The picture at right is from a cafe here in Cincinnati, The Coffee Shop on Madison, which has a stunning corner lined with Charley Harper prints.

Across town, there's an apartment building that must house a fairly busy artist: Every window of one first-floor unit is covered in portraits. They're not Renoirs, but who cares?

What about your town? Is it easy to stumble upon art in your neighborhood, or do you feel sometimes as if you're living in a creative desert? (If so, maybe it's time to go guerrilla...)

In the meantime, I have become totally fascinated with Harper's style and have become determined to have a print of his in my apartment by spring. (Luckily for me, a relative works at a gallery with a large Harper inventory and gets a 35 percent staff discount that I have absolutely no problem using.)

I attempted to post from home but couldn't log in—c'est la vie. So here's some good reading I've come across in the last little while. Happy new year!

• The New York Times on the Ashcan School
• Cityscapes painter Herman Rose passes away
• Jacob Lawrence's Migration of the Negro
• Schools catering to booming interest in comics (via ArtsJournal)
• Exhibit shows "extreme embroidery"

Via the Watercolor Artist blog: Gauguin's teeth found in a well

From the Chicago Tribune: How a fake Gauguin ended up in the Art Institute

Lucian Freud: The Painter's Etchings is on display at MoMa until March 10.

Some links you might find especially interesting:

• Books on Vermeer's technique and materials
• An article on lacemaking in Vermeer's time
• Images of his signatures
  
• And so you can impress your painter friends, a Dutch pronunciation guide
  

There are varying reports of exactly how many people have been injured by Shibboleth, but in a New York Times story today, the reporter writes about witnessing such an event:

Two visitors from the Netherlands, Manon Straatman and her husband, Victor, were equally mystified by the perils of "Shibboleth."

"Maybe someone walks into the museum and isn't interested in what's in the museum," Mrs. Straatman mused.

Mr. Straatman said the crack was modest in its width and depth, hardly the sort of gaping abyss into which you might plummet to your doom.

"Oh look, there's someone falling now," he said suddenly.

Indeed there was: A woman nearby had caught her foot in the crack and pitched awkwardly forward, ending up sprawled on the floor.

Just got these puppies in last week: Field Notes, a collaboration between Draplin Design Co. and Coudal Partners, two heavyweights in the graphic design arena. A pack of three runs you $9.95 plus shipping.

These notebooks have been getting major props in the blogosphere for a while. If you search the photo site Flickr for "field notes" you come across some pretty cool stuff. Like a design teacher who had students in his class fill the notebooks up with whatever they wanted, and he then posted the results on Flickr.

05. Shoddy Sketches
11. Big Ideas/Insights
12. Small Ideas/Notions
17. Escape Routes
25. Gambling Debts

What do you like?

It's simple and straightforward. What do you like reading here? What do you want to see more of? What do you not care for?

Let me know in the comments section. I'm really curious!

Well, I will fret no longer! Our Artist's Sketchbook 2005 & 2006 Annual CD is on sale now, containing all nine issues from those two years. It's got more than 100 articles, with ready-to-use art-making prompts and exercises, plus artists' success stories, sketchbook showcases and much more.

Just like our 2006 and 2007 annual CDs, this puppy is fully searchable and utterly portable. The Artist's Sketchbook 2005 & 2006 CD will be in stock Dec. 17, and if you pre-order by Dec. 13, you'll still get free shipping in time for Christmas.

In fact, all our CD products will ship for free in time for Christmas if you order by Dec. 13. And have a look at our sweet swag at Cafe Press, like new shirts, mugs and even magnets! (Check Cafe Press' shipping details to see all the options and deadlines.)

Pledge Handmade:
I pledge to buy handmade this year, and request that others do the same for me.

More than 8,000 people have signed the petition of sorts on the Buy Handmade website, and I'm one of them! Visit the site for a good description of what's becoming known as craftivism—hacking mass consumer culture and taking industry back to the individual.

Do you think it'd be possible to make every gift you give this year? (Or buy gifts from people who are making them themselves?) I admit there are already some things that I've store-bought for people, but I generally make probably two-thirds of the gifts I give anyway.

Linzie Hunter found a use for all those unwanted e-mails: She turned them into awesome posters. Her spam-inspired art is for sale at the "so hip it hurts" Thumbtack press.

Via the CRAFTzine blog