I can’t begin to tell you how cool this looks to me.
I’m not sure which I like more: The yellow windows so it’s always sunny*, the mirrored surfaces so everything looks bigger, or the absolute luxury of having everything included in a very small space.
I’ve always loved gypsy wagons, and the idea of compact living spaces. This design goes beyond any apartment I’ve ever envisioned.
Huge thanks to my friend (and brilliant architect) David Locicero (The Opinionated Wine Guide) for recommending this!
*The yellow windows remind me of a friend, musician Jaime Brockett. I remember Jaime wearing yellow sunglasses — long before “blu blocker” glasses were available — when he drove his VW bus. The sunglasses made the world look sunnier.
(I remember writing him notes on yellow origami paper, hoping to achieve the same “happy” effect. It was a fun time in my life, when I was just starting to get a sense of myself as an individual.)
Many of my flippant and fun attitudes were learned by spending time with Jaime, wandering around NH and kickin’ back in Harvard Square, many years ago.
Looking for links to Jaime, I found something else from that era: Music by Orpheus. Here’s a short clip from one of their best songs, Can’t Find the Time. [Click here for MP3 clip]
The banana cat… what can I say?
This story began when my husband was looking for the old-school dancing banana, to use as wallpaper on his computer monitor.
While looking for “banana gif” — a search one should only conduct in “safe search” mode — he found the strangest animated gif of a cat eating a banana.
The baffling "banana cat" gif.
Well, first there’s the hat. Then there’s that tablecloth/scarf/cape thing. And really… what is on that cat’s back…? (If the image isn’t moving, click on it to see the animated gif.)
After some research, Todd (my husband) found the original video. Here it is.
It turns out that it’s a Halloween costume. The cat is being a banana split. His hat is a banana, the tablecloth is exactly what it looks like, and he has little ice cream & toppings thingies on the back.
So… what does this have to do with art and creativity?
For me, this is the kind of quirky thing that makes my brain turn a somersault, and look at the world just a little differently, at least for awhile.
It’s so bizarre, I just had to share it.
After ten years, I’ve decided what to do with this domain: Turn it into a hodge-podge of strange, quirky and generally inspiring links for creative people.
Some of the links will be about art. Some will be very non-art, but — for me, anyway — they trigger ideas, especially creative ideas.
When I can include videos, images and audio files, I will. Ditto any PDFs or other printables I can provide.
This site is now, officially, my site for things that I look at and say, “Wow… isn’t that cool!” (Or, in some cases, “Hmm… interesting.”)
If it’s thought-provoking or awe-inspiring and somehow connects with my creative impulses, this is where it’ll be.
(Note: Some product- or process-specific links will be — or will also be — posted at my other websites, including Artists Journals, Aisling dot net, Wild Art Dolls, and elsewhere.)
Santa Flamingo began around 2002, maybe earlier, when I kept plastic flamingos on my (NH) apartment balcony.
When winter arrived, I decided to make them Santa Claus hats.
(At left are the pre-hat flamingos.)
HT — now my husband — saw my photos online, and I’m not sure which of us first declared them “Santa Flamingos,” which then led to the imaginary country of Santa Flamingo… and the first incarnation of this website.
I’m not sure where I’m going with this site. I’ve tried a variety of ideas, and none seemed quite right.
For now, I’ve linked to things I like — and my own freebies, of course — and… well, I’m thinking about this as I continue to align myself with my creative North Star.
The latter is a reference to the superb self-help book by Martha Beck, Steering by Starlight. I thought I knew where I was going with my work, but I kept landing very far off the intended path. Now — after spending about a month going through the “…Starlight” book — I’m making amazing progress and I understand the real context of what drives me, creatively.
Somewhere in all of this, Santa Flamingo will fit in.
It has to be flippant and fun. It has to be quirky and more than a little renegade.
In the past, I’ve placed a steady stream of freebies online. Many of them are still available.
Here’s a partial list of items that you can download and print for your personal use. All links open in a new window.
EBOOKS
Journaling Your Past (full description)
Family History Shrines (full description)
Fresh Designs (quilting patterns)
ZINES
ATC Zine from Dragon*Con 2009, prints on two sides of an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper.
Musing – Volume 1: Issue 0 | Issue 1
Travel – A single-sheet zine. That is, it’s 8 pages, printed on a single sheet of letter-sized (8.5″ x 11″) paper.
ART PRINTS
Reality/Imagination, the 5″ x 7″ (at 150 dpi) version of my digital ATC
Dreams Come True, a torn-paper collage (TIF format)
Edgar Allan Poe shrine print (best printed small-ish)
My digital ATCs – a dozen ATCs, ready to print, full size or larger
WORKSHOP AND CLASS NOTES
The Art & Science of Pocket Shrines (online version)
Breakthrough Shrines (online version)
Painting for People Who Can’t Draw – a 12-page supplementary lesson based on my Artfest 2004 workshop.
CLOTH DOLL PATTERNS
Margaret Mary Fitzcalory-Smythe - Designed to fit on an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper. Some people prefer her larger, as — at this size — her limbs can be difficult to turn and work with. (Fatten as necessary!)
Dangerous Women, Reaching for the Stars – Also designed to print on an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper. This is the pattern that I used for my very popular doll series.
ARTICLES, ETC.
Aisling’s Camp Memories project, from Astarte Mega-Zine
Paper doll parts – from my article in Art Doll Quarterly’s 2nd issue (TIF format, print to fill an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper)
VINTAGE IMAGES AND ART TO PRINT
Vintage postcards & paper items – print from the screen. Some are small. Most are in the public domain. (If you find any that aren’t, let me know immediately.)
- Paper dolls: Two jolly playmates in the park (TIF)
- Paper dolls: Mrs. McCall and little Betty (TIF)
- Paper doll: Elsie Ferguson
- Paper doll: Mary Pickford
- Paper dolls: Polly and Peter Perkins
- Postcard: Mr. Butter-Inn (humor)
- Postcard: Faithful (romantic)
- Postcards: Four vintage postcards
- Vintage handwriting
- Assorted paper
- Clipart 1 – GIF (asst’d vintage pix)
- Clipart 2 – GIF (asst’d vintage pix)
