Las Manos Gallery -a must visit!

While wandering around the Andersonville neighborhood in Chicago, we gravitated right into the open door of a gallery called Las Manos Gallery. All I have to say about this gallery is, “Wow.” But, we won’t leave it at that. All About Wood unfortunately ended yesterday, but I am going to be sure to keep updated on the upcoming shows and if you happen to be in the area, you should as well. Its well worth the visit.

top: outside looking in on Las Manos | below: detail of Jason Houchen’s, I will Fight No More Forever. | bottom left: Jason Houchen’s, I will Fight No More Forever, bottom right: Barry Lorne, Carnival Jack

Artist currently showing at Las Manos Gallery:
Ben Brandt
Jason Houchen
Barry Lorne
Michelle Peteron-Albandoz (owner of Las Manos gallery. Her art is amazing.)
Tom Robinson

Las Manos also carries letterpress prints from resident artist, Amos Kennedy.

The desert pulls at my heart strings!

Who would have known? Yes, it’s arid and desolate and at times otherworldly, but it sort of stole my heart.

San Francisco was a wonderful time – as always. The food alone is enough for this girl to go wandering back. Burrito in the Mission? House of Nan King? Fresh sushi? -Yes, yes, and YES. *pats belly* Besides the food, San Fran is one of the most creative places in the country, if not the most creative city. I met new friends at Renegade and saw old friends from college. Overall, it was lovely.

The journey was the best part. Out west there is adventure – braving steep passes and night time driving on the “Loneliest Road in America” (whatever wilderness we were in – it was too dark to tell.) At one point we got out of the car to marvel at all the stars and the Milky Way. It was a nice little memory to take home because it is indeed lonely out there, but the nighttime sky is beyond amazing. You can hear the silence! A little eerie as well, but now I am dreaming of camping under the desert sky. Even though we tried really hard to avoid dodgy hotels, we ended up crashing in one the first night in a dicey hotel in Iowa. Boy, did that feel good getting the heck out of there.

My favorite moments: picnicking at Goblin Valley, Utah, and driving on the Loneliest Road in America/Route 50 in Nevada. And of course, not to forget…

Fort Cody in North Platte, Nebraska. A great roadside attraction to stop at and it’s free!

Time to work on wholesale orders!

Yes, it’s been a while

I’ve been all about the limited edition prints lately, I have no been putting enough attention on my Paper Parasol Press line. And we are now a bona fide company with a fancy check book and business certificate. Imagine that. With out further adieu, here are the new products…

All in the shop.

And with that, I am San Francisco bound – next stop: San Jose or Pixar and then we will comfortably stay at my good friend (who is also a talented animator) for the next few days. Life is good on the west coast!

Starshaped Press Open House recap!

Jen at Starshaped Press threw an amazing open house this past Saturday! It was a really good time and it’s nice having such a wonderful support group of lady printers in the Chicago area. Keep it up, ladies. Here are some photos:

cards by: A. Favorite Design, Rar Rar Press, Shimmer Studio, Starshaped Press, and Paper Parasol Press.

The Vandercook and the Chandler + Price in action.

Overall, a pretty successful and fun weekend.

I am now just counting the hours until the Renegade Craft Fair. We will be at booth #36 this Saturday + Sunday. Here is a visual for your viewing pleasure with all the info:

I am not looking forward to the gross feeling you get when traveling, especially in a car…. for 31 hours! I am looking forward to this, possibly this, and this.

Roadside attractions are the way to go when venturing out on the road.

Starshaped Press Open House!

This Saturday July 11th from 11-5pm there will be an open house at Starshaped Press on Ravenswood in Chicago. Jen, from Starshaped created these beautiful letterpress posters that are now gracing the storefronts of Chicago.

Poster by Starshaped Press

Paper Parasol Press will be there, along with my art prints under my name.

Also, you will find:
A. Favorite Design
Rar Rar Press
Shimmer Studio

All these ladies are super sweet and I am happy to know them. They are all a product of the printmaking talent coming out of Chicago. It’s an honor being part of such a talented group, considering just last year I was admiring their work and swooning over their products.

flea market adventure

Went out to the good ol’ Kane County Flea Market yesterday. These days I don’t get out of the city that much, so it’s nice to take a long drive out to find some treasures. I especially love old books with typography and illustrations, which there are plenty out there. There’s something just so sharp and smart about the use of both type + illustration. The choice of art + design is so clear and conscious- the marriage is perfect!

My friend Holly scored a beautiful vintage suitcase in an amazing condition. She also found a wonderful little table. I came home with some extra Pyrex treasures, of course, and a few vintage planters that I use as displays for craft fairs. Overall, a very successful flea market day.

s a l e

Paper Parasol Press is going through a slight face lift, which also includes the little etsy shop attached to it. I’d like to clean out some of my inventory to make wave for the new – lots of new products coming in! Including some save the date letterpress prints (which I am very excited about launching!) and such.

Please swing by and see if there is anything you fancy in the Sale section.

*Enjoy your holiday weekend, as I am signing off!

lovely wall decor

I absolutely love posters with strong typefaces and a lovely message attached. Here are few of my favorites lately. Wouldn’t these all look beautiful bunched on a wall together in intricate vintage frames? I can just imagine waking up every morning in my apartment to wall of happiness.

1. Is by Douglas Wilson and you can find it at the Keep Calm Gallery. I love the use of the bold letters on the map. Such a wonderful statement. And, if you know anything about me, I always have to have a future plane itinerary in my email, so it’s quite fitting.

2. Make do and Mend You can find this lovely image at Farouche’s shop. What a beautiful photo shoot all together!

3.I just went ahead and treated myself to YOU ARE ALL I NEED by Christie and Caleb at Roll and Tumble Press out of Little Rock, Arkansas. Because yes, he is all I need – always there to put balance into my world. I am excited to frame it, along with all the other prints I got from the letterpress swap! Phew! Lots of framing is going to happen. Christie and Caleb are also very sweet and I’ve been admiring their work for some time.

4. Live what you Love is another letterpress print you can find at Hijirik Studio’s shop in an array of bold colors. Hijirik also has a lovely blog called Heart Fish chucked full of inspiration.

Happy Thursday and I hope everyone has a wonderful July 4th!

getting my act together

I love web design. I love it especially at night after a Thai Iced Tea kicks in and I am ready to stay up all night. I go through web redesign phases and once one comes along, I need to take full advantage of it. Suddenly, I am tired of my cindytomczyk.com site, but I have not even completely launched Paper Parasol Press. So, without further adieu, I’ve been getting my act together and trying to cut away at the site. I am hoping for a complete launch in September. (that’s possible, right? *gulp*)

Web programmers amaze me. It’s not like design or art. It’s technical and it’s code. Lines and lines of code. I watch Drew code and program all the time and honestly, I could not hack it. Heck, I have a hard enough time updating my “News” section on my wesbite by just copying and pasting code. I guess that is what separates programmers from us designers. Lines of code keep them going. It’s this intricate puzzle of jibberish that somehow pieces together to form something completely different. Gotta give them a pat on the back for staring at lines all day.