I've come across many incredible images of hearts and minds recently. From top to bottom: via Don't Die Wondering; paper artist Lisa Nilsson via the Geneticist; Tjep Studio via Goldperson; Brian Dettmer's insane carving books via Karanarora via Sarah.
Speechless about sums up my reaction to this unreal spread featured today on Style Me Pretty, shot by Corbin Gurkin Photography and styled by Maine Seasons Events. It's so funny with these things. Every once in a while I get an email from a favorite collaborator like Gus & Ruby asking me for a little of this (some digital calligraphy!) and a little of that (labels for invite boxes!) and I gladly oblige. And then one day I get to see the fruits of these labors and marvel at the abundant spectacularness of it all. Thank you for including me!
Photography: Corbin Gurkin Photography / Location: French’s Point in Stockton Springs, Maine / Design + Concept: Maine Seasons Events + Flora Fauna / Floral Design: Flora Fauna / Custom Table Ruffles: Maine Seasons Events / Cake: Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott / Stationery: Gus & Ruby Letterpress / Calligraphy: Neither Snow / Tulle Posies, Dessert Table Buds + Place Cards: Paper Posy Designs / Hair + Makeup: Lisa Nichols Salon / Dresses: Lula Kate / Rentals: One Stop Party Shoppe
I'm a bit late to the Lana Del Rey party. The music really brings me back to the Mazzy Star days, when I could stomach "fears" rhyming with "tears." It feels like eating a heap of cotton candy. In digging around I found the video to Born to Die; the ending makes it too graphic to post here. But the art direction by Yoann Lemonie is an unexpected mix of high and low and camp: chateaus, making out in old cars, gilded Cathedral ceilings, tigers, blue rose crowns, tattoos, joints and red Converse and nightgowns and moody lighting. Lemonie has also directed this Yelle video (striped still above) and Taylor Swift's December. I'd love to know his process for pulling together all of these disparate images.
{Stills by Yoann Lemonie}
I recently finished a commission of "The Wild Rose," a poem by Wendell Berry (I highly recommend this episode of On Being with him). What simple, touching verses, and such a lovely present for a husband.
"The Wild Rose" by Wendell Berry
Sometimes hidden from me
in daily custom and in trust,
so that I live by you unaware
as by the beating of my heart,
suddenly you flare in my sight,
a wild rose blooming at the edge
of thicket, grace and light
where yesterday was only shade,
and once more I am blessed, choosing
again what I chose before.
Last week Amanda and I headed up the coast for a girls getaway before doing a little shoot with Jose Villa. We stayed at El Capitain Canyon, which has both safari tents and cabins to rent. What a glorious weekend. Antique shopping, tacos at La Super Rica in Santa Barbara (thanks, Joy!), ice cream and mint chocolates at Ingeborg's, a drive up Figeuroa Mountain Road, owls, hiking, dance parties in the car, cherry ring pops, drinking red wine through paper striped straws, crafting on picnic tables (do you know this tumblr, Ghetto Hikes? You must!). From top to bottom: the tents, the trees, the cozy inside, straws, hike, this sweet note I found inside of a silk nighgown at the antiques store, Jose at work + his divine office, the rainbow mottled bark of a tree (and the new header for winter '12). It was so fun to meet Jose and Joel in person, having collaborated with them on so many fun projects. Thanks so much for the outstanding suggestions, guys! Can't wait to come back!
Wow! So many new readers and queries. Thank you and please forgive the delay in getting back to you -- I just returned from Portland. I'm plowing thorugh my in-box now. I try to keep posts relevant to calligraphy and beauty here but given how many new visitors I'm getting from students via the Reed Switchboard (thank you for visiting!) I had to share a new totally insane idea I am part of in which 18 friends try to collectively help college graduates from my alma mater, Reed College, find work they are passionate about. Lagging economy? What lagging economy? Astronomical unemployment for young people? Never heard of it. Liberal arts school student stuck in a miserable data entry job five years after graduation? Not happening. Back at GBAC the motto of the house was "Never a dish in the sink." And the motto of this project seems to be "Never a Reedie in a miserable job, without the prospect of at least talking to someone about moving on to something they are passionate about." I know. It is the most insane thing I've ever heard of, and so far it's been amazing. If you went to Reed, or know someone who did, or know someone who loves to work with and hire Reedies, and gets what this project is about please email me or follow us on Twitter. And now, back to pen and ink!
When I think of the word "beauty," some of the faces of those that I love come into my mind. When I think of beauty I also think of beautiful landscapes that I know. Then I think of acts of such lovely kindness that have been done to me, by people that cared for me, in bleak unsheltered times or when I needed to be loved and minded. I also think of those unknown people who are the real heroes for me, who you never hear about, who hold out on lines — on frontiers of awful want and awful situations and manage somehow to go beyond the given impoverishments and offer gifts of possibility and imagination and seeing. - John O'Donohue
Listening to podcasts -- especially podcasts about beauty- is a favorite activity of mine while doing calligraphy. This is because I find that the word is overused; that it is often used as a descriptor of something that has come into existence out of money, not out of imagination or resourcefulness; that it can be frustratingly vague and unspecific. I can't recommend this episode from On Being, the Inner Landscape of Beauty, highly enough. It is an interview with the late poet and philosopher John O'Donohue (yes, I know that this website has all of the trappings of being incredibly woo-woo, from the Papyrus font to the Celtic music. Soldier on.) I listened to the episode three times. The conversation touched on nearly every aspect of beauty I am interested in and wonder about: the confusion of glamour with beauty; beauty's role in the workplace; beauty as an manifestation of doing work you love (and the loneliness of doing the wrong kind of work); the wistful pride of a conductor when he looks upon the soloist. Thank you, John and Christa.
My sister-in-law Sarah knows me so well-- between sending along the link to these photos and my birthday present which I'll soon share. These photos are of women working during WWII (a favorite topic of mine) via The Daily Mail via the Library of Congress. The first is a worker at the Vega Aircraft Corporation. The second is Mrs. Virginia Davis at the Naval Base in Corpus Christi, TX. That top photo? With the dress pattern and the red lipstick, and the shimmer of the coil, and the work gloves? That's what I aspire to convey in my calligraphy. Always excited to take on clients looking for this same, elusive thing.
{Photos via the Library of Congress}
Hello again! 10 days of madness! Of logos and tattoos and weddings and mugs and gold ink and vintage stamps and so many fun projects on the horizon. And, my birthday: a hike along the Rainforest Trail (thank you to Ottessa!), a surprise party at Jitlida with dear friends, a new fancy pillow, and a heap of vintage fabric (more on that later). This weekend I caught up with Molly over at Plurabelle for lunch. Get two calligraphers talking and it is nearly impossible for them to stop. Her flourscent orange nail polish is fantastic, isn't it? It reminded me of this quinciñera dress I saw in Downtown LA.
Over the winter holidays I saw the movie "Being Elmo," and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I bawled watching the trailer, and the film was no different (for me, my husband, and the 60somethings, 10-year-old and 14-year-old we brought along with). I won't give away the remarkable story but I will say that, for me, it underscored the power of pursuing your passions, finding a mentor and giving of yourself. Thank you, Kevin, and the makers of this film. Showtimes here!