Inspire it forward…

Posted on January 28, 2012 by olivia

I think any artist can agree, there is no better feeling than having someone genuinely enjoy your work. It makes you realize that there was a reason for all those late nights in the studio, the many breakdowns you went through, and all the doubts that just wouldn’t seem to go away when you needed them to. We are all critics and are all guilty for shooting someone down as quick as possible sometimes, but I do think its important to remember, especially with art, even if it doesn’t look like it someone did take the time to create and that alone should be respected.

For my senior thesis I created my own handmade paper using old book pages and unwanted prints with the idea that I’d be wasting less and saving some money in the the long run. Throughout the process I don’t remember stopping to think, what will happen to this body of work after I graduate? What could it do for others? To my surprise, during the fall of 2010 I received an email from an elementary art school teacher located right outside of New York City, saying her students were inspired by my work. Inspired by my work!!! They did an entire project that took those same values of wasting less and brought them to their own classroom. They collected newspapers and other paper products and made their own sketchbooks and even printed on them! The funny thing is, even though those students were creating work inspired by mine, I couldn’t be more inspired by them!

Thank you so much for showing interest in my work!

new years rulin’s

Posted on January 15, 2012 by olivia

A friend shared this with me, Woody Guthrie’s new years resolution. We all need some changes in our lives, even the most talented people.

its time.

Posted on December 31, 2011 by olivia

With the end of the year brings a general time of reflection; the good, the bad and the ugly. We each have them, there no shame in it, its all part of the experience we just have to take what we can from it and move on. Everyone has there own opinion on new years resolutions, I’m always on the fence about them myself, but this year I decided to actually right write some things I wanted to work on. Maybe its a way to challenge myself to make them happen or maybe I’m just tired of denying that I actually have to work on these things. Either way, its all out on the table so if I start to slip, call me out.

its going to be a better year, I can feel it in my bones.

"You can be anywhere when your life begins"

Posted on January 13, 2011 by olivia

“You can be anywhere when your life begins” those wonderful words are said by Debbie Millman, a designer for Sterling Brands in NYC, professor at SVA and the host of Design Matters, a podcast show where she interviews other graphic designers. You can subscribe to the free podcasts on itunes and I recommend it. If you enjoy graphic design, you’ll enjoy hearing what the graphic designers who’ve paved the way for design have to say. Also, if you enjoy Debbie’s sense of humor and wit, I highly recommend you check out her books, How to think Like a Graphic Designer, The Essential Principles of Graphic Design and Look Both Ways.

Debbie Millman

TheDieline.com

Posted on December 10, 2010 by olivia

I recently purchased a book called “Box, Bottle, Bag: the world’s best packaging design” by Andrew Gibbs who also has his own blog called, TheDieline.com . Andrew finds the best designs, not just within the top firms, but also among the small studios that highlights what he considers to be good design, and I would have to agree with him. His book is a selection of some of those beautiful designs, my favorite section in the book is called “Nostalgic,” combing designs that closely resemble the vintage 1950′s look with a more modern touch.

Check out Andrew’s site:

Vintage Packaging: Coffee from the 1800s

NOTCOT!

Posted on December 10, 2010 by olivia

Most of what I find inspiring on the internet comes from a great website called Notcot. Everyday you’ll find links to creative design work, I can’t get enough of the stuff they find! I’ll probably be posting quite a few things I find from their site as well as whatever else catches my eye to give you a better sense of the kind of style I’m most attracted to and in turn, motivates my own work in some way.

Here is just a random selection of things that caught my attention:

"Shopping Carts" Taizo Yamamoto

"VHS" is an original permanent marker drawing by Hollis Brown Thornton

"Elk" Mark Weaver

Eva Eun-sil Han

JustSeeds

Posted on November 22, 2010 by olivia

Check this out, the JustSeeds Artist Cooperative , the prints they create are amazing and for a good cause!

ABOUT
Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative is a decentralized network of 26 artists committed to making print and design work that reflects a radical social, environmental, and political stance. With members working from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, Justseeds operates both as a unified collaboration of similarly minded printmakers and as a loose collection of creative individuals with unique viewpoints and working methods. We believe in the transformative power of personal expression in concert with collective action. To this end, we produce collective portfolios, contribute graphics to grassroots struggles for justice, work collaboratively both in- and outside the co-op, build large sculptural installations in galleries, and wheatpaste on the streets – all while offering each other daily support as allies and friends.

…exactly what a collective should be! I find myself always saying “you can’t make change without bringing awareness” and thats just what this group is doing and they’re doing it in a way that isn’t intrusive.

Here are some of my favorite prints:

"Unicycling" - Kristine Virsis

"Freedom of Movement a Human Right" Sanya Hyland

"Stumpcity" -Pete Yahnke

"Last Stop in Brooklyn" - Chris Stain

"Malachi Insect" (blue paper) -Nicolas Lampert

an update of sorts…

Posted on September 19, 2010 by olivia

The next step; it’s a continual process, there seems to always be a next step in my life before I’ve even figured out the last one and I’m sure it will all catch up with me soon. I’ve been in Santa Cruz, California for almost two months now; trying to make myself a regular and fit in between the crowds of surfers, hipsters, hippies, vagabonds, and the rockabilly/greasers. At this point I’m more like a fly on the wall seeing everything happen around me, picking up little bits and pieces of conversations. If I were to describe this place to people on the east coast, I would say this is the Burlington, Vermont of the west coast. It’s considered a city, but its probably one of the smallest cities I’ve ever been to, which probably adds to it’s similarity to Burlington. Pacific Ave, the main downtown street is similar to most cities; you have the homeless looking for some love among strangers so they can get some leftovers or cash for booze, street performers trying to get their voices heard through the crowd of tourists, and then the tourists who come here, sometimes disrespecting the locals through their bourgeois, egotistical attitude as the unroll $100 bills from their Gucci purses and Coach wallets. They all have their place here, it a diverse one and I feel lucky to have had a apart of it in my own, non-existent way.

My next move is more temporary than the one I made to come to California. In a week I’m heading back east for a while, the only thing that comes to mind is, what’s next? I’m not really sure why I’m going back, other than the personal reasons of seeing friends and family. I feel like my time here in California has been a valuable one where I learned more about myself in terms of my strengths, weaknesses, independence, and patience. I think I really needed the time away from everything familiar in order to figure that out, to understand what it is I want, or at least to have a better understanding. Maybe these past few weeks can be labeled as the “selfish” part of my life, not selfish as in a negative term, but a positive one. I guess that would make this upcoming chapter the “working” part of my life, where I figure out my career path.

It all comes down to the fact that everything is a process. Things don’t happen overnight and those who believe that they do, are lying to themselves. Two months hasn’t been long enough for me to decide or give Santa Cruz a chance in terms of really living someplace but it has been long enough to get a better understanding of the kind of place I want to be living in when the time comes to move again. It has been a wonderful experience and I’m glad this was the first place I went to after graduating from college. Now the process continues and I’m excited about what I’ll learn next.

The Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, California:

Golden hill near my apartment, Santa Cruz, California:

Pacific Ocean, Santa Cruz, California:

Highway 1, California coast:

The trusty’ol Mercedes Benz that takes us on our adventures:

Pacific Ocean at Big Sur, California:

Monterey, California:

Redwood Forest, somewhere near Ukiah, California:

San Francisco, California:

San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, California:

Still jobless and now close to broke, but I don’t regret coming west for a second. From all the things I saw, places I visited, and people I’ve met, the past two months have been some of the best moments of my life. I feel refreshed and regrouped and ready to face the east coast once again, wish me luck!

So what's next?

Posted on July 7, 2010 by olivia

The plan is to go west, all the way west to Santa Cruz, California. I’ve always known I wanted to move west but didn’t realize I would be doing it this soon after graduating and why not? When am I going to have another chance where I’ll be loan-free for a few months? I don’t have anything setup in terms of a career, which I’ve been told is extremely irresponsible and rightfully so, but maybe ambition to survive will get me in the right direction? I’m looking at this move as a stepping stone for major life change. One in which I can pursue my desire to be a graphic designer specifically working with sustainability; to work to change the way we look at products, businesses and information in a way that impacts our lives in a positive way.

My dream job would be to work for the magazine called Adbusters, if you’ve never heard of it, then check out their site, https://www.adbusters.org/, or grab a copy of their latest issue from your local bookstore. Their messages come from a more activist standpoint, trying to bring awareness of the different issues affecting our lives in a sarcastic or ironic way usually mocking those at fault or the current way we’ve been managing things. Until I get enough experience to work for Adbusters, I’m going to try and find a local design job in the Santa Cruz area. The economy is rough and the art field is even tougher so if anyone needs a designer, or knows about a job opening/connections, please spread the word and let me know!

I leave the comforts of home on July 28th to fly across country to my new apartment blocks away from the ocean. The biggest stress for me right now is finding some work so wish me luck!

Profile 2010: Alfred University School of Art & Design

Posted on June 18, 2010 by olivia

During my senior show exhibition, one of the curators for a show in New York City told me that two of my pieces were chosen to represent Alfred University in Chelsea, NY- of course I agreed! On June 9th, they had the opening reception that included work from a number of undergrads as well as some grads’ work. It was fun to get all dressed up once again to show off some work. Hopefully we made a good impression on the “city-folk,” although I think most of us did pretty well because by the end of the night we were surrounded by little red dots letting us know that our work had been sold!

*last three images were taken by a good friend of mine, Adam Brockway, check out his work at: http://adambrockwayphoto.com/