I heart Ed Ruscha.

I have a bit of a crush on Ed Ruscha (roo-SHAY).  It's just an innocent art crush really, but I just love his work. I'm drawn to both his paintings and his photography, but mostly his photos. Simple and straight forward.

Some of his photo collections are Twentysix Gas Stations, 1962,  Some Los Angeles Apartments, 1965, Thirtyfour Parking Lots, 1967 and  A Few Palm Trees, 1971. 

The titles aren't meant to confuse you. In Twentysix Gas Stations, you get 26 perfect photos of gas stations. 

This is my own tribute to Mr. Ruscha. 

Five Mississippi Trailers, 2010

All photos by Erin Austen Abbott

(Please do not reprint without permission)

A birthday present to myself...

It's my birthday and these videos make me really happy. So, yeah, YAY!!! Happy birthday to me! 

OK GO- This Too Shall Pass

Surprise Kitty

Kittens Inspired By Kittens

So You Think You Can Dance...AMAZING!

(Dance starts at :50 seconds)

Weekly Picks... 2/23 - 3/1

Here are my weekly picks for the 23rd through the 1st
(WOW! Where does the time go? March already?)

PICK ONE:
Wednesday, the 23rd, for one night only.
at 7:00 PM.
Art Party no.2
featuring the art of
William P. Andrews
Amy W. Evans
Sarah Story

(The Powerhouse got robbed the other day. Drop extra money in the donation jar. 

PS...Who robs anyone in the first place, but a non-profit? Really?)

PICK NUMBER TWO:
Thursday, the 24th at Two Stick
Liver Mousse from Jackson, MS will preform.
Show starts at 10:00 PM

PICK THREE:
Friday, the 25th at Proud Larry's
Shooting Out The Lights  will preform.
Show starts at 10:00PM
Heck Yeah!

Make Me A Linked Mix Tape: Number Seven

Well, to change things up a little bit, I'm going to let you in on my Shazam play list.
Here's Make Me Linked (Shazam) Mix Tape: Number Seven.
I do have some really embarrassing songs on my Shazam list...some of those guilty pleasures even made the mix this week. Shame has gone out the window (I see you Bruno Mars and Avril Lavigne). 
But I also found some really great stuff too though.


And here you go....
James Vincent McMorrow
M. Ward
Jenny and Johnny
The Low Anthem
Greg Laswell
Alexi Murdoch
Lissie
Rogue Wave
Mumford & Sons
Lykke Li
Sarah Blasko
Headlights
The Little Ones
Landon Pigg


*These bands weren't necessarily new to me, although some were, but even when I knew who it was, I didn't always know the song... what a clever thing, this Shazam app for the iPhone.


Enjoy!

Vintage Style.

The Commercial Appeal did an article on vintage style in the home in today's paper.
If you are interested, you can read about it here.... Myself and three other folks were interviewed for the article.


Thanks!!

Weekly Picks... 2/16- 2/22

I'll keep this short and sweet for my weekly picks. 
I'm under a deadline with some freelance work, so this is all I have for you this week in the whole blog world. 
Have fun out there!!!! 

PICK ONE:

Jimmy Eat World with David Bazan & Band 

at The Lyric Oxford

Saturday, the 19th 

18+

Doors at 8:00

PICK TWO:

Cats Purring Jamboree at Cats Purring The Dude Ranch

with Dead Gaze, Flight, Dent May and friends, Airships

and many more... 

Saturday, the 19th

visit here for more info

PICK THREE:

Enjoy the 50% on all winter clothes SALE at the cutest store in Memphis, Hoot + Louise! 
In downtown Memphis off of South Main, 109 G.E. Patterson Memphis, TN 38103
While there, check out the fun housewares, vintage clothing and art on the walls. 
*This store is two doors down from the Arcade. Such a cool diner with great food and milkshakes. American Apparel is across the street. Have fun!!  

Yeah. You have to see it to believe it.

I just came across the coolest art piece I've seen in awhile thanks to my good friend Twinkle VanWinkle.
It's the work of New York artist Holton Rower. Seeing is believing....

Thanks Twinkle for the great find!! 

Cats Purring.

Here is a great interview with Mississippi native/Oxford resident, Dent May talking about Cats Purring collective. Pretty awesome!

Photo by Erin Austen Abbott

                                                      

Weekly Picks...2/9-2/15. It's all about the film.

This weeks picks are all about the 8th Annual Oxford Film Festival. Super fun weekend for some awesome movies!

PICK NUMBER ONE:
While most movies this weekend will take place at The Malco at The Oxford Mall, on Thursday, the film festival will kick off with a very special Thacker Mountain Radio/ Oxford Film Festival fundraiser at The Lyric.  The show will feature filmmaker Les Blank, author Michael Adams, and music by Kenny Brown and Robert Belfour.
Blue Mountain will then take you into the opening kickoff party for the festival, along with 3 short films.

PICK NUMBER TWO:
Feature film Where I Begin, co-written by local writer Melanie L. Addington as well as shot in Oxford. It's sure to be a crowd pleaser as an indication from all the great reviews its been receiving.


PICK NUMBER THREE:
Feature film Passenger Pigeons, written and directed by Martha Stephens looks really good to me. It's set in the hills of the Appalachia as it works through four different stories of a town dealing with the death of a local miner.

You can pick up a schedule at many of the businesses all over town and tickets can be purchased all weekend long at The Lyric and Amelia.


Happy Viewing!!

Make Me A Linked Mix Tape: Number Six

This week's Make Me A Linked Mix Tape continues where #3 left off.  One band formed. Then sadly ended. After that another band formed with one or several of the same players.

Enjoy!

1. Smog
became the solo work of
2. Bill Callahan

3. Native Nod
became
4. The Van Pelt

5. Hated
became
6. Ida

7. Three Mile Pilot 
and
8. Boilermaker 
became
9. Pinback

10. Cap n' Jazz
split off to become
11. Owen
12. Joan of Arc
13. American Football
14. The Promise Ring
15. Vermont
16. Maritime
(That's a whole lot of splitting off....I didn't even list all the bands that were once Cap n' Jazz)

17. Archers of Loaf
became
18. Crooked Fingers

19. Mendoza Line
became
20. Slow Dazzle (it's only a snippet... but it's all I could find. Sorry.)

Pack Your Bags.

If I never wanted to learn a new language or travel to another location... I do now...
What a brilliant set of short movies made for EF Language School that I found over at See Saw Design....

                               

Have a favorite place to travel? 

Rad.

Hey there! Check in tomorrow for a new Make Me A Linked Mixtape and my Weekly Picks.
Today I'm hangin' with my husband before he leaves for tour tonight.

I leave you with this rad picture of a girl doing fancy tricks on her skateboard from Life magazine. Tomboy style, which is just awesome.

Until tomorrow... 

Maps. Quilts. Maps on Quilts.

Quilting is an art. All that goes into making a quilt, some could take years to complete. 
Here in the South, quilting is something that is passed down through the generations, from grandmother to daughter, aunt to niece, and so on.  Each with their own techniques to share. 
Some quilts are made with one purpose, to keep us warm. Others are meant to be hung on the wall to display the work of art that they are. 
These are the type to be hung on a wall.... 


Leah Evans is a quilter that combines aerial photography, maps and satellite imagery into her work. 
Made without the use of computers, each of Leah's quilts are made with the tools of quilting as well as some non-traditional tools such as a compass. She was nice enough to share these images with me.
And now I would like to share them with you... 

(all images are the property of Leah Evans)

Thank you Leah for your beautiful work! 

Side note.... I went to the University Museum at Ole Miss the other day with my friend Kate to see the 

Survey of Gee's Bend Quilts. It's up until April 2nd, it's free and it is simply amazing. The quilts are hung in such a way that you can get up close and see each stitch, each scrap of fabric. Some are made from old jeans and still have some ink drawn on the knees and the pockets included. All are made from the fabric that was handy at the time. Some clearly showing the era, i.e. corduroy in the 1970's. 

I have a favorite from the show. It was one made in the 1940's. Several were used by the postal service as art work for stamps. Also note the amazing names of these remarkable women. 

Let me know which quilt is your favorite!!!

Max Dalton gets it.

Argentinian illustrator Max Dalton  likes to draw. And thank goodness because he does it well. I'm smitten. 

(click on the image to zoom in. All images are via

Max Dalton's blog)

You can buy his work here and here. 

I dream in acrylic.

I just got two painting by local artist Amy Evans Streeter into Amelia. 

And I secretly don't want to sell them.... I'm in love with both of them. 

Come see for yourself....you will be too. 

In true Amy form, both have great titles and both are literary references 

and oh so fitting... 

Have a great weekend!!

Weekend reading list...

Miss Moss has an awesome art "collection" through out her blog. Look back through the archives and get lost in the images. 

Rue has a new issue out. Beautiful. 

Covet Garden is another on-line magazine that I love to read... 

Enjoy. 

Weekly Picks... 2/2- 2/8

This week has so much going on that there is no way I could pick only three events to choose from... 

Thursday, the 3rd:

*Start off your evening with A Conversation with Gee's Bend Quilters

Join us as we’re visited by members from the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective at the University of Mississippi Museum for “A Conversation with Gee’s Bend Quilters” during the opening reception of “A Survey of Gee’s Bend Quilts” Thursday, February 3, from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. This is a very rare opportunity... 

*Next head to Proud Larry's where Cats Purring presents G-Side from Huntsville 

(they were just chosen by Spin Magazine as one of the top 5 artists to watch in February) with  Dead Gaze and Flight will DJ between sets. 

Show starts at 8:00

****Seriously. Do. Not. Miss. This. Show.**** 

*Hi-Tone in Memphis, 

 Deerhoof, Ben Butler and Mousepad, and Powers That Be are playing, 

 Show starts at 9:00PM.

*The Exit in Nashville,

  Ted Leo (solo show) is playing. 

  Show starts at 9:00PM

Friday, the 4th:

*Bozarts Art Gallery, at 403 Main Street in Water Valley, 

is showing new paintings by Aynslee Moon and David Race, and new gourd scuptures and art dolls by Gabriella Delawey. 

*Aynslee Moon, of Amory, MS, earned a BFA degree in painting at the University of Mississippi in 2010 and is now continuing her art education in graduate school at the University of Alabama. 

*David Race, a resident of Coffeeville, MS, also studied at Olemiss and has been painting for many years. He has had many exhibitions of his work all over the country. 

*Gabriella DeLawey, currently of Grenada MS, is a multiple prize-winning 3 D artist. Her witty art dolls are much sought after. 

The public is invited to a reception from 6:00-9:00PM. 

The show is on view until March 5. Gallery hours are Friday and Saturday noon - 5 pm, and by appointment (473-2484).

Monday, the 7th:

*The Bottletree in Birmingham, 

  Lissie (Fat Possum Records in Oxford) with Dylan LeBlanc.

  Show starts at 9:00

***This would be my number 1 pick of the week, month, year!!! I love Lissie****

*Proud Larry's  presents

Wild Nothing, Abe Vigoda, and Winter Sports (from Oxford)

Show starts at 9:00

***This is such a great line-up!!!***

*Minglewood Hall in Memphis, 

Snoop Dogg and Pilot 

***I couldn't find out much information about this show...sorry***

Have a fun week!! So much going on....

Make Me A Linked Mixtape: Number Five

It's Tuesday, so that means a new linked mixed tape...
From the early 90's through the present day, K Records has alway been one of those labels that I would buy music from just because it was K Records. I love their releases. In high school and college, I couldn't go to the internet and hear what the latest band to the label sounded like (the internet wasn't really around yet...thank goodness it is now though). We did however have zines to look through like Heartattack, Maximum Rock & Roll, or Punk Planet to find out about new releases. We would then mail in our well hidden cash to the label and wait 2-6 weeks for the records that we ordered to arrive. Finding a label you liked and sticking with it was important. You could pretty much always count on your favorites to not disappoint. And if you did get a new record and you weren't crazy about it, it was never hard to find a friend to make a trade with. That was the early 90's for you.

Here is my K Records mix for you! Enjoy!!

Lois
The Crabs
Bis
Heavenly (after a tragic suicide by the leading songwriter in 1996, finding a song by them was impossible. He died before the internet was a household name...They went on to be Marine Research.)
Karp
All Girl Summer Fun Band
Tiger Trap (one of my favorite songs back in the day!!)
The Softies  (Tiger Trap went on to be The Softies after they broke up... this is another one of my faves)
Built To Spill and here's one more great early song.
The Microphones (This makes it onto just about every mix tape I make)

Here are a couple newer bands that they've released records for.
Both are two of my favorites of any label...
The Blow
Little Wings
*This is just a very small amount of all the very long list of releases that K Records has.

Thrill Jockey, Jade Tree, Simple Machines and Touch and Go Records mixes are in the works....
Stay tuned in coming weeks.