Folk Life

I'm slowly surrounded by folk life. It gently sings to me in the waking hour. It fills my heart with promises of rustic cabins and a warm spot by the fire. My eyes fill with light as the sun sets and a lantern guides me through the dew covered forest.

A huge part of this inspiration is this cabin fever I've been suffering from. However the load is made a lot lighter by Grimm's Fairytales, handsome folk musicians, and the work of Becca Stadtlander.

Becca Stadtlander is an amazing artist. She recently graduated art school for illustration. She weaves a magical scene reminiscent of Folk art and Japanese prints. Her work holds a spot in my heart.







She marries colors both dark and vibrant, creating iconic imagery. Her portfolio is absolutely stunning, i dare you to go look.

Her prints are also amazingly affordable.

Booksmeller Sunday, Lullaby

I've only read two of Palahniuk's books and i'm still intrigued by the fucked up mystical world he weaves. I've read Diary, and recently read Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk.

He isn't everyone's cup of tea. He sometimes writes in a strange point of view. Or writes in like 3 or 4 points of view within a few pages (read Diary). He writes on and on and you wonder where he's going with it all. But by the end everything makes sense and your brain won't explode (disclaimer: no promises).



The overall design of the book is really lovely. I adore cursive fonts. The book is black and white with pops of yellow, keeping the design of the book modern. Also, the chapters are usually pretty short, which is nice because I like to read in short bursts.



The illustration of the upside down bird is also a foreshadowing illustration. I find it quite cute, but I have a morbid sense of humor. Dead birds, awww! (I have a small collection of dead bird photographs *whistles innocently*)

Upon first inspection, this particular copy of Lullaby smells like old ladies. It reminds me of mothballs, kitchen spices, farts covered by old lady perfume. Which makes it seem questionable, considering whom the book is borrowed from. You should smell it. Have you smelled your books before? I suggest it. I promise they don't all smell questionable.

An Education

Sometimes there are days where I do nothing more than sketch and absorb the world around me. It's a good break. This week I watched An Education and expected it to serve as fashion inspiration (and have a bad plot).

It was very much visually inspiring, but help a compelling plot as well. It's about a young lass in her last year of school. She's forced to choose between a safe boring path and a risky fun-filled one. So it's obvious which path she'll choose. But all the fill in the blanks inbetween was compelling.

It made me wonder what life would have been like had I been more defiant as a school girl. Regardless, it was touching to me because I chose to become an artist. Which isn't really well understood (by a lot of people "close" to me).

As Oscar Wilde so eloquently said, "Be yourself, because everyone else is already taken."

Lastly, on the surface of it all, I love the wardrobe of this film. I find the grey uniforms simply adorable. The use of clothing is somewhat symbolic in the film. Her outfits are very conservative in the beginning and in the end. But in the middle they're very glamorous. I've always believed 60s black eyeliner is to die for. And the lovely leading lady is even cuter in it.

Artist 1, Universe 0

It's not necessarily this artist versus the universe, but sometimes it feels like it. I had my week all planned out. I don't plan very far ahead, but when I do plan, the plans come crashing down and exploding from the sky. I wind up with days blocked off in advance, making me feel productive. But when the day arises, everything turns to crap. Somebody cancels, circumstances change for the worse, etc. But this week, despite the obstacles, nothing stopped me!

Sure I got canceled on, but I had a grand ol' time. On Tuesday I made soup i've never made before. And on Wednesday, I meandered around Baltimore with some people.



My brother had been going on and on about how we had to go to Dangerously Delicious Pies. For weeks, he went on and on about. I said, okay okay yeah sure. But I'd been on a inspiration kick, and found a blog with a pie recipe from that pie shop. The name of the pie: White Trash Creme Brulee. Instantly, I knew I had to have pie there. Any pie shop with a fabulous name like that for their goods? Aw hell yes!

Their main store is closed until the 20th, but they had another store in the city. So we trekked out to Baltimore to get a slice. Upon arrival, we found that not all pies on their menu was available. I'll either have to make White Trash Creme Brulee myself, or wait till the main store is open. Boo.



So I got the Baltimore Bomb instead! It's made with Berger cookies (i'm told the cookie is local to B'more) and custard. It didn't look good or sound great, but i risked it anyway. Why not? I got it and it was a flavor explosion in my mouth! So deliciousss. They have decent deal on pie, if you get two sweet slices, two savory slices, and two drinks, it's only $20. Otherwise flavors vary from $6-7 a slice.

The place is decent, although the red lighting is a bit jarring.

Next on the list of our travels was Teavolve, a local tea shop I hadn't ever been to.



Not really much to say about the place. Aesthetically, it's very metro. The menu has plenty of tea drinks: loose tea, cold tea, bubble tea, chai, and tea lattes. They also had an array of finger foods and sandwiches. We got spinach dip with pita, which was tasty. But the pie shop had more character and flavor.

See for yourself.



In it's defense though. The atmosphere was pretty chill and cozy. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. Didn't feel any rush to leave. Even though it was hella late.

Did I mention after this I went to yet another place? I went to a dive bar for late night kareoke with some friends. Very last minute, and kinda funny. Nope, no photos. But the best adventures are had without cameras.

Lastly, I'm still making progress on this drawing. Getting caught up in detail.



I should be done in a day or two. Fingers crossed.

P.S.- Do you prefer shorter posts, or these more in-depth ones?