61/365

things I've written about for UPPERCASE magazine, who just turned ten years old and put out their fortieth (fortieth!) magazine:

from the very first column to the most recent:

records and record players
volkwagen buses
bikes
city songs
old brooches
photobooths
hanging laundry
wooden type
watering cans
the making of lists
polaroids
world globes
vintage dresses
the beginning of summer
autumn leaves and the art of paying attention
my mother's home
scent and memory
city collages
office supplies
street art
striped shirts
purple
handwritten letters
my mother's quilts
messes
doilies
making time for making
collaborations
origami
the worth of things
movement as art
city patterns
the building of fires
the magic of yes
handwriting
creative projects
the language of color
lockets
collecting rugs
records and record players

(it has been my great honor and pleasure to write for UPPERCASE magazine for ten years, to have been with them from the very beginning-- thank you, janine-- and thank you, everyone who reads and supports this crazy amazing publication)

home

my favorite childhood polaroid picture sits in the bottom of a box somewhere. I do not actually need to take it out and look at it to remember. the details are forever forged in my mind. it's a polaroid my mom took right after she surprised a ten year-old me with a redecorated bedroom. in it, I'm sitting on my bed, which has been freshly repainted, the old comforter replaced with a brand new cream-colored satin one. there are fresh, frilly new curtains on the windows, a cornflower blue bedside table (covered with flowers hand-painted by my mother) and a frosty new glass lamp. plucked right off the pages of the JCpenny catalog, I believe. in the picture, I'm sitting on that bed and I'm beaming. it's a moment I revisit again and again. because it was a room that made me feel special, a room that felt authentically mine. I knew then there was a very specific art to the planning and making of a space. that there was love in it, so much love. in all the details, love. what I didn't know was just how much it would affect me later on in life. how much it would influence me, both as an artist and a mother.

and so this is the subject of my most recent piece in issue sixteen of uppercase magazine: my mom and the home she (artfully) made for her family. it was not an easy piece to write, friends. but I'm glad I did it, I'm glad I pushed through. it was the least I could do, the very least.

and I wish you could read it, mom. I really really do. because this one's for you.

lucky number thirteen

a few things you will find on the pages of UPPERCASE issue number thirteen: cloudy days, paper fortune tellers, bingo card collections, deflated balloons messages, water color polka dots, water color stripes, vintage sue's dress collections, umbrellas, superstitions. and so on and so forth. plus a few words about the perfect vintage dress (aka this month's covet column, written and photographed by yours truly).

normally, the covet column is a more solitary labor of love but this go round called for a slightly broader view. I put the call out and some sweet friends of mine answered. many, many thanks to jenny and alix for allowing me to share their terrific thoughts and ideas on the perfect vintage dress, to jen for allowing me to share the sweetest little thrift store wedding dress story I ever did hear and to vanessa (of wanderlust trailer fame) and erin (of double decker lodekka fame) for letting me pull dress after dress (after dress) and point my trusty little SX-70 all over the place. you are all fine, fine girls after my own vintage-loving heart.

and now I must know. your idea of the perfect vintage dress? what does that look like? and have you found it? spill it, ladies.

(for those that are interested: the top instant image was shot with lovely impossible project PX 70 color shade film)

like candy

today: shots and outtakes from the vintage camera piece I did for issue 12 of uppercase magazine. I'm telling you right now, I did not know how many cameras I actually had until I pulled them all from their hiding places for this piece. I did not know. but now I do.

peeky peek

I've got a little something on vintage camera collections in issue 12 of uppercase magazine, friends. in addition to my regular covet column, which just happens to be about world globes this go round. globes and cameras, cameras and globes. these are a few of my favorite things. these are collections that have taken over my house. but fifteen plus years of globe-collecting and camera-collecting and what did I expect? there are worse things. back later on with real shots and outtakes from the vintage camera piece. because, you know, the above shot was taken with an iphone. the irony in that is not lost on me.


p.s. uppercase magazine can now be found at anthropologie, both online and in store. pretty cool, huh.

off switch

completely honored to have a photograph of mine featured on the cover of a rad new magazine called off switch. I've got a little more inside too. peruse the issue online or order a copy to hold in your hot little hands. good stuff, kids.


(hats off and many thanks to katie, the creative force behind said rad new magazine)

in print

I'm a little late with this but it's still worth sharing. because I worked really really hard on it, I did.



it's my piece on polaroid/instant photography in UPPERCASE magazine (issue ten) and a bit of a love letter to edwin land, the impossible project and just about every polaroid camera I've ever owned.

letterpress, friends

two memories come roaring into focus when I think of my maternal grandfather-- the time I tap danced for him in white plastic dime store sandals and the image of him hard at work in the back room of his printing shop. the rest is as mysterious to me as the massive printing presses we often tiptoed around when we visited him at work.

I was seven when he died. eventually, my grandma was forced to sell the business, equipment and all. I remember the last time we stood in the shop, how it still smelled the way it did all those times we visited-- sharp, like paper and ink, like hard work and long nights. my grandma opened a long, slender wooden drawer (one of what seemed like hundreds) and told us to pick a few pieces of type out. go ahead, she said. something to remember your grandpa by. I was too young to appreciate the significance behind the gesture but I reached in and chose a few pieces anyway. a lowercase letter 'a' and a rose. they were small but heavy in my hand and left faint charcoal smudges on the pink of my palm.

letterpress: tis the subject of my latest covet column in issue eight of UPPERCASE, an issue solely devoted to the art of letterpress. gorgeous, I tell you. every last letterpress-loving page. as always, I'm honored to be a contributor.

I do believe my grandpa would be proud.

photobooth friday

photobooth friday on a saturday because I'm on the road and have lost all track of time. checkit, my covet column in the latest issue of uppercase is all about photobooths. also on the pages: vintage trailers, espo's love letters to philly, nina invorm's crazy colorful studio, delancey and vintage luggage labels. oh the love I have for this issue. THE LOVE.

in other photobooth-related news:

my pal brandon's awesome new photomaton and photomaton lite apps. people, I think I'm finally going to have to break down and get an iphone.

a really rad photobooth contest by the folks over at the art of waiting that I am totally going to miss if I don't get my act together.

on the pages

in the spring issue of UPPERCASE: pyrex, nylon, glockenspiels, grandparents, textiles, foxes, romanticism, cardboard, pattern, post-its, babushkas, band camp. and my regular covet column featuring the story behind a vintage brooch collection. take a peek, if you like. or get your copy here.

I just really really love this magazine

issue 3 arrived last week and I'm in serious love. inside:



a spread so colorful I sort of want to lick the pages. I'm so crazy about guylaine couture, I don't know what to do with myself.



(more of my gushing on poppytalk, if you can stand it)



also inside: the best old beer can collection ever.



plus, a fantastic piece on pinhole photography.



and a little bit of olaf hajek.



as well as a lovely piece on geninne zlatkis by victoria. I heart victoria.



also, a little something about bicycle rides down tree-lined streets by yours truly.



and a list of the ten greatest male dancers of our time. again, by yours truly.



so much more inside. I mean it. heaps more. get your issue here, friends. in a time when great magazines are dying off right and left, uppercase is a serious breath of fresh air.

photobooth friday

all I can say is that we were at archie mcphee's. which is a place that just makes you want to do odd things. and buy odd things. before you know it, you are insisting your husband don blonde braids in the photobooth while you fill your little red shopping basket with things like bacon-flavored dental floss, bubblegum cigarettes, underwear for squirrels, corn dog air fresheners and enormous sombreros. in the end, you will come to your senses. though not before you have dragged several props into the photobooth and purchased the tiniest deck of playing cards ever, several cute plastic rings and a bottle of robot bubbles.



we hit the road back in february, found ourselves in seattle for a day and a night. found our way to the aforementioned infamous archie mcphee's (I'd heard about the photobooth) and settled in for the afternoon. road trips and photobooths go together quite nicely, which is something I wrote a little about in the latest issue of light leaks magazine.



if you are a fan of low fidelity photography at all, this publication is for you. page after page of toy camera goodness. page after page after page. you can find me (and my family) on pages 6 and 7 but you will only want to linger briefly because the rest of the issue is ridiculously fantastic. get your copy here, my toy camera-loving friends.



and another crazy one for today. just because. from the carnival a couple of weeks ago. a little expensive but totally worth it.

more photobooth awesomeness in my little group. the little group that just keeps on going, much to my utter and total delight.

yay! (part one)

a few things you will find on the pages of the absolutely fantastic premiere issue of uppercase, a magazine for the creative and curious:

a cherry red typewriter

a treehouse extravaganza



a brilliant use for a balloon



candy-like vintage typewriter ribbon tins

reinterpreted book covers



whirlers and twirlers plus the ten commandments of square dancing



rad poster designs

beauty in the unfinished



a spectacular polka dot umbrella

the healing properties of cupcake decorating

the humble nature of the paper towel

peewee herman versus shakespeare

tear-out art involving colorful spherical balloons and bubble ink drawings



the most lovable monsier character ever





a piece on record players written (and photographed) by yours truly



I'm telling you right now that I am gaga over uppercase. even if I wasn't a contributor, I'd still be gushing like a school girl and that is no lie. get your copy here, peeps. you'll not be sorry, I promise you that.

p.s. processes (like hangers) can be pretty.

37 things (or, the good that slipped in through the back door)

in the spirit of last year's list, I give you this: an ode to unpredictability. a new list. a collection of the unintended, the unplanned. one that commemorates the unexpected little (and big) things that happen over the course of 365 days. I'm not going to lie, it hasn't been the easiest year. in fact, parts of it have been so painful I can barely stand to speak of them. but this is how you get over, you make a list of the good.

these are things that snuck up on me from behind. these are things I never really saw coming. in my 38th year, I:

1. found the most perfect pair of socks ever.



2. made it through my first portland winter.

3. learned to work my camera manually.

4. watched the urban bush women from the nosebleed section.

5. saw my photographs and words in print.







6. fell head over heels in love with a lens.

7. fell head over heels in love with a hammock.

8. marched in a parade.









9. said goodbye to the company that brought us out here and hello to a better life.

10. stumbled onto the most beautiful display of photobooths in the history of the world.



11. picnicked at the top of mt. tabor.



12. constructed a robot cake.



13. picked strawberries from our own garden.



14. stood on the hood of a car parked on the side of a ridiculously dangerous highway and photographed fields of sunflowers.



15. had my hair blown willy nilly whilst riding the ferry with leslie.



16. traveled along the edge of the pacific ocean and fell in love with the 101.

17. watched ava learn how to ride a bike. was there the moment ward let go of the back of her seat. watched her pedal off in the most heartbreakingly wobbly and triumphant way.



18. stood on the burnside bridge and watched the fireworks.



19. collaborated with the birthday girl and pulled off perhaps our best party yet.



20. rode my bike to the local farmers market.



21. tie-dyed 88 pieces of fabric for 88 kids in one hour.



22. got hooked on sugar cane lemonade and empanadas, the likes of which can only be found at a restaurant housed in what is surely the brightest colored building in all of portland.

23. introduced the kids to dairy queen dilly bars.



24. fell madly in love with ten tiny dances.



25. stood barefoot in a rose garden with mati and kelly rae.



26. found myself right smack dab in the middle of a lovebomb.

27. discovered magnificent manzanita, found starfish and anemones hiding in the tide pools at short sands.









28. watched belly dancers jiggle and undulate on mississippi avenue.



29. watched b-boys spin and flip at the mister's first solo art show.



30. saw my first double rainbow.

31. spent an afternoon wading in a spectacular public fountain.



32. spent an afternoon wandering through a quiet orchard.



33. spent time with so many rad women. all of them, terrifically lovely and amazing. fantastically extraordinary, fabulously gloriously marvelous. luminous and brilliant, radiant and remarkable women. absolutely inspiring, each and every one. so totally and completely awesome. I mean it, so awesome.

34. went a little bananas over an old polaroid camera.



35. was treated to dinner prepared by the best chef in portland.



36. visited the museum of giant shoes.

37. learned to love 82nd avenue.