The Queen.

I started a massive drawing of Queen Elizabeth about 3 years ago after watching Elizabeth the film on Netflix. I know it’s merely a 2 hour film summarizing the life of a very complex woman with a 44 year reign, but I loved Cate Blanchett’s portrayal of the Virgin Queen. Her life story was riveting and her personality ambitious, harsh, and utterly relatable. ;-)

I worked on this drawing very sporadically between 2008 and 2010, and decided last week that she had been sitting in my living room without a face and without appendages for far too long. I have no idea where I mustered the motivation and stamina, but I drew non-stop for the last 3 days (18 hours on Monday alone), and I’m relieved to be done. This is my most ambitious 2 dimensional piece to date. I think my arm might fall off.

Katie's Eclectic Room Makeover / The Evolution of my Roommates' Room

I'm very fortunate to have had many wonderful roommates in my life. I've lived in my current apartment for 3 years and for one reason or another, my dear roommates keep leaving NYC and moving out. (It's not because of me, I swear!) Every time a new person moves in, the big  sun-filled room completely transforms.

As a designer, I'm fascinated by how my roommates choose to arrange and decorate their room. This photo was taken shortly after I signed the lease and prepared to show the room to prospective new roomies.

Before.

My first roommate's room. Musical instruments, board games, books.


My second roommate's room. Art, incense, paper mache alligator costume.


My third roommate's room. Books, fish, super comfy reading chair.


My fourth roommate, Katie's room! When she transitioned from her old studio in Williamsburg to my place in Fort Greene, she was overwhelmed by the stuff piled everywhere, work, and life. She had big plans to make the room pretty, but just never got around to it.

A few months later, she left the city for the summer to clear her head just as Andrea came to NYC to work on Project Runway with me. We spent a lot of time in Katie's room and decided that it could really use a face lift. The layout was awkward, the paint hadn't been touched up in years, and it didn't reflect her fun and funky personality at all. While Katie was gone, Andrea and I devised an elaborate plan to give her a surprise room makeover. We used all her existing furniture, some fun accessories that I had lying around, and just $250 to turn this room into a gem.

Chi's Extreme Room Makeover.

My friend, Chi, grew up in this room. She moved out for college, and when she came back, the room seemed to need a facelift more than ever. The dingy paint with the poor lighting made the room unbearably drab. The lack of storage made it impossible to maintain a tidy space.  Fortunately, her room had great bones with plenty of wall space and nice hardwood floors. After a couple weeks of careful planning and with a little help from Chi, and I re-vamped this room in 2 days.