Friday's Five: Let's Ride Away....

Hi there. Yes, I've been a bit quiet. It's been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week for me to quote Judith Viorst. It started out bad and somehow continued to get worse....even on this lovely summer Friday off I'm supposed to be having! For the rest of the weekend I'll be packing and continuing to try and pare down my collections of stuff and clutter as we get ready to move next week. One of the many awesome things about the new apartment is that it has bike storage, which means I get to buy a bike! So that's been my obsession lately, "cruiser" and "basket" bicycle searches on craigslist! Just look at this awesome website Copenhagen Cycle Chic. Such good inspiration! Hope I can work the dress-and-heels-on-a-bike look...


Photo via Copenhagen Cycle Chic

Agnyess photos via Womanx

Matte Stephen's Etsy print "Vivienne on her Bike"

Easy, breezy, dreamy look via The Sartoralist

Friday's Five: Weekend warrior?

Hi there! This Friday I'm trying to stay focused because I have an overwhelming amount of work to do this month! What about you, any goals this weekend? This summer? My 5....in no particular order:
1. Finish story for class
2. Complete character sketches for 5 characters in my book dummy
3. Clean out closet to get ready for the move!! (eeks this is the most daunting...)
4. Take clothes to Buffalo Exchange/ Goodwill ....and not spend while there! haha
5. Celebrate with the wonderful blogger Michelle Ward from When I Grow Up for graduating and becoming a certified life coach. Congrats Michelle!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday's Five: Must see summer art shows

1. MoCCA Art Festival 2009 - a fundraiser for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, but held at the Lexington Avenue Armory; a huge exhibit of artists, sketchers, animators, indie comics and more- I mean, just look at the poster! June 6th and 7th.

2. Also currently and, actually, at MoCCA through August 23rd, is a retrospective of David Mazzucchelli, a comic artist who started at Marvel working on Batman in the 80s and moved into the less glamorous but more personal indie comic world. He was actually in one of my classes at SVA- you know how you'll be in class and there's always a superstar the teacher adores and everyone else is struggling? Well, he's the superstar. Mazzucchelli's new work, a graphic novel called Asterios Polyp, looks really exciting - I can't wait to see it and get to know his older work.

3.Giant Robot NY - One of my favorite little galleries because of it's laid back vibe, cute shop items, and back issues of it's awesome magazine. Check out the new exhibit Panelists: Comic Artists on the Wall through June 24th.

4. Society of Illustrators -Earlier this year I posted about Yoko Furosho, a favorite artist of mine and a really nice girl. She was featured in The Society of Illustrators annual student competition, along with many talented upcoming illustrators you should check out to say you knew them when- through June 6th.

Petals in the water by Yoko Furosho

5. American Folk Art Museum- I already loved Henry Darger's collaged and traced outsider art illustrations following his fictional 15,145 page story about the Vivian Girls, but seeing the actual pieces is stunning. I didn't realize how large they would be, or how dreamy the use of his colors were until I visited Up Close: Henry Darger - though September 6th.

Friday's Five: Daisy May!

Yay it's May! Things I'm looking forward to: exciting art exhibit and road trip this weekend, apartment hunting, Mets game, and Memorial day weekend!! What are you doing in May?

Sweet daisy picks as modeled by Agnyess Deyn and Daisy Lowe, of course!

"I love when you stare at me I'm dressed so fresh so clean"

hehe ....appropriate lyrics by Outkast.

1. Betsey Johnson Daisy coat and 2. Betsey Johnson tights

3. Etsy seller Shlyskyward's dreamy daisy 50s dress

4. Marc Jacobs utilitarian daisy tote bag on ebay

5. Warhol's Daisy print on All Posters.com

Shoes by D&G and Converse

Friday's Five: Supplies

Every artist and crafter needs motivation and inspiration, but when you have all that and you're still stumped?? fresh supplies always do the trick! whether you work with paper crafting, (i'm so into all the paper cut artists out there right now) mixed media work, traditional oils, or quilting these sites will have something to ease your supply cravings.

1. Paper Presentation: This store on 18th street in NY makes me giddy. it's beautifully set up, well picked items, and i always leave with a goodie or two. you can see why....they have portfolios, organizers, scrapbooking, journals, business card and invitation paper galore, the coolest cards i've ever seen (i used one of their vintage fabric thank you card sets for an interview follow up and ended up getting the job - uh huh, all the card's doing!)

photo via Paper Presentation.com

2. Denyse Schmidt Quilts: Not only are her quilts astonishing, but she'll share her knowledge and scraps with you! Denyse has a book, does workshops, and sells scrap bags and kimono pieces. Her website is great to get lost in.

images via Denise Schmidt

3. By now I'm sure most people have seen Matte Stephens incredibly cute needle felt animals. Check out this lady, too, YuYu Art who did the adorable kokeshi doll images below. If you want to try yourself, I found out through Felting Crafts on Crafts gossip.com that overstock.com has a needle felt starter kit! It's inexpensive, too!

images via Matte Stephens website

images via YuYu Art Etsy website

4. The Baren Mall: haha, yes I had to put some woodblock supplies up! In case you have a hankering to carve and print, or even have one made for you....

pictures via Baren mall

5. Joann Fabric and Craft: are you kidding me, you say? this is too obvious!! funny story- I worked there for 4 years!!! high school and part of college- it was the longest job I've had at one company! It was a great work environment, talking to the little old lady quilters- and the advice they have??? Priceless, and they'll talk your ear off. Bonus?? 50% off online coupon! enter promo code TTF120 at checkout.

Fun scrapbooking supplies! image via Joann.com

Friday's Five: Fashion Illustrators

There is absolutely nothing better than going to a great museum exhibit and getting some much needed inspiration. Attending a lecture by people I was in awe of and seeing them in "real-life" with incredible personalities, insight and advice was an invaluable experience. Wednesday night The Society of Illustrators hosted a panel of fashion illustrators and models. It turned into a conversation between the panelists about the importance of fashion illustration, the relationship between photography and fashion illustration and the bias museums and people have of fine art over illustration. They all shared so much about the industry, how it's changed, and how current fashion illustrators are the hope for the future. In the fashion and art industry this is a very refreshing attitude!Fashion illustrator, curator of the show, and clearly sharp dresser, Robert Richards talked about photography losing its credibility with everything being photoshopped to death, "if it's going to be a fantasy, then come to us!"

Anna Bayle, the 1st Asian supermodel called " the face of the 80s" for good reason, holds an illustration of herself done by Alvaro for Vogue China. Pictures from top right, Alvaros illustration, editorial tears, all via Anna's website Annabayle.com. Anna in white gown, via Adrianadasilva.com.

Now for your installment of Friday's Five: Fashion Illustrators

1. Bil Donovan -this man (below, hand closet to the wall) is a phenomenal illustrator. How phenomenal? He just signed a year long contract to be Christian Dior Beauty's in house artist. Donovan has worked with absolutely everyone and his website is gorgeous, so do not miss!

All photos were taken at the show, or via Society of Illustrators

2. Karen Santry -I took notes about the panelists before it all started, and she ran in late, in the most amazing outfit, 4" heels, and huge black felt fan hat, and I just wrote, "FABULOUS!" She works as a professor at FIT and I would do anything to take a class with her. Do yourself a huge favor and check out this article in the New York Times, featuring more of her work and her artists in residence studio apartment!

This book always pops up on my Amazon recommendations: Big Book of Fashion Illustration: A Sourcebook of Contemporary Illustration. Guess who did the cover? Karen, of course.

See? it's 3-d! so cool.

3. Elena Ambotaite- Gorgeous. Blonde. Dimples. Model. Wait no, illustrator! Actually both. She was charming and insightful about the work, having seen both sides. She 's modeled for Donovan before, too.

Illustration via elenaambo.com

4. Alvaro- Yes, he goes by one name, because he's that good. His story touched me, as a a little boy growing up in the Bronx, he saw Antonio Lopez's work, one of the illustration greats, and was determined to meet him. He did, and worked with and learned from him for years, until Antonio's death in 1987. Alvaro's message was that you can do anything you dream and put your mind to, and the way he was so emotional and passionate about his and the other illustrators' work, was really touching.

Alvaro and Karen Santry at the opening reception. Picture via Society of Illustrators

1st ever illustrated Vibe cover by Alvaro

5. Last but so not least, the late Antonio Lopez- I think it's very sad that fashion illustration is not a well known art form, because people miss out on beautiful work such as his. Karen had a hilarious story about living in NY in the 80s and going to Union Square, where Antonio lived, and literally digging through the trash for discarded illustrations! she said her and her friends would pin these up as inspiration. He had so many different styles, you can tell he was always experimenting and trying new things.

Illustrations for collage via arinavarga.blogspot.com, www.webuweb.com, fashionillustrationgallery.com, arinavarga.blogspot.com and http://latino.si.edu/virtualgallery/antonio/bodyessay.htm