To make more than a brief mention of the fact that I've been beyond behind on this blog would be overstating the obvious (!), so I'll begin my return with the simplest update I can make:
SO excited to make my way west and show some brand new work at this special boutique!
I wanted to title this show "Into the Golden" as it felt like a good connection between the golden haze name, the shining gold paint present in many of these pieces, as well as a symbol of touching down in California - the Bay Area in particular!
It's been such a busy 2013 (I hope it stays this way!) and there is even more to come... more amazing projects and collaborations to share very soon!
Apologies for the low-quality phone photos (they were originally posted via instagram). Cell phone and instagram photos are great for many reasons, but image quality - at least in my case - is certainly not among them.
Anyway, 2013!! These paintings are in-progress shots of works that will be up in a group show, Sacred, this Friday at a new small art space in town, the Rear Gallery. The three pieces are all monochromatic, geometrically-based watercolors that represent Planes of Meditation: abstract linear forms on which the mind can be cleared of all else while vision is focused on the lines of color. It's been a fun series to paint, and I'm really looking forward to the show and other events to come in this brand new space.
Nicole Claveloux was born in 1940 in Saint-Etienne and moved to Paris to begin work as an illustrator in 1966. She produced many illustrations for children's books, illustrated for the French version of Heavy Metal magazine, Métal Hurlant, and had a popular comic strip called Grabote. Her work was championed by publisher Harlin Quist, who hired her as an illustrator for many books, including The Teletrips of Alala (1970), from which comes a great deal of the images in this post. Also featured are illustrations from The Geranium on the Window Sill Just Died but Teacher You Went Right On (1971; see more about it here), Gertrude et la Sirène (1971), and a version of Alice in Wonderland: Les Aventures d'Alice au pays des merveilles (1974).
These illustrations have been sitting around in my "favorite images" folders for years! I love her colorful, fantastical artwork. I recently read a comment from someone that said "she's like Heinz Edelmann's sister!" - true indeed; I can definitely see the Yellow Submarine connections in style. I would add, of course, with an imaginative touch all her own!
Claveloux made this illustration of Romeo and Juliet for a 1971 poster that a Danish bank offered as a gift to young couples when opening an account.
Some experiments with carving rubber stamps and a quick painting of a cardinal (in anticipation of the colder months ahead) that I made just before our move this weekend.
Now all of my things remain in their temporary boxed-up homes, but I can hardly wait to get everything unpacked and put together - especially the room that will be my studio space! I keep saying this to everyone I see and talk to about the process of moving, but I just really wish I had the magic witchy powers of Samantha from Bewitched and could have the whole house put together perfectly with just a twitch of the nose. It's pretty overwhelming. On the bright side, it's so nice to think about a fresh start and new ways to arrange old favorites, examining and reconsidering what we really love and what we may have outgrown.
Anyway, more updates to come once the dust has settled - but in the meantime, check out these beautiful dresses on display at the Biba exhibition in the Brighton Museum as blogged about by Miss Peelpants. Gorgeous, everything - from the clothing to the lovely illustration by Barbara Hulanicki! Wish I could be there to see it all in person!
And another for any other lovers of vintage style out there (or fashion history, or just plain old history itself), a hearty recommendation to see the film out now about Diana Vreeland - The Eye Has to Travel. It is eye candy in each and every scene!
One very special aspect I forgot to mention about the wedding in the previous post was that I was privileged to be able to create the design for their ceremony program! Abbey is an old friend of mine from college, and I just loved being able to paint this for her. The event took place on Jesse's family farm in Maryland which also happened to be where the couple met, and I've been fortunate enough to have been able to spend a bit of time up there as well! It's such a beautiful place right near the water; gently rolling hills and lots of trees, and maybe best of all - there are ponies! So it seemed perfect that they wanted to incorporate this scenery with falling autumn leaves into the image of the program cover. Drawing and painting the leaves was the best part!
The image above is a shot of the program in progress. It's always so fun to see projects start to come alive!
One of my goals for the future is to try and really get better about taking photos to capture life's events and experiences. This fall, October in particular, has been extremely busy - and while that has been a good thing, I don't have much by way of pictorial documentation to show for it. I am content in the moments to just LIVE them and not worry about or spend much time documenting it all, but it's afterwards that having those pictures is always appreciated. Nowadays things like instagram make taking and sharing photos easier than ever, but sometimes the quality doesn't translate from phone to screen. However, there is much more to speak of in terms of the positive... and having access to a camera that is just about always on me is at least a good small step.
Above is a handmade teepee on the site of a gorgeous wedding we attended earlier in October. G & I played records (mostly G, as I came down with the most awful sudden migraine out there in the woods, ugh!) and did projections with colored oils & water against the large white surface. Forest magic! Its inside was lined with beautiful patterned blankets and pillows, and hanging from the top was an iron chandelier of candles, making a perfect haven of warmth. The next weekend found me and my friend Mary selling some artwares outside at the Halcyon Vintage rummage sale. Truly a beautiful day of sun and friendly faces!
And at last, at another wedding this past weekend, when we stepped into a filter of fall.
Radio silence...
has it really been since July that I last posted? I hate to state the typical "time flies," but it has. In many ways it feels like I was just welcoming the new beginning of 2012 (maybe many of us feel this way?), and now here we are with the days darkening earlier, earlier, earlier, and the months are drawing to a close, soon to curl themselves up into winter. (!)
I have thought often of this blog and of how poorly I've kept up with it, thinking of it along the lines of just one more place that needs tending to among so many platforms to virtually share these days.
It feels like it has been necessary for me to keep my head present in the physical realm as much as possible recently and focus on thinking, making, doing. Dreaming, of course, always.
Onward and forward - I hope to be back soon with news and updates!
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Meanwhile, some other places of internet interest:
+ This interview with textile designer Isabel Wilson, via Moon to Moon.
I love what she says about seeing her designs out in the world: "I have been doing this long enough now that I see prints that I have designed all over the place, whether my name is on it or not. There is a romance in seeing my print on a stranger. There it is and there it goes. That’s it, you know?"
+ This incredible story about a Texas postman who is also a Hermès designer.
And at last, to leave you for now with this fantastic video (click on its link in youtube to read more information about it!) . . .
Colorful crystalline visions originally used for the treatment of mental disorders: following attempts to correlate color with musical notes, and titled with one of the most beautiful words I've ever heard...
