LIGHT/DARK

Our friend John Chiara takes photographs with a large camera obscura he built himself. Through his time consuming process, John creates one of a kind, hauntingly gorgeous photos. An exhibition of his latest work just opened at the Haines Gallery, San Francisco. You should see it if you're nearby... or get here if you're not. The images are so stunning in person, I promise it's worth it. 

WE ARE NOT TWO WE ARE ONE

Margaret Durow and ManiaMania were strangers before the box of MM jewels arrived at the photographer's doorstep. However, the collection of nostalgic photographs Margaret captured of herself with these pieces seem to prove otherwise. Using natural light, real film and true emotion, her dreamy photographs come across as very personal, moody and timeless - and like they've been 2gether 4ever.
We were immensely pleased to find Margaret Durow in our home state of Wisconsin (Thanks Cody), and even more pleased when she expressed interest in this project to photograph MANIAMANIA's Reve collection.
You can feel the honesty and genuine raw talent of the 22 year old from her photos. (check her flickr page). She's currently going to UW Madison for Environmental Studies / Biological Conservation, and has already gained a ton of recognition for her photography.
For this project she used real film and a photoshop layering technique to accomplish the very MANIAMANIA-esque vibe. (We showed Tamila and Melanie- the MM ladies- the photos last week in NY and they were thrilled).
Of course she gets extra points for including her cat in the photos (who, apparently acted very strange around the jewelry and insisted on being in the shoot). These are a few of my faves, but please take the time to VIEW THE ENTIRE COLLECTION HERE. Thank you Margaret, I can't wait to work with you again.

BODKIN SWEATER

Bodkin may have made the most perfect sweater ever.

I don't care if it's still warm outside, it makes me so excited for cold weather to hurry up and get here. Bodkin took the best elements of an oversized sweater and added details that are interesting without being overly designed and distracting. I would like to think they had these things pinned up on their inspiration board:

I also really love that they posted an ode to Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) on their blog. She's one of my favorite artists of all time because she made the most amazingly creepy artworks appear uniquely feminine. Bodkin's philosophy seems to follow suit with their subtly unexpected details and thoughtful approach to women's clothing.

the tiffany trip / john chiara fan out page

we took a last minute trip to san francisco last month to visit tiff harker. she needed some lady time.. so we braided eachother's hair and had pillow fights in our underwear. that, or we drank a lot of whiskey, danced to morrissey and looked at art. my favorite part was when john chiara had us over for dinner - a vegan dinner!

there was pasta too, don't think he only served us these rosemary french fries. i was very happy to meet john, since tiff showed us his amazing artwork at her gallery during our last visit.

he's a great person.

hannah wandering the halls of the artists loft where he lives.

renee at shotwells. she came all the way from louisville!

tiff telling a tiff story. it's probably very funny.

tiff's home made calendar/cute life

ran into nick, which reminds me. who has a link to that beautiful video he made of the birds put to a bill callahan song?

art vandelay

a couple good art shows are happening this weekend in los angeles, both on saturday night.

my sister's best friend faythe made a documentary about the rise of DIY art, craft and design. she's having a silent art auction at the poketo headquarters to help fund the movie.
my cousin cody hudson has a new show opening on saturday at the new image art gallery. his amazing choice of colors is always a good time. i just wish lori would surprise me and be there.

the wind blows...

bits of your life away
there's a country, you don't live there
but one day you would like to
and if you show them what you're made of...

the whale story

joe pease stayed home in his room the other day instead of going skateboarding, and he made this little film clip. it's so beautiful it blew my mind. (turn on your volume)


the second time i cried in two weeks.
joe pease, you are awesome and i really hope you never go back to live in australia.

when i saw you

a while back a girl named molly butterfoss bought a necklace from me. i noticed a link to her website, so i clicked on it to learn that she's an illustrator from minneapolis. i found this one drawing of the ronettes that i especially loved. i just finally got a chance to inquire about it and ask if she'd like to make prints of it for bona drag and she agreed! these will be up on the site by tuesday or so.
has anyone read the ronnie spector autobiography? just wondering if i need to read it.

art party

the bees were here. and christina got a new haircut. but these photos aren't about that.

we went to an art show.

much more about joe pease later

the artists

then we went to the whistlestop for bootie bassment. after a few drinks it was totally awesome. kimmy wore her dance gear and danced the CRAP out of the dance floor, and josh said the words "my number one" 400 times.

there is magic all around you

john and i have lurked on this website for years, and i finally just made a purchase the other day. johanna's art inspired by stevie nicks.

this might be my favorite stevie song today: IF ANYONE FALLS
especially the part where the 'shadow up against the wall' lyrical explosion happens.

stevie's been inspiring late night dance parties in our bedroom lately. she'll always be one of the greatest.

"the fog bank was just a brush stroke on a much bigger painting"

one of my ongoing aspirations is to get john to draw like he used to. when i first moved to california exactly 10 years ago, he'd have art attacks 80% of the day, every day. it was pretty sexual. he now likes saying "i quit art". i like saying fuck that. and i will keep buying him things to inspire the approaching renaissance. the latest inspiration purchase was this extra giant charley harper book. he says it was the best gift i ever gave him.



but he must have forgotten about these neil blender prints i bought him for christmas. they're from his website, the heated wheel, which is hopefully only temporarily down.


"sometimes art seems like the best idea you ever had"

were all part of it together

even though he usually has the shortest paragraphs in our annual family newsletter, cody hudson is one of my favorite cousins. he just had a show at the chicago museum of contemporary art, and his dad didn't even tell my mom about it. family problems.




congratulations cody. see more on the show at fecal face. kit with his future projects at struggleinc.

shopping for a good cause

please help LA artist Kime Buzzelli pay for her surgery by buying her great stuff on ebay!

here's her self portrait, wearing a t-shirt with her tumor on it. serious bummer.