For a long time there’s been a space above our living room sofa. We had a mirror up there and then my husband got worried that it was too heavy and that it would fall somehow. So we took it down. As a space filler I washi taped up some lavender. Finally I found something to fill the space on the wall and in my heart. I’m in mad love with this piece. It’s a serigraph, edition of 500 Will Barnet completed in 1970 (hooray for Ebay). I had it framed in a simple white frame. Truly, I’m smitten.

Sorry for the serious dearth of posting lately. Work’s been hectic. Stick with me, I have lots to say in the coming weeks. Have a great weekend.
Love,
Sam

The weather here in NYC has been incredible. I kind of feel like playing hooky and lazing about with a good book. I hope you have a beautiful and relaxing weekend.

The piece above was a potential cover for my book but we decided to go with one of the interior illustrations for it. I’ll be sharing news about that soon!

Today I just thought it would be fun to give you a closer look at some of my illustrations for Daily Candy.

Check out this amazing collection of the myriad of The Great Gatsby book covers, collected by scholar and F. Scott Fitzgerald biographer Matthew J. Bruccoli who spent his adult life stockpiling them.

“…today his trove is not only one of the world’s most complete collections but also an illuminating cross section of 83 years of book design. Now housed at the University of South Carolina, the collection is worth several million dollars but Bruccoli, who died in 2008, claimed he was never motivated by money. “You don’t buy books as an investment,” he said. “You buy them because it gives you pleasure to read them, to touch them . . . to see them on shelves.”

Via The New York Times

May 4th would have been Audrey Hepburn’s 84th birthday. I love this Vanity Fair cover. She has so many happy go lucky photographs out there but there are also some that are more somber. She seemed like a truly dynamic and beautiful woman whether she was truly happy or just putting on a good face.
Images via:
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hand-lettered quote by me

This morning I clicked the link to one of my favorite blogs, The Fox is Black and was instantly struck by these incredible illustrations of homes, workspaces, clothing and food. The painting style is absolutely beautiful. I feel like I only see similar styles from other Japanese artists and some Swedish artists as well. It makes me wonder what their art classes were like growing up. The work feels so natural and emotional, totally interpretational. I love the level of detail too, there’s so much going on and yet it’s portrayed with such an economy of line and brush strokes. You will get totally lost in Fumi Koike’s site. Check it out.

I’ve noticed gorgeous flowering lilac trees around town and on my friend’s instagram feeds. Here are a couple that caught my eye and my own bunch from my son and husband. Oh gosh do they smell heavenly. Here’s a list I found of flowers that bloom in May.

1. Hand-held bunch via Caroline Ventura (Brvtvs)
2. Wild bunch via Chelsea Fuss (Frolic)
3. Contained via my own feed

A Parisian apartment left untouched for over 70 years was discovered in Paris a few years ago. The owner of this apartment, Mrs. De Florian (who died recently at 91) left Paris just before World War II. She closed up the apartment shutters and left for the South of France, never to return.

In the apartment a beautiful painting was discovered. One of the inventory team members suspected its importance. Love letters tied with colored ribbon from Giovanni Boldini, one of Paris’ most important painters of the Belle Époque revealed the truth about who painted the stunning portrait featuring Mrs. de Florian’s grand-mother, Marthe de Florian, an alluring French actress/socialite of the Belle Époque and Boldini’s muse and lover. The painting was later sold for $3 million at auction.

What an incredible story. Can you imagine walking into an apartment that’s been untouched for decades? Can you fathom stepping out of your place and someone opening the doors 70 years later? I have so many questions like, what did the neighbors think? How could nobody have noticed that the apartment was locked up for so long? I’m not sure this could ever have happened in New York. Though, I suppose there’s an apartment somewhere nearby that could hold a treasure, work of art or some key to unlock history. I wonder.
Via The Telegraph
Images via Messy Nessy Chic

I was honored when Epoca, a cool Tokyo based shop (they have 54 stores throughout in Japan) asked to collaborate with me on a limited edition collection of textile designs for sweaters, bags, dresses and t-shirts. Their theme is Paradox Feminine, meaning feminine but a bit edgy. It’s so fun seeing my work on surfaces aside from paper! They’re also having a small exhibition of my work and have featured life-size cardboard figures in their window display. I had a lot of fun working with them and it’s amazing to see it all come to fruition. Please let me know if you are going to be in Tokyo and can stop by the shop. I’m experiencing it all through my agency’s photos, above.

Umm…no biggie or anything but my work is on Jenna Lyons’s desk/wall in a Fast Company article. Ok BIGGIE! I’m a big fan of Jenna’s work. I guess we all have heros. For some people it’s a star athlete or a rock star, for me and my creative friends, it’s Jenna Lyons, the creative director and president of J.Crew. She took the brand from your average closet staples to some sort of incredible mix of tom-boy-cum-it girl-cum-effortlessly chic girl on the street that makes you rubber neck. Since she took the helm I’ve noticed incredible colors and beautiful textures and I simply admire the cohesiveness of the brand as a whole. There’s always a Jenna touch. So when my friend/collaborator Rubi Jones emailed to let me know she saw my work in Jenna’s office I was pretty…for lack of a better word, stoked.

After fall fashion week 2012 illustrating for New York Magazine/The Cut, Jenna’s assistant reached out to me asking if Jenna could buy a print of the J.Crew illustration. I was pretty floored, thinking wow, I’m on Jenna’s radar. Of course, I didn’t make her buy the print, instead I made a few prints from that series and threw in a couple of abstract watercolor originals into an envelope and a little “I’m flattered” note. It’s pretty rad to see the work actually around her in her amazing office/studio. I’m truly honored.

I had a great time illustrating Our Epic Guide To Fab Skin At Every Age for Refinery 29. I got to depict every decade of life/beauty from 20′s-70′s. There are some really great tips in the article and while I always wear SPF in the summer I’m mostly lax about it in the spring. Actually I ordered this cute hat after reading all of this because nothing can protect like completely shading right? Check out the article and my illos. Don’t you just love Refinery 29?

I recently came across these strikingly beautiful looks. Red is such an incredible color.

Images via:

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I’ve always loved Richard Avedon’s work. What an incredible career and bounty of images he’s captured and put into the world. I thought it would be interesting to share some of the man himself along with these poignant quotes:

Sometimes I think all my pictures are just pictures of me. My concern is… the human predicament; only what I consider the human predicament may simply be my own.
-Richard Avedon

…

My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.
-Richard Avedon

1. portrait
2. self portrait
3. another portrait

If you are a New Yorker you have seen the new season of Mad Men poster whooshing by on the side of buses. It immediately takes you back to that those halcyon days of mid-century illustration. As an illustrator with a pretty busy workload I feel so grateful because I know that the use of illustration has waned greatly since then and probably will continue to. I love how painting styles float in and out of fashion and can be re-born for a modern day while paying homage to the past. mid-century illustration techniques are so in vogue at the moment. It was great when The New York Times looked up the illustrator of said poster and found out that it was illustrator Brian Sanders whose work graced hundreds of ads, magazines and book covers in the 60′s.

How great is this story?:

Matthew Weiner, inspired by a childhood memory of lush, painterly illustrations on T.W.A. flight menus, decided to turn back the promotional clock. He pored over commercial illustration books from the 1960s and ’70s and sent images to the show’s marketing team, which couldn’t quite recreate the look he was after.

“Finally,” he said, “they just looked up the person who had done all these drawings that I really loved, and they said: ‘Hey, we’ve got the guy who did them. And he’s still working. His name is Brian Sanders.

Sanders is now 75 with an incredible body of work behind him… and ahead.

Somehow the entire week slipped away from me without a post. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

1. Working on projects for Refinery 29, MilkX Magazine (Hong Kong) and look book illos for Shiny Squirrel.
2. Looking for signs of spring around Madison Square Park with Henry (Hyacinths, forsythias, magnolias and tulips).
3. Listening to Beach House over and over and over and over.
4. Building lego trucks with Henry.
5. Breakfast with Brvtvs at The Breslin (I really should have my own table there). Here’s a selfie of me in one of their antique mirrors.
6. Dinner with Tara Donne and Dana McClure (college pals) at The Jade Hotel.
7. Pinning.
8. Going out tonight to see this strange 70′s movie with Jack Nicholson (We’ll never tire of seeing NYC back in the day). Thank you to my lovely in laws for babysitting!

Isn’t it amazing how light you feel when spring rolls into town? Have a wonderful weekend. We’re thinking of checking out the John Singer Sargent watercolors at the Brooklyn Museum of Art on Saturday).

Flower images above:

1. Wild Folk Studio
2. Vintage stamp
3. Liberty of London (via Frolic)

p.s if you want to listen to me on Employee of the Month here’s the link.

It really feels like spring today. How wonderful. Countdown time till I start complaining about how hot it is.

1. Lanvin cat
2. Beatrix potter bunnies

Just some incredible images from amazing photog Guy Bourdin. Everything he shot displayed incredible composition, passion for color, fashion and sexuality. I especially love his work from the 70′s:

1. 70′s mirror/eyes
2. Hands over eyes

I’m actually looking forward to taking some time off today to spend the day with Henry who is off from his little school for the Easter holiday. We’ll go up to the Central Park Zoo with friends.

I had to share this gorgeous bouquet I got earlier this week. We passed a florist and my husband wanted to learn which flowers I like. I pointed out the ranunculus. I love the bright orange. Then I spotted some periwinkle blue thistle and threw them into the mix. What a lovely combo. I’ve been enjoying them all week. Isn’t it amazing how flowers can perk up your mood. So happy spring is here!

Check out my instagram feed if you like.

Black has always been one of my least favorite shades to wear. I always feel sort of bla when I wear it. Nevertheless, lately I’m feeling really compelled by it. As an artist consumed by color I spend a lot of time working with combinations of various hues. Maybe the reason so many designers wear black all of the time is that it’s serene, allowing your mind to rest and focus your cognitive energy on design choices in your work. It’s sort of a clean slate even more so than white. With white, you’ll see so much texture, the wrinkles, the movement. Black disguises that a bit until you get up close. There are so many shades of black. I love the idea of mixing different shades, textures and fabric weights for an interesting monochromatic effect. As for black makeup and nails, I think they’re always chic and a little badass.

1. Zara Jumper
2. pants, top, bag and sandals
3. Dries Van Noten

These beauties always looked totally comfortable in their skin. They’re so feminine and yet have that tom boy quality of confidence and self awareness without insecurity. They never seemed to need much embellishment to look as stunning as I imagine they felt.

Charlotte Rampling
Patti Smith
Angelica Huston