I would just like to say....

1....that I hate going to the dentist. Yes, I know how good dentists are for me, and how good teeth makes for a good life and long life, and in the whole spectrum of pain and suffering, trips to the dentist are mere cheesecake (which brings me to the dentist in the first place, I suspect.) And I love having clean and polished teeth every few months. But still can't I just say: I hate the poking and scraping and x-raying. I hate that they are always so cheerful and seem surprised that being in the dentist's chair isn't the most fun in life, and I am grumpy and don't like myself because of it...because I hate going to the dentist. I always have and I always will. There. I feel better.

2...you really should read this book. It's probably in the mystery section, but mostly it's a great story with two concurrent mysteries. You will enjoy the wit and conversation, and you will like (usually)  two main characters, Wyatt and Julianne. These two meet only once or twice in random, fleeting moments, but separately have personal and life-changing mysteries from difference decades to resolve for their own well-being, both in the same hometown of Oklahoma City. While listening to a mystery bookshop owner being interviewed on NPR, she named this book as the best book she has read in the last year. I would agree. I loved it and was sorry to see it end.

and 3...I am working hard on the magazine for a June publish. Here is a page from the magazine (which will be 8 x 11). In case you haven't seen the preview or want to see it again, here's the link. Please consider getting on the mailing list here (the SUBSCRIBE tab on the website) to get first dibs and a coupon. For those already on board, thanks so much! You'll be the first to know when the cows are ready to come home!

Brainpickings and wanderings to begin the new year

Some of you may have caught that I love, love Brainpickings. Over at brainpickings.org. I have posted nuggets from her site, for example, here and here. I donate a little each month. in my teeny effort to support such a great place to visit each week.

Here is her post of 20 of the best articles from this year (and last year's, if you click the bottom). Have a bit of time? Savor articles like:

 Love, Lunacy, and a Life Fully Lived: Oliver Sacks, the Science of Seeing, and the Art of Being Seen

Nietzsche on How to Find Yourself and the True Value of Education

Ursula K. Le Guin on the Sacredness of Public Libraries

Meanwhile, over the past couple of days, I've seen  movies I have greatly enjoyed:  The Big Short and The Intern. Highly recommend both. AND, treated myself to Inside Out from OnDemand, because it seems to be on a lot of Best lists. Am I glad I did that! Wow! I LOVE that movie! The creativity, expression, concept, art, humor, and big idea - can't get enough of it. Must have it for myself to enjoy over and over.  Sorry I missed it when it came around. I was in a hole somewhere, I guess. Or maybe I was having schnozzlepopps in Bavaria. I could be excused then, don't you think?

quick pen sketches; a few  likenesses, a few not

I found a new place for coffee and general musing. The chocolate croissant with chocolate drizzle was pretty darn good, too. It's on the other side of the lake, so not handy, but I'll return next time I go to the Crest, an old, nonplex theatre that shows 2nd runs at a neat price, for those of us who missed them the first time around. Love theaters like that. No six previews with their  LOUD, ear-splitting action scenes and blasting music. You know...those. Sign of age, I guess.

Finally, Daily Amazing on the web site: Aug(de)Mented Reality. More amazing creativity. 

You must see...

this man's sidewalk art.

David Zinn

 His name is David Zinn. Check out all the tabs at the top of his site...bar art,  Sluggo, all of it!  You will thank me. Trust me on this one.

zinnart.com

Cleaning out my box o' stuff. Part 1.

That is,  my box of posts waiting to be polished and posted. I'm posting one a day this week to clean out the box.

This recent Brainpickings post is such a lovely post and a sample of how Maria Popova on this amazing site melds together books, quotes, articles, and images topically and gracefully.

In her most recent post, she reminded us of an out-of-print book, Letters from Amelia, in which Amelia, who, before marrying Albert outlined her expectations of marriage (which included not adopting the last name of her husband), advised her sister Muriel, whose own otherwise decent husband was gambling away the family funds. Amelia and her sister grew up in a financially strained household under an alcoholic father; both as a child and adult, Amelia felt it her responsibility to guide and assist her younger sister.

Maria makes the point that through these letters, one observes that Amelia was quite thoughtful, independent, and philosophical at an early age. She has liberal views on education, human nature, and relationships.

To demonstrate Maria's ability to artistically blend resources, she moves to Anne Lamott, who she is reminded of in reading Amelia's writings decades earlier.  Maria links  us to an earlier BP review of Lamott's book on grief, passages, and the difficult times in our lives we must occasionally face. Although the topics are often difficult ones - grief and sadness - there is an uplifting spirit in her message.

"The worst possible thing you can do when you’re down in the dumps, tweaking, vaporous with victimized self-righteousness, or bored, is to take a walk with dying friends. They will ruin everything for you. ...

...They ruin your multitasking high, the bath of agitation, rumination, and judgment you wallow in...they bust you by being grateful for the day, while you are obsessed with how thin your lashes have become and how wide your bottom."

Here are some other quotes in the varied references of this post that resonated with me:

"but you know the more one does the more one can do...Despite my unusual activity I am very well organized to do more the more I do. You know what I mean. … I am not overdoing and all that is needed to bouncing health is plenty to eat and happiness. Consider me bursting, please." (Earhardt) 

"I felt a moment’s panic at the thought of Barbara’s impending death, and maybe also my own. We are all going to die! That’s just so awful. I didn’t agree to this. How do we live in the face of this? Left foot, right foot, push the walker forward." (Lamott)

And if you should find that you are the first woman to feel an urge in that direction, what does it matter? Feel it and act on it just the same. It may turn out to be fun. And to me fun is the indispensable part of work. (Earnhardt in her memoir The Fun of It: Random Records of My Own Flying and of Women in Aviation.)

It’s called having friends, choosing each other, getting found, being fished out of the rubble. It blows you away, how this wonderful event ever happened — me in your life, you in mine. (Lamott)

The two nonnegotiable rules are that you must not wear patchouli oil — we’ll still love you, but we won’t want to sit with you — and that the only excuse for bringing your cell phone to the dinner table is if you’re eagerly waiting to hear that they’ve procured an organ for your impending transplant.  (Lamott) 

Amelia Earhart was clear as glass and cloudy as milk at the same time, and she was marked for greatness. She rarely failed either in public or in private to live up to what she demanded of herself. She would not compromise with integrity, she did not quail before danger, and she brought honor by word and deed to her sex, her country, her kin, and herself. (Jean L. Backus, editor of Letters from Amelia, on Amelia Earhardt. )

"What if you wake up some day, and you're 65...and you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life?"
(Lamott)

And to further illustrate my point that Maria Popova is a master of compiling and flowing interesting and relevant resources, I quote the last part of her Lamott post: 

"Small Victories is an enormously ennobling read in its entirety. Complement it with Lamott on how to handle those who refuse to welcome us, then revisit Aristotle on the art of human connection, Andrew Sullivan on why friendship is a greater gift than erotic love, and C.S. Lewis on true friendship."

Once again, I encourage you to put Brainpickings.org on your list of sites to visit regularly. Sign up for her weekly newsletter and donate a few dollars to keep it healthy and ongoing. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the richest sites on the aptly named worldwide web. 

Sunday again...

Sunday's come and go so fast around here. Lots to enjoy in this, the longest daytime of the year. Ah! Sweet Summer. Here are some nuggets from recent papers, Brain Pickings, and my out-and-abouts.

Here's something I think you'll enjoy:

 
Student Design Award Winner - Curiosity: Exploration and Discovery from RSA Student Design Awards on Vimeo.

I saw this on Brain-Pickings, where I also liked an interview with Neil Gaiman (who grew up in libraries) on How Stories Last:

Stories should change you — good stories should change you.

Maurice Sendak, The Big Green Book by Robert Graves

Illustration by Maurice Sendak from 'The Big Green Book' by Robert Graves. 

Lucas Aoki

This is not my artwork. It is the work of Lucas Aoki from Argentina. It is from a funny and creative sketchbook I found here. It is also a reminder that, if you love to peek into sketchbooks (journals, drawers, and your sister's diary), you have hundreds to fascinate you here and possibly in your own city when sketchbooks tour the country. I wrote about it here.

And there is this creative and playful take on book covers  from May 3 NYTimes.
I think this looks like a whole lot of fun. I may have to try it. Stay tuned.

NY Times photo by Ray Defara

With the U.S. open in our backyard, golf is on our minds. I smiled at this quip from The Onion, quoted in today's Seattle times:

Bubba Watson horrified to learn two-thirds of Earth covered in water hazards.

Go Cubs..

On the subject of fairy tales

I have long been smitten with fairy tales, especially the various visual concepts of the illustrators of them. In my collection of picture books, I have several beautifully rendered fairy tales. Below are two I would love to see on my shelves.  There are other gems here, here and here.

I was detoured from my plans for the day with another post from the ever-fascinating Brainpickings, which has now made my top 5 favorite places to visit. (I am supporting Maria's site with donations. It is an awesome place.)

Hardly any other form of storytelling honors children’s inherent intelligence more than the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, which have been extending a luminous invitation into the dark for more than two centuries.   (Quoted from Brainpickings, Maria Popova

Here is a sample illustration from a new Grimm's fairy tale book. The illustrator is Lisbeth Zwerger. I love their choice of wallpaper, don't you?

Lisbeth Zwerger

Ms. Popova continues: 

J.R.R. Tolkien famously asserted that there is no such thing as writing “for children” — something that has since been echoed by C.S. Lewis, who admonished against considering children a special species, E.B. White, who insisted that one should write up to children rather than down, and Neil Gaiman, who believes that we do a disservice to children by shielding them from darker elements.

Here's another creative artist in a fairy tale format. The artist is Shaun Tan who created exquisite sculptural illustrations in Philip Pullman's take on Grimm's fairy tales. 

The Frog Prince. Shaun Tan. 

Rapunzel.  Shaun Tan. 

I really, really admire this kind of creativity.

My friend Gigi told me that I should really watch Once Upon a Time, the TV series. So I've hunted it down on Netflix and will do some catching up to see if I agree. Anybody else out there watch it?

Back to Books

…about something other than Budapest, Amsterdam, and points in-between.

carved image by me

I love translated mysteries from Scandinavia, Iceland, Italy, and France. Camilla Lackberg's series is a favorite of mine. This is her latest and my favorite so far. I have a hard time putting it down.

Diane Moline

and just also started this one and can already tell it will be as good as Devil in White City and In the Garden of Beasts.

Diane Moline

From Alisa Burke: 3 favorite toddler art activities

I am a fan of Alisa Burke, as  many artists are. Her online classes are informal and informative, her blog is generously filled with samples, tutorials, and colorful days and very focused on art. Recent posts have shown ideas for making little pinch pots, plant stakes, and rope tote bags. I have no toddlers in my life right now but still enjoyed this post for the pleasure that art brings to kids of every age. I recommend a visit there for anyone with a toddler to entertain!    I"m sharing her whole series of art with kids here

Friday Finds and Buried Treasure

1. I still enjoy visiting Carol at Tall Tales from Kansas. I check her blog often.

wallpaper page Carol painted

Lawrence, Kansas

Hi, my name is Carol. I live in Lawrence KS. I write Tall Tales. I tell about stuff that happened to me. Most of it is true.   

Her blog is funny (she's the sister of Mary Ann Moss, Dispatch from LA, so it apparently runs in the family!), full of photos, insights, recipes, and cool links,

"A working knowledge of the location of the best coffee hang outs in my geographical area is something I consider my duty to possess.  So whenever I hear about a spot that I haven't been to, I make it my business to get there.  What follows is a thorough report on two places that have recently been brought to my attention..."  From her latest post. 


2. such as her friend, Jeannette Sclar, whose fresh watercolors you'll find on her Flickr page. She does flowers and leaves deliciously - I find painting leaves very challenging meself - but I enjoy her urban sketching as much.

Jeannette Sclar

3. And one link leading to another as it happens, I got to this video, Maira Kalman Explores Art and Existence. I spoke of her before. And probably will again. Love her.

If you can't get enough of her, find a whole slew of Kalman videos here.

4. I discovered Nate Williams this week, although I cannot remember what path I took to get there. Such is the bramblebush highway of the internet,  yes?  Love the lettering he does. 

Nate Williams

5. I am playing with lettering styles through Skillshare.

Do you know about Skillshare? It's an online course site.  It's a pretty inexpensive way to get quick courses on lettering, calligraphy, mapmaking, photoshop, and other such treats. I signed up for the monthly subscription so I can get anything that comes down the pike (and there are regular additions to the "catalog") with no additional charge (the fees are small for those who want to taste one or two.) They are set up like mini-courses, with even "assignments" and projects, but I dabble in the ideas on my own as I like. There's no deadline, everyone's projects are posted who wish them to be, and, as usual, the work of "classmates" is as valuable as the course itself for inspiration and just general pleasure of viewing. If you go and stay, tell them Diane sent you! 

Friday Five

Here are this week's Friday five from this week include three artists, one magazine, and a great resource. I should begin with a quote I found this week from Hunter Thompson.  
One life is too short for doing everything. 
Amen and Hallelujah.

1

I am enticed by Natalie Ratovski's sketches, drawings, travel journals, projects and other extensive work. I first found her through a Paris journal page that was posted, I suspect, on Pinterest.  Lovely journal.  The Pinterest post led me to her Flickr page where I see that she is a prolific artist! I will take my time perusing and appreciating her artwork.

One of her several projects is called An Endless Book....

a section of An Endless Book
Artwork by Natalie Ratkovski

This and the following two are pages from the Paris journal.


She and I share a similar love of extending photos with sketches and travel ephemera.

Artwork by Natalie Ratkovski

And a hand-drawn map is always quite fine. 

Artwork by Natalie Ratkovski

2

Lee.  Defining Me. Pretty darn fun.

She has a collection of women with personality and sputz.

This is Angel Eyes. Check her out.  

This is Angel Eyes. Artist: Lee


You'll like Ivy, too....as described by Lee, "she was known as a perpetual bridesmaid, 
and had the butt ugly dresses to prove it."

Love the art, love the humor.
I found her  on Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's Linky List Feb. 20. 

3

 Teil Duncan. I love the soft, almost abstract paintings from this artist, especially the beaches series. Hardly affordable art for the likes of moi, but lovely to behold anyway, yes?

Artwork by Teil Duncan

4

Lucky Peach Magazine.  What's not to love about its name, for one thing?  As self-described, Lucky Peach is a quarterly journal of food and writing. Each issue focuses on a single theme, and explores that theme through essays, art, photography, and recipes.

guilty pleasure confession:
I love visual collections of things. Sometimes I buy
Cook's magazine just for the back cover. This ploy obviously hooked me.

Obsession is this issue's theme. Seems relevant. I was specifically drawn to "The Lucky Peach Atlas," little watercolor sketches of food places in Paris. The issue has short stories done textually and graphically, interviews, some chocolate history, and a tale of McDonald's and the Monopoly promotion  I found quite enlightening.   Unlike Sweet Paul and Kinfolk, other food and lifestyle favorites, there is a lot more text, fewer photos, and is truly more like a journal. It's not the visual treat of the other two, relying instead on a variety of topics and approaches.

Read about my other favorite magazines here and here.

5

A black carbon fountain pen and Adam from Goulet Pens did this. From Goulet Pen blog. 

Folks who have been enrolled in Sketchbook Skool talk among themselves a lot about the tools of sketching and drawing. (Speaking of obsession, most artists love talking about their tools.) Lots of questions and suggestions about fountain pens. I have always loved using fountain pens, so why haven't I, I wonder?  I discovered a great series of You Tube videos from Goulet Pen Company, which specializes in pens, papers, and inks. Everything from beginning fountain pen users to fancy stuff, a 101 on using fountain pens, and regular Q & A videos. I have already learned so much from viewing just a few. 

A sample Q & A video.

A spot of tea perhaps?

I have had lots of the British and Australian in my life most recently and feel the need for tea or warm beer.

"While WWII rages across the Channel, police detective Christopher Foyle reluctantly remains on duty in his quiet English coastal town. The battle comes to Foyle in its own way as he probes war-related cases of murder, espionage, and treason. Mystery blends with history, moral complexity, and period atmosphere in this splendid British series."

I discovered and fell in LOVE with Foyle's War, the BBC series. Go find it. On Netflix, unless Acorn TV has captured all the rights to it in the past few days. While each 90 minute episode completes a mystery, it is valuable to watch the story in succession as the character relationships develop.

I also discovered and watched in marathon, The Fall, with Gillian Anderson. Another fine mystery. this one should be watched from start to end. I watched it on Amazon streaming.

I am taking online courses from Jane Davenport and Liz Steel, Australian delights, both of them.

And there's always, Downton Abbey, isn't there?

Go with the FLOW

Have you found Flow Magazine yet?

It really is quite wonderful. It is a magazine with quite a different look, few ads, lots of color, patterns, images, artist spotlights, and little surprises within, and it comes from the Netherlands, printed in several languages. It's pages are thick and sturdy matte pages ready for journaling, printing, scrapbooking, envelopes, and paper crafts. Lots of attention to illustrators, artists, painters, artist studios, interesting places and products. Barnes and Noble carries it and you should check it out.

Or go look at their web and Pinterest sites.  You will be lead to artists such as

Dinara Mirtalipova

And Dick Vincent…who talks about his process for illustrations like Anatomy of a Pocket Knife

and who created this:

Copyright Dick Vincent

.

inspiration, part many-many

I have been enamored by several lusciously richly photographed magazines, non glossy Anthropologie-catalog-like pages...so have treated myself to some paper or digital new and
back issues. I know you can find current issues of Sweet Paul and Kinfolk at Anthropologie and a few other similar stores. They are pricey, although digital issues and back issues are less so. But they are well over 100 pages loaded with good ideas and gorgeous photography as any similar book so, actually, they are bargains! she said to justify her obsession.  Oh, and also, far fewer ads than most magazines.

Sweet Paul   instagram.com/sweetpaulmagazine

More later,,,,
Chick Pea
The Simple Things

Uppercase

Wrapping up.

Last summer I painted patterns. I took Mary Ann Moss's SEWN online class to get inspired. I have loved working with these patterns ever since, and am about ready to start a new batch. I made color copies of some favorites - using high quality printer paper - and just discovered another use for them. I have a present ready to go, but didn't have wrapping paper. Voila! put four of these together, covered the seams with pretty ribbon, and a luscious wrap. Don't you agree?

Two New Books

Mary Ann Moss led me to this artist and I found his work in this children's (?) book. I love the collagey, imperfectly stamped and painted style, aunties papers reminiscent of Eric Carle.








I also will get a lot of use from this book

which i bought sight unseen and has lived up to my expectations. Good tips and examples and work from various artists, including Australian artist Liz Steel. So you know about Liz? You really should check her out. Start here.

Later, I'll share my latest acquisitions from another artist I just eat up and cannot get enough of! Spoiler alert: her name is Andrea Joseph.

There is oh so much talent in the world. I am grateful to the www=wide wonderful world ...for opening up so much of it to me.

All the buildings in New York redux

I posted about this in August, 2011, but came across it again while updating some old links. Honestly, if you haven't looked at this project, head on over. Yeah, the guy is drawing all the buildings in New York.

Visiting Hours

Time to revisit some favorite artists from my blogroll, update links, add some new bingobangobongo blogs to shout about.

1

Visited Four Corners Design, still fresh and visually delectable. Her word for the year is DIRECTION. Loving this piece she did to represent it. You will love the gorgeous digital collages she creates, as well as other mixed media works. Here is her piece representing "direction" ...(I have added the words.)

Check out the header of her blog and enjoy the clean and stunning design of the page. I admire it.

2

I updated the web address for Oregon watercolorist Helen Brown. Her gallery of work is inspiring; I especially love her figures. I fell in love with one of her award-winning watercolors. This is just a small part of the piece as a tease to go look under "New Stuff." This face, as cool as it is already, gets even better as you view the whole; the background and shadow work are eye candy. 

Helen Brown, "Timber Town"

3

You haven't seen SketchTravel yet? Hmmm...I think you should. This is an overview of a charity art project from a couple of years ago. A red sketchbook was passed to 71 worldwide illustrators, artists, animators, and comic strip artists. Even if you  just enjoy the opening page, it is worth your time; it is graphically amusing and intriguing (how do they do that?!) There is a short video explaining the project. 

4

Yesterday in Molly's watercolor class, I was reminded of Trumpetvine Travels. I discovered this watercolor sketch artist and travel journaler years ago, bought one of her zines (a treat!), and then thought she had moved on to other things. Although there is a current copyright date, It's hard to know if she's still adding to the blog; there is no archive I can see to help me. All that said, this is still a bonanza for anyone who loves looking at travel sketches, creating travel sketches, or merely appreciatiing the subject matter. It is a packed resource with links all over the place. 

5

And who was that who reminded me?  It was Claire Russell. Go see what she does. Now. Hurry. 

Molly Hashimoto has given you a peek here. Claire and I are avid sketchbook journal collectors. Both of us own obscure sketchbooks that neither of us thought ANYBODY else has on their shelves. 

You can see her painting talents in this image, but what you don't see is her skill at layout of pages. Lots of intended space and design, unifying themes, beautiful text.