Today I’d like to share a really fun, and quite different, project. I was contacted by Michael Buchino, the graphic designer for Portland Center Stage, to create a poster design for their 2012 season. The play was Black Pearl Sings!
A brief synopsis from Michael: In 1935 Texas, Susannah, an academic and song collector for the Library of Congress, visits a high-security prison where she meets Pearl, an African-American woman imprisoned for murder who longs to leave prison and find her lost daughter. Hoping to record the treasure trove of spirituals and African folk songs that only Pearl knows—and make her reputation on the discoveries—Susannah bargains for Pearl’s parole and arranges for several public performances. The two women soon find themselves walking a delicate line between exposure and exploitation.
Featuring beautiful a cappella renditions of little-known American folk songs, Black Pearl Sings! chronicles a powerful story about being a woman in a man’s world, being black in a white world, and fighting for one’s soul in a world where anyone can be a commodity.

I was very interested and excited to work on such a different type of project. I read the entire script and relished in trying to create a captivating and communicative image. I explored several different rough concepts and illustration styles.
Here is one of my studies. I thought it could be interesting to play with old sheet music paper and to use the lines to represent prison bars.
Here is a similar study, again using the music paper, but here I wrote the words to a song that Pearl sings in prison to gather attention.
I loved keeping my designs in black and white with a touch of red, simplicity can be so powerful. The storyline and the main characters also made it seem quite fitting.
I also explored “illustrated type”. I love expressive typography and I thought it could be interesting to illustrate the name of the play and somehow communicate the storyline.

In the end Michael chose this design concept and I was very pleased. The final poster image, shown at the beginning of this post, evolved into a portrait format rather than landscape to accommodate other printed verbiage and I like the way it turned into a strong checkerboard of information. My illustration style in this design is inspired by one of my favorite artists of all time, Margaret Kilgallen. If you don’t know of her you should watch this short film. She was so talented. I love her work and sensibilities.

I am about to become an Auntie in a few weeks, so babies have been on my mind!
And while I’m on the subject, I’d like to share a lovely “logo refresh” project that I did for Odile, a luxury children’s boutique in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood.
Camille Cozzini, the owner, already had her wordmark designed but felt it needed an illustrated element to reflect the kind of items she sold and to add some whimsy. We explored several different ideas from bunnies to caterpillars… to mushrooms! I’m thrilled that Camille decided on the mushrooms. There is something so playful and friendly about poke-a-dotted mushrooms! I feel it appeals to little boys and girls…. and adults alike : ) The existing typography of “Odile” seemed to come alive with the new addition, they seem to complement each other very well.
Here is a lovely view of the interior of the store, it looks so warm, light and airy with a very European flair. I hope to visit in person someday!
And here is a photograph of the newly refreshed logo embroidered on a darling pillow!
I think I know what I need to get my little “soon-to-be” nephew!
Along with custom designed birth announcements of course!!!

Oh how I love Valentine’s Day! Such a great excuse to pause for a moment, remember the ones we love, and create something… a note, a card, a piece of art…. to express our feelings and appreciation. This Valentine’s I thought I’d post about a sweet menu that I created for Chez Panisse Restaurant. Alice, the owner, created a wonderful tradition of giving each couple, dining on Valentine’s Day, the most perfect bouquet of violets (one of Alice’s favorite flowers). So it seemed fitting to create a menu featuring an old botanical image of violets, I painted each menu with watercolor and gouache. I hand-lettered the menu in a style inspired by one of my hero’s, Ludovico delgi Arrighi, an Italian master from the 16th century.
Here’s a photo of one of those sweet bouquets! So romantic!
Beautiful cases of violets delivered to the restaurant.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. I hope you all take a moment to express your love to those close to your heart.

I took a walk this morning with my dog, Lola, and was astounded by the cherry/plum blossom trees in my neighborhood! They were full of blooms and the scent in the air was so fresh and alive, it made me think of the wedding suite I designed for Bridget & Peter.
Bridget wanted to do an early spring theme for her wedding. She told me “…springtime in New York… the plum and cherry blossoms start to bloom and grass begins to peak up from the ground which is charming. I also like the concept of a new marriage and new beginnings that are represented in spring.” She wanted a soft “Easter palette” of buttery yellows, pale purples, plum colored ink and “tea stained paper“.
I had never tea stained paper before but the idea sounded beautiful… I was curious to give it a try!
The results were beautiful, each invitation a slightly different shade… however, I must admit it was very labor intensive… not sure if I would challenge it again. I ended up having to steam iron each card by hand to get it to lay flat before I could silkscreen and letterpress print them!
I was able to find gorgeous Italian envelopes in the perfect colors. Below is the response card and envelope. I’m so happy Spring, once again, is in the air!

I’ve always loved Chinese New Year… the vivid colors, the artwork, the ceremonies, and all the gorgeous paper! This year is year of the Water Dragon, the most powerful energy of all the zodiac signs. Last Sunday I was fortunate enough to attend a fascinating talk on Chinese Astrology and what lays ahead in 2012.
In short, this is the year of limitless expansion…. anything is possible!
I feel excited and inspired this year and I thought it a perfect excuse to send out a fun ‘Happy New Year’ promotional piece. I loved going treasure hunting in San Francisco’s Chinatown. I found beautiful paper, rubber stamps, and these fantastic paper dragons (the head and tail are each mounted on a stick with a tissue paper accordion body in between).
I lined each box, 40 all together, with canary yellow paper and stamped the dragon
‘paper cut’ image in hot red ink. I filled each box with a paper dragon, a personal note,
and 2 custom fortune cookies! (I ordered fortune cookies with my own personal messages at goodfortunecookies.com and was very happy)
I even had fun making protective packing material out of all the beautiful papers I collected.
I used this golden dragon paper as a top cover sheet and wrapped each box with a brilliant red and gold paper (below).

Here are my ‘custom fortunes’…. so fun.
May this year be happy, healthy, prosperous, productive, and FULL of creative projects!!!
Gung Hay Fat Choy!

I have been dying to post about my first appearance in Martha Stewart Weddings!
I was one of the lucky designers that was contacted to create a wedding suite inspired by pattern. I was assigned stripes!  Instead of sticking to the classic crisp lines we know so well, I created stencils and hand-painted watercolor washes onto each and every piece.
Labor intensive, yes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way ; )
The results are so soft and romantic.
Here is my full page feature! Beautifully photographed by the Martha Stewart team.
I love the way they styled the photograph with the background fabric and hand-painted cookies…. can you believe they found the fabric for the background after I created the suite?! It’s perfect! So exciting to see my work on the page of such a well known and respected publication!

It has been quite some time since my last post. It amazes me how quickly time moves on. My life has been busy with work, travel, more work, and the construction of my studio addition! In times like these I find it helpful to make myself “signs of encouragement”…. little handmade signs to comfort and motivate me through the chaos. Just the process of sitting down and making myself a little reminder makes me feel better.

I made several additional copies of this sign and have put them up all over my house. When you are self employed and work from home sometimes the biggest challenge is just getting to your office!

I can be known to procrastinate. I’ve also been known to labor a little too much over things. In cases like this my supportive boyfriend, Marc, reminds me that
“Done Is Beautiful” (a saying used often in construction).

This is another one of Marc’s sayings… and it’s a perfect description of the trouble we can get ourselves into!
I have also been known to over think things… and paralyze myself in the process!
I think we all need, at one time or another, a few signs of encouragement.

Today I have a very special project to share that comes in the form of an animated announcement! I worked very closely with Lois, the owner of Lola Home, to create this beautiful piece. I designed the page layouts and created the text and hand-lettering. The animator, Jan Heiman, did an exquisite job bringing our concept to life. She illustrated the shopfront and little houses and made our dreams come true! She blended the soundtrack perfectly as well. Please check it out by clicking on the image below.

Although I did not get the opportunity to create the 40th birthday menu for Chez Panisse, I did get to play a small part in the celebration and history. In honor of the 40th year the walls of the Café and Restaurant were wallpapered with hundreds of custom printed menus from the past!!! And I am pleased to say, several of them were mine.
This gorgeous photograph is courtesy of Grub Street San Francisco,
check out their slideshow of the Café…. it’s looks amazing!!
It’s thrilling to have my work intermingled with the work of so many talented artists, many who are my friends, mentors and heroes! A very special memory indeed.

Chez Panisse Restaurant & Alice Waters have been on my mind a lot lately. Last Sunday, August 28th, the restaurant turned 40 years old! I’ve been feeling very nostalgic as the restaurant and Alice have significantly influenced who I am today… not to mention, it is my 40th year as well… which makes it even more special. I’ve been reminiscing through old flat file drawers full of various projects and menus that I have done over the years.
I came across this birthday menu that I created in 2007. There was a full moon that night and the restaurant created a feast celebrating fresh herbs. I found the full moon image in an old book of mine, the style of my calligraphy was inspired by French hand-written menus from the early 1900′s. I letterpress printed the menus and hand-painted each one!
Happy Birthday Chez Panisse…. and may there be many more ahead!