creative coffee table books from my collection - no. 1 🖼️
michael mcgregor: room service, vibrant sketches on hotel stationery 🗝️
The online book community constantly inspires me with its picture-perfect shelves of books, recommendations, thoughtful critiques, and cozy atmosphere. Sure, there’s the natural pressure to read continually and keep up with the latest it-girl book, romantic fantasy series, or “thought-provoking” novel that borders on torture for torture's sake or privileged person battles boredom … but once you get past the little judgy troll on the bridge, the forest of books is all yours!
And what a lovely place to be. 📖✨
So, let’s pass the hills of DNF’d books, climb the stack of young adult fantasy series from my youthful past, then the even higher stack of romance novels, and visit the museum of creatively curated coffee table books. (Which are also classified under art, design, film, and poetry.)
Whenever I added one of these books to my library, I simultaneously loved sharing my favorite pages and hated that the new book would quickly join the shelves of my office.
So, I simply wanted to share these books with you!
It would be lame if I didn’t mention my favorite indie bookstores in Austin: BookPeople, First Light Books, and Vintage Bookstore & Wine Bar. All, if not most, of the books I will share came from these stores. Some were gifts, and others were rare internet finds!
Today, I’m sharing Room Service by Michael McGregor.
Michael McGregor is based out of Los Angeles, California. The Hashimoto Contemporary says, “He creates wide-eyed renderings of traditional subject matters, with a focus on still life, that aim to challenge and reinvigorate our relationship with the aesthetics of everyday life.”
I heard about Room Service through a TikTok and ordered it immediately.
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Paragon Books describes Room Service as, “A compilation of over 100 snapshot drawings on hotel stationery from around the world by Michael McGregor. The Los Angeles-based artist's vibrant, gestural drawings explore luxury, leisure and travel - capturing and preserving small moments while roaming.”
If you love collecting postcards, receipts, tickets, and matchbooks, this is the book for you! It will either help you fight off the travel bug or … enable it. I support both!
Here are my favorite illustrations for summer vibes.
Nothing beats a pink hotel notepad with an illustration of blueberry pancakes doused in syrup? 🥞🫐 The Madonna Inn is a pink-themed hotel and resort halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. (If you love coquette, do yourself a favor and search it on Pinterest.)
These drawings reminded me of the patterned ceramic tiles we use as coasters. It’s not the most effective … but aesthetic wins here. The Portuguese blue is a classic reminder of fresh air and sweet fruit on the beach.
Pink, red, and blue hues for a retro summer. It’s giving Miami Vice and Stranger Things. If you like the following illustrations, you’ll love the Vacation brand for sun protection products. I recently tried their sunscreen and now I want every product they offer. I promise you this is NOT sponsored.
From Interview Magazine:
DAS: How would you describe your artistic style?
MCGREGOR: I like moments that aren’t obviously the big moments in life. I like the quiet moments. I like things that feel really normal or boring that contain some truth, and I like to create spaces in my work that remind people of their everyday life. But there’s the exaggerated quality, and this is oftentimes where color comes in.
Two American staples.
Continued from Interview Magazine:
DAS: Yeah, there’s an element of childhood to your sketches.
MCGREGOR: That’s a huge part of it. Technically, I just think that my skills aren’t very good, so that’s the reason that things look very childish, but I don’t know. I’m 40, but my eyes and my heart are much younger. There’s a certain point when life builds a huge wall so that sometimes you can’t really see what’s happening. And for whatever reason, I don’t have that. I’m not afraid of the world. I’m more concerned with representing something that is simple and true.
Ending with a lovely pink duo. Did this make me Google “Barbie Porsche”? Yes. Was there an actual Barbie Porsche? ALSO, YES.
It doesn’t matter if I’m staying at a less luxurious hotel; the next time I travel, I will attempt to draw something relevant on the allocated notepad. A Texas waffle at the Holiday Inn? Coffee at the Marriott? Flowers at the Fairmont? Who’s to say!
I just stumbled across this article and I love Michael Mcgregor's work. so simple but so genius. Thanks for this interview, loved learning more about it.
am i obsessed with these drawings and this concept GOLD STAR