The Swell Season

I fell in love with Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova a few years ago when the movie Once came out. They are both musicians, working together in a band called The Swell Season, and separately - Glen with his band The Frames; Marketa has just released her first solo album Anar, which you can check out here. They won an Oscar for the song "Falling Slowly" written for the movie.

The particularly beautiful thing about them is that their work has been so prophetic in telling the tale of their relationship and their lives together. It's impossible not to get caught up in the romance of it all - when you see Once or listen to their music, you are sharing a moment with them. It's touching because it's all 100% real. They write about each other - songs about them being together before they were together - songs about their split before they ever knew that's where they were headed. They are two people who never sought attention for their personal lives, but couldn't avoid receiving it because they truly are their art.

Anyway, now there is a documentary following them on tour for almost 3 years. My friend, Jessica, and I went to see it yesterday (we've been following them for almost 5 years now) and were pleasantly surprised to be at a screening with a q&a afterward with the directors - all local New Yorkers (Marketa is also a New Yorker now, as of 2010). Apparently, after the Oscar win, Glen was taking a film class in New York. Carlo Mirabella-Davis was his professor. They decided to document The Swell Season on tour, without any plan on what the outcome or story line might be. Carlo and co-directors Chris Dapkins and Nick August-Perna followed the band off and on, waiting for their plot to emerge. They use the music to nuance the couple's relationship and tell the story. In a sense, it's the anti-Once. Really pretty neat.

It's really a lovely film. It's playing at Cinema Village this week only. They are trying for other venues. See it if you can.

*** Erin

Etsy Therapy

This is not a local artist, but I was doing nothing short of whimpering over this Etsy shop this morning. It's soooooo neat! Check it out. MANOLO jewellery.


Enjoy!


*** Erin

Pinterest

A few of you have heard me talk about Pinterest before.... it's catching on by now with a lot of people I guess, but still worth a nod here. It's an invite only website where you can "pin" different images found on the internet to your various pinboards that you can label and manage yourself. It's kind of just another way to kill time on the internet, but it's also a really great place to gather inspiration and keep track of things that hit a cord with you. If you're looking for something fun to make for dinner, check out the various food related boards. Have a little extra artistic energy that you don't know what to do with? Check out some of the DIY boards. You can also pin things and tag them for your friends, share things directly to facebook, etc. There is so much eye candy - it's so satifying. I could waste hours on Pinterest. They staff also sends out a weekly email with news on new members and really fun, thoughtful suggestions on which boards you might like to follow based on what you pin and look at most.

You can go to their website directly to request and invitation - they don't have any criteria to be invited that I'm aware of - and it takes a few days to hear back. Or you could leave your email address below and I will send you and invitation directly.

Holla at a boo.

*** Erin

Greenflea Market

Last Sunday I stopped by the Greenflea Market on 77th and Columbus. This market has been going on every Sunday for years. I have visited several times since moving to New York (7 years ago Thursday! Happy Anniversary to me!), but it's been quite a while since I was last there. It was interesting to see how much has changed and stayed the same in all this time.

Some highlights from Greenflea:

Churoncalla was a really neat shop with a lot of personality. Jewelery made from Scrabble pieces, license plates, key boards, and old silverware, among other things. I bought a pair of Scrabble earrings. I love them.

Sole`  is a vendor that specializes in jewelry made from old New York City traffic lights. I blogged about this shop once before, but it's just such cool stuff, I thought it deserved another shout. My friend, Lindsey, bought a really beautiful necklace here. I love the chain on it so much.

New York Artifact Art is super cool because they make all of their jewelry and works of art out of artifacts that they personally uncover in construction sites all over the city. It's definitely worth checking out.

Hope you enjoy these as much as I do.



*** Erin

Stuff I'm Working On

I've been a little lax in the creativity department lately; more so just getting inspiration from what I see from local vendors. However, this is the last bit of jewelry that I made for my friend, Sarabeth.

I really like using silk bead cord instead of a chain (for now, anyway) because it's so lightweight, adds color, and gives a really authentic, handmade look. Knotting a single string over and over again is a lot of work - a surprising amount - and the knotting tool is deadly, but for this I used three strings, each a different color. The added thickness of three strings as opposed to one made the knotting a lot easier, actually, and I really like the added dimension. I think I will be doing this a lot more. Now, I just need to figure out how to use the same technique for earrings!

*** Erin

Atlantic Antic

Last Sunday I went to the Atlantic Antic street fair in Brooklyn. It is MASSIVE, starting at Hicks street and taking up all of Atlantic Avenue to 4th Avenue. This is the first one I have attended, but it happens every year. It was pretty amazing - almost every store and restaurant along Atlantic opened up on to the street to join in the fun, there were so many different kinds of vendors and food and so many people! I couldn't believe, with all the space there was to spread out, how crowded it got. It was also full of Etsy sellers and members of The {New New} - which I am OBSESSED with.

Some of my favorite vendors featured were: Natural Abstract, snash jewelery, Queens Metal, The House of Z, Sole, Saru Star, Vivi Sun Jewelry, Jessica DeCarlo, Mercato, bright lights little city, and webbedware. 


I purchased a really cute yellow t-shirt from Mercato and gold dove barrettes from bright lights little city. In *love*.

Here are some photo highlights from my adventure:

*** Erin

Paint Along

This past Saturday, Caitlin (my sister) and I went to a Paint Along class! I heard about it in an email from Groupon. Both of us fancy ourselves reasonably adept at artistic activities, but we are both *terrible* at painting. I was devastated over it when I was a kid, but I've reconciled myself now, not to worry. Anyway, this class was so much fun! And perfect for those talented and not alike. You literally paint a picture step by step with the instructor and the rest of the class. Did I mention that this class is BYOB? Well, it IS!

You can learn about classes, choose your painting, and make reservations for Paint Along here.

Also, since the Groupon deal has come and gone, if you join the new deal giving website, Pulsd, they will be having one of their own coming up in the next week or two. DO IT!!!

                                                 This is my finished product.

                                              Caitlin's painting and our Dolcetto.

                          Our class. Isn't it fun how different all the paintings turned out?

                                      Classmate in front of many other class options.

I highly recommend this activity, obviously, and hope you enjoyed the first blog!



***Erin