musings by lotus girl

lotus girl musings has new digs!

2009-12-28T22:42:00.001-06:00

well, the time has come... lotus girl musings has outgrown this little blog. (mostly) restricting my blog to drawing posts was a great exercise when i first launched musings, but now, i need more room to play. i want to write more, draw more, post more! so...

lotus girl musings has new digs: magicalthinklet.com. she is joined by 3 new categories of posts: the daily soup, an homage to the soups i eat on an almost-daily basis; swoon & shimmer, a catch-all for things that, well, shimmer, and make me swoon; and vignettes, little poem-wannabes (these have lived on lotus-girl.com for awhile, and have been due for a new home).

this week i will work on fowarding lotusgirlmusings.com to magicalthinklet.com. musings' original url, musingsbylotusgirl.blogspot.com, will stay put so you can still visit if you like; however, i imported all of the posts to magicalthinklet, so they're safe & sound. formatting issues from the mass import are still being fixed, but i hope to squash the kinks within the next few weeks.

thanks so much for visiting musings the last couple years! i hope you enjoy what the new blog has to offer!

waterfall

2009-11-24T10:13:00.001-06:00

bad blood

2009-11-24T09:42:00.002-06:00

see your face

2009-11-24T09:41:00.005-06:00

empty bags

2009-11-24T09:41:00.004-06:00

dog dan with balloons

2009-11-24T09:41:00.001-06:00

three little dog humans

2009-11-24T09:40:00.000-06:00

built for three

2009-11-19T08:22:00.002-06:00

trying to hold up the ceiling

2009-11-19T08:22:00.001-06:00

mr. deuce

2009-11-19T08:21:00.000-06:00

babies with swords

2009-11-16T22:04:00.001-06:00

tell me

2009-11-16T22:02:00.001-06:00

four mermaids

2009-11-16T22:01:00.001-06:00

silver lining

2009-11-16T21:58:00.002-06:00

one and a half

2009-11-16T21:57:00.000-06:00

concern of the brown variety

2009-11-16T21:56:00.000-06:00

no really, it shoots 'em

2009-11-16T21:55:00.000-06:00

well at least it doesn't have teeth

2009-11-16T21:54:00.002-06:00

crap drawing

2009-11-16T21:54:00.001-06:00

missing manties

2009-11-16T21:52:00.001-06:00

altitude

2009-11-16T21:51:00.000-06:00

ocean air and coffee in the morning

2009-11-16T21:50:00.000-06:00

salmon fold on toast

2009-11-16T21:49:00.000-06:00

draw something!

2009-11-16T21:48:00.000-06:00

in the yellow light

2009-11-16T21:46:00.000-06:00

autumn apartment a-go-go! (part2)

2009-10-30T14:58:00.024-05:00

as promised, here are some new pix of our living space!
{our main living space is super open, which means we can have lots of fun with the arrangement and load up the walls with fun stuff. one of my favorite things about autumn is lighting the fireplace - nothing is cozier than a fire!}
{looking at this wall makes me happy. the post office sign hails from dan's family. coincidentally, dan's grandma on his mom's side was named Betty Bunch (how cute is that?). AND, she was a fashion designer in hollywood (how cool is that?).

i had the violet triptych made for dan as a valentine's day gift. he's obsessed with radiohead so i went online & printed some concert photos he snapped onto canvas. all of the other artwork on the wall are my drawings and paintings.

this little magazine bowl was a gift from our friends melanie and pete. the painting is by our awesome friend michael herring. the victor talking machine is from dan's dad's side of the family. and all of these guys set upon the pretty "buttersquash" table, also from dan's family.}

{L-O-V-E!!! i'm so excited about this new addition to the salon wall! this morning, i painted these little scrabble letters. i think this is a perfect spot for them, and mr. deuce does too! sidenote: in the top photo, i think it's fun that you can see the building across the street in the mirror.}

{i'm a sucker for lanterns. i love how they soften a corner - even unlit. and, they're just plain fun. like giant bubbles.

i've stacked up a bunch of family photos on the fireplace... here are a few favorites: dan & his dad, my dad giving nephew max a dogsled ride, and me & my siblings as kids.

the paintings above the fireplace are a mixture of michael's and mine - his are the really cool decaying faces.}
{a view facing the balcony. the pretty tree is from dan's dad's memorial. mr. deuce is determined to knock it over and eat all of the leaves, but he hasn't been successful yet! the beautiful painting over the television is another michael original (basically we aim to fill our entire place with michael paintings). under the television, if you look closely, you'll see my precious collection of gilmore girls DVDs. in case of fire, the saving goes in this order: dan, deuce, gilmore girls.}

{a view of our living space from a different angle... featuring our lovely blue couch and zebra chair, again, both finds in iowa city. dan's dad repainted this bookcase for him. we've stuffed just about all we can stuff in it! we definitely need some more book storage. the vintage lamp and fan are from dan's family. the gorgeous frida kahlo book is a 30th birthday gift from genie. below, my fabulous gilmore girls script, "the lorelai's first day at chilton" - also from genie, some photos of my iowa gymnastics days and a signed newspaper clipping of dan celebrating iowa alum tim dwight's score in the super bowl.}
{our kitchen is nothing to write home about, but i do appreciate the giant island. there's always room for flowers and a giant bowl of fruits or veggies. the giant bowl pictured here is a gift from my friend jenny. the fabulous vase of flowers is a sweet 31st birthday gift from my mom. i can't get enough of chinese lanterns! that orange!

i purchased the little gourds and tiny potatoes this morning at trader joes. who knows how the potatoes taste, but damn, they're cute!!!}
{good-bye for now! coming soon... new pix of the bedrooms...}

autumn apartment a-go-go!

2009-10-27T20:12:00.042-05:00

i've been on an unintentional hiatus from drawing and writing for the past month, which to be honest, has been really frustrating. but, i've been trying to curb my frustration, because i know that's how i work. the creative stuff flows in waves, and it's my job to look for signs of these waves and be ready when they finally arrive.

it's strange, yearning to create things, but not being able to locate those things in the psyche. it makes my hands itchy, this yearning business. and i guess it's that itchiness that led me to build color and pattern without pen & paper. i've been busying myself with a bit of an apartment makeover.

i love to nest. i love making a space my own. dan & i moved into our place last august, and slowly but surely we've been making it home.

in the spirit of design*sponge's sneak peeks, which i adore, i thought i'd start this next batch of posts with a little spread of our apartment in autumn.

{welcome to our home! this little set of hooks says it all! i love that this is last thing i see when i walk out the door in the morning, and the first thing i'm greeted with when i return home. i picked up the hooks at urban outfitters. the red 3/4-sleeve coat is one of my all-time favorite coats. i bought it at una mae's in my neighborhood (i need to go back there for some long gloves). the lululemon tweed raincoat came into my life courtesy of dan, who - when he presented it to me - threw a glass of water on it to demonstrate its waterproof powers. the green vintage dress has been waiting patiently to be dry cleaned for, like, a year. and the little painting is a relic from my undergrad painting days. oh, and the tiny present on the ground is one of Mr. Deuce's toys.}

{the little bird hooks hold a bunch of hats & scarves - just about all of them were made by my mom! she's an avid birdwatcher, so i thought it was fitting a bird hook show them off... these are my super awesome boots. the Pajar's are indestructible in chicago winters, and my Hunter's special edition Royal Horticultural Society wellies are perfect puddle jumpers when i take Mr. Deuce out for walks. i want to hug them.}

{for my 31st birthday, dan's mom gave me this vintage desk from findables across the street, which sadly went out of business. the paintings are more watercolors from undergrad times. my little sister, Sarah, gave me the photograph of Fiona Apple. she's my favorite singer/songwriter of all time. i took the tiny photograph of Fiona on the shelf when Sarah & i saw her tour many years ago. my Sakura Micron pens and watercolor brushes are quite happy in their magnetic boxes. the beloved Bust subscription renewal is from my dear friend, Genie.}

{my Grandpa Beckwith, a wonderful woodworker, made this shelf for me when i was a girl. pictured: Mr. Deuce giving us the old one-eyed look, our first family photo, special cards we've given each other.}

{our cute succulent plant, atop a prettily painted box my mom gave me. these set upon a round Hekman table, which Dan's mom bought for his birthday (again, from findables). and, you can see our fun zebra chair hanging out in the background. we bought that in iowa city, before we moved to chicago. and, a little view of our kitchen windowsill. my friends Kimi, Mia and Naomi gave me this array of sake cups as a going-away gift when i moved from San Francisco. oh, how i miss those SF days!}

{this is my favorite part of our apartment this autumn. always, you hear people warn against neglecting the aesthetics of your closet - that you spend so much time there, you should treat it with care! we don't have a fancy elfa or california closet system, but that's no excuse for boringness. i love color. i love pattern. i love the way these can partner up to change moods and usher in cheer. i relish getting dressed in the morning - i love bringing unlikely pieces together to form a little sweep of harmony. and, now that my closet's clean & organized, and full of life, getting dressed is even more fun.
{there was a lot of wasted space in my closet because there's only one shelf, and tons of height from shelf to ceiling. so i hung a variety of hooks for clothes, bags and hats. this not only helped me organize, but also gave the white-walled closet some color, at long last! i have a love affair with the color mustard, and now, every time i step into the closet, i get an awesome dose of it. the flower dress on the right is one of my favorites. i bought it from silver spider in iowa city. the pattern is so pretty, and the hem is bubbled ever so...}

{now my bags and purses have a home! they used to be all squooshed in a precarious pile on the shelf. the little green and red bag top left is one i made several years ago. it features an iron-on of one of my drawings.

the bags bleed into a magazine collage. i horde magazines. i love fashion ads, catalogs and magazines so much that i used to paint from the fashion photographs, just so i could stare at them for hours on end. these images are so sumptuous - i thought, why not enjoy them everyday? so i ripped out some of my faves, and voila! instant texture on the wall! the framed photo is one i took while on a trip to cinque terra in italy when i was in my early 20s. far left, there's a photo of Betty Okino, one of the most beautiful gymnasts to rise to the top in the 90s.}

{sigh. karen O. she's pretty much the coolest. dan & i saw the yeah yeah yeahs at the aragon in chicago this past summer. hands down, the best, most exhilarating performance i have ever seen. on the mirror, friends Mia and MCB adorn the welcome sign i taped to the door when they visited from San Francisco earlier this year. the postcard is David Shrigley, a 50-some year old artist who hails from the UK - and who i'm convinced is my fraternal twin. in pink, a post-it love note from dan.}

{long dresses hanging out next to my shoes. and now, the stars of the closet. i wish they were smaller (blame the giant feet), but still, my shoes make me happy. my mustard heels, which i grabbed from akira, are taking a beating since i wear them so often (i love them to pieces, literally). my "polks" are solid tennies made by simple. the sexy blue girls are (cough, cough) of the jessica simpson variety. ok, so i still haven't gotten a chance to wear them, but they're so mouth-watering that sometimes i take them out just to look at them. and yes, i will hurt myself if i ever do try to wear them. my silver "space" heels are super comfy and cute. i like to wear them with mustard or red tights. they're made by jump (i want to buy all of jump's shoes).

i think i'll sign off with a relevant blast from the past! my mom made this bird dress for me, and i was SO tickled pink with it. i wish i still had this dress. isn't it cute? i think she also made the dress i'm wearing in this picture, but i think it's a hand-me-down. i guess i liked patterns back then, too! on that note, it's time for bed! pop by tomorrow, and hopefully i'll have uploaded some newer photos of our living room and bedroom.

smoke signal

2009-09-07T14:21:00.000-05:00

nucleotides mingling and exchanging numbers

2009-09-04T21:16:00.002-05:00

say the alphabet backwards, count to ten, bite your tongue and twiddle your thumbs

2009-09-04T21:15:00.000-05:00

chance of precipitation

2009-09-04T21:06:00.000-05:00

above or below

2009-09-04T21:05:00.000-05:00

pen & ink & stuff

2009-09-01T22:19:00.003-05:00

* i was going through some of my old drawings, and found this little pen & ink. i miss Life Drawing class. i should probably drop myself in a weeknight drawing group or something, i should i should.

avalanche

2009-08-22T09:10:00.001-05:00

face to face

2009-08-21T07:56:00.001-05:00

silver lining

2009-08-21T07:55:00.000-05:00

whale song

2009-08-20T20:54:00.003-05:00

hair-spun trail

2009-08-20T20:54:00.002-05:00

dear, dear friend

2009-08-20T20:52:00.001-05:00

on their backs

2009-08-01T11:38:00.002-05:00

my fave astrophysicist

2009-08-01T11:37:00.001-05:00

wallowing days

2009-08-01T11:36:00.004-05:00

blackhole news

2009-08-01T11:36:00.003-05:00

self-portrait on a lazy sunday

2009-07-26T14:40:00.004-05:00

* i haven't made a painting in a really, really long time. for some reason, when i woke up this morning, i had a craving to paint. it's been even longer since i've drawn or painted a self-portrait. i am definitely rusty - and the result is definitely a wonky one - but it was fun working on it.
(watercolor on paper, 81/2 x 11 inches)

"musings" travels to san francisco

2009-07-23T21:16:00.007-05:00

* it's been embarrassingly long since i've posted. and a real post at that. these long commutes have really been zapping me of any desire to draw at night. hopefully my energy levels will pick up again soon. in the meantime, if you're in San Francisco this week, you should check out the art show, "Meanwhile...". it features 7 of my little blog drawings from my series, "Good-bye Celestials." AND all these peeps' work:
** Audrey Welch
** Chris Conroy
** Eli Maness
** Matt Delight
** Meredith Scheff-King
** telephone & soup
** Travis Nichols
** W.A.M. - Women's Art Movement
Leef Smith put the inaugural show together to promote his new comic book store/art gallery. i wish i could go, but alas, i'm here in summerless Chicago, busy driving to and from purgatory every day... (sigh).

lotus-girl.com gets a shiny new look!

2009-07-05T19:47:00.002-05:00

musings has been on hiatus for over a month! but for good reason! i've been busy redesigning my site. lotus-girl.com is now shnazzier! check it out - feel free to let me know what you think!

oh, BUST-lovely day!

2009-06-01T06:32:00.002-05:00

After coming home from a particularly exhausting day at work last week, I got a new burst of energy when I saw this month's BUST waiting for me on the kitchen counter. BUST makes everything better. Imagine my elation when I peeked inside and discovered they'd printed my fan letter! Ah, to forever be emblazoned in BUST history. :)

Page through this month's issue online, or better yet, support the awesomeness that is BUST by purchasing a bona fide magazine today!

just their size

2009-05-31T08:13:00.000-05:00

"rainbo" by daniel levengood, guest blogger

2009-05-31T08:10:00.002-05:00

"super small nose sparkle
on a super cool marching
band fan.
bellies are big and jeans are
tight.
fuzzy little kitten wearing
a beach blanket to keep warm
aint nothing but a rainbo"

glide, glide

2009-05-31T08:09:00.000-05:00

french bread

2009-05-31T08:08:00.000-05:00

echo echo

2009-05-28T07:19:00.004-05:00

little ant zombie

2009-05-28T07:19:00.003-05:00

elastic babies are fun to draw

2009-05-26T07:12:00.003-05:00

petals and lilts

2009-05-26T07:12:00.001-05:00

"the blue line" by dan levengood, guest blogger

2009-05-26T07:11:00.001-05:00

twin baldies

2009-05-26T07:10:00.000-05:00

she melted into

2009-05-26T07:09:00.002-05:00

good-bye, celestials

2009-05-26T07:09:00.001-05:00

black hairs and bon voyage

2009-05-26T07:08:00.000-05:00

little hands, little feet

2009-05-26T07:06:00.000-05:00

five little souls

2009-05-26T07:05:00.000-05:00

decay

2009-05-26T07:04:00.001-05:00

creative juice dispenser

2009-05-18T19:28:00.000-05:00

i'm convinced this is what's wrong with my hands

2009-05-05T06:46:00.002-05:00

it looks delicious

2009-05-05T06:46:00.001-05:00

2009-05-05T06:44:00.001-05:00

the litmus

2009-05-05T06:43:00.000-05:00

pin the face on the human

2009-05-05T06:42:00.000-05:00

run for your life!

2009-04-30T12:13:00.001-05:00

staring problem

2009-04-30T12:12:00.000-05:00

nice jugs

2009-04-23T06:50:00.002-05:00

* thanks to Zach for this quaint expression :)

super hero tights

2009-04-14T07:33:00.001-05:00

don't judge a wool by its color

2009-04-14T07:32:00.000-05:00

happy resurrection day!

2009-04-12T11:56:00.001-05:00

Dear Mr. Shrigley

2009-04-11T13:18:00.001-05:00

ode to Good Friday greeting card (inside)

2009-04-10T07:32:00.000-05:00

ode to Good Friday greeting card (front)

2009-04-10T07:31:00.000-05:00

why go changin' a good thing?

2009-04-07T07:20:00.000-05:00

* Thanks to Derek for this one!

and what does it mean if there's a double rainbow?

2009-04-07T07:19:00.000-05:00

sharpei neck

2009-04-03T07:22:00.001-05:00

eight easy steps

2009-04-01T07:30:00.004-05:00

* for "courts" :)
p.s. have you ever seen a moon move like that? me neither... must be some kind of bacon magnetic field at work...
p.s.s. ahahaha! just realized i skipped Step Three. this is probably why i shouldn't draw at 7 in the morning before i've had coffee... or bacon. oops.

cracked

2009-04-01T07:29:00.000-05:00

...or a magnified ant's butt

2009-04-01T07:28:00.000-05:00

Thanks for making me take a cold shower, March

2009-03-29T14:39:00.001-05:00

such a good book

2009-03-28T17:24:00.003-05:00

* my friend MCB has the best taste in books and graphic novels, and luckily i reap the benefits. lots of times he sends his recommendations my way. i finished Ben Fountain's book of short stories, "Encounters..." two weeks ago, i find myself still thinking about his characters and their stories. i went in not knowing anything about the stories, and sometimes that element of surprise can be so satisfying. these were some rich, fascinating and heart-breaking tales. such an amazing read.

transparency

2009-03-28T17:23:00.002-05:00

striped sweaters are like hugs. try one!

2009-03-28T17:23:00.001-05:00

bird-shirts are hot right now

2009-03-28T17:22:00.000-05:00

tweet tweet in your coif, ma'am!

2009-03-23T22:02:00.000-05:00

try the uni, it's a delicacy and it's deeeelicious

2009-03-23T22:01:00.000-05:00

mmhm yes, sir!

2009-03-23T22:00:00.002-05:00

rapunzel!

2009-03-23T22:00:00.001-05:00

please, for the kids

2009-03-23T21:59:00.001-05:00

says devendra

2009-03-23T21:57:00.002-05:00

baby ghost's first playdate

2009-03-23T21:57:00.001-05:00

flame retardant

2009-03-23T21:56:00.000-05:00

dear mr. beard man in the sky sir

2009-03-23T21:52:00.000-05:00

creative... um

2009-03-23T21:51:00.001-05:00

* thanks to Senor Fatty for this most solemn observation...

silk sleeves

2009-03-02T23:39:00.004-06:00