Three Sheets 2 the Wind Blog

My birthday is on Friday. It’s a big one… At least for me. I’m turning 35. I’ve been telling friends that I have to be more serious now for more reasons than just my age. I remember quitting my job back in Chicago and moving to Cincinnati right before my 30th birthday. That was a huge mile marker for me because I had challenged myself to start a business by the time I turned 30. Now, looking back at five years of hard work (plus an extra for conceptual brainstorming) I am amazed at how far I’ve come, but I still have so far to go.

I’ve read so many similar stories of ambitious designers doing exactly what I did, struggling along the way, and I feel a strong kinship to them. It’s painful to go through the highs and lows of being an independent designer alone. There aren’t many mentors out there to help us along. I have a slogan that a very good friend said to me and it gets repeated in conversations often, along with a good laugh. Slow and steady wins the race!

When I was in my 20’s, I didn’t think living out in the country would be cool at all. I had worked in NYC for a year during college and loved the energy there. I didn’t end up moving to New York City, but I still loved the idea of living in a big city, and so eventually I landed in Chicago. It had everything I wanted, except I hated the traffic and cost to live there was too much for a new entrepreneur when it came time to start the business. Once I moved back to Cincinnati, my lifestyle changed completely. I had little to no cash and all of a sudden, a more simple life looked very appealing, even cool (dare I say it). I decided I could give up all the shopping and travel I did in my previous life to have more control over my work and my output. I realized it was possible to use less, need less. Flipping through countless pages of Dwell magazine, I noticed other creative types had stepped out of big cities to move to smaller towns so that they could have the space they needed to imagine their dreams. So then I began to imagine my own “glass box” studio/home sitting atop an open field somewhere. The idea of building that ideal live/work situation where I could just roll out of bed and get to work in 2 seconds flat sounded wonderful me.

I started my business in a very small apartment where my studio took up every inch of a 10×15 foot bedroom. It was quite a challenge to be efficient in such a cramped space. Next, I moved into a 1,500 sq ft apartment where my business took up 70% of the space. A hallway became a closet at one point. I had an assistant come help me print twice a week and I sent out my sewing to local sewers. Then the big change came this summer when my fiance and I bought a house in Kentucky. My new studio is almost 1,500 sq ft (no shared living space…ha ha) and is a work in progress. (remember slow and steady…) It’s not quite the modern glass box of our dreams, but it will do just fine for now.

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This is what the studio space looked like when we moved in this summer. My new stainless steel sink is sitting on the right side of the frame.

I am looking forward to hanging conceptual work up on the walls. This weekend we are putting up large pieces of sheet metal (3ft x 5ft each) to make a gigantic magnet board. We also plan on making a new printing table this winter with guides for larger screen production. I am so excited!

I just finished a project for Lauren Stern Design out of Brooklyn, NY. Lauren, an interior designer, contacted me about creating three large wall prints for a playroom in a residence in Fisher Island, FL. She chose the artwork, color and layout for all three pieces. I made a few suggestions and revised the layout slightly. Fortunately for me, Lauren understood the aesthetic of my work so it was easy to land on a final design for all three prints. Each piece is 30″ x 40″ in size. The prints were professionally framed as well.

These three prints are part of a remodel and redesign of a 10,000 sq ft residence on Fisher Island off the coast of South Beach Miami.  Lauren describes the style as uber-lux modern with a hint of beach. She is also working on a gut renovation of a NYC 4-bedroom west village duplex penthouse, as well as a 6-person engineer office in Bergen County.

www.lsidstudio.com

I’ve had a few requests lately to print white ink on the graphite linen instead of the black ink. I think it looks really nice so I wanted to put it out there for other people to see. I am always open to special requests… all you have to do is ask!

I just recently posted this image, along with a a few others on flickr. Check them out!

A customer of mine ordered these two prints a few weeks back. I photographed them at the time because I thought they made a great pair. The natural linen color on the right with white & black ink is a nice balance to the white linen color with bark & black in on the left.

If you’ve ever noticed the irregularities in three sheets 2 the wind artwork, it’s because I hand paint the image in the screen. I began doing it this way because I liked seeing the thick and thin line weight that was created by the brush. I can use an original hand painted screen for months before the material starts to break down. At that point I have the screen remade using the photo emulsion method which is way more durable for all the frequent washings my screens go through. I keep every irregularity and paint drip in the screen though when it changes over to a more permanent version.

Because I use a brush to create the original artwork, I can go back into the screen at any point and tweak things. Lately, I changed the background artwork for trees in spring. The original artwork was just a bit too big for the wall print size.

You can see how the new design is slightly smaller and less angled to the left.

It’s never to early to think about the holidays! I am so excited to be going back to Chicago this winter for the Renegade Craft Holiday Sale. We couldn’t do this summer’s show due to the wedding and the previous summer was a disappointment due to the rainy weather. I used to live in Chicago so the city is near and dear to my heart! I am going to taking a few new items as well so mark your calendars… and yes… the goods will be on sale!

http://www.renegadecraft.com/holiday-chicago

Meg Mateo Ilasco, creator of Modern Economy and a host of other creative ventures, just released her latest book called Craft Inc. Business Planner - The Ultimate Organizer for Turning Your Craft Into Cash. Meg had asked me to share some of my best advice for the book and I was honored that she choose to use a small part of that conversation.

This is Meg’s second book on the subject. Her previous book, Craft Inc. Turn Your Craft Into A Business, is full of excellent advice. What I most appreciate about Meg’s style and delivery is that she respects the reader. Most “how to” books are full of vague advice and obivous conclusions, but Craft Inc. speaks to an intelligent business-minded creative who is looking for present-day comprehensive advice about the industry.

http://www.mateoilasco.com/

Our amazing wedding photographer deserves a mention today. Amy Campbell of Angela Anderson Studios captured some amazing images of the day. Jeanie Gorrell did the flowers for us. She understood our aesthetic and created the most unique arrangements. I’ve included both studio links below.

http://www.angela-photo.com/

http://www.jeaniegorrell.com/index_content.html

It happens when I am cleaning up the print table and I look down at the stack of first run prints and I find something really interesting. Who knew that blossom tree looked so cool when layered on top of trees in spring? Then, when I’m not looking, I print flower bed in black and 360 floral in white on top and voila! I’ve got something completely new.

These little linen treasures get pulled out the pile and hang on my wall for awhile. They inspire future projects and help me think outside the box. It reminds me of the time I went to go see Eames Demetrios speak at a DWR in Columbus a few years back. (grandson of Charles and Ray) He was telling the group how in the evening when everyone left the studio, they used to hang the chairs they were working on from the ceiling. Upside down - sideways - whatever they could think of to make for a new image or form to look at in the morning. Brilliant!

So, as I work on finding new ways to look at my work for the first time… I hope to inspire others with these miniature studies. I’ve picked each print personally from my collection and had them stitched onto organic cotton totes. Since each piece is considerably different, I’ve created two color options: a blue/green color story or an orange/green color story.

Off to the studio I go!

One of our pillows was product of the day on September 1st this month. I’m a huge fan of the magazine so it was a nice compliment. Thanks dwell for the posting!

http://www.dwell.com/products/plant-forms-pillow.html