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Gift Guide For Playground Enthusiasts

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I’ve written a few times on my blog about my nostalgia for the playgrounds of my childhood. Those 1970’s parks filled with hot metal slides, death defying merry go rounds and pinchy chain link. They made playing at the park just a bit edgier didn’t they?

This gift guide is for the folks who take their children to the foam and padding parks of today, but secretly wish they were back in the not-so-safe but oh-so-fun playgrounds of yesterday. A collection of photographs and art that take the recipient right back to their memories of squeaky swings, foursquare painted on asphalt and freedom.

Snapco’s shop is filled with a small number of prints, each flooded with color and retro memories. This particular print (above) is called “Recess Is Over”. A perfect gift for the childhood friend that would have been hanging for dear life to those slippery bars with you.

Adorn your gift with this charming Ring Around The Rosie card by StaceyWinters. Her subject is a playground game we all played, and she sets the scene with those retro figurines we all used.

Perhaps you are gifting someone with a playground nostalgia that goes even further back than yours? Someone who scoffs, “Sissies!” at your tales of protruding metal bolts. This is the print for them, a vintage photograph of a death defying double wooden slide fashioned from precariously nailed, leftover lumber scraps.

The next two pieces of giftable art recall recess crushes and how they made our hearts race a little faster. A knowing nod to when we counted down the minutes till the bell on the wall would ring, letting us play hopscotch with the object of our affection.

A beautiful pen and ink drawing by bluebicicletta.

And a limited edition lino cut print by Stephanie Mercado called, “Me Without You”.

Race you to the slides!
Lotta

k. o’brien jewelry

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I’m loving these simple, clean rings by k. o’brien jewelry. I especially appreciate how she squares the ring bands so the large stones don’t twirl around on your finger. Such attention to detail is remarkable.

k. o’brien: I received my BFA in Jewelry and Metals from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. During my training I came to realize that I love making jewelry from sterling and fine silver and adding color to my pieces with enamel. I am enamored with the problem solving of making adornments as well as the ability to be able to manipulate metal into the form that I want it to become by hammering and bending it.

During my undergraduate education I also came to realize that my other passions are textiles, bookbinding and paper arts. No matter what the medium is I am always influenced by nature. Its patterns, colors, beauty, forms and rebirth always find a way into my work.

My jewelry is influenced heavily on nature and the Art Nouveau movement. I love to play with textures on metal and seeing how different techniques pick up reflections of color and light. I prefer to make one of a kind pieces, playing around with piece after piece leaving some ideas behind and taking other ideas along to blend with the new.

Kristin Beltz

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Kristin Beltz is an amazing photographer, but more importantly an amazing person! She is so full of life and appreciates the natural beauty around her. I think she captures this emotion so well in her work. She is an Island Girl who loves to Run, Bike and Swim. She enjoys working with plants and enjoys everything to do with being outdoors. She loves animals and is especially fond of Boxers. This first photo is bursting with bright color! It makes me want to get out into the garden.

Kristin has a wonderful ability to capture the magical quality in simple pleasures. I love the out of focus background that lays behind the simple pine needles. Perfection!

Once again, here is another example of how Kristin makes a single green leaf become a beautiful piece of art!

Kristin states, “I like playing around with the lighting during the day to see what type of shots I come up with. There is a beautiful field of these Daisies on the next road over and on Sunday I went down there and shot from different angels. I liked the deeper tones I got from this shot. I like the pretty bokehed blossoms. This wasn’t intended to be in focus, I used another focal point to get the bokehed Daisies. I intended to create a textured feel and a lingering memory sort of feeling.”

Thank you Kristin for sharing you talent with us. You are truly an inspiration to us all. You may view more of her work on Flickr.

language & meaning designworks

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language & meaning designworks: I’ve been mesmerized by paper for as long as I can remember. I can’t tell you how many portfolios of paper I have…well, actually, I can since they’re right next to me, but I digress.

I started doing fine art collages in college. Inspired by Hannah Hoch and her Dadaist counterparts, I enjoyed playing around with a mix of found images and objects, advertising cut-outs and text and found that I was drawn to their interplay. Really, I suppose you could take it all the way back to when my sister and I would cut out words, fashions and famous people from magazines and make huge poster board displays for our rooms. Luckily for everyone, I won’t be making any homages to the Cure or Benneton any time soon..

I never could wrap my brain around large-scale projects. Instructors were always telling me to step back from my projects for perspective, telling me “you’re too close to that canvas;” guess I was trying to make something big, small. Instead, I opted to create vignettes that (I hoped) had a Joseph Cornell vibe to them. Small seemed intimate, personal; a window into a certain feeling.

I take the same care with my cards, invitations and other paper crafts. I like to think of them as tiny works of art. I LOVE paper! I see ideas in those sheets but I’m not gonna lie, not everything I make is a hug from Jesus. You won’t see any of my design step-children here; only the best for you peeps!

I’m a total and complete art history nerd: modern and contemporary art/photography and mid-century architecture/furnishings. The weirdest thing about me is the way I eat ice cream from the carton – it’s gotta be scraped in a flat, level pattern or all is no bueno in this house! Currently in grad school for my MFA and loving life with my husband, the company of good friends and MAKING STUFF.

The Side Project – Seattle, WA

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It’s no secret that the best things usually come on the side – you don’t have to go any further than sweet potato fries for proof of that. When singer-songwriter Suzie Bradford went looking for something “on the side”, what she found was a new sound and a new love.

Formed in Spokane, WA in 2003, The Side Project was born from Suzie’s need to find a more feminine outlet for her music than the rockin’ guy-group that she was fronting at the time. Joining musical forces with bass-player (and now-husband) Ben Bradford and a mutual friend, the aptly-named project was just what she needed to let her disarmingly-pretty and lyrical vocal style shine through. Not surprisingly, the project soon took center-stage with an ever-increasing number of live performances and a full-length CD, which followed 2 years later.

In the time since their inception, The Side Project has been mesmerizing audiences throughout Washington State with their live shows, which often incorporate other creative disciplines, including painting, photography, film and sculpture. The collaborative multi-media aspect of their live performances was inspired by a close friend and mentor who Suzie had the privilege of working with at age 19. “He taught me how to incorporate art and I saw the beauty in being able to watch the performance and watch the art being created.”

In addition to their rigorous playing schedule, Suzie and Ben have just released their third studio album, “Wake Up Call”. Compared to their previous efforts, which were recorded over a much-shorter period of time, this effort was 5 years in the making; something that Suzie hopes will show-through in the songs themselves. And, although the songs on “Wake Up Call” run the gamut from tender ballad to straight-up pop, and are quite different from one to the next, the band manages to maintain a good flow throughout the album. The common thread that ties them all together is Suzie’s sensitive, yet powerful delivery. Even when she sings sweetly, you know she means it.

I wanted to know more about Suzie’s songwriting, and in particular, how much of her personal life (and marriage to bandmate Ben) sneaks into it. She responded candidly, “I would say that my first two albums were definitely written more about Ben. In this one, I did write “Mr. Wonderful” for Ben because I do have a really amazing, amazing man. And, I believe every women deserves an amazing man so I wrote that song to encourage women that he’s out there; you just gotta keep pounding down the doors.” But, this isn’t strictly an album of love songs. As Suzie explained, “In this album, more than the other two, I talk more about my struggles with, you know, the angel and the devil on my shoulders. I wrote “wake up call” about that struggle within myself.”

Part of that struggle comes from trying to find a balance between living the life of a musician at night and taking care of the demanding business side of the band by day. With a playing-schedule that often has the band on stage 4 nights a week, plus Suzie’s efforts to book and promote the band without the help of management, it is easy to understand how it can be difficult to maintain that equilibrium. I asked Suzie about the demands that come with being an indie band who are doing it all themselves. “I always view it like “it is as much as I want it to be”, you know? As much as I put into it is what I am going to get back. We’ve had management in the past and although I look back now and think, “Gosh, that was something I should have been super grateful for” because I understand how much work goes into it, I also like to be in control of things. So, I struggle with that balance….letting other people do it for me, because I feel like I could maybe control it or, not necessarily do it better…”

I asked Suzie if there are enough tools and resources out there for indie bands; specifically, is it possible to do it all without management, or do are there obstacles in the road that having representation would avoid? “Yeah, both, I think. With the management that we had before, some of her contacts wouldn’t re-hire me because they were, well, her contacts. We learned that the hard way. I’m looking into “the Indie Bible” (a directory of music industry websites) and looking at all of the radio stations we can send the cd to. I think if it’s supposed to go, if it’s supposed to do something, if it’s supposed to work…if you put in the work, then it’s going to work for you.”

And, work they shall. Having just released the CD at the beginning of this month, Suzie and Ben are wasting no time in getting it off to a good start by getting it into as many hands (and ears) as possible. I, for one, believe this album will spell success for the duo who are hitting the ground running with a good local following; as well as a little taste of international recognition, thanks to one of their songs showing up on season 4 of “So You Think You Can Dance”. Will the world see the potential that lies in “Wake Up Call”? As Suzie puts it, “I’m really optimistic that they’ll look at this album and really latch onto it.”

“Wake Up Call” by The Side Project is available now , on CD or via digital download, at CD Baby. Look for The Side Project at various venues in and around Seattle. Check out their MySpace page for show dates and further info.