My continuing fascination with technology, fashion and art makes me really really want to design (and wear!) my own digital printed pencil skirt. The Wall Street Journal recently wrote an article on Spring’s current wardrobe staple, title “Pencil In Some Fun!” You can read it here.

From the article: “The pencil skirt has the perfect shape to highlight a print because it’s a really clean surface,” said designer Joseph Altuzarra of the high-waisted, nipped-in style to which he returns season after season. The skirt below by Zero Maria Cornejo was based on an iPhone photo of the metal fence at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco!

Here are just a few others… search the web and you will definitely find one for you.

And below is a mock-up of a digital printed pencil skirt made from one of my altered photographs. I can wear my own sexy version of the Eiffel Tower!

Imagined Eiffel Tower Pencil Skirt

And just to round it all out, a palette of “happy color” coffee cups in my favorite brights. Just in case you’d rather drink your bold color than wear it!

Today I came across two different items related to the iconic Gustav Klimt.  Having been to Vienna, which I love (where I swear his spirit lives on!) one is often caught by surprise when suddenly, looming around any corner, is an Art Deco architectural wonder. Of course it is a modern, bustling city, but it literally sings with music and art. I can’t help but love Klimt; of course I love his lyrical line and sense of the decorative, and gold leaf is always special to me (anything that is glittery works for me!)  But also, he was a true lover of women and their sensuality, and he always messed and annoyed  the establishment of his day, a character trait I admire. No shrinking violet was Gustav!  And he produced some seriously beautiful art.

There is a review in The Wall Street Journal “Forever Between Two Worlds” for an exhibition at the Neue Gallery in New York, in honor of the 150th aniversary of his birth.  And at the Getty Museum here in Los Angeles, we have “Gustav Klimt: The Magic of Line” which will showcase his drawings. An excerpt:

Discover the beautiful and evocative drawings of Gustav Klimt in this major retrospective, which explores the stylistic evolution of his drawings as well as their centrality to his work. Klimt’s drawings are characterized by an unsurpassed mastery of line, from his earliest days as a student to his maturity as an avant-garde master.

I am lucky enough to be able to see both, as I will soon be in New York (YAY!!) so I will get to absorb some Gustav magic.

Adele Bloch-Bauer, 1907 (Klimt's possible lover!)

Gustave Klimt drawing "Fishblood"

Preparatory drawing for "The Kiss"

Here is a Photo illustration collage I did that includes an image on Klimts very famous “The Kiss”. I no longer sell this image, but maybe I should revisit it! I love being inspired from other artist’s and incorporating them in my work.

Klimt-Collage

Visit my website or etsy store to see what I am up to now!

Some years ago I was in New York City and I came across a show of Yayoi Kusama. It was heaven for a retro-loving, pop culture addict like me. Rooms were filled with bright pink and red polka dotted sculptures, bizarre creations that alluded to fashion fetishes and and mirrors reflecting everything back at you times ten. Most of that show featured her creations from the mid to late 60′s, so you can imagine the color explosion! I fell in love. After reading her bio, her art took on another level of meaning. She left for New York at the age of 27, following correspondance with Georgia O’Keefe. She established herself as a avant garde artist, with many important friends in the New York art world. After returning to Japan, she committed herself to a mental institution, where she has continued to make art since the 1970′s. She is quoted as saying: “If it were not for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago.”

On November 12, 2008 Christies New York sold a work by her for $5.1 million, a record for a living female artist.

I read about her new retrospective here in The Wall Street Journal, and I was happy to discover that she is still alive and producing art everyday, at the age of 82. Please look up more of her work, she is utterly fantastic!

Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama

YayoiKusami 2009

Yayoi Kusama

"Make Up" by Trolleyla, available in canvas wall hanging

Above is a canvas piece of mine featuring polka dots, available in my store. I wasn’t particularly thinking of Yayoi, but I think the polka dots are a nice homage to her. Purchase it here!

Since I’m such a lover of color, I am really liking these unusual picks for home decor. I’m absolutely swooning over the painted chair by Jane Hall. Check out her website, it’s an inspiration. I dream of having my all my art made into wallpaper, furniture upholstery and handpainting objet’s d’art. I DO know you’d need an army of assistants, though, since I can barely keep up with adding things to my online store, much less going back to painting. (This is a time management issue; I keep swearing one day I WILL NOT start the day by opening my computer! And everyday, I fall into a big, black hole…)

Here is a new retro inspired image I did that ifts right into the color scheme. I can see this enlarged to a super pop art canvas print, right next to the artichoke table! Check it out in my store here.

Sunglasses by Trolleyla

Artichoke Table by David Rasmussen

Painted Chair by Jane Hall

Hot Spot by Ajne Hall

Linear Chair and End Table by David Rasmussen, shown with art by Trolleyla

I was so excited to have Turn Magazine send me this! They gave me a nice promo by featuring my Brigitte Bardot hommage on their very cool magazine. It is definitely worth a look; amazing photographers, art and fashion… just great eye candy! Take a look here!

And as always, you can purchase this in my new store

Another great article from The Wall Street Journal, “How Video Art Inspired a Runway Sensation.” Narciso Rodriguez, who gained fame after designing Caroline Kennedy’s wedding dress, tells how he was inspired by Jennifer Steinkamp’s video art. (I saw her work at the “Artist’s Museum” show currently at MOCA Grand Ave. here in Los Angeles.) If you’ve never seen her work, I urge you to go to a museum near you when she is part of the show. Absolutely beautiful!

Here’s a still image he was inspired by:

Still from Video art by Jennifer Steinkamp

And the dress:

Dress, Narciso Rodriguez Spring 2011

A video of Steinkamp’s work:

Of course, I don’t own, have never owned, and probably never will own, a $2700.00 dress! But this is a great example of how art and fashion are entwined, and you can see that a high end dress from a creative designer can be an art form. Rodriguez explains that he developed special weaving techniques, using extravagantly fine silk and master weavers from Italy. The company, Lorma SRL, has been weaving for five generations. “Lorma prides itself on creating new fabrics… they own a loom that can ‘weave’ without repeats”, producing the equivalent of a painting of fabric. “Without repeats” means that the pattern is never repeated, as it is in mass-produced fabrics, so the result truly is a “painting” on fabric!

I think the result is truly beautiful, as are the Steinkamps video projections. Sometimes a dress isn’t just something that costs a lot of money!

If you’ve read my blog or seen any of my etsy pieces, then you know that Andy Warhol is one of my favorite artists. I love everything about him; The Factory, his art, his early commercial illustrations of shoes, his wigs, and his quiet, quick humor.  Being fabulous in the 1960s also helps.  I found a promo photo of Ann-Margret playing cowgirl, and I just finished adding it to my etsy shop.

It is obviously influenced by Andy and his “Elvis” portraits, and how appropriate!  Cuz we know Annie and Elvis had a fling back in the “Viva Las Vegas” days.   I have united them through Andy, forever in art.  I want to blow this one up to room size!

"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by trolleyla

"Elvis" silkscreen, Andy Warhol

The One and Only

Do you think my art will ever sell for $10 to $15 million (est.)??? Well, I would have had to been inventing this stuff first, but I’m happy honoring Andy. There will never be another!

Here are some new images I’ve been working on. I quite like them.

"Three Hats" by trolleyla

"Pig Tails" by trolleyla

As always, visit my etsy store to purchase these. I hope to get my store page filled out here soon.

I did this new vintage flavored photo of the Eiffel Tower for my etsy shop. Really, at night, it does kind of looks like this. At least it feels like this. That’s how beautiful Paris is, especially at night. So I got out a travel photo of me in front of the Paris Plage… the beach that Paris brings in for the summer, sand and all, along the Seine.

I’m am SO missing Europe and it’s charms, I can’t wait to get back there in a couple of months. Sadly, Paris Plage will be gone, but the “velibs” (the rental bikes) will not! If I can only get that machine to work, mon dieu!

La Tour Eiffel by trolleyla

trolleyla at the Paris Plage

La Tour Eiffel by trolleyla

I am working on getting my store page stocked, until then, you can purchase this on etsy here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/51924807/retro-photo-art-original-photo

I just went to see the amazing John Baldesarri retrospective at LACMA in Los Angeles, Inarguably, he is one of THE most influential conceptual artists, and it was exhilarating to see this exhibition. I have been particularly influenced by Baldessari’s use of “found” photography and the juxtaposition of image and language. Here is his painting, “God Nose”.

John Baldessari, God Nose 1965

“God Nose” was one of the few paintings that survived when Baldessari burned all his work pre-1965. (The only paintings that weren’t burned were in the possession of others.) I’m glad it was there; it showed his early preoccupation with isolating body parts!

I love his bold use of color, how he hides and reveals parts of images, his California heritage. If you get a chance to see the show in Los Angeles, you must.

I think this series I did, titled “Erasing Annie Leibovitz” must have been inspired by Baldessari. Of course, I was also referencing the famous “Erased de Kooning” by Robert Rauschenberg (another FAVORITE artist.) I’d be interested in knowing how you interpret these…I think I will post the series in my art section when i get it organized (planned soon on this site, along with my store!)

Erased Annie Leibovitz by trolleyla, 2008

Erased Annie Leibovitz by trolleyla, 2008