This has been the most insane year of my life. There have been so many highs and lows. Work wise I’ve been in full swing. I really really love that. I’m something of a workaholic. Having no less than three projects at a time on my drawing board gives me the good kind of anxiety…you know that creative buzz where you just feel super plugged in creatively and intellectually. That being said, I can’t recall the last vacation we’ve been on. Actually we totally missed out on the kids fly for free under two years old thing. We have two trips on the horizon. Tomorrow we’re headed to Florida for a few days to visit family. Henry has his swimmies packed. The week of July 4th we’re headed to the north fork of the Hamptons. We’ll stay in a cozy inn with a bay view and do some serious swimming and relaxing (along with some bouts of iphone time to make sure I’m not missing anything important!). I’m really looking forward to some quality family time. Honestly I can’t think of anything more valuable than that can you?

images:
aerial view of a boat via kate spade
hand lettering via…ehem…my own site ; )
sailboat via coral marshmallow

One of the best parts of being an artist living in New York is constantly expanding my network of other artists. I’m so inspired by my city and the people who live and thrive here. Sometimes I get to meet artists from other cities around the world and expand that network even more.

I’m so excited to finally meet Lisa Grue an amazing Copenhagen based illustrator (working for such clients as Anna Sui) who just came to town for the International Furniture Fair to show her custom embroidery kits. I’ve never seen such bad-ass kits! Lisa and I are both repped by CWC-i. It really is a small world sometimes! She and her family are coming for a visit and to take some photos of me and my apartment/workspace for her amazing blog Underwerket. I’ll share the photos soon.

I had the best time ever working on a bevy of watercolor patterns for this custom set of monogram sticky notes exclusively for Anthropologie in collaboration with Galison. Check em out.

Holy guacamole, I have not posted for two whole days. Honestly almost every minute has been spent working. I have lots of projects on the burner from Daily Candy to my book to collaborations with friends. I swear I’m not playing hooky or slacking off. I love my work so much but wowza it’s tough to come up for air sometimes. I’m looking forward to a tiny family vacation to Florida to visit my 96 year old nana (next weekend). It’ll be Henry’s first plane ride. I think he’ll love it so much. What an adventure. I hope those are not famous last words.

Ok, about the post…I just love these photos. They’re so retro and yet so modern and fresh at the same time. Color never goes out of style. I’ve been thinking about how each generation thinks they have so much ingenuity. Everything is referential….everything!! I’m ok with that though. Aren’t you?

Take this vintage Lauren Hutton outfit juxtaposed with a recent Garance Dore snap as case an point. A high waisted denim skirt with a belt and simple white top—timeless!!

via:

1. Nail Polish Dior Ad from the 70′s: Refinery 29/Dree Harper
2. colorful hammocks vintage photo from Tugce Demiir
3. vintage Lauren Hutton via Styleist
4. Garance photo of denim skirt girl

Happy Monday from rainy NYC. After a stunning weekend of galavanting around Central Park Zoo and celebrating second birthdays along the river in Battery Park, a day like today is good to get my head back into the work game.

Today I feel like featuring calm and cool sage and mint green. My dining room/entryway is painted silver sage. Here’s a photo from the D*S feature.

Today I’m headed to the NY Stationery Show, Surtex and ICFF to see some friends and check out my work in the Galison booth.

Tonight I’m so excited to be hosting my editor and art director from Chronicle Books who are in town for the show. They’ll come over, exhausted I’m sure, after a day of work and I’ll try to make them relaxed and comfy. I’m making filo dough cassarole and some other goodies. I even comissioned my mom to help me make whoopie pies for tonight.

I added the collection above to my newest Pinterest board looks nice together. I’m still totally honored that Refinery 29 selected me/my deliciosity board to feature. Oh how I  adore that site. Have a marvelous day!

Images:

1. YSL coat: Classic Style of Fashion
2. Mochi: Cooking Festival
3. Green Lemonade: Style Me Pretty

Good morning sweet readers and happy Friday. What a great way to start the day, I see that I’m Refinery29 pinner of the day!

Regarding the post yesterday, I have to say that I’m glad I did it. Admittedly I was scared to write that stuff because well—it’s tough sharing stuff about yourself! The main reason I’m glad to have shared is that it’s opened a dialogue between me and you, friends and artist and blogger friends through personal emails. Putting your life out there is definitely something we struggle with. I’m truly in awe of my friends Kate and Joanna who so beautifully and poignantly document their lives, thoughts and feelings. I want and need to thank all of you who commented here and on Facebook and who wrote me emails revealing some of your own fears (many that we happen to share). You are brave. The amazing thing about blogging is that it connects people. We are a community. Not only because of a shared aesthetic or shared interests but as people too.

Here are just a few comments that completely solidify my conviction that it’s good to share your thoughts even if they’re not pretty:

“Nothing is ever good enough, I never feel satisfied with my accomplishments and place in my life. I think my problem often stems with my tendency to compare myself to others, which is so difficult to avoid in this age of social media. But it’s comforting to know that so many other people feel this way, so I can remind myself that no one has it all together. I suppose it’s better to always be striving to be better than the opposite?”

“I’m driven so much more by fear and anxiety than by joy–fear that if I stop doing what I’m doing (blogging, writing, striving, working, heck, getting out of bed in the morning) I’ll be forgotten.”

“I am totally freaked out my how fast life is going”

“I think it’s courageous to put our complex selves out there and not simplify or sugarcoat our lives. Isn’t this what separates us from brands? (I always cringe a bit at the thought of considering myself a brand). On the flip side, it’s risky to put more revealing parts of yourself out there that may not ‘align’ with the public image you’d like your work to have. That said, I think it’s worth the risk. I personally hope to continue surrounding myself with people, art, objects etc. that celebrate authenticity.”

I hope you have a beautiful weekend. Thanks again for reading and feel free to comment on the post if you want to share.

Angelica Huston photo via WSJ
Marilyn Monroe vie Journal of Nobody (found on Dree Harper’s amazing vintage archives)

I’ll start this post by quoting Ez: “I am encouraged and honored to be a part of this beautiful community of bloggers who are willing to make themselves vulnerable in an effort to make the bigger blogging community a better place. Here goes…”:

Here’s my candid segment where I join the ranks of my favorite bloggers to open up and share my story, not just the perfect and pristine aspects of of life we often see portrayed on our favorite blogs. Maquette is actually not a blog where I share too much information. I’ve always used it as sort of a visual archive. I share photos I’m inspired by, daily drawings, published work and some tiny tidbits of life. Still, I’ve been blogging for 4 years and I feel the urge to share more.

My favorite blogs are written by creative and passionate people. They give us a peek into who they are and how they tick. I think it will be cathartic for me to share my thoughts and feelings on being a working illustrator and mom and wife living in New York City. It’s also a very daunting thing to open my door and share the truth and not just the pretty stuff. I do have a wonderful life but I have trials and tribulations just like you and just like those gleamingly beautiful bloggers we all admire (Erin, Anne and Ez). While I love my career and have been enjoying some of the most fulfilling and exciting projects of my life, I’m also coping with losing my dad, raising a 2 year old, juggling lots of projects and my daily struggles with self doubt.

Things I’m Afraid to tell you:

1. I wear my emotions on my sleeve. I try to be happy but it’s definitely a struggle for me. I always have goals. Goals are great but not when they preclude you from enjoying the now. I rarely sit down, take a deep breath and say to myself “everything’s good, everything’s ok”. I’m never good enough for myself and I’ll never be successful until the next thing, even if I get the next thing….there’s always another thing.
2. I’m fueled by anxiety. I feel the fragility of life and the limit of time. I have the fear that the work I’m doing now, the projects I’m excited about will dry up and nobody will want to hire me to do illustration and nobody will want to see my work. I’m scared of getting older. Will I be able to keep up?
3. I’m terrified of being left alone. It’s my biggest fear in fact. Will I lose more people I love? Losing my dad was the worst thing that ever happened to my family.
4. I’m the worst home-maker. My husband does way more domestic tasks than I do. I load the dishwasher and make Henry’s lunch but he makes breakfast everyday, does the laundry, taxes and bills. I feel guilty about it but I’m selfish.
5. I know Henry is so happy and healthy and I know Dave loves me but I don’t know if I show them just how much I adore them.
6. I’m messy. I don’t put cloths away neatly and there are piles of artwork on my printer and ink splotches on my desk.
7. I never exercise. I used to jog all the time but never picked it up after Henry was born. I was freelancing in illustration and teaching art and I just never made time for it. Now I’m solely a freelance illustrator and I still never make time for it. I can’t say that I don’t “have” time I just don’t make it. I feel terrible about myself and know that I’d feel better if I did it but still I don’t.

Ok, I was open with you and now I feel terribly self indulgent. I’d love to get some comments here from my readers. Do you want me to share this kind of stuff or just be quiet and share pretty photos of Bridget Bardot?

(photo/watercolor collaboration by me and Heather Culp)

Galison is one of my absolute favorite clients. It’s a perk that they work with Anthropologie giving me a chance to collaborate with both of them on fun paper products. Here are a few recent collections that are available from both Galison and Anthropologie (stores and online soon)! Hope you like. XOX.

P.S tomorrow I want to chat with you about some personal stuff. My husband told me that Maquette has been lack luster lately. He thinks I post too many photo juxtapositions and don’t share enough personal stuff. I have lots of blogger pals who share so much about themselves and I love reading it. I just don’t know how much to share and what kind of stuff. Do I share family stuff? Career stuff? Personal thoughts? I already share projects, daily drawings and of course things I’m inspired by. I’m now thinking about what else might be nice to share…..just thinking out loud here.

I was recently asked by a branding company to try out a fun stenciling project for rugs. Vecco supplies you with carpets and pre-cut stencils or you can cut your own as I did! I love DIY home projects. I don’t know how I come off in front of the camera but I’ll be brave and share the video interview/tutorial with you. I also happen to be on the homepage demonstrating “how vecco works”.

We had a beautiful and relaxing weekend with my mom. Henry spent a lot of time outdoors, exploring in the forest, running in the grass (ehem…nude) and looking around for beetles. It was magical. With summer on the mind, I leave you with these amazing pieces by Alexandra Valenti. Don’t they just make you feel so free?

By Alexandra Valenti

Have a relaxing weekend! Don’t forget to celebrate your mama or wife if she’s a mama!

photo of Bridget Bardot via 2 ou 3 choses

I’ve been seeing a lot of really eye catching bracelets around town and the web lately. I’d happily don any of these. How about you?:

1. white chain stacker via bonnie tsang
2. chain bangle via alexa de castilho
3. gold split apex cuff
4. Lola orange cuff
5. Cartier nail bracelet
6. idiom bangle via kate spade
7. diamond cuff

Happy sunny Monday.

Images:

1. John Rawlings fashion photo via Kat Dev
2. Brando riding motorcycle via Erika Weeks
3. Brooklyn Magazine cover via musings in femininity

FYI I just added another pin board called looks nice together. I am in love with making these little juxtapositions on Maquette and will now pinterest too. Hope you like !

It’s been chilly and rainy here in NYC so I painted my nails moody black with a shimmery pop of gold. It made me feel so Deco. I know it’s spring but wouldn’t this be fun for a new year party with this bracelet?

I used:
Essie Licorice black
and Opi Glow up already

1. cat interviews little girl via Dree Harper
2. girl hugging elephant via ladylike laws

The glint off these metallic items caught my eye:

1. Tiffany’s pillbox
2. Debbie Powell metal mobile
3. Brass & Steel fabric scissors

Hey guess what? I’ve been keeping a big project under wraps….I’m the new Daily Candy illustrator!

Tonight we’re going out for dinner and to a movie. Tomorrow I’m going to a brunch and then we’re headed to Brooklyn for a friend’s b’day party. The remainder of the weekend we’ll be hanging out, working and perhaps taking Henry on a Central Park row boat ride again.

Have a splendid weekend!

I was super flattered when I saw my work on the wall of über cool senior editor at Refinery 29, Kristian Laliberte. Kristian’s studio is super duper chic and well appointed for such a tiny space. Wow–did he make it work. When we lived in a studio it felt like a hamster’s nest.

An afternoon with (one of my new favorite sites. I’m totally into being a voyeur when it comes to sites that feature people’s homes, workspaces and closets) did a fantastic feature on Kristian’s abode and Refinery piggiebacked the story naturally! The print and that typewriter original are available here.

Just felt like posting a pretty juxtaposition of pinks and peachs, that’s all.Enjoy:

1. pink + yellow book via Bon Bon
2. pink, black and gray painting by Fede Saenz
3. chocolate cake with pink frosting via Sweetapolita

After an absolutely stunning week of spring weather we’re finally getting some serious April showers. I thought I’d pay homage to the old adage by donning gray nails. Over the winter I wore a heavier, darker, moodier gray from American Apparel.

I think this delicate gray suits the season:

Opi: I Vant to be a Lone Star (from the Texas collection)