simplepretty

autumn 2013 ad for j.s. rosenfield’s country marts (brentwood, montecito + marin, ca)

I’ve been a fan of Brooklyn artist Happy Menocal for a while, and though her wedding invitations and save-the-dates are de rigueur in Vogue these days, I had the good sense to listen to my friend E back in 2006 when she was raving about Happy. At the time, I was enchanted with Happy’s watercolor takes on dogs, pigeons, and matadors, if I remember correctly. Later that fall, Elisabeth and Happy collaborated on a set of letterpress ’12 Days of Christmas’ cards for that year’s Design Sponge holiday shop. (Yes, I bought a set. Actually, I bought two sets: one-to-keep and one-to-save, which, per usual in my world ends up being two-to-keep. I do plan to frame a set at some point.)

Within the last couple of years, Happy’s work has been popping up with increasing frequency. Interestingly, during that time I’d been saving tear sheets of ads for J.S. Rosenfield’s Country Marts, which run seasonally in C magazine. At one point, I’d even considered emailing to ask who the illustrator was, only to have Happy serendipitously provide the answer recently on social media. It was her! Hoping that the Fall 2015 installment is revealed in C’s September issue.

zero george, charleston

Earlier this year, Happy spent a few days at Charleston’s Zero George hotel, enjoying the local foodie scene + perfectly capturing the colorful, elegant Charleston spirit. (Coming soon: Zero George watercolor stationery by Happy!)

geraniums for the paris review

In a 2013 “Week in Culture” feature for the Paris Review (it’s quite interesting and a great read — click through!) Happy captured my favorite flower of the moment, the geranium. I’m officially obsessed.

saveur, august/september 2015

More serendipity: I picked up the current issue of Saveur magazine while in the States and was elated to find Happy’s illustrations atop a party dip story.

‘snowy pastoral’ holiday card (online or paper) for paperless post

Happy also has a collection of online and print designs for Paperless Post. This ‘Snowy Pastoral’ scene is one of my favorites as it reminds me of the series for the Country Marts.

letterpress “12 days of christmas” cards produced in collaboration with black pearl press, 2006.

And a quick peek at the illustrations that started it all: Happy’s ’12 Days of Christmas’ cards letterpressed by (now defunct) Black Pearl Press.

image credits, from top: screen shot from c magazine digital issue, zerogeorge.com, theparisreview.org, paperlesspost.com, jane potrykus, designsponge.com