M A R F A 12.30.2014

marfa
usually i post photos of the golden warm light, usually morning or evening.  here i've made the images sepia, almost b & w ..possibly because the last few days have been quite cold and there even was some snow one morning. not feeling the warmth right now but still inspired.
this place is beyond words for me, so the images will speak for themselves.
the desert calls me..the quirkiness of the town , ever changing and i am fortunate and appreciative to be able to call marfa my part-time home...

seen above - marfa book company solids bodega ( not sure if its still happening) dixon ranch best place to run/walk on the outskirts of town
this fun  blog has all the pertinent info for galleries, stores, restaurants & food options. contact info, hours ect..seems like it could be quite useful if you come to visit

W O O L R I C H

 W O O L R I C H
You may know them as one of the countries oldest woolen blanket mills ( founded in 1830's) or as the maker of fashionable soho-brooklyn-hipster snow parkas. Regardless, the company is an amazing piece of history and american manufacturing. I recently went on two separate tours of the mill while working in their in-house photo studio, located right inside of the turn of the century brick building.
It was an eye opening experience to say the least.  I learned that Woolrich is "the oldest continuously operating vertical woolen mill in the United States"   ( *vertical means start to finish, from raw wool all the way to finished product) You can see above and below some examples of the raw wool that they begin the process with.

They fabricate wool yardage as well as finished blankets, sold worldwide, in their mill in Woolrich, PA. . The process is quite amazing to witness. The historical machines are elaborate, employee run and working round the clock. The smells of the dyes, the sights and sounds of the machinery - its a truly sensory and eye opening experience.  My appreciation for how these gorgeous blankets are made, the incredible pride of the employees ( many of whom had parents & grandparents who worked here) and the complicated history of the company is apparent and permeable.
Made In The USA - I am fortunate to have witnessed and now fully appreciate, what this really means, firsthand.

the eggemoggin reach regatta

  the eggemoggin reach regatta. otherwise known as the ERR is a classic sailboat race featuring the best colection of wooden boats on this side of the atlantic. 
the regatta took place this last sat. on eggemoggin reach in brooklin. it's always such an exciting and highly anticipated event in our little coastal town.  boat owners, captians, crew and observers hail from up & down the east coast. it's a sight to see - especially the start.
  in past years i have crewed on friend's boats or sailed our boat, scout,  at the start, but this year i helped drive ( you can see traces of the boat, our platform, in images above) for alison langley who shoots the regatta every year. alison is a well-known nautical photographer and i credit her with encouraging my knowledge and enthusiasm for sailing. we enjoyed a full day chasing amazing boats around the reach, sometimes drifting when the winds died down… a glorious day.

erin flett

my talented designer/decorator  friend bronwyn suggested i meet another local creative type & textile designer - erin flett . of course i was somewhat familiar with her work and was intrigued and thrilled to be invited to her studio in a restored cotton mill in westbrook, me.
one walks into erin's space and is immediately struck by  joyful COLOR and graphic, beautiful objects everywhere - from her work tables & inspiration boards to her screens to her finished products.
she and her team ( including her husband) create a line of hand drawn , hand printed fabrics which then become pillows, tea towels, stretched canvases, blankets, bags and much more….. 
she has had lots of deserved press, sells on estsy, also in select stores and most recenty began selling her printed canvases thru serena & lily
printed on the door into her studio is the following : Envision Amazingness Every Day - spend just a wee bit of time with erin and you will understand - she means it. 

haus. maison. house

lately i have had the good fortune to be invited into some breathtaking spaces; homes, apartments, offices, artists studios….
sometimes i have the foresight to take photos but mostly i am just taking in the details.
wood floors, poured concrete, bamboo, tile, cork ? big windows. ocean views or cityscape?  is it light filled or moody and dark with great lighting. spare and modern or chock-a-block full of antiques. bright & colorful or muted and subtle wall colors
the above photos are from a personal shoot i did with the oh-so talented jarrod mccabe in a fabulous, unexpected modern home nestled into a hilly city street between tall apt buildings. i have no doubt it will someday grace the cover of a shelter magazine ( they want to finish the rooftop garden & terrace before unveiling to the public) . it is designed by an exceptional architect and the homeowners are super talented and worked on most of the interior themselves including the wooden cabinets & closet seen above. it has incredible views of a working harbor and light coming in from its floor to ceiling glass windows. i keep coming back to these images that JM took and decided to do a post on this fun shoot we did together this winter.
some of what you see here:
angela adams rugs
sherwood hamill chairs
flor carpet pieces
mies van de rohe's barcelona bench

baby&me magazine { blue world }

WE got the cover - WOW

I conceived and art-directed this story and it appears in the febuary issue of baby & me  a british parenting/fashion/lifestyle magazine.   the talented photographer alli cottrill shot it. we put together an all-star  team of freelancers and made it happen on a wintery day in jan. in portland,maine. 

the story was the culmination of many things. 

when we were living in the netherlands, i very much wanted to work on a kids' fashion shoot, but it never happened. instead, i began this blog and organized my posts by color. my title for the story was BLAUW KIDS( dutch for blue) - all of the wardrobe -styled by 

melissa dunne was inspired by the color blue and was one of the themes running thru.

this fall i did a blog post on heather chontos and her artwork & studio. her love of bold color and gift for creating spaces - made me want to do a kids' shoot in her studio using her paintings as backgrounds. she agreed & it was the icing on the cake.

some of the  images ( below) didn't make it into the story in the magazine so i've included them here.

 a few of the lines represented on the kids: Seam, Fleur & Dot, Ted Baker, Marni, Catamini, Zara, Bonpoint, Anais & I, Ikks, Jcrewcuts.....

R U G S by a n g e l a a d a m s

as a fellow mainer and designer,  i gravitate toward the work of    angela adams.  again and again. 

she designs amazingly colorful, patterned, beautifully crafted rugs and other home accessories (bedding, letterpress cards, glassware, aprons, beachtowels .... ) that are delightful and unexpected. her inspiration derives mainly from the landscape and i've been fortunate to witness her evolving business and design sensibility. her work is always unexpected and unique with a distinct AA twist.

 last winter i did a post on she and her partner, sherwood hamill, in life, business and design.

most recently i did an interiors shoot with angelas rugs. photographer jarrod mccabe  and i took them to an achitecturally exciting home. floor to ceiling glass, wide open minimalist spaces, steel staircases and warm walnut built in's made for a perfect AA rug shoot.
hopefully soon to come - posts on other maine designers:
michelle michaels of elephant ceramics
erin flett
brookthere

vintage cars & food shark

FOOD SHARK

a MARFA phenomenon.

fabulous food, a fun scene and an added bene - seen here - adam's vintage car collection seen around town. 

and recently added: Future Shark

for an amazing collection of photos related to all of adam & kristas adventures & ventures, HERE and for another car-obsessed-part-time-marfa-residents' 

(and my husband) blog, HERE

m a r f a (shop)

M A R F A

"Here you will see a real cowboy and a major work of art in the same afternoon." 

( quote from elcosmico's website - so aptly put)

this post is about shops in this sweet little town that i hold near & dear. i rarely "go 

 shopping"  except for groceries when i am there but there is no lack of unique, locally made ( or from mexico or beyond) things to bring home with you. i am continuously struck by the spaces & displays & architecture & aesthetic of each shop or store or gallery - so marfa. so unexplainable. so magic.

      

     shopping in marfa is a bit hit or miss. not because there isn't plenty to buy or see but you may hit the town on a mon. or tues. or even an unusual holiday - and nothing is open. one place that seems to open when others may not be,  is the marfa book company. it has an incredible collection of hard-to-find art books, new fiction, lannan writers works and much more. there is a huge, open light filled art space in the back and usually a well regarded show. ( i once took yoga classes back there when all the walls were painted in a black & white modernist mural - amazing to look at but the antithesis of zen )

       mirth  - the newest project of maiya's ( owner of maiyas restaurant and the get go)  i stumbled upon on my most recent visit. it is a beautifully laid out, austere but with a specific, sophisticated curated feel. i feel in love with these abstract paintings ( above)  by anne marie nafziger. simple, large stunning. they have functional items ( i bought an array of glassware) as well as "objets" for the home.

    tienda m - now owned by the founder of dosa, christina kim. it is a stunning, space filled with locally made pieces ( ceramics,my friend gingers marfa brand soap, textiles) ,  the dosa line of clothing, housewares and mexican handmade crafts & goods...

   other  FABULOUS marfa shops - freda, cobra rock, wrong, and all the gift stores at the thunderbird hotel & el cosmico & paisano....and hopfully i haven't left any out. (galleries & food shark posts will be next)  

GO VISIT & shop locally & support the wonderfully creative community.