a wedding weekend : in rochester, ny

I flew up to Rochester last night for a friend’s wedding this weekend, in an effort to dodge any possible trouble with Mr. Earl. The drawing above is the illustration I created for their wedding invitation, which I’ll share with you sometime soon as well. I’m excited to be here, in the places I’ve only seen through Google Images so far!

Enjoy your holiday weekend all! I’ll be back on the blog on Tuesday.

i just signed up for the sketchbook project : and you should too

Here’s how The Sketchbook Project works:

Anyone can sign up (until October 31st) and for $25, you receive a blank moleskin sketchbook with a bar code and a particular assigned theme. You have until January 15th to fill it with doodles, drawings, paintings, collages, whatever you want. Then you send it back and all the sketchbooks go on tour across the country in galleries and museums!

You can track where your book is at all times and even view it on display at one of the above scheduled tour locations. At the end of the tour, the books will all be cataloged as a permanent collection at The Brooklyn Art Library. For an extra twenty bucks, they will scan and digitize your book so that you can have an electronic record of all your hard work.

This is the first I’m hearing about it, thanks to The Donut Project, but Art House Co-op has been running this for five years now.

I am excited to get started! Join my sketchbook on tour and sign up here.

ingo giezendanner : baku & back

Ingo Giezendanner, a painter and installation artist from Zurich, traveled by land from Zurich to Baku, Azerbaijan. His illustrative journal drawn with pen and ink, Baku & Back, documents that journey.

Ingo’s statement:

“The drawings capture the gradual change of scenes from Switzerland through the former Yugoslavian states, Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia before finally arriving in Azerbaijan (to travel back again just see the book backwards). This is my statement to go out, see the world and avoid airplanes. Take your time and enjoy the view on your train ride.”

It is astounding. You can purchase a copy online for $28 from the publisher, Nieves.

(*via {paper & type})

scenes from my week : truro, cape cod

As you may have read in previous posts, I spent the past week in Truro, Massachusetts. I escaped email, phone and routine demands and enjoyed a week of biking, beaching, reading and cooking.

It was a celebration of summer!

(Blueberries image via NetState)

anticipation : truro massachusetts

Paperfinger is taking a one week summer holiday next week and we just confirmed the details for our stay in Cape Cod’s town of Truro.

I’m now experiencing the grand assortment of feelings and activities before a week away: anticipation; eagerness; how-will-it-all-get-done-in-time moments of panic; research and the temptation to surf the web for ideas all day; food fantasies; lofty reading list goal setting; anti-rain dances; focused consumption of perishables in the fridge; packing list brainstorming…it’s a mix of excitement and stress.

(First image via Flickr; Second image via ThundaFunda)

cambodian wedding : and i was a bridesmaid

My dear friends Dave and Phalla were married in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, a couple years ago. I had the honor of being a bridesmaid. It was a hugely memorable and impressive weekend of ceremony, ritual, outfit changes and of course, good food.

A typical Cambodian wedding last three full days. This one was abridged at only one and a half days. I’m so grateful to have been a part of it — and I’ve never been quite so tired as I was by the end of it! You’ll see the bride’s attire changes throughout the entire wedding as the couple reinacts a legendary tale that forms the heart of the whole wedding ceremony. As bridesmaids, we had six outfit changes plus two hair and makeup changes. Incredible!

The results, as you can see from these photos, were remarkable: brilliantly colorful, gorgeous and celebratory.

vanessa jackman photo blog: australian fashion week

I recently heard about Vanessa Jackman‘s photography blog, which is a similar format to many street-style, professional-photographer blogs. The images are large and colorful and the recent set taken at Australia Fashion Week was full of interesting get-ups and pretty people. I’ve included a few of my favorites here.

All photography courtesy of Vanessa Jackman.

hana : maui

I was very fortunate to tag along with my sig-other on his work trip to Hana, Maui last week. Hana is a very quiet little town situated on the east end of Maui. The terrificly windy road through lush rainforest (Hana Highway, pictured above) from Kahului Airport takes two and a half hours to reach Hana, keeping the town off the beaten path and away from mainstream commercial development. It is an idyllic, spectacular place.

Here are some photos of the drive plus the coast and scenery of Hana. These trees below are Rainbow Eucalyptus. Incredible!

thanks nasa : earth day photos

To celebrate Earth Day yesterday, folks from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center posted a collection of some of their favorite earth photos in a Flickr set. Remarkable images such as this one above titled “Free Flying.”

View them all here.

(*via Guy Kawasaki)

greetings from : portland oregon

I’m working from Portland, OR over a long weekend this week. It’s my first trip out here and I’m trying to squeeze in a few sightseeing expeditions amidst my work days.

Top priorities: Oblations; Powell’s Books: Pok Pok Restaurant; Little Red Bike Cafe; and Mississippi Records.

(*image via Synergy Automation)