Charlie Chaplin Makes Me Cry

In one of my graduate classes we examined the subtext of Charlie Chaplin’s films and the social commentary he presented in a time when it was rather risky to do so. We watched part of Chaplin’s Modern Times in class. I had to put both hands over my mouth to stifle the uncontrollable laughter I was gripped [...]

Haiku Wednesday: Judgment!

Your Honor, let’s get real… You’re not fooling anyone That wig’s a bath mat. …… “The world judgement ham” is the lyric that I hear, The [honey baked] Cult. … Oh, Rapturist clown, You worship a mean, flawed God Reset your Doom Clock. … A social comment: his pinched face constipation, through Pink Floyd’s Brit [...]

Haiku Wednesday: Old Timey Adults

This Haiku Wednesday is made possible in part by some old timey adult public domain photos. Please feel free to leave your own Haiku in the comments section. Let’s make this an open collaborative project of hilarity. Maxell commercial! Where’d you get all those phonebooks, thy airheadish maid?   Oh homely princess with ice cream scoop hat [...]

Haiku Wednesday: Old Timey Kids

Due to popular demand, Haiku Wednesday will be a re-occurring feature. This week’s series is dedicated to old timey kid photos.    New sheriff in town I pushed Humpty Dumpty off This is my wall, bitch.      You looking at me? Don’t make me come off this chair I’ll tune you up, son.   [...]

Haiku Wednesday Part I

Haikus are pretty interesting forms of word art. A refresher of the rules: Haiku is one of the most important form of traditinal Japanese poetry. Haiku is a 17-syllable verse form consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. They can be created around anything…and to prove my point I have written the following haikus [...]

Illustrator Aubrey Beardsley: Victorian Ink Lord

When I was a freshmen undergrad at Columbia College Chicago one of the first reports I gave was on the Victorian illustrator Aubrey Beardsley. I remember spending hours thumbing through his works and admiring his editorial-like style, with sweeping curves and masterful line control. His use of standard black and white mixed with provocative and [...]

Seduced by Package Design

I’m often seduced by package designs. I’m a pushover for unexpected curves, thematic details, and bold design decisions. The M.O. of Apple (as in stock symbol AAPL) is that all of their iCandy products have a seductive minimalistic design, but great design doesn’t always have to be stark and simple. I see great package design everywhere… [...]

The Art Of Clawed Feet

I have a thing for clawfooted furniture. It is oddly escapist for me. It is in my remodeling plans, but I lust over the idea of having a clawfoot tub — a single slipper bisque beauty for my bathroom that I can sink myself into with a good book. Like the one pictured here: I [...]

Meet Andy Elkerton, Illustrator Extraordinaire

Allow me to introduce you to an uber-talented British children’s book illustrator, Mr. Andy Elkerton. By chance I came to associate with this artist through my husband’s snark-filled movie review podcast, Everyone’s A Critic (shameless plug) - as Andy is a listener and interacts with the EAC ”community”. An ironic clash between hard-edged podcast content and the illustrations that whisper [...]

A Chic Direction

From the Valley to the Hills: Keeping You In the Loop I will be the first to admit that, while an artist, I lack fashion skills. I tragically wear unflattering horizontal stripes, I wear my favorite heels until the heels themselves looked like a pack of cheese graters attacked them, and I wear (gulp) tennis shoes with my [...]