Manic Pop

A friend recently got me in to listening to Flying Lotus radio on Pandora and Flying Lotus was his top pick as music he loves to work to. The beats are steady, usually electronic/synthesizer based, and dreamy. Many people cite his biggest influence as J. Dilla as does one of my current favorite artists, Toro Y Moi. Fans of his album Causers of This released in 2009 will likely dig Flying Lotus's 2010 release, Cosmogramma which is a mix of synthy-beats and jazzy electronic instrumentals with blips of video game sounds. This is quite conducive to a productive creative work flow. It's been making me want to stay up in the sewing room! These following photos are paintings (which I love!) done by said friend - Chicago artist, Ennis Martin... likely listening to Flying Lotus?  Painting copyright of Ennis Martin. Painting copyright of Ennis Martin. I generally work to lots of things; Pandora stations, my own last.fm mix, but one I always seem to come back to is ...

So I am absolutely dying to make curtains like these: These are specifically made for a kitchen as they are much shorter than what I would do. I have curtains that desperately need replacing  in my living room (the front picture window) and this project is definitely on my list. It's daunting though because each curtain will have to be around 4 ft. by 6 ft. Yikes!  I also would sort of update this look by using more subdued hues like a pale green and a pale, sheer blue. This would be fun to try on a much smaller scale - like a kitchen window in this photo. (Photo credit: The Complete Encylopedia of Crafts, Volume 1 from 1975.) For anyone in Chicago, a great place to find lots and lots of cheap fabric is Textile Discount Outlet . Go there with some time on your hands as there are 3 warehouse-sized floors of fabric, notions, etc. and always check their hours! Another fun home idea is this, though I may be the only one crazy enough to actually do this: (Photo:...