:: Monday's inspired human : Amy Flynn ::

Right about now it is beginning to seem like a college reunion around here at P&P! I am featuring yet another Skidmore College alumni friend, Amy Flynn. I was fortunate enough to go to school with some pretty talented people, and I promise you will in the future be meeting even more "Skiddies's" as I continue to interview talented folks from all over the world...

Amy is an artist and her style is very loose and the style is organic and free, I love how I feel like I could look at one of her pieces for a long time and always continue to see something new... Blogger world, meet Amy Flynn!

Name: Amy Morken

Sign: Aries

Age: 33 (but not for long)

Where can we find you (blogs, websites etc... list them all;):

www.amymorken.com

www.arroyosantafe.com

What are your favorite medium/s to work in: Watercolor, gouache, oil pastel, pencil and blood (just kidding)        

Who or What are you most inspired by right... NOW?: I’m enjoying the free “Ikea Ferry” that goes back and forth between lower Manhattan and Red Hook Bkln. You can ride back and forth (and back and forth) and you’re free to skip the Ikea part.

What is the first word that comes to mind when it comes to painting ? (let it pop in- then spit it out): Pass

What was your first "real" job: Cashier and dog nanny at “Bone-Jour” (a dog groomer) in high school (hahaha - weird)

What do you think it is that drives you to be creative?: Cherry coke

Squishy, bumpy, fluffy or smooth? FLUFFY!

What do you do in order to overcome a creative block? Add something to the cherry coke.

Please answer the age old art school question;"What Is Art?"  Yikes!

Hobo, Boho, or HoHo? Aspiring Boho

Describe what it is like for you when you are in the 'zone', when you are in your most creative moment?

When there is a hefty supply of orange-ish red paint, I am all set.

Happy Monday! Liza

::Friday's treasure box::Monkeys On The Roof::

I know, I know, today is Saturday... but I have to tell you the truth. I totally forgot to post this yesterday! I could blame it on my kids Max:

And Ella: 

But that really would not be fair, it is really me who flaked - all by my little self;) It is ok, I figure everything happens for a reason... and for some probably minisculey (is that even a word?) insignificant reason the Friday Treasure box is happening on Saturday. 

OK. Now that I have established this, and blame it on my children, let me show you a treasure that would really fit best in a toy box. Monkeys On The Roof in the Blue Ridge Mountains creates adorable things out of wood. These natural wood blocks are fun and unique and I know any kid would have a blast building with them.

Stop by their shop and see what else they have growing there:0)

Happy Saturday! Liza

:: Monday's inspired human : Ian Johnson ::

I am inspired by Ian's unique style and a creative edge, he has a great eye and is someone who will always be doing something creative. I am really excited about the intimacy Ian creates with his portrait and event images. He knows how to capture the tiny moments in such a way that brings you right there, into that moment, frozen in time. Inspiring also is the way he captures colors and light in his more abstract photos. 

OK! Enough from me... Blogger world... meet Ian Johnson.


Name: Ian Johnson
Sign: Taurus but not into Astrology
Age: 34?

Where can we find you? (List them all;): http://www.ianjphoto.com
http://ianjphoto.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/ianjohnsonphotography
http://twitter.com/ianjphoto

What is IT about photography?: Photography is something that is so immediate. There are images everywhere. So much so that it is overwhelming at times. I let images fly by without documentation by the minute. Sometimes when you go back it is gone.

Are there any other mediums you work in?: I draw with watercolor pencils, conte crayons and pen. I also paint with acryllic and water based Grumbacher oils.

If so, how do you think they (mediums) influence your photos? My paintings and drawings are always so abstract and crazy that I find my photography balancing that out sometimes by being minimal and subtle.

Who or what are you most inspired by right... NOW?: Tim Walker Photography. So sick. Also Jess Krause is inspiring. She is able to capture the art that is already there and make it her own. plus she is rad. ALWAYS: Andy Goldsworthy, Jamie Burns (http://www.jnbdesigns.com), Jesse Hill

What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of photojournalism (let it pop in- then spit it out): Moments 

What was your first "real" job: Lawnmowing

If you could be a superhero, who would you be?: Batman. Love gadgets...and tight pants. Wait don't all super heroes where tight pants. WTF

What do YOU love most to shoot?: Landscapes and my kids

Squishy, bumpy, fluffy or smooth?: smooth

Best advice for overcoming a creative block?: Google

Please answer the often painful, age old art school question; "What Is Art?": Art is a guy down the street from me, who is off his rocker.

Describe what it is like for you when you are in the 'zone',when you are in your most creative moment?: Time does not exist. I love the feeling when hours have passed and you have no clue how it happened.

Thank you Ian for answering a few questions on P&P! What do you think about inspiratin, creative moments, Batman gadgets and tight pants? ;0) Please leave your comments here!


Happy Monday ~ Liza

:: Sunshine Award!! ::

Wow, this is some cool stuff for lil' old me! My friend Kami who has the hysterical, candid, mom friendly blog The Fence has nominated me for a Sunshine Award. I am new to blogging, and have found much inspiration in Kami's blogging style (and her honestly funny content). She has also shown me what #FF is on Twitter (I am lost with Tweeting, or is it Twitting?). Anyway, thank you girl... I am honored to receive this nomination with an image of my favorite flower, and happy to pass it on.

The Rules :

• Put the logo on your blog or within the post
• Pass the Award onto 12 bloggers
  
• Link the nominees within your post
• Let your nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog
• Share the love and link to the person from who you received the award

1. Senioritis This is a great blog by some Etsy sellers, and a fun bunch to check out. Find artists features, cool things and other interesting commentary.

2. Little Green Shoot Chloe's work is great and Willie Winona always makes me smile

3. The Daily Ocean Sara is an old friend, inspiring person, talented artist, and a super green eco friendly gal. Her blog chronicles 365 days of collecting, weighing, and documenting beach trash. She is one who is doing her part to make the world a better place.

4. Cabin + Cub Valerie has a great blog with lots of interesting content,  she is creative, and her little squirrel avatar is adorable (sunshine on a wooden panel;) 

5. Jess Krause Smith is a great friend, talented graphic designer, photographer and artist... Here is one nomination for her inspiration blog Banana's Are Beautiful

6. And one for her thematic photo blog Banana Gold...

7. Bees & Me I love honey bees... and this spot has some interesting information about them.

8. Java Mama Cooker makes me hungry...

9. Ian Johnson Photography Ian is a new blogger, talented artist, friend, and great photographer! Stop by and check him out;)

10. TheHappySoul Need I say more? Go by there and check out what Teresa has to say.

11. Dyche Designs Kathryn is a creative and talented artist, and her blog is fresh and sunshiny;)

12. Bright, Bold, and Beautiful Laura posts items and images that are always fun and interesting. Here taste is pure sunshine...

~Liza

::Friday's treasure box::Pinpricks and Kisses::

I don't think there is anyone who does not like baby clothes, especially adorable girly little dresses paired with blue jeans (or tights, or adorable little legs). I found this talented seller while browsing the Etsy shops looking for cute things to dress my little Ella in. 
Click on the photo for more pictures of this adorable dress, or click here to go directly to the home page for the shop Pripricks and Kisses. Find something new and adorable for your favorite little spring cutie pie!


Be well and I hope you have a wonderful Friday!


Liza

::Nest & Lil' Nest Birthstone Necklaces::

After I had my babies, I was looking for a interesting different birthstone necklace to honor their births. I found lots of great designs, but was never really excited about any of them. I set out to come up with a unique organic style birthstone necklace that would be new and fun, and came up with these! Nest fits 4+ stones best, and Lil' Nest is best for 1-4 stones.

 

You choose the stones that best fit the people you would like to have in your "nest". Click here to see the birthstones.

What do you think of this new design? I love making jewelry....

Liza

::Watercooler:: Be here Now::

I think it must be possible for one to think of at least one interesting thing to talk about in any given moment. But sometimes when I sit down to write I don't know what I am about to talk about... then it comes. Not usually a profound insight into the workings of the universe, or an idea so amazing it will change your life forever- but a subtle thought that matters right n o w.

The idea of the "now" keeps finding it's way into my consciousness and I am reminded to notice it constantly. With all of the events and concerns of our daily lives it is so easy to find yourself living in your mind days ahead of where you actually are. Which is here, now.

Take a deep breath. Whoa! You are here now. All of those things on the to do list are still going to be here now too, even if we handle them one at a time as they come or rattle through them at lightning speed. I guess in a way it all comes down to trust, ask and you shall receive... trust you will get it all done no matter how fast or slow you speed through. Think and you will create action. Even the thoughts we have behind the more conscious thoughts create some sort of momentum, which eventually becomes our life as it is here... now.  

So if we don't ask the right questions, we will never get the answers we are looking for. If we don't have thoughts which are positive and patient, we will create a bit of a scattered existence shadowed by negativity. Hmmm... I guess sometimes we thrive on sarcasm, and that is cool too. Honestly it is all good as long as you are happy with your day (and not harming anyone in the process;).

As for my babbling, if you are still here... now... then maybe you will remember - if only for today - to be here... now.

::Monday's inspired human: Cheong-ah Hwang::

This weeks inspired human is really quite unique, her name is Cheong-ah Hwang and she is the creator of PaperNoodle. I have never seen anyone create sculptures with paper like this, and it is really quite awesome. Cheong-ah's signature item is the "Plushpop" which is basically pop up wall art done with fiber and paper. 

I was first struck by her Captain America wall sculpture. There is probably a lot I could say about how great her work is, but what is the point? Let's see what she has to say...

Name: Cheong-ah Hwang
Sign: Pisces
Age: 40 in March, 10th
Where can we find you (blogs, websites etc... list them all;): 

www.papernoodle.com
www.papernoodle.etsy.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/papernoodle/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PaperNoodle/315947560703?ref=ts
What are you doing in your studio that you are most excited about right... NOW? I'm very excited----studying comic book characters right now.

What is "it" about paper that you really love? I love paper because it's been around for so long, and people are surrounded by it everyday. Paper is very intimate tool for people. Anybody and everybody transform paper into something. We write our thoughts on it, draw pictures, blow noses, making airplanes, etc.
Who or What are you most inspired by right... NOW? I've been facinated by comic book artists like Jack Kirby, John Romita Sr. and Jr. and Steve Ditko. Ok. I have to confess. I'm not a comic book geek AT ALL. My hubby is. If your husband buys stacks and stacks of comic books and read them every night next to you, and explains all the details and how important those details are, it's kinda hard not to get interested. I started to notice how beautiful the compositions, inking, coloring and styles are. I wanted to bring those characters out to the surface so bad. 


















What was your first "real" job: What was my first real job?----I would say that the job I held for the longest time 7 or 8 months at a bagel shop. I was a casher. It was pretty smooth. I earned just enough money to have my first exhibition, then I quit.Best advice for overcoming a creative block? I'm not the one who can give advice to anybody. Describe what it is like for you when you are in the 'zone',when you are in your most creative moment?  When I'm in my creative moment, I'm like the happiest person in the whole world. I get naturally high. (I'm not bipolar. Just to make sure.) 


Kind of amaizing work, right? Thanks for checking it out.... have a good day! If you can, please leave a comment about what you think below!


Liza

::Monday's inspired human: Jessica Krause Smith::

I am so excited to introduce the inspired human for this week, Jessica Krause Smith. Jessica is an incredible graphic designer, painter, photographer, and all around creative inspired human;)

Currently Jessica can be found doing freelance graphic design work and taking photographs of everything and anything that catches her artistic eye. She has designed ads forBottega Venetta, Gap, and Estee Lauder among others and has created CD and digipack album art, posters, ads, website templates - oh my! And, the list goes on...

I was fortunate enough to get Jessica to answer a few questions. So, enough of my blurbing, lets see what she has to say:

Name: Jessica Krause Smith
Sign: Gemini ...(ok, a quadruple Gemini - sun, moon, rising and a fraternal twin, too)
Age: 34
What are your favorite medium/s to work in: photography, painting, graphic design

Who or What are you most inspired by right... NOW?: A few things I saw recently: a painted gold little main stage door on the outside of a theatre near Times Square, the huge pink cherry blossom bouquets that are right now in the lobby of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and these 4 different snowmen some people made in the park in our neighborhood in Williamsburg last weekend after a snowstorm

What is the first word that comes to mind for each medium (let it pop in- then spit it out): photography: moment// painting: abstraction// graphic design: cleanliness 

What was your first "real" job: Director of Advertising Production and Design at Paper Magazine 

Favorite Ad you ever designed?: I've always like the print ads I designed for papermag.com back in the day. One had a constructivist feel and another had a beautiful pastel color palette. The editors gave me a lot of freedom to be creative with those ads and I could really use color in a fun way. Also, working with Geoffrey Beene (while I was at PAPER Magazine) was a dream of mine, and I helped him with his ads so that was really memorable for me. Helping to create the "I Am African" campaign in Fall 2006 for Keep a Child Alive was a favorite project I worked on while I worked at Laird+Partners Advertising and Branding in NYC. A lot of celebrities were involved and the images were quite beautiful and impactful. 

I know you are an amazing photographer, what do you LOVE to shoot?: I do love to take the spontaneously inspired photo.  I see something or I am experiencing something and suddenly I feel like I must get out my camera and start shooting in order to capture it, and if you capture it well it seems like a little prize.  I am constantly finding compositions in things I am already seeing. Travel photography is a favorite because traveling is full of visual adventure. 

Squishy, bumpy, fluffy or smooth? Fluff of the cotton candy kind... 

Best advice for overcoming a creative block? Seeing other art in any medium (film, video, painting, music, performance, interior design etc...) and getting out into the world is a good way to spark your creativity, I think. Living in New York City helps a lot since there is so much to see here (like there is some fantastic and interesting street art in my neighborhood, williamsburg, brooklyn), but a walk in the woods or being in a supermarket can be just as inspiring if not more so sometimes.

Please answer the age old art school question; "What Is Art?": I have a very broad view of what art is. I really do think everything is art of some sort, especially when you can assign a metaphor to it.

Hobo, Boho, or HoHo? A boho hobo eating a hoho. I've seen it, I think! 

Describe what it is like for you when you are in the 'zone',when you are in your most creative moment? A chaotic but relaxed, happy and open, focused and flexible tunnel full of colors and light. My favorite place to be.

Where can we find you (blogs, websites etc... list them all;): there are quite a few,

::online portfolio:: www.jessicakrausesmith.com
::inspiration blog:: www.bananasarebeautiful.blogspot.com
::flickr::  www.flickr.com/photos/jessicajessicaj/
::my thematic photoblog:: www.bananagold.blogspot.com
::JPG magazine::  http://www.jpgmag.com/people/11krause11

::twitter:: http://twitter.com/jesskrausesmith

Please take a sec (if you have one) to leave a comment or two below for Jessica, or comment about whatever you read here today! 

Be well and have yourself a most groovy day, OK?


~Liza

::Friday's treasure box::

I love scrolling around Etsy to find awesome things to feature here at P&P. The seller this week in the treasure box has so many wonderful things that I am just going to have to show you more than one... Here is one fave from the Etsy shop of mother daughter team Janey Mac:

Adorable, right? How about this:

Here is just one more for good measure:

Janey Mac also has phrases, monograms, kids items and the list goes on. Check them out, you will not be disappointed!

Best day to you... cheers! Liza

::Tuesday's water cooler . gratitude::

At the office, there is a water cooler. At the water cooler people get a chance to unwind for a minute to laugh, share, complain etc... I intend for this thread be an opportunity for us to do that. Otherwise, this is just a message from myself to all of you;)

Gratitude, ugh! You know, I have two kids under the age of four so uninterrupted time does not happen, 5 minutes is a lucky stretch and when it happens I savor it like nothing else. I stay at home with them full time and try to fit time in for my shop. Recently I have found myself increasingly frustrated as my interest in my shop grows, and my interest in feeding changing toddler serving diminishes. Scratch*&^*

Just kidding (am I?) But really, noticing this misplaced priority (obviously I love my children and enjoy what I do) brings me to an important point and gives me an opportunity to remember to stop, slow down, be present in my life right NOW and fill my heart with ~gratitude~ for all of the elements of life and the moment and the day as it is right NOW.

Doing this quickly brings some focus purpose and peace, and redirects my energies to where they need to be. Here, now, full of gratitude for it all. Forget the frustration, the should, the what if, if only's, and the chip that seems to fall from the sky and land on your shoulder.... sorry, my shoulder!

What do you have to say today at the water cooler?