Eyes with Open Shutters - Windows to the Soul: Vivian Maier, Gwen John.

After finding Vivian Maier, I found Gwen John - in a book, peering at me through her own self portrait... with a look similar to that of Vivian. In fact, the look was so similar I had to compare Vivan's self-photographed portraits online - against Gwen's painted portraits. What, I wondered, was this feeling of recognition... what prompted it - not necessarily the eyes, the nose, the mouth. Perhaps then it might be, more than outward appearance, something emanating from within. Shared sentiments or hypotheses or conclusions.

Toile La La book - Part Two.

...mysterious creations...

Get a peek at several pages - here, at Art Fashion Creation.

Janurary Air and Atmosphere.

Good Luck Number One basking in January atmosphere.

...bird-watching...

...peeking from behind a bush.

Lovely interaction of shifting sunlight, evening shadows, wind, and blue sky.

you might not see them...

there are birds up there - pretending to be leaves

Have you missed seeing my Number One employee... I thought you might, so - there she is... the furry beauty.

Toile La La Book - Part One.

I hand-bound my book - full of my fashion drawings and ideas - with bright red Coptic-stitching, and I tailored for it a transparent (vellum), removable dust jacket topstitched with the same bright red. It's a fat (and I think the perfect size!) little book. I'll share here some photos of my book. Look for more posts giving you good peeks at the rest of it.

Here, my book without its jacket... you can see the red coptic-stitched spine.

Close-up image of red Coptic-stitches. Toile La La.

I only made 10 of these 120-page coptic-bound books. 5 of them include fabric swatches, photos, even original artwork.

My handwritten letter, included with each book. Toile La La.

Zoom image of book wearing its transparent vellum dustjacket, topstitched in red thread - made by me.

In the 80s, I loved designing shoes and boots of all sorts... here - some boots with 80s scrunched socks : )

My 80s shoe design - with a grosgrain bow... a white shoe, worn with black ribbed tights.

I loved my Nana - my first fashion inspiration. Here, a drawing of her white, perforated wedding shoes. When I drew them, I thought they were called winklepickers - but that was another shoe style she wore. Her wedding shoes were a lower, chunkier heel of the late 30s/early 40s.

In addition to the fashion I saw or imagined, I've included music and pop culture influences which caught my attention in the 80s.

Pages featuring fashion magazine tearsheets I pasted in my scrap/sketchbook. I often painted or collaged over these, then made notations around them.

Endnotes with more details about my 80s sketches and fashion tearsheets/collages.

Tearsheets from fashion magazines - pasted into my sketchbook. I loved these romantic and exotic images.

I loved lace - the way it simultaneously concealed and revealed the body.

More of my 80s fashion illustrations.

I made a zine too - larger images, less pages, stapled, less commentary.

An 80s self portrait (more or less) - wearing a 40s hat.

Plenty of Real, Good Mail.

Real mail and mail that is creative and good and full of wonder is one thing that thrills me - so here, I'll share some of it with you. E and I have been corresponding for many many many years - from the time we were in college together. Most of the photos show her mail - to me (and that's just some from the last few months!) Then, the last few photos - with the typewriting and paint swatches - show my correspondence to E.

Vintage photo and handkerchief E sent in my letter.

E decorated one envelope with a bronze-inked stamp.

Some vintage stamps from E's collection - kept from her pre-teen years!

Vintage advertising illustration - from the 50s or 60s perhaps.

The ladylike vintage handkerchief in E's letter reminded me of my Nana and her handbags.

I filled in a sketch E made of her "dry creek bed" project and am returning it to her - painted.

The outside of my correspondence to E.

We share a love of animals - particularly cats and dogs. We love paper ephemera and odd household items from the 1940s. We love typewriters. We love old photographs. We love stamps. E knows I love fashion and sewing, so she often sends bits of old patterns. We are bookworms! I have recently discovered E's interest in texture, so I frequently use decorative machine-stitching on her letters.