swallowfield :: jennifer judd-mcgee

whirlwind

some highlights from my trip to NYC this week:

:: chelsea market. i'd never been there before! what a gorgeous place. i'd have loved to visit a bunch of times and try more of the vendors. we loved bar suzette creperie and one lucky duck for breakfast. i had some kind of crazy delicious juice concoction at one lucky duck that made me feel good all day. and we spent a good bit of time poking around in posman books. i wish we'd had more time to fully explore everything!

:: the high line. again, my first visit. holy cow! this was definitely a favorite for me. i loved how everyone just seemed happier while walking along it. i know i was.

::working at surtex and having the pleasure of both meeting and getting a chance to know many of the other artists represented by lilla rogers. i loved having an opportunity to walk around the stationary show and the ICFF. my brain was over full by the time i left on the third day - so much inspiring work. there are some great posts at poppytalk and design sponge that showcase a lot of the highlights of these shows.

ALSO!

:: dinners at sobaya and gobo

:: my first visit to uniqlo

:: stumptown coffee at cafe peddlar in brooklyn

it was a super busy few days and i didn't have nearly as much time (or energy) as i would have liked - i think  i did about a quarter of the stuff i wanted to. i'm already thinking about what i'll do on the next trip.

 

taproot :: paths

photo by amanda soule

the second issue of taproot is fresh off the presses! i borrowed this lovely photo from amanda's blog to share with you because i don't have my own copy quite yet, but it looks chock full of good stuff again! can't wait to see for myself.  for this cover i used pen, ink + acrylic. it was finished a few months ago, so it's fun to see it out in the world. i just finished the third cover last week and am working on the fourth one now. thank you so much for the opportunity, amanda!

nyc bound

sorry things have been a bit quiet on the blog these past few weeks! i've been busy working on getting stuff ready to participate in my art agent's booth at surtex, and am headed off to new york for the next few days. several of the artists lilla represents will be working in the booth, and i'm really excited to hang out in person after admiring their art for so long.

and i *may* have created a ridiculously laden google map of all of the places i'd like to visit while i'm in manhattan, too - hoping to see + do as much as possible. any suggestions of not-to-miss places are most welcome + appreciated!

 

 

last night

we had our first oceanside cookout of the year last night. it was a gorgeous evening, and i stumbled around, as usual, taking photos and trying to soak it all in.

in my studio this morning

i'm getting ready for some very special guests in my studio this coming week.

this is a lovely tribute. fight for your right to party. (thanks betsy.)

happy sunday everyone.

how it all connects

a little bit of what i've been working on lately. i'm dreaming in patterns again and it is an awesome feeling. looking forward to sharing some more work here soon.

recently

i haven't been taking too many photos lately, and it's been bugging me. so i'm trying to pick up my camera a bit again. this is a little piece of my sea urchin collection.

some stuff i've been appreciating lately:

a mighty girl. what a great resource.

my pinterest boards. i fell in (like everyone else in the world) and i can't get out. it's so well laid out and visually pleasing to me.

beginners. i just finally got a chance to watch this lovely movie, and i thought it was excellent. one of the best movies i've seen in ages. my love for christopher plummer is deep and long standing, and he was especially good in this film.

minding your mitochondria.  inspiring + interesting to me as someone with MS, but good food for thought for everyone.

draw something. SO MUCH FUN. that is all.

 

caine's arcade

 

i could not love this any more.

drawing with a bleach pen

do you ever just need to do something totally different from your daily routine for a quick escape/inspiration? that's what happened to me this week. i took a little detour from drawing and papercutting and tried experimenting with a bleach pen. i had seen towels done this way in design sponge at home (i think i've said it before, but i love this book. a lot.) and filed the idea away last fall. it wasn't fancy or particularly well thought out - i took a nice cotton shirt that had a slight rib and was soft and worn, and laid it on the counter with stiff cardboard inside of it. this was to keep the bleach from going through to the back and also to give the fabric a nice stiff surface underneath to draw on. i drew on the shirt with a random floral pattern until i was happy with it. i wished the pen had a slightly finer tip, as it tended to blob a bit in places, but i didn't worry too much about it. once i was done drawing i let it dry for a few hours, then washed it by itself in the washer with hot water. (i've seen people say to use cold water, but i didn't and don't think it caused any problems. don't quote me on this, though!) i threw it in the dryer and put it right on. i like it! i'd like to experiment with other fabrics (linen comes to mind) and think about doing some curtains sometime.

it looked a little bit yellow while i was working, and i wasn't so sure about that. but it whitened in the wash.

i think this would be a fun project to do with kids. well behaved kids wearing all white, in a white, well ventilated room. but i can be a little nervous about mess sometimes, and bleach is messy business. all in all, a really fun project, and a nice quick distraction.

it's true

love is all you need, a new large print in my etsy shop.

i've been a little obsessed with making rainbows this week.