3/29/2008

Margaret Kilgallen

When I first moved to San Francisco almost ten years ago now, I started noticing the art of Margeret Kilgallen around town. I loved her over-sized ladies and the simple lines and colors she used in her pieces. Her art reminded me of old circus signs. I was so sad to hear of her passing in 2001, she remains well loved and acknowledged, especially here in the Bay Area. It's been a slow morning for me with lots of time spent getting lost on the world wide web. I got sucked into a street art tunnel and stumbled across this excerpt from a PBS documentary made about Margaret.

I'm also a fan of Barry Mcgee, who was married to Margaret. I love this clip from Beautiful Losers, which I can't wait to see in its entirety.

The trailer for Beautiful Losers.

3/24/2008

More baubles for Spring!


i know it's not that exciting, and i do have other stuff to tell you about.. but this seems the most crafty and fitting to put here! Yesterday was spent catching up on some things i needed to do and adding more to my Etsy shop. Jennifer was a great model for the new necklaces I made this weekend and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

Carpe Diem earrings by Mark Poulin

Remember Mark from a few posts down (who had one of my wallets from a couple of years ago?), well I saw him again this weekend at the closing of the Hare and the Hounds art show and found out he's a jeweler. We talked about Etsy for a while and I was so excited to check out his shop on there. His jewelry is fantastic! Check out his adorable creations here and here.

3/16/2008

Birdies in the shop!

At long last I've added more items to my Etsy shop! And they're all sweet little birdie earrings just in time for spring!


Tweet tweet.

3/13/2008

i'm ok. you're ok.


There should be a word for seeing things and than feeling the urge to instantly blog about them. That's how I felt when I read this post on Jezebel written about the book you see above. The book, Live Alone and Like It, was originally written in 1936. After reading the write up over at Jezebel I'm eager to buy the reissue.

From the Jezebel site:
Blase points out that not much has changed in 2008: "Magazines such as Brides owe their readership to it, magazines such as Cosmopolitan tacitly, or openly, endorse it and marriage is still sold to young girls as a worthy ambition, particularly the 'good match' of a wealthy marriage." But in general, Hillis seems to have honed in on the ageless truths of being a woman with verve and humor; she has chapters titled "A Lady and Her Liquor," and "Pleasures of a Single Bed." And, in the author's own words, "This book is no brief for living alone. Five out of ten of the people who do so can't help themselves, and at least three of the others are irritatingly selfish. But the chances are that at some time in your life, possibly only now and then between husbands, you will find yourself settling down to a solitary existence... There is a technique to living alone successfully, as there is to doing anything really well."

I especially love the chapter name "A Lady and Her Liquor". And while I don't technically live alone I totally appreciate the sentiment of encouraging young ladies (and men!!) to embrace their single lives and selves and not feel like a failure for being single. I'll totally drink to that.

3/10/2008

Peeps Movie! Project Peepway!

It's here!! At long last I'm able to post the video that Andrew and I worked on for the book Peeps . Project Peepway is the official kick off to the contest we're holding for the 'Peeps On Film' Video contest. To find out more about it click here. And be sure to pass the movie along!

3/09/2008

Hare and Hounds and lots of sun


This weekend was the Hare and the Hounds show at Blue Space, and it was such great fun. Molly had a piece in the show which is how I found out about it in the first place and I'm so happy I played! There were 50 artists, each had a piece for sale and each had a map you could buy. The maps led to a hidden piece of art somewhere in the Mission. I bought two maps and both were completely different experiences so I'm glad I went for it. Will show you my finds and tell more on that fun day soon.


As you probably know I'm not really making the duct tape wallets anymore, I've moved on to other easier to manage materials and I started to feel like cutting and sticking all that tape just wasn't good for me (breathing in epoxy is right??), but I still get such a kick out of running into people that have bought wallets from me. I met someone at the show on Saturday who said he had bought one of my wallets years ago, and out it came from his back pocket, well worn and loved. Even though I've made hundreds and hundreds I really do remember each one and it's the coolest thing to see them out in the world living with total strangers. I forget his name, but he was nice enough to let me take his picture with the wallet.

shoes that fly

i'm turning into something of a weekend blogger. which is why this walk to get tea in my new shoes this morning was so much fun. aren't they glorious shoes? they make me smile every time i look down.

a walk to get tea in my new pair of shoes





















the shoes are from Helsinki-based designer Minna Parikka whose creations include a whole series of wonderfully winged shoes.

3/02/2008

the first day of summer


in san francisco the months and the weather don't always listen to each other.






best thing i heard all week

I decided last night I would wake up early today and take a walk with my camera. I haven't done that in a while. There have been people visiting, and early morning meetings, and too many days when I wake up at 6 and just go go go. I like that blogging makes me pause sometimes. So I'll be back here later with some photos from my walk. Or maybe I won't, maybe I'll get caught up in the way the city looks at this hour and not take a single picture. I'm just going to see what happens.

This morning the first thing I did was turn on my radio and I heard the last couple of sentences of Laurie Granieri's essay for 'This I Believe' it's all about leaving work at 5 and not stressing and working yourself to the bone to get that corner office. It resonated deeply with me, because some days I work too long and too many amazing interesting people in my office forget their outside lives and stay in the office for 12 hours straight without seeing the sun or pulling themselves away from the computer. I think working that much can become addictive, and I think it's something too many people do. So Laurie's essay was the best thing I've heard in a long while. You can read it and listen to it here, I already forwarded it to some co-workers. I think it's a good reminder to get passed around. Now I'm going outside.