Reference photos

 I take a lot of reference photos or drawn notes to help inspire ideas. I rarely print them out but will look at them till I get an idea and delete them.  I love the color combination in the rug below and I'm sure it will end up as something decorative in my journal very soon.

         I spent the afternoon in an art library called the Athenaeum , with my sister and mother, reading magazines and enjoying a sunny day by the water.  The library has over 30 art and design magazines to look at while sitting in old fashioned chairs taking copious notes( my idea of heaven) and pouring over books that are not in the budget.  I have to go back to really get into the books they have on hand and I pulled this Frida Kahlo so I could get a better look at the cover.  I love how the book designer figured out a way to simulate the look of scalloped tin complete with hammer nail holes.  I wasn't crazy about the way the book was written but it was nice to revisit the pieces.  Frida is one of my favorite movies and I wish her pieces would come to life like they did in the film.
      We were lucky enough to see them setting up a new exhibit and hear the artists (college students) talk about their work and evaluate how their pieces looked in the space.  The exhibits range from book arts, oil paintings and mixed media objects.
         The library is surrounded by great little shops and we had a great time window shopping and looking for ribbon.  My mom fell in love with this one size fits most (I'm not kidding it was a size 4) sweater.  Everything was from Korean designers which accounts for the size differences but they did have bigger sizes in other items while still retaining that one of a kind feeling throughout the store.