Classic Book Review: The Artist in His Studio

This masterpiece of a book, written by Alexander Liberman, has been a favourite of mine for most of my student years. Filled with insights into the lives of artists, it is a work which really delves into the creative process. This book, while still a favourite of mine, has some flaws. After reading this book for the third time I came to realize something I hadn't noticed before. "Wait a moment, there are only two female artists featured in this book. There are thirty-two artists featured and only two are female. One, at that, was only featured with her also-happened-to-be-an-artist husband." It's too bad. Liberman's book has been praised for decades as a showcase of the contemporary artists of his period, yet less than 0.7% of the artists featured were female. This truly is a book about the artist in his studio. A worthwhile read but I wish Liberman had added more female artists.

Music Review - Goldfrapp

The always awesome English electro duo Goldfrapp is back with another great album, "Head First".

"Head First" offers that great pop music with plenty of 80's inspiration as we've come to expect from Goldfrapp. With that said the new album is nothing surprising, but its full of plenty of great tracks thatll make you want to sing your lungs out and dance around in some legwarmers.

Stand out tracks for me are the very danceable "Shiny Warm", the peaceful "Voicething", and of course their catchy new single, "Rocket":

[The back up dancers have some pretty amazing jean vests.]

You can preview all the tracks at [their site], top left.

Though I did like this new album, for me, it just doesnt compare to the older ones, in paticular 2005's "Supernature" and their absoutly brilliant debut back from 2001, "Felt Mountain". It was definetly enjoyable and fun, but it was nothing new and exciting.

I loved "Felt Mountain" for how beautiful and strange it was. I found all the tracks off the album to be just spectacular, but songs like the entrancing and surreal title track, "Felt Mountain" and the cabaret styled "Oompa Radar" were really special.

And of course who can forget how much fun "Supernature" was with hits like "Ohh La La" and "Ride A White Horse" [and its hilariously disturbing video].

So yes, "Head First" was a good album, but come on Goldfrapp, surprise us next time!

-laura schütte. [more from me here]

A Day In The Life Of A Model: Part Two

I will start from where I left off..... After I checked my phone, seeing that it was 12:30 I began to get a little impatient. I tried to not think about the teasing of my hair with the excruciating heat from the dryer, when finally he said 'I'm done.' It was the best two words I had heard in a very long time. I got up from my chair and waited while another girl was getting shot. I sat around for about an hour when finally they realized that I was still in hair and makeup, and needed to get dressed. The stylist picked my outfit for me and I was told to show the photographer my final look. I did as I was told and the photographer wasn't so happy with my hair either. He said that he wanted it to be cleaner with more 'poof' to it. I was sent back to the hairstylist to get it fixed. It didn't work.

Everyone was getting frustrated with my hair so eventually the stylist stepped in to fix it. Time check: 3:00 and I still hadn't started shooting. I had been there for almost 5 hours. It only took the stylist a few minutes to do my hair, and the photographer liked it. But then bit by bit the hair began to fall out of place. Luckily, one of the photographer's friends who happened to be a hairstylist came to the rescue. She was not so happy with what the first hair stylist did and decided to fix it herself. It looked so much better. Finally, I was ready to shoot.

I shot for about 20 minutes, when the photographer stopped me and said that he wasn't really feeling the whole hair do. So they took it out. I was very annoyed but as a model you have to realize that there are some times when they will do you hair and take 2 hours to do it and then realize that it's not what they wanted. Eventually, they put my hair down, but it still had a lot of volume. I was getting very tired and bored because the other models had to shoot too.

Finally, I was finished. I said my good byes and thanked everyone. The stylist had already left because she had to meet some one for dinner and didn't think that the shoot would last as long as it did. Like I said before, you never know what to expect on a shoot or how long it will take. Once I finally got into the car, it was 9:30 pm. I had been there for over 10 hours.

Image taken by me

Spring Cleaning

Here are my favorite weather shots:

Winter - I like you cause you're pretty at times, but stay away for a while. Thank you. Good bye.

Music Review - Gorillaz

Gorillaz, everyones favourite virtual band, are finally back after their hit album Demon Days back in 2005! The highly anticipated new album, Plastic Beach was realeased just a few days ago and it definetly does not dissapoint.

Gorillaz stay true their unique musical style, bringing back plenty of hip hop, pop, and electronica, with some great twists. Many of the tracks are very relaxing, some even live up to the beach theme, especially "To Binge" featuring Little Dragon (who also supplies additional vocals in the track "Empire Ants"), but theres also some fun songs to contrast that such as the hilarious track "Superfast Jellyfish. In addition to all the guest appearences from the likes of Snoop Dog, Lou Reed, Mos Def, Mike Jones, Bobby Womack and many more, we are blessed with Damon Albarn's beautiful voice as always, and boy does he ever deliver.

A definite stand out track for me is "White Flag" featuring Bashy, Kano, and The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music, the arabic intro is amazing, and coupled with the rapping make it a really unique and fun track. The title track, "Plastic Beach" featuring Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, was also one I loved from the first listen, its really just beautiful haha.

But honestly, I found all the tracks to be fantastic. Theres a great mix of mellow slow tempo songs with Albarn's amazing voice along with some fun, crazy hip hop and pop type songs as well. Something for everyone, and every mood.

The whole album is available for streaming [here], as well as a track by track guide given to us by Murdoc available [here].

And as always with any Gorillaz album everything is completly interactive on their fantastic website: Gorillaz.com. You can sign up and play the new "Plastic Beach Adventure Game", which I have yet to complete. Part of the fun about them being an animated band is following the crazy plotline about the interesting characters.

-laura schütte. [more from me here]

My Friend Jeremy From SPAO

I met this boy while attending a photography workshop during the Summer of 2008. It took place at SPAO (the School of Photographic Arts of Ottawa) and lasted three months. The school is great; their small classes offer intensive one-on-one work with some remarkable teachers from all over the world. It has a down to earth vibe with a mix of New York radness. Jeremy is now a full time student there and his work continues to impress me. Here are some of his works using his Holga camera. Check out more of the school and their courses on photography by clicking here. 

Claudia Wu of Me Magazine

Claudia Wu, the editor-in-chief of Me Magazine, is definitely one independent spirit. She studied Graphic Design at RISD and decided the usual route of internships weren't for her. Along the way to her position she's worked for Visionaire and V Magazine. Afterwards, she went on to work at a variety of ad agencies and magazines until she became Design Director at Index Magazine. With all her variety of experience she started Me Magazine. And what is Me Magazine? It's a creative focus on an individual, as Wu states, "I think what makes Me Magazine different from other publications is that it focuses on one person and their circle of friends. I think it gives readers a more complete picture of our guest editor's lives than other publications have the space to give them. Me Magazine has that luxury because it has no other agendas than to celebrate and capture a kind of portrait of one person's life. It's like a mini biography."

With editions on creative types such as the Rodarte sisters and Philip Lim, Me Magazine is something people go after. Yet the creative process seems surprisingly down to earth. As Wu states about her experience, "I think my arms are a lot stronger from carrying heavy boxes". Along with the physical labour Me Magazine is Wu's creative release yet her favourite part of working for the magazine is "meeting really nice people and hopefully making at least a small difference in their lives". With the latest issue on chef Melia Marden, Me Magazine promises an even brighter future. To check out more of this fantastic mag click here.

[photo credit : teenVOGUE and ME Magazine]