Tuesday Edition: Kate Bingaman-Burt

Tuesday greetings, my collector friends. How are these waning days of summer treating you all? I'm feeling like a wanderlustful lazybones myself, and yes, it's confusing! It's also making it awfully hard to sit still and write a newsletter, forcing me to solicit forgiveness in advance — via IM, natch — from today's edition-maker, and last week's newsletter-contributor, the wonderful, warm and wickedly talented Ms. Kate Bingaman-Burt. She was quick to ping me on IM after I wailed about my writer's block on her Facebook page, assuring me that she knows I love her even if I'm not able to deliver an epic newsletter. Phew!

My brevity is certainly no indication of the level of affection I have for KBB or her new editions. I've been waiting for her to give us some fresh stuff for a while now, and I'm thrilled with her Drawings from July 2009 — a variation on her Daily Drawings theme, tailor-made for 20x200 and collectors like y-o-u. The number of purchases depicted range from a week's worth in the 10"x8" edition, all the way up to the whopping four months' worth illustrated in the 30"x24" print.

I've got a few of Kate's originals myself — it's how we met, in fact! I found her in the same way that I find many of the things I love best in the world — on the internet. (The internet itself is one of the things I love best too, obvs...) I can't remember exactly where and how, could've been Flickr? It's a blur of bookmarks, but regardless of how I got to her site, there's no doubt that I was completely smitten when I did. I purchased a handful of drawings, keeping several and giving the others as gifts. (Oh, she made me look so GOOD.)

Years later, they still look totally fresca and charming and their relevance has only increased. My most recent obsession, amply evident on my Twitter stream, is what I've been describing as the Slow Web. I only started documenting instances of "a web that's well-considered and worth savoring" this past weekend, but they've (ironically?) accumulated quickly. Taking a cue from the Slow Food movement, I'm trying to draw more attention to the sites that pay attention to you. And by you, I mean me, and by us, I mean the universal consumer. And by pay attention, I mean show respect for the fact that we're giving them our time and attention. This is something well-applied to almost any experience, whether it's food or web or, in the case of our KBB, shopping.

If we really take the time to savor what we consume, we're more inclined to be discerning about what exactly the input is. Conversely, if the makers of what we consume know that we're paying attention, they're more likely to give us the good stuff. Oh yes, my theory is riddled with flaws, I realize as I type this, but allow me some idealism, won't you please? Work with me people!

It's kind of how I see this here newsletter too. I take a lot of time to make them, and I certainly don't make them alone. A lot goes into forming my ramblings into something fit for your consumption. We go through several phases of editing, and that's just for the words. We're not perfect, but we sure do try hard — we figure that if you're going to take the time to read, we should take the time to put something together that's worth your while. Conversely, I've gotten a lot of wonderful feedback (constructive criticism included!) from people who look forward to what I have to say because they know how much work I put into it. What a virtuous cycle no?

Speaking of virtuous cycles, I have a request to make of you before I go! A few of us here at JBP put together proposals for talks at next year's SXSW and they've just opened up voting for the 2010 schedule via their PanelPicker. Please have a look at our sessions; we're hoping that you'll like what you see and vote YES for us:

Inbox Hero: Why Newsletters Matter More Than Ever — presented by yours truly.

Supporting Artists With Social Media — presented by Sara and Youngna.

That's all for now, but I'll be back in a flash. We've got a great photo edition lined up for tomorrow, so tune in then for its big reveal.

Previous Email : Edition Announcement #188 - Jill Bliss

Love it? Share it!

on Twitter...

on Facebook...

Limited-edition art carefully curated for collectors like you. YES, YOU!
Find a gift in your price range: $20, $50, $200, $500, $1000, $2000

These are almost sold out: Grab them while you can!
Or browse by your favorite color: Try our new color browser.

Jen Bekman Projects is hiring!....

Forward this email to a friend

Update my subscription preferences...

Unsubscribe me from this list.