sketching

Doing some sketches before I get to work on my next commission.

zack update

Here is a look at the almost-complete painting of Zack. Matson is enjoying hanging out with him.

dilesh fernando mug

When I was enrolled in pottery classes at the Lawrence Art's Center, I was privileged to get to know Dilesh. He is a really great ceramicist. I made sure to make a bee-line for his pottery booth at the Art in the Park event held at South Park here in Lawrence this spring. I purchased one of his gorgeous mugs and use it religiously for tea, chai, or any other hot drinkable liquids.. haha. He does a remarkable job with glazing.

painting: zack attack

Toby's cousin, Kasey, approached me about painting portraits of her dogs for her new home. Naturally, I agreed! It has been good for me to get back into the practice of working in a "studio." This is Zack.

getting work done for a special friend

I finally got started on my good friend Malinda's wedding design that she asked for. At her reception, she is going to have all of her guests press their thumbs into an ink pad and then put their thumbprints in the tree branches of my work as the leaves. The idea being that each of her guests have left an impression on their lives. So today I officially started the design/drawing of the trees and painted the background of the canvas. It felt good to get some work done!

She also asked my sister and I to sing in her wedding. So while I worked on her painting/design, I also listened to the songs that she picked for us to sing. It was a good idea.. because it takes me a pretty long time to really know a song. She picked some beautiful tunes by Ingrid Michaelson, The Weepies, The Old 97's, and Patty Griffin. 

I'm excited for her big day! We have been friends since we were in like the 3rd grade. We met when her dad became our church's pastor. We were the best of friends in high school. Sooo many great memories together! We went our separate ways in college, but managed to say in touch with each other over the years. I am overjoyed that she is getting married! In some strange way.. I have been waiting so long for her to meet that special someone and to get married! The guy that she is saying "I do" to is the perfect compliment for her. She is an exquisite gal and deserves a great guy..  they have found one another and I am thrilled to be able watch their formal union in November! Love you, Min!

a student once again

I just signed up for a pottery class that will meet on Monday evenings at the Lawrence Arts Center. Toby and I also signed up for a letterpress class that we will take together on Thursday evenings. I am so excited to finally learn how to throw on a wheel! I still feel guilty that I never took the class in college. (It wasn't required for art-Ed students and I think it should have been.)

Taking a class with Toby is going to be loads of fun as well. It has been awhile since we have done that. I really enjoy taking classes with him! He is so talented and creative. It is inspiring for me to work with him. I am excited to learn how to use a letterpress as well! I think my Christmas presents will all be taken care of!
- angela

husband's zine

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

My husband has decided to publish his own magazine called RR2. To read more about the project go check out the blog: RRTWO. Enjoy!

gabriel moreno

Gabriel is an artist based in Madrid. Check out more of his illustrations here.

Yumi Yumi Birds

Doing some blog perusing, I stumbled upon the Yumi Yumi Studio and her beautiful prints that she has for sale on Etsy and some other online shops. Check out her Etsy shop here. She has some great photography on her blog as well.

Awesome website: Smeilinener

Smeilinener is a fashion design company that I stumbled upon in my own blog perusing. I went to their site and was blown away by the graphic design. The website is very intricately designed, there are little animation segments in the photography of their collection. Check out their site here. The graphic designs were done by Brigitte Speich, check out her more of her stuff here.

Google Tribute: Alphonse Mucha

Google's tribute today goes to Alphonse Mucha the Czech Art Nouveau Painter from the early 1900's. Today is his 150th birthday! I spent an hour browsing through his work and I just love it!

images via Olga's Gallery

A New Interest...

Toby and I went golfing with Steve and Rachel this past Sunday. It was Rachel and I's first time ever golfing. Of course we have both hit the putt-putt course and a driving range before, but never the true fairway. We went to a par three course called Planter's Row. I was not very good by any means, Rachel and I were pretty much even the entire day, although I did manage to par hole 7. Long story short, I LOVED it. Toby's family all golf, my mom's side of the family are avid golfers and I have always wanted to try it. I am glad that I finally did! After we were finished playing 9 holes, Toby and I headed straight to Dick's Sporting goods and bought me my very own set of golf clubs! We went to a driving range on Monday and we played 18 holes at Planter's Row on Tuesday. Tomorrow is our 4-year anniversary and I think we are going to hit the fairway again! I finally understand why it can be so addicting.

Vintage Golf Posters are from here.

Walton Ford: Pancha Tantra

When we were in the Distillery District in Toronto, we went into a boutique called Lileo and I about died looking at their amazing clothing collection. In addition to their clothes, they also carried unique artist books. One that particularly stood out to me was a watercolor artist book by Walton Ford called "Pancha Tantra." The above images are several of the beautiful watercolor paintings from inside this monstrous book. I think I am going to request it for Christmas! I felt like I could get lost within it's whimsical pages for hours! Check our more about the book here. More about Walton Ford here.

New Blogs!

Toby and I did a bit of blog "housekeeping" today. I have started a new blog "The Button Studio" which is a branch off of "The Button Press." "The Button" is the endearing term that my husband has called me since we were dating, which explains the obsession!

The Button Studio is my personal blog that will showcase the creations happening in my studio and The Button Press is a joint blog project between me and my husband. Currently, it is showcasing his book projects and hopefully in the near future it will include our etsy shop and printed co-artist projects. Enjoy!

Damien Hirst's Deck Chair

The man behind the diamond skull is now making frilly and silly deck chairs.. how interesting.

Found on--> Style.com

Animal Eyes

I love Oscar Cuitat's zoo animal eye photography.. more here.

Where has the time gone?

I have been so busy and caught up with school and just life in general. Toby had his graduating MFA thesis show on April 23rd, then the following weekend I came down with some sort of flu. I missed several days of school that week because of it, which wasn't that big of a deal since it was testing week in good ol' KY public schools. However, when I finally made it back to school I was put chaperoning freshman and they wore me out to the point that I felt ill again and didn't leave the house for the second weekend in a row!

I am feeling better now, but very busy! We are down to the final stretch. Seniors are done on Friday and then one week to go with the rest of the bunch. Track and Field ends on the 29th with the Regional meet and then summer begins. Although, I will be going back to school that following week to move into my classroom at the new high school.

Toby and I have two trips planned for the summer. We are going home for a wedding and a family picnic in the end of June and then in July we are heading to Toronto for a week. Gosh, I love summer!

In my absence from blogging, I almost forgot how much fun it is to just sit and peruse through my favorite blogger's posts. I can't wait to have more time to catch up with everyone.

I couldn't close this post without sharing something that I found on Etsy... awesome Macbook decals from openandclose.

My Hubby's Graduate Thesis Show!

My husband, Toby, is days away from officially graduating with an MFA! His thesis show is hung up and ready for the public eye! The reception is this Friday, April 23rd from 7-10 p.m. at LOT Gallery in downtown Lexington. His show is title "Every Church in Fayette County" which is pretty self explanatory. You can see his website and learn about about his project here. You can learn about the LOT Gallery space here.

I love photography.

These Fleeting Moments

Pretty Nature Photos

The Prettiest Images

A proud wife

Toby has recently been accepted for two gallery openings this month and he has had another show scheduled since this fall that will be opening this Friday evening in Louisville, KY. That makes a total of three show openings in one month!

Two of the shows will exhibit some of or the complete body of his work titled "Eleven Mega Churches." These two shows are taking place at The 930 Art Center in Louisville, KY and 18 Rabbit Gallery in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

The other show will be taking place at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, OH. The title of this show is "Burb" which is commenting on the phenomenon of the outbreak of suburbia in the United States in recent years. Toby had two different photographic submissions accepted, the first being of the facades of suburban homes and the second of aerial views of Walmart shopping centers that will be collaged into one large shape mimicking the bird's eye view of Walmart.

Can a wife BE any prouder? Check out my husband's website here.

image via Travis Shaffer