GONE FISHING

Hello hello. I write from the green pastures of Connecticut en route to visit Rob and Loic in Provincetown and, most importantly, celebrate Rob's 30th birthday. I went pawing through the archives and came upon these photos from last year. The top is a good display of this couple's impeccable eye for decor; the next is Loic on the beach sketching out the float he will build for that year's parade (which parade? I can't keep track). He has a reputation for building the best. And the last photo, courtesy of Rob, is the view from the finished product. This scene about sums up why it is so fun to visit. Hope you're squeezing in a few more summer adventures too!

TONY SCHWARTZ

Did you catch this week's On The Media? The segment on Tony Schwartz produced by the Kitchen Sisters was utterly fabulous. Schwartz was agoraphobic and afraid of travel and so spent much of his life in a single zip code in Manhattan - 10019. He explored the world by soliciting sounds that people sent in to him. He collected over 30,000 recordings. This profile is a perfect, inpsiring start to the week.

COLLABORATION WITH: DARvá

What an honor to share my latest tattoo collaboration. Darvá got in touch a while back and wrote: 

"2010 -11’ has been a blessed but at times a challenging year. The beauty is in the struggle.  Five months ago I kissed and hugged my gorgeous wife Amanda and precious son Josiah and set out from Arizona to Dallas to better support my family and further my career in the hospitality industry with my current company (Fairmont Hotels & Resorts).  Thankfully my father would not let me make the drive alone. We shared great conversation and laughs along the way. His presence was greatly appreciated however, I couldn't help to feel an empty space that started as a tiny pinhole and grew to the size of the Grand Canyon.  I miss the two people that mean the world to me everyday I wake up. Due to job availability and other finical reason they remain in Arizona. 

All we have and know is in Arizona (family, fiends, our first house, Josiah's school).  This distance is only temporally (12 more months at most) and for the greater good.  This phrase "aut viam inveniam aut faciam" means  "I will either find a way or make one." It is something that keeps me pushing forward and to overcome life changing challenges."

The phrase he chose is so poingnant and inspiring. Especially in these times of economic uncertainty when the only way to overcome adversity might be in taking an opportunity far away from loved ones. Thank you to Darva, Viet at Blink Custom Art & Tattoos, and photographer Claire Elyse. 

 

COLLABORATION WITH: BEN + GRATITUDE GIVEAWAY

I know it has been a few months since the last one, but here is my latest Gratitude Giveaway client, Ben. A while back, Ben wrote: 
"I'm working on a journal that will show my appreciation for how truly remarkable my wife is (you can see her blog here). I plan to provide her with a small note every now and then, articulating a characteristic I adore about her. She can then put these notes she collects in this particular journal titled... and this is where you come in Mara :)...1,000 reasons I absolutely, positively love you.
 
Just a little background. Before my wife and I were officially dating (just hanging out and flirting), I told her there were 1,000 things I loved about her, which prompted a book/album a little later into our dating years that I never finished completing--I only got to 10 things! Lame-O! So, to this day she sarcastically jokes, "you only love 10 things about me?!!"
 
We've just completed our 6th [now 7th!] wedding anniversary, and been so busy with life (nearly 4 kids--my wife has 8 weeks left in her pregnancy--in the last 6 years) that every time I try to give the 1,000 reasons journal a little attention, it never actually gets any attention. The cover and interior I had originally put together have grown to look cheesy to me and I've wanted to change it to something more timeless (as described at the beginning)."

Ben's sweetie Rubyellen wrote a little post about receiving the gift, and what she gave him in return, over here. And here is their anniversary portrait. Her blog Cakies is such a fun read.

Here's to many more years and entries in your book!

{Photo courtesy of Rubyellen from Cakies}

Meeting of the Calligraphic Minds '12

(Top to bottom, left to right: Fawnsburg notecards; love*jenna packaging for Ineke perfumes; Plurabelle Rilke quotation; Ligature edge-painged invitations by Paperfinger)

Last week, as is our annual tradition, I gathered with some of my favorite people ever: Bryn from Paperfinger, Patricia from Primele/Fawnsburg and Jenna from love*jenna. We decamped in the corner table of Rucola and, over six hours and just as many courses and beverages (we toggle between coffee and cocktails), gabbed about calligraphy, dream projects, our lives, ink, nibs, artist crushes, inspiration. If I were to make a list of the best parts of Neither Snow, forging a friendship -- a little guild -- with these extraordinary talented ladies would be at the very top of my list. Some corners of this industry that are catty, competitive and ungenerous. But our relationship is founded on just the opposite: an overwhelming abundance of kindness, collaboration and generosity. I add to this list my west-coast compatriot, Molly of Plurabelle, who I hope one day will join our table out east. Here's a snapshot of the badassness of each:

Bryn just launched a line of stunning hand-calligraphed and illustrated invitations called Ligature. Check them out here and at Oh So Beautiful Paper. 

Patricia wows us every year with her delightful stationery designs (and she always brings us goodies!). Behold her new line of notecards. I chose the gray set and adore the tiny mouse.

Jenna's masterpiece is her scrumptious daughter Clementine who we had the good fortune to meet. She's embargoed some beautiful hand-painted work I hope she'll share soon. Until then, take a gander at this ridic set of perfume packages she designed (zoom in!).

Molly is headed to Paris this month (lucky, lucky). I can't wait to follow her adventures on her blog.

Libraries I have Loved

Often clients and collaborators are a bit confused by and surprised at how often I travel and still manage to take on work. So I wanted to share my little secret to being portable: libraries (public, at universities or research centers). In the last two months I've taken up residence at the  Getty Research Center (literally too beautiful to photograph), and (top to bottom, L - R) Boston Public Library, Cambridge Public Library, Newton Free Library, Weston Public Library, New York Public Library Children's Room (Central Branch), Columbia University's Butler Library and the New York Public Library East Village branch. In New York, if I have an hour or two to spare, I'll locate the closest library and pop in to charge my phone, read a short story and poke around the new releases. In the more distant past, the Oxford University's Duke Humphrey and University of Pennsylvania's Fine Arts Library were refuges.

Often a library is the first place I seek out in any city I pass through, and even the cities I live in. I think there are many reasons why: a feeling that if they aren't used, they'll be closed; the silence; the thoughtful architecture and inspiring small touches (like the quilt in Weston and the miniature figurines and floor plan at Columbia and busts in Newton); the free wireless; vibrancy and the presence of youth and children (in fact the Cambridge branch IS the library for the adjacent Rindge and Latin High School as far as I can tell); opportunity to peruse the shelves; the friendly staff. In some places (Getty) there are organic lunches to be had on the rooftop terrace. In others (Weston) you can reserve an entire private office for yourself. In others still (Boston) it's closer to a museum, with breathtaking Sargent murals. I bring my pen, ink, scanner and even envelopes and settle in for the day. If you are mulling over a road trip or sabbatical but aren't sure of where or how you'll work, it might suddenly seem possible with a local branch nearby. 

CHRISTMAS IN JUNE: COLLABORATION WITH HOTEL SHILLA

I've never received an inquiry from South Korea but such was the case when I got an email from Seoul last year. The luxury Hotel Shilla (owned by the Samsung Group-- TVs and hotels, who knew?) contacted me to work on holiday branding and packaging for their pastry boutique, and an invitation to a gala dinner. They commissioned me to write out the holiday favorite "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." One of my favorite parts of the experience was signing the contract. It involved overlapping the pages and signing across them (the first time I've done this). They, of course, used their company's much classier red stamp. What fun to think of their customers toting these bags around such a faraway place. Thanks to Jennifer + the Hotel Shilla!

{Product images courtesy of Hotel Shilla}

WEST TO EAST: DAYS 3, 4 and 5

In the interest of finishing something, here are some snaps from days 3, 4 and 5 of our cross country road trip. Day 3 found us at White Sands National Monument in New Mexcio. It's an eerie, all white landscape with space-station picnic booths in the middle of the sand dunes. About .2 miles in to hiking the 65' sand drifts I freaked out a bit: the heat, the blinding white, the absence of water. But not before the obligatory runandjump photo. That night we stayed in Pecos, TX, tiny town with, quite oddly, a Best Western styled in the fashion of a Swiss chalet (built by the Swiss proprietiers Swiss son, featuring Swiss memoribelia, including these funny costume prints, everywhere). Then on to the old stockyards of Forth Worth, Texas where there waere animals alive, dead and represented: a petting zoo, an antler chandelier and deer head at the steakhouse, and a fantastic horse lamp outside of the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. Day 5 was Jackson, Misssissippi, most notable for the other-worldy fried chicken at Two Sisters (it is worth a trip if you are within 1,000 miles of the restaurant); the stately central post office that is now for lease by a private developer (sob); and the canny aesthetic sense on display at the Farmer's Market.