tumblr

Oops, I've moved to tumblr! Peer pressure. You can follow me at leahreena.tumblr.com.

Yorkies

I recently designed this qt Yorkie dog pattern for Land of Nod bedding, and it's for sale here.

Mexico City Diary

Last month I travelled to Mexico D.F. with Masuko and Kaye to visit Rachel while she was back home. I'd only been to Tijuana and other little towns in driving distance of San Diego, so I was very excited to see what the city was like. I was surprised by how green it was! Plants are everywhere, a total dream.

This is the only photo I took at El Museo De Arte Popular (besides a million on my phone) and it was one of my favorite places that we went. The museum is full of arts and crafts from all over Mexico, and features textiles, pottery, embroidery, costumes, and so much more that is so relevant to my work. El Palacio de Bellas Artes was another beautiful museum with a great Picasso show up right now.

A handful from Julia's beautiful home in the south of the city:

We took a day trip to Teotihuacan to see the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon. I loved the pattern in the constructions, with tiny rocks dotted around the larger ones, but originally everything was plastered over and painted in bright colors. Very little painted surfaces remain, like the pink patterned lintel below, and I really wonder what it used to look like.

Back in the city we walked far to find an eerie old mask shop. I loved the tiled floor.

We also ate trays of tostadas and bought magic amulets and tiny dinosaur-shaped piñatas at this indoor market:

Other notable things: tacos at El Parnita, ice cream at Nevería Roxy, watching World Cup games everywhere, driving past the slums on the outskirts of the city, going out for mezcales and then reluctantly going to the club but then it was the best, breakfast and juices at Ojo de Agua, a crafts market in the south, the Diego Rivera & Frida Khalo house and the Frida Kahlo Museum, speaking as much Spanish as I can.

summer sketchbook

It's a bit sad how little of my job is actually drawing, so I've been making extra time these past few weeks to work in my sketchbook. I'm also getting better at updating my neglected tumblr, so you can follow me there for scans of these drawings & more stuff.

sometimes shop pix ☺

Sometimes Shop has come and gone, and here are a handful of photos Kaye took from before we sold almost everything. I don't think the photos even do it justice (sorry Kaye), it was really a beautiful little store filled with everything we love. Thank you, thank you to everyone who came out to our opening party or over the weekend, it was amazing to meet you and show our work in person.

We're already planning our next pop-up for the holidays in December, and until then you can find my ceramics in my new shop, shop.leahgoren.com. I'll be listing unsold pieces from the pop-up and brand new pieces in early July. And now, I'm off to Mexico & California! xx

Sometimes: A Summer Pop-up

We are excited to announce the opening of Sometimes, our very first pop-up shop, this summer in Brooklyn! Rachel, Monica, Masuko, and I have been busy at the ceramics studio for months, and we'll be filling a little shop in Greenpoint along with Kaye's jewelry and Gina's quilts and pillows.

Images above: my patterned white vases, a figure by Rachel, and a ring pile-up by Kaye.

See you in June!

practicando mi español

Summer Soaps

I designed packaging for this set of summer-scented soaps for Anthropologie. They are in stores and online now!

frankie magazine

Last month I was lucky enough to work on the cover for one of my favorite magazines, Frankie, and it's on newsstands now. It was a total dream job because I got to draw exactly what I love most: dream girls and boys wandering around with their plants and ice cream and cats. I thought I'd share a little process because it was so fun to draw, and my unedited drawings can be interesting on their own.

I painted everything in black ink so I could place and layer them exactly where I wanted in photoshop and pick my colors out carefully. It's nice to do it this way because color is one of my favorite parts, and I get to play around with it more. I drew the figures first, and then the background colors for their clothes and objects with tracing paper.

And the final! You get a little peek at some guys who suffered from cropping. Thanks so much to AD Holly McCauley!