Keep Dreaming !!

Gosh, I have never been so proud of my husband! As you may already know, he has illustrated his first children's book! Written by his friend, Jake Brittain, this little book has a very powerful message for kids ages 2 to 12. It even comes with a cd of accompanying music recorded by Jake himself. Kids can look at the book and follow along with the lyrics of the song – in three fun versions! We keep our cd in the car and play it while we’re out running errands. We like it and our seven year old loves it, too! 

The message of the book is about how our dreams can become realities. In essence, Scott and Jake hope to give children the inspiration to begin to have dreams of their own and to nurture their dreams. Just think of what wonderful things could happen if children receive this message early in life – to remember their dreams. Isn’t that how wonderful things happen?

What dreams do you have for yourself? Your family? Have any dreams you’ve had come to fruition?

The message is strong and the music is fun to listen to, but the kicker is that for EVERY book sold, one book will be given to a child in need.  Their first donation of books will go to The Boys and Girls Club!  One for One.

To purchase the book, learn more about Scott and Jake, and find out where they will be talking about their wonderful book, go to http://www.newdreamstudio.com/.
 
And have a fabulous weekend!!!

Things I Love Thursday - Strange Dreams

Things I Love Thursday
Originally uploaded by Anna Dykema


More fantastic photographers on Flickr. All but one of these is Polaroid, it IS Roid Week and I just can't get enough....

However, the portrait on the bottom right is a "wet-plate" process.  Go here to see more of this photographers amazing portraits.  They are all quite haunting.

Restless

O
Been feeling like getting on a plane and going somewhere. Maybe I have spring fever or something. Found this the other night. It is delicious in every way. My little escape.



Anita O'Day = Amazing. This is from Jazz on a Summer's Day.
Bye!

Things I Love Thursday

Some fellow Flickrites that I absolutely adore. Click on the mosaic to see who they are.
Things I Love Thursday
Originally uploaded by Anna Dykema

Too Beautiful

Too beautiful to not share also:



If you can't see this, click here and smile.

Freaky Cool

This is making me SO happy right now:



If you can't see this, click here and smile.

CocoRosie has a pretty freaky cool website here.

Kandinsky at the Guggenheim NYC

Have you ever been driven to tears by art? That moment came for me while viewing the Kandinsky retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum last week. The show runs through January 13, 2010 and is a MUST SEE.

Sketch for "Composition II" 1909-10

I studied this painting ages ago in an Art History class at community college. Seeing this painting reminded me of how deeply I was affected by Kandinsky's ideas about apocalypse, renewal, and utopia and how he believed in the transformational powers of art. The retrospective begins with paintings from his horse and rider themes and continues through to his last paintings, most of which I've never seen.

Now seeing this show at a "regular museum" would be one thing, but making my way up the spiral of the Guggenheim (during its 50th anniversary) was almost too much. I can't express how beautiful the Guggenheim is. Every spot a person could stand holds a beautiful view of Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece.

Go here to see my pathetic attempt to shoot pictures of this wonderful building (without a flash) and other photos I took while in New York City. An architectural photographer, I am not. But I did enjoy every second of this show.

Etsy LOVE

I am so excited about my recent purchase on Etsy! I've been a fan of Elsa Mora's since my husband and I first found Etsy about two years ago. Wow, has she blossomed. She is a true inspiration to me. Last week I was reading her blog about personal style, The Hidden Seed, and she announced the completion of her tiny original hand drawn illustrations that she has made into pendants. I couldn't take my eyes off of this particular one. Isn't it cute? The little kitty reminds me so much of my dearly beloved little Rumpuscat!

There are so many to choose from, but they're going fast. Click here to see them in her shop!

Art + Cars = LOVE

I love art and I love cars, so when you put the two together - kaPOW! That's what happened in June in Dallas at the CityArts Celebration. This is a little bit of what you get.

This crazy thing above is what's known as Ernie Steingold's California Fantasy Van. It's covered in $15,000 worth of coins and 5,000 brass trinkets. I could have gawked at that thing for hours! Ernie passed away in 1998 and his beautiful van lives at the Art Car World museum in Arizona (road trip!!). More about the car here and the museum here.

This freaky machine is known as Mark Monroe's Brick Mobile. It's a 1968 Ford Country Sedan station wagon that is completely covered in bricks! Find out more about Mark and his Brick Mobile here. I just love that "Country Sedan" emblem against the brick.

And speaking beautiful emblem backgounds, check out Tim Klein's car called The Elements above. It's a yarn covered 1967 Imperial Crown. So cool. What a vision! More about his car and his vision here.

Now if you can't make it to an art car parade or museum, you can check out Harrod Blank's Automorphosis. Harrod Blank has created a Camera Van I long to see in person. Click here to find a screening of Automorphosis in your area, or here to find other documentaries and books about art cars and the artists who dream up these wonderful machines.

Now I wonder how many pretty pretty clouds I can fit on my ride.......

P.S. I've got more pictures of these art cars on my Flickr.

Little People Love

Last night my husband came home with a little prezzie for me! Oh, I love surprises! Have you ever heard of Slinkachu? I certainly hadn't. He's an artists in London who leaves little tiny hand painted people around the city in different scenarios. This book, "Little People in the City" , is filled with photos of his work and it is fantastic!! His work is both gloomy and hilarious. He also has a blog. For his current project he's finding snails around London, painting them and putting them back where he found them, a project called "Inner City Snail". Can't wait for that book.

Up Up and Away...

I've been so wanting to get away lately. I've taken tons of photos to play with this week. But as I sat down to work today, it made me so happy to go back to the shots I took from the plane on my trip to LA last year. They're a little Maxfield Parrish, don't you think? Ah, to fly away....

These will be available in my Etsy shop soon.

Sometimes Blurry is Good

As of late, I've been scrolling past shots I come home with that are in focus and am drawn to the of focus shots. Or I've been distracted by the bokeh behind the subject I went out to shoot! I'm liking this blurry thing going on.

When I finished processing the first photo, Elysium, I couldn't help but think of Odilon Redon, the French painter and graphic artist. I looked at some of his work quite closely while taking a watercolor class one semester at school. So I tried to keep in that mode while processing the other two, Ephemeral and Efflorescent.

These are available in my Etsy shop.

Lookie What I Found - Etsy LOVE

Are these colors awesome or WHAT? I just discovered a cute shop on Etsy called Hondamom. Her creations are a wonderful mix of texture, color and pattern that make them irresistable. There's something a little retro to them, but they're definately NEW. Can't you just see one of her beautiful pins on a little cardigan this fall? I sure can! You can check out more of her creations on her Flickr account. And she's just started a new blog where you can find out what she and her craftiness are up to.

More Printmaking LOVE

The print maker in me is drooling over these Nate Duval art prints that I just discovered in his Etsy shop. I like the colors he's chosen, leaning toward that late 60s early 70s vibe I've been gravitating toward lately. Kinda retro, kinda not. He also has a website where you'll find his portfolio and some way cool website design. (Hmmmm. I need some of that.)

Oh! And good news! He is now making baby t-shirts. I really love this one.

Printmaker LOVE

These beautifully printed cards have inspired me to get my little Gocco out again. The artist is Eliza Jane Curtis of Morris & Essex. Her Etsy shop is filled with more beauties like these, and if you hurry on over there you may score a great deal on one of her hand printed t-shirts as she's having a SALE! She also has a very pretty website where you can find out a little more about her, the artists who inspire her work and how she came up the the name Morris & Essex.

I Knew There Were Brains Behind These Beauties!

Drive By
Crime Scene
Beautiful Nightmare

I first saw Pam Glew's work when she was featured in an Etsy front page treasury with one of my husband's prints from our Etsy shop. I found myself going back to her shop again and again to study her images. The fear, the glamour, the patriotism, the feminism, the color, and the graphic nature of her images are ALL inspiring to me. Yeah, she rocks. Learn more about her at her website and find about upcoming shows on her blog.