Saturday, February 23, 2008

A comfy place to call our own...


First off, let me apologize for being away from this for a while. I've been putting together my first wholesale catalogue to mail out to boutiques all over. I'm really excited about the layout, and I'm making all of them myself, so it'll take me back to my bookmaking days. And I have had such an indescribable emotion towards my living quarters lately, too. A recent post in Amy Nieto's blog really reminded me of these feelings.

As you saw glimpses of in my previous post, I've recently rearranged some rooms in our apartment. And I love it now! I've never loved this apartment more! When we first moved in, it was a bit surreal because I had just finished living in an apartment two doors down that had the exact same floor plan. Except this apartment was dirtier and had more work to do than the first one. Already stains on the carpet (hey- less work for us to do in that area!); the linoleum was peeling up next to the bathtub; there was no towel rack or shower curtain rod in the bathroom; leak stains on the ceilings; and the two non-working, brick, floor-to-ceiling fireplaces had been painted cobalt blue and school bus yellow, respectively. (On the plus side, the rent is unbelievably cheap, Drew and I each have our own little studios, it has a washer and dryer, a backyard, and it's only 4 blocks from Forsyth Park. OK, maybe there are a lot of perks.) You'd think one would never really be able to fall in love with this kind of place, right?

But Drew and I worked really hard-- he installed the towel rack and we both painted the fireplaces. I did some constant rearranging of furniture. We both installed a screen door in the back. Hung up all our artwork, did some MAJOR cleaning, and now everyone that comes in says it's so comfy and relaxing and homey! Yay! Not that I have many people over, mainly just my family members say this.

And I hardly even notice those other things now. But I've never worked this hard to make somewhere feel like home, with the exception of my childhood bedroom, and we won't talk about that. So of course I feel attachment to this little apartment on Barnard street. It's home to me. So why is it that I still have this little voice in the back of my head that's ready to move? Why? I love Savannah, I love my family being here, I love the apartment, I actually still know people here. Yet I keep finding myself asking Drew when we'll be moving. Maybe it's out of habit-- I've been asking him since I graduated college in 2005. I'm scared to give up this place we've worked so hard on, and possibly leave so many other good things, but at the same time I HAVE lived here for almost 25 years. It's probably time for a quick change of scenery, then I'm sure we'll come crawling back. What is it about Savannah that just sucks you in and makes you get comfortable? Anybody? Anybody?

Monday, February 11, 2008

Some Snippets of My Home Life


This is a felted project I did way back in school for 3-d fibers. I won't go into what it means and everything, but it fit perfectly in an old wooden cola box I bought at a friend's garage sale.


My new rearranged studio! I used to use it mainly for storage, and now it's my favorite room in the apartment. Drew's mom gave me the vintage desk and got me that loom at an auction. I love her! (That's Phineas on the desk.)


One of my teensy bulletin boards.


Antique spools, a weird-shaped basket, egg holders, and, whaddya know, egg-shaped salt and pepper shakers. This is all on a shelf in my kitchen.


Another shelf in my kitchen. The blue floor lamp in front was my parents' and it's actually a vintage doctor's lamp. And to think they were going to sell it at a garage sale!


A shelf in my studio. The sheep is secretly a tape measure, quite possibly the most adorable one in the world-- his little hand pulls out! And the globe-shaped pin cushion was my grandma's. I don't think she ever really sewed, but she was definitely a collector.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

My New Favorites


New work I did for Satchel in downtown Savannah on Broughton Street. Yay! Elizabeth is so great, and her store looks like it came right out of a design magazine, I swear. I think I've officially sucked Savannah dry as far as retail outlets now... Time to branch out a little.




Rob Ryan is my new hero. Well that might be an exaggeration, as I don't know him personally, but his artwork is amazing. I noticed a blurb on a book by him (This Is For You) in ReadyMade magazine, so I decided to check it out. His work is akin to that of Nikki McClure (Collect Raindrops), but a bit less graphic, and more Dr. Seuss meets new-age baroque, if that's possible. He has prints for sale on Etsy, too. Seeing such delicate, pocket-sized gems come from an established artist is really an affirmation-- and it's encouragement for other artists (like myself) to continue to create tiny pieces, and to let oneself get completely engrossed in tedious (and some might say obsessive) projects.