I love this. I love it so much, that instead of me fumbling to describe it, I’m going to copy and paste the description of this lovely project, titled Mapping Manhattan, by native New Yorker, Becky Cooper. Ready?

“Armed with hundreds of blank maps she had painstakingly printed by hand, Becky Cooper walked Manhattan from end to end. Along her journey she met police officers, homeless people, fashion models, and senior citizens who had lived in Manhattan all their lives. She asked the strangers to “map their Manhattan” and to mail the personalized maps back to her. Soon, her P.O. box was filled with a cartography of intimate narratives: past loves, lost homes, childhood memories, comical moments, and surprising confessions. A beautifully illustrated, PostSecret-style tribute to New York, Mapping Manhattan includes 75 maps from both anonymous mapmakers and notable New Yorkers, including Man on Wire aerialist Philippe Petit, New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov, Tony award-winning actor Harvey Fierstein, and many more.”

So, so, so good! Here are a few of my favorites:

Awww! Isn’t that last one so sweet? ♥  You want to make one now, don’t you? No problem! You can download the map right here! Now all you have to do is draw/paint/write your love {or hate} story with Manhattan, and send it to mapyourmemories@gmail.com. Happy mapping, and happy weekend to you

{ps. If you want to buy this book, you can find it in bookstores everywhere, or online at: ABRAMS, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. Oh, and there’s a great article about it in The New York Times}

First, the multi-talented Faythe Levine {of Handmade Nation fame… among countless other things!} got together with photographer/film maker Sam Macon, and wrote this book. Can you guess what it’s about?

You guessed it! Sign Painters, and the lost art that is sign painting {um, with a foreword by Ed Ruscha!}. The book profiles, and celebrates, classic sign painters – the artists who actually use a brush, and paint, and old-school techniques to create some of the most beautiful typographic art in the world. But Faythe and Sam didn’t stop with a book … nope … they just made a documentary too!

So good! Here’s the overview:

There was a time, as recently as the 1980s, when storefronts, murals, banners, barn signs, billboards, and even street signs were all hand-lettered with brush and paint. But, like many skilled trades, the sign industry has been overrun by the techno-fueled promise of quicker and cheaper. The resulting proliferation of computer-designed, die-cut vinyl lettering and inkjet printers has ushered a creeping sameness into our landscape. Fortunately, there is a growing trend to seek out traditional sign painters and a renaissance in the trade.

In 2010 filmmakers Faythe Levine and Sam Macon began documenting these dedicated practitioners, their time-honored methods, and their appreciation for quality and craftsmanship. Sign Painters, the first anecdotal history of the craft, features the stories of more than two dozen sign painters working in cities throughout the United States. The documentary and book profiles sign painters young and old, from the new vanguard working solo to collaborative shops such as San Francisco’s New Bohemia Signs and New York’s Colossal Media’s Sky High Murals.

Ooooh, it looks amazing! The first screening was just a couple of weeks ago in Washington DC. It’s starting it’s tour of indie theatres right now, so if you want to see if your city is on the list, click here. And for a preview of the film, you can watch the trailer right here.

This really is happening, and YOU could be part of it! Yep, if you’re slightly addicted to documenting your life with Instagram, your photos could be included in this new book by Chronicle Books! Seriously!!! For more information on this super-duper fun project click here, and to upload your super-duper amazing images click here… oh, and since I’m totally lame, and don’t actually have a phone worthy of Instagram, please find inspiration in a few people that make me jealous with their lovely, day-in-the-life, Instagram shots:

Victoria Smith {sfgirlbybay}

Lisa Congdon… and her feet {lisacongdon}

Tif Fussell {dottie angel}

Ok, now it’s over to you! Good luck… let me know if your shots get in – happy weekend!

Yes, I need someone to massage my head too… I am totally overwhelmed by how much I love these book cover collages by American artist Hollie Chastain. I wrote about her ages ago, but when I came across a few of these new pieces, clearly I had no choice but to write another post! LOVE ♥

{ps. I am so thrilled to say that Hollie is one of the artists that will be featured in my book, and you better believe that these book covers will be in there… YAY!}

Sigh. Oh Wes, you’re a creative genius with insane attention to detail… and that is why I love you.

In Wes Anderson’s latest film, Moonrise Kingdom, one of the main characters {Suzy}, loves books… and stole a half a dozen of them from the library. Of course, what Wes Anderson film would be complete without every single little thing being designed/thought about… so yes, here are the covers of Suzy’s books that he commissioned six illustrators to design {Oh, and if the cover designs weren’t enough, he also created a short film and animations to go along with each of them. Swoon!}

That last screengrab is my favorite one in the bunch! ♥

{There is a really good article, here, that gives a bunch of background on this part of Moonrise Kingdom.}

When I was in San Francisco, for GIRL CRUSH with Lisa Congdon, I also had a chance to visit with the crew at Chronicle Books. I’d met one of their editors {the lovely Kate Woodrow to be exact!} in January at Alt Summit. She came to my panel on the first day, and the next day I went to hear her speak… on a panel that just happened to be called, From Blog to Book. Can you guess where I’m going with this?

Yep, it’s true… The Jealous Curator is going from blog to book! Seriously. I am working on a book that will be published by Chronicle?! I have to tell you, this is at the very top of my life list, and I am beyond thrilled that I get to cross it off! I can’t believe that I’m going to be along side all of these gorgeous art books on Chronicle’s shelves – I own half of them, and have written about the others. I can’t tell you exactly what my book is about just yet, but as we move the process, I’ll tell you as much as I can {ooh, mysterious!}

I just wanted to take a second to say thank you to Chronicle for believing in me, and even more so… thanks to all of you for actually reading every day. If someone had told me this was going to happen, three years ago when I started my blog, I wouldn’t have believed it. I feel very, very blessed.

Ok… I guess I better start writing! Wish me luck!

{1. Little Paper Planes 2. Obsessive Consumption 3. Stencil 201 4. The Exquisite Book 5. Paper Cutting 6. 100 GIRLS ON CHEAP PAPER}

Gah! I saw one of these on Pinterest yesterday, and I desperately wanted to know who the artist was… but I’m not sure that I’ll ever know. A few clicks on that pin, and I found this entire treasure trove of vintage geological illustrations! They are part of a collection on Vintage Printable, under the category of Gems and Minerals. Pages and pages from old textbooks, that are now part of the public domain. All of you collage artists out there know what that means… yep, you can use these images for whatever you like! Time to get the scissors out people.

{Thanks to American artist Shannon Rankin for pinning one of these to her ‘rocks’ board… love!}

I am a huge fan of Swedish artist Camilla Engman, and so of course, I’m a huge fan of her little sidekick… her dog Morran! Morran has been a huge part of Camilla’s life, and career… have you seen Camilla’s Suitcase Series book? Morran is a major feature! I found out about an hour ago that Morran passed away a few days ago. I don’t know Camilla, or Morran, but I’m crying as I write this. I have two little dogs myself, one of which we almost lost just over a year ago, and the sadness was overwhelming. And so today, I want to share this amazing project that Camilla started in the fall – a book filled with art… Morran art to be exact! She has asked people from all over the world to contribute pieces {these are just a few of my favorites}, and the results are fantastic! It’s going to be a lovely book.

Camilla, I’m sending you lots of love, and Morran… may you run for hours on rainbows xo

{1. Kirsten Houthooft 2. Alicja Nikodem 3. Lien Geeroms 4. Sara Olmos 5. Emmanuelle Eschembrenner 6. Suana Verelst 7. Darja Charapova 8. Marta Monteiro 9. Petra Wester Norgren 10. Christine Roussey}

Look what arrived in my mailbox yesterday! Yes, it’s the beautiful new book featuring the photographs of Austin based artist Alyson Fox. Now, to be totally honest, I didn’t even know that Alyson did photography work, as she’s best known for her beautifully bizarre drawings {which I absolutely love!}. Well, I’ve officially added this book, titled “A Shade of Red”, to the list of reasons to be jealous of Alyson Fox. She took portraits of 100 women, with basically nothing in common, except that they were all wearing the same shade of red lipstick. There is a quote at the beginning of the book that gave me shivers… and made me want to get myself a tube of bright red lipstick:

It was shortly after the British Red Cross arrived, though it may have no connection, that a very large quantity of lipstick arrived…Women lay in bed with no sheets and no nightie but with scarlet red lips, you saw them wandering about with nothing but a blanket over their shoulders, but with scarlet red lips….That lipstick started to give them back their humanity.
~ Colonel Gonin (commenting on the liberation of the Bergen-Belson concentration camp)

Thank you so much Alyson… this is an amazing addition to my collection of art books! xo

{The book was published by Chronicle Books, and be purchased here.}

Oh, Gary Taxali… sigh, if only I still lived in Toronto. Well, for those of you who do, I’m jealous of you! Why? Tomorrow night, Wednesday September 21st, the very talented, Toronto based artist, Gary Taxali will be signing two of his new books, I Love You, OK? {shown above} and Mono Taxali, at The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). Be there from 6 – 9pm… oh, and while you’re in my old neighborhood, pop over to The Grange and have a spring roll for me! Mmm.