Birth of a logo!

So, I got me a new logo for the new website!

Here are a few of the rad designs that my great/wickedly talented friend Divya came up with.  I was kind of partial to this one because of the vinyl rekkid feel it had!

Think Divya has also skinny-ed me down a bit.  She's nice that way. 

Once we got to this woody style, I was IN.  Also, we took off the "PAD" since that's a word that I save just for you and this blog, you one lucky reader! 

Div threw in a bit of color,  wrapped the words around my chromey pate, and WHAMMO!  LOGO!  Check it out in all its beauty at the site Bald Man Mod!  Also, check out Divya's awesome new children's book, Little Owl's Night, or read this great interview with her on Design Sponge!

Oak Park Father's Day? In August? BELIEVE.

For Father's Day, Julie upped the ante with this wild idea of taking me to Oak Park (ritzy Chicago) for a Frank Lloyd Wright tour. We went on the cheap, which meant barely eeking out the last two seats on a 5:45AM flight, and going standby at that. The upside is that we made it to Wicker Park in time to eat a banana and heath bar pancake covered in warm toffeecream. Chicagoans can sometimes be on the hefty side, so it was necessary to bulk up/fit in. (no offense. I'm the one eating candy bars for breakfast, so...)



Since we had extra time in Chicago that we assumed we'd be spending in the DFW airport, we went to the Chicago Institute of Art, to explore as much as we could before heading outta downtown. We took in this massive log, which some dood saw in California, had a mold made of it, shipped said mold to Japan to have woodworkers recreate the fallen tree, had it shipped back, and now is in the museum. Who said artists were the poor and starving type?



ARTY. There's a cute wife behind. them gold balls.

One of my favorite Wright homes in Oak Park was the Arthur B. Heurtley house. There was a hundred year oldish man who lived in the place, and he ruled, and was really proud of this beauty. I'd be proud too, because I'll be residing in a pine box at his age, not this place.

The vast majority of Wright homes one has to admire from the outside, as the current residences of the homes prefer privacy to hanging out with cool people like us. However, we did get to walk around inside Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio, and it was great. No pictures allowed on the inside though. Whatever.

We headed downtown to check out the inside of the Rookery building. When we go inside buildings in downtown Austin, we get a receptionist desk, a security guard, and an ATM machine.

This building was not like that. Long live the Rookery!!

The Robie house was another one that we got to walk around inside. It really made me want to live in 1910, be rich, have servants and be named Frederick C. Robie. There was this old victorian home built next door that looked a trillion years old, and it was built 5 years after this house. Wild. Again no pictures allowed inside. Apartment Therapy has a nice interior shot of the giant living room. Guess they must have a Robie on the staff.

Take that Jeff Tweedy. We took the Architecture River Crooze too, brah.

After said cruise, we stopped into this place that seemed a tad douchey to me on the outside, but turned out to be pretty nice. They did have this awesome beer flight for purchase, including the super potent Delirium Tremens. It was delicious, but to name your beer after the DTs is like naming your cigarettes the Coughing Blood Ultraslims.

Saw these lamps hanging in this Wine and Cheese shop near our motel. Don't get me all riled up again! Buy 'Merican people! LZF Lamps makes great stuff... and their model is basically three of mine put together and is wider, but they use only 2 pieces of veneer. I use 3. Would you rather live in a straw house or one of brick? I USE THREE. BRICK HOUSE!

We rounded out the trip with a drive to Plano, IL to visit the Farnsworth House. You know your house is a dope crib when it's been made into legos. We had a few setbacks getting there, and ended up 10 minutes late, much to the chagrin of all the others on the tour. They were also not chagrinning when it started pouring after we took two steps towards the house from the parking lot.

The upside was that we got to hang out in the house and sit around in the living room for a long time, listening to the tour guide... It was a great house. Thinking about putting a bid in on it. Not sure it's for sale, but they rent it out for $20,000 a night, so I'm pretty sure my offer will be heavily considered (I mean, it's on a flood plain yo!). We rounded out the Chicago trip with a delicious meal (thanks to friend Steve Roberts) and a rock and roll bar... Perfect end to a perfect trip! I have 9 months to come up with something big for Mother's Day, and is an equal alternative to some sorta musicals marathon. There MUST be an alternative!

Artwork & the Hottest Coolest Time in TX

Well, one small task was actually completed, which is a rarity these days. Julie got me this conglomerate of Jenn Ski Letter Art to spell Claire's name in ye olde nursery... not only that, but said artwork actually made it up on the walls. Such completion can not be said of the file cabinet planter, unfinished porch supports, or detailed Mini Cooper that needs to be sold stat... which just reminded me that I had a dream this morning that an old coworker came over and washed my car. Maybe I'll leave a bucket in the driveway, and send that guy some serious power of suggestion.

Screw unfinished projects and baby raising. We're going to Schlitterbahn y'all. Claire can maybe go next year, but this year it's just the "adults" gittin tubular.

M+D+F 2009 Recap

The big day in the sun has come and gone. Here's a slight recap of a baldman, his lamp, and the M+D+F Exhibition at Design Within Reach.



My pa, my daughter, my lamp, and my first admirer are in this shot. Dad came to help me hang this guy the day before the exhibit, and it seemed a little dwarfed next to the giganto Shade Pendant DWR sells. The upside is it gets to stay there all week long, and maybe it can be seen through the window if you are walking by on all fours and angling your head just so.



I must admit that I didn't talk to many people who made stuff because I ended talking to all my awesome friends who came to support my woody creation... so names of designers or whatevs I slacked on... I do know that the woman who made these crazy lamps was named Gian and she won best in show. I won honorable mention like all the others who didn't get some propa props/chest bumps. I'm down with that.




I was also into the double duty of these end tables. One is End Table/Guitar Amp and the other is End Table/Grill. Rad.



The dood who made this beast I did talk to- Eric. He made this giant light out of styrofoam packing that can be found inside Apple Laptop shipping boxes. Looks cool. He won the best sustainable award. Really creative.

That's all I got. There were other entries too, but they deserve better than to end up on my goofy blog anyway. If you find yourself on 2nd Street, and aren't late for your massage or whatever, feel free to stop by Design Within Reach and feast your peepers on that lamp... should be there all this week, unless it gets in a scuffle with that beefy guy next to it. My lamp would lose the battle.

WTF, DWR MDF! LOL...

So there's this little joint 27 blocks due south of our haus called Design Within Reach. Heard of it? Anyhoo, they are having this thing called M+D+F. They say it's a little something like this here: "M+D+F 2009 is a juried exhibition of innovative furniture by emerging designers in the Austin area. Organized by the DWR Austin Studio and juried by local creative professionals in the design, architecture, art and fashion worlds, M+D+F provides an opportunity for peer, public and professional recognition for up-and-coming designers and firms."



Not that I'd call myself an up and coming designer, but I'm thinking about entering this gaywad lampshade in its pendant form, AND doing it outta bamboo veneer to make the hippies happy to boot. See, you can grow bamboo better than your beer gut, so it's environmentally friendly. Anyhoo, back to the wailing child and her milk concerns. I'll let you know when I get the rejection letter in the mail. Don't worry, Claire has her mother's disposition.

Museums Are Cool

Baldman, wife, Jenn and baby claire all went to the museum yesterday. One of us for the first time. Finally Birth of the Cool is here that I talked about one zillion years ago. Though our docent was so so, the goods they had there were really great. I'm considering going back on some random Thursdays (free day) to see how those Eames cats made such cool stuff, and take some notes. Jenn also broke down this pic above by Karl Benjamin... broke it down as in, "how does one paint that?" She's in the artworld see, so that's her kinda breakdown. The Austinist had some other pretty good pics, including a superad birdhouse they had on display. They didn't let bald guys take pictures however. It's a cruel cruel world out there for baldies. We left as Claire was getting her fuss on, and went outside to catch some skin cancer on top of the pate. I prefer that to cold rain, however.

Movie Watchin/Band Rockin

Yous know there's a rad documentary playing at the Austin Film Festival tomorrow nite called Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman? The fantastic geezer who photographed all the modern homes since the beginning of modern homes- such as this here Case Study House 22 pic he took. DOUBLE CHECK THIS OUT! Julius Shulman is gonna be there in person at the ripe old age of 98, and baldman's friend's dad, Bill Merriman (space city architect) is gonna do a Q & A! Check that link above fer show times/locations and the like... but the Q & A is going to be on 10/16 at the Rollins Theater... 7pm- see you there!



And for those about to rock... The Bloody Tears are playing a show at the Scoot Inn on friday with another great band called Ripe. Get a double dose of bald if you're nasty.

Birth of the Cool- An Attitude that Eludes Those Who Try too Hard to Achieve It.

This exhibition is coming to the Blanton Museum in February of next year. A ways away, but I'm thinking it might be worth a look-see. Have to get a baby sitter. Weird... MAYBE start the bebe off right and take the little lady. Here's what the Blanton say:

Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture At Midcentury
February 22 – May 17, 2009
Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture At Midcentury takes a look at the broad cultural zeitgeist of “cool” that influenced the visual, graphic, and decorative arts, furniture, architecture, music, and film produced in California in the 1950s and early 1960s. The exhibition, organized by the Orange County Museum of Art, includes a jazz lounge; a media bar with film, animation, and television programming; a period art gallery of hard-edge abstract paintings; selections of art, architectural, and documentary photography; and an interactive timeline that highlights examples of California, national, and international culture and history in the 1950s. Birth of the Cool examines the dynamic community of artists who overlapped and interacted in Southern California at midcentury—Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Charles and Ray Eames, John Lautner, Richard Neutra, Helen Lundeberg, and others who played a germinal role in the development of this iconic style of high modernism.

Bald Man on a Plate

I have a lot of really great friends. Deanna is one of these. She found this plate on etsy at Trixiedelicious’s shop. People come over and wonder who painted my face on a plate. I tell them “a lady in New Zealand who has never seen me.. Deanna bought it this way.” Here’s the proof. She sells the plates normally as a pair, so you can see what I look like with hair as well- post Hair Restoration.

Deanna has her own shop on esty called Little Lakes. It rules too, and she sells these hot organizers like crazy… seems like she can’t make them fast enough! Ever revolving fabric options keeps her stuff all phresh, and she makes custom stuff too. Anywayzzz… Here’s to wicked friends! Wicked friends who buy me fine china with my face predrawn on them! CLINK!

Ceramics on Manly Wednesday?

Happy New Year! We rang in 08 by seeing the movie, The Orphanage, about scary dead kids. Timely enough, I ran across Swedish ceramic designer Ann-Louise Gustavsson, who is cranking out some seriously great/funny stuff that could work for the Manly Wednesday update, though Ann-Louise is obviously an Ann-Louise. Take for instance, item one she calls “Trophy.” Oh man… Toddlers aren’t that hard to hunt, but baggin one with glowing eyes? It’s like finding an 80 point buck with wings.



This one really kills me though. Our friends have this funny move they like to pull (stolen from a movie?) that begins with a smile and a wave, then ends in a full finger flip off. This pretty flower arrangement reminds me those jerks I call friends. I believe I could be friends with Ann-Louise… I’m sure my wife wouldn’t mind. She’s from Sweden right? Yeah, no problem.

Raking it in...

I feel kind of like a present whore, but what you gonna do? On top of an ipod, a thin slice of curly cherry wood, and HANGING HARRY (!!!) that julie got me, I got all these other goodies from the fam as well.




From ma n pa, I got this wicked Frank Lloyd Wright stencil that we’ll also paint red, along with a slew of other goodies in the mod and wood sort of vein. My two current favorite veins.



From my sister and her boyfriend, this mind dizzying book of wood joints. I’m gonna be sticking wood together like mama nature adds branches to tree trunks.




From Julie’s mom, this Jenn Ski print, along with enough vases to house a deconstructed Rose Bowl Parade float. Bring it.

Animal Magnetism

Charley Harper’s art is fantastic. To me, it’s the perfect mix of precision and modernism. He can boil down a bird’s body to a perfect minimalist shape, and use true-blue bird colors to bring it to life. This Charley Harper quote sums it up- "I never count the feathers in the wings — I just count the wings." It’s the kind of work that makes one think, “it’s so easy I could do that”- which is what people say when they see a professional baseball player swing a bat and hit a home run.



I’m hoping to get a print or two of his for Christmas as well. It’s quite possibly the greediest I’ve ever been, but with images like these, and names like, “The Family Owlbum” the man is hitting me in the sweet spot.




I also love these paintings… another theme of his it seems. Modern shapes, painted from an off kilter vantage point that makes the viewer go back to the title of the painting for clues to figure out what he/she is looking at. This is The Last Aphid.



Charley Harper and Todd Oldham started collaborating on fabrics and home furnishings before he died on June 10th of this year at the age of 85. I thought I heard Lazy Boy was going to come out with some of these collaborations? Sounds like a recliner for maxin… I’ll add it to the Xmas list for 2008. Dwell Magazine had a nice interview with the man a while back.

Water-free Plantlife

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How do artists work? I feel like I came from this artisty family, but maybe got short changed on those genes? I’d prefer to think they just are lying dormant. Our friend Lisa (who told us about the beer can house in Houston) also has a sister who does these great flower/grass/nature type installations that really rule.

Her name is Amy Albracht, and it’d be cool to have this retractable blossom number on our wall, or that wheat growing out of our floor. This is the type of indoor plantlife we need to take care of, but will probably still kill somehow.

She’s also part of this color consultant group that’s been painting some wicked colors on school walls. I’m just sayin that I hope those artist genes come to the surface quickly because I’m currently labeling mini dv tapes for a living, and I don’t want to pass those kind of genes on to the next sap.

Arty Bastard

I’ve been getting into art with a touch of swank these days… Matte Stephens is producing such art. Back in the day, you could only get his stuff over at Velocity… it’s the good stuff. The originals. However, originals come with usually a couple zeros to the left of the decimal point instead of the right. These days though, with the ever powerful etsy, great artists are setting up shop, and cranking out prints of their work as well. I bought my first print of his as a gift for my friend Deanna. Matte sent it off lickety split, I slapped it in a sleek Ikea Ribba frame (Deanna, that’s read “placed it gently in the frame with all the care and love it deserved”), and it looked great. Great art. Great price. Period. Matte, feel free to use that as your new tag line. Check out the man’s blog here and his etsy shop here.