Vicarious Shopping

I am still trying to deny that I feel the coming of Fall in the air. But there has to be some compensation, and it's the contemplation of new clothes, for me! Not that I'm going to actually buy many, but the urge to see what is out there is upon me. I remember when I was in high school I had a friend who would be taken to NYC every August, along with her three sisters, to shop for new school clothes. How I envied her. I would pour over the latest fashion magazines and wish I could go with them. So here's what I would pick if I could have whatever I wanted.

via New High Mart

via New High Mart

via New High Mart

Leather bag by Sophie Truong

Cydwoq Boots 

via Closet Visit, here

via Closet Visit

via by boe

American Retro via the list collective

Well, enough drooling for now. I'm hoping we will have at least another few weeks of warm enough weather to wear this:

via Lotta Jansdotter, here

Today

I ate summer vegetables with melted cheese, cut flowers from the garden, and started this linen collage on a panel. I want to put much more drawing into it tomorrow and see where it goes. That's about it. Summer simplicity.

Jennifer Starkweather

Jennifer Starkweather - Mole Hills - Study 1

Jennifer Starkweather - Mole Hills - Study 2

Jennifer Starkweather - Mole Hills - Study 3

I came late to discovering Jennifer Starkweather. A friend of mine sent me a photo of one of her works last Fall, and I was blown away by the drawing and detail. You can look at her website here, where all these images came from. Her artist's statement is one I can understand and relate to. She is essentially interested in mapping things. Everything from real to imagined places, memories and experiences. I relate to how she describes creating "an annotated catalogue of my daydreams, memories, and ruminations". I often feel, when I am working on a very detailed drawing, that I am on some kind of journey within the drawing. I can see myself walking within the drawing from a bird's eye view. I sometimes think of my drawings as maps where I am designing the layout of a town or neighborhood. I know children draw like this, making landscapes for themselves. It seems like a very human thing to do; to try to locate ourselves within an environment or make up our own environment. I think it's part of comforting ourselves in this large, incomprehensible world. I do like creating an environment wherever I go. I hope it's a good one.