Too good.
jasonbooher.com
Archives for October 2014
Kilian Eng
Lauren Winter Fall/Winter 2014
photography by Jon Duenas
This is my favorite lookbook in a long time, for Lauren Winter’s Fall/Winter 2014 collection. She just gets better and better. These pieces have an edge and elegance to them that’s so appealing to me. And that Joni Dress would be perfect for the fall wedding I’m going to. This is definitely one I’ll keep coming back to for inspiration.
Currents
Some of my favorites from the Currents exhibit, featuring SCAD alumni, during Westobou Festival this past weekend.
New Work
I finally pulled out my collage supplies to work on some new pieces. It’s been nearly a year since I made anything, and that’s far too long. Part of the problem is that I don’t have a dedicated space to work anymore and no accessible storage for my supplies. That’ll all be fixed when we move into the new house, thankfully. My creative side has definitely suffered in the past few years and I’m hoping to encourage myself to find inspiration and be productive again. I can be a creature of not-so-good habits, whether it’s not creating at all for long periods of time, or getting stuck in a rut where everything I do looks the same. It’s my goal to break those tendencies next year. It’ll help to get out and search for interesting books, images, and patterns again. I recently found an intriguing book of wallpaper samples in the trash, filled with patterns and colors I wouldn’t have been interested in before. But all the possibilities, the new territory, it excites me now. It’ll be a good challenge to figure out how to use them.
The above book, like many vintage covers, speaks to me. It’s so eerie, a little off. The patterns and colors, muted and dark with that bizarre red thrown in, work perfectly together, and I find myself repeating similar groupings in my own work. Here are a few new things. These scans aren’t great but they’ll do.
Read, Watch, Listen
Despite the uncertainty and fear I’m feeling, I try to keep looking and moving forward–not to pretend everything is fine when it isn’t but at least attempt to do the things I enjoy even if I don’t always want to. This is what I’ve been occupying my time with:
read // I finally finished The Secret History by Donna Tartt and was so disturbed by the self-involved and corrupt characters (don’t get me wrong, the book was very well written, but I found myself wondering why I was suffering through more than 500 pages of such horrible and unredeemable people) that I needed a change. I asked David for a book recommendation and he came up with A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. A good fantasy series is just the kind of distraction I need right now, and so far I love it.
watch // Recently I binge-watched the British series Broadchurch after finding out the US was releasing a version of the show called Gracepoint. Lucky for me, both star David Tennant, my favorite actor in all the land (clearly I need to keep better tabs on his work because Broadchurch is from last year). Never have I seen someone portray despair and brokenness so well. Broadchurch gave me chills and moved me to tears every single episode. I’m hesitant to put this in the category of “things I enjoy” simply because the plot was so gruesome and heartbreaking, but it was a very well done show and I guess we all make that distinction. In many ways it explores the same type of darkness as The Secret History, all the sorrow and evil and shame people hide. But I felt both horror and compassion for the characters of Broadchurch, something I didn’t feel while reading the book. Though still ugly, the view of humanity seemed more realistic. I’m curious to see how the US version compares. No matter how good it is, nothing can top David Tennant’s native Scottish accent.
listen // I came across the band Cookies by way of Kate Miss and their album has been on repeat since then. An album either has to get me dancing or make me feel feelings, even better if it’s both. The album isn’t what I normally go for, but I found myself feeling better as I listened and, admittedly, danced with my dogs. I’m hardly ever intrigued by new music and don’t have the patience to go looking (I’m content listening to the same handful of bands and singers, mostly from before I was born, or movie scores) so it’s nice to find something that’s not hard to like.