{inspiration} family night out...

It's that time again - the tulip fields are starting to bloom & our rubber boots are out.  Like every year, one of the local bulb farms has what they call "locals night" where they let those of us that live in the area into the fields to ride the tractors, play in the mud, take tons of photos, & enjoy the fields before tourists come in bus loads. It's a family tradition to attend & Sayer has been to this event ever since he was born.  Today was cloudy & raining all day, but the sun came out just in time. The light & color was perfect.  We have family visiting from Boston so we had a chance to show off our beautiful surroundings tonight. Sayer was particularly interested in the puddles & his reflection. However, his last jump landed him bum down in the mud so.... it was time to go home. It was a fun evening. How's your week going?

* If you didn't get your Tulip Town photo fix, you can view "Locals night - 2011" here. 

{Photo Inspiration} Robert Doisneau...

I just noticed the Google Doodle tonight & it caused me to spend some time looking through a lot of Robert Doisneau photographs. I learned about his legendary contribution to photojournalism in college (in a history of photography class) & had "the kiss" poster/print in my first dorm room. I've always enjoyed his photos & wanted to share. Happy 100th birthday Robert Doisneau! Hope everyone is having a great weekend! 

photo credit: www.robert-doisneau.com/fr/ & here

{cool design} pattern & color...

When I saw this photo on pinterest the other day, it immediately caught my attention. It was a mix of loving all of the color, pattern, & design - and knowing I could fill all of those machines right now. Therefore, this photo is the photo of the day. I only wish this was my laundry room.... 

{Fun} exploring the backroads...

We live in a really pretty valley - particularly this time of year. On our routes to grandma & grandpa's house and hutch studio, we pass many daffodil, tulip, & iris fields. Even though I grew up in this area, I still love it when the fields are full of color - it never gets old. Sayer is sort of used to me pulling over to take photos every now & then. These days, the tourist traffic is crazy, but when you are a local - you can usually sneak in quick little trips at odd times or find the more obscure spots & backroads to check out the beauty. Today was just gorgeous - so Sayer & I took off for a little adventure through the backroads to check out the daffodils, soak up some sun, & play in the mud. Not surprisingly, I  was focusing the camera on Sayer way more then the flowers - along with noticing some awesome texture. 

Instagram is one of my favorite things lately. Here are some shots from today & on our route  home from grandma & grandpa's house the other day. Hope everyone had a great weekend! I'm so grateful that it's finally feeling like spring around here....


*you can find me on instagram @KLTworks

{illustration} A rare find...

So speaking of rabbits, the velveteen kind to be exact - I have an interesting & cool vintage find to share. Last year I stumbled on a book called, Best in Children's Books- a compilation of stories edited by Doubleday press in 1960. I started thumbing through it because it included The Velveteen Rabbit (which is probably the most influential book of my childhood). As a bonus, I was literally giddy when I saw that Maurice Sendak (who is a favorite illustrator of mine) had illustrated it!  Do I even have to tell you that I I bought the book just for these illustrations?

Sendak's early drawings are my favorite & I really love his interpretation of this story.   I thought a few days before Easter would be  perfect time to share them. Hope you have a great weekend! Happy Easter! 

{La Petite Magazine} Sayer's Book Corner # 9

All curled & cozy in bed while reading bunny books- does it get any better? With Easter right around the corner, we have been diving into my vintage pile of rabbit books for some hopping adventures. Sayer's all chilled out & reading Whitman Giant Tell-A-Tale Book: Peter Rabbit, illustrated by Rod Ruth (1963). Let's hop down memory lane & check out  a few more... 

 Wonder Books: 

Sonny the Lucky Bunny, pictures by Art Seiden (1952) & The Hungry Bunny, pictures by Bea Rabin Seiden (1951)

Little Golden Books: 

Duck and his Friends pictures by Richard Scarry (1949) & Rabbit and his Friends by Richard Scarry (1953)

One of my all time favorite books is, The Velveteen Rabbit  by Margery Williams. I still think about this book when I'm making plush critters in my studio & wonder if a child will ever make my creations real. 

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become REAL. It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. Generally, by the time you are REAL, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are REAL you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." (page 17)

Hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend! 

You can view all of Sayer's Book Corner at La Petite Magazine as well - #9 is here.

{Music Monday} Collaborations & Connections...

I may have mentioned before that was involved in dance classes for pretty much all of my childhood & teen years. Actually an injury is what shifted my attention to painting & art. So, I honed my musical ear towards more instrumental music before my artistic shift. I appreciated experimental music & collaboration from a really early age because of my dance background I think.

I love to learn about artists & the connections that they have with one another. Coincidentally or maybe not- I often tend to like the work of artists who are friends & in different disciplines. I found out about John Cage (musician/composer), Merce Cunningham (dancer/choreographer) & Robert Rauschenberg (fine artist/painter/sculptor) at the same time oddly enough- in college while I was an art major. I was really enamored with the school they all went to called Black Mountain College & dreamed of going to a place where all disciplines were combined. These three guys became favorite artists of mine not only for their work, but for their personalities & attitude about creating.

photo credits: here & here

On my lunch break research tangent, I looked up John Cage because of the NPR tiny desk concert today & stumbled on this little gem. I didn't realize that he composed music for the film, "Works by Calder". Alexander Calder is one of my favorite artists as well & one of the reasons I started making mobiles 6 years ago. I felt it was appropriate that when I was packing & shipping mobiles today, I should be listening to this.  Happy Music Monday!