HI + LOW

WE DO

This was a fun wedding project. I was fortunate to work with Alix, who is so lovely and nice. She was familiar with my handwriting/doodling (from our days working together on Madewell Musings) which turned out to be a perfect fit for her wedding invitations. Silkscreened in white on duplexed kraft cardstock and tied with string. Click on image for detail. *[From the pictures (here, here, and here), it looks like it was a very memorable day. Thanks Alix!]

COTTON / POLYCHROME

This striped quilt was inspired by Mary & Matt's post on John Nixon's stripe paintings. I based the design on one of his Polychrome Paintings from a series he did in 2007. Machine pieced and quilted stripes, I chose yellow thread for the stitching. The back is a solid cotton in chocolate brown. *[Hey: I'm in the market for a new sewing machine. Any recommendations for a brand with a great backstitch?]

GINGHAM

Following tradition, I made a quilt in anticipation of the birth of my second son (now 6 months old). As the tradition goes, my kind mother finished the binding while I was in Manhattan recovering in the hospital. Each square is a JACK SPADE Days of the Week Handkerchief (Thanks Mary!) plus extra gingham yardage. The first 7 squares have song titles containing a day of the week embroidered in their lower right hand corner. *[It's similar to the map quilt I made for my first son. Check out this *copy* I found for sale.]

TWO BOYS

It has almost been two months since we welcomed our newest son home. His older brother (our 2 year old) has adjusted nicely to his new little brother. I can already imagine how they will be close friends when our youngest is a little bigger and older. I can't wait. Until then, I'll keep our oldest busy with trains, trucks, animals, and books. *[This and this are the latest favorite reads.]

ZOO (1969)

"Ten delightfully whimsical animals, cut from solid wood blocks, invite many kinds of play. They stand alone, and may be lined up to form a circus parade 3 feet long. They may be stacked in many amusing ways, or may be built skyward, one balancing on the other (not easy to do). And they may be crayoned, painted or decorated, if desired. They are a versatile menagerie!" *[An Ebay find with a custom, stencilled drawstring bag for storage.]

 

HOT + STICKERS

It has been said that I'm a total nerd when it comes to office supplies. The office labels and vinyl decals below were purchased at Home Depot and the office supply section of Target. Since we've been experiencing a heatwave here on the East Coast (and I'm 50 weeks pregnant), we stayed inside today and kept busy with stickers. *[Here are some gold ones I used ages ago.]

GPA

My 1.5 year old (with some help) decorated these aprons for his three grandfathers as father's day gifts. And, here at home, we had dad's choice of waffles, whip cream, syrup and fresh berries for supper (and then a nap). Now, that's my kind of meal! *[Happy Father's Day guys!]

FOR GMA

My 1.5 year old and I decorated these tote bags as gifts for his Grandmas. He did the drawings with some fabric markers and I helped with the rest. A scanned page from his sticker & coloring book became the card. Man, little kids are fun. *[Find these great muslin bags here.]

RED LIPSTICK

The vintage embroidered hankie below (bottom) was intended as a "something old" gift for a good friend on her wedding day. But, in the excitement of things, I forgot to give it to her (I finally gave the gift this past week -- almost a year later). Since then, I stencilled my own modern-day version of the handkerchief, shown top. *[Both remind me of this Martha Stewart idea.]

FORTUNATE

I was invited by The Type Directors Club to participate in POSTERS OF FORTUNE: 21 Fortune cookies, with 21 fortunes, mailed to 21 internationally renowned designers. Each of the designers turned their fortunes into typographical posters. See them, bid on them, come hear the designers discuss them. On display from April 5 – May 12. Mine is below *[Proceeds go to the TDC Student Scholarship fund.]

BOY, OH BOY

Last Thursday, I found out I'm having a baby B-O-Y (due in August). We are very happy and excited to meet this new little one. Speaking of boys, below are some pages from my 1-year-old son's sticker book. *[This takes me back to my childhood obsession with Mrs. Grossman's stickers.]

PAPER TRAIL

We just returned from a 14 day visit to Northern California. While there, my mom had me go through a box of my artwork and papers she had saved. What a trip! I set aside some to keep and took digital photos of almost everything. Here is a series I drew in 1980-81. *[The best items were the many notes I had written to my mom.]

8 YEARS

Below is my wedding invitation from 8 years ago. The invite is a French folded sheet of Evanescent glassine engraved on four different panels so that when folded, the type on the panels matches up to form one block of text -- a bit of printing gymnastics (click on image for detail). The balance of the pieces were engraved on uncoated white stock. *[Happy Anniversary B! Eight years goes by quickly. Wow.]

C-R-O-S-S-W-O-R-D

On the wall in a frame, in my Grandpa Barlow's dining room, is an embroidered crossword from 1975 of all the extended family's names. Below is a version I made for our small family. Glue, kraft stencils, bristol board. 2009. *[These are brilliant: framed brass stencils at the MoMA.]

TABLOID

Recently, I worked on an assignment for the New York Times Magazine. The project was to design the cover story artwork for the Labor Day weekend magazine. The story was titled "Tabloid Hack Attack." It was fun to collaborate with such talented and great art directors. *[Thank you Gail & Arem!] 

QUILTS

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.]

 

SHOP

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.]

SPRING

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...]

THE FAX

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!]

 

PRO BONO

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.]

MEET HARVEY

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.]

GOLD LETTER

I bought a pack of these 1" high, gold, Helvetica Font, Peel & Stick Vinyl Uppercase Letters from Staples a few years back. They can be used for almost anything. And they stick to any surface, too. *[Use on paper, glass, metal, plastic].

A BEAUTY

With days as cold as today, man, I wish I had one of these. This "MISS NEW YORK" scarf (and for the west coast gals, a "MISS CALIFORNIA" one in green) is available in kate spade stores. *This was a project I worked on in my last days as a member of the kate spade creative team.

PEN + PAPER

Below are a few illustrations I have done for Madewell over the past months. It has been nice to be able to work, every now and then, with just pen and paper. You should try it.

NEWS

Every month I design a new issue of Madewell Musings, a monthly newspaper and calendar put out by the J.Crew owned store, Madewell. There're always fun events going on in their NYC store. [Take a look.]

REAL ESTATE

This is a detail from a double-page illustration I did for the New York Times Magazine's April 6th real estate issue. The feature was titled, "The Tightwad's Legacy." As always, it was great fun to do [Thanks Jeff].

MADEWELL

Below is a project I did for the new J.Crew brand, Madewell. The NYC store opened on February 20th (a fun party). Each month there will be a new issue of Madewell Musings (March issue will be in stores soon).

IDEAS

This was a full-page illustration I did for the New York Times Magazine Ideas issue (included in last week's Sunday Times). One of my favorite magazines (next to World of Interiors), it is always a great read along with having wonderful photography and art direction.

CYRANO

Below is an illustration assignment I did for New York Magazine's Culture pages. The title was Nose Job, a write-up on the play Cyrano de Bergerac. I have loved working with them over the past months on a few other collages. [Materials: Construction paper, scissors, tape]

KID O

Below is a newsletter I designed for Kid O, the NYC children's store. Kid O is unique in its dedication to enriching the play and learning experiences of preschool children at home. [*Speaking of kids, I am expecting my first in June 2008!]

HOLIDAY

This wrapping paper arrived in my mailbox last week from the creative bunch at kate spade. The artwork is from one of my collages in the 2007 kate spade agenda, tiled and repeated into a lovely sheet of wrapping paper.

O TANNENBAUM

Below is a book I designed, The Tree at Rockefeller Center. The project was a quick one - I designed the 144 page book in less than a week. The Rockefeller Center Archive, with its boxes of old photographs and ephemera of nearly 75 years of the tree, was amazing to look through.

SPIRAL BOUND

Below are pages from the new kate spade 2008 agenda. This is the second one I designed. A fun project. Here are some of my collages (others, not pictured, were done by Paulina Reyes and Mary Matson):

FALL OH-SEVEN

I bought a copy of the September issue of Vogue magazine (all 870 pages) yesterday. Inside I found the Kate Spade Fall advertising campaign (my last project at Kate Spade), shot by the very talented Cig Harvey. Enjoy.

ART DEPT.

This was my desk while I worked in Martha Stewart's art department. Here, I was working on the December 2004 Living issue (boxes and beaded letters below). Note: the dessert in the background from the Everyday Food test kitchen (a big perk).

10 MILLION MILES

This is an illustration assignment I did a few weeks ago for New York Magazine. The collage ran alongside a write-up for the off-broadway play 10 Million Miles.

MY DESKTOP

Check-out my profile on the kate spade "behind the curtain" site.