Collaboration with: Dagstani + Sons

I am over the moon happy to share this project with Raj Dagstani of Dagstani and Sons: A Very Fine Fruit Company (who is a collaborator par excellence and found me through Ingrid).

Raj got in touch to collaborate on a little thank you card that would be sent along with his small batch, artisanal preserves, marmalades and jams. Once in a blue moon a collaborator comes along whose craft and passion is so obvious that it doesn't make sense to exchange money. And so, we traded "jam sessions" subscriptions (for us, for friends) for calligraphy. I waited to open this month's box, which included the card printed by the talented Thomas Printers, until the morning before I left for Santa Fe. It was my reward for completing a heap of projects before the new year. Every aspect - from the packaging to the three color + one blind press labels-- is so thoughtful. As I was readying to dig in to the Cranberry Raspberry it occurred to me that it'd be much better shared which meant swaddling it in my suitcase and bringing it to New Mexico where Andrew and I savored it on toast from Sage Bakery in celebration of our 10 year anniversary. (We are saving the Pear Vanilla).

I'm not sure what magic Raj possess, but every spoonful contains an alchemical mix of delight, comfort, and love.  I can think of no better gift to give or receive, and no more worthy enterprise to support. Here's to another year of satisfying, inspiring collaborations

SABINE

Here's what happened: Tumblr has been incredibly good to me. Many Tumblrs have kindly posted about my work, very often this tattoo. I am, and remain, grateful. Curious, I crawled out from underneath my rock and clicked about. I was startled. Image after image of really thin girls. Girls from the back, with jutting shoulder-blades. Girls from the side, with emaciated ribs. Girls lounging on yachts, with hip bones taking up most of the frame. Quotes about being skinny, then getting skinnier. Apparently this is called "thinspiration" -- thinspo for short. I can't bring myself to explore this topic any further. I once scrolled through this discussion over at The Sartorialist and vowed never again. It has nothing to do with big or small. Rather, it is how we see and notice and document beauty in the world. There's no reason to defend what we see and notice and document, but what we see and notice and document speaks volumes about who we are.

Overwhelmed, I retreated back under my rock shaking my head, feeling out of touch with this particular audience and what they chose to notice. I love Andrea's story, and the much larger sentiment she so eloquently expressed transcended the immaterial coincidence that she has a slender frame.

So you can imagine my whoop of happiness when Sabine offered to share these photos of her tattoo, and the touching story below. This is what I know from reading lifestyle and fashion blogs over the years: this tattoo may not tumble its way through the internet, it will not be reposted and "liked" and tweeted and integrated into an inspiration board and cooed over in the comments. And I could care less. To me, it is perfect, it is heartfelt, and it possess a quality lacking in those scores of skeletal women. A quality that Andrea identified, that they both embody, and that we can all recognize, intuitively, when we see it: a spark, a soul.

A few years ago my first panic-attack struck me and to make a long story short: I ended up in a psychosomatic clinic to learn how to deal with the panic and how to trust again in my body, in my heart. Learning, that it's not necessary to maniacally observe the own heartbeat. And now, some years later, I can finally deal with that. This year was quite a good year, with loads of challenges and great adventures. I travelled to Latin America and Africa (and to those that know me in person: two years ago that would have been an impossible idea even to think about!!), my job is challenging but good, I feel healthy and strong, I love my life, my husband, my friends and family. It's not that the panic is gone forever, but I am stronger than the panic. and that's why I wanted to get inked again, with a kind of mantra: live&breathe. no fear. That should accompany me, visible for me, on my belly.
 
And then I somehow (via) stumbled upon Mara's blog and the first thing I saw was this lovely and adorable picture. And after that it was clear to me that I want "my" mantra in calligraphy, done by Mara. For me, the first (and also the second and third) sight was breathtaking! I loved to see the words written so beautifully! it took us some drafts and actually I changed some words (the first version has bee too long: live - love - think - breathe. no fear) - but I immediately fell in love with this piece of art!
 
But still: which tattoo artist? And Bastian, my husband, was not so keen on my idea.  At the end, I let fortune decide. In October I had some days off, was cruising in my quarter in Munich and passed Wild at Heart. I showed Anna, the tattoo artist, the draft and asked if she can make it. And she could. Immediately afterwards, I was sure, that I would regret it ("I am 41, a grown-up, why do I need a tattoo?!"; "Oh my god, I got inked on my chubby belly... How will the tattoo look, after having lost weight?" [not so very likely...] etc.). But 2 days later, after the healing began and I could see the beauty, I loved it and I still do! In contrast to my tattoo on my shoulder, I can see this one every day and it reminds me of - and I know that sounds over dramatic - living and breathing! And of the most important: no fear! Thank you so much, Mara!

ESPERAR for December

What better way to start the final month of the year, as we look ahead to 2012, than with this inspiring tattoo story from K. The organization that she now works for is one I've long-admired, too, and it took remarkable courage and optimism to make the leap.

In January 2010, at age 36, I decided that within the year, I would leave the very good and very well-paid job I’d held for six years to do something that felt more personally satisfying. That spring, I received an offer for a position with a non-profit I’d long admired. I had to first figure out if I could actually live on the salary they offered (two-thirds less than my current salary) and if making this move would compromise the career I’d worked hard to build over ten years. I was also in a nine-month-old relationship with a man I loved, hoping that we would move in together and then move our lives forward together. (I was, of course, very aware of my age and wanting to be able to have a child, while trying to give the relationship room to develop at a natural pace.) My boyfriend was not yet ready to move in together and while I knew that he loved me and I had faith in our relationship, it was hard not to worry, given the new professional and financial pressure this job change would bring.

I spent a lot of time worrying -- Was I making the right move professionally? Would I be able to survive on two-thirds of my income? What if my relationship didn’t work out? Was I making myself too dependent on a man who hadn’t yet made a full commitment to me and us? I knew that worrying was not going to help and that I needed to follow my desire to find more personally fulfilling and gratifying work and have faith in my relationship and in my ability to make everything work, regardless of what happened. In trying to calm myself, I often thought of the Spanish word “esperar” which has an amazing (and seemingly contradictory) set of meanings: to wait; to hope; and to expect. I found peace in the idea that, rather than worry, I could instead wait, hope and expect that the things I wanted would happen. I had to be patient, yes, but I could be patient while also hoping and, on some deeper level, knowing that the things that I wanted (a fulfilling job and relationship) would, in time, be mine.

I finally made the leap and accepted the job offer. I had seen and loved Mara’s work and reached out to her. She was able to turn around my request in very short order and on the first Monday of my two week break between jobs, I got the tattoo done by the very talented Bart Bingham at New York Adorned.

It is almost a year from my initial vow that I would leave my old job and I am seven months into a job working for an organization that does amazing things for some of the most desperate among us, and three months in to living with the most loving, generous and kind partner I could have imagined. It was all worth waiting and hoping for and I am glad that I knew enough to expect that all this could be mine. 

Let's re-read that last line, shall we, and make it a motto for December, this very "esperar-y" month.

SUNDAY SUPPERS + SOPHIA'S BIRTHDAY

I am so excited to share this recent collaboration with the infinitely talented Karen Mordechai of Sunday Suppers. Karen got in touch last month to brainstorm some ideas for her daughter's birthday. She had a very clean color palette in mind-- linen, white, brown. I've been calligraphing on all sorts of surfaces recently (more on that soon) and thought it'd be fun to work directly on linen with fabric paint. The corresponding dish was placed up the runners, along with signs and labels. Hop over to Karen's blog to see more snaps. Heaps of thanks to Karen and the other vendors, and happy birthday Sophia! You have a lifetime of memorable celebrations ahead!

Utterly Engaged

I loved flipping through the new issue of Utterly Engaged. There is a jaw-dropping fairy tale spread (a photo above) photographed by John Schnack and styled by Alchemy Fine Events and Invitations. And a story on San Francisco's Poetry Store. I also really love that the UE ladies included a great feature on a local charity, ReCreation camp. So often charity is overlooked in the pursuit of beauty. And thank you for including me in the penmanship feature!

SMALL BUSINESS CRUSH: MR. BODDINGTON'S

I was so honored when Jessie over at Mr. Boddington's asked me to contribute some calligraphy for their spectacular line-up of fall products. My fondness for Mr. Boddington's is well know to readers of this blog. Every time I get a package from them I'm consistently amazed at the unique, beautiful design and high-quality materials. Above: their chevron striped gift tags,  four design gift tags, and custom correspondence notes. Hop over to the site for more snaps of their incredible work. Thanks Mr. + Jessie!

SPARK

 Andrea from Switzerland kindly sent along these photos of her "spark" tattoo, a word she chose as a reminder that: "there's a spark in you, you just got to ignite the light, and let it shine." Above, the appointment card, healing process and final result. I love how the outline so closely lines up with curve of her rib.

Many thanks to Andrea for the photos, and to tattoo artist Darek Darecki, originally form Poland who was doing a guest stint at GIAHI in Zurich.
{Photos by Andrea H.}

 

MEETING OF THE CALLIGRAPHIC MINDS

From left to right, beautiful work by: love*jenna, Primele and Paperfinger.

Earlier this summer I had the pleasure and honor of meeting up with Bryn from Paperfinger, Jenna from love*jenna and Patricia from Primele for a day-long session of calligraphic inspiration, advice, story-sharing and collaboration at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. (Nary a photo was taken because we were all a bit damp from the ungodly hot weather). What a gift to have formed a little modern calligraphers guild. Bryn kindly posted soon after the meeting of the minds, and I've been intending to follow suit. Please check out their outstanding work if you haven't already.