Warehouse Sale, 12/4, 9-1 PM

Letterpress stationery? Graphic design books? ORGANIC CUPCAKES?? And just one freeway stop away from me? I'm totally there. For more details, see the Delphine Ephemera blog. 

Shameless Plug: Modern Artists Go Fish for Art

[Images from Birdcage Press via Amazon]

Even though I have lived in San Diego for a good year and a half now, I just managed to visit the San Diego Museum of Art. It was small, but definitely had a few gems in its collection, and it was a nice way to wind down the week with the boy.

I hope none of the curators at SDMART read this, but the real highlight of the day was seeing a product I had worked on last year in the gift shop. I didn't even realize this was out yet!

It is a card game to teach modern art, and I worked on it at the tail end of my last job.
I am SO excited that it's in the gift shops, and I am really proud that I helped produce it!

For more information (or to buy a copy!) visit Birdcage Press here.

Teaching Kids Photography

[Quincy, the Hobby Photographer by J. Otto Seibold, image from Harcourt Books; image of child taking photo and image of cameras from Photojojo]

One of the best jobs, if not the best job I ever had, was teaching art at a summer camp in San Francisco. So today's Photojojo newsletter was of particular interest to me: Turn Your Kid Into a Photographer. I had no idea these cameras existed for the wee ones! What a great idea for a holiday present. I don't think I have any little ones who would benefit from one of these cameras (my niece is far too young at 4 months,) but I think, not being biased at all being a photo editor, that it would be a FANTASTIC gift for 3-7 year olds. Pair it with J. Otto Seibold's Quincy, the Hobby Photographer, and you've got the makings of a future William Christenberry.

Jeff Koons, Your Puppy Made My Day

[Jeff Koons, Puppy. In front of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, front view, by Flickr user Marc Hodges; side view by Flickr user Turkinator]

I got up really early and the first thing I did was buy a gigantic non-fat mocha from the coffee cart, and then my fingers began typinglikethisreallyfastandreallyloud so that everyone could hear my tap tap tapping in the office. Needless to say, I was really productive this morning...even though my hands kept shaking.
I calmed down a little more when I plugged my ears with my headphones and started on some of my photo requests. One of them was for a dog. After looking at rescue dogs, dog sleds, dog houses, and dogs with cats cuddling, Jeff Koons' Puppy popped up during my photo research. And after that I didn't really feel like giving any other dog a chance. I just wanted to stare at Jeff Koons' work all day. 10% because I got lazy after being super productive, but really 90% because I love Jeff Koons.

Check out Jeff Koons here: http://www.jeffkoons.com/site/index.html.

Jeff Koons

[Images from the New York Times online; photos (c) Librado Romero/The New York Times]

Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog (Yellow)", “Sacred Heart (Red/Gold)”, and “Coloring Book” are now occupying the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in all their shiny lacquered glory in one big spectacle extravaganza. I think they look amazing, and I'm jealous of everyone that gets to see them in person!
Check out the New York Times article about "Jeff Koons on the Roof" here. The exhibit will be up through the summer until October.

**A big thanks to my cousin Brian who saw this first and gave me the tip!

Ring Dome

[Ring Dome Milan (top and middle), Ring Dome New York (bottom), Minsuk Cho/Mass Studies]

If I ever had 1,500 hula hoops at my disposal, I would totally be making a hula dome. Last year, Mass Studies Architecture Studio made the installation in NYC for the 25th anniversary of Storefront for Art and Architecture. This year, they are making an even bigger dome in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in time for the Furniture Fair (April16-21) in Milan. Maybe I should have kept my prized pink-striped hula hoop. I think that color scheme would be much more interesting.

Found via Craftzine.

The Getty Center

[All photos by Mo (except for the first one, that was taken by the boy), close up of Irises by Vincent van Gogh]

One of the pleasant surprises of our little weekend getaway to Solvang/Santa Barbara/L.A. was The Getty Center. It's a little silly that I have never been to this museum before, because now I think it's my favorite museum space in the entire world! It was such a beautiful day, and as you can see from the pictures, the garden was absolutely gorgeous.

We took a couple of museum tours that helped shape our visit. I didn't really feel like hearing any Art History lectures while the sun was shining and the birds were chirping and the outdoor sculpture garden was calling my name. But, boy was I wrong! I actually really enjoyed them.

We took a tour about the architecture (the building was designed by Richard Meier) and it was a really interesting tour about Meier's design. One of the things that I found really fascinating was that the entire building is based on a grid, and that all the squares that make up this grid are divisible by 3. The squares on the building were 30 inches x 30 inches, so you could measure yourself by standing next to it. Unfortunately, Meier's design really points out how short I am. I won't hold it against him.

If you are in L.A., go visit The Getty Center! It was really beautiful and lots of fun.

Martin and Muñoz

[All photographs by Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz; The Cliff, 2006; Meanwhile Further South, 2007; Experiment with Red, 2007.]

The mini zoo animals by e.soule reminded me of photography duo Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz, who have absolutely incredible scenes comprised of miniature figures in snow globes. The photos are at first charming and whimsical (check out their other series, Travelers,) but if you look closer they're really disturbing and not as cute as they first appear (ie: the people jumping off the cliff!) But the photos still draw me in, completely amazed and wondering--how did they make that!?
Check out the New York Times article about this amazing couple here.

La Jolla Athenaeum

[Images from La Jolla Athenaeum]

I'm slowly adjusting to my new adopted city, San Diego, where I have been on a scavenger hunt for things I miss in Berkeley/NY. Cute paper store? Check. Museums in which I can wander aimlessly? Check. Good ramen? Check.

Letterpress classes/uber cool gallery/beautiful building/art and music library? Check!

Behold, the La Jolla Athenaeum, which I had the pleasure of strolling into today. Not only do they have a long list of art classes, but they also have a beautiful gallery space, a long list of events, mini-concerts, artist talks, and a special collection of artist books. An extra plus is that there is a special children's art section in the library, complete with some cute chairs to lounge in and these really odd action figures of former presidents...I forgot my camera, forgive me.

Click!

[Image from the Brooklyn Museum]

I found this while researching exhibits this weekend. The Brooklyn Museum is calling for open submissions to a crowd-curated photography exhibit, Click!. Open submissions start on March 1st, in which artists are asked to send photography that addresses the theme of “Changing Faces of Brooklyn,” along with an artist statement. Then, an online forum opens for audience evaluation of the submissions. The project culminates in an exhibit of all submissions and how different groups of people evaluated the art. The exhibit will be shown this summer, which I unfortunately won't be able to see, but perhaps I'll be able to see the works online during the evaluation period in April. Anyone in the New York area, go see the exhibit for me!