Eco Bohemians by Denise Urban

Well, it's been quite awhile since I last posted. There has been a flurry of activity here at UrbanDigits! I've been working on an eco friendly clothing line that encompasses natural eco packaging. As you can see below the product line will be designed with florals and earth friendly images made from recycled materials and vegetable based fabric dye, offering environmentally friendly natural fiber products. In researching lines of eco products over the last few months I wanted my new clothing and home decor line to support the environment by using as many earth friendly, green products as possible; by recycling every item I possibly can. My idea in packaging all products was to use as little packaging as possible while reusing packing materials as much as possible to minimize waste to continue it's recyclable past I use envelopes. Here is just a peak of the new designs available for licensing. Will be posting more designs soon!

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them. Disagree with them. Glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world ...Are the ones who do. "

--Jack Kerouac

Retrophilia Revisited

The more stressful our lives become in the current financial situation, the perceived threat of global warming etc, the more we return to the comforting nostalgia of the past. This is particularly so regarding music, art, clothing, and food. The use of "retro" style iconography and imagery interjected into post-modern art, advertising, mass media, etc. has occurred from the industrial revolution to present day.

Retro” can be used to simply mean “old fashioned” or “timeless” or “classic”. Most commonly, “retro” is used to describe objects and attitudes from the past that no longer seem “modern.” It suggests a fundamental shift in the way we relate to the past. “Retro” has been called an “unsentimental nostalgia,” recalling “modern” forms that are no longer current. " Today it is often used in a positive sense, referring to quirky or attractive products that are no longer available for example, "Retro fashion" or "Retro Chic". A love of retro objects (things from the past) is called retrophilia.

If you have been following my blog, I keep posting random images that I've been creating for a line of "retro" greeting cards. Below are more samples of myRetrophilia greeting cards from " Emanations of the Light"

The Kids-Did-It! Cookie Bookie!

I had the distinct pleasure of receiving an email from Glen Abrams, president of Kids-Did-It! He emailed me the latest news fresh from the oven! Kids-Did-It! Designs¨ recently introduced The Kids-Did-It! Cookie Bookie, an adorable cookie-baking cookbook illustrated by kids. The Kids-Did-It! Cookie Bookie, is a fun Cookie-Baking Cookbook for Kids, Illustrated by Kids! The playfully designed picture/cookbook is a unique introduction to baking.

Each recipe is delightfully illustrated with animals or other imaginative watercolors from the Kids-Did-It! Designs¨ kids’ art collection featuring artwork made by young art students, ages 3 to 14; most created under the guidance of San Diego Author, Artist and Art Instructor, Michelle Abrams. In addition to the pride and satisfaction of becoming published artists, each student represented in the Kids-Did-It! collection also earns royalties for the reproduction of their artwork. As a teacher for nearly 20 years, Michelle has shared her contagious love for the arts bringing out the best from her enthusiastic young students. The resulting images are fresh, cute, exuberant,often humorous and quite inspirational – with many worthy of being called ‘fine art’ in the tradition of Matisse, Van Gogh, Picasso or Miro.

Each Cookie Bookie recipe was inspired by one of Michelle’s students’ watercolors and then adapted to complement the image – think cracked and crunchy Dragon Crisps, or cute and fluffy Lamb Jams, so, in addition to a collection of fun, tasty and easy-to-follow recipes, the cookbook is also a celebration of the imagination and artistic creativity found in children everywhere.

Retro Inspired " Emanations of the Light" Greeting Cards and Home Decor Products

On Tuesday, August 25, 2009, I blogged about my decision to create a series of greeting cards in memory of my family. The initial work was collected years ago and made into a CD and DVD. "Emanations of the Light"-The genesis of this very personal work arose from a private collection of photographs, love letters and memorabilia saved by my father, a staff photographer, for the 6th Floating Air Craft Carrier, in the Pacific during WWII and Post war Japan from 1942 to 1946. "Emanations of the Light" won the National Educational Media Network Award and the Silver Apple Award recognized as a standard of excellence in educational media. It was also installed as an interactive exhibit entitled "What's Hot in History" at The Strong Museum, a history center for families and children. Some of the galleries that housed "Emanations of the Light" from 1998-2000 were:Dataphilia, Soho School of Visual Arts Gallery, NYC, Sixth Annual Digital Salon, Visual Arts Museum, School of Visual Arts, NYC,Circulo deBellas Artes, Madrid, Spain, Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy, Centro de CultraContemporanea, Barcelona, Spain, and Sala de Exposiciones CAM, Alicante, Spain. Below are more samples of my work that I never got around to posting.

Every Thought You Think is Creating Your Future

"Every Thought You Think" by D. Urban

"As I Say Yes to Life" by D. Urban

"He Who Rages" by D. Urban

"Zen Garden Collection" by Denise Urban

I find that relaxing and observing creation and the act of "creating" provides a Zen-like experience. Alleviating the days burdens and clearing the mind during stressful times. So where did this word "zen" enanate from? It's hard to believe that a word as Asian as Zen is ultimately an Indo-European word. Zen, which has been in English since 1727, is the Japanese pronunciation of Chinese chán, "quietude." Chán comes from Pali jhānam, from Sanskrit dhyanam, "meditation," from the Sanskrit root dhya-, dhi-, "to see, observe." The Indo-European root behind the Sanskrit is *dheia-, *dhya-, "to see, look at." This root also shows up in Greek, where *dhya- developed into sa-, as in Common Greek *sama, "sign, distinguishing mark." This became sema in Greek, the source of English semantic. Buddhist preferred way to express cosmic beauty in worldly environments is inextricable from Zen Buddhism.

Everyday we walk by unique elements of nature not noticing their beauty. It could be a wild flower by the side of the road or a twisted branch of a tree in your back yard. But you never really notice them. My Zen garden Collection is never the same and always changing with the seasons. Hence the collection is never the same and never really finished. The Zen gardens collection can be complex or extremely abstract representing miniature landscapes also called "mind-scapes". Hence, my "Zen Garden Collection" is never the same and never really finished.

Being True to Oneself: The Filtering Process

" Life is Good " Illustration by Denise Urban

For the first few years in this licensing business, I was determined to learn as much as I could from as many artists as I could. So I did what you’re supposed to do: Study mentors, devour books, attend workshops … watch, listen, and learn. I gained invaluable exposure and information. And then I made a critical mistake: I tried to be just like them. I often wound up confused and overwhelmed. Sometimes we as artists indiscriminately gather various components of different methods from the art community and slap it all together. As a result, we don’t wind up building much of our own unique practice at all. We wind up building a pseudo art practice.

These last 3 years I've gotten better at the fine art of filtering. The filtering process happens as I internalize: What worked at one art studio may not work here. What works for that artist may not work for me.

G-d has wired us all in ways that are unique and intentional. And there are both tangible and intangible considerations, that play into how he works in a given situation, or through certain personalities. Consider your circumstances. Size up your strengths. Learn from everybody. Then leverage the stuff that works in your world. Leave alone the stuff that doesn’t work. Inspiration without it being an integral part of your nature is imitation. Being true to oneself combined with inspiration equals one life full of impact!