if only

little patrick

i just shot these pics of ruby's friend patrick in birdlette tees at the end of the week

i hope she won't mind

two pieces by my friend and artist meghan brady.
i haven't talked to her in a while but was thinking of her tonight.
(hi meghan!)

from left to right: untitled, ramona

inspirational studio shots

ah... some fantasy pix of backyard studio spaces...
first the weehouse from alchemy architects (totally unrealistic for our little tiny backyard but the feeling in this picture is oh so perfect). they do really great work, check them out here
second, a very cosmopolitan white and lacquery garage reno from domino feb 07.
third, and most realistically, a nice shed renovation where one can work barefoot. this last picture is from angela adams' website (she is a maine-born and -inspired rug designer) and is the current inspiration for stuff i've been doing to our shed (pix to come). i love this. it evokes just enough of a mainey, islandy, breezy essence to be a happy place to work. if you can ignore that the guy does look slightly grumpy. . .

poolhouse and garage remix

how nice would it be to wake up here and take a dip in the pool? (unknown source)

lovely modern garage/poolhouse conversion (dwell may 06)

i'm obsessed with poolhouses where the pool and the house each provide oasises (is that a word? oasi?) for each other. water and shelter- two fundamentals married just a step or so away. gives a different bent to a 'water view'.

martha rich

my friend katherine forwarded me a link a while back to this west coast artist/illustrator martha rich. since then we have purchased two of her pieces and we LOVE them. her online painting-a-day site freedomwig is refreshingly personal, funny, vibrant and beautifully simple. check out freedomwig or her personal site. her handlettered work reminds me of margaret kilgallen

bringing the outdoors inside . . .

it's summertime. . .and i have been thinking alfresco, the blurring of borders between indoor and outdoor, and the whole florida/california concept of the lanai (read: golden girls), so here are some of my favorite inspirational shots where the outdoor is brought indoors. two of four of the pictures are my current favorite inspirations for clean, open air california living- from the dwell june 06 issue, story titled "the bellwether of belvedere"

clockwise from top left: dwell may 06. dwell june 06. dwell june 06. met home feb 07.

candy i bought strictly for the packaging

kids rooms

a collection of my latest faves. clockwise from top left: domino february 07, cookie may/june 07, i have no idea where, cookie may/june 07, elle decor

hudson

took a field trip to hudson, ny on sunday- it's a design mecca!

ferdinand

our friends meghan and gideon got us a onesie from ferdinand when ruby was born. . .a squirrel playing the drums. she wore that thing into the ground. ferdinand is a design studio and storefront in portland maine. they sell everything from tees to cards to dishtowels- all hand silkscreened and all unusual and quirky designs. i haven't yet visited the store but i really dig the concept of a working-studio-storefront thing. they have a pretty extensive online shop

sweetness on wheels

i love the idea of a mobile store/happening-mobile.

this adorable pink truck, conceived by LA-based artist couple leyla safai and ben pollack, is now a small troupe of trucks driving in LA and NYC this summer, serving up 'international ice cream treats', the artists' own concoction of electropop music, and a rotating supply of indie trinkets and japanese mixtapes and just all around good juju it seems. safai and pollack are available for hire- and have worked a variety of hipster events like sxsw. check them out on their website

picture from the nyt style magazine: living spring 2007

birdlette limited edition prints

here are a few of the limited edition prints i'm working on. i like to leave breathing room for thought or talk bubbles or for landscapes the cars might be driving through. . .that way people can put their own touches on them. some images are from my kids tees, others are brand new. particularly fond of the paper airplane. in a month or so they, along with the kids tees and all sorts of other goodies, will be available on the birdlette website

german felt thingies

thanks to christine to this link for a great german felt goods store, parkhaus, in berlin. as of yet they have no webshop but you can browse their collection here:

pools

clockwise from top left:
pool at the raleigh hotel in miami, david hockney's Day Pool With 3 Blues, slim aarons' photograph of cee cee guest at her pool in palm beach, still photo from Sexy Beast, another slim aarons shot, still photo from Swimming Pool, , david hockney's Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)

it being summer and just having come back from atlantis, where there is water water everywhere, i had to do a pool montage. i've always loved hockney's pool paintings. so california. slim aarons' photos could make anyone want a pool (and the moola that goes along with of course). i'm on a current slim aarons (ok yes, and california and miami) obsession. aarons' colors are so vibrant and his high-society portraiture is just yum. . .

david's obsession with malarkey

. . .and hickman, and shaughnessy, and mcintyre. david likes to collect baseball cards. specifically this kind- T206 cards from 1909-1910. they're called tobacco cards because they came in a pack of cigs. i like looking at them. they're like victorian portraits but of baseball players. someday when i have more dough i'll get him his dream card: shag shaughnessy. someday maybe they'll pay for ruby's college.
check more out here:

pottery to change your life

this weekend we went to a pottery sale at white forest pottery studio down the road. ceramic artist nancy bauch does simple, beautiful work that's super duper refreshing and inspirational. she is also a very nice lady! we lucked out and got the a bunch of 'imperfect' pieces that were actually just perfect. and her fine art- equally inspirational. i love the crocheted rocks. one of them in her gallery had a little crochet hat. which reminds me of annette messager's birds. . .

organic pioneers

stewart+brown are good peeps. the kind of peeps you want to know. the kind of peeps who manage to make organic look effortlessly (and bra-lessly) chic and running a business naturally fun in that way that californians can. karen stewart and howard brown started their organic empire a couple years ago after leaving jobs at urban outfitters (my former employer also!). their tees are supersoft and feminine and not at all patchouli scented. and their daughter has a cool color name like ours. their whole lifestyle seems lovely and inspirational. the july issue of ms living has a piece on their compound in montana

speaking of urban outfitters, their new naval yard offices in philly are like one big art installation. for great pictures check out the decor8 blog

the kid stays in the picture. . .

so. . .we are going to be in print!
print magazine, that is.
just an itsy bit, in their nov/dec design annual.
i shot this little amateur strip using the rubinator as my model.
so. . .rube will be in circulation this fall.
yipppeee. i heart design

crazy german doohickeys

http://www.okversand.com/
this berlin boutique of odd household items (mostly plastic) collected from around the world was mentioned in a recent nyt sunday magazine piece. on the 'cologne shop' page, it says "In front of the cologne shop you can get some products all around the clock, 24/7! If you need a soapholder at 3am, no problem..." how marvelously endearing! one has to love that egg purse. and the toothbrush lockers. which look like they should be dressing rooms at dylans candy bar. ummmm. . .where you could try on a bubblegum shift dress. . .