Miss Marrakech

Well here is Miss Marrakech. You can see how she started as just little baby sketches on the left until she grew into the fine young lady, (that crashes my powerbook), that she is today. It has been one big busy week here at JHill Design. A week full of running around, printing and printing, meetings, and lots of alka-seltzer. I'm not a big fan of this kind of week. Not at all. Though I did get to enjoy the season premiere of Ugly Betty, (LOVED it), with some wine and a Sasso cooked dinner. This weekend I doing Open Studios in J.P. which is why it is 11:00pm and I am matting prints, (I always think I'm more prepared than I am). A great surprise though was the link from dooce.com to our note cards. Apparently Miss Heather is a fan and I can say we are a fan of her as well. If you are not a dooce reader check it out at www.dooce.com.

My Marrakesh, (actually it's Maryam's)

I finished the Marrakech pattern sometime ago, and wouldn't you know it as soon as I completed it I stumbled onto what could have been the most inspirational site yet... My Marrakesh. It is written by Maryam and let me tell you... she has one hell of any eye. Maryam writes about Morocco, Marakech, decor, design, fashion, art, travel, riding camels, designing guest houses, and so much more. She also posts BEAUTIFUL images, just check out this one of the slippers in her post about shopping in Marrakech. Delicious, huh?
I'm so excited to read her posts about Essaouira because I'm working on a pattern for that imaginary vacation next. She is also planning on launching her"Peacock Pavilions Shop" online which will, no doubt, be totally amazing. I don't get to read this blog as often as I should, so I just moved it to the top of my blogreader. I suggest you do the same.

Fez (the pen)

So a few years ago I got the pleasure of working with some great people while designing collateral for the Cross stores here in the Boston area. Perfect, (and dangerous), for me because I LOVE stationary (duh) and pens. During this time Cross was producing limited edition pens with the talented designer Rafe. Together they created some really cool pens, for example this one, The Fez. I adore this pattern. Really, I do. I've used it for over 2 years and have yet to lose it (though she is currently out of ink). I've checked the Cross site and ebay but it seems that they don't sell these pens anymore - which is a big, big shame. Their pens no longer have patterns, so sad. Luckily I stocked up on the Rafe collection when it hit the shelves.

I Love You, I Hate You...

I have an extreme love/hate relationship with the Marrakech pattern. See, the process to making the patterns is this: 1. be inspired 2. research + imagine 3. draw 4. format. Well with Marrakech I was inspired by tiny mint tea glasses. I researched and then imagined a huge tower of them like a stained glass window. I drew and after a few rounds was pretty happy with the finished piece. Then I formatted. This is where love started to turn to hate.
The drawing needs to be formated into a large print, a small print, a desk calendar page and a wall calendar page. Well the wall calendar page is 112mb which honestly almost killed my powerbook, (i mean my ANCIENT powerbook, we're talking 3 yrs + here). This is what happens when you get carried away with brushes in illustrator. Could I have found another way to make those tiny grains of sugar cascading through the cups? (Yes, I mean the ones that you need to be up close to the print to see.) Yes, I probably could have. Did I? No, no I didn't. I just timed my mac as the color wheel death spun around and around.
In the end, nothing was going to get changed on that print after I formated it. Hell, I'm scared to even open it. I did, however, show my original love to her by putting her on July, my birthday month.
Yes, I think Marrakech will stay closed until I can introduce her to the new man in town, the MacPro tower, (which, fingers crossed, will be very soon).

Just a Note

Just a couple notes that may be of interest:
• Holly over at Decor8 is running a give away for both the 2008 Wall and Desk Calendar. Just leave a comment listing 5 things that you plan to accomplish in '08 that are helping/supporting others and you will be entered! Check out the contest here.
• If you are in the Boston area come see us at J.P. Open Studios this coming weekend! There will be 220 artists at 71 sites showing their work throughout Jamaica Plain. This is a great way to meet and support local artists. We are very excited to be showing at the contemporary craft gallery, Fire Opal, located at 683 Centre Street. For more info about JP Open Studios and to download a JPOS map click here.

Sweet Mint Tea

The Marrakech Pattern is based on the colorful glasses used for drinking mint tea throughout Morocco. Drinking mint tea with friends and family is one of the important rituals of the day. As with many rituals, the hardware used should be functional but also beautiful. Moroccan tea pots have long, curved pouring spouts which allows the tea to be poured evenly into tiny glasses from far above. The tiny glasses are about 3.25" tall and hold about 3 ounces of tea. They are painted with brilliant colors, often rimmed in gold. The tea is served piping hot and super sweet. When asking Adi how she liked the mint tea in Morocco her lips puckered as she said, "Oh! So sweet!". If you are interested in making your own, check out a recipe here.

As a surprise, when Adi came back from Spain this year she brought Sasso + me a pair of little tea glasses. Aren't they sweet? There are some more beauties at here at justmorocco.com. I'm not a big tea drinker, but i could build a collection of these glasses quite easily!

ooooh..... Marrakech

Sasso's sister, Adi, spent some time in Morocco when she was in High School. I believe it was a part of an exchange student program, (I only remember this because I recall Sasso talking about how hot the Moroccan girl was, and how she liked heavy metal music). Anyways, Adi's pictures and stories about her trip stayed in the back of my mind.
2 years ago when I was designing for Cross they came out with a limited edition pen called The Fez. The pattern was designed by Rafé and was really fun to work with in the promotional pieces. The pen is still my favorite writing instrument.
Inspired by Moroccan-ish elements I'd been seeing in blogs and magazines I thought it was time to do the first Morocco pattern, and I picked Marrakech. One thing stuck out in my research and that was their BEAUTIFUL tea glasses filled with super sweet, (and hot), mint tea. I researched many of the tea glass designs, and was even lucky enough to receive a pair as a gift. I can't wait to show you it all in the upcoming posts...

Zacatecas, Zacatecas

So Sasso got back from his little big trip to Zacatecas, Mexico late last night and I wanted to share some the treasures he brought me back, (so nice, some beautiful pesos, beautiful earrings and a beautiful and functional bag holder made by the mother of the family he stayed with). Sounds like he had an amazing time traveling with an old friend and staying with a family. It was independence day last weekend and he saw a pretty crazy firework display. He also went to a bullfight, (i love love love their costumes but the slaughter thing makes me cringe), to an art museum to see some masks, to a huge fair, (which as the only 6' 7" American guy he really stuck out), and he ate a lot of great food.
He said that hot dogs were more popular down there than they are up here which is kind of funny. Corn dogs too, which he had them double fry, put in a bun and smother in nacho cheese. The mother of the family made them some amazing Mexican dishes like mole, chili rellenos, sopas and gorditas. Thank god she did cause he probably would have been fine eating corn dogs for every meal.
I'm bummed that i couldn't go with him, but am looking forward to going there in the future and meeting this lovely family I've heard so much about. I've seen many places in Central America and a few in Mexico but they have all been undeveloped so it will be great to go to a more modern city. I had visions of Sasso's long bus trip from Guadalajara to Zacatecas being like the sweaty, school bus trip that Ugly Betty's family had to take - but he says the buses are nicer than the planes.
He also was telling me about the silver mines there which sound amazing, and have me thinking of a new Zacatecas pattern...

Ohhhhh.... Essaouira.

This afternoon I got a lovely e-mail from Monica in Chicago. She had received her Marrakech Print and wanted to share her trip to the Moroccan port of Essaouira. (I love when people share their travel experiences with me). "A completely different feeling from the interior cities like Fez and Marrakech; oranges replaced with blues and yellows -- what I imagine Greece might look like!" She attached these lovely photos too. I've been doing some reading about Essaouira and it looks amazing. She is totally right, when I think of Morocco I always think of hot and warm colors. Never would I think of cool blues, bright yellows and crisp whites. Thanks so much for sharing Monica! Check out some more pictures of Essaouira on Tim Fern's Flickr page here.
Above pictures taken by Ross Yelsey and sent in by Monica Mercado.

Dia de los Muertos

Well first let me say that I think my blog is inspiring some kind of magical travel. The week I wrote about Savannah my mom called to tell me she was being taken on a last minute trip to Savannah. Guess where Sasso is off to this morning? I brought him to the airport at 4am to catch a plane to... Mexico. He bought a ticket Monday night after our weekend in the Berkshires and he is off to a town outside of Guadalajara. Last minute trips are tricky when you freelance so i had to sit this one out. Hmmm... is "Places I Have Never Been" turning into "Places I Have Never Been but My Family Just Went There"? Possibly.

Anyways, about the Dia de los Muertos. What a fantastic holiday this is. It is celebrated in many countries but started in Mexico. It takes place on November 1 & 2 and emphasizes celebrating and honoring the lives of the deceased, and celebrating the continuation of life.
People decorate the graves of loved ones with ofrendas, or offerings, which often include "Flor de Muerto", or "Flower of the Dead". These flowers are thought to attract souls of the dead. People also build altars in their homes, leave out food and bedding for the deceased, and celebrate the lives of their deceased loved ones.
One of the symbols of Dia de los Muertos is the skull, and the sugar skull at that. The sugar skull was a big influence on the skull and flower pattern for Mexico City.
I think the Dia de los Muertos is great and wish it was something that happened more in the US. My dad passed away almost 2 years ago and yesterday was his birthday, (September 11 - which is a strange day for a birthday now). I always try to do little things to honor him on that day, but 2 whole days... he would so enjoy that! This year I'm going to attend the Day of the Dead event at Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, right down the street from our house. It sounds like a lot of fun, check it out at www.foresthillstrust.org, but being in Mexico for the Dia de los Muertos, that would be amazing!

Mexican Colors

Ooooh... IT has been a busy week here at JHill Design. Sasso is done with his crazy work schedule so we are hoping in the car and taking off for a few days. Where are we going? Not sure! We packed a bag, grabbed our Rough Guide to New England and are hitting the road. I'll be back on Tuesday. 'Til then check out the colors of Mexico collage from my sketchbook. Ta-Ta!

Skulls and Flowers

For the Mexico City print, (part of the 2007 calendar), I wanted to do something about The Day of the Dead. Well, you can't just look at a print of skulls for a month without it getting you down However, there is nothing depressing about quirky Mexican skulls with eyelashes and big ol' grins. Combine these with bright, bright flowers and it's almost joyful, (almost).
These AMAZING tank tops by Megan Odabash and this cut-out necklace inspired thoughts of graphic flowers. Now why WHY! did I not buy one of these tank tops last summer. Well, maybe it was the $200 price tag, but I'm sure I could have figured out some sort of justification for that.
Here is her website, though it only has her contact info on it. Ok, hold that. I just found them online at HornFashion.com. Now how many calendars do I need to sell to get one of these lovelies...