Art Heros: Abner Graboff

from The Sun Looks Down by Miriam Schlein. Illustrated by Abner Graboff. 1954

A few weeks ago I stumbled across this Flickr Set dedicated to Abner Graboff and I instantly fell in love. I love the delicate balance of solid shapes and line in his work,and the colors he uses are outstanding. The uber-talented illustrator Ward Jenkins posted a wonderful three part interview with Graboff's son over at his blog that is fantastic (thank you Ward)!

from The Sun Looks Down by Miriam Schlein. Illustrated by Abner Graboff. 1954

Etsy Wednesday #13

Some favorite things found on Etsy recently. I love the variety of handmade and vintage goods piling up in my favorites. The colors, humor and drawing found in this group are especially inspiring to me this week. And, yeah - you'll be seeing me sporting that "Julia" necklace as soon as it arrives in my mailbox. Perfect. 

Sandwich Defender Side Plate: $31.50 by Jimbobart

Vintage Scandinavian House Blocks: $32 by MonkiVintage

Walnut Vixen Necklace: $38 by Joannarutter

Schizophrenic Original Illustration : $40 by fricdementol

Julia Necklace: $15 by minifanfan

Man With Blue Ears Flathead : $40 by murtondishes

Split Tree Log Vase : $75 by Pfleghaar

Tiny Hand Drawn Pencil Broach : $5.50 by amyawalters

KISS

Luddite Emoticons : from MonkiVintage on Etsy

I've been thinking a lot lately about the KISS principle. I first heard about it in design school - Keep it Simple, Stupid. I prefer Keep It Simple Sweetheart, or Silly, or Smartie. 

I've come to the realization that I need to keep things a bit more simple these days. That goes for my creative work, too. I recently had what seemed like a great idea for a new print (when it popped into my head). But, by the time I had enough time to sit down and get working, I'd lost all of my passion for the idea. I stuck with it, and worked on it beat it to death for a few weeks and it never got any better - it got worse, actually. I'd had too much time to think about it without actually doing anything about it.

Right after I put that idea away I got another really fun idea. Instead of waiting until I had the 'right' amount of time I acted on the idea as soon as I had a spare moment. I had to put it down again pretty quickly, but I am super excited to get back to it tomorrow. I'm hoping that if I keep working in this way I'll have more to share here.

I'm rethinking the process I use, and the amount of time I spend tweaking things with the computer. I'm looking forward to doing more work by hand and letting things get a bit messier and looser. 

Keeping it simple makes me feel simply

Luddite Emoticons : from MonkiVintage on Etsy

Empty Headed

Vintage Egg Cups : $30  from Lucky Little Dot on Etsy

The photo above could be a self portrait right about now. Except there aren't two of me (oh how I wish there were at times). When it comes to this blog I've been feeling at a bit of a loss in the past few weeks. Behind the scenes I am working on some mighty uncreative stuff right now - and there is just not that much to share that feels creative or inspiring or helpful.

So, I give you some adorable empty headed egg cups to ponder. 

More soon, folks. Promise.

over & over

 

Just getting my bearings after the past two weeks, so hello blog! It always takes me a while to get back on the horse after a time away. I had a few quiet moments with my sketchbook on Saturday and here's what came out of my pen. I have no idea were these things come from.

I'm working on a top secret poster project, and when I was brainstorming about it, this werewolf popped up to say hello. I can guarantee you the poster project has nothing to do with werewolves. But someday, I will make a print based on this song that has everything to do with werewolves. Maybe soon. 

 

Recovering

The past two weeks have been a blur of cold viruses gone wrong, a trip to the emergency room at our local Children's Hospital, dozens of boxes of Kleenex and drippy noses that would make a troll jealous. Besides the midnight jaunt to the ER we've been at home for about 7 days, and are on the mend -  but it is slow. 

So, what do you do when you've been inside for days on end and have exhausted every trick in your bag? You let your 3 year old run around with your camera, that's what. The shot above (one of 100 she took in about 20 minutes) basically describes how I want to be right now - in bed with the covers pulled over my face!

I'm not sure if the rights for this photo have been properly secured. Negotiations with the photographer went something like this:

Me: I love that photo, can I use it on my blog? 

Her: Nooooooooo!

Me: Sorry kid, I'm your mother. 

More soon, when we are on the other side of this bug!

Goldilocks

Some weeks I have nothing much to report. So instead I give you this lovely animated version of one of the favorite books in my house these days James Marshall's version of Goldilocks.  I love the subversive nature of his characters, and his drawing style too.

More soon when I find my brain.