the story is really moving…jamie hewlett, the artist behind gorillaz (who rock), recently traveled to bangladesh with oxfam and visited the island of char atra, where climate change has caused flooding that is affecting the daily life of the people who live there.
not only have families had to raise their homes above water on stilts, but some have lost children to the floods, and some kids in the area have to swim to school with their books on their heads due to flooding. visit the oxfam site for more info.
hewlett was inspired to record what he saw in a series of paintings that capture both the difficulty of their situation as well as the resilience of the people…can you imagine having to spend part of your day literally up a tree, for safety?
here are some of the paintings, and the explanations behind them…

“this is the river erosion, showing how the bank has almost been sliced away. you can see the men folk looking at us on our boat – watching us quizzically as to who we are.”

“this shows the kids up in the trees, which for many of them is the safest place to go during the floods – gathering some food rations to keep them going and climbing up, staying there for as long as they can.”

“this is in dhaka where most people’s transport is the rickshaw. it seemed the right thing to draw really, cycling through the floods. of course, there weren’t floods there then – artistic license.”
i think they’re beautiful in their simplicity. i especially like his use of materials…as he explains, “i liked the idea of putting the paintings on paper and envelopes that were a bit dog-eared, as if they had been dropped in a puddle.”
the paintings are on display as part of a free exhibit on climate change taking place now through october 31 at the dray walk gallery at the truman brewery in london, and are available for purchase through oxfam, with proceeds going towards continuing their work in bangladesh.

i love the new gateway image on our website for fall florals…so pretty.

created by our very talented graphic designers :)
check it out on the website here.

if you’re a fan of jack kerouac, a new documentary came out today called one fast move or i’m gone, which focuses on the phase of kerouac’s life chronicled in the novel big sur. one of my favorite jack kerouac books, it is set mostly in a cabin owned by lawrence ferlinghetti in the scenic section of the northern california coast called big sur. kerouac stayed in the cabin for several weeks as he struggled with alcoholism and depression after publishing his famous novel on the road. the documentary tells the stories behind big sur through voice-overs paired with high-def imagery and interviews with people who knew kerouac or were influenced by his work, including ferlinghetti, tom waits and patti smith.

bixby bridge at big sur, which kerouac wrote about in the novel. i was lucky enough to go there and it’s incredible.
click here for a list of theaters where the film is playing.

we love hearing from our fans and readers, and we’d like to give you all a chance to share your passion and creativity with us. we’ve created a free people flickr page where we will post pictures from around the office as well as images that inspire us, and we want you to share your images with us as well! check out the new page here.
furthermore, in a new feature on the blog called fp photo hunt, we will introduce a new theme or subject and invite you to send us a photo displaying that theme/subject in a fun and creative way. our favorites will be selected at the end of the week and posted on the blog the following monday.
this week…what is the strangest object in your home?

this is by far the weirdest thing in my apartment.

crazy good news today…free people has added 33…33!!!….new countries to the list of places we can deliver to!
new additions include japan, south korea, mexico, south america, central america and some caribbean locations…see the full list here.

after months of anticipation…where the wild things are is finally out in theaters today. this is one of my favorite books of all time and i cannot wait to see how it translates to the big screen.

check out the urban outfitters feature on wtwta, which includes an interview with director spike jonze.
going to see it? let me know how you like it!

if you’re looking for something to do in philly tonight, vox populi is holding their second annual benefit show at johnny brenda’s at 9pm. tickets are $10 and proceeds go towards supporting vox, a philadelphia independent artist collective. the benefit show will feature bardo pond, arc in round and ape school, comedian andrew jeffrey wright and dj scott sullivan.
check out some of the artists on vox populi’s website…you might be inspired to support the collective and go to the show: http://www.voxpopuligallery.org/

this is good news.

i was devastated when news broke that the production of polaroid film was being discontinued, because I’ve always loved the instantaneous, old-school quality of the photos. but polaroid announced on tuesday that they will restart production of analog instant film for vintage polaroid cameras in 2010!
the comeback is due in part to the success of the impossible project, a group that has been working on saving polaroid products ever since their discontinuation was announced.
urban outfitters was a huge supporter of the impossible project, as well – check out the feature that appeared on their blog here: http://blog.urbanoutfitters.com/features/polaroid

photos by the very talented jennifer rumbach, who worked on the impossible project.

it’s cold and rainy in philadelphia today.

this colorful display cheered me up. can you tell what it is?

these 10 quick questions will give you an idea (transcribed below)…

what is your job here at fp?
lifestyle blogger :)
what is your current state of mind?
still half asleep… (i filled this out first thing this morning)
who are your heroes?
mom & dad, john lennon, bob marley
if you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
a sea otter
what or who is your greatest love?
friends and family
name one thing necessary to your happiness.
music
what do you hate the most?
violence
what would the name of your band be and what genre? what instruments to you play in this band?
stoked. it would be a reggae/jam band. i would play keys and steel drums.
what color are you?
midnight blue
what is your motto?
no worries!

erica prince is freelancing for our visual team right now, and she’s also a great artist! her work is part of an exhibit called far in far out going on right now at fuel (3rd and arch in philadelphia).

erica’s drawings explore the implications of distinct design decisions within interior spaces. by arranging furniture, “art”, clutter, and décor, prince creates environments of indulgence, frivolity, and dramatic potential. as she says, “i urge the viewer to make themselves at home. become the missing character. feel the silk upholstery, meditate, host a cocktail party, and entertain a lover. try the spaces on like trying on a bad outfit. you know it is too flamboyant, but you have a sick curiosity of how it might look.”
i would definitely like to step inside this space…

check out erica’s website here.