It is not often that I say this, but this image is one of my favorites that I have produced. It comes from my graduate thesis about E.1027, a house by Eileen Gray. I have been looking through my past work lately {I am redoing my portfolio and every time I revisit my thesis I am reminded why I fell in love with Architecture.}

Yet another page ripped out of a magazine, source unknown.

I have this habit of hording magazines until I get so overwhelmed with how much space they take up that I get a glass of wine, plant myself on the floor and start ripping out the pages I like and tossing the rest. As a result I have piles of orphaned pages I feel compelled to hold on to and along the way I am reminded why I bought the magazine in the first place.
...
Behold Thomas O'Brien's inspiration wall (I'd know who that is if I have saved the magazine) ... it inspires me to be more 'neatly messy' and not just messy with my workspace and it's walls. I also like the consistent use of red push pins as well as the circle images. Plus, I don't need a ladder, but I'd feel much better if I had one. It's lovely.

I've added a mobile to my Etsy shop ... made up of 4 individual metal strands with a hook at the top ... they can be hung all together or separately. I had to something with all those circles cut out from the calendar. Right now, this mobile is hanging from one of the branches in my wall.

Will get to uploading some more beasts tomorrow ... but for today, all my light is gone. I am still not used to it getting dark so early.

I know these colors will look differently on everyone's monitor, but this is a color study of mine I did for a exhibition project a few years ago ... I found it rummaging through a stack of old papers ... I used to have it above my desk and the acid yellows and greens made me happy. I couldn't help but post about it ... this was nice to find and be inspired by it again.

Nothing like a bunch of paint chips to get you excited. These ones were from Benjamin Moore.

{left to right, and top to bottom}
hibiscus :: autum purple :: cedar green :: yellow lotus :: butter
mulberry :: celdon green :: hazy lilac :: dark burgundy :: lemon meringue
mauve blush :: pear green :: amazon soil :: stem green :: cabernet
light yellow :: provence creme :: grape green :: passion plum :: light daffodil

in another life I'd like to be a paint-color-name-decider.

I became obsessed with my camera this weekend.

the results... some barnacle-like lavender.

I am beginning to get a lot more interested in photography and am excited to learn a new vocabulary. R is also going to lend me an old German camera he's got stuffed away in the closet. We're going a long trip to the desert in December so I am looking forward to alien landscapes and strange light.

.

my rest continues ... see you in a few days :)
.

After knitting and cutting paper at break-neck speeds to get ready for the Holiday Gift Bazaar {organized by Alegre of Green and Greener} I am happy to announce that I made it through safely, happily and a little wiser. My first gift fair was a great success and a lot of fun as well as a great way to meet some really amazing makers-of-all-things-wonderful!

It was also a good learning opportunity; the items I thought would do well didn't... and the ones I had thought would be hard sells practically sold out. And because I am usually buried behind a stack of paper or a mountain of yarn and am supported by a wonderful on-line, and therefore remote community, I am rarely in front and dealing with The Consumer. It was interesting to see people interacting physically with my work and asking questions .... I'm still digesting the experience and hopefully I can do it again.

I love the tree that R made for me... the beasts love it too :) I'll be uploading some more beasts throughout the week on my Etsy Shoppe.

And for now a sigh of relief and a few days of rest.

My triplets for tomorrow's fair.... not sure if I can give them up.

Meanwhile, here are the others beasts, waiting patiently for the big wide world.

Another mobile I've fallen for. This one is by Miranda Watkins.

I love the shapes of the random candlesticks I've collected; these ones come from ebay. There are some very beautiful ones on hoping for happy accidents this morning by Eva Zeisel.

Other really lovely objects::

deer by jacksonswift
cascade by michelle brand
this pattern for a jacket by Drops Design

my first set of conjoined twins

and also a nice little interview on sfgirlbybay with Sandra Monart of Friederike! I love the images of her workspace and home, filled with beautiful colors and objects... also her portfolio site, herzensart is amazing... currently I am in love with her thorn birds (below).

I've just relisted the 2008 calendar... it's still limited edition with a total of 50 in all ... It's slightly different this time because I'm using a Japanese book binding method instead of glue. Because these little guys take a long time to make, I'll taking pre-orders on Etsy and will shipping no later than December 20th.

Thanks again to everyone who has posted about the calendar recently and to those who have purchased it!

I was so happy when Gillian Bencke introduced herself to me via this blog - I had seen her parisian dolls a while ago and fell in love with them ... There is something a little melancholy about them, totally beautiful.

Her exhibitions are equally inspiring ... the masses of dolls in A CROWD Rockert art ... the princess and the pea story told with in photos in Paris at various stages of progress... the rescued fabrics, the photography, the installations, everything I love.

Not only is everything about "rescuing and redistributing," her own process is interesting, and one to which I can completely relate: "a degree in communications studies, led to photography, self-publishing, exhibitions, installations and collaborations. studies in digital media were followed by travel: a broken LOMO camera and the collecting of memories instead. somehow on the streets of paris the idea of 'dolls' from rescued fabric came to be."

And me... the connecting line between my degree in architecture and my knitted beasts is hardly straight or even remotely predictable as to where it's going.

Above: rue d'orsel and A CROWD Rocket art 2005, photos by Gillian Bencke

Back from a few lovely days away in the Rockies... tried to get some knitting done, but wasn't as successful as I had hoped. It's only 10 days until the Holiday Gift Bazaar...

I was able to check my email once while I was gone and I found out that the calendar sold out! I will definitely be making more soon (but still keeping a limited run) and will re-listing on Etsy as well as selling at the bazaar. Thank you to everyone who bought one as well as those who sent comments.

Just now jumping back into the swing of things... hence a short post today.

I cannot believe it's November already - yikes.