The last time I sent my first and only newsletter was back in November! The last six months feel like a blur. What happened? Winter? My three little kids are growing like weeds. My mind swings back and forth like a pendulum between mom-brain and art/work brain, like all mothers who do creative work. It’s a busy season of life and I often forget to look up. Then all of a sudden it is beautiful and VERY HOT in Albany, New York.
Here’s what’s been going on in the studio lately.
Warby Parker
I’m very excited to finally share an exciting project update that I’ve had to keep on the down-low for while now.
I spent the early weeks of 2023 designing two murals that you can now view in the new Warby Parker store that just opened up in Albany’s Stuyvesant Plaza. If you go, you’ll see that there’s an exterior mural that hangs high above the store’s facade, and an interior mural that’s on a central wall when you walk into the shop, with very pretty glowing walls of glasses on either side. The designs are abstract explorations in shape, with some subtle Albany-specific imagery (we love the tulips here in ALB) in a mostly blue palette that I really loved working with. After a handful of very different directions, we landed on this layering of shapes, a kind of cut-paper feel. After a bunch of sketches, I played around with some pieces of painted newspaper (my favorite thing) and then copied the shapes in Procreate before I finally laid out the final design in Illustrator. I spent hours with my trusty Pantone book and their online tool which was extremely helpful to get the hues just right. I’ve never designed a mural before and was unsure how it would all translate large-scale but I’m really happy with where it landed!
This project was a big deal for me. It was a big job that made me nervous to take on, but was also a blast to work on. It feels like a big milestone, being my first project with a large national brand.
This project was art directed by Matt Singer, who was nothing but brilliant, kind and supportive every step of the way.
I think it’s important to note that I did not physically paint/install the murals. I created the artwork, and then Warby Parker had professional painters install the murals. Very loving shout out to Vizie Griffin for doing a beautiful job! I would have loved to have watched him in progress, but man, those guys work quickly, and I was too late! On install day, I was out with my kids when my friends Olivia and Sarah texted me that they were getting coffee in Stuyvesant Plaza and had noticed that a few guys were on top of the store. The painting was happening, right that minute! I excitedly threw the kids in the car who were barely done eating their lunch, but by the time we got there, they were all done. I slowly circled the parking lot like a weirdo, both looking for Vizie to see if I could find him and buy him lunch or something, and also trying to get the best view of the mural so I could take a picture from my car without getting three little kids out of their car seats, etc. etc.
If you go to the new store, let me know how you like the art! I’ll be there later this morning for the grand opening at 11am. I am going to wear my green glasses. :)
Sparkling Cider for Rose Hill Farm
I am usually always working on something for Rose Hill Farm, but I wanted to focus on one design from earlier this year to share. Also if you haven’t been, you should go! Or better yet, wait a few weeks for cherry picking season! That’s a really good time to go.
Below is a spinning gif, so you can get a good look at this n/a sparkling cider can I designed. In the words of my son Graham it is “the best cider I’ve ever tasted.” Well there you go!
This design was actually a first draft of an earlier label for a different bottle. When we started discussing the n/a cans, I resurrected this design it from a folder (I think probably labeled “_OLD” to push it to the bottom of the project folder…do you guys do that, too?). I am glad that I didn’t forget about it, though, because it’s a much better fit for this cider. I kind of wanted it to look like someone cut out a tree from a green sheet of paper and used a hole punch to create leaves and apples. Definitely was looking at alot of Paul Rand. I am always looking at a lot of Paul Rand.
Library Workshops for kids/teens
I’ll be teaching a couple of one-day workshops at the Albany Public Library (my neighborhood’s Pine Hills branch) this summer. I’ve got one for tweens/teens and one for kids. Check it out if you are local to Albany! They are free.
Selfie Portraits (Ages (11-16) Weds. June 21, 4-5PM
Eric Carle Collage Workshop (Ages 5-11) Weds. August 23, 2-3PM
More info and registration here
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I think that’s all for now. If I stick to this schedule with my newsletter, I guess I’ll see you around Christmastime, but I do hope it’s sooner. Thank you for reading. Feel free to say hello! Send me an email or follow on Instagram!