BADD Baby

I created a line of baby shirts back around 2003 called BADD Baby (Babies Against Dirty Diapers).  This was before I knew anything about the production, sales, and licensing of designs.  Or let's just say long before I knew how to make any money from it.  I thought I could ride on my idealism and they would magically be sold without me having to get them out there and learn about the cold, hard world of sales.  In other words, I have an endless supply of great baby shower gifts!  They were picked up in a few boutiques in NYC and featured in New York magazine and the style section of the New York Post.  I had so much fun designing them and really learned about the process of having my own business.

 The "Logo" shirt.

The Lotus.  One of my best sellers.

Sista.  Always a conversation starter.

Brotha.

Baby Buddha.

Baby Buddha came in a variety of styles.

Peace-Out.  The Iraq war had recently started, so this was my way of sending some love out to the world.

Hamsa.  This is a Middle East symbol for protection.  In a mother/daughter version.

BADD.  I was inspired by the Juicy Couture "Juicy" sweatpants.  We all know babies are Bad-asses at heart.

  

This was a promotional postcard I sent out (Thanks Jim and Janet Duff--and of course Aiden for providing the right attitude!!).

So, I had to put together a little outfit for the boys: BADD Brotha tank, BADD sweats, DC skate shoes, fedora (naturally), and Skull Hoodie.

Not to be left out, an outfit for the girls: BADD Lotus tank layered with L/S tee, Juicy Couture jacket, shirred Bermuda shorts, Gremlin plush backpack, and, my favorite, baby Ugg's (or, as I like to refer to them: b'Uggs).

Cute!

 

McQueen's Inspiration: Prints

I will forever be inspired by Alexander McQueen, even though he is no longer with us.  Having spent years designing textile prints, I appreciate his innovation and daring.  With the advances in technology and emergence of digital printing, there are no limits now to creativity.  I was playing around in Photoshop creating a background for another project, when I started having too much fun cropping my existing photos and mirroring them horizontally and vertically.  Here's what I came up with.  Many of these photos I have already used in my posts.

 

Flowers

Feathers

Jewels

Tools

Fabric

Graffiti

Black and White Graffiti

Orchids

Jaguar

This one is probably the most McQueen-esque.

 

I plan on exploring this further in another post and getting more creative with the layouts.

Stylin': 1940's Noir

I was inspired by this beautiful vintage dress to put together a little 1940's Film Noir-esque outfit.  Add in some fog, an old car, Humphrey and Ingrid, and some crows, naturally, to get the mood right.

Vintage dress available at Gumbygirl.  Vintage coach bag, green felt hat, brooch, and earrings.  Shoes not vintage but are still in character, available at Modcloth.

Artist Series: Michael Logsdon, Historical Illustrations

I have known my friend Mike for a long time--I used to work on scarf designs with him at Echo Design Group (what seems like a decade ago--oh yeah, it was!).  In addition to being a talented artist, he is also a history buff and has an epic knowledge of trivia.  Which is probably one of the reasons we get along so well!  He has combined his love of history and stories with his artistic abilities to create some wonderful illustrations.  He has written a little bit about himself as well as descriptions of his paintings. (His words are all in Italics).

"I love history, both real and imagined. I’m a hopeless romantic, and there is nothing quite like being taken back to another time and place. As an illustrator I can idealize it, enhance the experience, or go in any direction I want. I have always had a special affinity for classic children’s fairy tales. I think my favorite image is the mythical medieval village where so many of these stories are set. Life was rarely as idyllic as it is made to look in these stories, but that’s the magic of illustration.
As much as I enjoy the imaginary past, I’d also like to do more straight history illustrations. I love the research, finding out tidbits about the period".

 Romeo and Juliet

"These two paintings are from a series of five. I met a couple at our local Medieval festival and they agreed to pose in costume.  I used Photoshop for the lighting effects in the Balcony scene, which was the first time I’d used it like that. I’ve used this technique a few times since, but I don’t like to lean too heavily on it. The death scene, for instance, was not enhanced, and it’s one of my favorites. This painting, like all the rest, was done in oil".

Jack and the Beanstalk

 "I’ve always wanted to illustrate Jack and the Beanstalk. It’s one of my favorite fairy tales, and I really had fun with it".

Hansel & Gretel

"This illustration presented quite a few challenges to me. I haven’t done many paintings with indoor atmospheric lighting. By the way, that’s my daughter in the white dress, and our cat Sugar on the floor".

Fairies

"I painted this piece for my daughter. She actually gave me a lot of pointers on the ins and outs of fairy life. Who knew"?

 

The Emperor's New Clothes

"I just finished this piece, and it was as fun to paint as it is to look at. I’m really getting that Medieval village thing down".

Escaped Slave

"This one has a more realistic theme than some of my other work. I really enjoyed painting the horse".

She's a Witch!

"This is my earliest painting in the group. It’s not quite as polished as some of the later pieces, but it’s still one of my favorites. It very clearly tells a story, which is always a goal of mine".

"I don’t currently have a website, but I soon will. Try Googling my name in a few months, or e-mail me at mike.log@verizon.net if you want to contact me. I hope you enjoy the work".

I love the details, compositions, and colors of Mike's paintings--but I also love the stories they tell.
  Thanks Mike!

Update:  Mike now has a website and blog.  Click here for the link.

Leaving Las Vegas

I'm off to Vegas again--this time for Magic trade show--for my last trip of the year.  There's this cool place where neon signs go to their final resting place called The Boneyard.  I wanted to stop in on my way back home to get some cool pictures, but they are closed till the fall.  It will have to wait till my next trip to Vegas in February.  In the mean time, I grabbed some pictures from Flickr so you can get an idea of what it looks like.

Check out the Neon Museum on your next trip to Vegas--time spent away from those slot machines just may save you some money!!

Hipstamatic Pics: Random Objects (and a couple of cats)

I recently downloaded the Hipstamatic app for my iPhone.  I realized that it makes everything look really cool--especially random objects.  So analog!

I mean really, if I would have taken a picture of this with my Digital SLR, it would have just looked like an empty pastry box sitting on a cutting board.

Chinese take-out.

 

Now if only we could get full-service stations back it would be truly authentic retro.

Not-so-random object.  She always looks so martyr when I take her pic.

I bought the hand-painted fabric in Bali and made these great pillows.

Blender and pots on a drying pad.  Yawn.  But still cool.

Looking through the screen door (this one is the non-martyr, aka: crazy).

It even makes our pathetic landscaping look good.

Love these colors.

Water something-or-other-pump.

One of our Herman Miller chairs.

Is that my husband's wedding ring?!

My favorite vintage 80's belt--it doesn't need Hipstamtic to make it cool.

Fenton glass.

Have a great weekend!