My book is available on Amazon!

Yes! You can now order my Paper Hat book on Amazon by going here. The book delivery is September 1 but you'll get a price break if you order early.
20 designs to make from mostly recycled materials, the level of complication ranges from beginner to more advanced. 
Over 60 illustrations and photos, this book was a year in the making and will be a fun afternoon or weekend art project with your favorite little one.

Yay! Book Deal!

I'm so excited to be sharing this great news.
I'm writing a how-to make paper hats book. The hats will be
geared for children made by adults, based on all new designs.
Each hat will be made from recycled material and antique ephemera.
Paul has built a cute little pop-up studio in our tiny barn
and I'm matching up adorable children to my hat designs.
I'll keep you posted on the progress.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation Part 2

Hannah Noah, newly weds, Santa Cruz, CA

It wouldn't be summer without a wedding. Our trip to California was in part, to see my dear friend Hannah, marry her wonderful Noah. I asked Hannah this spring how I could contribute to the rustic, elegant, bespoke event she was planning. She requested something I'd never done before- a paper cake that a cupcake could sit on top of. Paper hats, collages, even clothing I've done but never a cake. She left the design, color and style completely open to my inspiration. Checking out her beautifully curated Pinterest wedding board, I got a feel for what she was attracted to. For materials I settled on an old Benjamin Moore color chip set. Inexpensive, abundant and perfectly graduated colors to build my version of an ombre cake. Photos by Paul Clancy

Thank you Mr. Benjamin Moore

I started with trimming hundreds of paint chips
 to create flat bottomed "petals"

I then stitched them together, carefully butting
the edges of each petal.

I arranged them in four tiers, starting with a
 small light cream top (big enough to hold her cupcake)
then a soft green and blue layer,
then two deeper blue/green layers
 and ending with a large "chocolate" bottom.

I also made hundreds of white, cream and chocolate
" mushrooms".  A simple circle, with a slit to the center.
 Pulling the corner on each side of the slit together,
I glued them with a dab of hot glue.

The cardboard base of each layer I made
fashioned after a basic hat box design.
Using templates that were available
(cereal bowls, odds and ends) I traced
two circles the width I wanted each layer.
I added a 1/2 inch to each circle and cut out.
 Then all around each, I cut tiny slits from outer
 edge to traced circle and cut.
They became the tabs I used to glue it all together.
Straight strips of cardboard cut
to the size I needed with
penciled guides for gluing became
the walls of my cake layers.

Even though I carefully packed and shipped the
cake unassembled, there was a little repair
I had to do when I got there.
The hundreds of mushrooms hid lots of sins.

Andrew Bush Envelope Photos

Why are these so compelling? I. Want. To. Open. Them. Such possibilities. Mysterious windows, door, portals, gates. Seems like these are begging for a writer to take notice. To see many many more (i couldn't stop) you can go to Andrew's collection here.

Teacups for Tealeaves Only

Paper teacups by the wonderful Ann Wood. She has a pattern you can download to make your very own paper treasures. She'd also love to have you post your results here. I love it that artists love to share. To find her post you can go here.

Karen Ruane's Lovely White Work

With the heat wave we've been having on the east coast, my eyes keep craving and landing on white. And Karen Ruane's work is one of the loveliest collections of white I've seen lately. Using traditional embroidery and stitching methods, she combines paper, cloth and thread into some wonderful compositions and constructions. Her etsy site is called ContemporaryStitches and is here You can find lots of up close up beauty on her flickr site here. I can image so many fabulous garments inspired by her buttons alone.
Here are her responses to the questions I like to ask artists-
What inspires you lately?
I am constantly inspired by patterns and techniques associated with vintage domestic linen. Lace like my grandmother would have owned, blankets, table linens and other domestic cloth. These for me provide a link to my female predecessors and inform who I am and what I create.
What was your first memory?
My first memory is from when I was around 2 1/2 years old, being woken in the night by a baby crying. I later learnt that my little brother had been born in the night.
Can you describe the best thing you saw on your last walk?
I am not much of a walker as such when it comes to the countryside anyway. I do however walk what seems like miles around exhibitions and the last time I did this, about 10 days ago, I saw amazing, creative and refreshing work from New Graduates at New Designers in London. There is so much talent out there and the promise of more to come.
What are the five things that would make a perfect day of work?
In my dreams....I would wake to an inbox full of orders. I would have the house completely to myself for a full 24 hours. The house would be spotless meaning I didn't have to satisfy my compulsion to clean. I would not have to cook for anyone at all and those four things would allow me to complete the fifth which would be a whole day of sewing without interruption.
Can you describe the best pair of shoes you have ever owned?
Would it surprise you to know that I do not own a single pair of shoes? I am sure I have in the past but can I please substitute that for boots? I have a pair of black Ecco boots that are so soft my feet hurt without them. They lace up the front, just like a corset. They have been to San Francisco, New York, Sweden...everywhere I go, they go.....
What are you doing this weekend?
This weekend I may have my dream of having the house completely to myself...I shall embroider, I shall stitch, I will be in heaven.

Origami Meditation

I have a friend, going through a pretty rough time right now. Some frightening health issues have made a lot his friends, many artists, want to do something. So we've started secretly folding origami cranes for him. The japanese tradition of folding 1000 cranes as a gift, Senbazu, is often done for a couple to be married, or a wellness wish for someone sick. What we're all finding, that after we finally get the folding down, the repetition has become addictive. We're texting each other results from obsessed lunch hour folding sessions. I find myself during stressful moments thinking, maybe I'll just fold for twenty minutes. The big number, the results we need, fades to the background and getting lost in the rhythmic moments brings a calm. Meditation. The irony is, my friend's illness is bringing so much of us gratitude for what we have, for having him as an exceptional friend, and now a peace through origami. It's a secret mission, a surprise, maybe for his birthday or just a day in the near future he may need 1000 little reminders of how we feel about him. In the meantime, my elbows are a little sore, the arthritis in my right thumb is flaring but I keep knowing he's going to be ok.

My friend, Alison Bruun, who often refers to herself as an art elf, is patiently teaching all of us how to fold. An amazing paper and metals artist in her own right, she can get a little extreme when she takes on a project. She's been seeing how tiny a crane she can fold. Yes, that is a regular size penny and Alison's finger. Photos thanks to Jason at Rag and Bone Bindery.

Uppercase and Feeling Bookish

Uppercase, the incredible magazine, gallery, book and papergoods store in Calgary just put together an exhibition of over 40 best of book designs sent in from readers entitled Feeling Bookish. The call for submissions was to design a cover that is a self portrait of your life. Uppercase gallery will show the work in their gallery at Art Central, opening tonight. For those of us who have to work tomorrow and can't pull off the drive to Canada, Uppercase is offering their magazine subscribers a peek at the majority of submissions in their upcoming Issue No. 7. Here is the link to their site and to their blog with more info about the show. Below is a winning submissions by Andrea Armstrong who sees herself as Chicken Girl, a title very close to my heart.

Good Bye to an Amazing Talent

As a young art director in the mid eighties, I was very fortunate to hire calligrapher Raphael Boguslav for a lettering project. My brief encounter with him, which included a visit to his studio, an impromptu piano solo, and a lunch he prepared for us from his garden, left a powerful impression on me. His dedication to exploring every possible combination of forms, paper, inks, and pens followed me for the next 25 years and influenced how I have arrived at answers for my own projects. A true renaissance man, Raphael was hit while riding his scooter in Newport recently and died shortly after. Take five minutes to watch the video/interview and I promise you'll be inspired, shown here. Raphael was a dear friend of my friend, Pat Hegnauer, and the clock you see at the end of the video was a gift to her. His site can be found here.

More Wedding Lids

Why I love Artists at Weddings

I love guests at a wedding that take a little chance. And I'm not talking should the guest who takes a chance with having a third Long Island Ice Tea. I fall in love with the ones who perform their toasts in character (as if they had, had that third drink), belt out an original song they wrote themselves, or wear a piece of art on their head. Artists. They do that when they sense not only permission but a little joyful nudge from the bride and groom.  Here are some samples of hat wearing joy.

8.3.10 Color Swatch

kraft paper brown

haven't i seen you before?

on the back of a cereal box, maybe?

you are humble as can be but

you have snuck up on us, haven't you.

slipped in the back door of our

never green enough guilty conscience.

i've seen the towering temples

you've masterminded for yourself

at holy foods,

lining the shelves and end caps

with the collected DNA

of every scrap of fiber

that's come before you.

but i like you anyway

you are as comfortable as a

molasses cookie

and as crafty

as they come.
-Alyn Carlson

photo from madame alyn's bin 
great news- RI Monthly magazine just gave my hats 
a "Best of RI"award in the shopping category.

5.18.10 Color Swatch

 P  A  N  T  O  N  E    N  o.   1  9  2

red. 
please don't take this the wrong way,

because i would hate to get you mad,

but i do like you very small.
there have been times it was helpful

to have you as large as the sky 

to fill stadiums for me.

because of you
i didn't have to say a black word

to exes and should have been exes

bosses lovers friends

but for now i like you itsy bitsy in my rooms

my little red button

so mighty with so much 
altoid muscle

you can knock over any green with envy jerk

with just a glance, raised brow

or give the kiss of death
with just a peck on the cheek

i love you in my corner

a cube in my paint box

a thread in my dress

a feather in my cap.

be mine red

you little drop

of life

love you 

red

Wedding Hat No. 38 for Brin + Alex. Photo by Paul Clancy.

More of Jenn Stark

Words and Pictures

The relationship of words and pictures have some special magic. Somewhere between them lies the true story for me. I've been tinkering/struggling with 3 childrens books off and on for about 6 years. I've never had any formal education on how to actually write and illustrate a book but this week came across some advice that went right to my heart. Victoria Thorne a new colorgirl follower, has been given some incredible advice to follow by author and illustrator M.B. Goffstein. If you aren't familiar with Goffstein's work, you most likely are and don't know it. Time Magazine has said about her- "Goffstein is a minimalist, but her text and pictures carry the same emotional freight as William Blake's admonishment to see the world in a grain of sand and eternity in an hour" 

Here is her advice- 

How to Write and Illustrate a Picture Book

Copyright © M.B. Goffstein 2009

   

To Victoria Thorne, with love

 

To make a 32-page picture book, take your favorite book and count the pages.

Count them over and over.

The pages of a book are divisible by 8, preferably by 16.

If you have a 24-page book, you can use the extra 8 pages as endpapers (2 sides are pasted down).

Make sure the pages of front matter are in order.

You can have more or fewer, but the book must be made right to have energy.

Paging the book, dividing the text into pages, is crucial.

Write something you don't know but long to know.

It is tiresome to read a text that the author hasn't fought for, lost, and by some miracle when all hope is gone, found.

•

When you have your text, say it over and over until the rough edges are worn smooth.

Recite it to yourself in the mirror.

The book must be separate from you.

•

You are serving the book.

It has to make its way in the world.

Make sure it can communicate.

•

Paging a book is difficult.

Do not start to illustrate until you have divided the text among the pages.

The book should speak without pictures.

•

There is one way for your book to look.

It is your duty to find it.

What do the characters look like?

Their world is on paper before you.

The characters talk to each other.

They mean what they say.

Their hearts are in it.

•

What makes you think children like childish things?

Don't tell them how to be children.

They want to grow up.

Do them the honor of reaching for something far beyond you.

It won’t be noticeable but it will be felt.

•

Do the book and forget it.

Do not strive to be known as the author of . . .

Your next book will be harder, and so on.

You cannot grow if you repeat past successes.

Some Illustration in the works from one of my picture books. FlingFlong won't leave me alone.