Sliced Bread

This is probably the most exciting thing since... well, since sliced bread. Though this news may only generate an 'oh that's neat' from some, I was pretty ecstatic because of it. Some of you may know just how much I love Moleskine Notebooks. Moleskine the legendary notebook has been starting a line of city notebooks. These notebooks are for key cities around the world: Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona, New York, and many more. New books have been released this fall as well. In these amazing notebooks you will find maps to the city, area and detail, metro maps, pages for notes and budgeting, tabs so that what matters most is easy to find AND translucent sticky sheets so you can keep track of where you have been or want to go without permanently marking on the map. I think I may get one for every city I can when I travel in Europe this Spring. If you aren't planning on traveling their diaries/planners are great for everyday schedules too, or check out all of the other notebooks they offer. They have something for everyone!

Oh and be sure to see what others have done with their Moleskines in Exhibitions!

Bits and Pieces Everywhere

I have decided to sell 'Bits and Pieces'. It is a collection of 48 photos that are matted and measure 5x5 inches each (they are sold as individuals). The pictures were taken in film of details from a beautiful old house that is now being renovated. The prints are all hand done using an alternative process: Vandyke Brown. I love this process because I get to be involved in every step: developing the film, selecting the images, and coating the paper for printing in the sun light. Each image is matted and covered in plexiglass with 4 screws, one in each corner, as a frame. I like the brown bolts, they add to the architecture theme.

Each photograph is $25.00 and there is a bit of a deal if you buy a few of them. You can find them at my Etsy shop: www.megzrhys.etsy.com

Above is an image of the whole collection. Below I selected three photographs from the collection to give you a larger image to view.

Now Featuring!

Judea Jackson from Joe and Tony's

Tell a little about yourself:

-"I love ice cream and coffee, and my guilty pleasure is playing video and computer games."

How long have you been doing this art/craft and how did you get started?

-"Ever since I was out of the womb, I come from a very crafty/artsy family and I think my mom probably handed me a crayons when I was than 6 months old to shut me up. My family called me rambette because I would destroy anything in path."

Where does your inspiration come from?

-"Everywhere, I really like to tell a story. As one of my freshman professors once said to me 'Your all about the narrative, aren't you?' I really like unexpected pairings like natural textures and clean graphic lines, or baroque architecture and mod materials or colors. Lately I have been into mythology and philosophy and religion and exploring themes there in unexpected ways. My work tends to be very thing and people oriented. I don't do a lot of abstract ideas."

What do you get out of making your work?

-"I guess just the satisfaction of completing something, or telling a story. I think art is supposed to be interactive, so the best part is when other people can take part too."

Do you have any tools of the trade?

-"I think everything is a tool, if you let it be. I guess the ones I frequently use are my hands, photoshop, my camera, and any kind of fabric. I also do a lot of painting on wood and construction materials like the stuff they use to cover counter tops. I also really LOVE tissue paper, it's so versatile!"

Please share a couple of the main stores or websites you use for supplies.

-"I'm a big 'Michaels' fan, and every once in a while I will order something from dicblick, but my fave store is the $1 stores. They often have a lot of really great finds, especially in papers and basics like glue."

What are your websites? (also list etsy page)

-"Okay I have a few... my etsy is joeandtony.etsy.com, my music site is simply www.judeajackson.com (although I will probably add art and photography as well later) and most of my art and photography is up at judybooty.deviantart.com although I am changing over to Humblevoice.com where you can find me under 'Judeajackson'

Personal or not so personal quote:

-"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."-William Wordsworth

-"Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your vocation." -Aristotle