Richard Baker's book paintings and Gideon Bok's LP Paintings

"Which books to paint then?" Baker writes. "I began to think about books that had been important and life-changing for me, but which I now felt I could no longer return to—books that held great meaning for me as a youth but lacked the same impact upon rereading...Which books to paint then? I began to think about books that had been important and life-changing for me, but which I now felt I could no longer return to—books that held great meaning for me as a youth but lacked the same impact upon rereading...As my involvement with this act of 'portraiture' has continued, the reasons for choosing which titles and editions have evolved and become more various, though it remains of paramount importance that they be familiar and of no special pedigree. In the end, these paintings stand against loss and for reverie, memory, optimism, desire, and love." Richard Baker

Gideon Bok:

Gideon Bok is painting his LPs. Love it.

Art and Design, Sweeeeeet

from forever is today

Rollin', Joey Borovicka

Roger White

Mexican loteria

Laurel Ptak

Wanderlust

I once had a small collection of airplane vomit bags (the one from Aer Lingus with Gaelic instructions was the jewel). Here are some more pleasant travel-related items: vintage hotel luggage label from Grainedit; Rhodia notebook for travel notes; old camera from Goodwill Industries; Van Gogh watercolor pocket box, and way expensive bag by Sissi Rossi.

Abstract Expressionist Stamps

Sweet! Go USPS.

Toys

For a while I was using toys in little "semi still life" paintings. I'm not interested in painting them anymore, so I decided to take a photo of my collection and then put them away. One of the pinnochios is from Italy, one from the Czech Republic, and I got the red doll and camel in Egypt. It is hard to paint toys well and I was, appropriately at the time, advised not to do so.

"Carmencita Playing" by Antonio Lopez Garcia, a painting I like a lot, has toys in it. I love those little chairs and how Carmencita's back is to us, she's in her own world.

Going Postal

Yes, I have a stamp collection -- well, I did as a kid, when my grandpa gave me a stamp album and I had a few international penpals! Here are some of my favorites.

New Zealand

My sister Mary is WWOOFING in New Zealand, so this post goes out to her! I hear she is having a fabulous time working on organic farms, traveling, and tramping. Her blog is here: http://kallemstravelogue.blogspot.com/.

Some cool stamps from New Zealand, part of an alphabet series:

International House of Food Packages

One thing I love about travelling abroad is going into foreign supermarkets and loving the product packaging and thinking that everything must be better and tastier because it is all new and different and, you now, just cooler! When I was a high schooler I went to Canada and saw an aero bar in a vending machine; I just had to buy it and save the wrapper since I'd never seen one before! What can I see, easy kicks. Here's a quickly assembled collection of other favorites:

1.Cola Cao. Like Ovaltine but so, so much better, maybe the second national drink of Spain after Sangria (okay, and after cava, and sherry, and that barfy stuff high schoolers drink, wine mixed with soda...). All my American friends in Spain liked this stuff. One even made brownies with it. The bright yellow and red package is pretty cool: I've superimposed an image of the current package over an old poster that shows the really, really, horrendously racist imagery of ye olde Cola Cao. 2. El Arosa tea. Egypt's Redrose equivalent, but far more exciting, because it is named for a traditional type of cute little doll, pictured on the box. 3. Russian Candy. I was excited to find a Russian grocery store near me, the candy label assortment is dizzying. But, to my palate, the candies taste as nasty as the wrappers are cool. 4. Gal. Another Spanish classic: Gal lip gloss in Art Noveau tins. 5. Weetabix. An image of a vintage Weetabix collectible, but I like the bright current packaging of the actual cereal, too. This British cereal looks and tastes like wicker furniture.

Cute ABCs

I've been working on a DC ABC book (from the Anacostia River to the National Zoo), but I decided to try out a few collage alphabet pages too:



Also, more QWERTY than ABC, and totally cool: Chris Delorenzo's keyboard stickers. B for Bowie is definitely my favorite:

City Girl

I'm a city girl. Here are some great mini cities, left to right -- DC map by Ork, Moxiedoll's embroidery, Haba little Amsterdam building blocks. For something a little more rural, here is an old ad from American Fabrics magazine, as posted on the New York Public Library Blog: