For those of you who live in New York City, Kate’s Paperie in Soho is having a “moving sale” so right now everything in the store is 20% off, and rumor has it, as it gets closer to the moving date, the prices will get even lower!

And I heard about a new book over NPR today ~ I Like Food, Food Tastes Good: In the Kitchen with Your Favorite Bands ~ the title is quite self-explanatory. It’s a collection of recipes from indie bands including Belle and Sebastian, Death Cab for Cutie, Camera Obscura, etc., showing that not only do these people have great taste in music, they’re also foodies too!

Creating stylized character illustrations that reflect her spunky personality, Courtney Reagor is putting together an impressive portfolio of work. She recently exhibited a selection of her pictures at “fully blown”, a group illustration show in Riverside, California. I’m so excited to get a glimpse of the desk and materials she uses to put together her artwork. She took time from her busy schedule to share her thoughts on her illustrations, her workspace, and her materials:

“I’m currently working on maintaining my sanity working retail, scribbling in my many notebooks, and getting overly excited about small freelance jobs.”

“The tools that I rely the most heavily on are: mechanical pencils, any paper surface, my scanner, my iMac, and my water brushes, ( the base is a vessel that holds water, ink, etc). Mechanical pencils are my favorite, not even the fancy ones, just because I can never keep track of my erasers and pencil sharpener. Part of me wishes that I didn’t need my computer so much.”

“My home studio is nestled in the downtown part of Savannah, Georgia, so I’m constantly being peeped on by tourists floating around the area gawking at the architecture. My computer sits in a pretty high traffic area of the house that I share with two of my closest mates. In my corner of the studio, I have a collection of ceramic masks and a print by Joe Sorren. I store most of my materials for sculpting and painting in an old white medicine cabinet that I found in my late grandparents garage. Often times I travel up to my bedroom where I keep my laptop if I need to escape from chit chats and our dogs that use the studio as their personal wrestling ring.”

“I love getting paint everywhere and creating things by accident with different messy materials. But I learned that I can create those accidents without the mess, which allows my turnaround time to be much faster. I hate that it keeps me inside on sunny days, which is why I prefer to work at night.”

“Part of the style that I have grown accustomed to is reusing found textures that I like to subtly incorporate into my drawings. Also, I collect jars to keep collections of brushes and use for water containers when I paint.”

“If I had access to any materials, I would want to have my own kiln in a ceramics studio. I would create busts of characters I’ve drawn, and a slew of mini figurines. I’ve always wanted to stock my cabinets with dishes and mugs that I’ve hand made. But my ultimate dream project would include having my own printing studio. I would die to be able to pull prints all day for the rest of my life. I wish I had more practice with screen printing, etching, and lithography. If I had a printing studio, I would create posters and limited editions of my silly drawings… But i would love most to print and bind my own books. I keep telling myself, it’ll happen one day, even if I’m old and grey.”

{Courtney writes more about her adventures in illustration on her blog, and many more of her fabulous illustrations are posted on her website.}

We took this photo on our way back from Boston, through the smudgy train window. It’s strange how there’s so much adventure and romance associated with taking the train across Europe, while we overlook the fact that there’s just as much nostalgia and beauty in the little American towns along the Amtrak railroad line.

With 3 printed maps and a list of stores and restaurants, we spent the past weekend exploring Cambridge and Boston. My favorites: old-school envelopes and notebooks at Bob Slate Stationers, funny household gadgets at The Museum Of Useful Things, pancakes at Brookline Lunch, vintage books at McIntyre and Moore in Davis Square, the super vision exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art on the Boston waterfront, and the kaleidescope cameras at the ICA store. Thank you so much to those of you who recommended these places to us!

This time last year, I put my first handmade book on Etsy. I charged fourteen dollars for it, got a number of e-mails asking what glue I used to make my books, a number of kind suggestions saying that my price was too high, and zero purchases.

I decided not to change my price. I tried a different route, setting up a one page static website and contacting stores by e-mail with a link to the photo of my journals and a written description.

A week later, I signed my first consignment agreement with a store in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Two months after that, I was completing my first big wholesale order for a museum design store. And at the same time, from features on several design blogs, I began to receive a steady stream of direct orders.

What I learned right from the beginning, which I’m still seeing each day, is that there’s no single “right” way to go about setting up a store, creating a brand, and getting products into the market. And just as there’s no single way to start, there’s also no prescribed way to grow. Maybe it’s that unpredictability, and the challenge of rising up to the unexpected opportunities that I encounter, that make running Five and a Half so much fun.

Of course I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without the help of all the people I’ve met ~ their encouraging words, their crucial pieces of advice, and their willingness to give my journals a chance ~ I am so grateful to them. And to you, dear readers, who’ve been tuning in as I babble about the things that inspire me and I ponder over inconsequential matters — thank you ever so much for comments, thoughts, and suggestions ~ with a flurry of bow and curtseys, I’d like to say thank you!

Summer is approaching, bringing with it warm sunny days of celebrating with family and friends. For Analea De La Fuente, it’s the time to see her months of work and preparation take center stage, as smiling brides walk down the aisle wearing her custom-designed wedding gowns adorned with hand-embroidered designs, French lace, and the finest Italian silks. With simple flowing shapes and the most intricate details, each dress evokes the dreams and traditions of the bride-to-be. I am in awe of the beauty of her designs, and I am so grateful that she’s taken the time to share her workspace and her thoughts:

“I am currently working with various clients to provide not only a one-of-a-kind gown, but a memorable experience in which they get to see the design and dressmaking process unfold.”

“One of my favorite things is my dress form. She has been the source of many inspirations, and has seen me through many “aha” moments. I absolutely cannot live without my sketchbook or my laptop. They keep me sane, and travel with me at all times. The sketchbook feeds my artistic side – all notes, drawings, and ideas happen there. My laptop keeps me organized, and allows me to ‘run a business.’”

“Most days, I keep a sweater (in case it gets cold), my measuring tape (because there’s always something to measure), and a vase of fresh flowers.”

“We strive to get the most efficient use of our fabrics so as to avoid waste. In many cases, we use vintage laces or beads and reinvent their uses by working them into new designs. I like to recycle buttons, or other heirlooms a bride may have that has meaning – and find innovative ways of using them.”

“The ultimate project would involve the finest silks, threads, and jewels, and handwork, from various eras. Our ultimate goal is to design “museum quality” gowns – something that will be cherished for generations.”

{To read more about Analea, her process for designing each dress, and to see her gorgeous collection of wedding gowns, visit her website, Analea De La Fuente.}

I’m working on a public art installation proposal for a non-profit organization so I’ve been scouring the internet reading about how art installations are set up, responded to, and documented. I’m remembering the life-size curiously painted plastic cows that showed up all over New York City and the orange gates in Central Park. So much paperwork and red-tape! It’s a lengthy but interesting process that I’m just starting to wade through though.

Some artists prefer to skip the paperwork ~ Jason Eppink is the guy behind Pixelator, transforming the flashing video billboard ads (that hover conspicuously and annoyingly over many of the subway entrances in New York City) into illuminated art pieces. I want to make one too! But I’d be too afraid of getting arrested to put it up.

Elsewhere, craft-related: a sneak peek of Faythe Levine’s handmade nation: a documentary about the rise of d.i.y., art,  craft, and design. And Greenjeans‘ Amy and Jae talk about what it’s really like to own and run their Brooklyn retail store which carries some gorgeous handmade goods (my latest purchase is a pair of little yellow baby booties and a matching hat for my friend’s soon-to-be-born baby).

And for the designy folks: the NY Design Meetup, with the first meeting scheduled for May!

Michi and Yen, the principals of Front Studio, spend their days creating buildings and designing interiors that reflect their insightful approach to space and style. Amidst the fast pace of New York City and the stream of projects they have lined up, they still find time to notice the little details of the things around them, in art, literature, and food. I’m so excited and thankful that they are sharing their thoughts on their workspace, their materials, and the things that surround them:

 ”We’re predominantly architects but we love all sorts of things like eating, making things, reading books and oh yes, eating. In addition to our current architectural work (townhouse addition, sales office and bakery) we’re slowly cataloguing all lunch possibilities within a 15 minute walking radius from our office.”

“We can’t work without Papermate pens, manila folders, Stylist pens, no. 2 pencils, scratch paper, lined Muji notebooks, monthly planner/ agenda and sadly our computers. Aside from the inevitability of being tied to our computers, we love having a bevy of writing implements at the ready for doodling, drawing and sketching ideas. Each year the Ardco door company makes letter-size agendas as promotional items so each year we call them and ask them to please send us a couple. We couldn’t live without our planners.”

“Our studio is white, cream and oak so we like bits of color to keep us company – a bright yellow espresso machine, hot pink slippers for schleping around the office, mostly green cacti, dark blue wallpaper and multi-colored gummy bears. We still buy CDs and so a stereo is pretty essential as well.”

“We have paper slots built into our desks where we slide spam faxes and used paper – we use them as scratch paper and when they pile up we cut them into notepads for phone messages. We save extra plastic-ware and napkins from take-out and ordering-in for use later. In the office we have a set of ceramic plates, bowls and cups so we minimize the amount of plastic and paper use.”

“Since we’re architects we don’t need specific materials in creating our work but we often use materials and samples as inspiration for new projects. We dream of having a separate room to house an entire library of wall to wall materials. And then when we dream about that walk-in-closet of materials we also start to fantasize about having another room for a woodshop where we could play with the materials.”

{You can see a stunning collection of Michi and Yen’s work at the Front Studio website, and you can follow them on their midday adventures at LUNCH.}

I just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. If you’re looking for a book to read while you’re sunbathing (when spring eventually warms into summer), this might not be the one to choose. McCarthy paints a bleak story of future America, ravaged to the core by a combination of human destruction and an unmentioned environmental disaster. It’s something on the lines of Farenheit 451 mixed with the futility of human effort in The Grapes of Wrath, set in the context of a much simpler straightforward storyline and riveted with far more horrific imagery.

“He made train noises and diesel horn noises but he wasnt sure what these might mean to the boy. After a while they just looked out through the silted glass to where the track curved away in the waste of weeds. If they saw different worlds what they knew was the same. That the train would sit there slowly decomposing for all of eternity and that no train would ever run again. Can we go, Papa? Yes. Of course we can.” (pg. 180)

I can clearly see why this book is being championed amonst literary moguls (and why Oprah has decided to crown it with one of her shiny round stickers of approval). It’s laden with layers of symbolism and imagery, intricately woven into the sparse and frightening (think: roasted babies) wasteland that the characters are walking through. There are meanings and emotions at each turn of the road, the fading memories of a past world (our current one) in each abandoned house.  

Despite the accolades this book is receiving, I won’t be keeping it on my bookshelf. It it a good read, but beyond that, I found myself emotionally detached from the characters and their plight ~ call me heartless! Their journey through the American wasteland was a bit too tortured and prolonged, and I did not appreciate the bittersweet ending, that didn’t seem to me a good way to resolve the irrevocable path to death that McCarthy had spent 280 pages creating. Perhaps if I read this book again a few years from now, when it’s my turn to be a parent, I’ll feel much more emotionally affected by it. But for now, I’m ready to put it aside and move on to another.

So it seems that on most other people’s monitors, my website has a warm tan background (which I like). But on my own computer monitor (I use a Thinkpad), everything looks lavendar and purple. Perhaps a new Mac should be higher on my wishlist. It also seems like many people on the east coast are wading through knee-high puddles to get to work today.

Elsewhere: Just One More Book!! - an interactive children’s book website of podcasts featuring reviews by parents and teachers, and interviews with illustrators and writers.  If you like podcasts, you might also want to listen to some of the great ones on Design Matters, an internet talk show hosted by brand identity guru Debbie Millman (who also writes some really thought-provoking articles on her own site). And I’ve just joined the ranks of the hundreds (or thousands?) of others who are reading Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.

Coastal Drive, oil on birch panel, 36″ x 48″ ©Nicole Strasburg.

Nicole Strasburg’s beautiful landscape paintings are a careful, alluring balance of nature’s quiet and sound. I am always really moved and inspired by her paintings, so I’m really grateful that she’s taken the time from her busy schedule to share a view of her workspace, her materials, and what she’s currently working on:

“I have just finished producing a solo exhibition titled “Tidal Change” which is now showing at my primary dealer here in Santa Barbara, California. My images are contemporary, tonalist landscape paintings in oil on birch plywood.”

(Above: “my paint table - my other appendage - the brushes ON the table are the ones in current use the ones in the bucket are either unsalvageable after years of abuse or a sampling of my father’s college brushes that are old painting companions, trophies perhaps.”)

“My materials consist mainly of Schminke Mussini Oil Colors from Dick Blick and my favorite brushes, the Manet series, from ASW in North Carolina. I work on birch plywood that I get at the local hardware store and my fabulous, woodworking husband cuts them into any shape I want. He then adheres bracer bars, so that I can avoid framing, with his manly pneumatic nail gun. I love having the stretcher/bracer bars on the plywood because it allows the painting to breathe, no boundaries of a frame keeping the viewer’s imagination from an endless horizon. I wouldn’t want to do without my husband as I remember the days of hammering the nails in with my girlie hammer. It took twenty times longer to accomplish twenty times less. He (Bill) keeps my supply of panels pretty well stocked without even being coaxed into submission. Invaluable support!”

“Other than a stock-pile of my favorite tools and materials, I have two black and white border collies that are my constant studio mates. They are raring and ready to go at any moment, so we installed a double swinging screen door allowing them the freedom to come and go at will. My other vice in the studio are audio books -can’t live without ‘em and don’t want to. They are a girl’s best friend. A fabulous book, read by talented narrator can keep you focused for hours and hours.”

(Above, “my paint table, easel, print press, flat files, movie chairs, surfboard with my painting design plus two furry beasties - home”)

“Aside from re-using and recycling EVERYTHING possible I am a member of One Percent for the Planet, businesses donating 1% of their sales annually to environmental groups. In addition, I have made my studio and home carbon neutral by purchasing Green Tags. “Green Tags are created when wind power or other renewable energy is substituted for traditional power. The result is a shift away from our dependence on burning fossil fuel to produce electricity. Using clean renewable energy is friendly to the environment and reduces emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Green Tags represent the real savings in carbon dioxide and other pollutants that occur when green power replaces burning fossil fuel.” You can find out all the details at www.greentagsusa.org VERY COOL.”

Path to the Sea, oil on birch panel, 30″ x 30″  and Sentinel 02, oil on birch panel, 60″ x 60″ ©2007 Nicole Strasburg.

“[If I could work with any materials in the world for my dream project, perhaps I’d use] recycled woods to paint on from around the world and a year-long trip to document, in images, the lands that they came from!”

{If you would like to know more about Nicole Strasburg, you can see her portfolio on her website and read about her thoughts on painting at Pentimento.}