Well, That's Awkward

Last year, I bought a long sleeved tee from Teespring, a web site which advertised heavily on Facebook.

Long sleeved tees are valuable because they are so versatile in spring and fall with the ability to push up the sleeves if I get too warm. Plus, under layers, they keep my arms warm and aren't as heavy as a sweater.

This is a Discworld image. That's the Great A'Tuin, the ultimate turtle on which the four elephants holding up the world stand. In the cold of space, there's ice on A'Tuin and the elephants. The Discworld spins around the cone in the center, The Hub, and the seas fall off the sides in long cascading tendrils of water and ice. I could get this image on any color tee I wanted. This is my favorite color.

But, at the end of February, a rather large controversy arose centered around Teespring. I can't find the actual start of it but accusations were made suggesting Teespring ripped off the artists whose designs were on the clothing they sold. Friends who are artists said this was "well known" within the artistic community.

It's a very double-edged sword. You want people to see what you do because the way to make money is to have people buy your stuff. The Internet makes it very easy to reach a world-wide audience you never would have reached before. With that visibility comes those who don't care if you spent 382 hours working on something. They are going to steal your design and slap it on a tee shirt and sell it for $14.

I know this is a huge problem in the comic world. Comic conventions have given space to "artists" who print other people's stuff and sell it as their own. Names are tossed about. Videos of confrontations abound and calls for boycotting certain conventions until they weed out the imposters happen every convention season.

I've purchased things from Teespring before. Witness this tee shirt, one of my favorites.

I have a red shirt with a black cat slogan on it which is not as high quality. I have to admit, I don't know the original artist. Hearing people who have more knowledge than me rail against a web site made me wonder if my purchase ever did anything for the artist. Am I perpetuating a fraud? I adore both shirts. The tee part is comfortable and exceptional quality. I love the designs, obviously, or I wouldn't have purchased them.

Since the conversation at the end of February, I have seen zero advertising on my Facebook feed from Teespring. Reviews are not favorable. When you poke around a bit, supposedly Teespring was created as a means for artists to get their work out to the public, but a lot of people are saying this isn't happening. So I feel guilty.

In reality, I need more tee shirts like I need bubonic plague, regardless of their design. My conscience now won't let me order anything from this company and will force me to see if I can track down a shirt designer unless I'm getting it from some place like Disney. I guess the cautionary take away is that if I want to support artists, I need to start frequenting arts and crafts shows. That probably wouldn't be such a bad idea. It would get me out of the house.

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast Tea

Deb

Things I See - Exploding Eyeballs Edition

I was in a space some time ago where this was the wallpaper in one of the rooms.

I've been trying to think of something complimentary to say but I simply cannot. This was on all four walls. If this had been a bedroom, I could not imagine sleeping here. I have no idea of the age of this wallpaper.

I just put this out there for you to look at. I see a lot of design which inspires me, but I also see a lot which befuddles me, completely and totally.

Beverage:  Assam tea

Deb

Things I See - The Design of Religion - Part 2

The interior of Old St. Patrick's church greatly reflects its heritage. There isn't much on the outside to identify it as an Irish church. Oh there's the signage and the front doors, but everything else is neo-Romanesque. If you approach the church from the west, it looks like any other older brick church in Chicago. But when you step inside, the explosion of Celtic/Irish design hits you.

It's painted, everywhere. There are Celtic knots at the corners of the stained glass windows.

There are Celtic knots at chair rail height on walls without windows.

Carved wood surrounds the statues of Mary and Joseph at the front of the church.

The altar itself is surrounded with this intricately carved design.

The priest's altar, behind the main altar, is not as intricately Celtic. It's more a reflection of Catholicism than of the Irish.

This, I was told, is an original piece. The front altar has been redone over the years. This has been restored several times, but is original.

The marble floor in front of the main altar extended the theme of Celtic knots.

This is inlaid marble. It's just beautiful.

But the culmination of the integration in architecture and design is above you; the ceiling.

It is absolutely breathtaking. The mix of color. The intricacies of the Celtic designs.

Every inch of the ceiling was covered with paint of some sort.

Even the fixture covers were incorporated into the overall theme.

I wonder how often they have to do touch-ups. I didn't see much in the way of chipped paint. This place is certainly a treasure.

Beverage:  Assam tea

Deb

More BCN

I hope you can stand another promo for Breaking Cat News. I just adore the drawing style and the humor of the comic. The artist, Georgia Dunn, also has an Etsy shop. It's not open all the time, but when it is, I am frantically pounding on the virtual doors, money held tightly in my grip, wanting something she's offering. I ran out of Christmas cards and ordered more the day before she offered cards in her shop. I have cards, exquisitely funny cards, ready for this Christmas.

Anyway, back in June, right after I'd received my book, she opened her shop for a week to sell prints. She'd done this picture in one of her comics of Puck scaling a pile of laundry and people clamored for her to make it into a print. The life of a cartoonist, particularly while raising two young children AND, at that time, moving from Rhode Island to California, was daunting. But, the cartoon funds their stability so she opened the shop with a few items; prints, posters, mugs, note cards. Some things were in limited quantity.

Of course I was at the virtual doors on the day they were unlocked. While the Puck climbing the laundry print is cute, my kids don't care about the laundry other than sheets and then only because Pilchard has discovered she can pee on them to register displeasure that the litter boxes may not be to her specifications. Hamlet is enamored with the laundry chute because he can go down it, go sideways, and wind up on top of the furnace where there is all the warms. There was another print, however, which caught my eye. One was left in the shop so I snatched it up posthaste.

I don't remember how long I had to wait for it to come. Georgia and "the man" personally package every sale and, if you write a note next to the item you're buying, she will respond, if she's not overwhelmed with how many people are throwing money at her. I came home from work one day and there was a sturdy, brown envelope between the door and the storm door. I looked at it and noticed I'm not the only one who likes stickers.

Mine, however, aren't custom. That's Tommy, by the way. He does video editing for BCN. I "met" him, I think 2 Christmases ago when, I think it was Elvis, accidentally got out and got lost. Tommy is something of a neighborhood cat, although he has a home. (See? See? These cats are completely relatable.) I was giddy with excitement. My print had arrived! I turned over the package to open it up.

Now THAT'S a sticker. Elvis, Lupin and Puck. I couldn't open the mailer without tearing the sticker, which made me a bit sad, but inside was my print.

This is my house; completely and totally, my house. While it's usually Pilchard who jumps or attempts to jump, into empty boxes; Mija also like the bigger ones. Hamlet isn't quite sure.

This print taps into two things. #1 - If you have cats, bags or boxes are immediate toys or houses. Any cat lover will tell you of the time they ordered some wonderful toys, cat house, scratching pads, whatever and the cat didn't care about the ordered stuff. All they wanted was the box. #2 - When I was a kid, my dad would bring home large boxes from friends who were getting appliances or from the grocery store. He would cut doors in them; essentially a side flap; and they became cars, trucks, trains, busses. I have such wonderful memories of the excitement I felt when we got a new box. We would play with it until it fell apart. This statement is completely true. Even toddlers will eschew the contents of a box to play with the box itself. Imagination is a wonderful thing.

The print came with a personal 'thank you'.

There was also a smaller card with the gang. My memory for all the cat names isn't good, but there's Sophia, who lives with Tommy and on whom he has a crush, but she's not all that interested in him; Baba Mouse, who had a great story line last year involving an owl (I will not give it away, except to say Edward Lear would have been proud. Now go to the comic or her web site and find it.); and the two anchors of the Spanish language cat news network who live upstairs in the house where the boys live.

I was so happy. I showed the girls what I'd received since they know that boxes and bags make me excited.

Mija sniffed and wandered away.

Pilchard sniffed it and rubbed her cheek against it. I'm taking that as tactic approval of this being in the house.

I haven't framed it yet. It's 11 x 17 so it needs a decent bit of wall space. I still have an 8x10 of my daughter and son-in-law's wedding that needs framing. I have some art I'm not enamored with any more, which I keep meaning to take down, but the photo and this print won't fit in the vacated spot. I would need to redo the whole wall. That means taking down everything, pulling the nails, patching the holes and repainting the wall. I'm not up to all that. Where I'd like this is in the living room and that's custom paint. If I repaint one wall, I'll have to redo all the walls because the paint has, I'm sure, faded since it was initially painted. So this sits with the daughter's photo.

But I have it and it fills me with happiness when I look at it. That's what art should do; make you happy you have it.

Beverage:  LaCroix Berry Seltzer

Deb

The Things I See

The last couple of weeks have found me in a couple of very interesting buildings. The first object of a blog post is an auction house in the city. It's in a section of town which has gradually, over the last 10 years, seen urban renewal. The building itself used to be a printing house but is now a place of, for me, wonder at the art contained therein. To inspect the building was going to take some time. Fortunately, across the street was a brand-new Portillo's.

This is important for lunch, you know. I hadn't had a slice of their amazing chocolate cake in a long time. It's also great for the neighborhood. This location serves salads. My co-worker got their apple cranberry chicken salad and it looked very good. I usually order a polish, mustard only, fries and a medium Coke. (They don't serve Dr Pepper.) But I looked at her salad and thought, I could eat that. It looks delicious and better for me than a polish.

The building was 4 stories of treasures plus basement storage. I found the two turtle doves, but no partridge in a pear tree.

There was this sculpture sitting off to the side.

It's a light-weight bronze of cattails. I could see this in my yard. I have no idea if it was designed for the yard or if it's indoor only, but it's really distinctive.

There was this globe sitting on a table in amongst a section devoted to garden sculpture and wicker seating.

Again, I have no idea if this is something you could put on a pedestal and sit in your yard or is it only for, say, an enclosed patio or your living room. In any case, I don't have room for it but it's one of those things I'd covet.

They didn't have a lot of paintings. They don't deal with many of those, I was told, because other auction houses handle them. There is a thriving paintings market in Chicago, something I sort of suspected. The "knick-knacks" they have, if you will, are just as valuable, particularly when they are older and in excellent condition. But, they will take paintings for sale and the climate controlled nature of the building means they can sit for awhile without damage.

A long time ago, I used to edit a railroad historical publication. I have a few things in my house from those days. I saw this.

I'd hang this on my wall. I love the colors and how immediate the train is.

Also something I'd put on my wall is this one.

I've been in a lot of homes where there are art collections and it's rare to see baseball paintings. I like the action of the painting. It was big, 5 feet in length, so you'd need a large wall for it.

And there was this.

This is quintessentially Chicago. Mr. Submarine sub shop is not something I've encountered outside the Chicago city limits. It's a classic mix of old and new buildings on a street in the city. I've walked this street. I've taken photos along these streets. It's a hot summer day. The sub shop beckons. Air conditioning and an ice cold beverage. This was also a large painting. I would have to remove quite a bit of my current art to accommodate it. Still, I wouldn't have to repaint the walls. It would look good with my current paint scheme.

There was a giraffe under plastic because you know there would be.

And there were mirrors, lots and lots of mirrors on one section of a floor. One, in particular, was ripe for a photo.

You know I rarely post photos of myself to this blog, but here I am, camera in hand, working. This mirror was huge. It functions more as an art piece than a mirror.

They have an upcoming auction of posters of Chicago and surrounding cities. Many were of the Art Deco age, highly stylized and touting taking the train or the South Shore Lines into Chicago or Indiana Dunes. There were 1933 World's Fair posters and general prints depicting 1930's-era Chicago. I recognized some landmarks, but there were a few prints showing buildings long gone. If I had a) the money and b) the wall space... The person I chatted with said art is the one thing which doesn't lose value. She said there are a lot of people with money in Chicago now and they are looking for distinctive pieces for their space. "You just need a couple thousand to get into collecting." Um...yeah. About that.

I'm content to just be in a space with art. I don't have to have it. I do understand the value of surrounding yourself with pieces which reflect your taste and which could appreciate in value. I also understand the need to patronize young artists so, if I'm going to buy, it's going to be from one of the many art festivals which seem to be every two or three weeks during the summer.

I very much enjoyed this inspection. It was a lot of walking and climbing of stairs but I could lose myself in the peace that comes from being surrounded by art.

Beverage:  Earl Grey tea

Deb

Your Objections Are Irrelevant

I know I have not posted in what amounts to an epoch in blogging terms. I'm working on a post about the whys of my absence. It's a bit convoluted to explain in a post that deals with unicorns.

Yes, unicorns.

Work is back to being phenomenally busy. There was a break in February and March, but, since March 18th, it's been a steady stream. That's good for bottom lines, but not good for observational blog posting. I am, however, posting tonight because this makes me smile.

We are involved in a very large redevelopment in the city. Part of the project was inspections; 52 of them to be exact. I wasn't involved in the bulk of the project. I picked up the slack for smaller, far-flung jobs, but I did do 8 of them.

My last day of inspections involved a condo building used by DePaul University to house graduate students. In the first apartment, there was this piece on the wall.

I was struck by the coolness factor. The gal from the management company said as long as I took a photo just of the head, she didn't see any harm in my photographing it so I could find something like it later.

How does one find a golden unicorn head? Well, one types "golden unicorn head" into Google and up pops an etsy shop belonging to White Faux Taxidermy. Now, you go to that shop and tell me you aren't amazed and excited. Unicorn heads come in two sizes. Did I want a large size or a small size? I looked around my house. I guess I should decide where to put the thing, if I was going to buy one. I'm still tidying. It's an ongoing process, but part of that extends to the art I have on my walls. Some things mean a great deal to me. Other things have passed their excitement. I found a piece I got from someone who no longer is a friend. I never found out why she quit talking to me. That spot would be perfect for a small unicorn head.

The box came today.

When UPS pulled up outside, I knew what they were delivering. It's a rather large box. For a moment, I wondered if it would be too big for the allotted space.

It comes "unassembled", meaning the horn is in the styrofoam packaging with the head. You simply have to insert it into the hole in the top.

You can see this is not all that big. The mini-unicorn is 10 inches tall while the regular size is 16.25 inches tall.

Now to hang it. I removed the piece of art, a rectangular item 8.5 by 11 inches, and put the unicorn in its place.

The bigger head would not have fit in the space. I would have had to rearrange the photos above and below it. As it is, my photos are sorely in need of a removal and dusting behind and around them.

My next purchase is going to be a shark's head for the bathroom. It is only one size, but I can get it in a whole bunch of colors. Step 1 is to paint the room. Step 2 is to hang the whale shelf. Only then can I save up for a shark head.

Look! I have a golden unicorn head on my living room wall! Is this not the coolest thing? Any objections to life that you have for the next week are irrelevant.

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast Tea (which I left on the counter as I went to work. /sigh)

Deb

That's Up

Finally got one poster up on the wall in the office.

No, it's not square in the middle of the wall. I'm going to put a couple of photos near the right corner; photos of the girls. I got the cutest frames. I am still debating about the Iowa football poster. I may bring it home and put it on the wall in the back room. Originally, it was going to go on the wall to the right, above the cabinet. Now, I'm thinking that corner will be too cluttered. I love the Fantasia poster on the wall, however. It came out exactly as dynamic as I thought it would.

I tried to hang one of the items on the wall behind my desk. The press-on hangers will stick to the wall but not the back of the cross-stitch I have for that wall because the back of the frame is fuzzy. I am going to need to put a nail in the wall, something I was hoping to avoid. I need to get a couple more hangers like I used to hang the framed poster. What I have won't hold what I have left to hang. I need to find a plant stand for the aloe and the geranium in my window. I really should transplant the geranium into something else. Spring is here which means I start contemplating what plants go on the deck. That will spur me to repot the geranium.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

The Random View of Thursday at Disneyland

Here's a collection of photos from Thursday, November 5th. Let's start with the mountains.

This is the view from the Mickey ferris wheel. The real mountains are in the distance with the fake mountains from the Cars Land ride in the foreground. The fake mountains don't look all that out of place from the real ones due to the realism of the fake ones. I also like the clouds in the sky. Just needs a couple of vertical lines and you'd have a tic tac toe game in the sky.

How about a fountain?

This one is in Downtown Disney. It's a stylized flower. I like the undulating shapes and the gradation of color from center outward. There aren't a lot of fountains around. It wasn't until I was looking through my photos that I realized this isn't a part of the decoration in either park. Fountains take space and they tend to break up a path. Disney is about funneling large amounts of people from one point to another. A fountain is just in the way. Oh you could tuck it off the the side. This one was alongside a thoroughfare, but that seems to defeat the purpose of a fountain as a focal point. This one is quite pretty. The color change was achieved with small tiles. Wonder how long it took people to apply the tiles?

Speaking of tiling, here is the floor in the pseudo French Quarter of Disneyland.

Attention to design is paramount at Disney. Liz pointed out, on many occasions, where you could find the outline of Mickey in the architecture and design of both California Adventure and Disneyland. While Mickey's not here, on the floor of the Pandora Jewelers, I like the use of tile to create a mosaic which fit with the surroundings. I see things like this and I remember working in mosaics in an art class in college. We worked with heavy paper and the section on mosaics was to help us understand color. If I wasn't so busy with other craft projects...

Color and design on the ground is not limited to mosaics. Witness what they did with colored cement.

"Cement" is a bit of a misnomer for this ground covering. It's an aggregate which can be tinted in a large number of colors. I've seen this in a lot of places. One of the problems with it in cold climates is that the colors are usually separated by thin pieces of metal. The surface is sealed so you never feel the change from one piece to another. But, the ground freezes in the upper Midwest, so spring heave is a big concern. I've had to inspect designs such as these and you find all sorts of cracks at corners and uneven heave can produce a large crack in, say, the middle of one of the yellow triangles. Ground issues are probably not a problem in Southern California, so they are free to be inventive with the design and color. It was quite impressive.

I would do this in a heartbeat if I could figure out how.

This was outside the Starbucks where we had breakfast. It's a mesh in which a variety of plants have been planted in what appeared to be a peat-like potting soil. This would be a wonderful way to shade a patio. I could see it planted with flowering plants to provide color. It appeared to have a design to the plantings but was in the midst of a change of seasons so some plants were new and not completely filled out. I also loved that, unlike Disneyland, there were birds nesting in the mesh. That, alone, appealed to me. I'm all about providing habitat for nesting birds. I'm sure, if I looked, there are plans online for something like this. You'd need it to be fairly high to block out the sun, but you could make it merely 6-7 feet tall to act as a screen.

Could it get any better than this?

Part of the design of California Adventure is the recreation of an early American amusement park. Witness the roller coaster and the ferris wheel. LOOK! SWINGS! Liz and I walked toward the ferris wheel and she pointed out this ride. I love this ride! I am at the edge of fitting into the chairs but it was an absolute hoot. I have so many, many warm memories of county fairs with a swing ride. I wouldn't go up in a ferris wheel, but I'll let a ride fling me almost sideways with nothing but a chain to hold me to the top. You are never too old to have your feet dangling in front of you, the wind in your face, giggling for all your worth, while your 9 year-old self comes bubbling to the top for a ride. That's Disneyland, for you. It's okay to be on the backside of your middle ages yet riding swing rides.

Beverage:  Raspberry Seltzer

Deb

Thursday Disneyland

Going back to all the photos I wanted to post and comment on but never had the chance to until now. If you're bored with this trip, skip this and a few more upcoming. This is a review of Thursday, November 5th. It was a sparkling morning.

Because of the lingering drought, this is usually how mornings start, I'm given to understand. For a Midwesterner who does not anticipate this kind of sunshine in November, when it can be more cloudy than sunny, it was exciting. Liz and I walked the equivalent of 6 blocks north to the park. We got there, on purpose, with time to spare, to have a quick breakfast and then to wait.

It really didn't seem real until we went through security and into this plaza where all the light posts were festooned with the celebratory 60th Anniversary banners. Oh that's right! Disneyland is celebrating its 60th year in operation. Liz had mentioned this and said there would be all sorts of fun stuff going on. It did not hit me until I was standing in that square and there were these banners.

Liz handed me my ticket. Wow. She was ever so patient and amused at my slack-jawed yokel-ness amazement at where I was. When we decided to do this and I made the decision to pay for 2 days of Disney, it was a long ways off. Liz, the admitted Disney "freak", kept getting more and more excited to show us the parks she loves. It was exciting, but, jeeze, I need a new washer and then the car dies and any celebration is simply that I can pay all my bills at the end of the month. But then, she hands me this small piece of paper and  I walk into the plaza between Disneyland and California Adventure and, my mouth drops open. I really am here.

I was given the option of going to California Adventure or Disneyland first. I thought about it and decided on California Adventure as Disneyland would be quasi-familiar due to my visits to Walt Disney World. I handed the pass to the gentleman at the gate. "Welcome Princess," he said. I laughed and said, "No one has ever called me a princess. I should get that in writing." He pulled out his marker and wrote on the back of my pass. There. "Proof", such as it is, that I am a 'princess'. Yeah, tell that to the cats.

We headed into the park. Of course, I had to take a photo of the map.

It is quite easy to get completely turned around. That is probably by design. The longer you are in the park, the more chance the souvenir shops can part you from your money. North is at the bottom of the map. The ferris wheel, which I've already blogged about, is at the top of the map. Part of my job is to know which way I am facing when I discuss what I see on a building's walls. I abandoned my kind of meager sense of direction and just surrendered to the fun. This is supposed to be part of "the happiest place on earth". I should enjoy the sensation.

We walked about the park. Around every bend are the unusual and photogenic. Disney, of course, plans for this, although there aren't a lot of the obtrusive "Kodak Photo Spot" signs I remember from Disney World.

This is hilarious. All the eateries are in cone-shaped buildings in Cars Land.

The obligatory humorous photo conveniently provided by the park and, of course, you have to do it.

Oh my gosh! Real birds! You don't expect to see those. You kind of think, because Disney is a leader in animatronics, that any animals you see are going to be of the mechanical kind. I had to take a photo of real, live, seagulls. Here's another spot where there were real birds.

These are the fake mountains in Cars Land, in the ride area. It's hard to see in the small photo, but there are seagulls perched on the top of this hill. I thought, "Gee, they do think of everything" when I saw it and then a couple of them flew off.

We didn't see many birds or chipmunks or squirrels in the park, in spite of the huge amount of food around. Even though there is an army of people with brooms and small waste cans, food is everywhere. Yet, those scavengers I'm so used to at other large venues where nowhere to be seen. I wonder how much of that is due to the diligence of park personnel in keeping the place clean and how much is due to the presence of feral cats. If you didn't know about the feral cats making their homes in Disneyland, here's the link to an article about them. I have noticed an uptick in wildlife in my backyard now that I don't have outdoor cats roaming about the yard.

At noon, we went across the plaza to Disneyland. Of course, this is the first thing you see when you walk in.

I didn't get to ride the train. Guess I'll have to come back.

So I wonder if this is the most photographed human sculpture in the world. That's Sleeping Beauty's castle in the background. Cinderella's castle is at Disney World. This one isn't as high and it's a different coloration. Lots of people were trying to get just the right photo of the statue with the castle in the background. Everyone was respectful and waited their turn, even offering to take photos with other people's cameras so they could be in the photo.

We didn't hang around much because we were coming back for an extended period on Sunday. Disneyland feels more like a park should. You're entering from the south and working north instead of the other way around. I don't know if situating your amusement park along cardinal directions has anything to do with attendance, but Disneyland felt more comfortable. That could also be the problem of California Adventure trying to figure out what it is. It's always been something of a step-child to Disneyland. There aren't as many rides and it's more heavily shop-based than Disneyland. It's supposed to be a Disney-fied version of the Anaheim Walt came to in 1920. It's fun, but if you're a tourist, you gravitate to Disneyland. That's only natural.

We left at 3:30 and walked back to the hotel. I had a blister on my right foot; on the ball of the foot below the middle toe. It made walking painful. We met up with Ashley, who had arrived at 3, and headed over to the Convention Center.

Again, I felt that awe at being in a place I'd spent 6 months preparing for. There were people everywhere, although no one in costume, yet. We walked in and got in line for our convention badges. The line moved swiftly and I think we had everything in 15 minutes. There is no merit to showing up early. You can't do anything other than stand in line for hours to buy things from the Blizzard store. Ashley and I went to the store on Saturday morning and spent 30 minutes total, making purchases. If I ever do this again, that's when I'm going, first thing on a Saturday morning.

From here, there was a "party" in the Hilton which wasn't real spectacular. There was an art exhibit and, later, meet and greets with people from WOW-themed web sites. But we weren't really interested in them so we met up with Amy and her hubby and went to dinner. Friday would be the big day.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb