coloring outside the lines

As I enter a new stage of my life as a designer I am discovering new and interesting things about myself, my style and my work.

As a bright-eyed child, my sister and I occupied many of our summers exploring Harwell elementary school where my mother was a Principal. We had no choice but to entertain ourselves. So we made things out of paper: purses wallets, bags, and books. And in elementary school I made countless books that were illustrated, "type-set" and saddle stitched (well... stapled.) And as I grew up and people asked "So, What do you want to be when you grow up?" -- (after I got over the idea that I wanted to work at the same Car Wash that my aunt did) -- my answer was always "An Author!" Which then turned into the idea that I wanted to work for a fashion or travel magazine..

So -- the expression "This is what I was born to do." seems quite fitting for me in my life.

 The first time I opened Adobe PageMaker, in 1995, I fell in love.  I was an editor for my High School Yearbook, Newspaper and Literary Magazine. And when Texas Tech School of Journalism didn't seem like a good fit for me the Southwest Texas State Art Department did. And in 2007, I graduated from Texas State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design!

In college, I distinctly remember showing up for class on a critique day and when my turn to show & share my piece came, a fellow student said "Your outfit matches your poster". Meaning that I was dressing in the same colors as I was designing in. And that continued. The past 3 years, in an effort to simplify my mind and cleanse my (designers) palette - I now wear only neutral colors, mainly black.

As I set out on the wonderful path to brand and art direct another season at the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra I decided that I would really shake things up! That idea coupled with my recent and ongoing struggle to find my creativity lead me to travel through an experimental stage:

The idea was to pick a completely different color palette for the new season. And after selecting and unselecting many combinations I finally found one that I loved and I felt could carry the theme through the new season.

Upon comparing the NEW colors to the OLD colors from last season. I REALIZED, THAT I PICKED THE SAME COLORS. different tints.

Now, I am definitely not doubting the craft that "i was born to do" and I do not for one minute think that I am a One-Trick-Pony -- its more that I realize that these are the colors that speak to me. I function in these colors. I design in these colors. I live in these colors.

Livin' Life

My Daddy, Tommy Lee Brown, has always been a "man of words" and recently put together a list of what our family has deemed "Brownisms".

Smart (old farmer's) advice from a man near and dear to my heart. Love it.

1. Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
2. Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.
3. Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
4. A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
5. Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
6. Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.
7. Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.
8. Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
9. It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
10. You cannot unsay a cruel word.
11. Every path has a few puddles.
12. When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
13. The best sermons are lived, not preached.
14. Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.
15. Don 't judge folks by their relatives.
16. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
17. Live a good, honorable life.. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.
18. Don 't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none.
19. Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain dance.
20. If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
21. Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
22. The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.
23. Always drink upstream from the herd.
24. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
25. Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.
26. If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around..
27. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
28. Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.

For the Love of.. Lubbock

I was shocked and disappointed today when I went to my grocery store of choice and found the once GT Kombucha rich shelves completely sans Kombucha teas!! oh no.

I will quickly recall things I have recently purchased online that couldn't be found in Lubbock stores:

• 17" MacBook Pro
• Nixon Rotolog
• Print File black clam shell portfolio box
• Dickie's Girl black shorts
• Tord Boontje by Martina Margretts
• Mighty Leaf Organic Hojicha Green tea
• Alain de Bouton's Status Anxiety
• True Religion Becky Lonestar jeans
• Graphic Artists Guild Handbook
•  Moleskine City Guide: New York
• Epson Stylus R1800  Matte Black, Cyan, Yellow and Gloss Optimizer UltraChrome Hi-Gloss Cartridges
• Neenah Classic Crest Natural White cover stock paper
• Gelaskin iPod Classic sticker cover

I hope that I do not have to add GTs to this list.
Thank goodness for online shopping!!

DAM finds: Part II

My sister and I had quite an interesting "problem" this past month. We decided to start selling Therapy items again last month at the Downtown Art Market. The May market was Friday night and Saturday morning/afternoon. Since it had been a few months, we decided to reduce prices on much of the old inventory and really clean the shelves :) Many happy Therapy customers later, the shelves were clean!

From the new exposure came many custom Therapy orders for Marci and her ETSY page has really taken off! I spent almost all last month out of the studio and remodeling. So, last week -- Market week -- I told Marci that I didn't have any new inventory and my load from last month was really light, but I would be happy to help her sell at the Market. She laughed and said "I was going to say that exact same thing to you!" So, the long of the short, we didn't set up shop at the Art Market this month.

I did however, make my way to the Art Market to visit friends and support the local flavor. Jon and I picked up this beautiful succulent and then found the perfect accessory! -- a one-of-a-kind hand-crafted flower from Summer Studios!

And our coffee table is officially Happy :)

The Nest: Part II

As promised... the continued journey of our new Nest:

The living room of our house had light pink walls and painted off white wood floors:

We hired Jess Mitchell, whose father did the floors in Jonathan's grandparent's -- and now parent's -- home, to find, strip and stain our original wooden floors.

Now many books will be read and Netflix will be watched in our lovely living room :)

Remember...

The range of emotions the past few weeks has been wide.

I find myself in a panic and worried about the toilet backing up again and the plumber busting another pipe under the house, and about my dwindling bank account, and about my unorganized mess that I now live in, and about the fact that I am physically at work just trying to make it through without totally breaking down. I know that all of this will soon pass and as long as we keep on working now it will all pay off in the future.

Yesterday amidst my pile of clothes on the floor and bed in our bedroom I found my yellow Livestrong wristband. I decided that until the carefree days of loaded bank accounts, solid floors and not leaking pipes comes will wear it as a reminder of how wonderful life truly is.

A few weeks ago I mailed some posters to my friend Tom, who works for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Since the posters had a very tight time frame for arrival and distribution we decided that mailing them to his office was the best option.
I addressed the package to "Tom c/o the Lance Armstrong Foundation".
After waiting in line at the post office, the clerk called me up and began entering my package information. He paused, looked up at me, and excitedly said "is this really going to Lance Armstrong!?"
I smiled and told him it was in fact going to his foundation but not really him.
I looked down at the clerk's proud Livestrong wristband just as he began telling me his survival story. He told me that after he recovered from his treatment for colon cancer the Livestrong foundation sent him a package. He was shocked and delighted because he had not even signed up for anything! But he is now a faithful Livestrong supporter, as it really helped him through recovery.
His story brought a smile to my face and I was so happy to have made him that excited about mailing a package to the Lance Armstrong (foundation).
After my package was paid for and marked for delivery, the clerk said "hold on for a minute. I have something for you."
He disappeared into the back and then came back to the counter with a Livestrong Wristband for me!

His story was inspiring. Human nature is powerful and it proves time and time again just how strong we can all be in this life.

This isn't the worst situation that Jon and I could be in. Yes - it is tough but we have our health. And now we have each other.

Everything is getting to me..

The weeks of unorganization are finally getting to me..
I am actually surprised that it took this long to show up! Maybe I am becoming more tolerant or patient at least.
I finally finished moving all of my things from my apartment to my new house last night at midnight. And officially turned in the keys today.
The past few years, I have considered myself somewhat of a "minimalist" -- but from the looks of my moving stacks -- quite the contrary. Maybe this just means I am due for a material cleanse!
My drawers finally found their way back into the dresser sometime late last night,the black clothes in my closet are making friends with the color clothes, the clean clothes are in the dirty clothes piles and the dirty ones probably hanging, and the only accessory I have successfully found was worn for the past three days -- so today I gave it a rest. I somehow managed to find clothes for work this week -- maybe because I am beyond caring what I look like right now :)

My studio room must be the worst. It has become more of a garage space for items that can't move to their proper places yet. There is still paint touch ups to do, cabinets to be hung, and furniture to be put together and moved before the real organization of anything can begin.

I long for the day when the rug is lined up with the baseboards, the bird on the coffee table is facing the correct direction, the paint towels are separated from the kitchen towels, the red books are next to the red books and the black clothes are next to the black clothes. This is when being a real organization freak starts to itch under my skin..

The Nest

The past week has been filled with new and exciting experiences.
Jonathan and I renovated and moved into a Nest all our own!!
I think this is what my parents must have felt like when they bought their house that they have now been in for 20 years! I remember my mom saying that she thought my dad was crazy for buying that house because it was the "ugliest thing" she had ever seen but after much needed love and renovation -- it became a beautiful home.
I have decided to split my experience into a stream of blog entries. Lets begin with the kitchen..

Aaaand -- finally this is what our finished kitchen looks like! Many happy vegan meals will be prepared here!

Ikealand

As with most residential moves comes the fun task of new things. Things to make the place you live the home in which you live.
A few days ago I traveled to Ikealand. That is -- the Land that is IKEA.
I thank my lucky stars and I browsed online before I acutally went in. Whew!
The Krebbs Boys and I began our journey without reading the Laws of the Land which I am sure perfectly describe how one is to experience and function in the Land. We blindly browsed through the store carefully stopping at all of the displays and then somewhere along the way the pace seemed to pick up. This mission to find cool things was on.
We saw the kitchen shelves, that I had been online eyeing for days, beautifully displayed in a mock kitchen. sold. As the miles of "rooms" seemed to get longer we hurried our pace and began power walking through the store but the end seemed no where in sight! At one point Chris saw the sun shining through a window and shouted "Look! The Outside!"
The trek through the displays ended at the same point that the Pick-It-Up-Yourself-Because-Thats-How-It-Works-Here section began. Then came the miles the display items modern and minimally packaged for your own carrying convenience. We saw the shelves and decided that grabbing them ourselves was a great idea! -- had we read the Laws of the Land we might have know that was the only idea.
I lingered too long in the Bedding and somehow lost the Krebbs Boys. I assumed they were just ahead of me but as my gait became a full-on run I couldn't find them anywhere. To my left Home Storage and to my right Bathroom Accessories and The End was no where in sight. I had a minor panic attack. And then decided that I would have to forge forward without the Boys.
After the Pick-It-Up-Yourself-Because-Thats-How-It-Works-Here section ended the Massive-Warehouse section began!
My cell phone calls went unanswered and by that point I was running through the Land trying desperately to reach the end.
Relief! The checkout was in sight and the Boys had found a cozy patio bench to rest themselves. As we were checking out I pointed to the chandelier that was part of my mission and told the cashier I would take that as well. He looked at me like I was crazy and at that point another employee told us that we had to get it ourselves. "Its in the Lighting Department." (thanks.)
I looked up at Jonathan with desperation in my eyes and I knew that I was the only one who wanted that chandelier enough to brave the Land again. I handed my things to Jonathan and said
"Im going back in."
Success! I got my chandelier. The Knappa.

DAM finds

Although the Lubbock weather was crazy this weekend (66 degrees and windy during the beginning of May!) the Downtown Art Market was great fun!
This month was our first one back since November, before Baby Meg was born. It was delightful to see all of our Art Market friends and catch up with who is doing what and where the creative minds have been.

I broke even. Meaning I spent the same amount of money at the Art Market as I made at the Art Market. But I think that is what it is all about anyway. Supporting the community in which we too live.
One of my favorite vendors Summer Studios brought it to the Market. I couldn't leave without purchasing these beautiful one-of-a-kind ceramic earrings --

I am so happy and proud to be a part of such a wonderful community!