argentinian inspiration

I was checking out the Design*Sponge blog and saw this post about Argentinian artist, Lucas Rise, which was inspiring to me in a few different ways.

First, he paints these vibrant, colorful cabinets in latin, tribal, kaleidoscope-like patterns that are really fun and whimsical. Great inspiration for furniture painting projects or even mural compositions.



Such intricate detail:


But then, when I went to his website, even that was designed totally in line with his overall style and aesthetic.


His own design influences are from carnaval, the circus, and the park, and the combination of patterns and colors on his site--although very busy--still works for me. He uses a few different, stylized fonts, but they complement each other and still feel fun on the site.




Celebrate bold color, complex patterns, geometric shapes and energy!

mural project #2, part 2

After the mural background color was painted, we returned the following week to sketch the entire mural from a scaled-down paper study to the full blown mural, which was 56'L x 5'6"H. Transferring the mural from paper to wall took about 4.5 full hours, and the next day we had a crew of about 15 volunteer mural painters who helped us paint all day long.

The pics below show various portions of the mural, in its sketched state and final painted state. What an undertaking!











And lastly, one of my favorite contributions to the mural:


All in all, it was a pretty huge project with a lot of lessons learned. But beyond that, it just felt really awesome to know that we made even a small difference in the lives of the residents of the Veralyne Hamilton Residence in the Bronx.

mural project #2, part 1

Location: Veralyne Hamilton Residence



The first week we went, we scouted out the location and took pictures of the wall we needed to paint.



On the second visit, we measured and taped the wall to mark the borders of the mural.



And then we painted the background: "Rocky Mountain Sky"



Next up: Drawing the mural outlines and then painting with the volunteers. Stay tuned!

nashville TN: music city usa

Last Thursday, I had to go down to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to give a presentation to the brand managers of Chattem, makers of 22 health and medicinal product lines that are probably sitting around in your medicine cabinet. Amazingly, it turned out that one of my best friends, Alicia, lives only 20 minutes from Chattanooga, so after the Thursday presentation, we had 3 fun days of exploring to do.

Nashville is a very cute little city in the Midwest, also the capital of Tennessee and dubbed "Music City USA." It's home to the cable channel Country Music Television, the Grand Ole Opry, and scores of little country bars where famous musicians are said to have been discovered.

Here, you can see that the influence of music is so great, that even signs are in the shape of a guitar pick.












I took this picture of the Lawrence Record Shop as a little tribute to my brother:


And then, of course, there was the required group of gypsy kids panhandling and singing. This quartet, led by the squinty-eyed chap on the right, happened to be crooning the lyrics of "Hey There, Delilah," and they actually sounded pretty decent.


Nashville is also home of cowboys and all things western.




Miles and miles of boots as far as the eye could see.


Here are a few of my favorite pairs:




We stumbled upon Hatch Show Print, one of the oldest working letterpress print shops in America. They still make posters the old fashioned way by hand - and I was so excited to be in the actual print shop and take in all the posters they had displayed on the walls.






These are 2 examples of their posters:




Finally, Chattanooga itself is home to lots of great little shops and the quirky Hunter Art Museum, located on a rocky bluff overlooking the Tennessee River:


Sadly, the 3 days came to an end too quickly, and I soon found myself boarding the Delta puddle jumper...


...bound...


...for...


...Home Sweet Home.

wall art

Wall art and/or removable vinyl decals have gotten to be a big craze in home decorating over the past year or so. Blik is one of the more recognized producers of wall decals. Could be an easy way to create customized walls.

Stylized graphical elements:




Simple, geometric patterns:

Busier wall themes/scenes:

MoMA's newest member

I recently did something I've wanted to do for many, many years--I joined an art museum. And the MoMA, no less--one of my favorite art museums. Never felt like it was the right time to join--for financial reasons or because I was moving around, etc. But now that I'm in NY and have decided to be here for AWHILE, I figured I had nothing to lose. And I love it. The museum rocks.

Cool pieces from the MoMA's permanent Architecture and Design collection:

Panorama with 50 Years of Helvetica exhibit in background.


Simple, yet funky posters.


Black, red, and white coolness.


Solid, handcrafted chair from Arts & Crafts movement.


A chair designed to be placed in the CORNERS of homes. Ingenious.


And lastly, a chest of drawers with differently-sized drawers...something I would absolutely LOVE to own. I'm sure I could find something to store in each of those little drawers.


There are a few other great exhibits going on at the MoMa, and I will be visiting again soon with more cool seeings to post.