New New for You

Some days, I am overcome with love for my city. True, we don't have good public transit, it's corporate as hell, blah blah blah. But there is no where on the map with the heart, soul and flavor of Atlanta and I love it here!


After years of courting, we *think* Atlanta's Esperanza will finally be repped at YB! We're taking it slow for now, starting with this freshness, the ATL Hold It Down foam hands.

The original double finger ring by Stars For Sydell is back!

The ring shown is the oxidized finish, but this ring is available in a bright brushed finish as well.



Beautiful, creative necklaces and earrings, made from fabric, by Sol de Sur.

































We have all kinda up-and-coming designer goodness in store for y'all this Fall - you just wait. Meanwhile, new items are coming in every day!

xo,
Maggie

Steel Wheels Show Rolling in Labor Day Weekend

Thank you, guardian angels of Atlanta Hip Hop, for bringing the homie Mendez to Atlanta from Miami a few years ago
because with him came a smorgasbord of B-Boy grit .

His brainchild, Mad Clout, is multi-media hot shit. They design clothing, host B-boy and B-girl get-downs for the whole fam, and sponsor several graff shows, including Steel Wheels, taking place here in Atlanta for the third year. The show will showcase some of the world's greatest artists, all inspired by the wonderful world of the railroad.

Get more info and see video from Miami's 2010 show on Mad Clout's site.


Young Blood is a proud sponsor of the event so plan on seeing us there!

Love,
Mags

Red Alert Artist Call! Day of the Dead Show

It may be hot as doodoo but let's not forgot our wailing and gnashing of teeth just a few short months ago as the bitter cold beat us down. Personally, I love summer so much that I will gladly take the heat. Just thinking about the coming Fall then Winter gives me a little shudder.

One event that I know will take the edge off falls right before the Winter madness and that is THE DAY OF THE DEAD SHOW!!!

For those of you who haven't experienced the Mexican Day of the Dead tradition, it is basically a way to honor relatives who have died by devoting several days to their memory. The official holiday is November 2nd and leading up to that day, loved-ones build altars devoted to these relatives. They can be as simple as a photo with flowers or can stretch from floor to ceiling, loaded with all their favorite foods, huge bouquets, candles, and indulgences such as tobacco, chocolate and meth. (joke)

Please help us spread the word about Young Blood's contribution to this beautiful tradition. Our two lovely friends, Shannon Mulkey and Tracy Wagner are helping us organize a group art show where Atlanta artists will have their way with miniature coffins along with a big ass throw-down where we'll all drink, eat and dance our faces off while remembering days gone by with the departed souls in our lives. It's a tradition I admire more than most and I would love to share it with all of you!

Love until death and beyond!

Maggie





Coffin from 2008 show by Sanithna Phansavanh.
He is the solo artist in our September art show!















Coffin by Mikey Jenkins,
2008 show


















Day of the Dead Show

Saturday October 30, 2010 - Sunday November 28th.
Opening party will be Saturday Oct 30th from 7pm-1pm.

The show will consist of 17”(h) x 7”(w) x 4" (d) handmade wooden coffins by local artists. We are providing the coffins, hosting the opening and doing all promotion for the event.

We are asking that each artist contribute $20 for the cost of the coffin and opening expenses. Beyond that, each artist is free to sell their piece for up to $500. Young Blood takes 50% off the top, so please keep that in mind when pricing. Additional coffins can be purchased for $15 & you can make as many as you’d like!

If you participated in the show last year and have left over coffins, you are welcome to use them at no cost, just be sure to let us know so we can include you in the program. We are asking that new artists submit 2 photos of their work.

The deadlines are as follows:

• August 23- please respond to call for entries and pay for coffins

Please send checks to:
Tracy Wagner
2242 Venetian Drive
Atlanta, GA 30311

or paypal tracy@tracywagner.net

You can email: tracy@tracywagner.net to arrange alternate payment.
Once we get a count on how many artists are participating, we’ll email everyone to let you know when the coffins are ready.

• Oct 1- If you are interested in having your coffin photographed for the press release –please email tracy

• Oct 20- coffin deadline – please email tracy for drop off locations

• Oct 30- opening party

• Nov 28– Pick up coffins

Thanks,
Tracy

Culture Shock!

I've been working on a project the last couple of weeks for one of the "Culture Shock" events at the High Museum of Art. My good Friend Shannon Mulkey of I.C.E and I love Patina has organized this awesome fashion show of artists to open the new DALI exhibit opening up in August at the High. She has made blank dresses made out of canvas and each artist gets to do our artsy thing on them! It's been really fun so far and can't wait to see what all everyone has come up with.

The Even is August 7th. We also have an opening at YB that night so come by early and then check out the show at the High at 10 pm!

The dresses will be auctioned off the night of the event to benefit future Culture shock programing.

So Real . . . Surreal Soiree

August 7, 2010, 8-11:59 p.m.

High Museum of Art
$15, members $10. Proceeds support programming at the High.

We invite you to walk a mile in Dalí's shoes and to dip a toe into the bubbling waters of his bizarre mind at our Dalí-inspired soiree.

Featuring…
-A phunky photo booth by www.LeahandMark.com.
-Flamenco guitarist, Witold Tulodziecki.
-A jewelry trunk show by Ashley Buchanan.
-DJ FVRS
-Face painting

A wearable art fashion show with contributions from the Atlanta artists listed below:

Grant Henry
R.Land
Courtney McClellan
Andy Moon Wilson
Lucha Rodriguez
Cooper Sanchez
Jessica Swift
Kelly Teasley
HC Warner
Kenn Twofour


Xo Kelly

I love you, NY and hot damn, I'm home.

I just got back from one of the best trips I've taken to NY. For the first time, I had zero agenda other than catching up with friends. And shop and eat for things I can't find here. The food part... well, you already know they don't play in NY when it comes to delicious food. The most shopping I did was at a Goodwill but I did explore lots of cool shops that gave me the jolt of inspiration I needed here at YB.

Being a shop owner, I notice every little thing: the variety of designs of course, how they are tagged, how they are labeled, how everything is hung and arranged, price ranges, how the staff engages with customers, what types of things people pick up, how the store is laid out. The spaces were mostly really tiny and made me appreciate our fat kid of a shop.


I think my favorite shop was Catbird who carries beautiful jewelry lines by emerging designers, candles, and a few gifty items. If I had to choose a favorite restaurant I'd have to say Motorino where we ate spicy sopressata pizza and brussell sprout pizza. TRUST ME - it was sooo good!


Here are a couple quick pics from my trip. Should be interesting...

Loved this African market next door to my friend Matt's apt. in Harlem!

Now here is some handiwork:





















I got so excited I had to touch this statue's weiner.





















Motorino pizza before and about 10 minutes after:






























NewYoricans have some serious pride.

I would have never found this bar if it weren't for Holly who wandered in
a few weeks ago. It was beautiful and I ordered the most expensive cocktail
I've ever had. It was amazing and worth it.

The unavoidable station and train shots.































Not sure what to say here.

I love you, NY and hot damn, I'm home.

xo,
Maggie

Get Down in the Dirty with the Asian Cajuns!

If you haven't heard of the Asian Cajuns it's high time you did!

Sisters Cath and Lar never cease to suck me right into their fashion and lifestyle blog, AsianCajuns.com. It begins with the visual stimulation then their funny and awesome writing styles get me every time. Not to mention they have STYLE FOR MILES! These ladies are addicted to fashion and make addiction look pretty dang fun.



From their "About" section:

We’re twins. Part Chinese, part French Cajun (and a mix of a few other things thrown in). We have a love of style, art, design, music, fashion, literature, and food. We’re originally from a suburb of D.C. (the Maryland side), but now consider Decatur/Atlanta our home. We love our new city and hope to highlight some of the greatness of ATL and our own views on fashion and design.

They're super supportive of local biz and are full of ideas of cool things to do too! And of course they look crazy cute while doing it.


Let's start with this fetching photo of Cathy in a Young Blood tank (hee hee).




And how adorable is Lar??





I'm not the only smitten kitten. Check out the Awards and Mentions page.




Thank you to The Asian Cajuns for contributing their style and finesse to Atlanta!

xo,
Maggie

I went to the Beehive Co-op's new location this week and it was AWESOME! Beehive is the store in Atlanta that we have the most in common with (they sell all hand made items too, but theirs are all local or regional - here is their mission if you want to learn more. ) and it was so nice to see what they are up to! They moved to the Edgewood Shopping Center and the new space is beautiful and BIG with plenty of wiggle room for a relaxing yet stimulating shopping experience. I love seeing how other boutiques display their items and Beehive does a bang-up job. They have beautiful gift items such as hand made soaps, clothing, and gorgeous jewelry.


I got to meet two of the owners, Kanani Whack and Preeti Ayyangar, and they were really nice and helpful. It's inspiring to see another business succeeding at a similar dream! Our very best wishes go to the ladies of Beehive; we wish you all the success in the world, all over the world!



Big love until next Wednesday,
Maggie

Is it seriously Monday again?!

Last week was CRAAAAZY!!!!! It was one of those weeks that passes you buy at this weird fast but long and drawn out slow way. As Haley said in her blog entry, Dodekapus' Collective Conscious launch show/party/circus/craziness was this past Friday. I worked with the production of the show. The main Dodekapus family was pulling 15 hour days setting up for the show. Everyone worked so hard and we put on such an amazing show!

Thankfully working at Young Blood has given me a lot of experience with Art openings. Thanks ladies :D

Now is the time for me to get geared up for finals. Sigh. Summer weather has already descended upon the south so now I'm dreaming about what I want to do and accomplish this summer.

My boyfriend and I want to go to Costa Rica. He is an adventurer and wants to camp out in the jungle. I on the other hand just want to play in the jungle, explore and sleep in a bed. I think I want to learn how to surf! I spent the majority of my childhood growing up in Hilo, Hawaii but never learned how to surf. My parents were more encouraging to academic pursuits.

So this summer, I will learn how to surf!!!!!


Hopefully this won't happen to me.

LOVE YA!
Annette

Birthing the Dodekababie!

Hey Doodles!

Haley Here,

I hope everyone’s weekend is going superb. Just wanted to share a few things.

Last night the Atlanta art Cooperative DODEKAPUS!!!! Had their “Collective Concious Event”. And man….was it MIND BLOWING! There was a bike race, interactive art, circus performers, thai food, bands and pretty much a clusterbunch of mad art! It was an emotionally charged spiritual celebration of every person that put their energy and love into that building. I am honestly proud to be a part of the dodeka fam. Below are some pictures from our family and the event.

Just like all the people in Dodekapus inspire me everyday I get to go to my job, Young Blood, where hundreds of artists also inspire me with their amazing work. I am so stoked on the artists we have here. Here are some that we have at Young Blood that I am in love with !

http://nogutsandnoglory.blogspot.com/

Tamara Waite-Santibez

http://www.gemmacorrell.com/

http://www.larissaeringreer.com/


These ladies have all have extremely different styles but they inpsire me more than they know :)

Peace and Chicken Grease,
Haley

Be the Change!

Hey Guys! Haley here, I wanted to put a quick update. :)


Young Blood is an amazing gallery and boutique and I know it has changed the lives of not only artists but the people who have interned/worked there.

Young Blood strives to help its community and show love to the people in it :)

I know that recently Young Blood has supported Atlanta's MondoHomo!
An amazing Homolovin festival for Atlanta to show the ultimate pride! MondoHomo has workshops, shows, and builds unity down in the dirty south. For more info for this years MondoHomo you can visit their facebook ! http://www.facebook.com/MondoATL

Another great community building showdown that is comin to down is the " Be the Change Youth Convergence". The Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition alongside the AFSC is putting on thsi convergence to promote peacemaking, sustainability, and radicalsharing. While honoring people of allbackgrounds and faiths the convergence strives todemonstrate a way of life that is an alternative to materialism, militarism and racism. For more information about the convergence you can go to the GPJC web site :
http://www.gpjc.org/more/index.cfm?Fuseaction=more_51864&section=more_51864

and here is the brochure :
http://gpjc.org/uploads/gpjc/BTC%20Promo%20Brochure.pdf

Jut wanna promote some great things going on :)


I will be from now on updating on Saturday so you then!


Haley

Dodekpus Presents: Collective Conscious

Hey there, Annette here, did anyone see that double rainbow Sunday afternoon? It was gorgeous!! I got to share such a lovely thing with my buddies of Dodekapus.


(isn't that a sweet rainbow? look closely and you can see the 2nd one)
photo courtesy of Matt Jones

"Dodekapus (as in a 12 tentacled sea-creature) is an artist collective representing individuals from different media such as painters, sculptors, photographers, performance artists, fashion designers, videographers, lighting designers, writers, musicians, chefs, poets, dancers and multiple other artists of indiscriminate talents." The founding members, as well as most of the group, are students; and I was surprised I already knew a few people. Haley (another of the lovely YB bloggers) is also a part of the group.

I joined the group in February and was blown away by their vision, drive and energy.The group, with the kind help of WonderRoot, are on the way to becoming a Non profit organization.

April 9th starting at 8pm Dodekapus presents: Collective Conscious. (It's going to be insane!)
This event includes, but is not limited to;

-Music-
~Muet
~Sonen
~The Falcon Lords
~The Back Pockets
~ DJ Santiago Paramo

-Doodle Cat Bike Race-

-Performance Art-
-Visual 2d/3d art-
-On-site artistic creations-
-Community participation
-Dance/Movement-
-Body Painting-
-Video Projection-
-Characters/Costumes-
-Tasty Culinary Treats-
-Live Graffiti-
Much, much, much more!

Prepare for all 5 of your senses to be overwhelmed with the beautiful, the wonderful, the spectacular, and the fantastical creations by Atlanta's artists.

The event starts at 8:00 (with a $5 cover after 8:30) and goes on until 4am.

Visit Dodekapus.org for more information. Follow us as a fan on Facebook.

(sorry if that was long, I'm super excited about the show lol)

_Annette

Heeeeeere's Maggie!

I'm as exciting as Jay Leno...right? Maybe not Johnny Carson but Leno?? OOH! For you Conan fans, he's doing a tour to pay his employees who uprooted and moved before getting the shaft. I learned that at this month's ladies supper club. :) (See Kelly's post below. It was mmm mm good.)

I have modern sheds on the brain. Click here and maybe you'll feel where I'm coming from. I bought a house this year and need a place to store my motorcycle and gardening stuff reeeal bad, especially now that Sprang is spranging. I'm going to ask my
contractor to build one that looks like this (left) instead of the one he sent me a picture of with the quote, which looks like this (below) for the same amount of money.

Wish me luck.

At home, I love modern design (straight lines, poppy colors, geometric shapes) mixed with old-timey design (country, pretty, feminine, floral). It's a balance I aim to find and have a feeling it will take awhile to strike it. Fortunately, the journey is the most fun!

Young Blood Boutique is trying to find a balance too. It's a fun challenge, trying to put ourselves in others' shoes and what they like, not just what we like! There are a lot of influences out there: masculine, feminine, dark, light, heavy, contemporary, vintage, thoughtful, care-free, folky, punk rock, hip hop, adult, child-like...fortunately, I like them all!

When running a business they say it's important to know your exact target market. I always say, "Our target market includes creative professionals, students, and artists/creatives in their 20's through 40's." But really, I want to have something for everyone! I love it when Grandmas and Grandpas come in and appreciate an item if only because it's hand made with care. And we want you to be able to come in and find a gift for Grandma and Grandpa too! Be patient with us as we continue working towards this balance. Working on consignment makes it more difficult since a lot of the artists and designers we approach don't realize how awesome we are at book-keeping. :) (Props to Kelly and Jen for that!) Are there artists and designers you want to see in Young Blood? I want to know!