It just kinda became clear to me the other day, while reading a lot of crafty, arty, lifestyle blogs out there, that there is a real appetite for simple, yet clever things. The days of fussy decadence are not today’s most popular aesthetic, at least among people I relate to or find interesting. This is not to say that luxury is out, or that things do not need to be made with skill and refinement, but overall, I think we are all appreciating a simple, almost naive-style in art, craft and design, maybe because the world, and daily life can be so exhausting. So planned. So corporate, so many logistical stresses, like commuting, the economy, loud commercials on tv, trends coming in and out of style, I don’t know, you don’t have to buy into it but you’d have to be living deep in the forest to not notice how urban living can grind you down. I just looked in my trash can at work the other day and I just completely froze… there was so much packaging in there, dunkin donuts coffee cup, breakfast bar wrapper, just so much freaking plastic, grossed me out. It just told me, I’ve been rushing in the mornings, and this trash can should be full of banana & grapefruit peels, egg shells, and tea bags. Should represent less about convenience and more about quality. Time to be a little more thoughtful I suppose. In living life. But maybe a little less contrived, in fun!

I think part of what attracts so many of us to small simple things, is the energy or vibrations of the thing itself. There is something refreshing in things that are unique, one-of-a-kind, made with love, made by hand, made without an aggressive purpose (like I need 5000 to go to retail or something.) And I think those things, whether meals, or pieces of art, really buzz with the energy of who made it, and the conditions it was made in. Sometimes, I really struggle with this when I know that my job involves factory work in 3rd world countries. I guess I try to balance it with the things I make at home, on my own. So, with all of this prophetic rambling, I give you a few simple, 5 minute sketches that I did by hand and then colored digitally. Just keeping it simple for now.

Oh and I had a great time in NYC last weekend, like I always do. I ‘worked’ 2 full days but managed to see my friends and eat some tasty food, and i walked for hours and hours and hours in the cold, but it was wonderful. The city is amazing to walk in, you can go forever and ever and not even notice the blisters! Stop and have a delicious coffee, snack, or drink, and then keep on going. Here are just a few details of things I saw, nothing monumental, cuz, you know, I’m keeping it simple these days!

I am headed to NYC tomorrow until Monday, but wanted to share some little doodles I did today. Quick hand-drawn and colored digitally. I expect to be back next week fully inspired, tired, and a little broke. I can’t wait to see my friends, to be back in the midst of it all, and of course, do the work I’m going there to do. Wheee!

Look at this amazing sunset a few nights back! That’s the Boston skyline as seen from our porch.

Sorry my blog has been so blah lately. I used to post so often and take so many photos! I’ve been feeling like I should spend more time making stuff by hand and less time on the computer, for some reason. Could be that I’ve been spending my days for the past 4 months or so, not on the computer, and have actually enjoyed being away from it for long periods of time. Also, I’ve been enjoying domestic home life and games of scrabble, walks with the dog, and something made in the kitchen almost every night. I’ll try to post more often, I really will. Today I helped create a Thanksgiving holiday window display, with some 3-foot corn stalks made out of paper. Fun! Photos soon…

Great news, I am getting back into a full-time footwear position! Starting in December, I will be designing Guess? kids shoes for a company here in the New England area! I am super happy to be working with a great team, at a private company (you might remember my rants of working at a mega-corporation, and what ultimately drove me into the freelance world a year ago.) How fun to be doing kids footwear full time as well! I love kids footwear, lots of sparkly this and thats and bright colors and fun trims and stuff. I had the pleasure of doing some fun freelance kids projects, now I’ll be doing it full time! Yeah! This means I’ll be traveling for work again, which I am looking forward too.

Interesting art installation spotted on the way to the subway in Queens, while in NYC.

Having the grey hairs dyed and getting my bangs trimmed… ahh nothing beats a trip to the hair salon!

Drinking pumpkin beer and eating sweet potato french fries. Yum!

These gorgeous mosaics at the Madonna Statue here in the Boston-area.

Getting excited about some new sketches that will contain elements in future drawings. I absolutely love the prelimnary sketch phase of all designing, you sit down and start out with so much hope and potential, and little by little refine down to what really works. It feels like playing! I have some new stuff in the works, I am going to be doing some pen/ink/marker/gouache (paint) drawings on beautiful heavy paper. Trying to plan in adding some color to my usual tonal drawings.

And decorating the store windows at Utrecht for Halloween. Boo! It’s great working with creative people, we just feed off of each other for ideas, inspiration and techniques. Happy Friday!

I had a fantastic time in NYC. I can’t believe it has been almost 6 months since I’ve been back, and seen my friends. We stayed in my old apartment with my former roomate and it was sorta surreal, sleeping on the same bed I had for my last year living in NYC. Anyway, I came away very filled up with happiness from seeing my friends, very inspired from seeing all the art and fashion, and very full from eating and drinking as much deliciousness as possible. Why haven’t I visited sooner? I love that I live only a four hour ride from NYC, so that it is fairly convenient to visit (and only about a $30 bus ride) but I can live in peace and quiet here. We had a house guest from Italy for the past 2 weeks as well, in addition to a kitchen and deck remodel, so things have been busy. I am anxious to get to work on some new drawings, and enjoy the beautiful fall weather. Cowboy went to Maine for a week while we were gone, and I realllly missed him. He woke me up this morning with kisses on the face, ahhhh. All I can think about right now is just settling in with some music, a cup of coffee, and a bunch of new pens and my sketchbook to just dream and imagine and create, with the dog next to me. I hope to have some new work to post soon.

A year ago it was all about picnicing in central park with david and rose! We were there to check out the phenomonon of Manhattan Henge, have you heard of it? Well we got a little distracted with a bottle of wine and sharing music on our ipods, so I think we missed it, but it was still fun times in central park! This year I’ll be eating cajun food next to the ocean, so another great way to spend Memorial Day Weekend. Enjoy yours! More funny videos here.

If I told ya once, I told ya twice! Well I finally got my computer back from the mac hospital… so that means photoshop abilities, and I fixed all the red eye photos (from my big old red eyes) from my visit to NYC a few weekends back. It felt wierd to be back, only 2 weeks after moving out of NYC, in the sense that my old room I used to live in, which I stayed in, was not my old room anymore. But my friends are definitely still my friends. I had an amazing time at Cynthia’s birthday party, seeing my old friends from YSL (99% of which now work somewhere else as well) as well as my other cool friends from Nine West and beyond. Nevermind I got stuck in the bad weather and had to wait 6 hours to get home on a flight that usually takes 45 minutes. Thanks NYC friends, for being so inspirational and great! I think when I tell people, I lived in NYC and was a footwear designer for 2 years, they hope I will tell them amazing stories of the glamorous life of fashion and the city. But meeting and hanging out with my friends absolutely meant the most to me. I met people, in an environment of creativity and chaos, that changed my life. The job/fashion industry was pretty interesting, but when it is all said and done, I think the people I connect with mean so much more.

A Doodle in my Jill Bliss Journal

That super cool matchbook cover from Mexico City I was talking about. I love it!

Some collages I started several years ago, I was making an altered book with all the ephemera I had collected on my various trips to Mexico, over the years visiting family and friends in Mexico City. Checking out Puebla. Exploring Manzanillo, Barra de Navidad, Taxco and Cuernavaca and popping into Acapulco. Those experiences inspired a lot of my art projects during college. I plan to add some drawings and color to these, layer them up even more. I always have tons of works-in-progress for my easily distracted-self to work on. Ok. Now back to my last day of work in NYC, then finishing up packing and saying goodbye to my life in NYC and hello to my new life in Boston! See ya from New England!

Yeah, looks funny right? Spring flowers, Hyacinth and Tulips, sticking out of the snow. Poor little flowers, they felt the 70 degree weather, sprouted out, then had to deal with the blizzard last week. I have been wearing rubber rain boots for over a week because of all the snow, slush, and rain. Anyway, I am going to take a little blogging break to finish packing up my life in NYC, design the last round of spring shoes for my main freelance gig here in NYC, and then drive North to Boston next week. I’ll be back when I get to New England with photos, a clear head, a new domicile, and hopefully, finally, a new look to this website too! Take care and see you soon friends. XOXO

Yippee! It’s 70 degrees today in NYC! Wow! I swear we are having bizzare weather. One day, it’s 9 degrees and snowy. Then a week later, it’s 70! Freaky! But I’ll take it, cuz it means I can wear my new poetic license funky flats I got in California! Wheeee! No socks, no down coats, no gloves! And it’s still light out when I work late, and leave at 6:30 or 7:00 at night! Yay!