I met Rebecca Trawick of Bluebird Studios about 8 years ago when I used to own a wedding invitation company. If anyone knows how to send a well-crafted, attention-getting package through the mail–it’s Rebecca. To this day, I still have the cigar box she sent filled with mini collages and her beautiful, unique writing samples. Upon getting her package, I immediately made her my company’s official calligrapher. Though I don’t have that company anymore, we still keep in touch and share some lovely bride experiences. (Remember the lady that licked the calligraphy on her envelopes to see if it would smear?)
Rebecca created the above collage using paper doilies, vintage handwritten letters, and magazine imagery for an upcoming group exhibition called “Old School” at Uppercase Gallery in Calgary, Canada.
What’s on Rebecca’s desk (in her words):
1) wooden dipping pens with nibs; 2) paint swatches from Home Depot - I love getting inspiration for inks or collage compositions from the swatches. I often try to mix inks using those colors as guides; 3) hand-mixed inks, dipping inks and gouache paints to create the inks–more often than not I hand-mix colors for projects to match color swatches or to create the right hue. I also have a very small inventory of the most amazing Swiss inks by Abraxas; 4) decorative papers - I work on the smallest desk in history, I swear. I cover it with decorative papers to create a colorful and inspiring space and to hide the scars and marks; 5) ribbon jars; 6) Fiskars scissors and 12″ portable desktop trimmer; 6) Pilot Precise V5 pens; 7) cigar boxes where I organize tools and materials; 8) vintage office supplies; 9) old Life magazines; 10) duct tape - I love colored duct tape! Red and turquoise are my favorites right now, so I’m using them quite often.
About Rebecca Trawick:
Rebecca Trawick has been working as a collage artist/illustrator and hand-lettering artist since her days as a art student in Minneapolis in the mid-90’s. Vintage ephemera have become an obsession for her - finding the perfect piece of paper, a photo, a map, a button or image is her goal. She is also obsessed with letter-writing, the art of handwriting and correspondence, vintage photographs, and mail art. She has shown her collages at Tangent Lab, Wichita, KS, phd Gallery, St. Louis, Treehouse Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, among others. Her lettering and illustration have been featured in ME’s Home Companion, Bust magazine and many others. Rebecca also works with brides all over the country hand-lettering invitations and wedding reception ephemera. See her work online at www.bluebirdstudios.com
From the Desk of…Rebecca Turbow
Creating fashion that appeals to my inner mod girl, this desk belongs to another Rebecca: New York City-based designer, Rebecca Turbow. The above image shows a selection from her most recent Spring 2008 collection. You can also view the entire collection by watching this video. It’s totally fun to watch this girl try on all the clothes!
What’s on Rebecca’s desk: (1) Pattern making rulers, (2) Scotch tape for adding onto a pattern, (3) Sewing thread, (4) Measuring tape, (5) Tracing wheel used with tracing paper for marking lines, (6) Sewing machine tool box from her mother’s 30 year old sewing machine, (7) Pattern-making pencils and pens, (8) Pattern weights (one her favorite things used for weighing down pattern on your fabric), (9) Chalk wheel and tailor’s pencil to draw on the garment, (10) Hand-sewing needles for buttons and delicate finishing, (11) Sewing machine needles, (12) Seam rippers, (13) Fabric cutting scissors, (14) Snippers for snipping threads, (15) Pincushion, and (16) Pattern paper for drafting patterns, of course.
About Rebecca Turbow:
Rebecca Turbow’s Safe Clothes came from an idea to create durable and elegant handcrafted clothing based on the concept of safety and protection. The idea originated while she was studying fashion and textile design at the Massachusetts College of Art. In the months that followed her move to New York, Turbow quickly became a public persona by exclusively wearing her own turquoise and white creations during her frequent social outings-making her Safe Clothes’ sole designer, model and press officer all at once. Before long, chatter amongst downtown hipsters and word of the “teal girl’s” mod-influenced designs turned into feature stories and profiles in local and national publications such as New York Magazine, The Fader, and Bust.
By contrasting soft and sturdy fabrics with clean, geometric patterns and detailed craftsmanship, Turbow marries comfort with high design to create pieces that please not only the viewer, but the wearer as well. Through exaggerated collars and hoods, quilted padding constructed by hand and her meticulous eye for color and texture, Turbow’s work uses whimsy to express Safe Clothes’ mission of providing protection from the dangers and perils of everyday modern living.
(Desk image by Gavin Doyle.)