Wow, I haven’t done one of these posts in forever! But of course I still come across all sorts of interesting things online, despite the internet’s best efforts to have everything devolve into partisan politics.
Principle Goes to the Zoo | Houston Zoo
The Houston Zoo recently did a rebrand, and I thought the result was pretty nice. They managed to reference the old logo while also giving a totally new and fresh look and feel. I have graphic design training but this kind of thing is not my strong suit, so it always impresses me to see something that was likely hard look so easy. More here for those who are interested in this kind of thing.
Hip-Hop’s Cross-Stitch Gawd | Great Big Story
Rappers. Cross stitch. Two things that feel like they shouldn’t go together, but Emma McKee combines them and man, her work is phenomenal. This short video is worth watching, and you can find more on McKee’s website.
How did they do it? Fall in the Falls by Timna Tarr | Cosy Project
I saw one of Timna Tarr’s map quilts at Quilt Festival in 2015 and have been following her work ever since. This article gives a great look into her creative process for these types of quilts. She is teaching a class on this topic at QuiltCon next February and I’m SUPER excited to have gotten into it. I can’t wait to learn more about her technique in person and start working on a map quilt of my own!
Kendrick Lamar Denies Ripping Off the Artist Who’s Suing Him Over His ‘Black Panther’ Music Video | Artnet News
Copyright in the art world is always an interesting topic. Looking at the examples shown here and knowing that Lamar’s team contacted artist Lina Iris Viktor…well, to a bystander like me, it certainly looks like Viktor has a case. This article was written a month ago, and I wasn’t able to find any update so I don’t know where the allegation currently stands.
The Best Thing Ever Written About Work-Life Balance | Austin Kleon
You want a social life, with friends,
A passionate love life and as well
To work hard every day. What’s true
Is of these three you may have two
And two can pay you dividents
But never may have three.
That’s the first stanza of a great little poem by Kenneth Koch, brought to my attention by Austin Kleon. This whole blog post worth reading, especially if you are a woman and/or mother and do creative work.
I like the poem. I’d substitute “family” for love, and it doesn’t cover hobbies, but I was just reflecting on how I’ve been neglecting my friendships since I went back to work full-time. It feels impossible – it is impossible – to do all the things I want to do. Work is going great, and my hobbies and friendships are suffering. Last year, I was treading water at work, and my running was going great, and I’d been spending more time with friends. It’s frustrating.
I have felt very similarly about friendships and social activities in general in the last few years, basically since having kids. I’ve been so tied up with work and family that friendships get squeezed out. Obviously I’m still making a lot of time for hobbies (quilting) but that’s easier — weeknights after 8 p.m. works fine for quilting, for example, but not so much for doing something with friends.
I will say that things have been starting to improve, particularly in the last 6 months or so. The kids are both getting easier, and it feels like Jose and I have a bit more bandwidth than we’ve had in the past to let each other have bits of time here and there to indulge our various interests.
For Jose, that’s become teaching and electronics, for me it’s quilting and the occasional workout.