Tag Archives: design

refocusing.

Posted on by

after months of feeling like i’d lost my way and lost all inspiration, finally things seem to be shifting a little for me. i had a day full of energy and firing on all cylinders yesterday, which seems to happen so rarely to me now. (not sure if it was the extra cup of coffee or that big chunk of salmon – brain food! – i cooked up the day before, but i haven’t had such clarity in a really long time. it was nice.)

so i think i’ve decided to recommit to the art life. i was on the verge of abandoning it entirely, but i now am feeling new inspiration and a desire to buckle down and get serious about it. so in the coming weeks, i will be tweaking this website a little, moving some of the less art related stuff over to my new domain, margaretcoble.com (catchy, eh?), which will serve as more of an overall personal and professional site. and in so doing, i will refocus this site more on my art and crafty life and process, with the intention of making this blog more interesting to read. (and hopefully update it more frequently.) i might even shoot some video or make a podcast or something crazy like that!

i took the above picture this afternoon in my outdoor studio (otherwise known as the back yard!). i’m working on a new series or set of stencil paintings that i hope are going to turn out the way i want them to. some will be on salvaged wood and cabinet doors and such, others will be on canvas. some will be straight up stencil paintings and some will be more mixed media oriented. i have a million ideas jotted down, but the process will take a while as it requires me making a LOT of new stencils, both of pop icons and objects as well as textures and patterns. i hope the results will be interesting and aesthetically pleasing as well as marketable. it’s not exactly groundbreaking or even highly original in concept or technique, but it is something that i want to make and express and will challenge me while hopefully also paying a few of my bills. it’s a good place to start. and hopefully it will lead to more interesting things.

one of my favorite soulful house songs has lyrics that say “you’ve got to move to create change.” i love that line. this is me moving. just gotta keep it up.

so stay tuned. and bear with me. thanks!

to market, to market…

Posted on by

freretstivus market, that is. TODAY! noon til 5pm – i will be there. come enjoy the beautiful day before we get more nasty weather tomorrow. and don’t forget about the last stop shop at the big top on thursday, 6-10pm (1638 clio street).

and remember, i do custom work also… so if there’s a clock or sign design you like, i can make it in your favorite color combo and have it done in plenty of time for christmas. i even have some blank scarf material in stock and could print up the scarf of your choice. so don’t be shy – just ask!

happy holiday shopping, y’all.

#kplus5 weekend

Posted on by

while feeling fairly overwhelmed by my own personal soul-searching and introspection that i’ve been engaged in since i got back from michfest, it is of course katrinaversary weekend here in new orleans. and not just any old katrinaversary – as if any of them are less harrowing than any other – but this one seems way more overloaded with media coverage and memorial activity than the last few, being the fifth anniversary.

i had thought the only k+5 type of event i would be partaking in this weekend would be the rising tide conference. i registered for it back in july and have been looking forward to it ever since, and felt like that was probably all i could handle. it’s an all-day event on saturday, plus i’m going to the opening party for it tonight, down at the howling wolf, with my new friend derrick, aka geekandahalf for those of you on twitter. so yeah, seemed like plenty enough for me in and of itself.

but, well, here i am, on friday the 27th, and i started my day listening to the rachel maddow podcast from last night’s show, which was shot live in algiers point and largely concerned itself with the topic of k+5. i always listen to something on my ipod while i’m out for my daily morning walk, and so this morning it somehow seemed appropriate to listen to that show. (it was really good, btw – i highly recommend taking the time to listen to/watch it. i just love her!)

what i wasn’t necessarily expecting was being inexplicably drawn to walk by the new orleans katrina memorial in the cemeteries on canal street. i somehow, even though it’s in my neighborhood and has now been there for two years, had eluded awareness of this until just the other day when i heard something about it on some npr show i was listening to in the car. and suddenly, i wondered why i had never noticed it before. so this morning, as i set out on my walk, i decided to go looking for it, just so i’d know where it was.

but then when i got there, i couldn’t not go in. i felt pulled in. it’s pretty intense, i have to say. from first noticing the awesome fleur-de-lis-with-swirling-water-below-it design that repeats itself in the iron fencing, to reading the marble marker that sits at the center of its overall hurricane-shaped layout, the memorial is certainly designed for introspection and reflection… and the blank marble vaults that house the unidentified victims of the storm and floods are a solemn reminder of the real human loss that occurred.

i obviously took a few pics on my smart phone while continuing to listen to rachel maddow, pausing for a moment to take it all in, and then i was off on a one-hour walk around my neighborhood that i love (mid-city).

i’ve then spent most of my day listening in on the tedxnola event happening down in the french quarter. i’d considered going to it, but in my present state of unemployment and dwindling funds, i didn’t feel like i could give up the $35 to attend. much to my surprise and delight, i discovered this morning there is a live feed of the proceedings online, so i’ve been selectively tuning in and out as my interest level dictates throughout the day.

the topic of this event is not exactly katrina nor is it a memorial – it is focused on creativity in crisis, or what good and creative things have come out of the disaster. so there have been some interesting speakers – james carville being my favorite thus far, and i loved kimberly rivers roberts (trouble the water) – but on the whole, i think i’m glad i did not give up my $35. i’ll just say… it ain’t no rising tide! (holla!)

i still don’t really have any plans for sunday. (guess i didn’t win tickets to see obama speak at xavier – oh well.) perhaps i’ll take the day off and just spend it at home, hanging out with fae. or maybe i’ll feel pulled out to one of the dozens of events happening around town on the actual anniversary day. who knows. i guess i’ll just have to wait and see.

how many t-shirts does it take to fix the oil disaster?

Posted on by

i don’t know the answer to that question. i’m just asking.

in the mean time, i will continue to bring you t-shirt designs i find interesting from designers/companies who are using their creative skills to raise some money for non-profits and other organizations responding to the oil disaster.

the local t-shirt makers are still coming up with the best stuff, in my opinion. local silkscreeners saturn screenprinting have a couple sharp looking spoofs on the bp logo on vibrant green shirts (above) – one that says “spill baby spill” and the other the more direct “fu bp.” there are lots of shirts using the bp logo now, but these catch my eye as being similar enough so that you know it’s a bp logo without having to actually BE the bp logo -  i like that. all proceeds from the sales of these shirts will go to the gnof gulf coast oil spill fund. you can pick one up online for $20 including shipping, or stop by their central city location and get it in person for only $15.

i was wondering how long it would take for fledgling t-shirt empire storyville to come up with their own fundraising shirt for the gulf, and lo and behold, they have. this is one of my favorite designs i’ve seen so far; i just really dig all the little drawings of fish, crabs, crawfish, shrimps, oysters and other local sealife that make up the shape of louisiana. (and the color palette is pleasing, too.) they too are donating to the gnof gulf coast oil spill fund, with $5 from each $23 t-shirt sale being donated. you can pick one up at their magazine street location or order online.

i noticed storyville also just added this one too, which spells it out loud and clear. this one is on one of those trendy burnout shirts in a color scheme that resembles dirty water; it’s a cool effect. these are $30 and some portion of each sale will go to the same charity, the gnof gulf coast oil spill fund, though it is unclear how much. again, available in their shop on magazine or online.

i first saw this design on skip n’ whistle‘s facebook page; they were saying it was the only design they carry in the shop at this point that is not their own. so i wondered who had made it. i’d seen others posting about it, saying they’d seen it on cnn and local tv news, so i did some googling and found that it belongs to nola tee, and is benefiting the st. bernard project, to help commercial fishermen affected by the oil disaster. it appears it comes in different colors and in both men’s and women’s sizes. click the picture above to go to their site for ordering, or call or stop by skip n’ whistle to see if they still have any in stock.

speaking of skip n’ whistle, they continue to come up with more of their own original designs in response to the oil disaster. i’ve featured two of their other designs in previous posts, but this is their most recent one, time is running out for bp. they continue to donate a portion of their sales of these bp response shirts – $10/shirt on this design – to the humane society of louisiana, who are helping with wildlife rescue in the oil affected region.

of course, locals aren’t the only ones making fundraising t-shirts in response to the oilpocalypse, but i think i’ll leave that to a separate post, as this one is already getting long. if you know of other oil spill/bp related t-shirt designs that i haven’t covered that you think are cool, feel free to post them in a comment here.

stay tuned for more.

oilpocalypse day 64

Posted on by

64 days after the deepwater horizon rig blew up in the gulf of mexico, the oil continues to gush. people all over the world, and especially in southern louisiana, continue to feel helpless, and even those who are doing their best to fight the good fight feel like they are in a losing battle.

let’s revisit that oil spill ticker i posted early on in this crisis:

divide that number of gallons by 42 and you get the number of barrels per day that have leaked into our beautiful gulf. and that’s just an average of all the best-guesses of how much is leaking out every day. i find this beyond comprehension.

i personally continue to feel like there is little i can do, save for spend a few hours every day posting articles and photographs and reports from grassroots groups on the ground to my facebook profile in a desperate attempt to keep others far and wide in my social circle informed and enraged. i have a few-day break from the census (the phase i was hired for is now over, but the next phase that i’m getting rehired for starts next week), but have to condense everything i’ve been wanting to do for the past two months into a few days. plus i have to get ready for the craft mafia’s 5th year anniversary party on thursday. and fae leaves for michfest work in a week, so we have to get all our ducks in a row for my eventual departure later in july as well.

it’s all a whirlwind to me.

so i guess i’ll just continue to do what i’ve been doing here on the blog, which is highlight some of the visual creativity that’s come out of this horrendous nightmare, in an attempt to both vent our collective anger and/or also help raise funds for some of the grassroots groups and first responders to the situation.

today, i’d like to point your attention to sticker robot, a silkscreen sticker company out in california. some of you may remember back when i was stenciling-for-obama, sticker robot kindly donated a huge whack of stickers of my obama stencil design for me to give out, to help the campaign. zoltron and sticker robot are good people, and here they go again, donating their brilliant work to the cause:

click the picture to get all the details. basically, you just have to send them a self-addressed, stamped LEGAL-SIZED envelope and they will send you a free sticker. i personally think this is one of the best graphics i’ve seen come out of the creative community in response to the disaster, and i can’t wait to get one onto my car. (maybe i’ll get lucky and get 2 in the mail so i can put one on the scooter too!)

a fresh batch of oil disaster response t-shirts coming soon. stay tuned.

oilpocalypse graffiti

Posted on by

if you’ve been following my blog, then you know i’ve been posting a lot of t-shirt designs from mostly local designers in response to the bp gulf oil disaster. i started doing so originally because i was trying to come up with my own design, and was inspired by the work of some of my peers and also thought it was a great way to raise funds for various grassroots organizations involved in the response. (i only feature designers who are donating a portion of the proceeds to some responding organization.)

well i still haven’t managed to come up with a design i’m happy with (though i did make a rudimentary stencil for the back of my sierra club “clean it up” t-shirt so i could wear it to the protest in the french quarter two weekends ago, which you can view here), but other folks continue to churn out the t-shirts… and i will get back to featuring some more of them in a bit.

i’d like to switch gears just a little, while remaining on the design continuum, and feature some of the excellent and interesting graffiti that’s been sprouting up in response to the disaster. of course i’ve noticed some locally here in new orleans, but thanks to flickr, i’ve seen pieces from all over the gulf south and around the country.

this was the first i saw posted, and it’s by an artist named priest. he is often confused with – and obviously inspired by – banksy. priest is from alabama. i really like this one a lot. it expresses the anger we are all feeling down here, and is well-executed. take a look at that link to priest’s flickr and you’ll see he has a few others on the oil disaster theme… and i’m sure there are more to come.

this one just really hits the mark, by an artist called BonusSaves from kalamazoo, michigan. it’s quite brilliant – a northern gannett coated in oil. i love the concept.

this one, too, is very effective… and a really beautiful depiction of a sea turtle, swimming amidst the oil. this one is from key west, florida, and the photo is dated may 25th. i have no idea who the artist is. but it’s a gorgeous piece. props to the unknown artist. (and thanks to todd sanders for snapping the great pic!)

another one from florida, the wynwood art district in miami. again, don’t know who the artist is, but a nice piece. thanks to photographer justin helmick for snapping the shot on this very effective image.

this one is from down on grand isle larose, louisiana. it was painted before one of president obama’s visits down to grand isle recently. again, don’t know the artist but the artists are tattoo artists eric guidry and bobby pitre. this picture definitely speaks a multitude of words. this shot was not found on flickr but instead via the mainstream news online.

there are so many more, and i’m sure lots more coming as this disaster rages on with no end in sight. check out this gallery i made on flickr that includes many of the above plus others. and definitely leave me a message here if you’ve seen/snapped others wherever you are.