Art Project Shows Colors for Children's Healthy Eating

New York artist Tattfoo Tan has merged nutrition and art with a brilliant project, The Nature Matching System. Drawing upon the nutrients inherent to fruits and vegetables that also give them their beautiful hues, Tattfoo developed a mural and placemat of colors representing common fruits and vegetables. The project is like a public reminder and a sort of natural nutrition label for what we should be eating.

I love how the mural was painted by school children and placed at playgrounds and busy street intersections, serving both a bright piece of eye-candy to passer-bys and a source of information and inspiration to those who opt to look closer. The placement prints are fun additions to anyone’s dining table, placed on the refrigerator, or even framed on the kitchen wall. Tattfoo also made a companion coloring book for this project, which can be downloaded here.

Visit Good.is for a great write-up of this project, or Tattfoo’s own website for more information.

My Kingdom for a Sketchbook Cover!

Do you ever find yourself needing a very particular tool or piece of equipment, but you can’t find anything that’s exactly what you’re looking for?  This frustration strikes me often when I’m working outside my studio. I especially wanted more organization in my sketchbooks, something that would enable me to neatly tote additional paperwork and supplies without resorting to a separate bag.

Enter Cailyn Meyer, a former high school classmate and proprietress over at The Daily Skein, to custom-sew a fabric cover to my hardbound 8.5”x11” sketchbook.  I provided her with the design, which Cailyn refined according to her knowledge of fabrics and sewing, and then she brought the idea to fruition with her crafting skills.

Yes, I insisted on the happy Woodland Critters design. Got a problem with that?

Thanks to Cailyn, I couldn’t be happier with the results: TEN pockets (4 letter, 2 half-sheet, 2 business card, 1 index card, 1 postcard), two bookmarks, and a removable pen sleeve that can fit a Micron and a mechanical pencil.  Finally, I can securely carry a children’s book manuscript, photo references, drawing supplies, illustrator postcards and other ephemera with my sketchbook!

Turnip Rock Logo

One of the things I really love about living here in Minnesota is the easy access to local farmers who practice sustainable, responsible agriculture. Last year, my husband and I joined a CSA called Turnip Rock and heartily enjoyed the experience. CSA stands for "Community Supported Agriculture" and is a really novel concept: each member purchases a share in a farm and receives a box of fresh produce (or whatever the farm specializes in) delivered every week during the farming season. CSAs help support the local economy, give “the little guy” farmer a boost, and have lots of other neat benefits. You can learn more about CSAs (and find one in your area!) at Local Harvest.

Turnip Rock is a relatively new farm and recently held a contest to design their logo. With the prize being a free share for the summer, we just had to enter. My husband and I worked on this together: he rendered the turnips in vector form, and I colored them digitally and did the typography. The line art version and my sketches are below.

We don't yet know the results of the contest, but either way it was still a fun little project. I’ll take any opportunity I can to work on something artistic with my husband or try to win free food from folks I admire.

Homemade Goods

My husband and I recently collaborated on a little holiday project together. I’ve been infusing and bottling my own liqueurs for a few years now, and to add a special touch when giving the tiny batch away this season, I figured it was finally time for a label.

The brand name and logo were designed by my very talented husband, with a little input from me. They’re based on an inside joke we share (one of the inordinate number of nicknames we’ve given our dog). My homemade amaretto met with rave reviews this past weekend at my homeowners association impromptu holiday party (sorry CBIGers, but I couldn’t let it go to waste after the snowstorm cancelled our fun!). I know my in-laws will get a kick out of the label on Christmas. The fact that they refer to our pet as their ‘grand-dog” speaks volumes about their sense of humor!