Found

I found this scrap of a street poster the other day. To me, it's a rad policital statement about mental illness.

For all people, no one is ill.

Vintage Buttons!

I've been MIA from here but, I assure you, not missing from action in general. There is a lot happening that is exciting and new! Right now, I'm researching and starting to play with some ideas for a brand redesign that has brought me, of all places, to vintage buttons.

How freakin' great are these? I'm likely late to the party of appreciating these stupidly amazing pieces. If I ever come across one of these precious little fasteners, I promise I will proudly make it into a necklace charm that I wear at least once a week because, seriously, I never knew I needed a shirt with cigarette buttons until I found this wonderful book. (Source to follow.)

More Chicago collage

I've continued to play around with my Marina City building images from last year. As with most things that I do, the process seems very slow. Unlike the rest of my life, which seems to move quickly at times, I take full liberty to move as slowly as I feel like my personal projects deserve. I'm at a bit of a standstill right now, as I've been working through translating the photo to a collage to a screen print and now am not quite sure how I should finish.

I've learned a tonne about screen printing so far, though! Right now I want to introduce the right amount of depth to the final images so that the image sits comfortably on the plane between real and abstract. Hopefully I'll make some more progress in the coming months and if I happen upon a solution I'm really excited about, I'll be sure to share.

Source photo taken in Chicago last year.

Resulting collage that took what seemed like forever!

Rubylith stencil based on shapes inspired from the collage.

A screen print done with three layers of Rubylith stencils and doodles over the ink.

Brain on the brain

I'm so funny! But seriously, I've been thinking about the brain lately. The band An Horse has a great song (I don't remember the title, I swear that my ipod actually makes me less aware of what and who I'm listening to) with the lyrics "I've had too much to think," which perfectly characterizes my over-analytical nature. Being able to think things through a bit too thoroughly can be inebriating. It doesn't always leave room for free and simple doing. I digress, of course.

One of my more profound thoughts? The brain looks neat. Case in point, this beautiful anatomy book I borrowed from the library and never want to return.





source Human Anatomy by Rifkin, Ackerman and Folkenberg

PS Somewhat unrelated but amusing: My first date was with a boy named Brian when I was in grade six. We went to go see Look Who's Talking, Too with another "couple" and did not touch eachother for the entire movie. Whenever I wrote notes to him, as 11 year olds do, I always spelled his name as Brain by mistake. It really pissed him off.

Comings and goings

The winter in Canada has been strangely mild, thanks to our good friend global warming. For the first time, I decided to experiment and not buy a TTC metropass. Instead, I bought tonnes of tokens.

I'm trying to save money and walk more. I definitely walk more than I ever have but, let me tell you, it's much, much easier to convince myself to take a cab to work when I'm running late when a token costs $2.75. So saving money? Probably not. It's likely worked out evenly. But, thwarting the monopoly the TTC had on my winter travelling in past years made for happier cold months filled with discoveries I never would have had if I'd succumbed to the pressure of buying a monthly pass.

Another bonus? I have new material for yet another project. I found myself with layers and layers of paper transfers lining my coat and purse pockets. To paraphrase from a woman in a promotional ad for Hoarders, "I don't consider myself a hoarder, I consider myself a collector of things." It's a fine line, sister.

All these little pieces of paper serve as an interesting record of my city routes and I'm excited for bike season to start so I can complete my jar of winter TTC transfers and get started on turning them into something.

Medusa

One summer when I was 18, I saved every penny I got my hands on, then went to Europe for three weeks. While there, I did a bunch of things including going to the Anne Frank museum slightly stoned. What can I say? I was 18 and in Amsterdam for only a few days. I wanted to pack everything in; some things don't change.

I also saw Medusa by Caravaggio

I was in awe of the anguish on her face because she looked so much more raw than the cartoon version that lived in my mind.

I'd forgotten about my childhood obsession with the myth of Medusa until I got the best gift I've received in quite awhile in the mail on Monday. I love the idea of a woman being so powerful as to be able to turn people to stone from a mere glance. Fitting then, that I finally own a jellyfish necklace that I remember eyeing at City of Craft in 2008. The Meduse necklace by mynta, a jewelery designer from Montreal who I met at this year's show. She made me a version with brushed silver tentacles and a longer chain, which I absolutely adore. Who knows? Maybe wearing it will give me superhero powers.

The photo is from mynta's etsy shop as it turns out the jellyfish is really difficult to photograph!

UPDATE: Did you know that Meduse is the latin word for jellyfish? I learned something new today!

Fighting the winter blahs

My grandma, for as long as I can remember, gives all the women she knows Amaryllis bulb-growing kits for Christmas. She's more egalitarian now; the whole family gets them, regardless of gender. Amarylisses are strangely phallic flowers with long stems, massive blooms and no scent. Each year, the blooms are a welcome burst of brightness during the gloomy winter months.

I'm extra happy that this one turned out not only to be fuschia has multiple blooms!

Procrastination

My brother always sends me the best stuff.

Procrastination from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

source apartment therapy

Picture Files

I was introduced to the picture files at The Toronto Reference Library (TRL) last year and the first time I visited I immediately fell in love with the idea of an entire department dedicated to collecting magazine clippings and filing them in a system that sometimes makes sense but mostly doesn't.

Not only is The TRL gorgeous, it has special meaning for me because it's where my mother learned English when she first came to Canada almost 40 years ago. (Not to mention that my parents first met in a library, but that's a story for another day.)

I had the treat of visiting the picture files again because one of my friends is currently in love with The TRL for it's amazing calm energy and sense of community. After poking through the files I found a thick folder dedicated solely to trees.

Here are some quirky finds that I'd certainly never come across on a Google Image search. I just adore how someone has taken the time to write the category and source on each image—it tugs at my heart.




I've had trees on my mind lately because I've been trying to think through a logo using a tree to represent the inner workings of the brain.

Something like this, perhaps from Canada Post.

I appreciate the successful blend of colour and how the illustration is hopeful rather than macabre.

Block

The much-discussed creative block is to me, actually just anxiety induced fear. But, everyone is delightfully different, even in the ways that our creative blocks manifest! Not to mention that creativity is a process and we all go through phases where we're more productive than others. Here's a wonderful collection of designers by ISO50 who share what they do when they face some sort of creative standstill.

source swiss miss