for the kids

Man, alot has been going on here in Adi's life, Chicago, and the state of America. But, today I'm skipping all of this nonsense and heading straight for what makes me happiest lately. children's books. About a year-and-a-half ago I found M. Sasek. He razzled and dazzled my irises so intensely that I quickly became obsessed with 1960's children's books and their creators.

On Sundays, I work with Alice, whom oddly enough I've mentioned already. But, it's important to bring her up again, she's a smart lady. Sunday is the only day at the art store that we have silence. Customers stay in bed a little later, the boss stays at home doing yoga, and the other insane employees are off. So, me and Alice take turns bringing in our favorite things. This week I brought one of my favorite thrift-store finds ever, The Magic String. This is a gorgeous illustrated book from the 1960's. It utilizes print in such a simplistic way that tingles my tastebuds for a little more coffee while I'm falling asleep in the studio trying to reproduce a similarly beautiful children's book. After Alice gasped at the sight of this book, she recommended i look at BRUNO MUNARI. Oh boy, I fell in love. Also, I found this great blog with some contemporary designers who are doing things the old fashioned way.
www.grainedit.com

And, lastly I've been thinking of a room at the Pompidou alot today. It had wonderful drawings of Matisse's plane trees. Black, ink. That's all he ever needed. I'm reading Francois Gilot's book on Life with Picasso. She's remembering her visits to Matisse after his surgeries at the age of 85. She talks about him making those fantastic paper cut-outs in bed, and drawings made with charcoal fastened on the end of a 10 ft. pole. Imagine designing an interior to a church,the priests clothing, and the stainglass windows all from the comforts of your very own bed. On top of that, he had a lovely young assistant whom did all of his leg-work for him in the last years of his life. I give you, Lydia and the Plane trees.


Renoir couldn't stand his work, and Picasso was insanely jealous. What a guy.

i love you Matisse, Marislov, Munari, and Alice.

By the way, has anybody seen the movie Vampyr? And, if so, can you tell me why it's a recognized movie. My teacher, Jonathan Rosenbaum can't. I think it's a stink.

Adi.
(It's my birthday tomorrow)