Hunt & Peck

Affordable prints

2009-06-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

20x200 is a good resource for affordable art. This piece, by Chris Ballantyne, immediately caught my eye. The colors, the subject matter, the slight feel of a silkscreen-inspired graphic quality, not to mention the mixture of rural and ocean locals - love it!

Untitled, Tidal Bore (Surfer)

8"x10" $20 / 11" x 14" $50 / 16" x 20" $200

Mold inspired doodling

2009-06-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Geninne's art blog, I tried to keep myself busy while K.C. ripped away at the kitchen.

A rock and shell inspired by the damp, moldy drywall around our kitchen window. Don't ask.

Shelf elf please deliver this to me

2009-05-30T11:14:00.001-07:00

Studiomama shelving system. LOVE THIS.

Memorial Day project

2009-05-30T10:12:00.001-07:00

When I moved into my condo a few years ago, this is what my balcony looked like:

I know what you're thinking: This is where squirrels come to do drug deals.

So the balcony was my first priority since it was such a massive eyesore. I couldn't screw into the balcony walls since it's a condo, and condo associations have rules about such things. No problem: using redwood boards from Home Depot, I built mid-century modern-esque slat wall coverings that wedge and hold one another up, eliminating the need to attach them to the walls, and at IKEA I found the perfect floor squares and galvanized plant containers. Staining all the wood with BEHR waterproof deck stain #5-77, the whole thing came together. Much better, right?

But it wasn't quite done, the Room and Board chair was too big for the deck, the inherited ficus was never more than a half-dead spider habitat, the plants seem hidden down on the floor, and the wood to finish the project sat in my living room for two years. That's right, a small wood stack sat just like in the picture above...for...2...years.

Yes, I'm a bit of a procrastinator. Why are you staring at me like that?

Anyway, last weekend I decided to finish it up. We returned the wood pile to Home Depot since it didn't fit in with the redo. That money funded the wood we did need, some cinder blocks, black spray paint, and a few new plants.

The humble design origins.

The backside of the longest slat wall with a fresh coat of stain and the new pine shelf.

Tools needed for this job: screw gun, circular saw, deck screws, hand saw, deck stain, rags (for staining the wood, much better than brushing it on), rubber gloves, plastic tarp, sand paper and sanding block.

view from inside...
Thai basil next to some habanero peppers.

After the floor tiles were sanded and re-stained, the top of the walls were restained, the new shelf was cut to size and stained, the cinderblocks were spraypainted black, and the rosemary was planted, I spent a few hours assembling everything on the deck, and putting little legs on the deck walls to raise them a few inches higher to cover more of the hideous balcony walls.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. The plants (all kitchen herbs and hot peppers) now have a front-and-center position, and by aligning all the decking squares, instead of alternating their orientation, it feels visually calmer. It feels so good to have this project finished!

faceted votives

2009-04-18T11:29:00.001-07:00

Oh god, I love these.

Simple shapes that speak to me of quirky chunky goodness.

From Kindlingshop's etsy wares. $50 gets you all three...or maybe gets me all three :)

Fado update

2009-04-16T10:07:00.001-07:00

The pendant lamp in my dining room has been bothering me since I moved in a few years ago. It's not terrible, but the "Jetsons"-like ring of glass just isn't my style. When I saw the Ikea Fado pendant popping up all over the internet, I thought it might be an affordable mid-century-esque replacement.

What do you think? I'm still getting used to it. I like the height (the other one always felt in the way somehow), and I like how it looks. I'm not sure about the light being thrown all around the room. The way the other pendant pooled the light on the table was quite nice...

Teton-a-licious

2009-04-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

In Dwell (Dec/Jan 09) there was an article about Mies van der Rohe's Lafayette Park, an apartment complex in Detroit. I immediately fell in love with this silkscreen (?) alpine scene in Keira Alexandra and Toby Barlow bedroom:

photo by Raimund Koch

It's kitchy without being just "Hey, look at me, I'm tongue in cheek!". Maybe because it reminds me of the Grand Tetons, my home away from home, but I love it.

There's a fine line between bad Urban Outfitter's decor and this, I realize that. But I think this is firmly on the side of good.

Bulbously lovely

2009-04-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Chandelier love coming your way...

Usona home chandelier. I'm sure it costs and arm and a leg but isn't it divine? sigh...

I first saw this whimsical yet elegant DNA pendant on Holly's Haus Maus site. Each segment can be added on to (or detracted from), and it's available in white (my fav), gold, red or silver. Created by a German company called Buro Fur Form; you can purchase it abroad at For Living.

Martha? Is that you?

2009-04-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

Simply put, I'm a bit obsessed with this Martha Stewart swing arm sconce. I think this means I'm getting old. Bring it on, I say. Bring. It. On.

Bonus: it's on sale for $200. LOVE IT.

snowy day stamp making

2009-03-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

KC and I are up in Idaho for our winter vacation, and since I'm a little tired of skiing (or attempting to learn how to ski), I was ready for an art day inside.

Thanks to Gennine's wonderful art blog, and her stamp tutorial, I was inspired to make a few stamps of my own. I used to love the steps involved in printmaking (waaay back in college), and was hoping this would be a nice, bite-sized, dining-room table-friendly art project.

The original drawing. Yes, it's a paramecium.
The stamp mid-carve. I used a #1 and a #3 cutter. I wish I'd bought a u-shaped #1 instead of the V-shape I did buy. It was harder to make curves with the V shape...
Negative and positive...

A procession of parameciums!

(Don't ask why I made a paramicium for my first stamp, it just happened.)

cupcakes, east coast edition

2009-03-06T22:46:00.000-08:00

Despite the danger of sounding like a list from Stuff White People Like, my idea of a perfect day involves any combination of the following:

brunch

cupcakes

modern art museums

naps

good friends

coffee

apple fritters

moleskine notebooks (#122 on SWPL)

While in Boston shooting for The Phone, my friend Adri (I was her camp counselor once upon a time) and I had brunch, and then went searching for a cupcake store. And we found it!

Sweet Cupcakes near lovely Newbury St on Mass Ave. The cupcakes were pretty darn tasty; I especially liked the mound of buttercream frosting that wasn't so sweet that it hurt my teeth, and consequently (and also because I was raised by wolves) chowed the whole thing much faster than Adri did. She was kind enough not to mention it.

So...many...choices...

The store was well-designed, with cute touches like a container of birthday candles by the register for last-minute gifts.

Oh the carnage - avert your gaze.

And if anyone is listening: please bring a cupcake truck franchise to Los Angeles. Thank you.

The good old days

2009-02-17T20:04:00.000-08:00

Taxidermy eyeballs, canoe camping, and cowboy boots, all from a time long, long ago...

When I'm feeling lazy and don't want to deal with Photoshop, thanks to a tip from the website Ohdeedoh, I can now visit this Japanese website for all my antique photo needs. Upload an image from your computer, hit the blue button with Japanese characters that must roughly translate to "ANTIQUE ME NOW!" and voila! instant old timey photo goodness.

Add some blingee magic, and you've really got...something. I'm not sure what. But something.

collected

2009-02-15T11:14:00.000-08:00

Taking my cue from Abbey over at Aesthetic Outburst, I'm posting about one of my collections.

I fell in love with netsuke (plural netsuki?) a few years ago during a trip to the Santa Monica antique and collectibles market. A seller had a table full of small, intricately carved animal, vegetable, and mineral figurines. Among the wide variety of various flora and fauna, I was especially drawn to the animals (especially rats, octopi, and turtles) and mermaids. I bought a few, and they've joined my menagerie of small doo-dads around the house.

For K.C.'s birthday this year, while browsing in Ritual Adornments, a chock-full of great small things bead shop on Main St. in Santa Monica, I bought him a small turtle and bird netsuke that reminded me of his personality. I may have developed a habit.

There is a monkey on my back, and it is small, and carved out of wood.

Netsuke are, according to Wikipedia,

...miniature sculptures that were invented in 17th century Japan to serve a practical function (the two Japanese characters ne+tsuke mean "root" and "to attach"). Traditional Japanese robes had no pockets, however men who wore them needed a place to store their personal belongings.
Their solution was to place such objects in containers hung by cords from the robes sash...the fastener that secured the cord at the top of the sash was a carved, button-like toggle called a netsuke.

Once again I'm drawn to utilitarian objects that are beautiful.

From my flickr page:

I highly recommend visiting the wonderful netsuke collection at The Japanese Pavillion at LACMA. Their netsuke, unlike my modern versions, are the thousands-of-years-old Real Deal.

contained two

2009-02-14T15:56:00.001-08:00

Photography from my flickr page - vessels around my home:

1. clay "bup" (basically a mug without a handle) made by my Dad with cactus

2. Another bup with cactus, yard sale vase, and small Japanese netsuke turtle.

3. A Sago palm in a minimalist black pot from Pavillions - one of my better impulse buys. The sago palm grows very slowly and doesn't need to be watered much.

4. More of my dad's work (the one in the foreground is one of my absolute favorite pieces of his)

5. Cactus in a small IKEA planter. They don't sell this triad set anymore, but I love it for small apartments.

6. Small dish made by my dad with a collection of some of my favorite wee things: a segmented enamel fish ornament, a small fossil, and a crystal cluster from a cave in Bulgaria.

contained

2009-02-14T13:34:00.001-08:00

While blog-surfing this morning, Oh Joy had a post about Rose and Radish's paring of bowls and flowers, and I was once again reminded of my pull towards containers. I've used them in my art for as long as I can remember, and my father is a potter, so some of my earliest memories are of making pinch pots in his studio. This mild obsession is akin to my love for old cameras, and drums (a container as well I reazie) and instruments in general - I love what the vessel can symbolize, I love the utilitarian aspect of them, and I love how beautiful they can be in and of themselves.

In honor of Valentine's Day, here is one of the soothing images from the San Francisco-based Rose and Radish, who are pairing lovely and useful vessels with flowers for Valentine's day.

Nest votive by Porzellan Manufaktur,Nymphenburg Germany $369 (gulp).

(Come on though - Porzellan in Nymphenburg, Germany? That is simply fantastic. I could eat those words and live for days alone of their vowels and cadence.)

And here are some other la-la-licious containers for sale at Rose and Radish that made me go goo-goo ga-ga:

Industreal Uni Container

unglazed porcelain $81

Debbie Gaskin Drink Cozie

hand crocheted from cotton yarn $3

(Yes, you could make it yourself. But I wouldn't, and I think with the right amber or clear glass, it would be beautiful with an electric tea candle light inside.)

Esther Derkx champagne flute $20

Only from the Netherlands...for me, this works. It treads that fine line of funky and gimmicky and I think they're damn cute.

Industreal Chapeaux Pour Vase, style 01 $100

Can you tell I'm drawn to mixtures of textures?

blingee!!!

2009-02-08T17:05:00.001-08:00

Oh my, oh my - it's the bedazzler of the internet. Here is my little sis and I, transformed into fairy princesses, complete with an eternally exploding cat.

Upload your picture, and choose from many, many pages of horrifying glittery crap. Trust me, this image is CLASSY by Blingee standards. I'm completely hooked, of course. I plan on terrorizing family and friends with my new discovery. Make your own at Blingee.

Emergency yodel button

2009-02-07T19:36:00.001-08:00

Visiting the excellent blog Laughingsquid, I immediately fell in love with this gift. If it was before Christmas, I would be purchasing this pronto. Visit the website to hear/see it in action.

And if you haven't checked out Archie McPhee before, you're in for a goofball treat.

advertising sense

2009-02-07T19:10:00.000-08:00

When Al Gore invented the internet, could he foresee that it would be used to personalize billboards and buses from the comfort of one's own home? Probably not.

May I present the bus ad generator. Amaze your friends! Confuse your grandparents!

They're off!

2009-02-02T21:02:00.001-08:00

Finally my photo-paintings are on their way to a small art show in upstate NY. It felt good to box them up and not so good to stand in line at the post office, but I'm happy the project is completed...I guess I'm trying to say I'm pleased with the results! Here are some images, not quite as vibrant on my computer screen as in person, so use your imagination.

Above are all five images framed and laid out on the floor in the order they'll be hung.

My buttery homage to Edward Weston's sensual peppers.

And this is a close up of the picture my friend Becky loved most. I really liked discovering that by using light colors I could create ghostly lines to heighten the visual tension of the pieces and reds and oranges heightened the photograph's already skewed color palette.

I'm not sure if I should name them "the butter series 1-5" or just "untitled 1-5"...

Things I love: random selection

2009-01-30T22:03:00.000-08:00

For those of you who wear and love "active" or "outdoor" clothing as much as I do, those of you who can discuss in detail how Arc'teryx gear fits (answer: like a glove) and who love The North Face's prices even while loathing how they put their logo on every damn surface of their clothing...well, this site is to me like a drug:

www.steepandcheap.com

Ridiculously discounted clothing deals for men and women, from the folks at Backcountry.com, updating continuously throughout the day...every day...swoon...

The Arctic Building, Seattle

2009-01-30T21:36:00.000-08:00

I was on a job in Seattle recently, being driven home by a set PA, when I looked up into the wet city night, randomly glancing upon the facade of a beautiful old building...and blurted out something like, "OH MY GOD, WALRUS GARGOYLES!!" The PA was a bit taken aback until I explained, "No, seriously, look up there...I think those are walruses." She had never seen them before, and we sat at the stoplight, speechless at the sight of such magnificence.

photo from coyotephoto's flickr stream

(check out more flickr-searching-goodness here.)

SERIOUSLY, IS THAT NOT THE DEFINITION OF MIND-BLOWING AWESOMENESS? Or at least really really neat?

A little searching on Google turned up a few facts: The Arctic Building was built in 1916 and besides the distinctive walrus carvings, it used liberal amounts of submarine blue and orange-brown colored tiles (a fantabulous color combination if you ask me). The 8 story building housed, among other fineries, a ladies' tea room, bowling alley (!) and billards hall. Basically, it was a posh clubhouse for rich people who loved all things cold and northern or, as The National Park Service webpage says,

The Arctic Club...provided an exclusive social community for those Seattlites who had returned from the Alaska Gold Rush with money in their pockets and a repertoire of stories to tell about their adventures in the Yukon.

That was a different time, no?

The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

2009-01-30T21:28:00.000-08:00

I love tall tales, ghost stories, and any animal that lures squirrels to their untimely demise.

Throw in a WPA-style poster, and I'm hooked!

Help save the endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus (or just find gifts for the quirkster in your life) here.

peppermint pig

2008-12-30T21:45:00.001-08:00

Pig: prepare to meet your maker.

I love traditions, maybe because I never felt crushed under the burden of the few traditions that we had growing up, but I've always loved something that reminds me of the passing of time in a meaningful way, and what's really important and blah, blah, blah.

However, I've never been one for public displays of heartfelt emotion. I don't do toasts well, and in general anything that involves feelings makes me get a lump in my throat, so I was primed for the peppermint pig.

WHAT IS THE PEPPERMINT PIG YOU ASK? Well, it's the only tradition I've run across where you get to A.) express what you're thankful for during the past year B.) take out your aggressions or mixed feelings of embarrassment about stating what your thankful for by smacking the hell out of a pig-shaped lump of candy and C.) eat delicious candy after having a binge/purge of feel-good emotions.

It's called pig therapy. Try it.

Oh, the carnage...thanks to Sammy for bringing this little porker all the way from Saratoga Springs.

Flu+Cold=Fold? Clu?

2008-12-29T20:17:00.001-08:00

I'm sick.

This happens about once every 2 years. Not just "oh, I have the sniffles, please pass the vitamin C" but more along the lines of "MY BONES FEEL LIKE THEY'VE BEEN DIPPED IN A FRYER, DUSTED WITH SALT AND SERVED UP SUPERSIZED."

I am not a good sick person. I'm frustrated at a cellular level with how limited I am. And as a freelancer, nothing is more pathetic than missing work for being sick, sitting at home, wrapped in a blanket, shivering, imagining what you could of done with the money you're not making.

I've been cycling between misery and peace today. At one point, I'll think, hey, let's make lemonade out of lemons, but a half-hour later, I'll start to feel sorry for myself on an epic scale. Is there a word for that feeling when you're sick and everyone else seems to be having a grand time out in "the healthy world"? I imagine the Germans have something that describes this sense of alienation.

Anyway, while surfing the web today, I found Kilakitu, an African recycled-shirt company, and rejoiced. If I were a dude, I would be wearing one of the "Kenyan cowboy collection" line. They're awesome!

Kilakitu (which is a swahili saying meaning "everything"), employs Kenyan tailors, donates a portion of their proceeds to charity, and supposedly is designing a women's cowgirl dress for 2009...

Holiday giftgiving and The Baldenwhale

2008-12-29T18:31:00.000-08:00

The holidays are behind us; it feels like they were just looming, hazy with the distance, but I must of been mistaken. Poof! Goodbye Christmas! Goodbye Hanukkah!

My family, or I should say my brother, his girlfriend, my little sister, father and stepmother sort-of ignored my plea for one donation gift/one hand-made gift, and, well, here are some highlights:

My sock monkey cards from last year inspired my little sister apparently. Gaze upon these awesome slippers (Nick and Nora for Target):

For my cat-crazy sister, I gave her a framed picture:

My brother bought me a funky cool lobster bracelet from TillyBloom. I love it! It was similar to this one:

Seems he did quite a bit of his shopping on etsy this year. Color me impressed. He gifted a lovely seagull necklace to his girlfriend, from the wonderful Gyspy Rabbit, which came in a charming hand-sewn fabric envelope. My bro was impressed each time one of the etsy orders arrived; there were lots of extra bits and bobs included and handwritten cuteness all over the envelopes. Way to go, crafters! And now, gaze upon the seagull necklace:

The gift that made me burst into tears though (a Christmas first) was the donation my brother and girlfriend made for me. They gave to The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in David Foster Wallace's name. The thoughtfulness of it caught me off guard, and even now my eyes are threatening to spill.

For my brother, I made him a image that reminds me of the fantasy books he likes to read. Earlier this year, when we were all hanging out together, I was making fun of the multi-syllabic, overwrought silliness of name-giving that seems to go hand-in-glove with fantasy novels. I believe it was my brother's girlfriend who invented my new favorite monster name, The Baldenwhale. In our family, that joke has stuck around. This is Baldenwhale-esque:

It was a lovely holiday, and to finish on a high note, for the last day of Hanukkah, my dad pulled out all the pottery he'd brought for us to divy up! I'll post some pictures of my new prized possessions soon. And now I must get back to the book my stepmom got me, Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. It's full of creeping sadness and lovely observations (or as Michiko Kakutani put it, "elegiac and haunting").

F*ck You, Penguin

2008-12-19T00:11:00.000-08:00

I'm warning you, Dolphin: knock it off.

I've been on a job, in a land far, far away (okay, Napa) where having a fast internet connection is APPARENTLY NOT AS IMPORTANT AS MAKING REALLY DELICIOUS WINE AND FOOD.

Way to get your priorities straight, Napa.

While I'm in this no-man's land of slowly loading webpages, here's a blog that made me laugh out loud and almost spit on my keyboard.

With blog titles like "Manatees Think They Can Get Away With It" and "Dolphin Swagger Makes Me sick" (in which the author rants, "You need to wipe that smile off your face, Dolphin, or I'm going to come in there, have a religious-like experience swimming with you, and then wipe it off for you.")

Warning, there are many, many swear words, many, many pictures of cute animals, and oh-so many funny observations for those who find cute overload almost too cute.

Gifts for the girl who has everything

2008-12-06T10:40:00.001-08:00

BEHOLD - CUPCAKE MAKER DELUXE SET featuring the CUPCAKE FROSTER!

Saw this at one of the big box stores and was immediately frozen in my tracks with uncontrollable cupcake lust.

How great is this?! I want one! Of course, the strident feminist in me would also like the Girl Gourmet Chemistry Set.

Erica, this is a virtual-toy-giving blog post to help usher in your 2009 with plenty of frosting.

La Blogotheque

2008-12-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

Impromptu jam sessions full of unexpected images and sounds, these video podcasts featuring different bands and musicians performing on streets, docks, porches, beaches and in elevators are BLOWING MY MIND THIS MORNING. I should be packing and cleaning since I'm leaving town for a 2 week job up north, but I can't tear myself away. I blame my friend Jeff for sending me the link to La Blogotheque's take away shows.

If you've ever hung out with with some musician friends late at night when you were in your freewheeling 20's (ahem), you've probably experienced that magic moment where instruments get passed around and everyone is caterwalling along happily. This website is JUST LIKE THAT, but with more talent, and sometimes with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Follow bluesman Seasick Steve around Paris, or watch as a little band called Port O'Brien takes over a Chinatown bar and has, as the site says in its charming french-to-english translation, "a glorious and brutal stomp that shreds the barrier between band and audience." I dare you not to smile from the spontaneous joy that radiates from your computer as you watch these.

Old School Stationers

2008-12-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

Old School Stationers is a letterpress company based in Portland, Or. As it says on their website, "Our cards and prints are made one at a time using pencil, paper, ink and 900 pounds of cast iron."

If you had a stretch of blank wall in your living room or bedroom, they have a wonderful triptych of 1960's camping images that might be just the ticket. Here's my favorite one:

They also produce images of birds, trees, animals and flowers. These beautiful tree images below can be bought as a print (6.5"x9.5", square images are 8"x8") or card. Although it doesn't look like you can purchase directly from the website, they have their products in stores all over the country.

Be sure to read the story of how Brian and Amy met, fell in love, and started their letterpress company while raising their daughter Matilda. There's even a cute cat named Twig. It makes me want to throw up.

I mean that in the best way possible, of course.

Obleek

2008-12-04T09:03:00.001-08:00

These new planters from Obleek have been making the rounds, but I couldn't help but posting about them too. I love the clean lines and wonky symmetry of these little guys.

FoxandClover

2008-11-30T20:27:00.000-08:00

I was bumping around etsy tonight, and as usual, found something beautiful that lead me to look into someone else's life, specifically a craftswoman named Sabrina who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. Isn't the internet grand? Beyond all the cheap pharmaceuticals, there are so many amazing people out there...

Without further ado, here's a beautiful necklace and dish from FoxandClover's etsy shop:

lace doily necklace $65 and whale soap dish $48

These are made by painting glass enamel paints onto recycled glass and then kiln firing them. Beautiful, aren't they?

Miroslav Tichy's handmade cameras and photographs

2008-11-30T13:37:00.000-08:00

Miroslav Tichý, MT Inv. no.: 4-95, by courtesy of Foundation Tichý oceán

From the official Tichy website:

After studying at the Academy of Arts in Prague, Miroslav Tichý (born 1926) withdrew to a life in isolation in his hometown of Kyjov, Moravia. In the late 1950s he quit painting and became a distinctive Diogenes-like figure. From the end of the 1960s he began to take photographs mainly of local women, in part with cameras he made by hand.
He later mounted them on hand-made frames, added finishing touches in pencil, and thus moved them from photography in the direction of drawing. The result is works of strikingly unusual formal qualities, which disregard the rules of conventional photography.
They constitute a large oeuvre of poetic, dreamlike views of feminine beauty in a small town under the Czechoslovak Communist régime.

He spent 8 years in a prison camp in the Czech republic because of his "subversive tendencies." After being released, he often photographed women with his homemade cameras. He couldn't afford a camera, so he built them himself out of tin cans, children's glasses, tape, string, wood and other found objects.

More about Tichy from FotoSilver Blog:

In allusion to Plato's cave allegory, he regards the world as mere reflection and himself as its only conscious observer. Often Miroslav Tichý applies intricate pencil drawings onto the surface of his photographs and frames them with sensitively designed passepartouts, thus enhancing their profound poetry. Due to the yearlong storage in his run-down house, a melancholic veil of stains has layered itself upon the photographs. Miroslav Tichý works inhere an enigmatic and translucent atmosphere. In the mid 1980's the artist decides to give up artistic production: I had a norm. One hundred photographs a day. When I reached my norm, I stopped.
In his photographs the Czech artist renders a whole universe of female figures. He captures women strolling through the city, sunbathing by the swimming pool, chatting with neighbours, or going shopping. Other women are photographed from the TV screen. Sometimes they are unaware of the observer, sometimes unopposed, sometimes angry. Their ankles, faces and torsos dominate the composition.

His photographs remind me of a communist-era voyeur-recluse Joseph Cornell.

Flying Stick Cam

2008-11-30T13:29:00.001-08:00

This flying stick camera is the sort of contraption I wish I owned (it doesn't seem to be in production in the US), or had the engineering mind to fashion myself out of straws and balsa wood.

3 Cups of Tea

2008-11-30T13:01:00.001-08:00

I've got this book in my blood right now, and am sad I just finished it this morning. After stumbling upon the story of Greg Mortenson and his humanitarian organization the Central Asia Institute in an article for Outside magazine, my interest was piqued.

While walking through Costco with K.C. last week, there lay Greg's story 3 Cups of Tea all alone on top of a stack of cooking books. I snatched it up.

3 Cups of Tea is the story of a lost, depleated, mourning mountaineer who finds his life calling in the remote northern region of Pakistan and his unlikely success at building schools for girls and boys in Pakistan and Afghanistan. With the bombing in Mumbai this past week, and the border dispute between Pakistan and India threatening to resume, I worried about the students and people I'd felt like I'd gotten to know while reading 3 Cups of Tea. Seriously. It's that strong a book.

Read it, please!

stump on Wilshire

2008-11-16T23:04:00.000-08:00

I saw this sad little guy heading home from Machine Project at LACMA on Saturday.

Ash in the air, ash on my mind

2008-11-16T22:06:00.000-08:00

Just another morning in Southern California: the smell of smoke coming through my bedroom window, ash in the kitchen sink, the sunlight a blood orange color. I was on edge the minute I opened my eyes. I can't explain how surprised I am by how deeply the fire that burned down K.C.'s house still affects me. We're approaching the one year anniversary of that nightmarish day and it's been weighing on my mind, and today I can't shake a bone-deep sadness for all the people who have lost their homes in the last few days. This Jenny Holzer plaque pretty much sums up how I've been feeling:

After motivating myself to get out of the house, I drove downtown to Felt Club alone, since all my girlfriends were busy (well, the three I thought of to call ahead of time). On the way over, the smoke from the Sylmar fires got thicker and thicker - and my anxiety intensified. When I finally arrived and cruised by the entrance, there was a line around the block waiting to get in. I couldn't deal with the thought of waiting alone for a half hour or more, so I drove back home. Without getting out of the car. That's how skittish the fires have made me.
I felt bad about bailing out on what I'm sure would of been a great experience, so I decided to salvage the day and make some art. The image of a house on fire in a bottle just popped into my mind as I was mindlessly doodling squirrels. (Don't ask - I got accosted by a squirrel yesterday in Hollywood.)
The text is from the only thing that made it through the fire, a charred page of a book that was found among the ash:

Whatever you call the new Dream, it is still a dream as real or as false as the dream of hell. But now you can choose which dream you want to live in. Now you have the tools in your hands to heal yourself. The question is: What are you going to do with them?

Smoke-filled sunday

2008-11-16T14:26:00.001-08:00

I'm off to make some art on this hazy day. The fires all around LA are reminding me of this time last year when K.C.'s house burned down. It's making me squirrely, so I thought I'd post one of my favorite pick-me-up songs, Imogene Heap's "Just for Now" live.

Tiles and scarves

2008-11-15T22:35:00.000-08:00

It *was* getting colder earlier this week, and although it was easily 90 degrees at LACMA today (way to go Machine Project!), the damage was done: I've begun to think/yearn for and about scarflettes and cowls. Don't ask me why; my neck gets cold easily (since I'm part giraffe, that's a lot of skin) and I'm tired of my tried-and-true long scarves.

I've also had home renovations on the brain because my friend Adri just bought her first house - a real fixer-upper. I was going through my "home links" file to send her some inspiration, and rediscovered some beautiful resources for tile.

Why not combine these two interests? Why not dress up like your wall coverings? Don't answer that. If Ann Sacks' ads can do it, so can I.

So here goes: tile-inspired scarflettes or scarflette-inspired tiles:

"Bora Bora" glass subway tiles from modwalls

meets...

Knittles' awesomely green Forest Dweller's chunky neckwarmer/cowl ($45), which

also goes great with...

Bryan Kerrigan wood grain high-relief ceramic architectural tile. This is my favorite tile, ever. Someday, I will have it.

The buttons on the cowl above also remind me of this earthy cork mosaic tile from modwalls.

I could do this whole exercise using modwalls' tiles, but I'm going to force myself to find a different tile for every goddamn scarflette. Yes, it is the weekend, and yes, I have some free time. Why do you ask?

Granada Tiles "Alhambra" series meets...

yearofthegoat's handknit snap up cowl neck ($60).

Urbanknit's green neckwarmer ($48) in all its chunky goodness, and also...

RockaByeBebe's organic cotton neckwarmer ($35) should be paired with...

Heath Ceramics citrus green 3"x3" tiles.

We're rolling now - on with the show!

Ann Sacks' Gotham ovals and oval stars in light grey g06, medium grey g13, dark grey g07 and black matte 210 reminds me of...

Ruffles scarflette ($40) by homelab. I like the funky knit - the dark grey keeps it from getting too kooky.

Hakatai's ashland series (crystal blue iridescent specifically) reminds me of...

KiwiandCompany's hand-knit teal blue cowl ($54).

Art & Ciment have so many beautiful tiles on their website (I could of spent hours rummaging around.) The Rustik 4-12 and Tradition 4-16 cement tiles are reminiscent of ...

The luxury button scarflette ($48) by Tortillagirl. I'm digging the chunky cable knit against the girly button detail. She also has these in cream with floral wooden buttons...

This crocheted scarflette ($40) by MarienneS brings to mind another bold yet feminine pattern...

The Baroque collection in Midnight from Style bath and kitchen.

Sheknitsamy's organic cream and caramel cowl ($38) has similar colors to...

These beautiful art deco tiles from California Pottery and Tile Works.

Done! Now you have all your neck warming and wall treatment links in one place. Don't say I never did anything for you.

spicy turkey and acorn squash

2008-11-10T10:39:00.000-08:00

Although fall in Los Angeles isn't as crispy-leaves-falling-a-riffic as on the eastern seaboard, my taste buds start to yearn for squash around this time of year.

Last week I was inspired from a posting on The Kitchen about filling an acorn squash with garlic cloves, which then led to another posting about Sweet and Spicy Squash.

I HAD TO MAKE IT. Well, I should amend that I HAD TO BUG K.C. TO HELP ME MAKE SOMETHING LIKE IT. Cooking alone is not my favorite thing. I find stuffing two people in my little kitchen much more interesting. Here's what went down in chilly Marina Del Rey last week...

Below is the original recipe, which we riffed off of:

Sweet and spicy Squash - serves 1 (I think it would serve 2)
1 acorn squash
2 teaspoons olive oil, or to taste
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
Preheat oven to 375F. Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the strings and seeds. Place in a small pie pan or baking dish. Rub one half with the olive oil, coating the cavity well. Then rub in the curry and chili powders, and some salt and pepper. Rub softened butter in the other half and sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger.
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the squash comes up easily when scraped gently with a fork. Let cool for a few minutes, then eat straight from the rind, mashing it up with a spoon.

We decided to forgo the sweet option, and instead added a few hot peppers from my porch garden that were ripe (serrano and mexibelle to be precise).

First, the prep:

First we halved the acorn squash, scraped it clean, rubbed olive oil in the cavity, and then filled each half with 4 garlic cloves, and diced pepper (each half got half a serrano, half a mexibelle).

In a bowl, I tossed the seeds from the squash with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Save these for addition later.

Put the squash in the oven for 50-60 minutes at 375F.

While the squash was in the oven, K.C. sauteed some olive oil, minced garlic, cumin, oregano, parsley, hot sauce (Cholula), salt, and pepper. Then he added the turkey, and when it was about 75% cooked, he started adding Bud Light.

Yes, Bud Light.

Just keep adding a splash of beer so the turkey is cooking in broth (like in the picture). We used a whole can when all was said and done. The last few minutes, let the beer broth cook off so the turkey will be less soupy and more dry.

After 30 minutes, we removed the squash from the oven, and added the turkey to the squash cavities (just put it on top of the garlic and peppers).

Back in it went.

10 minutes later, we removed the squash/turkey again and added grated sharp cheddar to the top (about a 1/4 cup each). We also added the seeds to the pan to toast.

Back in it went for the final 30-40 minutes of cooking.

After a full hour of cooking (depending on the squash size, it could be up to an hour and 10 minutes), we took the squash out of the oven, quartered the squash halves, and topped with the toasted acorn seeds.

Voila, a one-dish meal!

Yes, it was really good.

Feel good about buying this holiday season

2008-10-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

I've always found shopping for Christmas gifts to be a complete drag. In my opinion, the forced sense of commercialism gets in the way of drinking spiked egg nog and singing off-key to Run DMC's "Christmas in Harlem."

Last year, my family decided to give gifts to charities in one another's names and we could purchase or make one other gift. I printed up a sheet about the charity I had picked, and why I had chosen it, and then for my other gift, I painted everyone a little watercolor sock monkey card. Sock monkey baking, sock monkey walking the dog, sock monkey and a flower pot...you get the idea.

I loved the holidays last year - less stress, more egg nog. Although I spent almost as much time preparing gifts for the fam, it was way more fun. I painted, I searched the internet, and instead of a gnawing sense of emptiness, I felt good about it all.

So when Domino mentioned the GreaterGood Network Stores this month (a pillow cover on page 144) I had to check them out. I searched through the Hunger Site to find the gifts below.

Here's what they're about:

CharityUSA.com owns and operates the GreaterGood Network Stores, where every purchase gives back to a worthy cause, at no extra cost to you! A portion of the purchase price of each item you buy goes to your choice of these important causes:
The Hunger Site funds food for the world's hungry.
The Breast Cancer Site funds mammograms for women in need.
The Child Health Site funds basic health services for children around the world.
The Literacy Site funds new books for children in need.

Since its launch in June 1999, the Hunger Site has established itself as a leader in online activism, helping to feed the world's hungry and food insecure. On average, over 220,000 individuals from around the world visit the site each day to click the yellow "Click Here to Give - it's FREE" button. To date, more than 300 million visitors have given more than 500 million cups of staple food. The food funded by clicks at The Hunger Site is paid for by site sponsors and distributed to those in need by Mercy Corps and America's Second Harvest. 100% of the site's sponsor advertising fees goes to our charitable partners. Funds are split between these organizations and go to the aid of hungry people in over 74 countries, including those in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South America and North America.

Enough altruism. Let's look at some beautiful and affordable stuff, shall we?

I love the delicate pattern and rose/red color combination of these Tunisian Safia Ceramics - sauce dishes ($22.95). These are 4" across and an 1" deep, perfect for sauces, condiments, or snacks. The Hunger Site also sells beautiful Safia oval serving plates. This purchase would fund 50 cups of food.

If the other bowls are too "ethnic" or feminine for you, these Tanzanian Oval Wood Bowls ($16 to $20) would look great paired with white plates. 25 cups of food are donated with every purchase.

"Evil Eye" Kabbalah Red Thread Bracelet ( $16.95). Kabbalah, shmabbalah, I just like evil eyes. I have one in my home, and this would look great on my wrist too. Playful and colorful, and when you purchase one you fund 35 cups of food.

The Hunger Site has a bazillion scarf options. These are two of my favorites: the brown and white striped scarves and wrap are made in Ethiopia ($16.95-$19.95). I like that the pattern and color are understated, but still retain an African flavor. The hand-loomed alpaca red scarf with fringe ($19.95) would be a great jewel-toned pop of color with either a brown or black outfit. 25 or 50 cups of food will be funded, depending on the scarf.

This Handmade Burundian Basket with Handles ($29.95), with its earthy colors and elegant shape, would look great on a mid-century modern credenza. The Hunger shop will fund 50 cups of food for this purchase.

Antique African Necklace $24.95. Crafted from ancient clay beads, some over 1,000 years old. I love long necklaces like this. 50 cups of food are donated with this purchase.

Fulani Wide Cuff Bracelet $17.95. Graphic and bold in brass with 25 cups of food donated.

I love that this purse has a classic beauty, is made by Bolivian artisans and fair trade imported, and you get to tell people it's made of llama leather. Milan-Style Llama Leather Purse ($74.95). 150 cups of food are donated for this purchase.

What do you folks do when holiday buying time rolls around?

AWOL - Always West Of Lincoln

2008-10-25T23:37:00.005-07:00

My good friend Kori and I meandered up and down Abbott Kinney in Venice today. It's one of my favorite streets in LA - full of character, heavy on the sandy beach vibe, with lots of cute shops, many of which are a little rich for my blood, but fun to window-shop nonetheless. Here are some affordable finds from today:

Ananda, (a standby when I'm Christmas shopping) had these interesting crocheted-covered lamps for $78 (no hardware included). I'm obsessed with doilies lately, so these caught my eye.

Small mirror balls outside a window of Ananda - they threw swirling speckles of light all over the inside of the store. I love little details like this.

Ahhh, Neighborhood, repository of affordable jewelry that I can't resist (see my birthday gift below). This shirt fabric is lovely in its retro-ness but, alas, it fit me terribly.

We had to take a break during shopping to refuel; Jin Patisserie has a "tea for two" that Kori and I have made a bit of a habit of stopping in for when we're cruising Abbott Kinney. Earthy green tea does a body good. So does clotted cream, egg sandwiches, and strawberry mousse.

Wonderfully graphic painted brick outside one of the stores (with my toes for scale.) I like the versatility of white and blue as a color combination; it can be regal or bohemian.

Enough eating - back to gifts. Kid's clothes from Neighborhood make my ovaries twitch with desire - Jasper hearts Wren onesies with owls and Amy Tangerine-crafted Venice pride. Represent, newborns!

I also love the Supermaggie tees sold at Neighborhood. Graphic. Simple. Goldfish. Can't go wrong. I may have to buy myself a woman's double goldfish tee in the near future...

Kori bought me this Erica Wiener leaf and feather necklace for my birthday from Neighborhood after I fell in love with it. Thanks, Kori!

Tom's shoes donates a pair to a needy child every time you buy. So go ahead, it's an altruistic splurge. (flats, $62)

Street posters grabbed my eye as we moved from shop to shop.

These should of said, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EAT THE COIN PURSES.

Zingara, a relatively new addition to Abbott Kinney, calls itself a "gypsy emporium" and that is indeed an apt description. The outside of the store has a large tent-like awning in bright colors with tassles and mirrored chips woven into the fabric. My favorite change purse is the one that looks like an elephant ear pastry. Mmmm....

Zingara's Newman's Own Day of the Dead display. The layering of cultures is one of the things I love about LA.

When I saw these outside of Zingara I thought: I MUST OWN THESE RAIN BOOTS. Totally awesome. Totally affordable.

Day of the Dead/Halloween streamers - $8. These papery skeletons dance in the air currents and look quite merry.

Ecclectic, quirky, colorful acrylic candle holders for $12. They also had some funky (grey and brown elbow-length cableknit, some in bright Peruvian-esque colors) fingerless gloves, including delicate cashmere versions, that would make great holiday gifts.

Although I didn't include any images from them, Urbanic Paper Boutique, Tortoise and Firefly are some other excellent sources for gifts and housewares.

Playing for Change - documentary

2008-10-24T21:55:00.001-07:00

Roger Ridley, one of the musicians in "Playing for Change: Peace Through Music" plays on "Stand by Me" in Santa Monica.

Tonight I saw a bit about Playing for Change on PBS. The website takes fo-evah to load, so be patient. While you wait for it, watch this great Bill Moyer piece. It includes footage of some of the songs in the documentary. Seriously, check it out - about 4.5 minutes in there is an awesome, world-wide rendition of "Stand By Me." It gave me chills.

Take street musicians from all over the world and layer them so they're all pieces of the same, lush song. I wish I'd thought of it.

The filmmaker/creator, Mark Johnson had this to say to Bill Moyers:

These collections of songs and interviews serve as a reminder of the power of the human spirit as well as a means of further illustrating our global collective conscience. We live in a world with way too many starving children and way too many warring nations. As a human race we come together for birth, and we come together for death, what brings us together in between is up to us.

cupcake discovery

2008-10-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

My friend Erica and fellow blogger introduced me to a most delicious treat - FROZEN CUPCAKES. Let me again abuse the power of all-caps: FROZEN CUPCAKES, PEOPLE. BELIEVE.

The coldness brings out the textures and flavors in a way that made my tastebuds sing (bad karaoke covers of Journey songs, but still, they sang).

We had red velvet and coconut cupcakes and lychee tea - and we live close enough to one another to take the bike path to visit - ah, what a wonderful day off.

Santa Monica antiques

2008-10-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

The Santa Monica Antiques and Collectibles show is held the 4th Sunday of every month (and a smaller version is held on the first Sunday). I went last week on a chilly and cloudy fall day...here's what I found:

These pillows and bolster are made by Euro Linens.

I love seeing the juxtapositions of themes, textures, colors and patterns. Outdoor markets like this one are a cornucopia of inspiration.

dinner party guests - dancer/model/artist edition

2008-10-01T11:58:00.001-07:00

Exploded view part two

Spring

Part of the "Hunt for High Tech" series

Grow on you #2

These two artists would be on my hypothetical guest list for the ultimate dinner party. I'm not sure who I'd seat them next to though...

"LucyandBart is a collaboration between Lucy McRae and Bart Hess described as an instinctual stalking of fashion, architecture, performance and the body. They share a fascination with genetic manipulation and beauty expression. Unconsciously their work touches upon these themes, however it is not their intention to communicate this. They work in a primitive and limitless way creating future human shapes, blindly discovering low tech prosthetic ways for human enhancement..."

The breathing hairy shoes on Bart's site give me the heebie jeebies. And I like it!

Also check out The Hunt for High Tech video ;it's creepy, beautiful, stark and lush.

red, white and blue

2008-09-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Just another alley view in downtown LA.

paddling around the marina

2008-09-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

K.C. and I bought an inflatable Sea Eagle kayak recently for all our boating needs. These are some pictures from the inaugural voyage around Marina Del Rey. The highlight of the trip was when we watched a seal swallow an octopus and then cough and hack as it dealt with the tentacles.

My mom and stepdad are hoping to come up soon and have me take them around this little shopping area. Three words: salt water taffy.

I want to live on a houseboat. Maybe not this shabby example, but you get the idea.

This is probably some of the cheapest waterfront property in LA.

Another day at work

2008-09-25T13:02:00.000-07:00

My perch 300+ feet above the port of Long Beach out on the end of a container loading crane. It was so beautiful up there. We watched a seal swim below (what a vantage point), and a little tug boat went by...

Through my viewfinder the crisscrossing angles reminded me of ancient structures. I manipulated the image below to take the cranes out of a modern context.

don't eat the cupcakes

2008-09-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

"Chinese Lantern" graphite and watercolor on doily. 20x20" $150 on Beholder.

Artist Lisa Solomon painting on doilies is so smart. I wish I thought of it since I have a serious jones for doilies. They're both useful and frilly.

This image depicts cupcakes decorated with poisonous flowers - lovely and deadly - another great combination.

In memorium - a David Foster Wallace footnote

2008-09-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

David Foster Wallace, one of the writers who carried me through my college years and beyond, died on Friday. My stomach dropped today with my friend Emilie's email, "I just heard about David Foster Wallace. So sad, and I know he is a friend of yours..."

My stomach pitched and rolled as I immediately begin googling his name, and read one obituary after another...the same words over and over again...Suicide. Hanging. Talented writer.

From the Associated Press: "Wallace, who wrote with an explosive, ironic, but deeply serious passion about subjects ranging from tennis and politics to mathematics and cruise ships, was found dead by his wife in his home Friday night..." For some reason, it's the word 'explosive' that really unhinged me, or maybe resonated. His work did both for me, so it's fitting either way.

When I was 24, I went to a reading David gave at Amherst College. When I got to the front of the signing line after the reading, my sweaty hands gripping a thick copy of "Infinite Jest", I told him my friend Adri was completely unbeatable at ping-pong, especially galling since she plays with one hand nonchalantly stuck into a pant pocket. I'd read enough of David's essays to know he loved table tennis and hoped that my offer would not be seen as creepy. I calmly asked if he'd like to play, my main goal being at that moment to not let him hear how loudly my heart was beating. To my surprise, he accepted, declining an invite from a group of professors to join a group of friends and me in the student rec center. I was in heaven - here was my intellectual hero hanging out with us, chatting, and in general having a good time - and only occasionally beating Adri. Turns out, David was a really phenomenal ping pong player. I don't remember if I told him in between games what "Infinite Jest" meant to me or not. It helped shape my sense of humor and affects to this day the tone and patter of my inner dialogue. I doubt I expressed that; how do you tell someone that they are the basis for the voice in your head?

At the end of our umpteenth game of pong, I asked if I could have his address so we could stay in touch through letters. He was amused (I assume) and gave it to me. I could barely sleep that night I was so over the moon.

David and I wrote back and forth for a few years afterwards, or I should say, I wrote long, rambling letters about me, and he responded with encouraging yet brief cards. This is what Emilie was alluding to in her email; calling us "friends" is a generous use of the word, but at the time, I considered him a confidant. He was my sounding board, and was a nice enough man to recognize that his opinion mattered to me. His cards were funny and sweet; one Christmas it was a moose with xmas lights strung through its antlers with news of his dog and family in Illinois. I can imagine he was an excellent professor - he had an encouraging gentleness to him.

After starting film school, we fell out of touch. Through the news, I kept up with his move to Pomona, and read his hysterical articles and essays in various publications, and then his darker and more difficult books, and thought about reconnecting with him but never did. Always too busy, wondering what my true motives were (to recapture my 20's? Hassle an inspiration of mine? Try and reconnect with my brazen self?), and so I talked myself out of it every time it popped into my head.

He was a brilliant and kind soul but given our short and relatively formal friendship, I miss what he represents about me as much as who he was: he was my 20's, when I was fearless, searching, and exuberantly young.

I started to say something here about the desperation he must of felt, but it's obvious. The human mind is so damn powerful, and his was the smartest, most nervous, knock-kneed, scrawny, stuttering in his excitement, spelling bee champ sort of mind. I'm struggling with how to sum this up, to say eloquently that I'm sad and angry and want to shake my fist and say, "Dammit, there were other options." That's the thing with suicide. There's no feedback and growth after the mistake.

I'll miss knowing he's out there as I've imagined him these past few years: teaching in the desert, writing on the weekends, and, to blow off steam, playing ping-pong with students.

Like a petulant child all I can think is: I don't want this to be the ending to his story.

Mr. Hyde - Z Gallerie

2008-09-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

Although most of the time I think Z Gallerie is to home decor what Spencer's Gifts is to bachelorette presents, there are items that catch my eye...

and now for the Mr. Hyde side of Z Gallerie, lighting edition.

1. Coco stick table lamp: $129. I like the unusual texture of this one; it's got a rough and modern pottery feel to it.

2. Casablanca lanterns: $29.95-$49.95. These would be great paired on a back porch with...

3. Moroccan pillar holders: 5" $12.95, 7" $14.95.

4. Salt tealight holders: $7.95-$12.95. My brother and I each bought one of these. The soft warm light they put out is lovely.

5. Capri table lamp: on sale for $149.99

6. Colby table lamp: $199. I love how the base illuminates too.

Dr. Jeckyll - Z Gallerie

2008-09-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

Momma always said if you don't have something nice to say, well, shut it. So I'm going to give a little jab at one of my favorite mall stores, and then praise.

As I mentioned in my last post, a lobster wine bottle holder was the impetus for some pretty intense dreams last week (and a drawing). How'd I place myself in the way of creepy crustaceans? My brother, his girlfriend and I went to the Southcoast Plaza mall down in the OC to pick up something they wanted in Pottery Barn (safe and vanilla Pottery Barn) and they gleefully dragged me along on a visit to what is the Willy Wonka factory of houseware stores...

Z Gallerie.

I love me some Z Gallerie - hand-over-mouth moments abound, like with the golden lobster statue below. "I'd like to thank the Academy and my agent..."

My brother, a connoisseur of tacky goofball gifts, oohed and ahhed over this particular sculpture, wondering who he could give it to. His girlfriend, with the steely resolve of a SWAT hostage negotiator, talked him down.

This twig coffee table is like something out of The Dark Crystal. Can you imagine keeping this thing clean?! It frightens me.

I've witnessed this crystal ship chandelier in person. It's massive, 3 or 4 feet tall, and can be yours for $799.

Saying something snarky about this gazelle side table is like shooting fish in a barrel, then clubbing them with the aforementioned twig table, pouring rubbing alcohol on their wounds, and...well, you get my gist. I won't do it.

As the lobster has shown us, where Z Gallerie really delivers the gasps of, "No, it can't be..." is with their tabletop doo-dads and accessories.

Behold: the goes-with-everything tiger rug (on sale!), fluffy, slightly disturbing owls, fa ux crocodile skull (buy the saber toothed tiger skull and you've got some bookends), and a large, shiny, barracuda. To go with your lobster statue, natch.

lobster creation myth

2008-09-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

I'm convinced I had a dream about a lobster in a tower laying eggs that float out of its tank and populate the heavens with stars because of a trip to Z Gallery. My brother and I marveled over a wine bottle holder that was a golden lobster on its back (!!!) That tacky thing obviously made an impression. This is a work in progress...

Music that makes me do the Snoopy dance

2008-09-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

Holly over at Decor8 posted some of the music she's been listening to lately - and she encouraged her readers to do the same. So here's my contribution:

John Mellencamp's new album "Life, Death, Love and Freedom" is my latest itunes purchase. The song "Mean" is a current fav of mine. You can listen to it free at last.fm.

Willie Nelson's new song "I'm Alive" - awesome, upbeat lyrics.

Cinematic Orchestra's album "Ma Fleur" is beautiful background music when I'm drawing. Like a lovely movie soundtrack for my life.

Check out Imogene Heap's live rendition of "Just for Now" on youtube. I'm wowed by her ability to create such a lush sound with just herself and a sampler. I best she's great live.

"Gypsy punks" Gogol Bordello has been on my radar since I saw the wonderful movie "Wristcutters: A Love Story" at Sundance a few years ago and fell in love with the soundtrack. Also, as someone with a soft spot for eastern europe, they're always on my ipod. My favorite Gogol Bordello songs are "Wanderlust King" and "Through the Roof n' Underground." Great running music! The youtube video of them performing "La Isla Bonita" with Madonna will put a grin on your face, promise. If you find the lead singer Eugene Hutz as captivating as I do, there is a great documentary called "The Pied Piper of Hutovina." Rent it and support quirky docs!

father's pottery

2008-09-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

My dad has been a potter for longer than I've been alive, and I've been collecting his pottery for as long as I've been alive.

Today I wanted to photograph some of his bowls and cups in a way that focused less on the shape of the pieces and focused more on the painterly quality of the glazes and surface texture.

Above are a set of little sake cups.

Below are the interiors of two bowls.

Okay, I'll show you a piece in its totality. These little acorn pots are some of my favorites. They have such an unassuming and jolly character that I had to have two of them so they could keep one another company. They'd look great with mid-century modern decor, don't you think?

Lichen and rust, metal and water, all sorts of imagery springs to mind when I look closely at his work. I feel like there is always something new to see.

I love lamp

2008-09-07T17:54:00.001-07:00

Conservatory Lamp: glass, steel, fresh moss.

Donovan Designs , based in Southhampton, NY makes hand-crafted lamps. That's an understatement though; it's like saying Orson Welles made movies. From gorgeous steampunk-themed options to inverted pyramid chandeliers (okay, those are a little too much for my tastes), they've got all sorts of illuminated trickery up their sleeves.

Air Stream table pendant lamp: polished steel, silver and cedar.

This lamp is my personal favorite, and, of course, is available only to the trade. I wish I was in the trade. Then I would own this lamp. Bonus: the dimmer is a cast silver turtle. My heart aches. File this under "If/When I Win The Lottery."

I can't believe it's not butter

2008-09-04T18:11:00.000-07:00

I cracked open a new container of spreadable whatever this morning before work, and just had to take a picture, thinking it might be a nice image if manipulated a bit...

skiing is purty

2008-09-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

No, I've never gone skiing before. But K.C. has. Maybe once or twice or a couple hundred times. So when Sport Chalet had boots and skis for a steal (I mean, really, $1000 marked down to $150?) I bought them for our winter trip up to Idaho. Besides the sale price, what really amazed me was the beauty of them. I've never looked closely at skiing gear before and just assumed it was all gaudy graphics and xxx-treme colors. Well, okay, purple and iridescent green is pretty extreme, but I love the combination, and skis that glimmer like tattooed salmon skin are just plain lovely.

Owl She Wrote

2008-09-02T22:40:00.000-07:00

You know that warm, fuzzy feeling you get from staying in touch with people since you were an awkward limbs-akimbo sort of person? Say, since your early 20's? Well, my friend Emilie has a blog and she's awesome and always has been.

A few facts about Emilie: she grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Vermont, she introduced me to cool bands back when I was barely knee high to an elephant's eye, and currently she's obsessed with accordions.

Etsy finds

2008-09-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

Paige Russel Designs combines clean lines and humor to create some seriously lovely pottery. Above is the Bad Beaver Vase, my personal favorite.

This soy sauce set and wool-covered tea set would make wonderful gifts for a special occasion, don't you think?

eyepiece artwork

2008-08-31T13:18:00.000-07:00

This was my job yesterday - shooting on a 40x lens, which is a very big, honkin' piece of glass, stationed in the LA river. It was a beautiful day, and while waiting for the shoot to start, I took some pictures through the eyepiece.

An impressionistic mincing water bird. (Who, much like me, was ignoring the homeless people on shore rolling bottles down into the water.)

I love the architectural dance of these bridges lined up.

eye-motions

2008-08-31T12:43:00.000-07:00

Look what you can make with a pile of glass eyes and your own two hands...

nervous and toothless!

scared and dangerous!

Generally good advice: Lay off the pickles after dinner

2008-08-27T18:02:00.001-07:00

This one reminds me of how commercials on TV make me feel - angry and overstimulated by the overly-stimulated people and images and noises and colors and sexuality and forced frivolity. That is, unless it's the one currently making the rounds on the internet with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates; that one is wonderful, loopy goodness.

And this one is reminiscent of a dream I had once where images of an owl, then other birds of prey kept slowly turning to face forward, while a voice gravely intoned, "Carnivores have eyes in the front of their heads, so as to see prey better." I woke up and thought lay off the pickles after dinner.

I'm not in a vicious mood today, I swear! Maybe it's all the owl-imagery I've been perusing. While rummaging around in my art boxes, I found these glass eyeballs (from Archie McPhee) that I've had forever...and then I wanted to try out the macro focus on my newly repaired Canon SD800 IS (thanks, K.C.!), and, um, somehow we got here.

Since I was a kid, I've always loved morphing hands and feet into other things. During college, I often blurred the lines between animal and human imagery in my photography, and I guess I still find it intriguing.

Owl-a-riffic gift ideas

2008-08-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Funny postcard design from Tinaseamonster. When I read this I thought, "I love octopi. And owls. And cupcakes. Am I, egads, swayed by trends?" Whatever: they're easy to love, no? However, I hate zombies. Even have a bit of a phobia when it comes to the undead. Alllrighty, let's move on... My little sis loves owls. So I pulled together a few favorites from Etsy and thought I'd share them with you.

A few owl-y gift ideas, for a hostess, new home owner, or little sister.

3-D crafts are inherently awesome, and this card by Melissa Kate McMurtie is no exception. This brings up a gripe of mine: why isn't there more 3-D in our lives? You know, just in general?

A coaster from Robot Candy, who has other great owl coaster designs on their site (and vintage National Park ones I dig too).

Artgoodies rustic block-printed hand towel would make a great housewarming gift when coupled with a few of their other designs. I'm just sayin'...

As someone who wears primarily tee-shirts with animals on them at work (one of the perks of working on a TV crew: no stuffy work clothes), here are some owl-tastic fashions:

Shrinky-dink rings from Dillon Designs. I like the gold-edging detail especially.

Kalika Designs makes these simple gold earrings. Doesn't it look like the owls are concentrating? Probably tackling some calculus problems.

A macrame necklace from MacraMe. Turquoise is a weakness of mine, I must admit, and I love to see macrame used so delicately. As a kid growing up, my mom made these gigantic brown hanging planters with big wooden beads woven in that held ferns. Cue the 70's flashback sequence...

Deliciously simple white owl earrings from Candy. They're girly but with a handmade feel, like a doily made out of reeds. Me likey.

This "cycling cap" by Paula Deer rocks my world. I would wear this when the cold January fog rolls up from the ocean. AND IT'S REVERSIBLE. Who doesn't love having more options?

An octo-owl messenger bag may not be for everyone, but I love it! This is screenprinted by Deadworry; they also have this image on tee-shirts for guys and gals. Have you ever watched videos of octopi solving puzzles given to them by scientists? No? You are missing out. However, consider yourself warned: once you learn how smart they are, you may not eat octopus again.

I like to keep my civilian clothes relatively simple and liven things up by throwing in a belt or scarf with character, so this belt buckle by Caught Red Handed caught my eye.

I can't say I've ever been a fan of wall decals. They seem too trendy. Much like I feel too old to shop at Abercrombie and Fitch, and the music in there is just too damn loud, I'd feel silly with a sticker in my home. However, I found both of these on Etsy and have to say, they made me reconsider. I love how the dark brown owl by Sweetnothing looks on the painted wall, and he's perfect for a high unused corner. The second little guy from Oneup Designs looks great next to that lamp. Both are available in a wide variety of colors, so you can go as bold or subtle as you like. Hoot, hoot!

A beautiful pairing

2008-08-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

My little sis is in town, so my brother, his girlfriend, K.C and I headed up to Santa Barbara for some wine tasting last weekend.

We took a Cloud Climbers Jeep Tour, and our last stop was at Artiste Winery in Santa Ynez.

Our tour guide, Jeremy, told us they had easels set up for painting - AWESOME. I don't care if it's tempera paints. Drinking fine wine and painting, I can't think of a much better pairing.

My brother and sister, creating the masterpiece. The three of us took turns tasting wines and adding to our Frankenstein creation. Behold -

IT'S ALIVE!!! You should of seen the looks we got from horrified wine-tasters as they looked at our family portrait :)

How I felt about the closet before our makeover

2008-08-15T15:06:00.001-07:00

The year 1978. My drawing of The Incredible Hulk's father. It's like Edvard Munch's The Scream, but greener.

Organizational details

2008-08-15T13:22:00.001-07:00

I think we can all agree that living in 811 square feet with a partner requires smart use of space. My work jackets (layers, layers, layers!) were big and bulky on the back of the bedroom door, and we wanted to get them out of there, but with the laundry closet being what it was (which is to say, looking like a bombed-out abandoned shack straight out of The Grapes of Wrath), we couldn't figure where they should go.

Being frugal (after the Container Store sticker shock) and smart like a fox, K.C. cut off the over-the-door hooks and drilled holes to hang the rack in the closet. (side note: when he suggested modifying the rack, I blurted out, "YOU CAN DO THAT?!" He looked at me like I was crazy. Apparently they make tools that can cut through metal. Who knew?)

The rack fit the white utility-closet vibe well, and was the perfect size for the wall. We found that designing a useful storage space isn't just about filling the whole space with shelves; usable vertical spaces are needed as well.

K.C. was an amazing partner in this venture - it's the rare person who can handle me flitting from one idea to another and keep the train on the track. And, as you may have noticed, he's rather handy as well. Did I mention he brought our dryer tubing up to code as well during this process? (Another blank stare met my question of YOU CAN DO THAT?!) I am often in awe of his ability to fix things, like dishwashers and dryers and cars.

I've never felt more domestic than when deep in discussion about where a flippin' drying rod should go. Definitely not the rock n' roll persona I dreamt of in my 20s!

Anyway, we didn't want to give up shelf space for a rod, so K.C. zip-tied a dowel to a shelf, in an otherwise underutilized tall and narrow space. Like duct tape, zip ties are a near-perfect invention.

So I have a lot of shoes. In a one-bedroom condo, it's not, shall we say, practical. Work shoes, dress shoes, boots, and flip-flops for every conceivable color combination, they all add up.

I had looked at the IKEA options for awhile, but they were all a bit cheap-looking for my tastes or didn't fit the space I had, and to make them visually appealing seemed like a lot of post-purchase work, which I didn't want to do. The Container Store had this awesome shoe rack that was the perfect size for this little alcove by the bedroom door. It wasn't cheap (about $170), but it was a very worthwhile splurge. All work shoes go in the new shoe unit, and packed away in plastic bins in the *new* closet are out-of-season shoes, so the only space I needed was easily met with what I already had available in the clothes closet. My soul is at rest.

Lesson learned? Perhaps having every pair of shoes I own in a bison-sized pile in the laundry closet for the past year wasn't the best idea.

Long story short: I *heart* our new utility closet!

Inchoate yearning aka the closet makeover

2008-08-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

A transformation more breathtaking than any contestant on The Swan took place in our condo this week.

The before picture. I'm embarrassed. Truly. If this were my psyche, I'd need to be heavily medicated.

First, we tore down the second, lower crap-tastic shelf and removed all the cedar lining the back wall. (When I say "we", I mean "K.C. did it, I stood back, taking pictures, and making silly comments about how our closet smells like a hamster cage what with all the cedar.)

Spackling, priming, sanding (cough, cough - wear a mask! -) and a few coats of ultra white satin paint later. I love to paint, so I took over at this stage while K.C. recovered.

K.C. begins installing the Elfa shelf system (we bought ours at The Container Store).

A word about The Container Store. Simply, I love it. I imagine they were going to name it "Inchoate Yearning" but "The Container Store" was easier to spell. Actually, it freaks me out how it makes me feel, like the most ancient lizard-brain part of me is directly tapped into. The calm happiness I experience upon gazing at shelves upon shelves of small containers is unnerving. Clear boxes, fabric boxes, metal boxes...nirvana. The Container Store and the organized control it represents makes me question the Meaning of Self. Eckhart Tolle probably has something to say about this, but I'm not sure I want to listen.

Okay, back to the Elfa system. Granted, it's not the cheapest system available (hello, Rubbermaid and Freedom Rail system) but we knew we could get all the pieces nearby without having to wait for an order to come in (The Container Store is well stocked with Elfa) and it's a high-quality, easily installed, very flexible system. The shelves come in five standard lengths, and three depths, so we only had to have one shelf cut to size (which doesn't cost extra, but we wanted to avoid lots of nit-picky measuring). Although we went for the basic-white-utility-closet look, Elfa has lots of nice finishing options. If you can wait for the yearly sale (last year it was just after the holidays), do. I wish our free time had lined up with that sale so we could feel great about the extra storage and money we saved. Alas, it was not to be.

Tools to have on hand: a stud finder, level, screw gun and patience. Lots and lots of patience. We didn't use The Container Store's help in designing our space, mainly because we're stubborn, but also because we needed to see/feel the pieces in the room. We originally brought home a bunch of 20" deep shelves, but those felt like they were taking over the space and made the closet feel really small. In the end, only the top shelves are 20" deep, the rest are 16."

I'm not ashamed to say I have been caught by K.C. - and I have caught him - standing and gazing at our new laundry closet with a look close to love.

favorite foreign finds

2008-08-10T13:02:00.001-07:00

My home is full of memories of my travels. Here are a few of my favorite unexpected juxtapositions (Bulgaria and New Mexico?):

A little handpainted box from Bangalore, India sits underneath...

...two watercolors I discovered at a flea market in Sophia, Bulgaria (costume designs for a Midsummer's-esque play), which flank a grass woven Hopi bowl from Gallup, NM.

In the kitchen, a small doo-dad: a glass evil eye to ward off bad spirits from Plovdiv, Bulgaria, which hangs on the window next to...

...this folk cross from Oaxaca, Mexico. Besides the little metal charms nailed to it, I love the vibrant turquoise and mustard yellow color pairing.

evocative titles

2008-08-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

I always envision the person who names paint colors sitting in a dim room, illuminated by a pool of light from a desk lamp, old dictionary on their lap, glasses sliding down their nose, murmuring word combinations like "wooden spoon" and "unicorn pearl" to themselves, jotting furiously with a nub of a pencil on a yellow legal pad...

but maybe it's not done like that :)

the eyes have it

2008-08-07T16:17:00.001-07:00

Croatian graffiti

2008-08-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

Two things I love to photograph wherever I go: antiques and graffiti.

Zaghrib has a preponderous amount of militant monkeys and eyeballs.

The gift for that friend who likes little funny things

2008-08-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

OMG! I want about a dozen of these joke boyscout patches.

monkeys and art

2008-08-07T11:38:00.001-07:00

Following up on the last post with the sad monkey, I realized I have a mini-theme in my home of monkeys in or around art...

On the fridge is a postcard by a friend of ours, Karen Baker. Her series of images of The Baby are funny and sweet, you can check them out here. This one of The Baby flying through the air is held up by a magnet I made out of stuff found at Archie McPhee's in Seattle.

In the bathroom I have a framed letterpress print from Elum Designs.

It's called "Snakeskin" and it matches my monkeys perfectly :)

The saddest monkey in the world

2008-08-07T10:51:00.000-07:00

I was frustrated while sketching, and this little guy popped out.

I told him to go out for a run or bike ride and he'd feel a lot better, but he said something I shouldn't reprint here.

Pet Purgatory

2008-08-06T23:07:00.000-07:00

At a rest stop on the I-15 between Vegas and LA. Just in case you didn't think that this barren stretch of desert was suitable for your pet, this "pet area" sign should set you straight.

There was an emo-ish teenager taking a picture of the same scene...we bonded when our eyes met over our cameras. "I know, totally desolate, sad, funny, droll" was the psychic exchange. Or maybe I'm imagining things.

Monster take out

2008-08-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

Birthday card illustration/photography photoshoppery for my friend Thomas.

cow skull in red

2008-08-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

I love combining simple texture pictures that I take with little sketches - finding the right balance between the two is the best part. (Click on the image to view it larger)

Close encounters of the moose kind

2008-07-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

This young bull moose wandered into our camp on the second day...

...I guess this campsite was right on a moose trail.

We scared another one later in the day washing dishes.

(Let me clarify - WE were washing dishes, not the moose. He got within 10 feet of us before K.C. and the moose looked up and noticed one another at the same moment. Much scrambling on the moose and my part ensued.)

*Kids, don't try this at home:

apparently, moose can be super dangerous,

but Jr. wasn't too threatening.*

Montana Antiques

2008-07-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

I love photographing antique shops - every area of the US, and other countries (I'm looking at you, Bulgaria) - has its own tchotchke flavor. It's an anthropological adventure...

Home Sweet Modern Home

2008-07-31T21:03:00.000-07:00

Brian, a friend of mine, just completed primary construction on his awesome home in Bozeman, MT. K.C and I were lucky enough to be the first house guests.

There are all sorts of wonderful industrial/modern touches, like these stair lights that Brian designed and built.

Wind Caves, Darby Canyon, ID

2008-07-31T18:40:00.001-07:00

Inside the Wind Cave...the water was just above freezing.

Underneath the waterfall, cooling off.

Weather in Idaho

2008-07-31T18:34:00.000-07:00

day one we try to go for a hike in the Big Holes area - and thank god we were still in the truck when grape-tomato-sized hail started raining down... and the next day...

Darby Canyon, near K.C.'s house.

This was easily one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever gone on.

Pictures from canoe camping in Grand Teton National Park, WY

2008-07-31T18:18:00.000-07:00

K.C. paddling up Leigh Lake to our first campsite...

This was the view from our second campsite. Seriously.

This picture whispers sweet nothings to my soul every time I look at it.

birthday watercolors

2008-07-31T18:12:00.001-07:00

dramatic gopher for my friend Mark...

and turtles for K.C.

boot scootin'

2008-07-31T18:10:00.000-07:00

Photoshop composite of my cowboy boots on a ceramic stone-like piece by my dad.

inspiration from looking down...

2008-07-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

The foot photo and the resulting drawing. K.C. is cleaning out the pellet stove and dealing with a cold, so this vacation day is officially a drawing day for me...

rural Idaho

2008-07-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

View coming down from the Big Holes area above Driggs, ID.

Grand Teton National Park sketch

2008-07-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

Drawing based on a photo taken from our first campsite.

We heart our new REI tent

2008-07-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

Oh, the soul building joy of camping in the backcountry. I think we saw five people or so during our two days camping on Leigh Lake.