I took these photos last Friday while taking the dog for a walk in my neighborhood. I love that spring is here and plants are budding and blooming!

So you may have noticed that I have not written about the last two lectures of the Insights Lecture Series.

Reason: I got writers block after Irma Boom spoke.

Let me explain why. Irma is clearly a great book designer. But she is not a public speaker. Simply, she didn’t take the time to prepare for her lecture. She began by reading through a written biography—at lightening speed (it was the only quick part of the lecture). Then she sat down at a table with a stack of her books. She flipped through the books and spoke about whatever came to mind. She had no notes or clear direction as to where she would take the lecture. The lecture started at 7:00. At 9:00 she wasn’t done speaking. And I hadn’t the chance to eat dinner ahead of time. I’m not the type of person who usually does this, but I got up and left the lecture. What can I say, my blood-sugar level demanded that I leave!

I got writers block because I didn’t know what to say about the lecture. But here it goes, nice or not, this is my only take-away: if I’m ever presented with a public speaking opportunity, I am going to prepare, prepare, then prepare some more. And I’m not going over my allotted time limit.

Now that I have that off my chest, I can tell you about Stefan Bucher of 344 Design. Now he was an amazing speaker. Fun to listen to and truly inspiring. You just have to log on to the Walker Channel and watch Stefan’s lecture. And if you saw it in person, why not watch it again? Click here to jump to the video.

Make sure you check out Stefan’s blog the daily monster and his company 344 Design.

This is just funny. The space is available for rent, however the placement of the sign might lead you to think otherwise. Available? Or Unavailable? (The former tenant was called “United Martial Arts.”)

Plymouth, MN on Hwy 55

Peter Buchanan Smith was this week’s speaker at AIGA Minnesota and Walker Art Center’s Insights Lecture Series. Peter was real, unmasked and honest. He shared much from his life in the past few years because these life events helped lead to the creation of his company, Best Made.

Divorce caused Peter to move his company (and whole life) out of his home, a house he had not planned on moving out of for a very long time. He split his possessions 50/50 and moved to a tiny apartment in Manhattan. He wore a red cashmere hat for much of this hard time, which was a comfort to him, much like a security blanket.

To celebrate a friend’s birthday Peter bought $100 steaks. Of course the only way to cook expensive meat is over a wood burning fire. One problem: he had no axe to chop the wood. To Home Depot they ventured and purchased a yellow, plastic-handled axe, which was poorly designed and painful to use. Peter asked for a real axe for Christmas. And he received a yellow handled axe from the Home Depot. This started an obsession—Peter started buying every well-made axe he could find on eBay.

When asked to contribute to Partners in Spade (a gallery featuring one-off art and design pieces), he began painting the handles of axes with graphic marks. When the axes received accolades at the show, Peter painted more axes. Thus the beginning of Best Made Company. The desire to make axes stems from Peter’s need to create a simple and quality product, build the product in an inspiring place and create a community of people with which to share the products.

If I could have any axe in the world, it would be this one. I love the polka dots AND it features my two of my FAVORITE colors!!!

The newest product in Best Made’s catalog is a red hat, called the red cap of courage, inspired by the red cashmere cap Peter wore while rebuilding his life after divorce.

Peter spends his design career making CD packaging for musicians, doing magazine design, book jackets; he art directed the OP-Ed page of the New York times, does branding work for fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi and more.

My favorite design object that Peter showed was a self promotion piece in which he took a bunch of one-inch square pieces of paper, drew various patterns of polka dots on the paper, then bent and folded each piece in interesting ways. He scanned the tiny pieces of paper and made a self promo poster out of it. I just love the graceful curves of the sheets of paper contrasted by the eye-popping graphic pattern.

And it so happens that out of the dots, the painted patterns on the axes came to be. Applied to the right object in the right way, Peter thought the language of polka dots or stripes could speak volumes and be really powerful.

Check out Peter’s design website here (make sure to check out the Isaac Mizrahi design work). And Best Made Company here.

If you missed the lecture, you can watch it online at the Walker Channel by clicking here.

Eddie Opara was this week’s speaker at AIGA Minnesota and Walker Art Center’s Insights Lecture Series. Eddie is a designer with a very interesting background which influences his way of thinking and way of working. British-born Eddie was introduced to the Labor Party at a young age and has always thought things should be shared. There are two big themes I gleaned from his talk:

1. Collaboration
2. Transformation

Eddie believes that nobody really owns anything. We all just share everything. This is a really interesting thought that I had never applied to design before. When we come into this world, we have nothing. And when we leave the earth, we can take nothing with us. Therefore, we really don’t OWN anything.

Collaborating comes easily to Eddie. Many designers hold on to control over their projects and wouldn’t want to pass a half finished project to another designer. It’s a trust issue. Eddie feels the opposite. He thrives on collaborating with others. At his agency Map, everybody does everything. Eddie is excited about how another designer might interpret his original idea.

While working on the Prada account at 2×4 Studio, Eddie had to leave on vacation. He had started the project but was unable to complete it. So he passed off his work to another designer he worked with—trusting that the designer would further his original idea. The completed work was stunning.

Eddie did some branding work for Brooklyn Museum while working at 2×4 Studio. He wanted the logo to be transformative over time. He created a letter B shape outline which is always surrounded by a solid colored graphic. The B shape always stays the same, but the surrounding graphic is able to transform and change (see image below). The result is a really interesting and strong brand for the Museum. Check out the Brooklyn Museum’s website to see the logo in action by clicking here.

Eddie also introduced the audience to his new content management system, the MiG. This CMS is easy on the eyes AND easy to use. To learn more about the MiG, click here.

Eddie summarized his lecture by saying, “Always changing, never staying the same, always getting better.”

If you missed Eddie’s lecture at the Walker, watch it online on the Walker Channel.

Everything is melting and spring is near. Here’s my latest batch of photos to share:

And these last two photos are just for fun. I ate some delicious strawberries the other day, and one was making a fishy kissy face at me!

I long for spring. At this point, I can only imagine what it will feel like to lose the layers, put on a t-shirt, take a walk and breathe in the scent of spring. I imagine that I will go for a walk around Lake Calhoun, I’ll take a break half way around the lake and plop down in the grass. Surrounded by grass that’s been warmed by the sun, gravity will pull me down to it and I will lie on my back with a panoramic view of the sky. It’s a perfect, red-filter day—the cumulus clouds are set against a cool shade of blue. When shooting with black and white film, a red filter darkens the blue and lightens the red, so the white puffy clouds will really pop on photographs. Only this day I will not be armed with my camera—only my eyes—and my imagination will begin to drift as I see the clouds forming animals, people and objects.

Okay, I realize it is going to be months before I can let my imagination drift while lying on the bare ground, gazing at white puffy clouds. But that doesn’t stop my imagination from being full steam ahead in the winter. I just channel it in a different way—orange peels.

Citrus are in season. The sweet, juicy flesh of an orange is just what my spirit needs on a blustery, snowy day. I challenge myself with every piece of fruit that I’ll peel it on one piece. The peels make unusual and interesting shapes, which I interpret—just like the clouds—as animals, people or objects. See what I mean in the photos below. The rules of this game are to peel a piece of citrus in one piece, then lay the peel flat on the table, rotate and evaluate.

#1. It looks like a fish. A deep sea fish. Likely a new discovery deep int he depths of the ocean.

#2. Buttefly.

#3. From the torso up, it is a bowler, extending his arm back in perfect form. He got a strike. His face even features an eye, nose and mouth.

#4. Swiming toward the left, this is one angry shark. Watch out surfers!

#5. This small animal like organism has a cute head shape, with pig like snout and mohawk.

#6. This one is my favorite, it's a vulture perched on a tree branch about to take flight.

#7. The head of a triceritops, the body of an insect.

What do you see when you look at these images? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

So you think you have the right of way because your car has five times as many cylinders as mine? You think even though (technically) you don’t have the right of way, that you have enough horsepower to squeeze past me and no one will even notice? I realize that you are a VERY important person in a REALLY big hurry but I have news for you—you hot shot driver. Your reckless driving is going to kill someone.

In order to prevent tragedy in the future, I’d like to offer some remedial driving lessons:

1. Right of way. You don’t have it just because you drive a high performance vehicle. Yes, I understand it is a certain right of passage to be able to purchase a BMW (and congratulations, by the way, on your status in life). But right of passage isn’t the same as right of way. For example, if a driver is turning right at a green light, and you are turning left at that very same green light, you don’t have the right of way. Let’s pretend a driver is on a ramp to enter the freeway, and you’re driving behind them—again you’re in a big hurry—so in order to pass them, you take the car pool ramp. The car on the freeway ramp doesn’t see you gaining on them in the car pool ramp. They don’t realize you are about to overtake them. You do not have the right of way.
2. Zig zag. It’s a fun thing to say, “Zig, zag” (not too many words start with the letter Z). It’s thrilling, I know. And I do understand as previously stated that you are a V.I.P. and in a big hurry. But weaving in and out of traffic doesn’t get you to your appointment sooner. Although if your appointment is with the Big Guy upstairs, then maybe it will. This is rude and dangerous driving.
3. Speeding on icy roads. So your car is equipped with all-wheel-drive and crazy performance under the hood. It’s no match for mother nature. When you hit a patch of ice—and you will, we live in Minnesota, after all—your all-wheel-drive won’t save you. Your car will glide and pirouette with grace and ease until a object crosses your path bringing you to a crashing halt.

And so today, you BMW driver who thinks you are hot stuff, I have a message for you: slow down, pay attention, put down your crack-berry and learn to play nice with the other drivers in the sand box. At the end of the day, all drivers on the road—despite their make and model—are just people sitting in machines. And each of us has a life. And it’s precious. Drive safe.

P.S. I realize this letter is addressed to BMW drivers. The reason I chose this luxury vehicle to illustrate my point is because it was a BMW driver who almost killed me today. I realize that bad drivers come in all shapes and sizes. In no way do I discriminate against drivers of high performance vehicles. But I do dislike people who drive recklessly.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. The light was amazing and the snow was glistening. On my way to work, I saw many photos I wanted to take. But I didn’t have time. When I arrived at work, I greeted a co-worker and said in a cheerful tone, “Isn’t it just a beautiful day?” She flashed me a look which screamed that I was off my rocker. So I revised my statement. “It is miserably COLD outside, but it sure is VISUALLY beautiful.” My co-worker gave me a look of understanding.

Since yesterday was New Years Eve, our office closed up early, which meant I had daylight hours to shoot photos! Here’s what I captured.

I shot this photo because I liked the contrast between light and shadow and the texture of the snow itself.

Ice crystals in snow.

Great texture of ice on the sidewalk being eroded away by salt.

Snow on an evergreen shrub.

I wish you a heartfelt Happy New Year and send wishes for a prosperous 2010. Cheers!

I’ve come to a realization: it’s actually really hard to shoot outdoor photos in the winter. There are a few key reasons keeping me from shooting:

1. The frigid, arctic temperatures. (Those who know me well understand that I hate being cold. I even wear scarves indoors. In my cube at work, I run my space heater year round.)
2. Less daylight. I work during the bright hours of the day. By the time I get home it looks like it’s bedtime. So I stay inside.
3. Did I mention how cold it is outside? I have gift cards and Christmas money to spend, but I can’t even bring myself to go to the mall. Because it’s cold outside. I—Lisa Valley—don’t want to shop because I live in a polar ice cap.

Why do I tell you all this information? Only because I want you to really appreciate the lengths I go through to share these wintry, icy, freezing, frost-forming photos.

Side note: Jesse is sitting here discussing this post with me. He hasn’t read it yet. He said, “So do your readers even know how much you despise the cold?”

Well, now you do!

How cool is it to see a liquid frozen mid-pour? Very cool.