Flowery art installation in the Flat Iron Building

My walk home the other night took me past a wonderful installation in New York's famous Flatiron Building, giving me my daily dose of inspiration. The building is home to the Prow Art Space, a public art space where work is visible 24 hours a day, in a small dimensional glass triangle. The space is as unique as the art inside it and was recently home to a 3D version of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.

The current installation called Flora Sutra L=T-V, by artist Serena Gidwani Buschi, couldn't be more different. Dozens of lotus flowers appear to be floating in the air, suspended from string or perched atop glass tubes. The style of each varies, and together creates a wonderful, colorful garden in the urban space.  Here are a few of my pics, and you can read more about the artist and the work here.

Some onlookers check out the space

Pretty flowers

These are see through, not sure of the material 

Close up of one flower, covered in flower patterns 

Floaters

Houses, signs, and quirks of Old Town Alexandria

Last weekend, I spent a little time in Old Town Alexandria, a quaint little town just south of Washington DC on the Virginia side of the Potomic River.  Old Town seems to have escaped much of the strip-malling of the DC metro, although it does have an H&M, and many of the area's houses have been around since the revolution.  This lends itself to adorable buildings full of character, fine detailing, and placards to read.  I assume all the houses are haunted. 

Here are a few pics to inspire your colonial style. Unfortunately they were taken with my phone as it dies a slow death, so excuse the clarity.  It was a gorgeous day, and I'd love to go back for an afternoon with my DSLR.

Little row houses

Lovely brick detailing

Old colonial home

Sunbathed courtyard full of potted plants

Hidden dream house, except for the ghosts
that probably live there

Excellent use of hanging lanterns

Love the color of this door and the knocker

Rusted shop sign

Government building where I once posed wedding party photos

Map Illustration: Reading Terminal Market

Maps are awesome and I love them. Now you know. So when commissioned to do a map illustration for Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market, where you can apparently have weddings, I was suffice to say, pumped. If you've never been there, it's a seemingly endless hall of food vendors selling delicious and mostly decadent foods. To be honest I'm not sure how it works when you hold a wedding reception there, but I was tasked with helping the out-of-towners and towners alike navigate the events of the celebration in a fun and easy way. 

Not to scale.

Each vendor is marked by a little illustration showing the kind of food they have, and there are illustrations for the dance floor, seating, desserts, and of course the bathrooms.  The map was included in the invitation, which would get anyone excited for a belt-loosening cocktail hour.  Here are some close ups.  

Sushi and a Thanksgiving turkey: world's collide

You'll know where to bring your song requests before you even get there.

Here's an overhead of the whole thing:

To Market!

I'd like to continue some map explorations, especially one of my trip out west, and incorporate some of those deep reds and blues.  I smell a summer project...

Want to chat about a customized map? Email me at info@studiohearttohand.com.

A little line art street art

It's been a while since I've posted about street art, so two super cool and super different pieces.

The first is the latest mural on the Houston/Bowery graffiti wall.  Very Asian influenced (the artist is Tokyo-born Lady Aiko), I love the girly but edgy color palette.

I'm also picking up little Lichtenstein

Smooches

At the other end of the spectrum is this poster sized line drawing of some guys jammin'. It was spotted adhered to a wall in downtown Jersey City; artist of course, is unknown.

Love the fluid lines, oh and don't forget to vote

Funny how these pieces are so different in scale, subject, and line style, but both use lots of white space and defined black lines (though the first are actually made up of many small shapes). 

A classic invitation set

This traditional and elegant wedding invitation suite was created for Lydia and Rodrigo, a sweet and social couple living in Washington DC. 

For who don't know, DC is prep-city, but a pretty awesome place to hang out nonetheless.  Lydia and Rodrigo both grew up in the area and with their wedding at a country club just outside the city, this style fit perfectly with the scene. 

Tokens from San Francisco

I recently took a trip out to San Francisco to visit some friends and see why so many people are migrating to the Bay City. While I don't know if I could get used to the unchanging temperature and the rapidly changing weather, it is a pretty awesome place. And what trip would be complete without picking up some paper goods as momentos?  Sometimes letterpress is just too hard to resist.

This map-ish card is by Karen Jean Organics for Loose Petals

A bright skyline letterpress card from Hello! Lucky

"Growing Horns" print by Leah Duncan

Love the soft colors and organic detailing

Paper bird garland from Lamali. I still can't get over birds.

I also bought some of that blue paper that changes colors in the sun. It's been probably 20 years since I last played with this, so lets see if I can come up with anything more interesting than an arrangement of leaves found in my front yard.

Use this paper to trick children into doing chemistry.

Here are a few extra things worth including in this post. I was hoping to get more street art, but I stopped trying to take pictures while riding a bike after almost colliding with one of those Lance Armstrong types.  

In the Haight

This was just a picture I really liked that has not been photoshopped.  Taken in Alamo Square.

Those are my three friends, not aliens

Can't wait to go back!

Cityscapes are just shapes

It's been a very busy month, and I've spent many evenings crouched over the tiny desk.  But the second shift has produced some great work, starting with 5 city skyline illustrations made for the Philadelphia based stationary and event planning company Paper Rock Scissors.

Even as I heard myself say, "I can have them done in a week," I was simultaneously thinking, "Am I really saying this?"  But it's amazing how much you can get done when you stop watching reruns of Law & Order: SVU and get down to business.  And after extensive researching, sketching, and mistake making, I ended up pretty happy with the results, as did the client!  It was a challenge to reduce everything to simple lines and shapes—I swear I'll never look at buildings the same again.  The raw illustrations are below, the technique is India ink on watercolor paper.

Manhattan from the East River

Manhattan from the Hudson River

Philadelphia

Annapolis—my personal favorite

Washington, D.C.

Some close ups are available here.  Can't wait to see how they'll be used!