Fawn Gehweiler

Deck the Halls!

2011-12-23T16:57:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!
Just popping in for a quick post to share the latest Screaming Mimis ad!I spent a few weekends in a row scouring antique malls for the perfect vintage ornaments to draw (Yes, this is how I do my research!) and of course stumbled on oh-so-many that were just too cute to leave behind, so one thing led to another and we're now enjoying the warm sparkly glow our first ever Xmas tree!PS. You still have a few days to pop in to the Creative Growth Pop-Up Shop at Screaming Mimis for amaaazing stocking stuffers, one of a kind handmade ornaments, and a certain cat sweatshirt that is definitely on my wishlist!

Joyeux Anniversaire!

2011-12-21T20:03:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I rang in our 10th anniversary last month with a quick visit to one of our all time favorite and most sorely missed places of all time, Palm Springs!

Since our anniversary falls on the same week as Thanksgiving (Yes, I was originally wooed with leftover mashed potatoes!) we usually tend to stick close to home to avoid the nightmare of holiday travel, but this occasion seemed way too momentous not to celebrate properly, plus we've both been down with a touch of the sads this early winter and kind of needed a getaway, so we decided to scrape some pennies together and head for the suuun! Yes, we did end up on perpetually delayed flights full of screaming children, and got to spend the night in the SF airport on the way home, but it was absolutely worth it!

We were luckily able to snap up some really great off season rates, and spent our first night at the ridiculously cute Jonathan Adler designed Parker Palm Springs where we were upgraded to a patio room, and accidentally greeted with the cute dessert platter and champagne on ice arranged for the rooms previous occupants, so we were off to a pretty good start! We booked the Glutton's Delight, which was utterly silly and absolutely amazing all at once, basically a race to fit in as many super decadent meals as possible to make sure we used every last shred of our food credit over the course of 24 hours, which we managed to do, and then some, just under the wire! We had an absurd amount of food, including dinner at the super fabulous Mr Parker's (Where they also make a mean Old Fashioned!) surrounded by twinkly low lights and an amazing in-house art collection, a super fancy early morning coffee service for two and an extra extravagant mimosa soaked and candied fruit bedecked room service brunch on our sun-drenched mini patio just before check out time!

Here are a few snapshots from our stay, mostly via my beloved Instagram:
And a few slightly more epic vistas via the Parker website:
We spent the next couple of nights at the slightly more budget conscious (Thank you Booking.com!) but equally adorable Ace Hotel & Swim Club where we pretty much instantly fell into full relaxation mode (and possibly slightly delayed food comas), lounging by the saltwater pool with our morning coffees, watching the crazy pink sun rise over the mountains, swanning to and from the hot tub in their cult-y robes and napping by the cute patio fireplace at dusk. Sooo perfect!
We also went on a ton of mini nature adventures around Palm Springs, like hopping the Aerial Tram up into the snowy mountaintops at sunset, hiking up to the Indian Canyons palm tree oasis, and visiting one of my new favorite places in all of Southern California, the Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium, where I took so, so many photos of super rare cacti and succulents that it led to a mass exodus of my Instagram followers! Little do they know, I actually took a few hundred more on another camera, so here are a few of those too: And of course we had to run through practically every antique store in town, leading to a) maybe a new picker job spotting cute NW specific goods for one of the cutest shops in town, and b) my new all out obsession with the Ib Arborg Parrot Chair:
On our way out of town, we stopped in at the Palm Springs Art Museum for their awesome 60s and 70s Geometric Abstraction show, including my all time favorite early Judy Chicago, Rainbow Picket, a great Helen Frankenthaler (See below!) and a piece from one of Jeff's recent faves, Piero Dorazio. The museum itself, designed by Palm Springs architect E. Stewart Williams (See here for an adorable story about a jaunty sailor cap adorned Frank Sinatra commissioning his fancy new abode from him whilst enjoying an ice cream cone!) is an absolute mid-century modern gem (This blog has some great interior shots, including the perfectly 1974 tangerine orange restrooms!) and totally worthy of a visit all on it's own, complete with the original decor including the Panton-esque tangerine and olive carpets and a majestic poured concrete grand stairwell with what could only be the largest Sputnik Starburst chandelier all of the land:This stop kicked off the agenda for the rest of our trip, which mostly involved seeing as many of the Pacific Standard Time shows as humanly possible over the course of a few short days in a crazy whirlwind of nonstop art! I think I've discussed my obsession with Postwar California art movements here before, and the Pacific Standard Time initiative, spearheaded by the Getty Foundation, with the participation of 120+ other museums and galleries all across Southern California, just so happened to be a totally unprecedented convergence of absolutely all of my favorite art of all time, and most of the shows we had been dying to see just so happened to coincide with our trip, so we definitely couldn't pass up this possibly once in a lifetime opportunity to see it all in person! If you happen to be in, or are going to be in Southern California anytime soon, I would definitely, definitely recommend it! Here are a few of the highlights from the rest of our trip, in no particular order:

The flagship Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950–1970 exhibition, amazing Greetings from LA, Artists and Publics, 1950-1980 ephemera show, and De Wain Valentine's Gray Column at the Getty! Here are our reflections in Gray Column as shot by Jeff, and a few of the smaller companion pieces in the show:Sage Organic Vegan Bistro cashew alfredo spinach basil raviolis, KindKreme honey chai / salted caramel raw brownie sundaes, telekinetic teen movie slumber parties and apple / champagne cocktails with one of our oldest and bestest mutual friends!

Discovering new favorite artists like Helen Pashgian, whose impossibly luminous resin pieces were on show both at the Ace Gallery Beverly Hills (Along with some early De Wain Valentine's!) and represented by a piece or two in most of the major museum shows; and new super fave Terry O'Shea at Cardwell Jimmerson whose dark, organic, and extra-smartassy work, despite also being cast resin based, was in a league all its own compared to the super glossy and super serious work of his contemporaries (Don't miss the story about how he "donated" a requested piece to LACMA by chucking it over the fence into the tar pits!)

Daily smoothies and a free Thanksgiving lunch buffet alongside Weird Al and tons of cute LA raw foodies at Cafe Gratitude, followed by chasing peacocks at the LA Arboretum and amazing vegan Chinese Thanksgiving dinner out in the Valley, via an unexpectedly awesome Yelp recommendation!

Basically the entirety of Phenomenal, the epic Light and Spaaace show at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, including tons of mind-bending James Turrell light wells, Robert Irwin, John McCracken, and my favorite Craig Kauffman, followed by fresh caught cute surf shack lobster chimichangas in La Jolla and a long drive up the coast at sunset!

The amazing ASCO retrospective (Imagine the Cockettes meets super tough proto-punk bubblegum performance art troupe meets renegade Echo Park urban planning committee!), the California Design show (Including a full scale replica of the Eames House living room!), and the Broad Contemporary at LACMA!

Kenneth Anger Icons and Under the Big Black Sun at MOCA!

Golden State of Craft at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, mostly featuring works from the Pasadena Art Museum's California Design exhibitions, whose catalogs are some of the most prized books in my collection! Here we are defying the strict no photos rule (Sorry guys!) to sneak a quick shot next to Pamela Weir-Quiton's Georgie Girl, which is not only probably my favorite piece in the entire California Design series, but one of my favorite things ever made in general:Finding the softest, slouchiest vintage Russian sailor shirt to end all vintage Russian sailor shirts at the impeccably curated Mohawk General Store, super extra discounted United Bamboo cat calendars at Opening Ceremony, and a super thematically appropriate mini collection of amateur resin art from our favorite semi-overpriced but always amazing LA antique mall on our way to the airport!

All in all, basically the best anniversary ever!

Here's to many, many more!
❤

Into the Trees...

2011-11-14T16:46:00.001-08:00

Happy waning days of Fall everyone!

I started this post at the first tiny flutters of fall-hued leaves, when I was absolutely ecstatic about daily sweater weather, blustery days and hot cocoa times, ready for foggy days at the shore and for the squrrels that live in our chimney to don their tiny acorn hats. The time has been slipping away like crazy ever since and I'm finally posting just as the first frosts set in, while the sun sets at the extremely untimely, forever surprising and ever-such-a-bummer hour of four o'clock in the afternoon.

In any case, I didn't want to wait until the first snowdrifts to share the Fall Screaming Mimis ad, inspired partly by Laura and Kim's epic West Coast road trip, partly by legendary 70s California rock climbers The Stonemasters:

and partly by our mutual obsessions with vintage canteens!

Not to be outdone by my own illustration of the perfect imaginary camping trip, Jeff and I cobbled together a last minute itinerary built around a friends magical woodland wedding in Arcata and set off on our own dreamy early Fall impromptu wander of the Northern California and Oregon coastlines:
Despite being armed only with a few scrawled post-it lists of hastily researched campsites, a couple of vague sightseeing recommendations, a recently acquired super cute though not-terribly-mechanically-sound future veggie oil powered station wagon, a list of camping supplies that consisted, in its entirely, of 1) marshmallows and 2) fire, and a borrowed tent that resulted in a comedy of errors the first time we tried to set it up, or maybe even partly because of those things, we kind of had the best trip ever, an absolutely epic ramble through some of the most amazing landscapes the West Coast has to offer!

Here I am, wayfinding, as snapped by Jeff:
After a mini inland detour for a quick peek at the Oregon Caves and Chateau, a Wildlife Safari and hopeful but sadly not-to-be Treesort adventure (Note to future wanderers, the treehouses are sometimes booked up to a year in advance!) we decamped to the coast for a few days of beachcombing in Humboldt County, whiling away the hours along a few of my new favorite shorelines in the world, watching the surf from a redwood lined perch at Moonstone Beach and barely making it back up the cliff to camp at dusk weighed down with every pocket full of insanely beautiful rocks, gemstones, and petrified driftwood via Agate Beach at Patrick's Point State Park.

Here's Jeff, hobo camping at Moonstone Beach, as snapped by me:We saw a million giant trees, veered off on every scenic highway and byway, and hiked through a million ancient forests and fern lined canyons. A few of our absolute favorite spots in the Redwoods were Fern Canyon, the Big Tree Wayside, and Ladybird Johnson Grove, but I would love love love to hear about more secret spots and local favorites for next time! Of course, we also had to pull off at literally every single tourist attraction along the way, from a quick stop to visit Paul Bunyan at the Trees of Mystery to new favorites the Prehistoric Gardens and the West Coast Game Park Safari, reported to be the largest wild animal free range petting zoo in the country, where we had an extended hangout with the cutest herd of baby deer, got chased around by angry swans and had all of our clothes gnawed on by tiny Satanic goats, which was maybe kind of the best thing ever?

Here I am posing for the classic tourist shot at the Prehistoric Gardens:
Since this recap has just barely crept across the Oregon border, I should probably save the rest for another time. Stay tuned for foggy cliffs, baby seals, deco bridges, neon tidepools, clam chowder and lots and lots of antiques!
♥

California Dreaming...

2011-06-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

Happy first day of summer everyone!

The mailman just arrived at our doorstep bearing the Summer issue of Paper Magazine, containing my latest ad for Screaming Mimis, which was ever so loosely inspired, in both subject matter and palette, by the dreamy impressionist boating scenes of 1930s California artist Edward Cucuel:

all of which make me hope for at least a few sunny afternoons spent floating down a lazy river this summer, parasols, straw hats and tiny tea sandwiches in tow. In the meantime you can find me doodling away in our new backyard, which is currently a meadow of buttercups, lounging on our newly estate sale begotten and freshly lemon yellow spray painted patio set with a homemade meyer lemon simple syrup italian soda, my new summer beverage obsession!

Sunshine Day...

2011-04-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

The Screaming Mimis ad for Spring, inspired by art deco florals, dream bicycles and 1920s picnics, and informed, just for fun, by the Spring 2011 Pantone palette:

was dashed off to print back when there was still frost on the ground, but I've probably been obsessing about a proper garden ever since, and now that Spring has officially sprung here in the Pacific Northwest, we've been strolling the nursery aisles every chance we get, poring over seed catalogs, pricing arborvitae, and sourcing climbing roses for our chainlink fences with impossible visions of a rococo pastoral urban backyard:

I'll let you know how it goes!
Last image via Colkinikha.

2011-04-22T16:18:00.000-07:00

I wish I could be in Los Angeles for the Space 15 Twenty "To Japan, From LA, With Love" art auction, raffle and pop-up shop this weekend:
.
So many friends and favorites have contributed amazing work to help raise funds for Japan, if you happen to be in town, you should definitely have a look!

There are a ton of fundraising efforts still taking place throughout Portland as well.
A few of my favorites are Scout Books:

who are donating 100% of the profits raised from the sale of these books to Mercy Corps, and W+K Studio:

who are donating 100% of profits raised from the sale of this poster to the Red Cross.

Of course you can click on the links to either of the organizations above to make a direct donation as well, and please don't forget the animals!

The Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support group is a coalition of 3 different rescue groups who have banded together to rescue, shelter, and care for animals in crises, who still need all the help they can get!

Miss Candy Twist...

2011-01-21T16:23:00.000-08:00

h hello there! I hope everyone had a magical Holiday and super festive New Years celebration! We spent the entire month of December on maybe the biggest project of our lives, knee deep in crumbling wallpaper, crackly tiles, enamel paints and sawdust, finally collapsing in a heap of exhaustion well before midnight on New Years Eve, but waking up on the very first day of 2011 to the sun streaming in the window of our brand new 1920s bungalow, which I shall have to save for it's very own post!

I was able to sneak in a few bits of drawing here and there, the Screaming Mimis Holiday Ad Spectacular, par exemple! The Holiday ads are always a favorite to draw, we went with a Candyland theme this year:

Inspired, of course, by the sweet shops of yore, and my own addiction to old fashioned hard candies of all stripes, particularly of the seasonal variety:

My confectionery allegiances generally lie with either taffy pulled by hand in a pink striped facade on the tiny main street of a forgotten Victorian seaside town or dusty boiled sweets via faux frosting topped vernacular English storybook cottage a la Santa's Village:

But I do also adore the modern day apothecary aesthetic, good old fashioned sugar craftsmanship and frequent art collaborations of modern day avant candy lab Papabubble. Here are some of their handmade spiral lollipops available at Bergdorf's:

A collaboration with Barcelona based designers Sebastien Cordоliani and Frank Fontana exploring traditional Murano glass techniques as applied to sugar:

And a pretty epic exhibition by Erica Browne, wherein participants were asked to grow their own sugar crystals and then bring them to display in the stores windows:

Having had 'candy as art' on my to-do list for the past, oh, decade or so, I am, of course, very much obsessed and always make a mental note when I spot someone else using sugar as a medium in their work. Garden of Delight by Marieke van der Bruggen made the blog rounds a few years back but definitely warrants another mention:

And, last but not least, Elsa Hedberg's candy and sugar icing baubles, on display at Beyond the Valley via Style Bubble:

Ps. Peppermint swirl type courtesy of Jessica Hische at Daily Drop Cap.

Faux Gâteaux

2010-12-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

I suppose you can probably tell by my eternal obsession with dusty seaside taffy palettes and pâtisserie in the family that some of my favorite art is probably also sweet shop inspired...

From high school Pop Art obsessive faves Wayne Thiebaud:

And Claes Oldenburg:

To Thiebaud as interpreted by Sharon Core:

and pastry chef Caitlin Williams Freeman for the SF MOMA rooftop cafe:

To perennial faves Will Cotton:

whose pop-up bakery at Partners and Spade was surely a sight to behold:

and Laurie Simmons:

whose very proper tea and cakes service is still one of my very favorite things!

Farewell Miss Maybelle...

2010-10-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

This is probably one of the saddest things I will ever write, about one of the saddest days I've ever had in my entire life. My dearly beloved constant companion, devoted sidekick, and be-whiskered best friend Maybelle passed away early last week. She had been going through a patch of ill-health since earlier this year, complete with weekly visits to her favorite vet and tons of cuddles, and we knew this day was coming, but it was still way, way, way more heartbreaking than I could ever have possibly imagined. She's been with me for so long that I can't even remember what life was like without her, but I know that it will never be the same.

We've been trying to cheer ourselves up by looking through a million photos, reminiscing about her antics and marveling at how she really was the cutest cat in the world, with her crazy big eyes, freckle face, cleopatra eyeliner and fluffy white boots. These are a few of the last pictures I got to take of her, about a week before she fell ill, when she decided to have a bed-in one day, purring like crazy all the while about the harmonic convergence of two of her all time favorite things, snuggly down blankets and basking in the sun:

She also got to enjoy a ton of her all time favorite thing in the world this year, the great outdoors! After years of being an apartment kitty, she was filled with wonder at all the birds and bees and flowers and trees that were to be found in our new backyard and demanded that we hang out there pretty much all of the time, which we gladly obliged:

As a firm believer in both ghost stories and cat magic, I'm still waiting (im)patiently to spot visions of her little lion face out of the corner of my eye or hear the pitterpat of tiny ghost paws on the floorboards, but in the meantime, rest in peace Miss Maybelle,
we ❤ you!

Go For Baroque!

2010-06-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

This is ever-so-slightly belated, but probably one of my faves, which makes it kinda worth posting a month or two late:

Hello Spring/Summer-ish Screaming Mimis ad!

Probably one of the things I love the about fashion illustration in general and the Screaming Mimis ads in particular is creating cute imaginary locales for cute imaginary kids to live in, and when in doubt I tend to go for Baroque, thus the French Provincial by way of the 1970s teenage bedroom, which is probably just about what my dream office would look like, given a) a house of my very own to wallpaper to death b) a teeny-tiny budget and c) a couple of summertime weeks of decor scouting roadtrippery!

First on the my wishlist would be this altogether perfect pink and green velveteen number, found whilst scouring the internets for the perfect furniture to draw for this very ad, but sadly already sold for a song:

I also love love love how the ad fit right in with this super adorable editorial which just so happened to be in the very same issue of Paper Magazine:

Styled by super cute Los Angeles based Wardrobe Stylist Shirley Kurata and shot at one of my all time favorite places in the history of the world, the Madonna Inn!

Which was also one of our all time favorite photoshoot locales when we lived in LA, as seen in these outtakes from a Gravy Train!!!! album cover shoot from oh-so-many years ago, which also involved smuggling in a carload of stuffed poodles, googly eyed plastic bunnies, big eyed kids and giant furry gonks from ye olde prop library:

If you've never been, I highly recommend you pay a visit to the Madonna Inn immédiatement, if only for a quick slice of Pink Champagne Cake and a mug of pink sugared coffee on your way up or down the California Coast, but one look at the magical rooms and pink vinyl boothed and gold bedecked steakhouse and you'll pretty much have to stay the night:

PS. On a semi-tangentially somewhat related note, see that hair, way back up there, in the ad? That's basically my summer dream hair & any tips on how to achieve such a look would be greatly appreciated! I'm desperately in need of some Spring/Summer hairstyles as I seem to have sprouted a spectacularly unruly and extravagantly overgrown mane of waist length Manson girl hair over the Winter months and need all the help I can get!

❤ Fawn

In Other News...

2010-06-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a little sneak peek at one of the early drafts for the new Screaming Mimis website:

which has since gone live, complete with a mini online shoppe and cuter than cute new blog!

Yay!

Oh, Deer...

2010-06-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

In the midst of the seemingly endless task of inspiration image sorting and filing, I stumbled on a long forgotten but no less magical 'Girls & Deer' folder, home to gems such as this all time flickr favorite, not to mention possibly one of the cutest photos ever taken in the history of the world:

Via Von Canon

Mirror, Mirror...

2010-06-27T19:00:00.001-07:00

Not to be outdone, here is Brigitte Bardot, circa 1965:

Also feeding a baby deer in a bikini!

And...

2010-06-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Last but not least!

Audrey Hepburn & her pet deer Pippin...

Taken by Bob Willoughby

And Tennessee Bunny Thomas of The Like...

Via 10 Magazine

Tales of Owls and Flowers...

2009-12-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

A few more scans from the vintage archives:

This set of 1966 mini posters screen printed on heavy gold card is one of my very favorite finds by this artist, soon to be properly framed and displayed along with a million other cute ephemeral odds and ends (my very first resolution for 2010!)

Have a Verrie Merrie...

2009-12-23T17:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays Everyone!
Here are a few scans from my previously semi-secret archives of 60s ephemera:

I've been organizing like crazy for the past few weeks, in advance of a couple of impending super exciting life changes which I can't wait to share! One of the super exciting announcements semi-tangentially involves all of these boxes of cute cards, notes, stationery and paper goods that I've been hauling from coast to coast all of these years, so expect lots more scans from the archives soon!!!
Here's to starting 2010 off with a bang!
xo Fawn

December Magic...

2009-12-23T16:49:00.000-08:00

One more holiday favorite from the archives:

Also, a tiny query!
We have a semi-accidental Xmas tradition of tucking ourselves away for the holiday to feast on red velvet cakes and holiday themed horror films, but seem to have run out of un-previously viewed titles for this year... any suggestions?

The lineup so far consists 100% of this amaaazing 1979 Kate Bush Christmas Special:

Via all time faves the magical Miss Witch Mountain and Cat Party!

If You Go Down To The Woods Today...

2009-12-17T19:25:00.000-08:00

ello everyone! Sorry it has been, as per usual, approximately one million years since my last post here. We've been pleasantly caught up in a whirl of tiny visits with faraway friends on the way to and from far-flung family fêtes, hibernating with mugs of cocoa and whipped cream, and most exciting of all, running away to the woods for a self guided fairy tale mushroom tour!

We decided to skip town late Thanksgiving eve for lack of anything better to do, eventually winding up in a perfectly beautifully ghostly deserted Astoria, dining on a Thanksgiving feast of convenience store wine, cheese and chocolate (Not having considered that everything would be closed!), thankfully finding room for the night at the cute new Commodore Hotel, and set out first thing in the a.m. for the magically silent woods, where I'm still beyond excited to have seen my very first amanitas in the wild!
We spotted these:

and so many more! I posted a few more cute mushroom clusters on my flickr and hope to capture oh so many more when we go back soon for a real Park Ranger guided tour, where we will also hopefully learn how to spot things that we can actually eat!

Ps. Magical letter H courtesy of Jessica Hische at Daily Drop Cap, my new favorite thing in the world!

Tiny Pierrettes...

2009-11-17T21:26:00.000-08:00

A few quick shots of some recent works in progress, ten 10" x 10" pieces for an upcoming holiday show in Australia:

Full details and more updates soon, I promise!

In Other News...

2009-11-17T21:20:00.000-08:00

I'm quite pleased to say that not only have I finally sorted out the international shipping options for ye olde One Stop Backstock Pop Up Shoppe but have also been adding some paintings to the mix:

With hopefully lots more to follow after the holiday rush!
And maybe most importantly, I also figured out how to add DISCOUNT CODES!
From this very moment through December 1st, just enter the code LAFORETNOIRE at checkout for an instant 20% off!!! Hurrah!
Happy almost-the-holidays everyone!
&hearts Fawn

Lost in the Forest...

2009-10-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts here lately, I've been swept up in a flurry of Fall leaves, ringing in the season so far by picnic-ing at dusk with Vaux’s Swifts, racing around the Oregon countryside meeting cute alpacas, and starting to hibernate just a little, which will hopefully mean lots of progress on lots of projects soon...
For now, here's a mini preview of my latest ad for Screaming Mimis, due out any day now:

This one was so, so, so fun to draw, partly because I got to create the imaginary forest backdrop of my dreams, and partly because all I needed in the way of inspiration was to take a quick peek into my own closet:

which has been kind of an explosion of plaids and tweeds and woolens as of late and admittedly kind of out of control (as in, how many brown tweed blazers does one girl need?) but have I mentioned all of the cute vintage Pendleton still kicking around thrift stores all over the Pacific Northwest? It's kind of impossible to resist. As much as I can't wait to wear every single one of these coats, the mustard plaid medieval toggle coat that got me through last winter has already fallen back into heavy rotation and will probably always be my favorite:

Kind of hard to top that, right?

PS. Drawing this ad also got me re-acquainted with my semi-dormant ceramic mushroom obsession. Oops. Here are a few possible candidates for new additions to the collection:

Recent Acquisitions...

2009-10-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

The One That Got Away...

2009-10-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

I lost the most amazing 60s deco revival papier-mâché bust on eBay a few months ago and am still kicking myself for not bidding just a teeny tiny bit more...

The combination of dusky grass green and just ever-so-slightly day-glo pink with the deep avocado green of her hair is nothing short of absolutely perfect!

In The Village...

2009-09-13T03:59:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about Fashion Week is when a designers inspiration for their collection parallels an inspiration of my own, and every tiny detail becomes a secret signifier of a favorite element of a favorite thing.
Karen Walker has always been one of those designers, which explains why I spent all afternoon scouring the internets for the first sign of her 'The Village' collection, inspired by the 60s British television series 'The Prisoner', which I spent many an hour on the clock obsessing over during a youthful stint as a cult video store employee.
The sets and costume design are 100 percent amazing and super over the top, and coincidentally something I had also obsessed over turning into a clothing collection once upon time, so of course I had visions dancing in my head of a carnivalesque production of canopied penny farthings, pointy parasols and patchwork capes, an imaginary army of awning stripes, schoolboy suits and rugby striped shirtdresses:

The real collection, while super cute and starring the requisite piped blazer, is actually not at all like any of that (which is probably for the best) but does still perfectly capture that 60s seaside meets Edwardian holiday camp look that I so adore, and also features one of my favorite Karen Walker prints since the lollipop trees and puppies of yore...

Nautical flags!!!

Candy Colored Cottages...

2009-09-04T02:17:00.000-07:00

I think it's pretty obvious to anyone who knows my work or reads my blog that I love, love LOVE historical kitsch (though I am kind of loathe to use the term kitsch in all but the most academic of senses) so it will probably come as no surprise that I'm totally obsessed with the work of artist/designer/architect/genius Richard Woods:

His signature pop faux bois MDF panels have turned up on on many a design blog and graced many a gallery floor, but you kind of have to see the rest of his work too! Called "architectural interventions" by Frieze Magazine, his installations are one part tongue-in-cheek tribute to/pastiche of English vernacular architecture and one part pure unadulterated whimsy.

My favorite is probably the candy colored Stone Clad Cottages at Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, though I do have a soft spot for half-timbering and love that he once transformed Deitch Projects (along with a handful of collectors homes) into a Mock Tudor:

Image from "Tooning Up the World" via IdN Magazine.

Past Tents...

2009-09-03T02:09:00.000-07:00

It's practically sweater weather now in Portland, and though I'll be super excited to access the 99.9% of my wardrobe that is made up of tweeds and heavy wool and sweater vests, I will be sad to see our weekly outdoor expeditions fall by the wayside until next year. I was kind of just getting the hang of this nature thing again! Last weekend we went on an epic stroll in the Columbia River Gorge that should have led to a super secret swimming hole which we never quite found. Along the way we were menaced by a tiny hissy silver snake, and, at one point, I could be found quite comically clinging to a mossy rock for dear life in knee deep rapids... But, the trail through old growth redwoods was insanely beautiful and dotted with a couple of cute little campsites tucked into the foliage that we swore to pay another visit to before the rains start for a couple of nights around a fire with toasted marshmallows and owl calls...

But first, the task of figuring out how and where to acquire the makings of a cute camp!

As someone who is both secretly mortified of modern day sporting gear and not so secretly a fan of historic re-enactments, I'm kind of hooked on the idea of strictly vintage camping gear, and actually have a folder full of reference photos and ebay searches but absolutely no idea where to start! Wandervogel lutes and a cute 60s campstove, anyone?

I do know exaaactly where I would acquire my very first tent if I could so afford it, however!

For as long as I've had the internet, I've been obsessed with Past Tents, home of ridiculously adorable historically accurate vintage reproduction stripey tents; medieval, napoleonic, civil war, tudor and yes, even teepees, if you so desire!

My imaginary shopping cart is forever full of the pavilion tent in all sizes, in every combination of every sherbet-y shade in the book:

This is basically the campsite of my dreams:

By Etrusia UK via Flickr.

Oh hello camping dreamland! It really doesn't get much more picturesque than candy colored tents set up inside crumbling castle walls, which is what I imagine it would have looked like if I had made it to Tapestry Goes West last year, which fell on both my birthday and the super cosmic date of 08/08/08, was going to be held in the deer park of a castle in Wales, with Circulus headlining, but was sadly semi-cancelled at the last minute! Not that I had cobbled together quite enough pocket change to get there anyway... maybe next time?

More Cute Camping...

2009-09-03T02:08:00.000-07:00

On a slightly different note, with a slightly more modern day stripey tent, how cute are these pictures of 60s car camping in Germany, avec perfectly put together outfits, comfy chairs and lots of reading materials?

Both from one of many amazing sets of family vacation photos taken all over Europe by photographer Harald Haeusler, also by way of Flickr.

One Stop Pop Up Shoppe...

2009-09-01T22:57:00.000-07:00

I'm cleaning out my "archives" and set up a little temporary online shoppe for all of the goods here!

Duplicates, triplicates, long lost production samples, alternate colorways and all sorts of sometimes one of a kind odds and ends are up for grabs, through the month of September only!

The address again?
http://fawn.bigcartel.com

Also, new ebay listings ending tomorrow! Farewell cute 60s floral corduroy suits, hello off the grid treehouse (Maybe? Unless my beloved Portland would like to produce some exciting projects for me to toil away at? Soonish?)

xoxoxo
Fawn

You take the Power of the Flower...

2009-08-13T00:21:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more shots from the weekend:

Mostly spent tooling around Sauvie Island, skipping from farm to farm in a u-pick flower frenzy, collecting more dahlias, zinnias, mums and gerber daisies than we could ever possibly display, even after filling practically every glass, mug, tiny novelty vase and empty bottle in the house! And of course I couldn't help but obsess over the colorsssss, collecting and photographing every perfect electric salmon pink and insanely rich velvety blood red!
We were originally planning to pick a few baskets of blackberries too, but found a heaping platter of them outside or front door just a few days earlier, a sneaky gift from our next door neighbor who has one of the most beautiful urban gardens we've ever seen!
Have I mentioned lately how much I love Portland in the summertime?
A few more Sauvie Island photos can be found at my flickr, along with a few more recent odds and ends, including this guy:

who may just be our new favorite Portland street cat ever!

2009-08-13T00:15:00.000-07:00

PS. Bonus points if you read that last title and immediately thought of this scene (it started looping in my head and I had to find the footage, pronto!):

from Otto Preminger's Skidoo, one of my favorite movies ever made, of all time, EVER. It also stars Groucho Marx, Jackie Gleason, Cesar Romero, Frankie Avalon... no big deal, right? How about 60s supermodel and Rolling Stones pal Donyale Luna? John Phillip Law aka Pygar from Barbarella? Oh, and, costumes by Rudi Gernreich? Soundtrack by Harry Nilsson? If you haven't already seen it, do it now!

I seriously love, love, LOVE Carol Channing, and have probably never been more awestruck and starstruck than seeing her perform Razzle Dazzle (with fireworks!) a few years ago at the Hollywood Bowl!

Here's another classic Carol Channing moment, from Thoroughly Modern Millie:

Raaasberries!!!

Summer's not a Bummer...

2009-08-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

It's a Stunner...
and it's NOW!

Apologies for the woefully infrequent summertime updates around here. Lots more coming soon, I promise!

In the meantime, here's a quick snapshot from a birthday weekend spent wandering around the great outdoors:

Now we're enjoying a little string rainy days with a cool breeze and a little hint of fall, welcoming a little time to hibernate and focus after the epic heatwaves of the past few weeks. It actually seems to be the perfect time for it to be turning a little gray, now the million projects that we have forever in progress or waiting for just the right day to get started may finally have a chance to see the light of day!

Notes to Self...

2009-07-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

Apologies if you've already seen these next few posts on a million blogs, a million years ago, I'm just catching up with months and months of reading and need a few reminders of a few things too perfect not to commit to memory...

Like these hazy kaleidoscopic Sarah Moon-y cotton candy hair confections:

‘Backstage at Galliano’ by Mark Leibowitz via New York Magazine.

Perfect Rooms 101...

2009-07-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Inside Grey Gardens:

via the New York Times. I LOVE that the menagerie cabinet has been fully restored.

R.I.P. Heinz Edelmann...

2009-07-23T17:39:00.000-07:00

Sad news about legendary designer/illustrator/favorite Twen Magazine contributor/Yellow Submarine art director Heinz Edelmann via the LA Times.

Me and my Shadow...

2009-07-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

I love these shots of Twiggy (looking ever so slightly bemused) making the most of a lookalike contest photo-op avec aspiring doppelgängers:

via the LIFE photo archive.

I had a whole post in the works to accompany these images on the subject of aspiring doppelgängers (As the seemingly eternal target of one of my own, who has been ramping up her appropriations again as of late. Hello identical website and strangely familiar blog posts. Oh hi process and palettes and personal references, how interesting to see you all so out of context!) but will save that for a rainy day. In the meantime let's just pretend that scenario is even a tiny fraction as adorable and innocent as above...

Dear Portland...

2009-07-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

I'm showing a little wall of new paintings as a guest artist at Compound Gallery this Thursday, kind of a mini preview of a new series in the works, a tribute to Regency ragamuffins, dollies and dandies with a little bit of Buster Keaton thrown in for good measure:

I'll be exhibiting alongside a selection of artwork from the book "Pink Attitude, Contemporary Female Creativity"

Opening Thursday, July 2nd at 7:00pm
Compound Gallery
107 NW 5th Ave.
Portland, OR

For more information please visit:
http://www.compoundgallery.com

For pricelist or other show info please contact: matt {at} compoundgallery {dot} com
(This show is my first experiment with new depression era pricing, so get them while you can!)

Work in Progress...

2009-06-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

It's Only a Paper Moon...

2009-06-16T13:06:00.000-07:00

Back to Basics...

2009-06-15T12:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so terribly quiet around here, I've been taking a little bit of an internet hiatus for art making! Here are a few tiny peeks at a new little batch of paintings coming very soon:

I know at least a few people reading this will be excited to hear that I've been revisiting the process that had pretty much become interchangeable with my signature over the years; enamels on glass and plexi, most commonly known for their uncanny resemblance to boiled sweets! I had all but abandoned my favorite materials for a bit in favor of more traditional paintings on canvas and panel partly due to gallery requests for less shattery artworks, and while I still love the idea of veering in the direction of revisionist portraiture forever, I was never able to recapture the perfectly perfect hyper flat candy colors of my dreams in any other medium, and have been quite happily picking up where I left off...

Which might have been with this Baby Lemonade show, circa, oh, 2007? Yikes!

It wasn't until I left LA that I realized there was something quintessentially LA about my chosen materials, specifically the translucence, flourescents and candyflake stripes of the mid-to-late 60s Ferus Gallery stable, probably lodged into my subconscious somewhere between divesting the school library of all of its Pop Art and Color Field books in high school and experimenting with casting and pigmenting my dads surfboard resins.

There are surprisingly few pieces to be found online, but here are a few of my favorites from the LA Glass and Plastics and Finish Fetish crews:

Craig Kauffman

Billy Al Bengston

Norman Zammitt

I've been super nostalgic for both Los Angeles specific and late 60s-specific art movements lately, and have have been revisiting both via these amazing books:

Practically on permanent loan from the Portland Library. Thanks guys!

Also recommended, Morgan Neville's The Cool School, How LA Learned to Love Modern Art documentary!

David Hockney goes to Malibu...

2009-06-02T03:39:00.000-07:00

I've been slowly but surely posting a few more of the dreamy summer dresses, flapper revival sailor sweaters and perfect summer suits that didn't quite work out in my wardrobe to Ebay for the past few weeks:

And so far, this has been the hardest thing to part with. I was hoping to channel something of a "David Hockney goes to Malibu" look for the summer, and this candy colored seersucker suit, which has been languishing at the back of the closet waiting for its day in the sun, would have been absolutely perfect, if only it wouldn't have needed to be tailored half to death in order to fit me quite right! I'll be pretty sad to see it go, but know that it would probably love to be taken out for a stroll!

On a tangentially related note, I think I may be newly obsessed with these Madras and raw silk bow ties by heritage haberdasher J. Press:

Brought to my attention by preeminent menswear blog A Continuous Lean.

♥

2009-06-01T00:27:00.001-07:00

Gal Costa circa 1969

Welcome to the Dollhouse!

2009-05-27T23:01:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I woke up to a long awaited parcel containing possibly the final, final sample (fingers crossed!) of the first in my series of 3 signature vinyl toys for the Necessaries Toy Foundation!

Here's a sneak peek of the first girl, who is on her way to production as we speak:

And an even sneakier peek at her mini dollhouse box:

The packaging for each doll will be a mini abode that suits her imaginary lifestyle, from tiny pink Patisserie to vintage Victorian to Cape Cod cottage (yes, a little sailor girl!), all of which were so fun to design and draw up! The whole set, based on a series of paintings from 2004 called Sundae Girls, has been more than a few years in the making and I can't wait to finally see them all in person!

Keep an eye on the Necessaries Toy Foundation site for the definitive release date, and be sure to check out their other offerings, from the first ever Mark Ryden vinyl toy (due out any day now!) to the super amazing set of Camille Rose Garcia girls, Fafi girls, and Enid from Ghost World!

Cat Fancy...

2009-03-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

One upside to the aforementioned Epic Computer Fail of 2009: finding a million projects that I had either abandoned or simply forgotten all about nested in all the wrong folders on my hard drive.

It's a little known fact that I try to sneak collages of kittens into practically every design project I'm asked to work on, which, aside from a couple of googly eyed cats that made their way into a couple of compilation books and fashion editiorials in, oh, 2004 or so, has nearly always been to no avail. Here are a few of the collection still waiting for their forever homes:

Get Fancy...

2009-03-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

Generally, the more desperate the financial situation, the more I tend to fancy it up, breaking out bowties and spats as everyday wear, and eating anything and everything on the 'good dishes'...

This set of tea cups and cake plates created by artist Laurie Simmons is still one of my favorite decadent purchases of all time, and absolutely perfect for splitting a late night ice cream sandwich, yes?

Hello Dolly...

2009-03-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

Still in the throes of Spring cleaning, I've been trying to round up another batch of clothing to eBay, but seem to have narrowed the selection down to a closetful of things that I may never ever wear, but just can't bear to part with. Oops.

The perfect example of this phenomenon is this extravagant puffball of a mini that I found a few years ago to wear to an abandoned 1920s mansion garden party/photoshoot that I ended up not attending after all, which has been languishing at the back of the closet waiting for the perfect occasion ever since:

My obsession with dresses like this basically knows no bounds, despite their being absolutely wrong for me, and I've been eyeing this perfect trifecta of the 60s/70s novelty print, multicolored smocking and mock-Edwardian high collar for months on end:

By way of Vintage-A-Peel, one of my favorite vintage sellers of all time.

The very epitome of the dollygirl look, from the dolliest corner of the British Boutique Movement set, is, of course, probably Dollyrockers by Sambo, the king of perfectly puffed bishop sleeves, just the right bits of velvet, ruffles and bows, Liberty florals, crocheted bibs and tiny candy buttons. These dresses still turn up every so often, and are usually insanely reasonable which always makes them all the more tempting. I still regret passing up this absolutely perfect Dollyrockers frock from Iron horse Vintage, even though it was probably over a year ago:

Yeah, I still can't get over it!

Just making this post has me thinking that a garden party might be just the thing to kick off our first real Portland Spring... croquet and tiny sandwiches, anyone?

Spring Forward...

2009-03-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

Happy maybe almost hopefully Spring everyone!

I've been absolutely preoccupied with creating new Spring color palettes lately, with the very first sample of my dusky mauve, banana yellow, salmon, and muddy chartreuse obsession seeing print just this week, in my latest ad for Screaming Mimis out now in the March issue of Paper Magazine!

Here's a sneak peek:

The weather here has been teetering wildly between sunshiny and mini snow flurries, and I've been trying to dash out into every temporary sun shower for a tiny bike ride. I'm so excited to finally break my beloved rickety French bikes out of their winter deep freeze for good, and I can't stop peeking at cute bike blogs for vicarious adventures in the meantime. I love love LOVE this cute girls on bikes photo story that one of my current favorite photographers Gemma Booth shot for the always adorable and art filled Amelia's Magazine!

Little bits and pieces of the Spring palettes of my dreams have also been creeping into my Winter wardrobe, with my all time favorite so far being the lavender, tangerine and strawberry pinkish red that two of my most cherished vintage finds of all time just happen to have in common!

Confection Perfection...

2009-03-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

Behold the cutest packaging in the world:

By way of the cutest store in the world! Kiosk was on the very top of my must see list on a recent trip back to NYC, and did not disappoint, with tiny vignettes of perfect candy striped twines, traditional German chocolates, beeswax crayons and an enviable roster of mini exhibitions, all hosted in a tiny shop at the end of a labyrinth of dark hallways lit by tiny pink neon arrows ie the semi secret and super perfect shop of my dreams!

Wibele cookies soon to be perched atop our refrigerator alongside an ever growing collection of vintage tins of grandma candies and an ever rotating display of particularly kaleidoscopic peppermint sticks.

Odds and Ends...

2009-02-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

We finally found a vintage vanity for the bathroom and I've already taken it over...

with 60s neon pink eyed bunny cotton ball dispensers, Madonna Inn soap cakes and pop pastoral Bo Peep figurines.

Fashion Week Favorites...

2009-02-20T21:11:00.000-08:00

So far I love love love the styling of this cute Samantha Pleet video lookbook...

Samantha Pleet - AW09 from Samantha Pleet on Vimeo.
via Refinery29

This 60s British schoolgirl meets Picnic at Hanging Rock tableau...

Created by LOVER for their Sacred Hearts Collection...

And all of the 70s New England Ali MacGraw circa Love Story looks, American and UK heritage brands by way of Japan, Pendleton by way of Opening Ceremony and the tiny perfectly cut boys suits a la Boy by Band of Outsiders and United Bamboo which are pretty much variations of my daily uniform anyway and probably would have found a way to creep into my wardrobe in bits and pieces via Ebay if I hadn't made a pact with myself this year to return to a 100% vintage lifestyle!

Perfect Rooms 101

2009-02-19T18:26:00.000-08:00

Peter Max...

via the ever amazing LIFE photo archive.

Banana yellow has been cropping up as the dominant color in my little studio nook as of late, so these images are especially inspiring...
I'm also kind of obsessed with the lines of that couch!

Happy Valentines Everyone!

2009-02-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

In lieu of the personalized greetings that I always intend, but never quite manage to send out at the last minute, here is a sneak peek of my latest Screaming Mimis ad, out now, in the always adorable February love themed issue of Paper Magazine!

Hello Dolly...

2009-01-18T18:32:00.000-08:00

This is probably the cutest fashion show invite I've ever seen in my life.
From the 60s, of course, via ebay, and sadly, not mine...
I gave up when the bids hit fifty dollars!

Perfect Rooms 101

2009-01-14T20:19:00.000-08:00

Capote at Home by Slim Aarons

Recent Acquisitions...

2008-10-30T18:36:00.000-07:00

The most adorable 60s flapper revival bookends by way of Japan:

These have been one of my most coveted vintage items for a million years, and I finally have a set to call my own!

Also shown, their doppelgänger statuette, one of my previous most coveted items in all of the world. Now I have three!

I always wonder if the artist who created these characters may have been inspired by some of the same late 60s and early 70s models that I love...

Probably the most striking resemblance is to Jean White, one of my all time favorites, often credited with everything from being one of the first models to start doing the 1930s look to singlehandedly changing the face of fashion in the 60s:

Still working on it...

2008-09-25T00:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some quick shots of our forever in progress home decor.
These 60s big eyed kids prints have been officially retired and repurposed as bulletin boards. Soon to be an entire wall in the studio, for now I'm being far too particular about analogous colors to get it done in a timely manner, as is my way.

A few of the bits and pieces already posted: Screaming Mimis silver and black deco hangtag, one of my favorite designs ever, the magical Miss Grace Coddington, 60s interiors, soda shoppe display sundaes, and a tiny hoard of perfect typefaces.

City of Roses...

2008-08-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

My dad was in town for a couple of weeks recently, which gave us a great excuse to drive around up in the hills and explore some of the Portland sights we hadn't quite made it to yet, like the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park... who could resist five acres of perfectly dew dropped experimetal blooms?

Oh hai...

2008-08-06T18:27:00.000-07:00

Here's Maybelle sharing my obsession with late 60s / early 70s patchwork.

I really really want a huge collection of quilts made kind of exclusively by teenage girls in the 70s but they always seem to be the hardest to track down. This one has the most amazing bits of striped velveteen, candy colored denims and printed corduroy and is pretty much my new favorite blanket ever:

I wasn't made for these times...

2008-07-25T18:03:00.000-07:00

Perennial flickr favorite Olga Saglo just posted an amazing link to the latest most magical time wasting device on all of the internets!

Without further ado, I present me, and my studio, circa 1969:

Disney Girls...

2008-06-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember seeing these "behind the scenes" sneak peeks that Jeff took at a photo shoot for a friends top secret book project last summer at my favorite ice cream stand in LA:

Now the secret is finally out! This weekend was the official release date of my dear (and dearly missed!) friend Miss Jennifer Brandt Taylor's magical new tome, Vintage LA!

"VINTAGE LA: Eats, Boutiques, Decor, Landmarks, Markets & More" is the ultimate travel and lifestyle guide for vintage fashion fans, Hollywood history lovers and cineastes alike. Jennifer, an L.A. native, takes you on a colorful tour of L.A.'s best vintage boutiques, restaurants, historic hotels, and movie palaces, as well as interviews L.A.'s most artistic residents. VINTAGE LA features dazzling Technicolor photography by Jeaneen Lund."

I always thought of Jennifer and her family as some of the last true Hollywood eccentrics, and will be forever grateful that they took me under their wing when I first arrived in Southern California and shared some of the most amazing secret hideouts in all of the land, so cracking open Vintage LA will surely have me pining for long lost Los Angeles in no time! I can't wait!

Oops...

2008-06-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

I think I may have accidentally acquired a new eBay obsession...

Where have you been all my life Florentine enamel?

Home Sweet Home!

2008-06-08T18:02:00.000-07:00

I only just realized that in all of the frenzy of the past few months, I had all but forgotten to post a few quick snapshots of our new place! Still very much a work in progress, originally dating from the 1800s and heretoforth known affectionately as the shed, it's an adorable outbuilding in a super central semi-historic neighborhood, a stable turned laundrette turned cute baby loft space and my new favorite thing ever... I secretly want to buy it and transform it into the vintage Disney set designer turned Storybook architect style faux English cottage of my dreams, half-timbering and all, but in the meantime:

Here is a beloved Princess Tina folkface pillow surveying its new surroundings...

The polished concrete floors still festooned with piles of winter rugs...

White stucco vintage brickwork and whitewashed original shingles...

Which are going to serve as perfect backdrops for all of our super colorful collections...

One of our favorite features is a row of skylights that extends through the living room and office areas...

I would love to rewire this area with all vintage globe lights, but alas, renting!

Oh, guess who else loves the skylights?

More to come as everything starts to come together, for now we're still unpacking, living in a sea of boxes, and considering a couple of summer garage sales when the sun finally comes out for good here!

"Pink Worlds and White Icing" at AfterModern SF

2008-05-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
I have a 2 person show with Dana Carlson (one of my all time favorite contemporary painters!) on view this month at Aftermodern in San Francisco:

Pink Worlds (and White Icing)
An Exhibition of Recent Works by
Fawn Gehweiler and Dana Carlson

Opening Friday, May 23rd, from 6 to 8:30
On exhibit May 23rd through June 28th, 2008

Aftermodern Fine Art Gallery
445 Bryant Street
San Francisco

For more information please visit Aftermodern.com

About Pink Worlds:

Taking a cue from the show's namesake "Pink Worlds and White Icing", a collection of poems written by a 12 year old girl in late 60s, artists Dana Carlson and Fawn Gehweiler each present a collection of recent works that take a turn for the pastoral, pop and pretty, albeit with a dash of dark comedy thrown in for good measure. Awash in preteen nostalgia, strangely baroque and alternately naive, precocious, and deeply introspective, these tiny poems about "color, the Beatles, bubblegum, nature, and the universe" lend both a perfect title and a perfect backdrop to their respective candy colored dreamscapes and imaginary narratives of head-in-the-clouds teenage psychedelia.

Some installation shots taken just before the opening...

2008-05-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

Some of my new stuff...

2008-05-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

And last but not least...

2008-05-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

Some great photos of the opening by Alan Bamberger, borrowed from Artbusiness.com!

Work in Progress...

2008-05-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T14:35:00.000-07:00

Semi creepy (considering) Sharon Tate Easter photo via Girlfriday 2 by way of Flickr, one of my favorite mysterious random image collectors!

Raggedy Ann Eyelashes...

2008-03-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks of nonstop house hunting and catching up on long overdue projects, we were super excited to set aside a leisurely weekend last week to run around town taking in all of our friends newer, bigger, better gallery spaces, and ringing in the month long Robert Altman fest at the Portland Art Museum NW Film Center with a screening of one of my favorite movies of all time:

Brewster McCloud! I've been toting around a decaying video store copy of this film for decades, eventually upgraded to the laserdisk, but have never, never seen it on the big screen!

With an original screenplay written by Doran William Cannon, who was also responsible for another top ten favorite, Otto Preminger's "Skidoo," and starring the always perfect Mister Bud Cort and the magical, elvin and otherworldly Miss Shelley Duvall (Probably my number one vintage muse - as you can probably tell by the girls that I paint! Spider lashes, bunny teeth and ears poking out of stick straight hair? Check, check and check!) in her first ever movie role, personally discovered by Altman, who had this to say about his first impression:

"When I first saw her, she had painted long eyelashes on her face, and I thought "Here is a girl who is trying to make me think she is a Raggedy Ann doll." It was only years later that I realised that she WAS a Raggedy Ann doll."

Images and quotes via the Shelley Duvall and Brewster McCloud fan sites, both of which are amazing resources for interviews, articles, and ephemera about the film.

Check out the NW Film Center website for the rest of the festival calendar, maybe we'll see you there!

Crack in the Cosmic Egg Lamp...

2008-03-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

Via Centre de Recherche sur les Arts du Feu et de la Terre by way of France Magazine by way of Design-Milk, I'm now completely obsessed with this Ingo Maurer porcelain Broken Egg lamp from 1996:

I can totally picture it in our new place, perched high atop the Kraut section of the record shelves!

Boating Stripes and Bow Ties...

2008-03-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

The first of the imminent deluge of David Hockney inspired Spring editorials is out!

From Another Man Magazine
Starring and Set Design by Gary Card
Photography by William Selden
Styling by Nicola Formichetti

There's also a childrens version!

From Milk Magazine

Via Style Bubble, Diane Pernet, Sarah Colette

Now it's going to be even more impossible than ever to find a pair of those glasses (My first and favorite prescription, they fell apart in the mid 90s and I've been searching for the perfect pair again ever since) again! Though I suppose I could also shell out for the surely forthcoming Paul Smith version? Sigh...

Recent Acquisitions...

2008-03-10T20:48:00.000-07:00

We've been finding entirely different categories of super common cute vintage stuff in the Northwest and have been accidentally starting lots new collections in the process... Oops!

Like adorable hand carved wooden owls:

(Note: the one with pink felt googly eyes was $1 and according to it's reluctant previous owner "about to be firewood!")

And booth upon booth of 70s novelty steins:

The gonk era Magic Mountain stein with a wizard for a handle is one of my new favorite things of all time!

Cute Clutter vs. Creative Chaos...

2008-03-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

So we're officially house hunting again as of a bit later this month (Hoping for one of the last huge adorable affordable houses in all of Portland!) and it has me thinking a lot about studio decor and studio practice, since this is the first time besides a handful of ill advised moves to the Midwest in search of a) the easy life and b) bargain basement rents on giant crumbling Victorians (Done and done, by the way!) that I could potentially have room (We've spotted triple car garages and basements and woodshops galore!) to spread out and actually create the kind of space that I'm convinced is totally necessary for happy, stress free art making! I can't wait!

Left to my own devices, my creative spaces usually teeter wildly on a scale somewhere between the (barely) organized chaos of Francis Bacon:

Marie and Marie (via Ester Krumbachová, quite possibly the most amazing Art Director/Set/Costume Designer of all time) :

or Julie Verhoeven:

The slightly less unruly creative cacophony of Yoshitomo Nara:

or Sofia Coppola:

Or (ideally) the cute clutter of Victoire de Castellane:

J'adore Trompe l'Oiel...

2008-03-01T03:55:00.000-08:00

I can't even begin to describe how much I adore the use of trompe l'oiel in fashion and how often I've snuck a printed sailor collar or faux bow tee into many a collection, which makes the latest from Sonia Rykiel pretty much my new favorite thing ever:

Semi-reminiscent of those ever-covetable vintage Roberta di Camerino dresses:

And of course the magical Miss Elsa Schiaparelli, who most surely started it all with these sweaters:

...in the 1920s, no less!

Some other recent favorites in the genre are these perspex bowties and be-bobbled peter pan collars by longtime favorites Tatty Devine:

And this assortment of translucent acrylic buttoned up Victorian finery from Paraphernalia:

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T00:17:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of my most recent lovey dovey projects!

New Screaming Mimi's ad, out now, in the latest issue of Paper Magazine!

And, more of my little homewares collection for Urban Outfitters is in stores now...

Canvas Critters Wall Art!

I love how they had these printed on raw linen rather than the standard glossy digital for a loose approximation of Scandinavian textile prints!

Also online!

xoxoxo
Fawn

Jazz Baby...

2008-02-03T00:56:00.000-08:00

Allow me to introduce my first absolute favorite find of 2008 so far:

The most adorable and ridiculously comfortable 20s/30s/70s oxfords ever made!

Cue the cobbling together of outfit ideas from the acres of piles and files of clippings scattered across my desktop:

Bows and spats via eBay, of course! Bloomers and argyle via the fashion blog of a cute Japanese shoe store with a Tyrolean fetish to match my own, but the link to which I seem to have misplaced, and the amazing, amazing silver sequined bowtie is somewhat of a mystery, but if it belongs to and/or is familiar to you, please let me know because I might NEED one!

P.S. Also, think Polly!

xoxoxo
Fawn

Odds and Ends...

2008-01-31T18:03:00.000-08:00

Now that we're settling in, I'm slowly but surely, and finally, organizing and updating my website, and, in lieu of a pending major overhaul for now, will be adding new stuff practically every day. For starters:

Some drawings and studies and odds and ends from a few recent shows are finally up for sale HERE!

And, even more exciting for the budget conscious, a whole new slew of prints have been posted to my SHOP!

Here's to a magical new year!

2007-12-31T17:43:00.000-08:00

We finally made it to the Northwest with all of our worldly possessions intact and are now safely tucked away in a thicket of trees just outside of Portland! Our neighborhood is about 95 percent German and 95 percent cute old ladies, with a sausage place on every corner, so of course I kind of love it!

Come Spring we'll be looking for a place to call our own, but in the meantime, here's a shot of our first tiny snowstorm in our new temporary backyard...

Note: This fairytale shed is possibly my new favorite thing ever!

Please Stand By...

2007-11-25T02:14:00.000-08:00

Things should be up and running here in a few weeks!

In the meantime, please ignore the mess while I relocate a million different posts from a million different locations on the internets, and in real life, pack a million crates, then suitcases and cat and car and ourselves for relocation to the Northwesternly woods! Yay!
More sooooon!
xoxoxoxo
Fawn

Some installation shots of the "LIttle Lost and Innocent" show...

2007-10-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Outre Gallery and the lovely miss Gemma Jones!

More info about the show HERE!

Thanks guys!
xoxoxo
Fawn

Fashion Week Favorites...

2007-09-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

Possibly the best inspirations ever:

David Hockney meets Bloomsbury at Paul Smith!

Note: Photos from style.com

Tyrolean Rhapsody...

2007-09-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

Bernhard Willhelm is one of my favorite designers ever so I have no idea how I missed this amazing video presentation of his Spring Summer 07 collection:

Floral lederhosen and a "Heidi" soundtrack = maybe the best thing ever?

In other fashion news...

2007-09-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

I did this little Comme des Garcons banner for hintmag.com about a month ago...
I was honored to be asked since they've been one of my favorite fashion sites since I first laid eyes on the internet!

Inspired, of course, by these amazing Comme des Garcons Fall 2007 pastely pom pom bunny girls...

Note: Photos from style.com

Little Lost & Innocent

2007-09-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Melbourne!
Please pencil me in!
I'm having a mini solo exhibition of new mini portraits on wood at Outre Gallery!
A description I love from the gallery website:
This beautiful mini-exhibition of crisp, dreamy portraits is a celebration of dollybirds, bubblegum, and girlish fantasies...
More information about the show HERE!
Sadly I won't be in attendance, but there will be a little launch party with pink fizzy drinks on Saturday September 8th at high noon!
Outre Gallery
249 Elizabeth Street
Melbourne, Vic, Australia

Every day is like a sundae...

2007-08-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

We went to the San Diego Comic Con and all i got was a four foot tall hot fudge sundae!

Dessert carnage!

2007-08-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

On the way home, we stopped by the adorable Tam O'Shanter restaurant for a piping hot chocolate souffle and a giant sundae prepared tableside with homemade hot fudge and whole almonds! Yum!

Summertime = Chasing Peacocks!

2007-08-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

For my birthday this year we packed up first thing in the a.m. and took a perfect little daytrip to the Arboretum in Arcadia! I wanted to do something special but super low key, it was way up on our list of places we want to go before we skip out of Los Angeles for good, and what could be more magical than a picnic in the grass and chasing peacocks around for hours?

I promise I found this feather on the ground and didn't steal it from a bird!

This guy is ready for his closeup...

And then off for an afternoon stroll...

Baby peacocks...

That I desperately wanted to steal away in my handbag...

They were everywhere!

Summertime = Deviled Eggs!

2007-08-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

I had Jeff take this glamour shot to show off my favorite dish, literally and figuratively!

Recent Acquisitions...

2007-07-31T20:31:00.000-07:00

Vintage telephone booth bank from Shae (aka Miss Lullie Vintage, who really knows how to pick a gift!) and possibly the cutest little 70s notecard set ever made!

Little Savages

2007-07-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

Les Petites Sauvages
All Artwork © Fawn Gehweiler

This series of paintings combines elements of my work from the past 10 years into some of my most strangely and intensely personal work to date. I have a feeling my girls may have gone feral for good...

The first preview of these girls will be at the Bestial show this weekend in Barcelona...

Iguapop Gallery Presents:
"BESTIAL"
A Group Show
Curated by Miss Van
Opening Thursday July 5th
Exhibition runs through August 4th

For this exhibition Miss Van has selected 15 international artists:

Jeremy Fish, Aiko, Mike Giant, Herbert Baglione, Fawn Gehweiler, Ciou, Mademoiselle Kat, Landry & Limbo, Kev Grey, Nano 4841, Poppy Jabianski, Angelique Houtkamp, Sunny Buick, Kid Acne, Junko Mizuno, Miss Van.

Iguapop Gallery
Comerc 15
Barcelona

Mini studio tour!

2007-06-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

Clutter, collections and chaos...

These are a few of my favorite things!

Fashion Week Favorites...

2007-03-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

Deco Dollfaces at John Galliano!

It's the little things...

2007-03-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

Tiny Updates #1

2007-02-01T01:09:00.000-08:00

This weekend in Portland:

The Wurstminster Dog Show: Over 100 international artists representing over 100 dog breeds.

Saturday February 3rd from 6pm-10pm
The Cleaners @ The Ace Hotel
403 SW 10th Avenue, Portland, Oregon

The Wurst Gallery launches their biggest show to date, with over 100 artists from all over the world each representing a different dog breed in their own unique way - from a five-foot plush doll to postcard-sized paintings. A portion of the proceeds of the art sales from this event will benefit Dove Lewis Animal Hospital in Portland, OR. Artists featured in the show hail from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Philippines, Norway, Sweden and throughout the United States.

A one-night exhibit of the Wurstminster Dog Show will take place on Saturday, February 3rd at the soon to be opened Ace Hotel in Portland. Following the opening event, the work will be displayed and for sale online at http://thewurstgallery.com.

Featuring work by the following artists:
A.J. Purdy, Aaron Draplin, Aaron Meshon, Aaron Renier, Adam Bayer, Adam Haynes, Allan Sanders, Amanda Visell, Amy Earles, Amy Ruppel, APAK, Arbito, Beci Orpin, Benjamin Marra, Betsy Walton, Bill Barminski, Bjørn Lie, Blair Kelly, Brad Simon, Brandon Reese, Bubi Au Yeung, Bwana Spoons, Camilla Engman, Casey Burns, Charley Harper, Charles Whiteside, Chris Hutchinson, Cody Hudson, Cupco, Damion Triplett, Dan Anderson, Dan Funderburgh, Daniel A. St. George II, Derek Aylward, Driscoll Reid, Eamo Donnelly, Eleanor Grosch, Elisabeth Doherty, Emil Kozak, Emily Ryan, Erik Railton, Evan B. Harris, Eyeformation, Fawn Gehweiler, Feanne, Frances Castle, Geoffrey Lorenzen, Gideon Baws, Gina Triplett and Matt Curtius, Grady Mcferrin, Greg "Pnut" Galinsky, Guy Burwell, Hannah Stouffer, Heiko Müller, Holly Stevenson, HuskMitNavn, Jason Vivona, Jen Leong, Jennifer Muskopf, Jeremyville, Jess Hutch, Jesse LeDoux, Jessica Barnes, Jessica Lynch, Jill Bliss, Johnny Yanok, Jon Klassen, Juliana Pedemonte (Colorblok), Julianna Bright, Junichi Tsuneoka, Kangaroo Alliance, Kara Yanagawa, Kate Bingaman, Kate Sutton, Kelly Haigh, Keri Smith, Kevin Scalzo, Kirsten Ulve, Klaus Haapaniemi, Koichiro Takagi, Le Merde, Leo Hillier, Linzie Hunter, Little Friends of Printmaking, Luke Ramsey, Lyn Nance-Sasser, Mark Ulriksen, Martin Ontiveros, Matt Cassity, Matt Clark, Matt Furie, Mauro Gatti, Max Miceli, Maxwell Holyoke-Hirsch, Meg Hunt, Mia Hansen, Michael Paulus, Michael Wertz, Mikey Walsh, Miki Amano, Mr. Pinks, Mizna Wada, Molly Anderson, Mona Superhero, Nate Beaty, Nick Deakin, Nick Weidenfeld, Noah Butkus, Nora Krug, Overture, Paul Clark, Rachel Blumberg, Ray Fenwick, Rick Froberg, Rob Flowers, Roman Klonek, Ryan Alexander Tanner, Ryan Berkley, Ryan Sanchez, S. Tudyk, Saelee Oh, Sarajo Frieden, Scott Barry, Scott Rench, Shawn Wolfe, Snaggs, S.britt, Stephanie Davidson, Supermundane, Susie Ghahremani, Swigg, TADO, Teresa and David, Todd Hoffman, Travis Lampe, Trish Grantham, Vincent Mathy, Wes Younie, Will Rhoten

My dog was the Japanese Chin, possibly the cutest dog on earth!

Tiny Updates #2

2007-02-01T00:58:00.000-08:00

Next weekend in Los Angeles:

CHARITY BY NUMBERS

Corey Helford Gallery announces an exceptional lineup of artists for CHARITY BY NUMBERS, an art auction on Ebay to benefit The Alliance For Children’s Rights. The exhibition features today’s most collectible and sought after artists of the Underground Fine Art Movement who will transform classic hand-painted, vintage paint-by-numbers into modern masterpieces.

Corey Helford Gallery
8522 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA
Saturday, February 10
Private viewing from 6 to 9pm
Public viewing from 10pm to midnight
Exhibition runs through February 17th

Mark Ryden & Marion Peck, Clayton Brothers, Camille Rose Garcia, Todd & Kathy Schorr, Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Eric White, Ron English, Shepard Fairey, Friends With You, James Marshall (Dalek), Josh Agle (Shag), Michael Hussar, Gary Panter, Kent Williams, Miss Van, Richard Colman, Alex Gross, Elizabeth McGrath, Jeff Soto, Jim Houser, David Horvath & Sun-Min Kim, Souther Salazar, Saelee Oh, Caroline Hwang, Andrew Brandou, Korin Faught, Gary Taxali, Joe Ledbetter, Owen Smith, Aaron Smith, Natalia Fabia, Kaz, Bwana Spoons, Dave Kinsey, Mark Todd & Esther Pearl Watson, Erik Foss, Boris Hoppek, Nathan Jurevicius, Fred Stonehouse, Tara McPherson, Calef Brown, Paul Frank, Rodney Alan Greenblat, Martha Rich, Jennifer Poon, Heiko Mueller, James Jean, Jordin Isip, The London Police, Lola, Nathan Spoor, Amy Crehore, Isabel Samaras, Anthony Ausgang, Jonathon Rosen, Christian Northeast, Ana Bagayan, Mari Inukai, Greg Simkins (Craola), Donny Miller, Lauren Bergman, Tom Neely, Blaine Fontana, Audrey Kawasaki, Tokidoki, The Pizz, Jesse LeDoux, Kukula, Paul Chatem, Glenn Barr, Alex Pardee, Luke Chueh, Buff Monster, Sam Flores, Kii Arens, David Sandlin, Van Arno, Attaboy, Dave Burke, Sean Christopher, Greg Clarke, Frieda Gossett Clayton, Dave Cooper, Sarah Folkman, Fawn Gehweiler, Gris Grimly, David Hochbaum, Stella Im Hultberg, Sylvia Ji, Eric Joyner, Kozyndan, Tiffany Liu, Jason Maloney, Tim McCormick, Patrick McDonnell, Carrie McNinch, Chantal Menard, Brandi Milne, James Naccarato, Joe O'Neill, Kathie Olivas, Kevin Peterson, Joshua Petker, Pooch, Lesley Reppeteaux, Goldmine Shithouse, Savanna Snow, Amy Sol, Save Vaughn, David Von Der Linn

CHARITY BY NUMBERS opens on Saturday, February 10, 2007 with a gala event at Corey Helford Gallery, followed by a week long on-line auction. 100% of the proceeds will go to The Alliance For Children’s Rights. The private event is from 6 to 9pm, followed by a 10pm to midnight preview that will be open to the public. All members of the press are invited and should email to: rsvp@coreyhelfordgallery.com to attend.

The Alliance For Children’s Rights is the leading non-profit agency in Los Angeles County devoted solely to providing free legal services to children living in poverty, both in and out of the foster care system. The Alliance For Children’s Rights’ mission is to protect the rights and futures of abused and impoverished children throughout Los Angeles County, in hopes of creating a world in which all children are able to have a safe and permanent family, access to quality health care, a quality education, and all of the support and services they so rightfully deserve.

PS: More soon, I promise!
PPS: Happy belated 07!

xoxoxo
Fawn

Mini Mod Mini...

2006-10-16T17:59:00.000-07:00

This is pretty much the most perfect dress ever made!

Recent Acquisitions...

2006-07-31T21:18:00.000-07:00

This was designed by my absolute favorite 60s commercial artist and was one of the holy grails of my vintage shopping forever and ever...

i finally found one a few years ago, and then another one sans chips just last week! Yay!

Things and Stuff...

2006-07-26T02:11:00.000-07:00

Aside from newspaper boxes are literally melting into the sidewalk, hair perpetually melting into my forehead, and maybelle being rushed to animal emergency with a kitty heatstroke along with half the cat population of los angeles, the hottest weekend ever recorded in all of history had a few teeny bits of magic...

♥ a wild goose chase for brachs candy pebbles ♥

♥ working on a portrait of BECI for THIS SHOW ♥

♥ os mutantes, gourmet hamburgers, egg creams, and sugary sweet cocktails in haunted schoolhouses ♥

♥ probably the worst idea ever, but i finally caved in, joined the latest wave of myspace holdouts and set up a little art profile HERE ♥

♥ stumbling upon a dusty storefront full of vintage office supplies, gold leaf tipped diaries and ancient animation paints in my dream colors ♥

♥ TAMERA selling some of the cutest stuff ever on ebay HERE to embark on the perfect dream life of a handbuilt fairytale cabin in the woods ♥

♥ having a week long SECRET SUMMER SALE and then shutting the shop down for a bit, most items 50% off or more, when they're gone, they're gone ♥

Upside down mushroom room...

2005-12-13T02:26:00.000-08:00

I've had a few little bursts of energy and creativity lately, which is really nice after being practically catatonic for the past year, and got to spend a few days out on the town with Laura (the most adorable woman of all time, who still has me starstruck over being Cyndi Lauper's boss and stylist circa 'She's So Unusual' and opening possibly the first and certainly the best NYC vintage store of all time), catching up over chai shakes, bacon wrapped hotdogs, and upside down mushroom rooms:

I've been staring at a tiny clipping of this in wonder for years, so finally seeing it in person absolutely made my year!
♥ ♥ ♥