I love this time of year. The painting below, by artist Yago Hortal of Barcelona, Spain, reminds me of summer art classes making marbled paper, drops of oil and water from summers spent water-skiing, eating water melon, and splattered mustard and ketchup on picnic benches. *[Looking forward to a BBQ with our city friends tomorrow.]
We were in California last week. S.F., Oakland, and Berkeley are great cities to visit and the weather was so nice. We spent time with family and good friends -- shared stories, great finds, and even better food. And introduced our little one to all. *[Huldreich Altorfer lounge chair, 1949.]
When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping, and the mask falls, so that the real person appears, said Philippe Halsman. In the series "JUMP", he photographed movie stars, politicians, entertainers, artists, and authors, all jumping before his camera. *[See the exhibit at the Laurence Miller Gallery.]
Yesterday was a milestone for our small family, as today is for our friends. Time is a gift. Spring is beautiful. Life is good. *["Desk Calendar" by Roy Lichtenstein from Early Black And White Paintings -- a great book.]
I joined friends last Saturday in the city to peruse some highlights of NYC's Design Week. We ended at Partners & Spade to see the installations there including a bike from DWR founder Rob Forbes's new company PUBLIC Bikes. Take a look. *[Mary & Matt's chocolates were also there.]
I just perused an entire section of the Ikea website. There's some pretty great stuff in the 35 pages of new items. Among the interesting stuff were these textiles that caught my eye. *[While on the topic of Ikea, check out this Ikea table I designed for TimeOut NY this past summer.]
Erik Heywood has been blogging about books, bookshelves, bookstores, libraries, etc. for a long while. He has one of the best eyes for design and is one of the most well-read
people I know. He recently consolidated his various blogs and interests under one roof. Take a look. There's some great stuff. *[Check out his wife Jessica's blog here.]
This past week, I perused the local Walmart. I found these for $1/ea. I had never really shopped at Walmart and was surprised by what I found. They have a lot of great generic products that you would expect to find from another era. *[Also available in duotone colorways.]
A collaboration by designer/father Rolyn Barthelman and singer/songwriter/dad Tim Delaughter (of The Polyphonic Spree), Wee See is "part art installation, part pacifier..." "...a collection of b/w animations built from basic shapes to delight both child and parent." The Wee See DVDs are beautifully done. See for yourself. *[Thanks Rolyn]
I recently stumbled upon this Spanish brand of little (kids) clothing. The design is wonderful from the clothing to the website to the creative storyline. Inspiration on many levels. *[Find some of their playful togs here and here.]
I made these three quilts for my son while I was pregnant (and a bit neurotic). They were machine pieced and quilted. My kind mother hand sewed the binding on all three while she was in the hospital waiting room just after he was born and while my husband and I got to know our new baby boy. *[What an awesome Grandmom.]
My grandparents' house contained a goldmine of classic ephemera, beautiful objects, and incredible finds. One item was this record. Red vinyl and "Season's Greetings" label (my grandparents loved music). *[I worked it into a design project here and here.]
It's springtime at HARVEY FAIRCLOTH. That's because I just finished designing/programming the Spring/Summer Ecommerce Shop. Working on this was a great way to learn some old-school html programming tricks. Take a look. *[And, feel free to buy something while you're there.]
Aaron Dyer makes wonderful photographs. We met years ago on a photo shoot (where he also met my co-worker which led to their marriage). Recently, he relaunched his website -- take a look. It will brighten your day. *[Thanks Aaron.]
For an intimate view of JP Williams's world, pop over to SightUnseen.com and peruse the many pictures of JP's home and collections. Wonderful. The last photo, especially, made me smile. B: Thanks for passing this along. *[And, remember: "You're only as good as the obscurity of your sources."]
After yesterday's blizzard, it is nice to peruse the HARVEY FAIRCLOTH spring/summer line -- now in stores. To see more of the line go to the new sitelet -- a project I did this past week using my ancient html programming skills. Enjoy. *[A bigger and better site/shop is coming soon...]
Positive Identification was started by Jacob Bronstein, who has been collecting friends IDs since he was in junior high (as displayed on his bedroom wall). Look closely, you can see the metamorphosis of friends' makeup and hair styles through the years documented. *[Thanks Jake.]
Chocolate Editions was just launched by my good friends, Mary & Matt. I was lucky enough to taste several of the prototypes this summer and they are REALLY good. Influenced by pop art, they are strikingly graphic. *[Take a look at their commercial -- a sweet animation!]
Another amazing piece of ephemera from JP's letterhead collection: Herb Lubalin's letterhead design for the photographer Art Kane. Brilliant. Something I wish I had designed. And so timeless. *[Thanks JP.]
It has been one month since our baby boy arrived (all 9 lbs. 4.5 oz.) and I already can't imagine life without him. I could do without the 2am feedings, but, I must admit, I'm getting used to this new sleep schedule! *[Oeuf animal hats and booties -- bear, dragon, and wolf available]
I just happened upon this striped, adjustable arm sofa by George Nelson for Herman Miller over at reform-modern. The upholstery is vintage Alexander Girard fabric and "the adjustable arm feature is good for reading or napping." *[Sounds so nice.]
About two years ago, JP invited me to attend a lecture at the NYPL on Czech avant-garde design. It was great. And the mini exhibit afterwards was incredibly inspiring. *[Here are a few magazines from JP's own Czech design collection.]
We're moving today. All of the boxes filling up our apartment remind me of Andy Warhol's Time Capsule Project. Spanning a thirty-year period (1960s through the 1980s), it consists of 610 standard sized cardboard boxes Warhol filled, sealed and sent to storage. A wonderful catalogue of his daily ephemera. *[View some of their contents here.]
I found this business card on top of our mailbox a month or so ago. It is so on brand for Park Slope, Brooklyn. A man who loves cats and the color pink, has reasonable rates, and can provide excellent references. Purrfect. *[Thanks Sal.]
In coordination with the Drawing Center, Tokion Magazine invited me to view the current Drawing Room exhibit "FAX" and then create my own body of work in response to what I saw. I created this series of graphically playful fax cover sheets for Tokion's most current issue. *[Thanks Justin!]
Two 8.5 x 11 handwritten sheets of paper: One from the Pan Am in-flight duty free shop with a note written with black ink and the other featuring partial lyrics to the song "Bad" written with black permanent pen. Both in the hand of Michael Jackson. *[More from the collection of David Gest.]
From age 10 on, I spent many summer days on the Honda Trail 90s that were kept at our family's Bucks Lake cabin. We were allowed to drive them as soon as we could set the kick-stand and had strength enough to place the bike upright from a lying position. It was great fun. *[Image from "My Freedamn Vol. 8" available at Colette.]
My good friends Mary & Matt rounded up their many "Thank You" shopping bags and documented the collection in a book published by Partners & Spade titled "You're Welcome." Very clever. *[Drop by the Partners & Spade gallery/store at 40 Great Jones Street, NYC for your own copy.]
These were found by my friend Brooke while walking around her neighborhood in Brooklyn with her kids (I LOVE the patterns). Most likely the cards were discards from the many Italian social clubs that dot the Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn area. *[For more of Brooke's collections go here.]
This is from an incredible type specimen book that JP once showed me. He inherited it from his professor and friend Paul Rand. The book's previous owner, Jan Tschichold, one of the most influential typographers of the 20th century, left his ex libris inside the front cover. An incredible history. *[See and read more at AmassBlog.]
I'm having a baby B-O-Y! (Due in October.) My husband and I are beyond happy. Now I need to wrap my head around all things "boy" (I grew up with mostly sisters). I can't wait. Fall really couldn't come sooner. *[Child t-shirt from Mike Mills' HUMANS project.]
Typoésie by Jérome Peignot is a wonderful book full of typographic explorations. My friend, Anisa, shared her copy with me when we worked together at M/W. I tracked down my own copy from Paris in the days before extensive, online book shopping existed. Published in Paris, 1993, 461 pages. *[Get your own copy here or here.]
The Ephemera Society of America lists JP Williams as a “collector of collections.” His collections include: stamps, staplers, old philatelic covers, and gloves that have been run over by trucks. Now he has a blog to document them all: AmassBlog. Take a look. *[Thank you, JP.]
Published in 1974, after prolonged litigation, "Jacqueline" is a stunning black and white book full of candid photos of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and her children as taken by the notorious photographer Ron Galella. I purchased this used copy a few years ago. *[Get your own copy here.]
In celebration of Mother's Day, the Op-Ed editors over at the New York Times asked six female artists (Ruth Gwily, Nathalie Lete, Collier Schorr, Shary Boyle, Paloma Varga Weisz, and Kara Walker) for portraits of their mothers. In addition, these artists described one thing their mothers can do -- that they themselves can't. *[Take a look.]
My mom gave me these two notes a few weeks ago: one from my little sister and me and another from our older sister. We were fighting. And, according to Amelia, I started it. My mom, single at the time, remarried a few years later and suddenly had 5 more kids, all teenagers, no less. *[Here's to an incredible and patient woman. I love you mom.]
"Facestape" from children's store Our Childrens Gorilla is awesome. "Smacked full of face-features you get metres and metres of possibilities when creating portraits, make your own African masks, jazz up your toilet seat or use for fun and totally nonsense surprises around the house." *[I like it. Especially on cardboard boxes.]
My daughter passed away last July due to complications related to Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome. Since her birth last May, I was in close contact with Shwachman-Diamond America, a group founded by a mother of two sons with the syndrome. I have remained involved since. *[The new logo below is the first of what I hope to be several projects for SDA.]
I stumbled upon these hand painted barber shop signs while perusing the internet. They seem to be done by the same hand as these posted over at Reference Library. Small world. *[Reference Library opened a shop in Milan -- nice work.]
In 1962, Charles Schulz wrote a little book and titled it "Happiness Is A Warm Puppy" (top right). He filled the book with colorful cartoons and captions about "happiness". From 1962-67 it had already sold 2 million copies (published by Determined Productions, S.F.). More of the series below: *[Get your own copies here or here.]
Miffy was created in 1955 by Dick Bruna who had been telling his one-year-old son stories about a little rabbit they had seen while on holiday. Miffy became a girl because Bruna decided he wanted to draw a dress and not trousers for his rabbit. *[JP gave me some of his daughter's Miffy book collection for my future kids. They are wonderful books.]
Swiss publisher Nieves has collaborated with Printed Matter in an exhibit featuring a full retrospective of Nieves' zine program since 2004, and will include a selection of their books published since their founding. These guys are great. *[Opening: Sat, April 4, 5-7pm at Printed Matter, NYC.]
This past February, my friends (Mara Papa, Katie Hatch) and I started HARVEY FAIRCLOTH, a fashion line which debuted at NYC's D&A with great response. The Fall 2009 collection is inspired by Alexey Brodovitch, Native American beading, The Seven Year Itch, Claire McCardell, and everything we've always loved to wear. Available in August. *[More here.]
This well-used yard sale sign was hand-painted by my Grandma Clawson. I found it when we were getting my grandparents' house ready to sell. Grandma said she learned to write in cursive in grammar school "back when students would practice by copying their teacher's handwriting."
In the 1960s, a group called the Diggers opened numerous Free Stores in SF's Haight-Ashbury and NYC's East 10th Street in which all items were free for the taking or giving. Today, in NYC's Financial District we have the recently opened Free Store, started by two artists, where goods can be had by bartering. [*Check it out here.]
Found on Ebay is this deck of 1970s vintage playing cards advertising the NAC Charge Plan. NAC was originally a regional credit card in Baltimore purchased by Citibank in 1977 and turned into their "Choice" card. Deck is complete with 2 jokers and instructions for bridge. *[For $9.99, these are cards you can afford to have].
During WWII, with fears that Japan would overrun Hawaii, the US decided to issue the $1, $5, $10 and $20 Emergency Federal Reserve Notes with the word "HAWAII" overprinted on the front and back to make each note distinctive enough so that they would know if large amounts were being used to fund the enemy war effort. *[I love the contrast of type.] I'm off to jury duty -- wish me *LUCK*.
Jason Polan will be drawing pictures of things Saturday, March 14 from 11am to 6pm in the window of Partners & Spade. You can come get a drawing of almost anything you want or request a surprise and the artist will try as hard as he can to draw the thing you will like the most. *[Guaranteed fun! Drawings $20.]
