You're not alone

I was sitting at my computer in the morning, wearing only my underwear as so frequently I do, when I took one of my usual glances out the window next to my desk. Instead of the soothing view of cars and buildings I was confronted with THIS!!!


Okay you suburban ground dwellers, episodes like this may not seem like such an unexpected occurence but check out my location. . .



Unfortunately I had to remove the story about a certain someone else who had a similar incident but I would love to hear your stories!
Has this ever happened to you?

Hard Hitting Questions

This Blog's not supposed to be about politics but this short clip makes a very compelling argument that I felt a need to share.
Click Here to see Granite McKenzie interviewing his guest Lazaro on 'Hard Hitting Questions'.

Street Finds

Here are some more posters I found while walking around the Lower East Side. I especially like the bottom two- you can tell they're by the same people. I love the dayglo colors. When you see it up close you can see it's a collage. You can't tell here but the eyes on the top one are made from a blue foil.

Nellie Mae Rowe

In this post I would like to pay tribute to one of my art heroes, Miss Nellie Mae Rowe (1900-1982). I love her work for it's childlike colorful appearance. Nellie Mae was the daughter of a former slave who lived in the south. She was the 9th of 10 children and only started making art after her husband died. She is considered an 'outsider artist' because of her lack of artistic training. I was first exposed to her work at the Dallas Museum of Art many years ago where I saw some of her handmade dolls on display. She was so creative with her materials, some of her dolls are made from only chewed up bubble gum! Her drawings are usually made with crayons. There is so little written about her, I have a fantasy of collecting all of her dolls together and making a coffee table book about them.

Endless Love Crew

Here's a wheatpaste poster I found plastered to the side of a building. It says, 'Graffiti is Wrong' 'Then I don't want to be Right!' 'Get an Endless Love CrewPirate Ship. . . One size fits all.
After seeing this poster I ended up going on a tour of the lower east side and exploring for graffiti of all sorts. It was so much fun! I found lots of strange images that I will post when I get back to NYC from thanksgiving.

Paper Rad Print

Yay!!! I got this super cool silk-screen by NY artists collective 'Paper Rad' for the sweet price of only $20! They are known for their insane use of wild color and wacky psychadelic cartoon montages. Just my cup of tea! You've got to check out their WEBSITE to see what I mean! They design clothing and installations and even multimedia! I feel very lucky to have come across such a bargain. Thanks to Picturebox Inc.for the deal!

Ellen Degeneres' Animal Commercial

I think this commercial is hilarious! Especially the part with the raccoon.

New York Art Book Fair

I had so much fun at the New York Art Book Fair in Chelsea! Of course my favorites were the homemade books. Printed Matter rocked the house as usual! My favorite items were some el cheapo bound color xeroxes of drawings by an artist named 'Reverend Jen' who made this sweet dog paper-doll book inspired by her chihuaua 'Reverend Jen Junior'. Here are some photos of the book.

99 Cent Store

Here are some fun pictures I took on my walk tonight on the lower east side. The 99cent store was a goldmine- THANKS AHMED!

Graffiti

Corner of Broadway and Prince street (doorway).

90 Bowery (cursive to right of masked man says "I've come to keep it fancy".

Friends With You Book Signing

I was so excited to be a reporter for my blog and went all the way to KID ROBOT for the 'FRIENDS WITH YOU' book signing to get pics of the designers and their wondrous toy creations along with maybe some interview questions. But when I got there, I was too chicken to ask them to even look up and smile- sorry folks!
They will also be curating a super cool ART BALLOON PARADE at ART BASEL on Miami Beach on Dec. 7th, the world's BIGGEST annual art fair! Here's a cartoon of what the parade will look like. Participants will include one of my favorite artists, MISAKI KAWAI!!!

The World's Ugliest Dogs

Remember Verdell, the Ugly little puppy from 'As Good As It Gets' a few years ago? When I first saw that movie, I couldn't believe anyone would own or breed such an ugly creature! But of course by the end of the movie his cute tricks won me over. I had the same initial reaction when I saw the contestants for the 'Worlds' Ugliest Dog' competition. Who would help such creatures sustain life by nourishing them daily with dog food? And I'm an animal lover! But then I realized each dog has a devoted owner dedicated to feeding it and keeping it's ugly mug alive. Somehow that struck me as so pathetic and sweet that I began seeing each ugly dog as one half of a beautiful relationship. Now I love ugly dogs and even bald cats. Click here to see some of the Worlds' ugliest dogs and you just might fall in love too!

Friends with You

Wow! Check out this design company- I'm so inspired! Theyr'e called 'Friends with You'. They make toys and videos and cool art and design. They are in New York right now and will be appearing at KID ROBOT to launch their new book on Thurs the 16th. I especially got into watching the videos in the TOYS gallery on their website. I think I will have to copy them! This stuff reminds me of eating cotton candy while dancing at a night club in sparkly boots while carrying a pet frog. Yes, it's that weird and fun! I really relate to them because I like to make toys too.

Hair Care?

Kah Leong came home very excited about a new store in soho that sells inexpensive cosmetics and hair products. He bought this shampoo and after using it described wonderful relief from an itchy scalp. However after reading the back of the bottle we were shocked. What the. . .? We always argue about whether or not it is true that 'you get what you pay for' but in this case I guess the deal was too good to be true.

Tokidoki

I've been craving this purse by 'Tokidoki' for 'Lesportsac'. Notice the cute bear on the zipper pull?
It's way too expensive for me though, but I go online every few days to drool over it! My little sister Caroline says everyone in her school carries Lesportsac bags. I forgot how much pocket change the students there have-gosh! The designer is actually not Japanese, he's a Roman who's obsessed with the Japanese esthetic. Don't you love it? Here's a little about the designer: 'Tokidoki started as the online portfolio of Italian artist Simone Legno. tokidoki means "sometimes", because everyone waits for moments that change one's destiny. In 2003 Simone received a very tokidoki email. The co-founder of Hard Candy Cosmetics had fallen in love with his website. Only hours after Simone landed in LA they made him an amazing offer: move to Los Angeles and build tokidoki into a brand to share with the world. Simone is now in Los Angeles living his dream of making the world a bit more colorful and positive through tokidoki.
If you visit his website you will see a world of color and fun!

The New Baroque painters in NYC

Ever since I saw my first gallery exhibit by painter Karen Kilimnik, I felt there was hope for me as an artist. Her paintings have been called a "potpourri of nostalgia, projection and adolescent reverie is losing its fragrance." so sweet and sentimental which I love, but at the same time have this sort of coolness to them that makes them so contemporary in feel. It seems like she is one of the few artists who can pull this off without irony. I think to be ironic you have to be bitter or upset with something or have some weird perspectives that I lack. Anyway, she just had a show at 303 gallery (my favorite). One of Karen's tricks is to paint icons from magazine pictures. She especially liked using Kate Moss and Leonardo DiCaprio for a while. Then she gives them made up titles that jerk you straight into her little fantasies. For example, this one is called 'Prince Desire on a break from Sleeping Beauty out at Petrossian's for dinner'.
Also, up at CANADA gallery is the work of Rosson Crow, whose hotel lobby paintings really remind me of Karen Kilimnik's ballroom interiors. I love it when these type of coincidences happen. Rosson went to art school with me. She has the longest eyelashes of any girl I've ever seen. She just got her masters from Yale in the painting dept (I'm soooo jealous!) and is a shooting star. These colorful smeary paintings that are totally dark and scary at the same time.