Christmas is not really my holiday; my mom is visiting this year and we'll probably go to a movie and get Chinese food. I decided I'm not doing gifts this year either, aside from a special few who will get handmade ceramics. So, this is my gift guide for YOU, or things you should really get yourself if you can. Some of these I have and some I don't (taking beanie recommendations, though I'll probably end up asking Gina to knit me one.)

Here's where you can buy it all: On Flora zine, giantlion rings, Acne Alma boots, OUI candles

knockoffs

This is my black cat print, est. Oct 2010.

I came up with the black cat print when I was a sophomore at Parsons, so it really should have died with all the other terrible work I was doing then. It also isn't very representative of what my style has become. But, it was the first thing I put online that caught the attention of bloggers, which lead to customers and then real clients. Looking back at my "career" (er, the year and a half I've been out of school) I credit all my success with this image. I still sell products printed with it, and so much of my work, cat-related and otherwise, is derived from it. It was the first pattern I ever made! And so, I feel really protective over it, and it was a big blow as many individuals and companies began to copy it. Many were very poor imitations on Etsy, or DIYs on fashion blogs, but a handful, like the examples below, were larger manufacturers.

Top row, Pepaloves Spring 2013; bottom row, H&M Summer 2013, dress for sale here

Some of these make me more upset than others. The H&M cat print is the most different from mine, and is likely more inspired by the trend than my exact work. I'm mostly bothered that I may have contributed to the manufacturing of thousands and thousands of cheap polyester items. It also makes me sad that the BeckSöndergaard and Joyfolie lines below are carried at Anthropologie, a client I really respect and love working with, and who first released a big run of black cat dresses in Summer 2012.

Top row, BeckSöndergaard Fall 2013, tote here and scarf here; bottom row, Joyfolie Spring 2013

I learned a very sad, very expensive lesson from all of this: anyone can steal your work and there isn't really anything you can do. I had a licensing lawyer send a couple cease-and-desists, but they don't do anything. The companies know you're too small to actually sue them, and they'll just put you off until you give up. Public shaming seems to be the best action.

In the end I try not to think about it. My work is a very small dot in the world, and images, trends, and products cycle at such a fast pace. I'm just going to keep making new work, and at least I can tax deduct all the lawyer's fees.

Update: Here is a brand new one by Dear Creatures, Holiday 2013. The shape is a little different and it's knit, but let's be real.

I went to see the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum a couple weeks ago and drew these favorites from photos I took. I get so bored looking at fashion online, but it's exciting to see it in a museum and in a historical context. This show was so well done, and the shapes of his work are so inventive I imagined everything I looked at like it was already a drawing.

etsy's industrial revolution

I did my first thing for the NYT, feelin like a real illustrator. And, very appropriately, it's about Etsy and the history and evolution of handmade goods. You can read the article here. Many thanks to ADs Josh Cochran & Matt Dorfman!

black floral

A few sketchbook florals I liked so much I tried out a little ceramic dish in the same style.

white girls

a couple girls I built from white stoneware last time around in ceramics. I'm eventually working toward building a "dollhouse" or at least a whole room, furnished with chairs and rugs and girls and cats hanging out. Off to class now, I just started the fall session at Choplet last week.

bedroom

I moved to a new apartment over the summer, here are a handful of photos of my bedroom a few months later.

gina's quilts

My good friend and best Bushwick neighbor, Gina Rockenwagner, has recently released a new series of quilts and pillows. You may remember this quilt we designed together a while back (almost a year ago! wow), and many of these new products are made with my fabrics too. We photographed them in my purple room last week with the help of Moses the cat model, and you can now buy them in her shop.

tupper lake

We drove 5 hours north last weekend to the Adirondacks for a wedding in Tupper Lake. Lake swimming, wakeboarding, skipping rocks. I hung out on a speedboat with a big yellow dog, it was perfect.

my desk

Knot & Bow Sketchbook Workshop

I'm hosting a sketchbook workshop with Knot & Bow this Monday, Aug. 26 at their new Brooklyn HQ. There are still spots left, so if you're in NYC, buy tickets here - it will be fun! Each guest gets a ton of supplies for keeps, including my favorite binderboard sketchbook that I talked about back here. Hope to see you there!

cool girls

we went to see drowners this weekend at mercury lounge and also saw a cool girl band called bad girlfriend who made me want to draw some cool band girls. I'm never going to be in a band but if I was I'd probably write a song called feelings too.