Love me some library

This is today's find on the interwebz.


Isn't it gorgeous!?

Ian and I have just moved into our new apartment, and while it is generally delightful, it has a few ugly quirks. One of those quirks is the sink in the hallway.
That may sound funny to any friends from the US of A who may still pop by here once in a while, but there you have it. We have a sink in the hallway. It is set in a little alcove of mauvey-pink tile and is generally odd and a little ugly.
So, I have been hoping to spruce the alcove up with a row or two of bunting featuring drawings inspired by dental illustrations. One of my favorite new places to browse images is the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery because it rocks my socks off and the featured collections are sweet.
As I was searching for my inspiration photos or diagrams I stumbled upon this vintage french poster when searching under "dental hygiene". Needless to say.... AWESOME. Nothing like a turn of the century French toothpaste advert to really make my day!
If you haven't been to the NYPL Digital Galleries you simply must go and check it out! I love my Library of Congress too, but NYPL's site setup seems a bit more intuitive to me and my web searches have seemed a touch smarter. Love me some library.
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Shame, shame

It has been a very long break of not posting again. Once again I have zero truly good excuses... BUT we have gone through some large life changes as of late including a move and new career directions. YIKES!
But luckily, the making and sketching is coming back into full swing, so I thought I would post a couple things from the ol' sketch book and visual files.
First, we hung out at this great little coffee shop right on the water last week, and I seriously considered nicking one of the menus because of the charming Italian vintage graphics that they used. So instead the handy camera on my phone did some work-
I've been really hit hard emotionally by some of the volunteer work I've just started doing and some of that found its' way onto my sketch book pages. I think this is going to be turned into some sort of three dimensional cut out... but here is the sketch of the vicious cycle I have been thinking about. Again.. sorry about the camera phone pics.. I'll try to get something better for next time.
I've been trying to be a busy little bee getting some prep work done for the weekday outings. i feel like I have been taking a step back in time to my Jr.High life with all the beads I have been sorting.
Our new home has a lot of creativity due to necessity surrounding it, and also some just because. Check out the painting on the meter top. Now I can't help but see an elephant head when checking the meter even when one isn't actually painted.
Also, one more thing before i forget... if you aren't already religiously watching TED videos... get on it. If you are in need for a creative boost, be sure to watch this talk by author Elizabeth Gilbert. Fantastic.
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Art geekable podcasts

Who knew the NGA did podcasts!? Not I! But now I know and now you know.
Just listened in yesterday to a couple of their Art Talks and Back Stories..... muy bueno. I'm a fan.
The National Gallery of Art really has a special place in my heart because I love it even when I don't think I am going to.... and even when it isn't stuff I am actually into I always learn things that comes in handy later. It is kind of strange that I think of Art History tidbits to be helpful.
Anyway... I'm pretty darn jazzed about it. check it out here at their website. The one about Fontainebleau is great. I also found the Amature Photography and the Decisive Moment one was really great. It did make me a little antsy that i didn't get to go to the exhibit, but still some really great thoughts about snapshots past and present.. and even a touch of future. I would just like to take a moment to pat myself on the back, because the curator gave a shout out to cell phone photos as the snapshot of today. THANK YOU. I'm just a little bit proud about being on a little bit of the same page as a curator at the National Gallery. So neat. You can be sure that will be added to my podcast list (and just FYI you don't need iTunes for podcasts as has been the excuse of some of you out there... i know most of us are aware of that... but in case you weren't... there you have it).
ALTHOUGH Lisa did introduce me to iTunes U on the itunes store main page and it is rocking my world! I can get Fine Arts lectures from some really great Universities for free. Where have I been? It's like with the google book search... what has taken me so long to find these things? Anyway- this is a way I can keep my brain alive and moving. Some great lectures not to mention a broad range of subjects.
I know podcasts are soooooo last year, but i guess i didn't realize just how helpful getting a podcast could be. Something in my brain was saying "why on earth would I want to listen to some random person's thoughts daily?" Really I should have just realized that I can listen to interesting things whenever I want via this method from all sorts of places. Wow. So happy with technology.
Just wanted to throw that out there. I don't remember where I was listening to a sung mass at, but you can find sung masses out there too... nothing like listening to a cathedral choir while squaring up your spreadsheets :)
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