I read about artist Alison Foshee on one of my favorite blogs: Laissezfaire. Alison works with everyday materials such as labels, seals, & stickers. She plays with layering drawing and these repetitive materials to create patterns and textured forms. I love the result, especially the bold and saturated colors.
Might be fun to make something out of poker chips.
I just submitted three designs to Threadless. I hope one gets picked (fingers crossed!!) before Surtex so that I can wear it! And buy some for friends that have been super supportive of this endeavor that I’m so nervous about. I hate to solicit you but this is the way it’s done. Please vote for my tees if you like them and check out the others on there. Lots of great stuff.
*I was picked up by Etsy Press Club this month. Yeah. I have not really had time to market my shop. I think I’ll just let it sit there and hopefully it’ll get noticed eventually. I sold one print so far!
My photog friend Erin Gleeson of Culinography blog has branched out to doing pet portraits! How cute. I can vouch that Erin’s an amazing photographer and pet lover. Here’s a photo I took of her with my doggie. She’s in California a lot, otherwise she’s based in Brooklyn, New York so if you are in the area and have a cute pet that wants to admire their likeness in a huge gold frame above their pet bed while you’re at work, give her a holler.
Dave and I were passing a pet shop the other day and saw a silly pet bed that was the color of a Tiffany’s bag with bow and all. It deigned to say across its front “Sniffany’s”. Nice.
Ray Fenwick is my modern commercial art idol. I am so enamoured with his witty work. He does fabulous illustration for a plethora of impressive clients and makes incredible patterns for fun and Naked & Angry. He also submits his designs to Threadless and wins. I want his “Hi” tee. I also want to try submitting to them soon, seems like fun. His work reminds me how much I still want to get Hand Job: A Catalogue of Type. Oh did I mention he has a book coming out? Well this is it.
Anyway, his site really says it all besides this: “Samantha Hahn loves Ray’s work”.
Today my post is about someone special…my mom! She was a freelance illustrator my whole childhood doing jobs for Vogue, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, and many books (her fashion style is my fav). Growing up in an artistic household I was bound to follow in her footsteps and pursue illustration. It was all those art projects we did together and the fact that I had a drawing table since day 1. Pretty cool.
She and my dad who was a music producer switched gears and launched their own children’s clothing company over 10 years ago. It started as simple silk-screened images on cotton tees. Eventually it became what it is today, a high end handmade knits and gorgeously colorful cottons line that is sold across the country in boutiques. Their next clothing venture is an %100 eco friendly line called Tadpole and Lilypad (so cute…and responsible).
The natural progression after building up a lifetime of illustration and designs is to move into licensing and surface patterns. So that’s what she and my dad are doing now, re-inventing themselves once again. I love her designs and admire her delicate lines and bold colors. I think I inherited the color obsession. My dad is no slouch, on top of running the whole business he’s now learned the art of turning her beautiful images into repeat patterns. They’re both talented and inspirational to me.
We’re all going to Surtex together with our respective portfolios in tow (move over Partridge family). We’re hoping to each meet a rep. who will take us on and bring our patterns into the world. We’re totally obsessed with patterns and talk on the phone everyday about what we’re doing. So fun!
She also has character designs, dinnerware, journals, and stationery in addition to her girl and boy patterns. Go mom!
Check out her illustration too. Did I mention that my brother is a freshman at Pratt? We all have the art bug. See my favorite of her characters and journals below.
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