on Pawn Stars, Rick (part-owner) sees something he likes but doesn't know enough about, then scoops into his mile-deep bag of experts to come take a look at the object at hand.

A handwriting expert and historian of sorts came in and verified that the lottery ticket was indeed, the real deal—very similiar to this one:

The ticket was cool, no doubt. It was in mint condition and had b-e-a-utiful typography and embellishment on it. The layout was simple and clean. But what really captured me was George Washington's signature!

Which got me thinking about other beautiful John Hancocks. I remembered seeing a mighty attractive signature by Thomas Jefferson, too:

And also, ours truly, Mr. President:

I love signatures, and handwriting in general. I think being a handwriting analyst would be a pretty sweet gig! Handwriting reveals a lot about people.

Coincidentally, I came across a few handwriting blurbs posted within the past few weeks. Check out this ditty about Obama's signature, or this well-done blog post about famous signatures (I love them all, and had no idea Hitler changed his autograph so frequently…the more you know)!

And to take this post full circle:

Write on.

xx

j

reworking

I've been doing a lot of reworking on my projects, and it's starting to get to me. The moment something is done, it isn't. One second it's straight, the next look it's crooked, unbalanced, off-color. Last night I took a project and ripped it apart (not literally, but on the computer), practically starting from scratch. I am never satisfied!

A good friend would argue that this is a good thing. I'd agree, with moderation, it can be beneficial for an artist. Work should never be complete, just satisfactory; as my friend claimed, "the moment you think your work is good, it sucks."

I suppose I keep those words in mind when I work, but I can never recognize when I'm going overboard. I once learned from a wise woman the secret to keeping your sanity when working on a project is recognizing when you've hit a plateau. I would work for hours—late into nights—on projects and go to bed completely defeated. What I never admitted to was the moment I told myself, "this is enough." I continually hit that point, maybe at 9pm or at midnight, maybe at noon, and kept pushing the work regardless, until I felt exhausted and disappointed.

I'm looking for answers. I often figure that the best way out of a project is to muscle through it, but that's not always the case. I need to remind myself to set things aside, approach them later with a fresh, positive mindset, and not strive for "perfect for everyone," but for something I love.

I suppose, maybe, I just never want to suck.

Also,

I don't want to go to work! No!

delicious

In the world of cakes, this would be my ideal slice!

(via onethirtyfive)

free typeface! olé!

I found this typeface this evening via Behance Network, and I'm completely diving into it. Very fun. The best part is, it's FREE to download (one of my favorite things = SWEET FREE FONTS, not to be confused with CRAPPY FREE FONTS)!

Here's the fun I've had with it tonight…pretty simple:

See Sombrero here! Yeah! And download it HERE!

//////

PS // I couldn't resist making my Valentine's banner early! What can I say, February is probably my favorite month… ; )

the wink

A LONG, LONG TIME AGO, or junior high, I discovered the wink. I loved the wink. I used the wink vigorously.

Past records show that winks are typically used for one reason: Picking up chicks/dudes. Winks are one of man's most trusted non-verbal pickup lines. True. Does that mean if I'm not single I can't wink? No. In my book, there are no rules for winking. Zero (that I can recall). Wink at your grandma. Wink at your local librarian, at a funeral, or at the driver in car next to you at the stop light. Sure, people are going to think you're coming on to them, but you know better. Wink away.

There was always one problem with the wink: it was too much wink. It would cause a stir, and was more than once the topic of heated debates about wellness and winking. It is so much wink, in fact, that the receiver of the wink would often question if I were having a seizure. Normal winks span anywhere from 0.2 to one second in length, but the wink is six seconds long and includes intricate hand gestures and head movements. Like I said, it's a lot of wink.

So I've been working on it, along with my moonwalking and rapping. It's getting better, I think.

What do you think? Too much wink?

Then again, it could always be worse, right?

(Wink. wink.)

a half-ass book review/gushing: jay-z's 'decoded'

I'M GOING TO PUT THIS TO YOU PLAIN and SIMPLE: I'm fairly sure (94%) that there's not a single person on the planet that has a legitimate reason to dislike Jay-Z (people who are jealous of him don't count). I love Jay, and how can you not? He's talented, wisdomatic, and married to one of the sexiest women on the planet (Beyoncé, holla gurl). Sure, there's a curse word or two or twenty in what he writes (we all have them somewhere in our heads), but it's genuine. Sometimes I'll youtube 'Empire State of Mind' when I'm in my studio and just…blast it. Because Jay is a feel-good kind of guy.

I was ambling about Target today (looking for tennis balls, no less) and somehow meandered into the book section (?) where I saw this: DECODED. On sale. Did I buy it? No. Did I look through it? Yes. Do I want it? Chyeah. A lot. There's great visuals, quotes, and plenty of deep explanations to his lyrical genius. It's a thick book with more pictures than words and a lotta soul to go with it. I would slap that thing on my coffee table (if you can call it a coffee table, more like a shoe caddy) and look for reasons to read it.

Jay's had me since his classic 'Big Pimpin'' hit my ears in 7th grade, or 'Heartbreaker' he sang with Mariah Carey (whichever came first)(warning: there is a lot of Mariah booty, etc. in this song).

You can watch Jay-Z talking about his life and his book…for 112 minutes, in an interview with Cornel West. Glorious. Watch as much as you can, there is so much passion here!

"Jay Z, I was not ready to be somewhat…bowled over…by your book."

Cornel West

and one of my favorite Jay youtube clips (from a few years ago):

See Decoded and take a small look inside the book here.

xx

j

january hymn

In place of St. Vincent Friday (St. Vincent is on vacation?), this week's Friday music feature is a beautiful tune by the ever-smooth Decemberists. And what more appropriate than their January Hymn, to celebrate the month before it folds…

…just kidding, St. Vincent's in the house (just for you, Kat Hodges)!

xx

j

walk of hope

YESTERDAY I RECEIVED AN EMAIL informing me that'd I'd won a design contest I'd entered in early December. The contest was put on by FirstLink and to promote National Suicide Prevention and the Walk of Hope, an annual event to raise suicide awareness, that will take place in Fargo this coming September 10.

I felt compelled to enter the contest not because I wanted to win an award or have my design distributed throughout the community, but because I have personally been affected and seen others close to me affected by suicide and want the world to see a better answer. Suicide brings a lot of grieving, pain and sadness that could be prevented through a conversation, a realization, or an awareness. The Walk of Hope is a cause I believe in, even if it can't bring anyone back from the decisions they've made, it can change the future.

For the next few months I'm going to be working with FirstLink to get the word out about the Walk of Hope—and hopefully learn a thing or two along the way.

For more on the Walk of Hope, read this article from last year's event.

parliament of owls

Design + illustration straight from Brooklyn…a sparkling new and independent group of designers!

Check them @ Parliament of Owls

daily dose

ight now I'm digging Jessica Hische's Daily Drop Caps. I can't believe I've never used them before. She's pretty much my hero.

If you haven't already, please visit her site, Daily Drop Cap!

Some people were put on this planet to make beautiful typography. Jessica Hische is definitely one of those people.

shameless advertising

C. really likes to make music, and he's good at it. He's got all sort of fancy gadgets and speakers and keyboards and programs that he uses to put together some pretty rad beats.

Recently he started a project called Skyscrapers, and has been slowly posting samples on the web (with some encouragement). He doesn't sing (though he can) or get too poppy (but he could). Mostly just beats… or has he puts it, "dance beat oriented controlled chaos coldwaved sounds." You know, something to groove to. Work to. Bob your head to. Throw your hands in the air!

Well, Skyscrapers has a website…and C. has a few demo clips to share with the world!

Listen to Skyscrapers here.

xx

j

of shutting down (and powering up)

MY CANDLE IS NEARLY BURNT OUT, but I wanted to get in a few reflections before I call it a night.

A. For as hard as I'm (trying to) keep up with school, I'm working twice as hard keeping my cool. I really feel like I could perpetually crawl into my bed and eat Oreos, yank every single curl out of my little head, and just sleepandsleepandsleep. Just to keep sane. But there is a world out there that has many curiosities, and fortunately I feel compelled to greet them. You can't do that in bed.

2. Is it too late to talk about the new year? I never really wrote the obligatory "What I learned in 2010 / What I'm looking forward to in 2011" post. Last year (2010) was better than 2009 in many ways (except 2009 brought my big bad visit to Europe, so that year will always hold my heart very dearly), but 2010 brought the same deal of growth and frustrations. I'm not going to get all sappy and reflect on my achievements and shortcomings, but I do know this much: Life is hard, move on! (Thank you, Alec Greven.) Which means a lot of things:

• Attempting to work out and take care of myself

• QUIT WORRYING. Wow.

• And again: QUIT WORRYING.

• Eating more Oreos

• Family first

• Watch more movies (this has been on my New Years Resolution list since 1999)

• Also, read more books…or read ONE BOOK at least (picture books do not count)

• BECOME PUNCTUAL = Allowing myself time to get places (or, actually arrive EARLY)

• Cooking more! New foods! COOKING NEW FOOD

• LESS STARBUCKS, MORE OTHER THINGS

• LEARN something new = take a dance/yoga class, start sewing and…

• MAKE MORE THINGS. Because Jesus knows, I can.

iii. I don't write like I used to. I only write poetry when I'm in a poetry class, I only write creative nonfiction when I'm in an English class. Now I'm only in art classes and I forget about writing. I should really start writing more.

D. I eat at weird times. Is it normal to eat dinner at 12:30 a.m.? Or lunch at 4:30 p.m.?

5. I sleep hard. One benefit to being busy all day is I've had the best sleep! Nights when I'm not busy, I toss and turn for hours, really. The last week I've been sleeping like nobody's business. Incredible.

…speaking of sleep, my candle is dangerously low…goodnight!

I think I just found my future…and it's looking frizzy.

(See: Betty White, SNL, May 2010.)

Starbucks has remembered my birthday for the last 3 years. I'm starting to think they're big-brothering me…

iN dA sTuDiO

My studio space: where I spend a ton of time. A lot of times it acts as a coat rack while I work down in the sculpture studio space (where I can actually get messy), but my space is where a lot of my schtuff sleeps at night and comes alive during the day.

Just to give you an idea of the kind of chaos my life is in right now, here's the space next to mine:

…and here's where I occupy:

Finally, a teaser of what I'm working on. This is all you get! (PS, don't let the cardboard fool you! I promise it won't be kitschy!)

Back to work with me!

xx

j

Currently Digging: Cute things from ban.do

I'm a lady. It's in our contract to like cute, flowery and bright things—which is why I'm in love with ban.do. A lot of the stuff I couldn't pull off (for example, my hair just couldn't accommodate many of the flower headpieces) but everything on the site is either A) FUZZY 2) SPARKLY 3) SHINY or D) SOFT. Some things are all four of these things combined (don't ask how that works)!

WARNING. LADIES. CUTE OVERLOAD.

Shoe clips, oh you fancy!

Flashy hairpieces! Glittery pins!

(My favorite is the rhinestone headband pictured on the bottom right!)

AND THEN there's ban.do's "Black Label" hairpieces, which I could neither 1) wear or II) afford but regardless, they're pretty pretty…

Okay, enough's enough. I'm about to have a cute seizure.