Speaking of Magazines....

A few months ago I was interviewed by Blythe Copeland of Boston Magazine for the Spring Issue of Boston's New England Travel magazine, which just came out yesterday. The girl who does Places I Have Never Been needed to pick a favorite New England travel destination, (see, people don't think I actually go anywhere - but I do). I spoke to Blythe right after Sasso and I can back from a trip to the Berkshires, a favorite area of ours. It was so nice to see all the details I mentioned to her in the article, I'd forgotten most of them - like how much I liked the mushrooms at Mezze (they were very good). I talked about what we do when we travel - and that is eat great food, be it a hot dog or a 4 course meal.
The article also made me realize why people have headshots taken. Here I've got Sasso's glasses on... we are on the beach in Cabo... the sun is setting... a great memory - but not the most flattering picture. I'm just not all that photogenic - and I'm ok with that. My ladies Jsutt and Leeees take some very nice pictures, I might need to take some lessons from them. Next thing you know Sasso will come home and I will be playing ANTM in my studio.
Oh, you can read the full article online here.

Inspiration: The Last Page

Seriously, the last page is almost ALWAYS my favorite page of the entire magazine. It's so nice when a mag doesn't just fill the final page with ads, but considers it a little goodbye treat to the reader. Here are a few top favorites of my Mag Shelf:


1. Gourmet July 2007 My favorite food magazine by far. How can you beat their food photography?! Their last page is always a few simple recipes on a theme, here is one of my favorites. The Art of Reduction includes 5 different fruit syrups to slather on ice cream or mix with some soda water and vodka for the perfect summer (warm weather will eventually get to Boston this year, right?) cocktail. Here is the recipe for my favorite.


2. New York Magazine The Crossword Puzzle This is like, one of the only crossword puzzles that I can complete and I look forward to it every week. It does rival, however, their Approval Matrix which I always read first. Check out this blog which is a brilliant look at the Matrix. (As a disclaimer, NY now has a new last page, which appeared after the crossword called Artifact, but I can't quite figure out what the deal is with it, so I'm just ignoring it for now. )


3. Vogue March 2008 My favorite last page by far. Vogue's Last Look always has one amazingly designed and amazingly expensive object accompanied with just a small text blurb. These objects have influenced many a PIHNB pattern, including the upcoming Galway, Ireland pattern. Here is last month's Last Look. Mmmmmm a $7,950 Balenciaga bag.


4. Domino April 2008 I'm a big list maker, I love them. So naturally I'm a big fan of Domino's "10 Things That Make Me Happy". Since you've probably seen most of the April 2008 issue on other blogs (Drew's office was absolutely everywhere) I'll share the last page. I think Zoe Ryan and I would be great friends because I have almost everything she likes on my wish list, including the Girard dolls.

5. Sherman's Travel Fall 2007 I found this magazine at Logan Airport a few months ago and immediately loved it. It has everything that I love about the Time's travel section, but just more of it. I've totally given up on Travel + Leisure and CN Traveller, I just can't take the "Top 100 Hotels You'll Never be Able to Afford to Stay In" articles anymore. ST always ends their mag with a little blurb/photo about something fantastic. In this issue it was a balloon ride (including a light champagne breakfast) over Myanmar's Bagan Valley... imagine that!


6. Elle March 2008 I love Elle dearly. I do. I love chopping it to bits and filling my sketchbook with collages from her pages. Elle's last page always is an interview with some interesting person. This past issue talked with one of my favorite people: Rainn Wilson aka Dwight Schrute from The Office. I love Dwight Schrute and I think Rainn is hilarious. See him here at the Emmy's with Kanye West and in my favorite Office outtake here.

Inspiration: Magazine Round-Up

Last night I was laying on the couch indulging in a repeat of Gossip Girl when Sasso came home from work. He said, "Would you like to go through these magazines and throw out the ones that you don't want... there are like 2 issues of Elle right here." I became a bit irritated because:
1. I was in the middle of watching the debacle that was the debutant ball (what an evil grandmother that Serena has).
2. I have a hard time parting with magazines and it shall not be done on a whim.
3. There weren't 2 issues of Elle, it was an Elle and a Vogue - 2 very different things.

I have a magazine addiction and I am well aware of this as is the postman who crams them all into my P.O. Box. This year I let ALL my subscriptions run out cause it got out of hand and then I renewed after giving careful thought to each. (My theory is if you are going to pay $4 for one issue you may as well pay $12 for 12 issues) Subscriptions now include:
• Sherman's Travel
• Lucky + Domino
• Elle
• Vogue
• New York (a weekly)
• Gourmet
• Vanity Fair
• Wired + Rolling Stone (I get these for free for some reason and never end up reading them so I don't think that they REALLY count.)
But there are some new ones that I want... like Portfolio (Oh I love this business magazine), Departures (if only I too had a Amex Platinum card... someday), Home Companion, City, Art on Paper and the biggest guilty pleasure of all: Us Weekly (I just can't do it, I mean it is like over $100).
Much of the inspiration for the Places I Have Never been series comes from articles and fashion spreads that I read, clip + save. As you can see I don't throw away magazines lightly, what if there is an idea for a pattern nestled inside there?!
I thought that I'd do a few posts about some of my fav clippings and stories from my favorite magazines. Above you can see the stack I collected from around the house, many in their delivery bags. I think weekend might be one of reading... What are your favorite magazines? I'm always looking for a few more....

What's black, white and red all over....

A newspaper! I seriously remember that joke from a "joke book" that i had when i was in elementary school - I'm sure my parents wanted to burn that thing. Well what inspired the colors for the Fakahatchee print is the passage in the Orchid Thief where Susan Orlean writes about the "Vanda Deva Robert" orchid. Page 175: "Vanda Deva Robert is a brilliant red orchid with a smallish black lip and a speck of yellow in the center and large petals that are tessellated with blood-colored veins."
Red is my favorite color (hence the JHill Design branding) and I tend to wear a lot of black (not a goth thing, just goes with everything) so I thought I'd do a round up of my fav black, white and red things of the moment.
1. The Kitchen Aid Mixer: Seriously, the only reason I am even thinking of doing a bridal registry is in hopes that maybe I'll get one of these puppies. I just feel like I'd make a lot of great Christmas cookies with it and my yummy brownies would appear so much quicker. Plus, we have the red Kitchen Aid blender so it would match perfectly.
2. Orla Kiely Spring 2008: Orla Kiely is like who i want to be. She's got her amazing patterns all over everything. She's got her own store. She's got the whole Orla lifestyle thing going on. I love it. Here is a shot from her spring collections' look book. So cute.
3. Pyrrhuloxia: I love Abby Glassenberg's work. It is totally amazing and very affordable. I've been really drawn to high-end plush toys as of late. Check out her etsy shop here and her work at artstream gallery here.
4. Mac Lipstick: I love red lipstick and don't wear it enough. I am partial to Fresh's Plaza Red, but this red by Mac is pretty fierce, plus the rest of their line rocks.
5. Tea Cup: I was at Anthropolgie the other day browsing the sale racks (if I ever pay the full gazillion dollar price for one of their skirts - kill me) and I stumbled upon this little guy. so pretty.
6. Pomme Birds: I actually own this print and it is currently tucked away waiting for the day that I take all my little prints out to the frame shop. I love Tara Hogan's work, and infact she is one of the lovely ladies I will be sharing a booth with at the stationary show this May.

Today I spoke to a graphic design portfolio class at MassArt about my "design journey" which was basically Fresh > jhill design > places i have never been. I got to take a peek at some of their work and wow... it was beautiful and super creative. The the all-girl class made me miss my days hanging around the studio busting out projects... (I think hindsight is sweet because I'm pretty sure I spent most of my time obsessing about those projects and at least a few hours in tears over them). If you are in Boston you can stop by the design department's portfolio night in early May, (I will post the details once i get them) and check out the great work for yourself. Also, if your in Boston, do your self a favor and go to Ole's new little sister Olecito and have a pork taco with pineapple salsa... mmmmmmmm.

Oh and how could i not post what turns up on youtube when you search for "red black white". see below.

Just a note on the Spring Cleaning Sale...

Well it is still going on over at www.jhilldesign.com, I know it was supposed to end Tuesday - but I've been too busy to change the code. So it is still up and will be until I get to go in there and change everything back... so yeah for discounted prints!

Views of Fakahatchee

So the Fakahatchee isn't so much a city or town as it is a big swamp... I guess (see with the whole "Places I Have Never Been" thing, you depend on others info so you can't always be sure of everything). I was breezing through flickr, a favorite past time of mine, and saw all these great pics of Fakahatchee so I thought I'd post a few. These lovely ones are by MistyL. She has so many great nature photos for you to check out, including these ghost orchid pics, and this huge album about Fakahatchee Strand. I love flickr because it is so easy to find amazing photographers like Misty.
In other news, I'm excited to say that the new 2009 line is 80% in the bag, and soon comes the fun part... production. Which I honestly hate, I don't know why I said it was fun. There's the nauseas feeling when approving a proof, the nauseas feeling when I open my amex bill, the anxious feeling waiting for things to get here. Not fun. But it will be over soon, a few more weeks.
I've been freelancing a bit back at my old stomping ground, the lovely beauty company Fresh, just to help them out. It has been soooooo nice to be out of the house a couple days a week, working with dear old friends in a sunlit office which happens to be right in the center of some of Boston's best restaurants and bars. Of course getting to be around all that pretty, creamy, sweet smelling product is nice too. This morning the office was filmed for the local Boston news program Chronicle. Look for an awkward JHill (I mean really, what are you supposed to do with your hands when you are make-believe reviewing something) in an episode about Fresh to air in April/May.

Adapting

As my lovely Ris commented on the last post, there was in fact a movie made about Orlean's book "The Orchid Thief", called Adaptation. The movie was a really interesting take on adapting a book for screen. It centers around Charlie Kauffman who is a cynical screenwriter who needs to adapt "The Orchid Thief" for the big screen. It isn't going so well and to make matters work Charlie's twin brother (both rolls played by Nic Cage) seems to write scripts with the greatest of ease. As you watch Charlie go through his own personal crisis, you get to watch all the book's action and lucky for us Orlean's roll is played by the lovely Meryl Streep.
I haven't seen this movie since it came out so I may need to add it to my Netflix que in order to refresh my memory. I remember liking it quite a bit, and of course I love Ms Streep (I just watched The Hours last week for the first time, and then again right after because I just adored it).
How sad that I missed Ms Streep's appearance at a favorite local independent theater, The Coolidge, in 2006 to accept an award. Especially since she brought with her some other favorites including the late Robert Altman, Kevin Kline, Chris Cooper, John C. Reilly (who I love), Charlie Kaufman and "The Orchid Thief's" Susan Orlean. Where was I that night? What could I have been doing that was better than that? Hindsight.... To read about that and more Coolidge events visit here.
Tuesday night was our Brainstorming night for the Boston Design Salon and it went great. We lined up come really great monthly events taking us through October. (Also I finally got to meet the great Kate of Three Square Design). The group is open to area women (sorry boys) designers and those that love them. It has been a great networking event and we've had wonderful speakers so far such as Kristin from Urban Living Studio. It is a great mix of graphic designers, store owners, interior designers, product designers, design entrepreneurs, design bloggers and more. If you are interested in joining send me an email and I will put your on our email list!

The Orchid Thief

I first heard of the book The Orchid Thief via my friend Kevin while we were hanging around MassArt's beautiful printmaking studio. For some reason I filed it in the back of my mind for later reference. Later, while perusing the book cellar at (my favorite bookstore) Brookline Booksmith, I picked up The Orchid Thief and recalled Kev and my conversation about the book and decided to give it a go.
Susan Orlean writes of "Orchidelirium" otherwise known as the craziness that orchids cause, or "orchard fever" if you will. The story circles around the orchard community in southern Florida and John Laroche, a sly guy who tried to steal protected orchids out of a the Fakahatchee swamp, state park. It is definitely a great read, I never knew there was so much scandal and intrigue going on in the Everglades area. Orlean tells a great story and filled my mind with inspiration for the Fakahatchee print.
I kind of wish I was in the Everglades now, mosquitoes and all. March is the time of year when I'm ready to throw the towel in on the "cold weather". Yesterday I laid in bed, fully awake and just dreading getting out from under the warm covers and being exposed to the cold air (our house is a sieve when it comes to heat). I just laid there and thought... why do I actively choose to live somewhere where I am cold at least 5 months out of the year. I have no answer, perhaps laziness at not wanting to pack up and move. But at least we don't have big snow banks like our families in VT and NH do. Well not yet, just when you think it is over there is always one freak mid-April snowstorm lurking.... yes the mosquitoes and alligators of Fakahatchee don't sound half bad right about now...

Ooooohhh... Fakahatchee!

Oh Fakahatchee... the way your name just rolls off the tongue. Fakahatchee is actually a swamp in the Florida Everglades. The print was inspired by the book "The Orchid Thief", the movie "Adaptation"and of course the lovely orchid.
I love the orchid and this is the first in a series of orchid prints (vanilla orchids in the Tahitti print and perhaps more to come). Sasso's mom has BEAUTIFUL orchids in her living room that have blossoms as big as your fist, they are totally amazing. Once, we were given an orchid plant as hostess gift for a party we threw. I swear it
was dead in 6 months. I just can't keep anything alive, which is why only cut flowers are around our house. That may be one reason for my slight growing (ahem, no pun intended) obsession. If I can't have them alive in my home I guess I will just have to draw them.

Just a note, on my site there is a big "Spring Cleaning Everything is on Sale" sale going on. I need to make room in the "inventory closet" for some new work that will be coming in. It should be called the "Did you know weddings are expensive?" sale, cause boy... I have found out that these shindigs do not come cheap...