DIY Subway Art

I have finally succumbed to the mega-trend that is subway art.

There is a lot of “word art” out there in the world today. “Real” subway art, or bus scrolls, are black and white and use the typeface Akzidenz-Grotesk, though modern updates of any official subway signage are written in Helvetica.

I created this sign in Adobe Illustrator using Helvetica, and altered the kerning (space between letters) and letter height for variation. I printed it at Staples using the “Engineering Print” category – purchasing this huge poster for $4.99. Then I spray-mounted the poster on a piece of large foam core (black foam core so the edges blended) with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive and finally just hung it up in our bedroom.

The locations I chose are all places that meant a lot to us during our days of college.

It makes me happy! And gives us a big piece of meaningful art for only $10.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Appreciating Alex Katz: An Art Exhibit for Summer

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Choosing to get a degree in art was a great decision.

I don’t think I ever dreaded going to class. No, I think I really, really liked going.

Beyond the fact that studying art greatly stretched my understanding of artistic expression, as well as my own technical skills, I love studying other peoples art.

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When I go to the art museum I get my face as close as I possible can to the canvas. Trying to dodge the museum monitors who will ask me to stay a safe distance away.

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I love getting up close and seeing the layers of paint, the strokes of graphite, the etching lines, the smudges.

One of by best friends (and the gal who currently holds the “Kat’s Longest Roomate” title… my husband won’t catch up for another few years!) and I recently went together to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). We went with a particular desire to see the Alex Katz exhibit.

I love modern art.

Actually, let me preface that. I love all art. Really, it’s true. Even the crazy ones.

I’d like to echo a typographic display I saw at the MFA: All art was modern in it’s time.

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What I love about what we know to be as “modern art” is that it shows me something that wouldn’t exist otherwise.

For all the perfectly beautiful and interesting early American portraits and Renaissance sculptures and Ansel Adams photography pieces on the walls, I like contemporary ones the best.

Alex Katz is summer art perfection.

The bold colors. The clean lines. His pieces radiated.

Mostly I just love that he doesn’t take it too seriously.

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And that he isn’t afraid to use color.

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Or afraid to leave it out. (This is my favorite).

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Unfortunately this lovely collection has already left Boston, but maybe it will be reappearing in a museum near you.

Do not miss it!

And bring along some aviators and a lemonade for true summery appreciation.

Or for afterwards. One way, or another the museum monitors will getcha!

How to Frame and Mat Custom-Size Artwork.

Until you have artwork on the walls, a house will never feel like a home.

At least in my book.

You would think my house would feel like home due to a few facts – 1. I work out of our house (there I am home all the time), 2. we are always working on renovation projects (investment much?) and 3. that, you know, I live here. But for a long time it didn’t’ feel like our house. I finally realized that, apart from the dining room and living room mantle, we had nothing hanging on any of our walls yet. And why would we? We are still in the process of sanding ceilings, spackling walls and painting. That had to change.

On our trip to Cape Cod to celebrate our anniversary last summer, we purchased some prints in a local art gallery in Chatham. It was appropriate, after all, since the gift for the first year is supposed to be “paper” oriented.

We bought a few pieces by Robert Edward Kennedy. We purchased one watercolor print and three graphic prints of towns on the Cape. We like our walls adorned with pieces that mean something – the watercolor was of somewhere we had been together in Nantucket, and the three graphical prints were all places we had been together in Cape Cod – Hyannis, Falmouth and Chatham.

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But, there were a few problems.

1. We couldn’t find three prints we wanted with matching matting colors.

2. Even if there were three prints with matching mats, the size was not a standard frame size.

3. We are too cheap to get our artwork framed and matted custom.

No problem! I declared. I will just find frames at a store that we can slip the artwork into.

But there was a problem with that too.

The prints were not standard size prints – not sized to fit into any standard frame (like 8×10 or 5×7).

Due to all of these problems, the prints got put in the sunroom and were forgotten about. Until recently.

I bought three 8×10 frames (at $10 a piece) from Target and I decided I would cut my own mat.

As an art student I learn how to cut mats in high school. The only problem was, I didn’t own proper mat cutting equipment and didn’t want to buy it – wouldn’t that defeat the whole purpose of saving money?

So I decided to give it the old college-try, and just use a razor blade.

I measured out what I wanted the new opening to be (measure several times and cut once) and proceeded to (very lightly) cut out the excess. Always measure, draw and cut from the BACKSIDE.

This was a 5×7″ opening I cut to be about a 6.75×8″ opening.

Because I wasn’t using a traditional cutter, I was unable to get the traditional beveled edge that mat openings usually have. But I can live with that. : )

Miraculously my whole scheme worked.

Tips for cutting a new mat:

1. Use a brand new razor blade. The sharper the better.

2. It’s better to use many long and light cuts and a few deeper cuts.

3. Use a metal ruler or straight edge and cut against it. Hold the ruler down on to your pencil line very tightly. Tight enough that your fingers hurt. If the ruler moves, you will not have a straight line.

4. Measure, measure and measure again before you cut.

It’s not perfect, but I don’t think anyone will notice.

We decided to put them in our kitchen. And I love them.

And it’s definitely starting to feel more like home.

What kind of artwork do you have hanging in your kitchen?

Have you ever custom framed anything?

Friday Inspiration: They Draw and Cook

Happy Friday!

Looking for a little weekend inspiration? Check out They Draw & Cook, a website of illustrated recipes.

This site is amazing! It inspires me to draw AND cook!

http://www.theydrawandcook.com/recipes/the-amazing-lemon-chicken-by-felicita-sala

http://www.theydrawandcook.com/recipes/lemon-pickles-by-nadia-khafaji

http://www.theydrawandcook.com/recipes/fairy-peppermint-cream-stars-by-claire-wiles

http://www.theydrawandcook.com/recipes/very-merry-broccoli-soup-by-priya-kuriyan

http://www.theydrawandcook.com/recipes/brownies-by-lina-sukova

http://www.theydrawandcook.com/recipes/exasperated-mom-emergency-iced-coffee-by-tina-kugler–2

http://www.theydrawandcook.com/recipes/potatoes-by-tomasz-wawer

And they accept recipes illustrations.

Maybe I will have to brush up on my drawing skills.

Be sure to check out They Draw & Cook today.

TGIF! Happy Weekend!

Art Stalking: Dana Tanamachi

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I have a thing against bucket lists.

Call me crazy, but when I make lists I really like to cross the things off. More than actually accomplishing anything. If I could live in chaos, but have a crossed-off to-do list I would. Fortunately for the general sanity of everyone around me, that’s impossible.

HOWEVER, recently I’ve been thinking of making a 30 by 30 list. You know, 30 things I’d like to do before I’m 30.

My list wouldn’t include anything superfluous (like “Meet Justin Beiber – squeal!”) but more things I feel like I should have a handle on before I part with my twenties.

Things like…. Know how to cook a full turkey.

Learn how to blow dry my hair with the round brush like my hairdresser always does. And makes it look so darn easy. Does she have three arms?

Have better handwriting.

Ahh yes, handwriting. Which brings us to today’s topic. Handwriting. A lost art.

I despise my handwriting. I am a graphic designer. I work with and examine typography every day.

All this is to say, I recently stumbled upon chalk handlettering artist Dana Tanamachi. My new HERO!

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It’s unbelievable. The precision. The shading. The composition.

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I would love to spend more time practicing my own handwriting, and also learning handlettering like this.

Excuse me while I swoon over this typography. Normal, right?

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Even Oprah is impressed. And that chick has seen everything.

Dana designed the February 2012 cover for O Magazine.

And she did the West Elm winter catalog too.

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I’m trying to decide where in my house I could put a huge chalkboard to practice.

My little one in the kitchen will have to suffice for now.

And just because:

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Consider me officially inspired.

I’m glad I have a few years before thirty because I have a lot of handwriting practice ahead of me.

Be sure to check out Dana Tanamachi and some of her time-elasped videos at her website.

Holy Moly Art

FIRST, Happy Labor Day Weekend!!

I hope your weekend is filled with lots of non-laborious activities.

(Also, Happy Birthday Dad!)

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After seeing some greeting cards based on a similar premise, this idea of pushpin (or thumbtack if you prefer) art was born.

During a major session of magazine reading, I came across a pictures of a woman’s office. She had a poster on her wall that said “Ode to the Joy of Life” on it. I ripped it out and saved it (as we all did in the pre-Pinterest days). I’ve been saving it for years, but as soon as I was thinking about my pushpin idea I knew I wanted to use that phrase. And a project was born.

To start, I put together the letters in Adobe Illustrator. I knew I wanted a font with accentuated fat and thin sections to emphasize the pin holes (this is RiotSquad, for any other typophiles out there).  I reversed the text and turned the opacity levels down to 10% (or you could just print a light gray color). I printed it on white cardstock.

(Sorry for the wonky shadows. It’s that pesky dining room chandelier again.)

Then I grabbed a…. wait for it… pushpin.

You may not recognize it. It’s a highly unusual and expensive tool.

To begin, I used the complicated technique of poking through the paper. I outlined the letter first and then filled the inside.

It took a little while to determine the proper depth as the pinhole grows in size in accordance to the pin.

And that’s all there is to it. I wouldn’t plan on finishing this project in one night. Your hands start to cramp. It’s a good leave-near-the-tv-and-work-on-it-aimlessly kind of project.

My only advice?

1. Be gentle. You can tear through the paper in the delicate parts.

2. Don’t use a death grip on the paper. You will wrinkle it. (If I was to do this again, I might put a piece of cardboard underneath so I wasn’t holding it so tightly and the pin could push through into the cardboard.)

Now I just need to decide how to display it.

It could be cool with a bright colored paper behind it. It’s also fun to hold it up to a light and let all the light come through the holes.

Only time with tell.

Project Cost: I will round up to 5 cents.

Have you tried pushpin art before? Can you think of a less expensive project tool?

Serendipitous Artistry

I love reading a good book and then noticing how things in my life crop up that I would have otherwise not appreciated.

I just finished reading Clara and Mr. Tiffany. I fully recommend it to anyone who considers themselves an artist in any sense of the word. It is a fiction novel based on historical facts.

The book , by Susan Vreeland, is about the life of Clara Driscoll, an employee of Louis Comfort Tiffany and the artist who is (now) credited with designing the famous Tiffany lampshades of the early 20th century. The story is filled with meticulous description of the glassblowing, glass-choosing, glass-cutting and glass application processes. As someone who has always wanted to try glassblowing, I found the details quite enchanting.

The book also wades through weighty issues such as the conflicts of artist collaboration, sexism in the professional arts, vocation versus marriage and sacrificing art for the sake of commercial means. Any artist will be able to identity with the creative process and ethical decisions Clara is forced to withstand.

While this book has still been lingering in my mind, I came across this cake design.

It is undoubtedly inspired by the Tiffany lamps.

Clara Driscoll

I love that the ideas of one woman has inspired other artists for over a century. And not only artists in glasswork, like herself, but bakers and writers. Even more so, that she did it all for the sake of art, not the glory.

(Actually, Clara and her 30 “Tiffany Girls” brought the lamps to fruition. And they couldn’t have done it without the male glassblowing and lead welding departments either. The true meaning of artistic collaboration.)

You see, it was only discovered that Clara was the actual designer of the lamps, not Louis Comfort Tiffany, in 2007.

Martin Eidelberg, an Art History Professor at Rutgers University recently came across a large amount of letters from Clara to her family and has been credited with making the discovery.

And while today Tiffany lampshades are not a completely unusual, albeit lovely, sight they were an unheard of in their infancy.

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I have always striven to fix beauty
in wood, stone, glass or pottery,
in oil or watercolor
by using whatever seemed
fittest for the expression
of beauty,
that has been my creed.

- Louis Comfort Tiffany

Cutting it Close

Strength. Amazement. Passion. Insightful. Genius.

All of those things come to mind when I come across the topic of my favorite living artist, Chuck Close.

Close attended U Washington and then Yale. He is an amazing painter. Amazing doesn’t even cover it. I’ve never seen another painter like him. Close is categorized as “hyper-realistic” and bases his works off photographs. I’ve read that he has never taken a commission for any of his paintings. He just paints people he knows.

Basically, just like Picasso, he was so good at painting that he got bored. Thus changes the art world from our generation.

“I threw away my tools”, Close said. “I chose to do things I had no facility with. The choice not to do something is in a funny way more positive than the choice to do something. If you impose a limit to not do something you’ve done before, it will push you to where you’ve never gone before.”

Not only does he paint. He creates his large scale pieces using fingerprints, handmade paper, pencils. I was able to see one of Close’s works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Also, I was highly fortunate enough to be able to attend a traveling gallery full of pieces by Close.

The trip was was awesome. Absolutely unforgettable.

Close’s huge pieces took up all the wallspace. You would turn every corner and there was another piece astounding you, grabbing you from 25 feet away. The greatest part about his artistry is being able to study the works up close. Similar to Monet, studying Close from 6 inches away and 15 feet away are equally fascinating.

Close works in a grid method, often painting in cell-like shapes that make up an overall image. The reason for this is that he suffers from Prosopagnosia, meaning he is unable to recognize faces. He started painting so he would remember faces. Ironic, right?

I have trouble remember historical facts and recipe ingredients. Somehow I don’t think if I started painting them I would have ended up with the same outcome.

But there’s another reason he works in grid-form. One day he had a seizure and become paralyzed from the neck down. To this day he works from his wheelchair and has a paintbrush strapped to his wrist.

“Although the paralysis restricted his ability to paint as meticulously as before, Close had, in a sense, placed artificial restrictions upon his hyperrealist approach well before the injury. That is, he adopted materials and techniques that did not lend themselves well to achieving a photorealistic effect. Small bits of irregular paper or inked fingerprints were used as media to achieve astoundingly realistic and interesting results.”  (Wikipedia)

If that didn’t make him ridiculous enough (Sorry, am I gushing? Probably.) Close works with an intricate layering method. Whether it’s woodcut prints being layered and layered and layered and layered (x50) or pressing thumbprint after thumbprint, the end results are anomalous and unforgettable.

Close sometimes also works in a color separation layering method. Basically that means he squints at a picture and then draws all the yellow, draws all the reds, draws all the blues and then draws all the black.

Click here to see a full color separation process. Do it!

Seriously? Seriously. It’s mindblowing.

Okay. Enough with the drooling and jaw dropping. In my opinion he is the most influential artist in our lifetime.  Alright, now I’m starting to get over-the-top. Check him out.

On a lighter, and more random note, as I’m rapidly approaching 10,000 hits (whoa!) I just want to thank everyone for stopping in and reading my ramblings and leaving your fun comments.

I’m saying this because I met an adoring fan and avid reader of Withywindle (ha-ha, okay I’m kidding. Sort of.) while the husband and I were out last night.

Like my gangsta W and W for Withywindle? Eh? Eh?

And for the record, my husband is the one who took this picture. And this guy wasn’t a total stranger. Well, I’d never met him before, but he works with Moose and, apparently and self-admittedly, is quite the fan so I promised I would post this photo he sent me.

So here’s a shout out to Jimmy, Withywindle’s #1 fan.

Images from here and here

Vendor Rave: Zazzle.com

I am a firm believer that you should surround yourselves at home with things that you love and make you smile. If you don’t love it, don’t buy it!!

Whenever I go shopping, I usually roam around with a cart full of items. Then slowly one by one I decide I don’t L-O-V-E it quite enough to bring it home. Usually I’ll walk out buying maybe one of those things, especially if it’s on clearance. If I really want to test my love, I’ll leave the store and see if I remember to go back and buy it before I leave. You’d be surprised how quickly you forget about that [fill in the blank] you wanted sooo badly.

This bring me to art. Specifically, artwork displayed in the home. I’m still a young professional, and can in no way afford to purchase fancy works of art. Sadly, the affordable art realm is lacking. This is where Zazzle comes in.

Zazzle is like AllPoster.com, except cooler. They have all kinds of kitsch ranging from t-shirts to phone cases to mugs. But what drew me to Zazzle was their collection of WPA reproduction prints.

The WPA, or Works Progress Administration, was a government program from 1939-1943 that was a part of the “New Deal”. They focused on public works, like construction, healthcare, roads, the arts and literacy.

And, they made the most amazing posters. (At least in my humble opinion.)

We have this one hanging in our hallway. My Grandpa-in-law was a Merchant Marine with several of his brothers back in the day, so this print has a special place in our heart.

I love this little black Scottie dog one. I could wallpaper an entire room with these. There are hundreds on posters by the WPA. It’s amazing they were only in existence for 4 years.

Make sure to check out the disease awareness and prevention ones as well. Some of them are crazy out there! It’s amazing how far we’ve come in disease awareness. Today we have Project (RED), which is a pretty swanky ad campaign. Back then they had men in gas masks warning about STDs.

http://www.zazzle.com/wpa+gifts

Be sure to check out all of their WPA posters! If you sign up for Zazzle’s email list they send out coupons at least bi-weekly.

So there you have it. Affordable, personable art. (I usually end up buying my frames at AC Moore or Micheal’s with the 20% coupon.)

What works of art do you have in your home that are personal to you?