bits and bobbins

the above photo mosaic and the prevalence of rainbows within it reminds me of my undergrad studies. i was an art major at the university of north florida, and in my last semester there during my final year i was doing an independent study printmaking course, under the tutelage of my printmaking professor. i was trying to come up with a concept for a project, and was showing my professor what i was thinking about, using some quick and dirty sketches in my sketchbook as illustration. one of them used every color of the rainbow. she was a very restrained artist herself, kind of bitchy frankly, and saw my little rainbow-y ideas, and shot me and the idea down, saying “that’s too RAINBOW-Y.”

you can take the girl away from the rainbow, but she’ll always come back to it, if it’s inside of her. frankly, it’s what i like, and no bitchy person or their judgmental opinions can take that away from me.

i think it was about then that i truly started becoming obsessed with and falling in love with color…i became fascinated with how colors interacted with one another, and i started playing with color on my person and in my creative work, which i am still doing today. it was around that time that i also had pink and orange hair (both colors at the same time). ha! that was fun.

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other things that happen to be inspiring/entrancing me *right now*:

-the amazing little blog treats & treasures where the author, marieke, who’s studying graphic design in amsterdam, netherlands shows off the contents of her sketchbook, and occasionally shares cute little knitting patterns, like this one, for a simple yet lovely scarf.
-neet magazine. the idea of it, really. wouldn’t it be great if more “fashion magazines” were online? for the people, by the people. a way to circumvent the often elitist magazine world and fashion world. also, it totally reminds me of zines and that whole movement back in the 1990s, as does blogging in general.
-all my fashionable peeps over at wardrobe_remix, especially this gal and this gal and the way they put clothing together in general.
-anything marimekko.
-the concepts in joseph albers’ book the interaction of color.
-the look of acid wash, STILL. i’m starting to see it more and more in the stores. this tickles me to no end! i’ve been predicting this since 2004 or 2005.
-geometry and geometric shapes.
-clothes that combine simple lines and bright contrasting colors or clothes with interesting texture or piecing.
-this knitting pattern for a bolero that features feather and fan. i can see them in bright, bright colors over my other bright, bright colors. and that acid wash above. hah HAH! i have some other knitting projects to attend to first, but i’m definitely giving that one a go sooner rather than later.
-all of lisa congdon’s work. period. end of story.
-the thought of going to amsterdam, paris and bruges in may.