Currently Imagining: Eldon's Africa

I remember finding "The Journey is the Destination" in the summer of 1997 in my local bookstore. I had just graduated from high school and was waiting out the months until I left for art school in Boston. I picked up the book and still haven't put it down.
The Journey is the published journals of photojournalist Dan Eldon who was stoned to death at age 22 by an angry mob in 1993 while working for Reuters in Somalia. Dan left behind 17 black journals full of collages, text and photography which his mother, Kathy Eldon, posthumously published.
I had never seen anything like this book before. The story was unbelievably sad, but the journals were bursting with life. I couldn't believe all this man had done in such a short life and how well he had documented it. I then started keeping my own black canson collage journal which continued on for a few years. Something I always think I'll return to but sadly never do.
I think everyone should own this book, so order one here. But you can also see many, many, many pages of Dan's journals at www.creativevisions.org. I'd never seen many of these pages, and one great thing is to look at the progression of his work from the time he was in 6th grade until the end. There is another book about Dan called the Art of Life which I haven't checked out yet, but am interested in seeing what it holds. Learn more about Dan at daneldon.org (above images from the creative visions website).
Below are a few pics from the Red Sox parade yesterday. It was "wicked" awesome. And I can say this... from 10 ft away David Ortiz is even hotter than he is on my high-def tv. Seriously, I think we had a moment and I got lightheaded.

Currently Imagining: The South of France

Turns out this week I'm going to post a lot of the little art driven travel books that inspire me. Things are a little too busy, plus we have the Red Sox parade today, for me to get my act together to do otherwise. But this will be fun nonetheless.
Sarah Midda's South of France... I believe I got this in college and it was instantly a favorite. Midda is a British illustrator who's work has all the things that I love: style, detail, facts, color and concept. I love concept (in case you couldn't tell from the whole "Places I Have Never Been" thing).
Other things I love about this sketchbook:
• It has lists – tons of them actually (I’m a big big list maker).
• Midda draws unconventional maps of gardens with color-blocked keys
• She includes some amazing collages, one in particular is just about eggs (see above)
• One whole page (73) is a charatcer's gesture drawings
• Interesting factual monthly pages, such as the one above. They include such things as: “dragged to beach for last swimming days of the year” as well as "14th of September 1927: Isadore Duncan dies in nice – strangled when her scarf becomes caught in the wheel of car in which she is passenger."
• She draws an entire chart of olives on pg 94. Brilliant
Midda also has a book about gardens and abc's for adults. You can pick it up here from Amazon and see a few more scans of the book here.
Every time I pick up this little sketchbook I'm inspired more, I'd love to talk to Midda about it. I think we could have a nice chat over a "spot of tea". 'Til then I will be devouring her pages, well - after I go cheer on the Sox with thousands of other people.

Currently Imagining: Jaipur

Well, well, well. What a morning. I was quite tired after staying up to watch the Red Sox sweep the World Series (and drinking a bit too much champagne) last night. We also watched a few idiots down near Fenway topple a car and antagonize the horseback police. And then to hear discussion about "Would they really give up Mr Mike Lowell for, of all people, A-Rod?" (please, no).
I pressed "snooze" seeing that my Palm (also my alarm clock) had posted a little note that it had updated its self for daylight savings time. Smart little palm. Then Sasso got up and realized that it was not 9, but 10. Apparently my Palm did not get the memo that daylight savings time was pushed back a week this year because of an energy bill.
Since I am a bit behind today I thought I'd write about what I'm working on now. There will be a pattern based on the city of Jaipur released in a few weeks. It's all about kite racing and emeralds and blue + white pottery and the pink city. One big resource for this coming pattern was the book "Rajastan" by Pauline van Lynden. An absolutely beautiful book filled with amazing photos of texture, textiles, architecture and more. I first ordered the book I thought I'd take a look and send it back, it was $65 after all. But once I laid eyes on it I knew it was going to stay on my studio's bookshelf. On Pauline's website I see that she is working on a book about the South of India. I can't wait for that, I'm sure it will be just as great as "Rajastan".

Shodoshima Wrap-Up

I thought I'd wrap up the Shodoshima postings by showing some more of Darren Ruane's amazing fall foliage pics from Japan. You can check out his site here or his flickr site here.
I think this weekend, (besides watching more baseball - these weeks of late nights and crappy bar food are really taking their toll), I'm going to try to catch some New England foliage. I live right near J.P Pond and there are some amazing fiery red trees over there that I'd like to take a look at.
As a side note... 7 more days til vacation. Thank God. So Sasso and I are flying out to Vegas to meet JBatt and Picy to celebrate their birthdays. Since we'll be there for four nights (you have to take advantage of company paid hotel rooms when you can - even if it means spending more time in Vegas than you normally would consider) we are thinking about renting a car and doing some exploring outside of the city. We've both been to Vegas a few times and each of those trips has involved some slot machines, cheap drinks, and Cirque de Soleil shows so we want to do a little something different. If anyone has any suggestions leave a comment or send me an email, I'd love to hear them!

I Heart Super 88

Ahh... yesterday turned out to be a good day. The Red Sox blew out the Rockies in game one of the World Series. I narrowly escaped what could have been a catastrophic car accident on 93S. I got to spend a good half hour browsing and buying at Super 88. I love walking around this local Asian market chain looking at packaging and imagining what everything is. I KNOW that all those labels do say things, they just say nothing to me - cause I can't read a single Asian language.
See above a few of my Shodoshima inspired purchases including 2 types of soy sauce and a package of somen noodles. It would have been great to find soy sauce and tenobe somen made in Shodoshima, but the labels just say "Product of Japan" so who knows.
"But how does it all taste?" you ask. Mmmmmmmm.....
So I read you should buy soy sauce like you buy wine. To me that means don't cheap out and go with the prettiest label - so that is exactly what I did. The smallest bottle is light and sweet, is made with "yuzu orange juice" and is labeled Higeta Ponzu Shoyu. The middle bottle is labeled "MARUKIN Yuki Marudaizu Nama Shoyu", is a strong, but very delicious, dark soy sauce. The tallest bottle is actually from Thailand and I think it is the mushroom sauce that Xander was speaking of. This Mushroom Flavored Soy Sauce by Healthy Boy quite delicious, like an earthy soy sauce. I better put these bottles back in the pantry before I just start drinking them straight... forget the sushi!!!
"Look, she even cooked a delicious soup with her somen noodles" you say. No, Zenna on Beacon did. I'm under piles of work without time to cook a lovely lunch, but trying to read all those noodle labels yesterday got me craving some noodle soup, so I went and grabbed some. I'll have to try my package of somens later.
Besides those treats I got some Pocky, (basically breadsticks dipped in chocolate) and a yummy jar of kimchi. I just realized that I forgot to look for Japanese Olives... but that is just an excuse for another trip to Super 88! Or better yet, maybe I should wait to get to Shodoshima to try some.

Mmmmm... Tenobe Somen

As previously mentioned Shodoshima has a lot to offer in terms of food. Soy sauce, Japanese olives, Tsukudani and tenobe somen noodles. The tenobe somen industry got its start in here in the late 16th century. These long, fine noodles are made from wheat flour, sesame oil and salt. The wheat flour dough is coated with sesame oil and then stretched as far as it can be by hand (see all those handing noodles up there...). Because the fine noodles can only be stretched during the dry months of winter, tenobe somen has become one of the symbols of the winter season.
It is things like this that I love to incorporate into the patterns. In the background of the Shodoshima pattern you will see (see close up above) the thin stripes representing the tenobe somen noodles. It is things like this that spurned me to start this blog. There are all these little secrets in each pattern that one would not assume were anything more than a mere design element without being told. I can tell you here.
I'm unsure if I've ever had tenobe somen, perhaps at sometime I have, I do eat a good deal of Japanese food. I didn't make it to Super 88 on Friday as hoped. But today on my quick jaunt down to the land of returns at Ikea, I will pass right by it. I'm hoping to stop by and pick up some somen, a few kinds of soy sauce, the mushroom sauce that Xander mentioned and some Japanese olives. Then tonight have a soy sauce tasting party accompanied by sushi, the red sox and some good friends (the kind that indulge me on my little weird research tastings like this) and then report back on the food of Shodoshima!

Out with the Uggs and in with the New

I interrupt these Shodoshima postings to bring you my new favorite slippers. Yes, I hate breaking up a post series but I had to show you these. I got to spend a lovely morning with the lovely Maryam of My Marrakech and she brought me 2 very lovely pairs of Moroccan slippers. Sasso will be thrilled to see these on my feet instead of my ugg slippers which are quite old and beaten to hell - and I admit, kind of gross. Aren't they just beautiful! These could inspire a whole new Moroccan pattern. Maryam is working on opening an online shop, and I can't wait to see what she will have there, it will all be beautiful I'm sure.
It's been a very nice day, besides getting my new slippers the Red Sox won game 7 last night and are in the World Series. We are all "wicked" pumped here (and very sleep deprived) and looking forward to 2 more weeks of baseball. Go Sox!

For the love of soy (sauce)

This is how much I love soy sauce. See how he towers over every other condiment in the pantry. Yes, I know. Soy sauce is liquid salt. But hey, there are worse things I could be addicted too... like crack for instance. When I researched Shodoshima for the 2008 calendar and read that the island was a central producer of soy sauce I was intrigued.
Soy sauce production began on Shodoshima in the year 1600. The island's good source of salt and easy access to marine transportation helped it grow to be the fourth largest soy sauce producer Japan. You can tour the island's factories and even a Soy Sauce Historical Museum. If you'd like to read about how soy sauce is made click here.
Shodoshima is a foodie's (like me) mini-paradise. It was the birth place of Japanese olives, there is this whole soy sauce thing, it is the #1 producer of tsukudani, (seafood, meat or seaweed that has been cooked in soy sauce and mirin, and then dried, washed, boiled) as well we the origin of tenobe somen.
I read that buying soy sauce is the equivalent of buying wine. So I'm thinking my $4.00 jug of Kikkoman is probably equal to a bottle of Boones. On my way out of town this morning I'm going to stop at my local Super 88, my favorite Asian grocery store, and see if I can pick up some soy sauces for tasting, as well as some of the other things mentioned above.
I'll be frolicking in the NH fall foliage this weekend, visiting my fam. Have a lovely one yourself. Oh and as a note: You've got to go get the new Rilo Kiley cd, it is so great. Especially #4, I've been dancing in the studio by myself to it for a couple days now. I want to be Jenny Lewis.

Kouyou = Autumn

As noted in the previous post, Kouyou means "red leaves" or "changing colors" and is the name of the Japanese foliage season. The Shodoshima kouyou pattern is the cover of the 2008 calendar, but an enlarged version fills the month of September. I always think of September as fall + folliage, but in reality it was almost 80 degrees in Boston last week and the trees that fill the park outside my studio are still green. (I know this foliage season has been pretty slow here in New England because of all the warm temperatures... maybe Al Gore has something to that global warming thing, huh).
Daniel Altman's NY Times article was the best resource, (and most inspirational one), that I found when researching Kouyou. He says the most popular trees are "the Japanese maple, whose leaves turn bright red, and the ginkgo .... whose leaves turn yellow", but there are more species of trees that change color too. That is why the Kouyou season lasts so long, different trees change at different times in different areas. Places that Altman points out as perfect Kouyou viewing spots are the Daisetsu volcano group on Hokkaido and Kanakei Gorge, a valley on Shodoshima Island - this is the valley that the Shodoshima pattern is about.
Apparently foliage viewing is a low-key event in Japan. Not here though, growing up in NH, the traffic backed way up once foliage season started. "It's all those damn leaf peepers," we'd say! Well I've seen 27 1/2 folliage seasons and it still does not cease to amaze me. Infact, I'm even a bit excited for my afternoon drive to NH tomorrow to go visit family. I'm taking Route 2 out of Boston to lovely Route 63 to Hinsdale and I'm hoping that the foliage is in full bloom up there. Yes, since moving to Massachusetts I've actually become a leaf peeper in NH. Ironic, I know.
The top image is from flickr and is by darrenawayagain, he has some AMAZING photo groups of Japan. He's quite talented. See more photos here too. Next year I'm planning to go to Marrakech to visit Maryam, but these pictures have already got me thinking about my next big trip... hopefully to Japan!

ooooh..... Shodoshima

I first read about Shodoshima in a article written by Daniel Altman in the travel section of the New York Times. Altman wrote a piece about the Japanese season of Kouyou, which literally translates to "red leaves" or "changing colors". Being a life-long New Englander, I never really thought about fall foliage happening anywhere else, which is crazy, I know. When my BFF, Ris, moved across the country to Portland I said, "What about the foliage, are you going to miss it?" Ummmm, chlorophyll breaks down in areas outside of New England and meaning that trees do change color else ware.
So the thought of a foliage season in Japan really peaked my interest. Apparently it is as important to the Japanese as their cherry blossom festival. Kouyou moves across the country from early September through late November spreading bright reds, oranges and yellows.
The line from Altman's piece that really got me was "... Kankakei Gorge, a valley on Shodoshima Island in Japan's Inland Sea,... turns flaming red and is visible from the island's cable cars." Imagine floating over a sea of bright red leaves, so amazing.
From my research I can tell you that Shodoshima is the center of soy sauce production, the first area to produce Japanese olives, where tenobe somen noodles are hand stretched and the setting for the movie "24 eyes" - but more on all of that later.
I do love the Shodoshima pattern, so much that I put it on the cover of the 2008 calendars, (I like to think that my patterns vie for that spot, just like the girls of Sport's Illustrated swimsuit edition), and I think she is very happy there.

Funny Little Things

Oh man, what a bummer of a day. The red sox totally lost last night and today I find out I need to have a root canal. Which is terrifying enough, (I had 18 teeth pulled as a child), but more so when you do not have dental insurance. So I thought I'd cheer myself up by finishing off the Costa Rica posts with a few funny things I remember about CR.
1. GIGANTIC Lemons. I don't remember if we bought these or just found them out and about. But seriously these lemons were as big as footballs. The sat in the kitchen of our casa for the duration of our trip just so that we could exclaim, "Man, those are big lemons," whenever we passed by. Did we eat them? I don't remember that either.
2. Cow + Lop-Eared Bunny. I always wanted a lop-eared bunny, so cute with their floppy ears. I just want to put little bows on them, (frightening I know), watch them hop around. Kind of the same way I feel about my mom's basset hound. But apparently there is a strain of cow in Costa Rica that has mated with the lop-eared bunny. I kid, but seriously how cute is that floppy cow?
3. Molasses for All. Most of the roads we traveled on were not paved. They were, in fact, more like wide paths strewn with rocks, pot holes and with an odd river flowing through them. They were dusty,rich red dust. How do they keep the dust down? They hook up this strange little contraption to the back of a pick up and spray the road with a mixture of hot water and molasses. I kid you not the whole town smells a bit like french toast.
4. The New Meaning of Full Service Gas Station. One day Sasso and I ventured out on our own and we were a bit nervous about parting from our only Spanish speaking travel mate, Picy. After a day of bumming around we saw that needed gas so we pulled into a station, see above (yes those drums are the gas station). A very nice man followed us through our American charades telling him that we need to fill the tank. He brought out a big jug of gas, a milk carton and a funnel. Needless to say I didn't see any smoking around that joint.
Well I leave you as my novicane wears off. Tomorrow it is back to places i haven't been with some great posts about the foliage in Shodoshima, Japan!

My favorite playa

Our blindingly white New Englander bodies laid on A LOT of beaches in Costa Rica, (see little sketch of memory of each beach below). My favorite beach of all time is Playa Ostional a ways outside of Nosara. Why you ask?
First off it was deserted, partly because it is a wildlife refuge, (this is where baby turtles come to be born, I wish we were there during that time), and party because the rip tide is so strong you can't swim there. But it looks like paradise untouched.
We explored around the rocky Punta India area which you can see below. There were pools of deep purple sea urchins, all sorts of pointy sizes. There were masses of dried pink crabs everywhere, like they had laid out for a tan, fallen asleep and just withered right up. There were rocky cliffs and natural bridges (which I was petrified Sasso would fall off of and pummeled by waves). There were massively huge prehistoric-like pelicans, or "pellies" as I like to call them. Millions of multi-colored snails sauntering about. The beach was covered with black, sparkley sand. There was even a bat cave. So that is why it was my favorite. Check out the pictures below.



I've got to run and catch the Sox game. I have my fingers crossed that this playoff game doesn't go until 2am... I can't tell if my heartburn is from lunch or from Red Sox playoff nerves.

The dogs (and a cat) I met and the food I ate

We didn't know that the fresh and tasty food at a Costa Rican restaurant comes with a side of super-cute-puppy. That's right, just about every restaurant we ate at from Playa Negra to Nosara had an adorable little mutt who acted as the restaurant's ambassador. When asked, "Who's dog is this?", we were met with shrugs. That led to many a dinner conversation on how the four of us could smuggle our favorite Costa Rican puppies back to the US. Was it illegal to stash Stubbs in your carry-on?
1. This is Michael Jackson (see we named each one too), cause he's only got one white glove. I can't remember what restaurant this was at so I'm going to tell you about a different one. The Mono Congo Lodge in Playa Negra had a killer gourmet brunch. Not something you'd expect at the end of a dirt road (well, they were all dirt roads). It included curried sea bass, stuffed tomatoes, omlettes, french toast with banana sauce, watermelon salad with cilantro... I actually over-ate and made myself sick. The lodge looks like a big open air treehouse with rooms and hamocks for sleeping. The owner at the time was named Justin and he took us down by the river to see the baby crocodiles and the tarantula holes. I do remember being a bit concerned because I was wearing a mini cargo skirt and high espadrilles, not your average croc hunting attire. I could see the headlines... "Boston native falls into croc infested swamp. Heels too high." www.monogongolodge.com
2. This is Spanky and I think he was my favorite, I mean look at those ears. His casa was the lovely La Luna restaurant at the Hotel Nosara in Nosara. You sit literally just a few feet away from the crashing waves. It was beautiful, romantic and had great food and a great bar. There was lobster tails, mangos and seafood salad. Mmmmm.... If I had a destination wedding it would be here. www.nosarabeachhotel.com
3. Lil' Abner stayed at Dona Olgas where he was just waiting for, (and I'm sure I indulged him with), a bite of my hearts of palm salad, black beans and fish casado. Playa Nosara
4. Stubbs was very low to the ground, and even though I remember him to be very itchy - I would have thrown him in my backpack all the same. I believe he spent his days at a surfer bar in Junquillal where we had a few Imperials and some fries.
5. Miss Baxter (how cute is she) patrolled a very good pizza place. In fact in my sketchbook I've noted that it is "killer pepperoni pizza", but that's all I remember.
6. This guy does not have a name. Why? Well, he wouldn't talk to us. In fact he chased us out of the small village of Sámara after we had stuffed ourselves full of the MOST amazing empanadas ($1 each!) and papa fritas from a little place called Cevichera.
7. Costa Rican Mischief (my mischief's long lost brother) kept watch at the amazing Italian restaurant Puesto Del Sol in Junquillal, right down the street from Stubb's surfer bar. The food was fresh, delicious and the owners made lovely conversation. It was alfresco dinning and I could have stayed there all night. We would have fully enjoyed it if we weren't sweating the fact that we didn't bring enough cash to cover all the food and wine we ordered, (no credit cards!). After Sasso and Picy sold themselves and we forwent desert, all was fine in the end.
All in all the best thing about the food in Costa Rica was how fresh and local it was. Fish that was caught that day, fresh vegetables and my favorite - black beans and rice. Also they have great beer, Imperial. The worst thing? I still to this day can not eat huevos revueltos. Or as I like to call them, huevos revolting. I ate them EVERY morning at one of our hotels, (and I love scrambled eggs.. but not these) and would have killed for any other type of egg but was too afraid to ask. The last day there, the obnoxious Texans next to us were served poached eggs.

The Costa Rica Pattern

On one of my many strolls along one of many beaches on the coast of Costa Rica I noticed this strange and somewhat complex pattern in the sand (see above photo). And then I saw it again. And again. And again, you get the picture. So I snapped a photo thinking it would be a cool pattern. Although it looks like a woodblock design embossed in the sand it is really made by a shell swirling around and being pulled out by the tide. How cool is that.
Later I sat on the steps of the lovely house, Casa Vista Azul, we stayed in and did a quick sketch of what I thought the pattern would look like. Later in February when we returned to the states I finished the above pattern and decided to use it as part of the JHill Design branding. I had just started the studio a few months prior and I needed to layout a new website, business cards, forms etc... so it was perfect timing. It's one of the only patterns I've done about a place I've actually been to.
Going back over my travel sketchbook to Costa Rica I can't believe that it was almost four years ago that I was there and that I've been running JHill Design for that long. When I started the studio it was a necessary fix to an immediate problem, (my dad had early-onset Alzheimers and having the flexible schedule that comes with having your own business let me work and help take care of him at the same time - it was wonderful), but in the last year it has been great to see it grow and change directions.
But back to Costa Rica, later I'll share some of the amazing foods we ate, (my entire sketchbook is made up mostly of drawings and listing of what I ate), the dogs that we met, and a few of the adventures we had. Most importantly though... the first game of the Red Sox ACLS series is tonight and I am sooooooooooooooooo looking forward to it. Go Sox.

Oooooh... Costa Rica

Disclaimer, I know it is called Places I Have Never Been... but I've been here, (see i DO actually go places...). The first travel inspired pattern was the one I use in the JHill Design branding, (see above banner), which was based on some natural designs I saw in Costa Rica. I thought I'd share not only the inspiration for the pattern but some of the great things we did there.
In 2004 Sasso, JBatt and Picy and I all traveled down to Playa Negra, Costa Rica where we spent a good week sitting on the beach and another one traveling around the coast. We met a lot of adorable dogs, some strange cows, we drove through rivers, played in the ocean, ate tons of great food, almost had to chew and screw on a dinner, and watched our Patriots win the superbowl, (luckily we missed the whole Janet Jackson debacle).
It was such a great trip and i can't wait to show you photos and our travel sketchbooks. Then it will be back to Places I Have Never Been as usual!

Hot Chocolate + Hot Air Balloons

In much of what I've read about the Balloon Fiesta there is the ubiquitous mention of a warm cuppa hot chocolate warming up those pre-dawn hours. As a true lover of hot chocolate, that is exactly what I would drink there. Last year I gave up eating dairy, (well mass consumption at least), and sidelining my daily hot chocolate was one of the saddest things. Now, it is a special treat and my allergies and waistline are thankful for that.
After seeing hot chocolate mentioned so many times I thought I'd share a few of my favorites.
1. L.A. Burdicks Now I don't know if this is just a New England thing, but if it is you better all come here for this. My lovely French friend Marie brought me to this cafe "that has the real European hot chocolate, the kind your spoon can stand in!" in 2001. You can eat pastries and indulged in their HC at their Cambridge cafe or visit their AMAZING restaurant in Walpole, NH, not too far from where I grew up. One of my favorite things to get is the iced hot chocolate, then when you can't finish it all, put it in the freezer and you've got a hot chocolate pop. If you can't make it here, you can pick up their HC mix online at www.burdickchocolate.com.
2. Starbucks Now I know there are a lot of haters out there... but being a "barista" at Starbucks helped me buy art supplies in school and kept me from getting a nose ring that I'd probably regret today, (thanks corporate dress code). They also make their hot chocolate with a yummy syrup and top it with delicious whipped cream. Since there is one on every corner, (at least in Boston), you are never at a loss for an HC fix. www.starbucks.com
3. Marie Belle I bought this because of the packaging. I entered the Marie Belle store in NYC and could have died because they have the most amazing branding ever. If I could get more than one client to stay that focused with their branding I'd be a very happy designer. Anyways, after the can of Aztec Hot Chocolate sat on my desk for months I broke into it. Mmmmmmm. I very much want to try, (and collect), their Maya HC too.
4. Chocolate en Poudre What is better than having a food writer as your boyfriend's sister, especially one that knows you adore HC and finds you the very best? Not much. In fact it is time for me to re-buy some Chocolate en Poudre. There is vanilla and little sugar crystals in here. It is devine and that is why it is my favorite. You can order it from Boston's gourmet food shop Formaggio Kitchen at www.formaggiokitchen.com
5. The Hot Chocolate Pot I do not own this and the $170 price tag is going to keep me from owning it, but isn't it beautiful? There is something so decadent about having a pot for hot chocolate sitting on your stove instead of a pot for tea. From Williams-Sonoma www.williams-sonoma.com
6. Zingerman's Traditional Mexican Hot Chocolate If you are not familar with the food store Zingermans go peruse their site and pick up their Guide to Good Eating.
I haven't had a Mexican Hot Chocolate that i remember, but this mix sounds very enticing. Smokey, cinnamon-ey with little exploding sugar crystals... mmmm. www.zingermans.com
The Balloon Fiesta will be wrapping up this weekend and this concludes the posts on the inspirations for the Albuquerque print. So sad, there was a balloon accident over the weekend and I send thoughts out to the family of those injured and killed in the crash. So sad. I wish the rest of the participants safe flight. Though scary, it still seems so magical to me. I can just imagine the roar of their little engines as I sip my hot chocolate...

Whats so cool about Albuquerque?

Well one cool thing is the spelling. I mean how many u's and q's can one word have? And some other cool things...
Doug West Serigraphs's Doug West seems to be to the West what, (my favorite), Sabra Field is to New England. I love his graphic prints and his use of color. One image may use up to 80 screens, (this makes me feel a bit lazy, if a print uses more than 3 screens i count it out). Andrews Pueblo Pottery in Old Town has a great collection of his work online, but it would be wonderful to go see these prints in person. Andrews Pueblo Pottery, 303 Romero St NW # 116, Albuquerque NM (505) 243-0414 www.andrewspp.com
Ghost Town Trading Co. This store is filled with their own colorfully muted rustic furniture. I spied a few tin mirrors that I wouldn't mind having in my bedroom. The really amazing work is the custom pieces they do for their clients, such as doors and kitchen cabinetry. What I would give to have beautiful cabinets like this instead of the home depot special my landlord installed. Ghost Town Trading Co. 111 Carlisle Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM www.ghosttowntrading.com
La Casita de Kaleidoscopes is a small gallery featuring artistian kaleidoscopes and teleidoscopes. This is something I have never run across before. The only kaleidoscopes I know are made of paper and come from Chinatown. The gallery's pieces are beautifully sculptural, but you can't see the inside online so I guess we'll all have to pay the gallery a visit to see for ourselves. La Casita de Kaleidoscopes, 326-D San Felipe NW, Albuquerque, NM www.casitascopes.com
Jackalope I love import/craft galleries. When I was young and we'd travel two hours to get to "the mall" I always wanted to stop at Pier One. It was like a mecca for foreign things for me, (little did i know). So when I saw this store's lovely website I immediately put it on my wish list for visiting. Plus the owner's story is something out of a movie. His mother was responsible for Grandparents day, he is a former weed smuggler turned drug counselor, and he lives on the premise with 130 white doves roosting on the second floor balcony. The store carries a line of wood carved and painted pieces by Oaxaca artists Alejandrino Fuentes Vasquez, I totally adore these little animals. Jackalope has 4 locations so best to visit their site to see which one is easiest for you. www.jackalope.com

Hot Air Balloons in Flight

Besides rainbows, the main inspiration for the Albuquerque print was the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The event starts tomorrow and goes until October 14. In the pre-dawn hours you can watch the "Dawn Patrol" as the balloons float in the dark sky. Have one of the balloon operators whisk you up for a private balloon ride. Then from 7am-8am you can behold the "Mass Ascension" which is the launch of all participating balloons and I would imagine it to be absolutely amazing watching all that bright color drift into the blue sky. I've talked to a few Albuquerque-ians who've said, "when you see it every year it isn't that cool anymore." That's so sad, I've seen the fall foliage peak around me 28 times and every year I drive further north just to stare at the colors. You just can't let those annual regional things become ordinary, (though I admit I annually ignore my hometown's pumpkin festival).
I found these GREAT videos of the festival on youtube. This first one, (shot by ericjsimon), kills me because the man running the camera is on the verge of a panic attack, I recognize that shaky voice anywhere, and he confirms it at the end.

This second video, (shot by rpellicciotti), shows soooo many of the great colors of the balloons.

One last great thing about the Balloon Fiesta is that each year they have a different artist design their poster. On the left is last years designed by artist Russ Ball and on the left is this years poster designed by artist Darryl Willison.


Top image from corvair owner via flickr

Rainbow Bright

Rainbow colors and geometric patterns were a big part of the Albuquerque Pattern. Partly because that is what immediately comes to mind when I think of hot air balloons and also because I realized that I've surrounded myself with this ever since I was a little one. I figured I'd share a few of them.
Going clockwise you can see me and my favorite striped summer outfit - probably one of the last times i didn't care about being photographed in my bathing suit.
The bottom photo features the Pyrex primary color bowl set and is from PyrexLove.com, (a really cool site). I obsessed about this set until I received it as a birthday gift one year. My set is in pretty rough shape now, but I still love having them displayed all together.
Oh LeSportSac... why do I always need another one of you? It's because of your amazing patterns and your very sensible design, of course! I'm always drawn toward the bold and bright patterned little bags. One of my favorite shopping experiences was at the LeSportSac outlet in Central Valley, NY - you must go. My dream job = design a pattern for LeSportSac, so fun.
The top left image is from The Carrotbox and features the amazing celluloid rings of Robert Dodd. The Carrotbox has a nice writeup about them and is also selling a few on her site, (she is also selling some other amazing/fun rings).
I could have worn that dress from Alex and Trixie all summer long...

The Albuquerque Pattern

So I have been posting the patterns at the end of all the inspiration posts, but then I thought: "How does anyone know what I'm talking about during the inspiration posts?" So now I'm posting them at the beginning. Here is the Albuquerque pattern. It was inspired by rainbows, simple shapes, hot air balloons and quilts. I like this pattern a lot even though it is SUPER colorful. (Perfect for an overcast Boston day like this one). It is always the favorite of the kids too, I can just picture it hanging over a little one's bed.
Well I can't wait to post all of the great things that inspired this print, including some cool things about Albuquerque. Almost as much as I can't wait to get this Sweater Song from that Old Navy commercial out of my head. I mean I think it is a cute song but it is slowly driving me mad, (and what about those heinous sweaters?). If you don't hear from me soon assume that it finally got the best of me. ;)

ooooh..... Albuquerque

One thing got me thinking about Albuquerque: their hot air balloon festival. Seems pretty magical, hundreds and hundreds of balloons floating in the air. Hearing the roar of their little, well, engines I guess. Rainbows and bright colors all in the sky.... The only time I was in a hot air balloon I was maybe 5 or so. My dad took me to the field, (i use that term loosely, i think it was just someone's yard), by my Grammy's house. I just remember going way up and only a big rope tethering us to the ground. Well nowadays, I'd probably have to take a handful of Xanax to get me into a hot air balloon. I feel lightheaded just thinking about it, (heights and flying = 2 things i'm not a big fan of). But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't want to see the early morning Mass Ascension of balloons. The festival starts this weekend and goes thru the 14th. more to come...

Gracias, Merci, Thanks!

Thanks to everyone that came out to Open Studios on such a beautiful weekend. It was a lot of fun meeting new people and talking about the "Places I Have Never Been" collection. My favorite part about doing shows like this is hearing people's travel stories. I head some great ones about Bavaria, Toppsfield, Kansas, and Varanasi. Feel free to post some of your favorite travel places here or email them to me at jhilldesign at mac dot com. I've got to play catch up and process a lot of credit cards today, exciting huh? I'll be back tomorrow with a series of new posts.
One thing, Grace at Design*Sponge launched her new site design today. Check it out here, she is using textures in a really cool way.