Anthropologie's Artist-in-Residence

I have spent my first days as Anthropologie's Artist-in-Residence. Here are photos of my set-up and brand new paintings inspired by my travels to South Africa. I used textiles and nature guides from my trip to make an inspiration wall. My cozy perch is outfitted with Anthropologie furniture, books and accessories. I spend my days writing, sketching and painting in my studio while on display for customers and passersby to see the whole process from conception to creation. More photos and stories to come as the days go by.

Howzit 1

Travel moments

I flew from Nola to NYC to Jo'burg, where I met Megan, we stayed one night and then rented a car and drove 6 hrs to Kruger National Park where we stayed at 2 different lodges in the Sabi Sand and went on Safari. Then we drove back to Jo'burg, and flew to Cape Town for 4 days. When we rented the car we tried to get the cheapest automatic (to avoid the added difficulty of shifting left handed while driving from the right side of the car and the left side of the road). Ironically, the cheapest automatic they had available was a BMW. Two American girls, driving a BMW through small villages in South Africa. So much for blending in. It didn't take us long to wish we were in a Land Rover when we hit the dirt curves and bumps of the Sabi Sand. Word to the wise: when driving to safari, always go with an SUV. Of course the follies of our road trip made the journey more interesting (as it goes with most discomforts in life). And we made the journey even more interesting when we rented a gps that quit working 10 minutes after we drove off the lot. We were forced to navigate the remainder of the trip the old fashioned way (well, we resorted to megan's blackberry, but we still had to follow road signs and constantly reset the odometer). By the time we made it to Cape Town and rented a Honda Jazz!, Megan was nearly a pro at driving on the wrong (err, left) side of the road. And yes, we literally saw Giraffes from our car window as we departed Ulusaba lodge on our way back to Jo'burg. It felt like Jurassic Park. We were half-excited and half- terrified. All part of the quest to feel most splendidly alive.

Til "Howzit" part 2,
Rebecca

An adventure

With a combination of being on African time and being too excited to sleep, I awoke today at 6:00am in Los Angeles to begin my first day of a new adventure. I spent the past two weeks traveling, first a stopover in NYC, then the trip of a lifetime with a dear friend to South Africa. I had hoped to post more tales and photos from our adventure here on the blog while I was gone, but Internet was scarce and so was down-time. On a trip like that, you hesitate to stop for even a moment as you might miss out on something. Safe to say, I have a plethora of pictures, videos and stories saved up, which I plan to share in the coming weeks through a series of posts called "Howzit" (a South African slang greeting much like our "what's up"). But for now, which is to say in South African, "Now, now" (meaning right away, as opposed to when they say "just now", what they actually mean is anytime in the future ;) , I write to you having returned stateside, to the sunny city of Los Angeles for another adventure which will go something like this: My studio for the next two weeks will be the treehouse-like display window in the front of the Anthropologie store at The Grove. Working aquarium-style, for shoppers and passersby to see, I will attempt to make a mini-collection of new paintings. The project will culminate in an open-to-the-public reception at the store on June 8, from 6:00-9:00pm. This store is celebrating their newly remodeled digs by hosting me as a living installation. Over the next two weeks I will blog, tweet, Facebook, and Instagram my journey in the splendid detail made possible by domestic 4G! (you really appreciate the little things after traveling to a developing country: ice, text messages, drinkable tap water). I invite you to follow along as I share memories from South Africa, and moments in the studio. I hope my travel-stories and traveling-studio serve as inspiration to you in your daily life, wherever you may be... now now and just now. ;)

From an iPad office,
Rebecca

An evening Safari

Last nights game drive was highlighted by a family of grazing giraffes and then stylish zebra before a sunset visit to some sleeping lions.
After dark we headed west by torch (flashlight), in search of harder to find hyena. Our Land Rover took us successfully over rocks, roots, shrubs and sand but somewhere in the chilly night we came round a corner right into a muddy stretch of dirt road. A few attempts by our ranger to navigate the goo were unsuccessful, and we were indeed stuck.
Having just seen lions, leopards, and searching for night-active hyena, the idea of being stuck in the dark in the Sabi Sand bush was rather unsettling. We remained calm while the Tracker and Ranger walked around the vehicle with "torches" to make a plan. I rehearsed scary cinematic scenes of leopards and lions leaping into the vehicle from out of total blackness. I imagined how I would shield Megan as we leapt out and under the vehicle. I imagined which limb could be strategically sacrificed if need be... certainly not my right hand. I am an American, who loves movies. To a fault, I imagine the natural world as a sort of set, designed to set the stage for a story, a romance, a tragedy, a biopic.
And just as I was perfecting my defense plan, the ranger hopped back in, made a few maneuvers as the tracker pushed, and voila, we were moving. It was almost disappointing. Except for the fact that after a short dark stretch of bush dirt road, we arrived at the most magnificent Sundowner Bush gathering yet. A large open sandy area centered around a roaring and perfect fire. A long row of white cloth tables formed a perimeter of cocktails and various safari inspired shish kabobs. We chose the classic safari beverage: Gin and Tonic (apparently early safari goers drank large amounts of this popular cocktail because the quinine in tonic helped to fight malaria), and in my growing quest to sample exotic game meats, I chose the Kudu on a stick. (rather tasty) This gathering was made up of a number of Land Rovers full of safari-goers and we all settled into chairs forming a semi-circle around the fire. From the hillside darkness came a beautiful and enchanting procession of Shangaan women singing and beating drums and dancing with rice and paper shakers on their ankles. Considering my New Orleans heritage, it didn't seem quite right to not dance along with them, but I restrained my urges and enjoyed the show. A beautiful drum beat, voices echoing, and feet pounding the sand whose dust glowed in the fire, certainly felt cinematic and beautifully real. I was thankful for that moment, amid the many moments on this trip. Authentic, luxurious, cultural, natural, serendipitous and eye-opening. I wish I had those women singing me to sleep tonight.

One month away

I spent a busy two weeks since Jazz Fest, and the release of my Spring collection, making deliveries and getting ready for a month away from home. My journey began with packing a tight and tiny suitcase at The Beauty Shop after doing a magazine interview over the phone and shipping new designs to Anthropologie.
After just an hour of sleep, a 6:00am flight out of Nola brought me to the big apple for just 24 amazing hours with good friend and New Orleanian, Rosemary. We walked around SoHo, spent some Internet time at the Vbar and I napped a bit at her apartment. Nighttime was NYC style with a stylist friend doing our hair before going out to a superb New Orleans style performance at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where we saw my friend Jonathan Batiste take the stage with Henry Butler and Ellis Marsalis. The soaring fish-eye window of the venue was like a silent submarine ride with the city going by to the tune of "The Very Thought of You". Time stopped for a moment and I forgot about my fatigue and the anxiety of preparing for a big trip and running a business and being an artist. I was just happy to be encapsulated in that moment, in the big bright city, on my way from one place to another far away. Late night nosh at The Meatball Shop and a few hours sleep and a short cab ride and here I sit at the airport. About to board the plane to South Africa. More news from my journey to come as wifi allows. Stay tuned. And stay inspired.

Gypset Gratitude

I purchased this book a few years ago at a time when just the cover price on the hardback release was a stretch in my wallet. But I got it because the people profiled in it were creative, adventurous, modern and resourceful. In short, I admired them, their lifestyle choices and I wanted some semblance of a "gypset" life for myself. Gypset is a term combining gypsy with jet-set in a fusion of high and low culture. It may sound a little trite but it's an accurate description for an otherwise indescribable lifestyle choice made by many inspiring creative people today.
Unlike the author, I didn't grow up in this sort of boho environment. I discovered it slowly over my adolescent, college, and emerging adulthood years. But here I sit, at this cafe this morning in New Orleans. Just a few short years after buying this book, flipping through catalogs and books and magazines for inspiration as I sketch designs for Anthropologie, just 5 days before I leave for a trip to South Africa with a creative and dear friend. I live in a modern treehouse in the woods an hour out of the city, which I loan to fellow artists who need respite and rent out when I'm traveling. I have a cute cornerstore showroom in the city with a landlady who is so supportive she houses and feeds me when my schedule is too busy for my own family. She and her dogs, cats, chickens and our neighbors make even my workplace feel like a home. I just spent a month in her care while making new artwork to show on my website and at Jazz Fest last week. Those 40 paintings were almost all snatched up by collectors within days of their release. After Africa I will land in L.A. for a brief working stay where I will use inspiration gathered on safari for a new body of work. Its times like these that I cant quite believe this is my life. The life I always wanted. A girl from Metairie. It doesn't come so easily or naturally. I still have anxiety when buying a plane ticket, packing my bags for a trip. I experience self-doubt. I have guilt when asking for help or sharing my plans with others who I know will stay home but want to go, see, do. I still run out of money and have to go into the bank and explain. But I try to do it with a smile. With a knowing glimmer in my eye, with the energy of flying in the face of your fears, self-doubt and anxiety that surely comes with trying to live an unconventional life. A life that may inspire others. I recently heard that the supreme success is to inspire others. The people in this book inspired me. I am certainly a believer today in the law of attraction. Surround yourself with the things you want, attract them to you with goodness in your heart. And certainly, they will become true when you are ready and not a moment before. And if you have done so with a purity and benevolence of spirit, your success in achieving your goals will never detract from the success of others, only lift them up. Hold fast to your dreams. No one can defend them but you.

Wood Duck

Goodbye "Wood Duck Tree". You have a new home now.

Rainy Day

It is raining at my Treehouse. I just stitched a Print Tapestry, did laundry, made popcorn, leafed through books on the table and photos on my phone. Rain is subsiding now. Time to go meet my new nephew just 1 hour old. #grateful