Whitecaps & Driftwood

happiness is...

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 03:29:00 +0000

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WATCHING OUR BOY host a backyard summer bonfire, and the only thing I can hear is green arrow in my head.

Green Arrow by Yo La Tengo on Grooveshark

it was a productive weekend

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:06:00 +0000

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BUT MY FAVORITE PART was staying in my pj's all day for mother's day and making stuff like this...

Also made these using vintage photos, lace and paper on old painted wood drawer front (cut to 4 x 6), with black chalkboard paint. Not sure they're finished though...

flowery humanoids

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:43:00 +0000

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Original handmade collage on paper using vintage magazine and book pages.

lord huron & the coast

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Mon, 06 May 2013 01:18:00 +0000

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LAST MONTH, Michael (my boss, mentor, creative partner and friend) and I spent a few days in Santa Cruz, immersing ourselves in our newest client—a natural foods store with 7 locations in northern California. Visiting as many stores as we could make it to in 3 short days involved lots of driving and music. Michael always has something new for me to listen to and once again found me my new favorite band. Lord Huron.

So. Much. Beauty. It literally made my heart ache. A feeling I can honestly say I've never in my entire life felt about a place. So yeah, if I could bottle up a feeling and sell it to you it would look and sound something like this...

The Ghost On the Shore by Lord Huron on Grooveshark

"Die if I must let my bones turn to dust
I'm the Lord of the lake and I don't want to leave
All who sail off the coast ever more
Will remember the tale of the ghost on the shore

I'm goin' away for a long time"

lil indian for angie

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:34:00 +0000

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Original collage on paper using vintage map, book pages, and wallpaper sample from 1932.

winter time o'brien

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 23:27:00 +0000

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Stopped to visit the cottage today on our way back from skiing up north.
She's just as lovely in the winter time, isn't she.

at sea

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:15:00 +0000

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I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you’re here
Brighten my northern sky

—Nick Drake

This is a recent piece I made using vintage book pages and a wallpaper sample from 1932. Titled "At Sea".
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she is my gift

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:22:00 +0000

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THIS YEAR for CHRISTMAS, my mother in law gave me a box. In this box contained bits and pieces of everything paper that I could ever love. How does someone do that for you? Give you a box full of things you can't just go buy in a store? Give you a box full of collections that likely took hundreds of hours hunting for, sitting around for, sifting through and organizing? Give you a box full of things that will stir a soul to know and show itself? I may never fully comprehend any of this. All I can do is humbly thank the universe for finding her—this woman who thinks enough of me to encourage me and support me in every way a mother should do for her own daughter.

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hover craft 2012

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 21:02:00 +0000

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TWO WEEKS AGO I was lucky enough to participate in Hover Craft, a one day Milwaukee Art, Craft and Maker show. It was more than I could have hoped for, all around. The atmosphere, the people, the music, the goods—it was perfection. And I am so very grateful to the ladies of Hover Craft for putting on such an event. That was no simple task!

So for someone who doesn't find many opportunities to sell their artwork, being accepted to Hover Craft was the greatest motivator to really get my shit together and sort of curate my own mini gallery. And I have to admit, seeing over a year's worth of work pulled together into one spatial vision... tingles. Just an amazing sense of accomplishment and validation.

And now, since the experience is over, I feel like it's given me permission to move on and explore what's next. In the end, artistic discovery feeds an insatiable beast inside me. And she hungry.

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affirmation

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 14:38:00 +0000

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Sometimes you will be reminded you don't have it all figured out.
And you can be ok with this.

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(mostly) morning pictures

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:02:00 +0000

north avenue grill after shots

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 01:51:00 +0000

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AND to THINK just a few months ago this was all a bunch of stuff in my imagination I convinced 4 people was a good idea... Still, this is very much a WOAH feeling for me. One that I could get used to, of course.

Love ya North Ave Grill. Thanks for letting me be a part of your new adventure. I wish you many, many years of success in a community I will always love ♥

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summer time o'brien

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 22:47:00 +0000

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SPENT LAST WEEK at THE COTTAGE for a family reunion, birthday, vacation. Reimagining all 17 of us piling in and out of our family's hundred year old cottage still makes me laugh today. No air conditioning, one toilet and in constant need of something being fixed—she is absolute perfection in all her imperfections. Thanks again you sweet old girl.

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watering globes; the gateway drug to real gardening

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 03:40:00 +0000

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I'VE RECENTLY DISCOVERED the HAPPINESS and peace of gardening. I never thought I'd be one of those people. I never thought it was something I'd "get" or be good at, or even attempt. It always seemed so foreign to me since it wasn't something I grew up with or around, living in apartments most my life.

I can honestly say it's because of these ridiculously cheap watering globes that I am now knee deep in landscaping my yard and filled with sleepless nights, fantasizing about all the beautiful plantings I want to grow and spaces I want to create with them.

In the end (err beginning), watering globes became the gateway drug to real gardening for me. They took the guesswork out of over/under-watering my plants and helped me understand them. Sounds silly, I know. But by giving me the confidence to keep a few house plants alive, I no longer feel intimidated to try and keep other stuff alive. And why not make it pretty stuff too, right?

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Sunday, in the 90 degree heat, Ben and I managed to build a berm in our front yard. It was this big ugly hole left over from 2 trees we cut down last summer. I'm looking forward to planting annabelle hydrangeas and a 'Madame Lemoine' lilac bush there.

Oh, and as you can see by the before pictures, the yard was a jungle when we bought our house 2 years ago. Overgrown and neglected, we decided to clear it all out and start fresh. So here's how she's coming along. And please (dear God, PLEASE) feel free to share your gardening secrets with me!!

*Ignore the ugly green trim I haven't gotten around to painting yet! Painting is hard.

paris

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:25:00 +0000

BEN TOOK ME to Paris for my 37th Birthday. It was my first trip outside of the U.S. and now I finally know what all the fuss is about. What an amazing experience to travel outside my own little world with my best friend, helping me fulfill a childhood dream.

Here's the (tiny) visual recap of our trip. You can see all 300+ photos on my Flickr if you like.

north avenue grill

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:21:00 +0000

RECENTLY I was hired for my first full spectrum design job, which includes the branding as well as interior design for North Avenue Grill. It is a previously beaten down diner with gorgeous vintage bones, in my old neighborhood of Wauwatosa.

Although it isn't due to open until later this month, thought I would share my logo design and main concept board with you, along with a few progress shots of where it is so far... enjoy!

Concept Board :: one of the best things in design is seeing your ideas turn into something real.

Before :: fugly.

Progress :: new flooring, big mirror gone, ceiling goes green and the black paint begins

the littlest birds

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:21:00 +0000

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BUT I LOVE YOU so dearly
I love you so fearlessly
I wake you up in the morning so early
Just to tell you
I've got the wandering blues
I've got the wandering blues
And I don't want to leave you
I love you through and through

Well I left my baby on a pretty blue train
And I sang my songs to the cold and the rain
And I had the wandering blues
And I sang those wandering blues
And I'm gonna quit these rambling ways one of these
Days soon, ooh

And I sing, the littlest birds sing the prettiest songs

—Jolie Holland

wearing nail polish + lipstick again

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:05:00 +0000

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PROUD TO SAY that I started Weight Watcher's 3 weeks ago and I've lost 4.8 lbs.
I'm telling you, eating the right amount of food is one of THE coolest notions ever.
Alright, so only 15.2 more to go.

Also, we bought our tickets to Paris! ♥ I'm in complete disbelief, though.

This is a still from the movie The Red Balloon. Watching it is one of my earliest memories of attending French Immersion school. I went from 4 to 12 years old. A big reason going to France has been a lifelong dream of mine.

my nerdy valentine

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:41:00 +0000

heartless bastards

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:19:00 +0000

FINALLY seeing them tonight ♥

Only For You by Heartless Bastards on Grooveshark

happy birthday, my sweet boy

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:00:00 +0000

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TODAY MY SON ARTHUR TURNS 14 YEARS OLD.

But he'll always be my baby boy to me.

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The following is a journal entry from sometime in 2005, when Art was just 7.

Friday night was the sock hop at Art's school. It was my first sock hop and the experience was surreal. Children everywhere, screaming, flailing, sweating, running through the darkness, bouncing off one another in quick bursts of disco light like a pin ball machine.

Leaving the school afterwards he told me his throat hurt. So we went to the grocery for ice cream and Tylenol. By 9:30 pm it was bedtime for the boy.

My sister came over for a Sex and the City marathon, one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Well, that and People magazine. Janna says I'm the only person she knows who can simultaneously appreciate AdBuster's and People magazine. Anyways, we finished around 1 am and I crawled into bed with a tiny inferno.

We slept closely. I listened to his sad sleepy moans, watched his chest rise and fall and felt his warm sick breath on my face.

By 2:30 am I got up to use the bathroom. Unable to distinguish between the flushing and his howling (a notable precursor to bedside vomiting), I returned to find the boy puking all over my pretty pink bedroom.

Did I mention he had ice cream before bed?

So, he curled up with a clean blanky and pillow in his usual post puke spot—on the fuzzy rug near the heat vent on the bathroom floor—until 6 am. Intermittently touching his neck, whispering I love you and kissing his forehead, I washed sheets, comforters, the bed skirt and pillow shams. Cleaned the floor and the dresser and disinfected the toilet over and over.

Somehow, in this rhythm, my mind rewound to another lifetime. I remembered wee morning breast feeding's slumped over in an oversized plum armchair. I remembered the humility of answering the door in a t-shirt soaked in two visible streams of breast milk. I remembered trying not to quote Sesame Street among my childless friends too often. And I remembered not quite recognizing myself in the mirror anymore.

I remembered it all. And it made my heart smile like it hadn't in a long, long time—stopping to be reminded of the overwhelming depth of love I have for my child. This boy who made me lucky enough to be his mama.

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resolutions and art

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:10:00 +0000

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THIS PAST MONTH has been good for me. Made a few New Year's resolutions...

cook dinner every week
prepare for my first time traveling to Europe (!)
and lose 20 lbs (I can't believe I just said that one out loud)

Anyways, I like the path I'm on. I've never been really good at personal accountability so it feels good to be committed and focused.

The only negative is that I have a hard time getting it up to make art. I'm not beating myself up about it—I know it's always there, patiently waiting for me to come out and play—but it's just not happening for now.

So even though there's no new art of my own to post, I am excited to share two new pieces I've received from others!

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Meet "Claude de France," a Prickly Plaque made by mixed media, assemblage and collage artist Suzanna Scott. I fell in love with Suzanna's work IMMEDIATELY and knew I had to have this piece. You should check out the rest of Suzanna's shop on Etsy. Her stuff is unbelievably affordable, too!

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And the second piece of art we added to our collection is this amazing painting by Midwest artist Edward G. Kelley. It was a gift from my in-laws who bought Kelley's works at an auction not too long ago. Isn't she breathtaking? All those strokes of mint and mauve against the black. I love it more every time I sit and stare.

Nola wants you to know she loves it, too.

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my perfect day

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:53:00 +0000

fred stonehouse

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:55:00 +0000

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YESTERDAY, we went to the opening for Fred Stonehouse's solo exhibit at the Tory Folliard Gallery here in Milwaukee.

Back in October I posted a few pictures of my home (here) which included a painting of Fred's from our growing art collection entitled "Kissing the Enemy" (below).

Ben and I both realized we loved Fred's work while visiting a gallery in New Orleans a few years ago. His dark, folky style of story-telling through images of the Wisconsin wilderness, hand painted typography and vintage style frames take us both someplace in our minds that we feel strangely awakened, yet comforted by.

I feel lucky we share the philosophy that when a piece of art makes you feel like that, you find a way to incorporate it into your world.

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four seasons

noreply@blogger.com (joy) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:21:00 +0000