Apartment Therapy! The Bedrooms

Continuing last week's series of photos of our place taken by the estimable Esteban Cortez for Apartment Therapy, today let's look at our bedroom and Mabel's room. Caption details as to who made what, or what-the heck-is-that can be found here.

Crayola Washable Kids' Paint

If there were a list of the top five things that propelled me back into making art seriously about four years ago, Crayola Washable Kids' Paint would for sure be on that list. So perhaps it's not surprising that, about three years ago, I drew the box it comes in. Meaningful, meaningful, meaningful.

"What Befell Us" - Tiffanie Turner at Elanor Harwood Gallery

The artist Tiffanie Turner (who, full disclosure, is also a friend) has mounted an absolutely triumphal exhibition for her solo gallery debut. What Befell Us, currently at Eleanor Harwood Gallery, consists of seven enormous flowers, each several feet across, all entirely made of paper. Where Turner's previous shows (at places like Rare Device and the De Young Museum's artist in residence program) have focused on exquisite botanical specimens of large size, this time she really upped the game. Both in terms of scale, and by taking her blossoms past the peek of perfection and into the realm of wilt and decay. These flowers have things to say about global warming, about women's aging, and about beauty. Because, it turns out, they are beautiful not in spite of, but because of, their apparent flaws. The dying ranunculus (both above and below) is my favorite. It is, quite simply, one of the loveliest things I've ever seen on a gallery wall.

All photos are mine except for the bottom one which is from the gallery. Show is up until June 15th at Eleanor Harwood in the Minnesota Street Project building. Get in there!

Color Poem #84

the trick is to buy the dye labeled neon
along with chartreuse and raspberry and
cerulean you get a red so bright it blazes
itself through your eyeballs to your visual
cortex. the molten center of a dying sun

HOW Design in the Media

As I get ready to head to the HOW Design Live conference in a couple of weeks to talk about publishing, I've had the distinct honor of appearing both as a guest of Ilise Benun on the How Design Live Podcast and as the subject of this article by Jason Tselentis on the HOW Design site.

The photo above has nothing to do with either of these things. It's a shot by Nicole Breanne of my doing my Expert Desk gig at Alt the other week. I liked it so much I wanted to find another use for it, and I figured a post about me going around out in the world and chattering away was as good a moment as any.

Apartment Therapy! The Living / Dining Room

Holy Moly! We're on Apartment Therapy! The lovely photographer Esteban Cortez came and took a slew of amazing photos of our place, and now our home tour is up on the site! So exciting! Today let's look at the living / dinging room, shall we?

Wild Turkey

Can we all just agree wild turkeys look like dinosaurs? Drawing made just about exactly three years ago when I was on sabbatical and doing a creative residency at Drop Forge and Tool.

Kids + Grown-Ups Making Art

I'm teaching a brand new class a week from Saturday at Handcraft Studio School in El Cerrito. I've taught Publishing for Creatives there several times before, but this is a complete departure: I'll be leading a workshop called Kids + Grown-Ups Making Art! Designed to be taken by adult/child pairs (I imagine many of these will be parent/kid pairs, but folks could just as easily bring their nieces, nephews, grandkids, or pals who happen to be children), this class is something I've been wanting to do for a really long time. Because we all know how great making art is for kids, but few of us realize how great making art with kids is for adults. It's not an overstatement to say I personally owe my entire return to art-making over the past four years to drawing and painting with Mabel when she was tiny (which in turn lead to things like this, and this, and this). There is nothing like watching the way children create, and then attempting to emulate at least a little bit of their freedom and looseness of line, to shake the dust off your own grown-up creative practice. So, the occasion of The Secret Art of Being a Parent being published seemed like as good a time as any to finally take the leap and make this happen. I'm nervous (I don't teach children very often!) but excited. My hope is that the kids will have fun and the adults will be inspired. If you're local, I heartily wish you and a kiddo of your acquaintance will come and join us!

Color Poem #83

now it is blue
as promised
now the blue
hovers between
turquoise and teal
and tiffany and sky
just as the table hovers
on its tiny dark stockings

Getting Good Photos Out of the Deal

One after-the-fact benefit of having gone to Alt Summit the other week is that actually-quite-good photos of me there keep landing in my inbox! First, I had stopped by the Tap Bio Flash Truck to have a free head-shot taken by Kyle Camerer -- above is the result and I could not be more pleased with it! Then, it turns out, one of the event photographers, Nicole Breanne, was shooting during my Expert Desk thing, so I got the next three of her photos as well. It's so rare to have photos (especially good photos) of my doing what I do, work-wise, in terms of speaking engagements -- when you're up there talking you can't exactly also be taking pictures -- so it's a real pleasure to have these in my possession.

Book Birthday! The Secret Art of Being a Parent

Hear-ye, hear-ye! Today is the official book birthday (also known, less colloquially, as the Publication Date) of The Secret Art of Being a Parent, written by me, illustrated by Rachel Harrell. You can now buy it all kinds of places, including loads of bookstores, gift shops, and wherever you like to buy books online. It would make a really great gift for folks who are expecting, new parents, or really anyone who could use a little help and encouragement about raising a small human. I am honored and delighted to have gotten to write this, and must especially thank my extraordinary editor Deanne Katz who is herself home with her own new tiny person, even as I type this. Hooray!

Cyndi Lauper: She's So Unusual

I've talked before about how Cyndi Lauper was my childhood idol (actually, you should really click through and go look at that post -- the photos in it are freaking fantastic) and her album She's So Unusual was the first cassette tape I ever bought. So now I've drawn the full proper square album cover, in all it's original glory.

Laura Berger in Palm Springs

I would like to spend just a little more time contemplating and appreciating this mural, from the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, by Laura Berger. Coming face-to-face with a large-scale something by someone whose work you've admired from afar for a long time is always exciting. In this case it was absolutely thrilling. So uplifting! (No pun intended. Well, ok, pun sort of intended. But it's there in the work -- the lifting is happening and we, too, feel lifted.) Not to mention: So big! I was hard-pressed to get the whole thing in one photo. Finally I did by climbing up on a balcony and (brilliant!) turning the camera sideways. Feast your eyes.

Color Poem #82

right now the table
a street find is green
very pale mossy mint
actually a nice color
but terribly faded

soon it will be
caribbean blue
that clear ringing
turquoise with just
a dollop of green

its blue wooden body
chipped enamel top and
rusted metal feet tipped
in clear glass spheres will
shine out for all to see