What a BEAU-TI-FUL morning we have here in Stumptown. I enjoyed the sunshine on my way over to Crema. I thought I would share some of the rays that are shining in the office.

I signed up for a DailyBooth account the other day. Do feel free to add me as a friend on there. In the past I’ve been kinda hesitant to sign-up but after moseying around a lil’ bit and viewing other users silly faces I was persuaded. DailyBooth is basically like a visual journal. It’s a place where you can upload and share portraits of yourself on a daily basis. Pretty fun concept, eh??

The last three days I have been blaring (at least twice a day) the new She And Him album, ‘Volume Two’. My husband would say he can vouch for this. He doesn’t have the nerdy obsession for Zooey as I do. And hey that’s okay. The album is not released yet– won’t be until March 23rd. Thanks to NPR’s website you can stream it! Take a gander here.

Wait, wait! Don’t leave yet. I know, you’re about to think… tl, dr. BUT I have some very thrilling news.

I was accepted into Crafty Wonderland’s Super Colossal Spring Show! It will be at the Oregon Convention Center on May 1st and 2nd. Be sure to mark your Google Calendar, iCal, Moleskine, etc. It’s going to be glorious… 200 vendors with their handmade goodness. Keep posted on Crafty Wonderland’s site.

Last but not least… I have drawn a new kitchen herb. May I present Nutmeg.

Nutmeg print :: 8” x 10” :: View in Etsy Shop

“Nutmeg is usually associated with sweet, spicy dishes — pies, puddings, custards, cookies and spice cakes. It combines well with many cheeses, and is included in soufflés and cheese sauces. In soups it works with tomatoes, split pea, chicken or black beans. It complements egg dishes and vegetables like cabbage, spinach, broccoli, beans, onions, and eggplant.”

I found a photo of the actual fruit. I’m amazed of the dried “lacy” reddish covering of the seed… I see a resemblance to human capillaries.

When my husband & I visited Portland for the first time, we checked out all of it’s awesome neighborhoods, including Alberta. I fell in love with it’s telephone poles covered in show posters, it’s street art, and it’s quaint art store Collage.

A street art find on my first visit to Portland, back in Fall of 2007.

A few months after moving here we learned about and checked out Alberta’s monthly event, Last Thursday. It was so awesome to see such a lively event for blocks and blocks. Food, unique art, live & obscure music are definite staples of the experience.

My wish to participate and sell my handmade goods and art is going to be a reality! I will be joining 2 other artisans, Little Bear and Camp Smartypants this Thursday evening (which happens to be tomorrow). So if you are in the area, definitely stop by and make an appearance. I love meeting fresh faces. Also, if you have a minute do check out Little Bear and Camp Smartypants‘ Etsy shops.

Don’t you love it when you rediscover a band? I sure do. I totally forgot about Lullaby for the Working Class and then I found a CD I own of theirs that I bought 6 years ago. Man… they created some amazing songs.

I dreamt I was an astronaut
safely orbiting the womb
I came across my wife and baby
already clinging to this singularity
dear wife, please forgive me
if I sometimes forget what
blessings I should be rejoicing
the prophet is a shipwrecked son
keeps waking up here
the kingdom still is a hoax
gotta build your own, son
I dreamt I was a firefighter
but the flames were never real
I dreamt I was an engineer
and I designed it, dear
the world’s perfect treadmill
I dreamt I was a hypnotist
a farmer and an architect
a poet and an acrobat
I dreamt the flames were real
the prophet is a shipwrecked son
keeps waking up here
the kingdom still is a hoax
gotta build your own, son
I dreamt I was an astronaut.

The lil’ boy in the helmet makes me giggle.

Their page on Last.fm…
http://www.last.fm/music/Lullaby+for+the+Working+Class

I’m really into this song today.

Enjoy…

Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink parted ways quite some time now. They were once known as the indie duo Azure Ray and their voices were phenomenal in unison. I sure hope the future brings them back together. My first ever Azure Ray album purchase was November. I picked it up on one of my many trips to Antiquarium Records in downtown Omaha. For those that don’t know, within the past 4 or 5 years they have both gone solo. Coincidentally, this afternoon I found out that Maria is playing a show tonight right here in Portland. How funny!

You can check out their music on Last.fm. Enjoy!

78, that’s the page I’ve made it to thus far… of The Virgin Suicides. Recommended by a close friend back in Nebraska, who has also recommended The Bell Jar. Do you ever have those moments when you are fully engaged into the world of reading novels? I think I have reached that point for the first time in my life. Thanks to Multnomah County Library and cold evenings, I’m currently reading three books: The Effects of Light, The Bell Jar, and alas The Virgin Suicides. I’ve been this way about art and design books in the past and now novels have taken their role. I think I’m becoming a book worm, seriously. I look forward to when the day grows to an end, throwing the tea kettle on the stove and sitting on my comfy chocolate suede couch, sipping and reading. Speaking of tea… over the weekend a friend and I made a drive up (in rush hour traffic I might add), to Ikea. I purchased two sets of these darling mustard colored coffee cups and saucers, they are perfect in every way. I’m a little persnickety when it comes to mugs.

image source: Barnes & Noble

Anyway, back to the Virgin Suicides, I had watched the film years ago… visually it was beautiful, with warm colors and sun bursts. Now absorbing the story in another media… the words of Jeffrey Eugenides is so extraordinaire. I am fearing the melancholy ending, I know it’s not very pretty. I remember turning my eyes away from the television and asking whoever I was with to tell me when that scene was over with.

image source: Amazon

The soundtrack lives in my music library, I highly recommend listening to it. Anything that has to do with French music duo, AIR grabs my attention. On a side note, I hopped on over to Wikipedia and learned that, “The name AIR is a acronym for Amour, Imagination, Rêve which translates to Love, Imagination, Dream.” Interesting.

Lastly I discovered a nice Flickr group tributed, take a look here. I’m interested to hear your experiences relating to the film and novel, feel free to comment about them.

Morning, morning, morning! I took a few snaps of my latest Standard Movement pieces. Did you notice how I caught some of the morning’s warm rays? He he. Yes, the photos below are a bit yellow but I’m not complaining, it will be nice to be reminded later of this sunny and cozy Friday morning!

Here are the beauties I worked on this week for your viewing pleasure…

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If you would like my Standard Movement Series to be displayed at your gallery or coffee shop this Spring… let’s talk! Feel free to drop me a line.

I’m pretty excited about this weekend! I’m going to hit up the local art store and do some experimenting with some new media. My heart is just fluttering thinking about it. Hope you all have a relaxing weekend!

PS: Just a reminder if you haven’t visited Sweetie Pie Pumpkin Noodle’s blog, do so! For your last chance to enter the drawing to win some art of mine, go here. “Goodbye! Chances are not forever.” –Apostle of Hustle

Those darn gray clouds have gotten in the way of the midday sun here in Stumptown. For the most part I have accepted these typical March weather conditions of Portland… but today I have been pretty antsy for sunnier… warmer weather. Especially listening to the Black Kids (the band), they have that effect on me.

Thought I would give you a lil’ sneak peek of what I have been working on this week. I will be posting these new Standard Movement works Friday… which is tomorrow!

Sigur Rós performing at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall this past October

Back in 2001 a close friend of mine introduced me to Ágætis byrjun, which happens to be a Sigur Rós album. My love for the band didn’t come so soon and apparently I wasn’t the only one. It took the following two years for Sigur Rós to finally got noticed internationally. I can say 2001 was also the year that I was also falling madly in love with post-emo indie rock bands… Sunny Day Real Estate, Cap’n Jazz, Promise Ring, and Joan of Arc. So it wasn’t a surprise that a group from a similar genre, post-rock, would literally warm my heart. I love their minimalistic, atmospheric, and yet classical sound. Sigur Rós has not only inspired me through their melancholy music, but also through their album artwork, which has inspired me as an Artist.

Now, I don’t want to get all “Wikipedian” on you, but for those out there that don’t know the meaning behind Sigur Rós’ album titled ( ) I feel like I should give you some insight about the album. Also known as “The Bracket Album” or “The Untitled Album” it was first released in 2002. For those out there that have no clue of this Icelandic group (I’m aware of many… still.) can you believe it has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide to date? The album’s songs have been divvied up into two halves by a 30 second sound of stillness. Jónsi Birgisson, the vocalist sings a made up language throughout the whole album. The band calls this fanciful language Vonlenska which is a “constructed language of nonsense syllables which resembles the phonology of the Icelandic language.” Sigur Rós wanted their fans to jot down their own interpretations of their music by providing a booklet composed of tracing paper. The 12-page booklet also included various black and white natural elements which are revealed on the front of the album through the parentheses diecut. These natural elements of grass, bushes, and ponds were manipulated from photographs the band snapped just outside of their recording studio… amazing! And there are even four versions of the album cover out there. They were distributed around the world, into four different regions…

I came across these articulate stencil graffiti images (posted below) which were created by fans. I like how the positive and negative space work hand in hand with the brick texture.

This image was originally displayed petite on the back of the CD. It’s marvelous to see “sleepwalker” enlarged and stenciled on a wall in Reykjavík… and how the spraypaint runs from the boy’s shoe and evolves into a shoelace.

Below are some of my other favorite Sigur Rós albums. I hope these works have inspired you as much they have for me and maybe inspire you to spend your weekend doing a little creating of your own. Cheers!