Studio Kiekje

Happy Birthday to Sean

Today is my sweet boyfriend's 26th birthday.

 

Happy Birthday dear Sean. May all your birthday wishes come true! (Especially if they involve giant cupcakes.)

xoxoxoxo times a million,

Kiekje

The Uniform Project

[I found out about this via  Clever Nettle (which is a lovely blog full of vintage fashion inspiration, and always makes me want to run off to Portland).]

The Uniform Project is the idea of Sheena Matheiken who will wear the same dress for a year. The dress is a simple black one, made by a friend. (Several copies were made so that they could be cycled.) Sheena describes it as an "exercise in sustainable fashion" and relates it to the school uniforms she grew up wearing in India.

She writes, "Peaking through the sea of uniforms were the idiosyncrasies of teen style and individual flare. I now want to put the same rules to test again, only this time I'm trading in the catholic school fervor for an eBay addiction and relocating the school walls to this wonderful place called the internet."

Sheena is also doing this project to raise awareness about the Akanksha Foundation which is devoted to bringing education to under-privileged children in India.

There are more than ten months left to go in Sheena's project, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she comes up with! Here are a few of my favorites so far:

 

 

The dress can be worn with the buttons either in the front or the back... and the buttons allow it to be worn as a jacket as well. Such a simple, but smart dress!(Apparently it also has large hidden pockets...because Sheena doesn't like to carry a purse.)

Terrible Yellow Eyes

I have already mentioned my love for the work of Maurice Sendak several times on Studio Kiekje (see here and here). Yesterday was Mr. Sendak's birthday, and I discovered that there is a blog, called Terrible Yellow Eyes which features artwork inspired by the wonderful "Where the Wild Things Are".

Cory Godbey, the creator of the blog, describes its goal, "Simply put, like a visual love letter to the book, with Terrible Yellow Eyes I am seeking to celebrate and promote the original masterwork by Maurice Sendak in the best way I know how -- with pictures."

 

(art by Sarah Caterisano, who also has a blog)

I know I've said it before, but "Where the Wild Things Are" is so special to me. I loved it as a child, and I think it was one of the many books which informed both my love for reading and my love of art. (And let's not forget, the "wild rumpus"!)I never thought about what it might mean to other people - as a kid, you always think your treasures are all your own. But now that I'm older I'm not at all surprised to discover that many artists have been inspired by Sendak's work. I think it truly is a classic which adults may hold in just as high (if not higher!) regard as kids.

(art by Cedar Leidigh)

I am so looking forward to the movie (my expectations are high, Mr. Jonze!)

Kiki illustrations

 
I think I've mentioned before that I am a very big fan of Hayao Miyazaki's animated films. Kiki's Delivery Service was the first one I saw, and I've seen it several times now (and have it on DVD!). But it was some time before I learnt that the movie was based on a novel by Eiko Kadono. I would love to get my hands on the book and its sequels (I believe that only the first book is translated into English).

The illustrations are fantastic. 

 

 

I always think I like color illustrations, but lately I've really been drawn to simple black and white images. Perhaps I'm becoming minimalist?

(Definitely not!!)

Dress sketches

I'm sketching some dresses for some illustrations I have in mind.

(This is from my sketchbook so please excuse the scanner fog!)

I had a very particular look in mind - something loose and summery and a bit quaint. Like something a girl in a Carl Larsson painting would wear. 

I looked to some of my Flickr favorites for inspiration, and  it didn't disappoint.(Of course I won't be directly copying the photographs for the final drawing, but this was just to get a sense for how the clothes should be constructed) I would be quite happy with any of these dresess in my wardrobe!

 

         1. brown dress, 2. mustard gingham, 3. Thrifted Dress - $5, 4. a lot

Details from the weekend

 

 

 

* Lovely golden honey with honeycomb in the jar from Reading Terminal Market for a friend who is very close to her wedding day!

* A tissue-thin piece of a butterfly wing found on the ground. I would love to frame it in a small frame, but I'm not quite sure how to do it.

* Reading the sequel to Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm which I finished recently. I somehow missed reading these as a kid, despite the voracious appetite for reading material which I had back then. It's fun to read them now though. They are sort of a poor-man's Anne of Green Gables. I like their naive quality.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Sunday details

Some small moments from my Sunday

 

  

 

* Peter Rabbit on the inside of a mug which I've had since I was a wee one.

* Lately I've been braiding my hair in a band on the top of my head, to keep cool. I've been finding inspiration from the group Braid Wednesday on Flickr. (You can see some of my gray hairs in the picture above.)

* The embroidered edge of a blouse I wore

* Blueberry Rhubarb crisp. When Sean was in college he would buy jam from a local woman who sold them from her home. His favorite flavor was "Bluebarb". I thought he might like to have that flavor again.

I hope you had a lovely weekend.

mystery basket

I haven't been around for the last few days, because I've been preoccupied with my new job! I'm working this summer in my school's department of Special Collections. So far, I love it. I've already had the chance to work with an artist's archives, as well as give a presentation on a series of 16th century prints and a travel book from the 17th century. The people who work there are so friendly, and there is even rumor of pot luck days!

I'm excited to see where it goes from here.

When I came home from work on Friday I discovered a mysterious basket on my desk chair.

 

When I looked questioningly at Sean he told me that he had seen it on the side of the road, and thought it might be something I liked. Upon opening it, he definitely knew he should bring it home.

So I opened the basket...

 

And GASPED.

A picnic basket! With red-handled silverware and red ruffly plates!And a gingham tablecloth with matching napkins!

Sean deserves many kisses.

Now, to plan some perfect summer picnics... I will make lemonade, and Sean will pack sandwiches. And maybe we'll bring cherries or nectarines.

And I will need a picnic frock of course.

 

This one from Grosgrain would do nicely. (The always brilliant and generous Kathleen is giving it away here.)

picnicly yours,

Angelique

Fraktur

 I've been reading this book about some children's book illustrators. I'm particularly fascinated with the chapter on Trina Schart Hyman, who was a favorite of mine growing up. Her version of Little Red Riding Hood is an amazing work of art with strong folk influences.

 

Hyman lived in Sweden for a few years when she first started out, and one of her first jobs was to illustrate a book by Astrid Lindgren. With the money she earned for that book she bought a bright blue tandem bicycle and used it to travel with her husband through Sweden, Denmark, Norway, England and Scotland. The influence of the country-side and towns through which she traveled on this journey can be seen in her work.

 

I was interested to find out too that Hyman was born near Philadelphia and that she was fascinated with the art by the local Pennsylvania Dutch community. In particular she cites Fraktur painting as something she imitated when learning how to draw and paint. I had never heard of Fraktur  despite living in this area, so I turned to the almighty Google to find out more.

 

Fraktur is a style of lettering and illuminated folk art created by the Pennsylvania Dutch community. Many of the pieces created were used as decorative blessings or certificates of baptism, marriage and the like.

 

The illlustrated borders for the text are very appealing to my eye, and I can see that they influenced Hyman's work. I think I would like to go see some of this work in person, especially because a lot of it is from nearby Buck's County, Pennsylvania. Perhaps an adventure for this summer is in the making!

(images of Fraktur in this post come from this  gallery)

weekend tally

My weekend in numbers:

* Loads of laundry washed, dried and folded = 3

 

* Croquet games lost = 1

* Ticks removed with tweezers = 2 (GROSS)

(On a related note, I am now paranoid about Lyme Disease)

* Pizzas baked with chorizo from the farmer's market = 2

* Viewings of "Demolition Man" = 1 (Once was enough, thanks.)

* Magazines read at Borders = 2

A pretty good weekend, for the most part! I suppose it's not really over yet - I think we will partake in some Memorial Day grilling today. (Although I think I will understandably be worried about creepy-crawlies for a little while) 

I hope you all had a lovely, tick-free weekend.