Ms. Frida

I knew of Frida Kahlo's work for sometime before I saw the 2002 movie. I had always loved her colorful paintings full of clues into what was going on in her life. Her self-portraits are amazing and in the age of retouching and waxing seeing a mustache on a lady was shocking. I didn't see the movie until it came to DVD mostly because one of my friends was adamant that the movie didn't do her justice. Well, I never knew Frida personally so I don't know if it did her justice or not... I do know that it showed an impassioned Mexico City full of color, music and artists. I so wanted to experience that. I wish I could find some screen shots of my favorite screens in the movie: her vibrant courtyard, husband Diego Rivera's murals, dancing and singing at parties. Well I guess you will have to just see it for yourself!
Fortunately you can experience a bit of it in real life, too. Frida's home has been preserved and turned into museum. (They have a website, and maybe if I had taken Spanish for 10 years instead of French I'd be able to tell you what it said). The Tate has a great site where you can see a virtual tour of Frida's childhood home, see it here.
Three of the images below are from the site www.fridakahlofans.com. It's a great site with images of Frida, her paintings, a bibliography and more. Have a lovely long weekend!

Mexico City

I could do so many drawings inspired by the different cities in Mexico, (and i just might). I'd take Mexico and Central America over Europe any day and I wish that I could have chosen to learn Spanish over French when I was young. I love the music, the food, the colors, the art and the culture.
One of my favorite all time movies is "Frida". Now I know some people didn't like it because they don't think that it was accurate etc... but forget that. That movie was unbelievably beautiful with an amazing soundtrack. It really got me imagining Mexico City.
Researching the Dia de los Muertos, (The Day of the Dead), was fascinating and I would love to attend. I wish we had something like that in the states. It would be a great way to celebrate our loved ones that have passed. (Though I feel if I took the initiative and brought a picnic of Chinese food and a bottle of tequila to my Dad's graveside people in NH might think I was insane and also dangerous.)
The cut out and embroidered tank tops by Megan Odabash got me thinking about simple flower designs and marigolds. All this came together for the Mexico City pattern which is part of the 2007 calendar.

Currently Imagining: Cabo

In the last 2 years many of Sasso + my family members and friends have moved all over the country. It was somewhat of a mass exodus from New England, the kind that makes you go… “Wait why is everyone leaving and I’m still here? Do they know something I don’t?”
So lately most of our trips have been visits to St. Augustine, San Francisco, New York City and soon Portland, (as Sasso says, we are very lucky that everyone moved to some kick-ass places). But alas, we are going to be doing some traveling this fall and I AM SO EXCITED.
One of our trips will be 8 lovely days in Cabo San Lucas with some good friends.
Right now I’m imagining Cabo because I'd like to do a pattern about it before I leave. I’ve been doing some research and I picture riding in a small boat amongst the migrating whales, taking a surfing lesson, riding mad-max style through the desert in dune buggies and of course sitting on the beach.
I’ve been reading Steinbeck’s “Log of the Sea of Cortez” which has been really great. It seems like everyone, their uncle, or their husband has been there recently and had a good time. I’m not big on touristy vacation spots but I think this maybe what we need. Leave a comment or send me an email with any Baja tips and expect to see a Cabo print not too far off. Then I can go there and see if I was right on or totally off base.
Images from top: hanging out with the whales from sogonow.com, the "Log from the Sea of Cortez", the beach, and dune buggie-ing at wideopenbaja.com.

The Savannah Pattern

When I was visiting St Augustine with my mom for the first time we went on one of those trolley tours of the historic area. Now I admit that in Boston I tend to despise those trolleys. They are always blocking the street and you know how impatient we Boston drivers are. Anywho… the tour was actually pretty fun, and I saw a lot of Spanish moss in the trees. I was quite fascinated by it. It lives in relative harmony with the tree, not killing it but just slowing its growth rate and gives it that whole Southern Gothic feel that I love. It looks pretty cool close up, (though I just read on wikipedia that it houses bats, chiggers and snakes so I won’t be getting so close next time), and there seems to be a boatload of it in Savannah. When I saw the moss I knew I wanted to include it in the Savannah pattern.
It was the “don’t be fooled by the midnight and magnolias” quote from "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" that spurned me to research the Magnolia Grandiflora. It’s a beautiful flower with waxy dark green leaves and it reminds me of a lady in a white ballgown. I bet it smells heavenly too.
All this came together in the Savannah pattern: the magnolia, the squares, the Spanish moss, and Scarlett Johansson’s dress. The pattern is available in the new 2008 calendar, as a print and as a note card and you can check them all out at www.jhilldesign.com.
On a side note, each pattern I do starts to remind me of a member of my family or one of friends… this one always reminded me of my “little” sister Becky and today happens to be her birthday. So, Happy Birthday Becky!
Photos from top left: my Spanish moss in flordia, the Savannah notecard and a magnolia blossom by maedeans via flickr.

What's so cool about Savannah?

What am I going to do when I get to Savannah? Glad you asked, here are a few things from my list:
ShopSCAD: This is a unique gallery store that features only the work of faculty, staff, students and alumni of the Savannah College of Art + Design. What would I pick up? Well everything I could from Working Class Studio, (WCS is a product development venture of SCAD), including their melamine plates and note cards. Check out the ShopSCAD site for some great fine art finds too.
340 Bull Street view site here
Paris Market and Brocante: Their site's navigation, (boudoir, garden, powder room), is so intriguing, it makes you want to visit the actual store. They carry all things luxuriously European and they even have a patisserie on-site. The store looks amazing, like you could spend hours browsing all the treasures, check out their blog to see some more pictures and to find out what is going on in the shop. 36 West Broughton Street view site here
Mmmmmm....: After all that shopping I know I'd be famished, so I would take myself to lunch at Mrs. Wilkes. One of my favorite foods is fried chicken and I don’t remember having it since JBatt made it for me for my birthday 3 or so years ago. Well, Mrs. Wilkes has it on the menu every day along with collards, potatoes and more. Plus they change the menu daily (though that fried chicken stays!), only serve lunch and don’t take credit cards. Those places always great. 107 W. Jones St view site here
Something Old: I’d also need to get my historic fix by visiting Bonaventure Cemetery, the Mercer-Williams House, and the Telfair Art Museum. Maybe I’d go recite the girl scout promise, (which I still remember word for word), at Juliette Gordon Low’s birthplace too.
Well there are so many others places, I could ramble on for a while, but I'll wait until I get to Savannah to continue. ‘Til then check out Grace from Design*Sponges’s slide show of her trip to the historic area of Savannah and Holly from Decor8’s Savannah shopping guide.
Images from top left are: ShopSCAD window front, Mrs. Wilkes and her lovely spread, patisserie counter at the Paris Market and Brocante (how cute is that dress?), Bonaventure Cemetery from via CNN by Amanda Moulson.

Oh Miss Scarlett...

As mentioned my Elles, Vogues, Luckys and the occasional InStyle, (as Shaniqua understands I don't read that magazine regularly... too big and too hard to follow), always end up sliced to pieces in my sketchbook. I'll be inspired by the color, the texture, the jewels etc...
So... Miss Scarlett Johansson had been sitting in my sketchbook, (I have one where i save clippings for later and one where do the sketches for the patterns), since she walked into the 2006 Venice Film Festival in that AMAZING vintage creamy yellow gown topped off with the perfect red lipstick.
Honestly when I saw it I just though "Savannah". I also thought, "I need to run out and buy ANOTHER tube of red lipstick immediately... that will sit in my bag barely used".
I'll confess, getting the color right on the Savannah print was very tricky. Especially for the 2008 Calendar. It's hard to do something functional, like the calendar, in really pale colors. Doesn't work out so well. So I couldn't match the colors to Scarlett's dress exactly, but I hope I got the feel of it across.
Check out the print here and the new calendar here.

"The Book"

"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", (henceforth to be called MGGE), was my first introduction to Savannah that I can remember. It was written by John Berendt and spent 216 weeks on the NYT best seller list; then in 1997 Clint Eastwood made it into a movie. MGGE has become so iconic that Savannah locals simply refer to it as "the book". First I saw MGGE the movie, (in college my roommate Erin worked at a video store so I saw almost every movie released in the late 90's), and then I read the book. I loved that I could see Savannah's drooping trees, old mansions and Lady Chablis in the movie, but the book is absolutely amazing (there is a reason that they give MGGE tours in Savannah to this day). In the end I suggest you see/read both of them, but in the book is always better.
One passage from MGGE that truly inspired the Savannah print is on page 28, "The streets were lined with townhouses of brick and stucco, handsome old buildings with high front stoops and shuttered windows. I entered a square that had flowering shrubs and a monument at the center. A few blocks farther on, there was another square. Up ahead, I could see a third on line with this one, and a fourth beyond that. To the left and right, there were two more squares. There were squares in every direction. I counted eight of them. Ten. Fourteen. Or was it twelve? 'There are exactly twenty-one squares,' an elderly lady told me..."
"the thing I like best about the squares, " Miss Harty said, "is that cars can't cut through the middle; they must go around them. So traffic is obliged to flow at a very leisurely pace. The squares are our little oases of tranquility."
How great is that? It took a little bit of design ingenuity to get 21 squares in the background of the Savannah print. The other inspiration is on page 10, "You mustn't be taken in by the moonlight and magnolias."
But I want to be taken in Mr. Williams! I want to see the bird girl statue and the guy that walks a "ghost dog" and see the man with the flies on strings and visit Bonaventure cemetery and see where Jim Williams shot Danny Hansford, (though apparently when you take a tour of that house and ask about the murder they get a bit peeved).
For now I may just have to make myself a mint julep and reread "the book" again.

Savannah, Georgia

Oh, Savannah.... I've been imagining you since I read "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" years ago. I remember the book talking about the magnolias and the moonlight and that just seemed magical. My mom moved to St Augustine, Florida last summer and while visiting I got a little taste of old southern houses surrounded by old trees covered by old Spanish moss. "Oh I bet this is what Savannah looks like, even better though", I thought. I'm a northern Yankee who is obsessed by thoughts of mint juleps on the porch, that deep southern drawl, and things moving at a slooooooowwww pace.
The colors for the Savannah print were inspired by an amazing vintage silk gown that Miss Scarlett Johansson wore while attending the 2006 Venice Film Festival. It was a beautiful cream and yellow dress and it reminded me of Savannah.
I have actually tried to get to Savannah twice so far. Each time in the end the trip is canceled, so she eludes me still. I'll just have to keep imagining my vacation there...

what is the deal with the wind?

So everyone knows that Chicago is called the Windy City. Is it really that windy there? Well, I asked my dear friend JJ who was one of the inspirations for the print, here is what he said: "So the wind in Chicago ...when your at the lake it is something to behold in the winter. Seriously...no matter how many layers of thermal undies you might be wearing, the wind will cut thru it like butta. When the wind whips up all your can hear is groans from everyone walking... me personally i just grind my teeth so I don't let out a groan like a girly man." Sounds brutal.
After some research I found that the term Windy City could have been referring to the blustery speak of Chicago's windbag politicians. (see above example, ok maybe that is actually JJ at Halloween, but doesn't he look like a windbag there?)
There's also an interesting post in wikipedia about a rivalry with Cincinnati and Chicago having a baseball team called the "white stockings" and nicknaming the city "Porkopolis". Now porkopolis... that would have been an interesting print.
Anyways, check out the Chicago print here and have a lovely weekend.

Wrigley Field

Living in Boston for 10 years, (and spending my previous 18 in New Hampshire), has made me a big baseball fan. Strike that - a big red sox fan. I love everything about the game and when the season is over I generally feel pretty deflated. The best thing though is going to “the temple” which is, in Boston, Fenway Park (or Fenway Pahhhk), and in Chicago, Wrigley Field. (Generally as a Red Sox fan I wouldn’t sentimentally speak the name of another team, but for many reasons I kind of feel like these guys are siblings.) Wrigley Field was built in 1914 and is the second oldest ballpark in the majors behind Fenway, which was built in 1912. I read that one of the traditions of Wrigley Field is the flying of a flag bearing a "W" or an "L" atop the scoreboard after a game to let locals know if the team won or lost.
Apparently the wind can play a big factor in the outcome of a game here. It swoops right in off Lake Michigan and can either carry a fly out of the park or stop a home run dead in it’s tracks.
The thing that really unites Boston and Chicago is their curses. This curse keeps the teams chasing after their own rabbit on a stick – the clenching of the World Series championship. Well Boston beat the curse of the Bambino when they won the World Series in 2004 (a memory that makes my weepy) and I have faith that the Cubs will beat their curse too. Their curse, however, revolves around a goat being denied admission to the park in 1945, which seems a bit strange. It then continues to modern times in 2003 at the top of the eighth inning of NLCS Game 6 with the Cubs leading 3-0 and five outs away from their first World Series in 58 years, a fan, (I just can’t post his name… this poor man), tried to catch a foul ball that the left fielder was also trying to catch. Soon walks, hits, a wild pitch and the shortstop’s crucial error followed. The 8-run inning results in a Cubs loss. The Cubs would also lose Game 7 to the eventual World Series Champion Florida Marlins. And the curse continues....
ps. for the last 1.5 hours I've been thinking it was Friday and all excited for the weekend. 'Til I just realized it is in fact Thursday... don't you just hate that.

What's so cool about Chicago?

Oh there seems to be a lot my friend. In fact, when I do get around to visiting, I think I will be quite the busy lady.
My first encounter with shopping in Chicago was back in the day when I was designing at Fresh and I needed to make cards for the new (at the time) North Halsted store. "It's in Lincoln Park," they said. "Isn't that a band?" I thought, "and kind of a crappy band?" Well that may be true, (for my taste at least), but there is a beautiful store called Jayson Home and Garden at 1885 N. Clybourn Ave in Lincoln Park. Beautiful home accessories, amazing vintage finds (see above nightstand) and flowers.
From there I would jump over to Bucktown to visit the lovely clutches at Lille, ( 1923 W North Ave). I know I wouldn't use it everyday.... but aren't the beautiful (see above)?
I would run over to Greer to satisfy my paper fix, (1657 North Wells Street). They carry lots of great paper designers, (having my own paper line, I'm sucker for lovely paper), including one of my favorites, Binth, which you can't find too much of around here in Boston.
Lastly I would love to meet Miss Emily from OrangeBeautiful, (check out her great cards here), for a bite at Vosges Haut Chocolat. They have a bar of chocolate made with bacon that sounds way too enticing to be missed!

Mmmmmm.... Hot Dogs.

Ok. Chicago Hot Dogs. I’m TOTALLY obsessed. There is something about having a giant pickle, lettuce and tomatoes with your hot dog that sounds really appetizing to me. Besides that I’m a big foodie who's very into regional foods. You know, chowder in Boston, lobster in Maine, cheesesteak in Philly, pizza in New York, shrimp in Florida and so on.
What is strange, however, is that my obsession has been showing up in other places. Like this article from July 2007's issue of T + L. It reviews the dog restaurants and explains what dragging your red hot through the garden means. The article will definitely serve as my hot dog guide when I get to Chi-Town (do others besides Kayne West call it that? It is sooo catchy). According to the article's author Francine Maroukian, here is what makes up the perfect Chicago Style Hot Dog:

• Poppy-seed bun from the old-world S. Rosen bakery
• All-natural all-beef hot dog from Vienna Beef
• Yellow mustard
• Chopped white onion
• Sweet green-pickle relish (dyed a glowing kryptonite green)
• Dill-pickle spear
• Sprinkle of celery salt
• Sport peppers (small jalapeños)
• Sliced tomatoes

So where will I eat? I think Superdawg will be at the top of the list, impart for the kitchy atmosphere and the car hop service. Also because I respect the owners decree that ketchup on a hot dog is an abomination (see video here, so great). Then there is Hot Doug's for those duck-fat fries... The above hot dog image is from hotdogchicagostyle.com where they have some great reviews and a list of ingredients to make your own Chi-Town dog. But for now I am going to take myself to my local (and lovely) Spike's to get a "junkyard dog" and pretend that I'm in the Windy City.

ooooh..... Chicago

There were a few things that inspired my Chicago pattern.
1. The wind. It is called the windy city.
2. My dear friend JJ. Sometime in the cold months of January or February my friend JJ, who lives in Chicago, came to visit us. On a chilly night we were walking from my car to the Hong Kong, (far from a classy bar – but they have huge scorpion bowls and sell teriyaki sticks all night, so it has it’s place), over by Fanueil Hall. I believe Sasso and I were complaining about how cold it was when JJ exclaimed, (well, I’m going to clean it up a bit for the blog), “Don’t be such a bunch of wimps! This is like summer compared to what it is like in Chicago right now. The wind rips through to your bones there. Look, I don’t even need to wear a jacket here!” This said as I was trying to fit my entire body inside my winter jacket. All I could think was, is it really that cold there? Cause I’ve been would-take-a-ride-from-anyone-cold in Boston, walking down the drydock to The Spoil on the waterfront. That’s cold. But then and there, JJ both scared and intrigued me.
3. Fashion. Last fall there were some killer cobalt blue/black/white combos on the runway. There was blue hair and bright blue eyeshadow. I loved it all and it reminded me of cold wind.

The Bordeaux Pattern

Well as I previously mentioned this pattern went through SO many revisions I thought it was going to be impossible! But here she is, and I think she came out quite nicely. Feels very feminine and fun, just like drinking red wine with your lady friends, (or while drinking red wine in your hot apartment while perusing a Lionel Richie special on PBS - which I may or may not be doing at this moment.)
The pattern is available as a print, as part of the 2008 calendar, as a notecard and now as a notebook, (which I just launched this season).
While at MassArt I took a bookbinding class and I just fell in love with it. I know many graphic designers enjoy the methodical craftsmanship involved in making books. My favorite is the coptic binding which leaves little knots running down the exposed spine of your book. Well back to the notebooks. The large ones are stab bound while the small ones are saddle-stitched with color coordinating staples (I found colored staples and I knew that i needed to do something with them). Each book is handmade in my studio and I think they are just perfect for notes and lists (of which i make a lot). Check them out here...

The Colors of Red Wine

My sketchbooks are filled with "mini-collages". Cutouts from Vouge, Elle and other magazines help me formulate the color schemes and textures that I am looking for. In this case Benjamin Moore and Ralph Lauren chipped in with their paint swatches swiped from Home Depot. I could spend hours playing with all those paint chips...

Adventures on the Wine Route

As previously noted I am quite the bookworm and reading is one of the main ways that I research the "Places I Have Never Been" collection. To learn about the Bordeaux region of France I picked up Kermit Lynch's "Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour of France". There is a chapter per region, and though it was a bit over my head because of my lack of wine knowledge, (I know there is red and white and that white is generally chilled - or that is how I like it), I still very much enjoyed the book.
Lynch talks about Bordeaux being "a land of facades", the biggest one of all being the name chateau, because "many chateaux are nothing but dilapidated sheds in which wine is produced, (reminds me of how loosely the term "luxury condo" is thrown around here in Boston).
Lynch writes of "wine factories", the négociant (middle man) system of Bordeaux, and the lack of female wine makers except for the wonderful Madame de Lacaussade. Some of Amazon.com's reviewers panned the Bordeaux section of this book, saying that the rest of the book was much better. Once I get through it I will let you know.

mmmmm... Cannelés!

The text for the Bordeaux print states that I would eat a tower of cannelés if i was to travel there. Well, in full disclosure, I have an amazing bakery just a few blocks from my home, and they make some great cannelés and I could eat a tower of them there, (or maybe I already have...). Canto 6 is on the corner of Washington and Green in Jamaica Plain, MA and they specialize in "Rustic European Pastry". The cookies (the chocolate cherry), biscuits (ham, carmelized onion and blue cheese), scones (the strawberry), tarts (goat cheese and asparagus), quiches (potato and onion), sandwiches (the franklin park) are amazing. Thank god i have to walk up a big hill to get home. (check out their menu here).
Ok back the the cannelés. It is a small French pastry with a soft and tender custard center and a dark, caramelized crust. The pastry looks like a tiny bundt cake and is approximately two inches in height. This Bordeaux specialty is made from egg, milk and flour flavored with rum and vanilla, the custard batter is baked in a mold, giving the cannelé a caramelized crust and marrowy inside. They remind me a bit of French Toast, only a lot better. If you live in the area stop by Canto 6 (3 cannelés for $1, can't beat that), other wise give them a call... maybe they will ship some to you!
That little lady in the top picture is Agnes, my brother's 7 mth Old English Bulldog and we are dog sitting. She is scared of a lot of things around our house (this is her first trip to the big city) but she certainly isn't afraid of those cannelés!

Bordeaux, France

Well the real inspiration for this print was my dear friend Lisa and her never ending love for a little "Cab Sav" after work. She often mentions this in her blog, which is the funniest thing i have EVER read, (seriously everyone go over and read her blog www.yourgirlfriendisugly.com). We've been friends for a good six years, brought together by my former and her current employer "The Spoil", and have partaken in a good amount of red wine tasting together, (not the "this has notes of blackberry tasting", just the "mmmm... good wine!" tasting). Besides being inspired by my muse Lisa, I did a some reading on the Bordeaux region and tasted some local canelés (I actually plan to go get some more after posting this). I wanted to do a pattern that represented the different shades of red that appear when you swirl your glass of wine. Let me tell you, this pattern did not come easy and took months! I think i did close to 10 revisions, I'm sure Sasso got sick of critiquing them too. But in the end it all came together and you can check it out here.

20,000 Miles for Parkinsons

Last night I settled in and watched the movie "The Motorcycle Diaries" which is based on the journals that Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna, (yes that Che Guevara), kept while he and his best friend drove across South America on their motorcycle in the early 1950s. Well, the movie was great, inspiring and had wonderful music.
My friend Brennan told me that the book "The Motorcyle Diaries" inspired him to his own South American journey that he is now towards the end of. In October 2006, Brennan left Florida and headed off on a BMW motorcycle through the Gulf States into Mexico, Central America and South America, over pavement and dirt to the southern tip of Argentina, and back. When all is said and done he will travel more than 20,000 miles and expects to raise at least $150,000 for the Parkinson Foundation. Isn't that amazing! I've talked to him periodically, helping him send out email blasts, and the pictures he has sent have been pretty great. He seems to be having a great time, except for that broken collar bone and a couple of accidents. Check out his site here, look at the pictures and his travel logs - and if you can donate to help the Parkinson's Foundation!