You bet.

I think this is by Irving Penn

The Colonel Sanders one haunts my dreams

One of my all time favorite kid’s activity projects. The toddler is petrified!

Possibly the scariest pumpkin ever

Gary Card’s prop styling genius

Jazz age robots?

1920′s Dadaist costumes out of cardboard

Back of the Liliput record cover

Below is the fashion editorial Elizabeth Weinberg and I collaborated on. We shot it upstate with the help of Turner and Erica’s styling genius.

I just uncovered this super quick sketch I sent her when I had a “vision” for our first collaboration. A year later…and it happened! Someday I’ll do another shoot where the flowers and trees are 2-d. As if the shoot was one big theatrical set.

Hopefully, you will notice all my props! There are ones I sourced: a bow and arrows from Fredricks and Mae, an early 1900′s willow rocking chair, and Native American inspired rugs and drums.

And there are those that I made: a painted walking stick and axe, beaded necklaces, a teepee constructed out of branches from the forest and a drop cloth that I painted with various geometric patterns, and of course the toilet paper “installation.” I created it to look as if a gang of teen pranksters were unleashed upon the forest.

It was DEFINITELY the most fun part of the day. There’s nothing like tp-ing the hell out of the woods. It brought me back to high school. I am an expert at this sort of stuff.

Here are some of the references Elizabeth Weinberg and I sent over to Tokion before we worked on a fashion editorial for their September issue. Turner and Erica Blumenthal styled it and our lovely models were Matthew Mosshart (Alison Mossheart from the Kills is his sis) and Tilda from Img.

The images are ultimately going to run elsewhere (ummmm long story!!), but for time time being… I thought it’d be fun to share what I was channeling.

We were going for images inspired by sixties documentary photography, in particular those of hippie encampments like the Mystic Arts Commune. We used bows and arrows by Fredericks and Mae, I created a teepee, painted axes and walking sticks, and covered the forest with toilet papered streamers. It all looked amazing!

Tilda Lindstam at IMG (one of our models)

Antique Navajo patterns. Reference for my teepee

Pippi Longstocking. My all time favorite muse

Bows by Fredericks and Mae. They were kind enough to loan me masks, a bow, and kites as well!


60′s psychedelic interiors and teepee inspired shelters. The book Spaced Out is good reference.

Nomadic fashions, fur, braids, lots of jewelry

My moodboard (including fashions by Rag and Bone, Suno, and D&G’s Fairisle looks)

Kenyan and I first met about six years ago when he was working at The Apartment, in Soho. I had my first exhibition of my artwork in their store windows and he hung the whole thing. Flash forward, and he is now the go-to guy for rustic prop styling- notable for the amazing aesthetic of Earnest Sewn and The Smile.

His and Grace’s house in Upstate NY, has been featured on The Selby. And for good reason. It is NEXT LEVEL. Straight out of a movie. There are like six bedrooms, each with its own array of curiosities and antiques. There is even a stable and barn. It’d be an amazing place to have a wedding, do a catalog or editorial photo shoot, or they could start their own bed and breakfast. Obviously, I like that idea.

While we were upstate, our gang of merry pranksters also made it up to the Renaissance Faire in nearby Tuxedo, NY. Lots of fat alterna-goths and families. It felt less magical than the one in Novato, CA. I guess 20 years of awareness will do that to you. Regardless, it was still fun dressing up in my 1905 lace wedding dress.

The weekend was amazing. At night we roasted s’mores, each meal was delicious: pancakes and barbecue and grilled burgers, flashlight tag, racing scooters and bikes in the field, photo shoots, dance parties in the barn, dueling in vintage medieval costume and handmade swords, karaoke.

These photos are a mix of ones I took and ones James took:

CLICK FOR MORE AMAZINGGGGG PHOTOS!!!!

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Just got back from Paris last night.

I found a ridiculously cheap ticket** and had a free place to crash so it seemed like a no-brainer. Just two days after finding the fare and booking my flight, I was on a plane, stopping over in DC. I arrived in Paris just in time for Bastille Day and spent the rest of my time with Ami and Joel and Josh Fontaine, an old friend from NY.

Here are some photos of the Marché Aux Puces, one of the many weekend flea markets in Paris. It was huge and crammed with a million things to look at. The prices really varied, but there were some really unique finds and lots more paintings and unique antiques with history than any other flea market I’ve been to. One of the coolest places to visit in Paris. Period.

I ended up with a random assortment of gifts and items for the home: a vintage rubber band ball, a 1950′s geometric paper puzzle, a wooden duck on a stick, a series of fabric swatches from an 1930′s textile company, a painting that was later used as the basis of wallpaper, a modernist poster, and a strange shell sculpture that the airport assumed was a bomb in my carry on.

**Seriously. I am genius when it comes to internet sleuthing. I found a roundtrip ticket from New york to Paris for 345 (ok ok minus tax) two days before the flight and during the most expensive time of the year. I used jetcombo.com which was even cheaper than “ita trip matrix.” I found that looking on different Europe specific search engines for flexible dates yielded better results than using standbys like Kayak or Travelocity. Momondo, Skyscanner, Mobissimo, and Vayama were some of my starting points. But like I said, best of all was Jetcombo!

Inspired by my recent post I’ve decided to unleash some more anthropomorphic favorites of mine. Thanks to Wacky Stuff on flickr and The Dark Victory‘s blog for the googly eyed dogs. Anddddd thanks to the o.g. inspiration Louis Wain.

not having the best day.

i turn to the powers of the internets to cheer me up.

cats = laffs. maybe i need one.
it would be named “sneak.” obviously.

creepy dudes in kiddie costumes never fail to elicit a smile

i like the baby freaking out in the corner.
not having such a fun time after all, are we? babies crying make me smile.

anthropomorphic things are best. (doesn’t matter, animal mineral, vegetable)
faces on tasty food = +10

Two fridays ago Ami invited James and me to join Coolhunting on a sailing trip around the city. I’d never been on a sailboat before, nor had I ever seen Manhattan from the water. It was spectacular. Perfect weather, setting sail at sunset, free champagne and a Pimms Cup or two. Fancy times.
James took all these photos. You can see more here.

My twitter account is now: shapelifting

Shape shifting and Shoplifting were taken, so I combined the two.

Oh, and this is me and Ami from Coolhunting’s party with Thrillist.
James set up a photo booth and I supplied “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” themed costumes.

As we all know, I love sneaks. Sneaks often wear masks. Thus, I am christening these my new friends.

Here is their theme song:

“Sneaky Sue” by Patty Lace and The Petticoats.

Not the post-punk Petticoats, not the twee pop Petticoats. A band of a much much older provenance.

Sorry, I don’t remember where exactly these images came from. If you know, comment with a link and I will give credit!

A few months ago I moved studios. I no longer share with Rebecca Turbow and her growing fashion entourage. No hate, just sayin. Now, when I’m not at Brand New School, I’m a few blocks away above one of my favorite vintage stores, 10 ft Single by Stella Dallas and near Union Pool (which I never seem to go to anymore).

I’m sharing with Chris Palazzo, whom most days I actually see at BNS, not the studio. He’s a motion graphics art directing wizard of sorts. Here is an homage to his wackiness. Soon I’ll post photos of our huge new digs.

art. avec lots of pyramids:

I recently wrapped up my very first pitch at Brand New School. The finished image we ended up submitting looks very different, so I think it’s ok to post my work in progress.

I love the Hamburglar, Adolf Wolfli’s masked figures, the original sneak (Where’s Waldo), the original sneaky animal (obviously, a Raccoon).

Recently I discovered my newest friend.. THE RED PANDA. Omg. I think this is the cutest animal ever. I am in LOVE.

Then I realized in Super Mario 3, when Mario finds a feather (or is a leaf?) he turns into a Red Panda and flies. It all makes sense!

THE OG I CAN HAZ CHEESEBURGER

WHAT’S GOING ON, JUST WEARING A MASK AND HANGIN IN MY CRAZY FLOWER PETALS

PLZ NOTE: WALDO LOOKS LIKE ALL MY EXBOYFRIENDZ

CUTE!

UM. EVEN CUTER!!!

NUM NUM CUTE SNEAK

SLEEPY SNEAK!

There has been a whole lot of crafternooning and craft discussions going on in these parts. I think the dour economy is inspiring my friends and encouraging us to stay home, make something with ones hands, hang with friends and not have to spend a million dollars going out to bars and screaming loudly. Andddddd be indoors where it is warm.

My last few craft-attempts have involved covering things in punk studs. A leather handbag, black wool coat, cashmere scarf. I bought a Bedazzler recently and I’m going to try and see how that goes.

This weekend there is likely another crafting session on the horizon. If it’s not punk studs perhaps I will make an edible craft? A craft using wood slabs and string art? Something with tissue paper (notecards? a picture frame?) Or weird dolls?

Here are some inspiring 1970s craft images from flickr and Martha Stewart. (links below)

From Flickr
Some images from Of Color and Lines
Pin Pals
Heath and the BLT Boys
Amy Honey
String Art from here and bymanu

From Martha Stewart
Monster Pops
No Knit Scarf

So, Valentine’s Day, surprisingly, was not a fail. James worked on the Benjamin Bixby shoot on the official day (hanging out with Andre from Outkast till 2 am, pretty lucky). Check this out:

So, instead we celebrated on the 13th. Friday I came back from BNS and low and behold, the apartment was sparkling clean, there was the bf sitting on my couch, suit and tie, with a bouquet of flowers and a box all wrapped up in twine containing (my) rose gold ring from 1875. Now engraved with “lil sneak.” Sorry if this makes you barf, but it was so cute. We had dinner at the newly opened Williamsburg-outpost of Caracas. It was deliciousssss.

The next day I trekked to Dashwood Books, across the street from Oak and soon-to-be-opened The Smile. Dashwood is awesome. They sell only a well curated selection of fancy photography books and have employees that grill you about what your boyfriend looks like, if he’s a sicko for liking Araki, how you two met, and what he bought you for V-day. Weirdness!

I figured a book coupled with fancy treats from Something Sweet would do the trick. Unfortunately, I had a hard time figuring out which photographer’s book to purchase; Araki? Shore? Eggelston? I finally selected “A Message for You” by Guy Bourdin, published by Steidl. Luckily, he loved it.

image from hong kong hustle

In recent weeks I’ve been way into attempting arts and crafts projects that were the staple of nine years of Girl Scout camp or bored suburban afternoons circa high school. Except tweaked for someone now much older.

Covering a cashmere scarf, a black leather purse, and a coat entirely in pyramid studs. Dying lace blouses to look antique with herbal tea. Buying embroidery floss for six friends to make friendship bracelets while watching two back to back episodes of The City. It’s like a meeting of the BSC over here. Next up, lanyards? Maybe I’ll make a zine? Hand tooled leather belts stamped with initals and weird teepee symbols? Perhaps take up… scrapbooking!?? Who knows, but I’m having so much fun.

I am grabbing a gaggle of ladies and we are going to have a tv party tonight. Whitney Port lives next door to my sister and I’m hoping her apartment, and perhaps Alisa, makes a cameo. OOooOOoOo!!!

My friend Laura djs at the weirdest place in Tribecca every so often. The night was filled with oddly dressed characters out of Smithereens and total Wall Street types. The drinks were free… until they weren’t and then somehow three beverages cost us fifty. The highlight of the night was our discovery of the mind-trippy mirror near the bathroom. Phootshoot enused.

It was so cold yesterday that I stayed in. All day.
Totally house bound, watching Mad Men and playing on the computer.
This weather sort of makes me grumpy.