I'm back, like Bond.

Geeeeez. I disappeared again and am so sorry. Again. Things in life just keep getting crazier, and all I know to do is find a way to keep making it all work. Of course, now MY computer is on the fritz, leaving me to the mercy of my husband's schedule. Somehow I will find a way around this...

In other awesome news, the husband's show last weekend opening for the Avett Brothers at Sloss Furnace was an incredible time! There was a crowd of over 2,000 people who received him very well, and I had exclusive photo priveleges for the whole show! Go check out the photos, here.

I've also taken up playing music these days! I am teaching myself how to play bass for the all girl band I play with, Paperdolls. Go listen to our first demo over here. It is so much fun. We actually just had a photo shoot with Don Van Cleave, one of my favorite people and photographers ever. I can't wait to get the image files to show you guys!

Well, I guess when I spell it all out, I have more going on than I initially thought. Sometimes it is too easy to let yourself slip into the dark recesses of discontentment and kind of lose yourself and just go into emotional shutdown. I used to privately journal about this all the time. I finally took all the journals from age 8 to about 20 off of my bookshelf. While they hold the joys and dreams of a girl coming into herself, they also hold a lot of pain and sadness and, honestly, depression. I don't need that glaring down at me these days. Knowing they're boxed up kind of let me forget about that side of myself for a while. But the fact of the matter is, this is a part of who I am, a part of myself that I constantly have to renegotiate and while I want this space to be a source of inspiration, it's okay for me to share a little about it. Because most of us face it. If not every day, then at least once in a while. I'm working my way through it, and I feel like my emotional space kind of runs parallel to my blog space. You can all see where I am in the colors and images (and now, obviously, words) that I post here.

The best thing I know to do is to work through it. Because it's just too easy and so sad to just give in and just stop.

Anyway, I'm feeling the hintings of a little international mystery and great design. Penguin Books commissioned artist Michael Gillette to create 14 covers for Iam Fleming's Bond series, Centenary Edition collection. These books are simply GORGEOUS.

For more information on this limited edition series, check out the Official Penguin Blog, here. And also go check out the Penguin Books launch site for the books, here.

I hope you all have a blessed, wonderful day. See you tomorrow.

Beloved Curiosity: Miroslav Sasek

Miroslav Sasek was a German illustrator who created the incredible This Is book series. Each book profiles a major city or country of the world with the wonderment of a child's eye. The collection consists of eighteen books that cover locations from Paris (1959) to Edinburgh (1961) to Cape Canaveral (1963), Hong Kong (1965), Greece (1966), and so many more!

I've only recently come across his work via the Internet, but I will forever keep an eye open for first editions of these books!

Here are some of his incredible illustrations, and be sure to check out the official Web site, This is M. Sasek.



left: from This is Paris, 1959.
right: from This is London, 1959.


left: from This is Venice, 1961.
right: from This is San Francisco, 1962.


left: from This is Cape Canaveral, 1963.
right: from This is Texas, 1967.

Beloved Curiosity, David Downton.

I came across the illustrations of David Downton a few year ago, flipping through some article on fashion illustration. He does these phenomenal illustrations and celebrity portraits. Downton's signature is his use of negative space. By leaving out a detail, he brings out the greatest details of his piece. He will actually go back to a near-finished piece and start taking away until it's just right. He uses watercolor and gouache on small pieces, india ink on line drawings, and his larger pieces are cut paper collage and acetate. I love this man.

If you love what you see, too, check out the prints for sale at the Fashion Illustration Gallery.

  

Curiosity of the Day

Robert Brownjohn~ 

This guy was amaaazing.  A graphic designer and most well-known for his sequencing for the opening segments of From Russia with Love and Goldfinger, he was all about mixing design concept with burgeoning 60's pop culture.  I think these are some of the sexiest beginnings to movies EVER...

video courtesy of www.youtube.com

video courtesy of www.youtube.com

Also, check out my dear friend, Gala Knorr...she is a fabulous 

upcoming artist, based in Malaga (Spain). She does these fabulous 

multimedia pieces that capture the bohemian spirit of contemporary 

culture. She is also an incredible role model for young artists who

are making the most of the power of the Internet, using it as the 

most powerful tool for exposure.

Here are a few of her pieces...

"Aude B. Cat," from her series "Animales Interiores"

"Gitana Rubia," from her series "Los Subterraneos"

"White Rabbit Wasser," from her series "Turn On Tune In"

all images courtesy of www.mac.com/gala_knorr