Rickshaw

I love when people share their process. Sometimes it’s a struggle for my kids to generate multiple, different ideas for a project and it helps when they see professionals do it too. These book cover thumbnails from some of my favorite illustrators are just as good as the final images themselves.

Josh Cochran for The Borrower

Christopher Silas Neal for May B

This is my second copy of The Modernist;BJ replaced the first  one that was stolen from our car in Seattle! Anyways, I can’t recommend it enough. A lot of our favorite designers/illustrators are included like Christopher David Ryan, Olly Moss, and Mark Weaver, but there’s a load of new artists I’m exciting to learn more about. The works are  big and nicely reproduced. It’s one of the books that I feel will get revisited many times and be a constant source of inspiration for me and my kiddos.

If you’re in Houston, Domy Books has copies.

Austin treasures: The Hill-Side striped scarf from Stag for BJ, a beautiful vintage book and horn from Off The Wall, and something I’ve been coveting- a necklace from Alyson Fox’s A Small Collection at Spartan (I had a hard time choosing one piece from the store. It’s beautifully curated)

The deadlines at work are constantly changing and getting back into the routine has been tough, especially since I got so comfortable staying up ’til 2 during the holiday break. To relax, I took a mini break and did a quick pen-and-watercolor drawing of my bedside reading. My Secret Santa gave me the top two. I’m loving them all!

• Illusive: Contemporary Illustration P.3. A great source of inspiration, featuring some of my favorite illustrators, like Andrew Bannecker and Pietari Posti (pining for one of his posters in the shop)
• Irving Penn Portraits: Solid reproductions. Iconic. B. waved goodbye to him here. I hope I pick up the camera more this year.
• On Beauty: I’m so grateful that I got to see Zadie Smith. Now I can hear her voice when I read her words, and it lends them that amusing, charming lightness you find when you listen to her. Yay for $1 Sunday sidewalk sales. I promised BJ I’d finish it since I have bad (not as bad as his. heh) habits of abandoning books halfway.
• Lula #11: Pleased to see a piece with Jenny Lewis + loved Elle Fanning’s spread. Borders on Kirby has at least 10 copies left & Issues has one or two.

The Suitcase Series presents in glorious detail the lives of select artists and designers. The books are image-based, full of artwork, sketchbook pages, beautiful photographs and artifacts from where the artists live and work. The book becomes a precious souvenir of a creative journey shared between the reader and the artist.

Some things I never get tired of: seeing artistic processes, unique & inviting homes, or anything with a hand-drawn/hand-made quality. This book does it all, and Camilla Engman is the perfect subject. I’m still a little sad I never got my hands on the reused porcelain collection, but they are beautifully documented in the book!

Every year, I look forward to getting my brother and sisters’ Christmas list in my mailbox. They’re super fancy-like with images and direct links to buy the item online kind of  fancy. But the best part is getting to read the explanations and descriptions for each item as well as the banter that comes afterwards. This year, the lists arrived a few weeks before Thanksgiving- a little early don’t ya think?

I’m not sure what I want this year, but I put together a few items that I think would be nice to give. Up first, paper goods:

(clockwise )
1. Painting Today
2. The Small Object Labels & Stickers
3. Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton
4. Mike Perry Holiday Zine Gift Set ( I have a few pieces in this set and it is so worth it)

I bought Musikraphics for my digital graphics kiddos, but I happily found tons of inspiration for my other classes. The cover was enough reason to buy the book, but the inside is just as sweet. Yay, for solid reference books!

Birdcages on sale at grocery stores!? So many possibilities for July.

I’m procrastinating right now. We spent most of this weekend downtown, and I’m sad it is going to end soon. On Friday, BJ and I went to Oporto Cafe, a tapas spot, where we had no trouble finding delicious non-meat dishes. Afterwards, we had a little bit of time to spare, so we headed to the Rice Village for dessert at the Chocolate Bar, a stop to buy old-school candy (remember the zebra gum with tattoos!), and a quick browse through Half-Price Books. BJ bought “the best” book on depression, a book by one of his favorite film critics, “the best” book on Italian Cinema, “the best” history of the Civil War, “the best” documentary history of Abstract Expressionism—I’m not sure when these will be read, but… . I bought an illustration book filled with 5000 high resolution animal drawings. We ended the night at Red Door for a friend’s birthday. Pretty good for a Friday night huh?

BJ and I both got the day off from our jobs yesterday for MLK, so after our morning workout, we headed downtown to explore and do some work. First, we went to the Issues Magazine Store, where we finally found some of the magazines we’ve been missing. Then we grabbed some lunch at Empire Cafe. We looked at some antiques, ogled vintage library catalogue drawers (wouldn’t that be nice for art supplies), and left empty-handed. Before heading back home, we spotted a little store tucked away called Domy Books, and it turned out they mainly carried art books and zines! Our purchases included a Japanese graphic novel and a catalogue of children’s book illustrations.

Our goodies:

Yuichi Yokoyama | Travel

New Children’s Book Illustration | Morteza Zahedi (Iran)

Vogue Collections | Spring – Summer 2009

A view from my car window.

Today, I am constantly overwhelmed at the greatness and significance of this day. I find myself biting my tongue at my job when I hear ignorant and ridiculous talk. It seems nothing can convince people to make smarter and more respectful comments. But even that kind of ugliness can’t take away what today means to me and so many people.