The Getaway

:: ocean ::

It's 97 degrees here in Philadelphia. Feels like 112 according to the weather report. I don't understand how that's even possible. Summer in the city is pretty rough. Looking forward to leaving every chance I get.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the beach in New Jersey, a quiet little spot that is part of the state park system. Such a good find!

And last week, I was so lucky to have the chance to spend a few days in the Adirondacks at a beautiful house that belongs to a family friend.

:: in the boat house ::

:: hammock ::

:: lamp and curtains ::

It's like candy!

via inky socks

I am a big fan of my google reader, the nifty program that allows me to subscribe to the blogs & tumblrs I love and read them all together in one place. I use it to find inspiration, shop for equipment, and as a very effective general time waster.
When I want something new to read, I'll look to the links of my favorite blogs, see what they like, which always leads to very interesting and sometimes unexpected results.
Here are some recent finds.

really lovely ceramics by Takuro Kuwata

pencil talk!

This blog is dedicated to "exploring the art and science of pencils since 2005." How cool is that?

via Intelligent Clashing

I've also been reading Manna from Brooklyn, which is a blog centered around thrift store and curb finds and petting cats, two things dear to my soul. It's my favorite right now. Last night, I also ended up spending an hour at cardcow.com, looking at vintage postcards of Wilmington, DE which is where I grew up. You can search for vintage postcards on any topic, I have the feeling I'll be spending many more hours there, looking at pictures of kittens with books.

What are your favorite sources of inspiration?

Custom Journals

Last year I was commissioned by my friend Catherine to make a set of four custom journals as graduation gifts for friends. Catherine supplied me with a list of the recipients likes and interests which I included in each one. This year, I had the pleasure of making two more.

The first one was for someone who loves fashion and textiles, flowers, feathers, and other delicate things.

:: the cover ::

:: a landscape opens to a history of shoes ::

:: graph paper, a page from a vintage autograph book, and a child's exercise book ::

:: a vintage postcard of Marilyn Monroe ::

:: the cover ::

The second book was for someone who loves the forest and the ocean. For the cover I had the perfect vintage illustration from a children's science book.

:: handmade flax paper and the ocean ::

:: fossilized marine life ::

:: vintage graph paper and a map of the Atlantic ::

Beauty

Cy Twombly

Birthe Piontek

Shaker Gift Drawings

Mark Cohen

The Books of Anselm Kiefer 1969-1990

A very rare book by my favorite "book artist," Anselm Kiefer via The Art of Memory.

Textiles

I love weaving. If I had all the time and all the space in the world. I would have a loom. I actually learned to weave years ago when I was in college, before I even knew what letterpress was.

:: Gunta Stolzl ::

A couple years ago, I got to take a weaving class again at Penland, and made this graph paper scarf out of linen.

:: me! ::

I think there's a lot of similarities in process and final appearance between hand-weaving and letterpress.

Both are labor intensive to set up, the hours of feeding each thread through the heddles and reed or the hours of setting type and spacing material, but quick to execute. Both are set up traditionally to work on a x and y axis, making design very linear and geometrical.

This is a constraint I actually really enjoy.

:: Impossible Objects by Huldra Press ::

And I just discovered the needlework of At Swim-Two-Birds. Love.

:: At Swim-Two-Birds ::

Maybe weaving will be my retirement.

Summer in Philadelphia

:: clouds ::

We just got out of a nasty heat wave here in Philadelphia. The heat broke on Thursday with a dramatic thunderstorm. I made a little movie of the clouds forming, it was beautiful and threatening.

It was hard to do much when it felt like 104 outside. I know the cat felt the same way.

:: monkey ::

My studio gets very hot in the summer. I'm trying to find solutions to this problem. An entire wall of windows is beautiful, and a blessing in the winter, but it feels like a greenhouse in the summer. I'm working with my landlord to find the best way to install curtains, and possibly a portable air conditioner too.

In the meantime, I've been taking my work home with me.

:: books in progress ::

Mike is in Michigan teaching a class at Ox-Bow for two weeks, so I am home alone. Right now, I'm working on a big order of books for Cog & Pearl in Brooklyn, and later this week, I have some custom books to make too. I have plenty of work to keep me busy so hopefully those two weeks will just fly by. Well, almost fly by.

When he gets back, we're going to put those finishing touches on the press and then it's time for some serious printing.