Friday, August 29, 2008

the most handsome mens shoes in the planet


for the love!
grenson, a men's shoe company makes produces a slice of visual heaven for those who notice these things...

these remind me of what a male figure in one of chagall's paintings would be wearing. had to share. go get yourselves a pair gentlemen.... maybe even catch a flight to nyc and go to bergdorf's to really soak up the whole experience.

.............sigh.



 

Wednesday, August 27, 2008



I'm in a melancholy mood- with dreams of feeling my energized self.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

more inspiration from the summer garden



Beet greens have an aroma that makes me nostalgic. For what exactly? I really can't put my finger on it. Its like the base note of a wonderfully delicate perfume. 

If you can pick up some fresh (reeealllllly fresh) beets- stop for a moment & smell the greens.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I occasionally paint beets, turnips, & radishes in my work... the symbol is fairly obvious in some pieces- the core... the heart. The last few pieces that I added the slice of earth and the dissected view of what lies beneath. I have added time pieces, keys, poems, worms kissing, and other little tricky items that are treasures to me. 
la jardin spratt, 5' x 5' acrylic on canvas

Friday, August 15, 2008

Inspiration from the garden


I love flowers. I mean: I LOVE flowers.
Look at this poppy that came up from seed in my shade garden!!!!!! The white ruffles edges make me weep. The color, too. We had a handful of poppies with theses sweet white ruffled edges- but most were a light coral color... also quite pretty... but nothing like the deep melon color like this one. All summer there were only a few of these beauties! One night it rained on one of them and the petals were scattered off to who knows where... maybe a fairy came a found herself a pretty skirt. I decided to scatter seeds in the shade garden amidst the hostas and impatience early this last spring- just to see what came of it.
GOOD GRACIOUS...
Its the prettiest part of the garden.







+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I saw this dear hops plant- when I was in NYC a few weeks ago. My girlfriend, Sabrina, & I went for a lil jaunt in Central Park... it was such a stinky, humid morning... (see the entry about this delicious moment in an earlier post from early Aug.)

What a beauty!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Innocent words that tug on the heart strings...


I love listening to seven year old conversations... my little boy Teddy has a friend over. They're half paying attention to Star Wars on DVD & half building make believe space ships with legos. One just said to the other- "wouldn't it be cool if I had the force?" I wanted to chime in and say- you do have it- its NOT losing it that counts.
My little show at Talulah's went really well. I loved that it was
8/8/08. Such amazing friends came to support me. We had our kids attend this time- which was important to me. I really wanted them to be a part of the night. At one point my son came over to ask me a question and noticed my work on the wall behind me. His eyes got big and he said: "Can I buy that one. I like that one the best!" His sincerity was so sweet. I'll have to give him the bee painting if it remains part of the collection at the end of the month.
I'm excited about the exposure this show will gain- my friend Robin who owns Talulah Jones is bringing the show to a "green marketplace" at the Democratic National Convention.
A few pieces from this collection were painted in the spirit of the convention... one called "the end" & another called "hope". The dove bird in the painting behind me in this photo (left) is sweeping through the frame with a yellow sash that has the word hope "cut" into it. The word is actually the base color of the painting- the tinted primer...

So in a sense the word hope in this painting is actually "negative space"- yet made quite positive. Are you following me?


A funny side note: I was going to title that piece- "Blind Hope". I was not compelled to give the dove eyes. Yet, the criticism I received about this painting was that it was spooky without eyes... so I brought a paintbrush & paint to Talulah's- long after the piece was hung and added 2 tiny dots. A gift to the spooked. I'm going to need to watch how sensitive I am to such criticism. My friend in Boston (who is not that into birds) might have made a small comment and the dove would have been painted out all-together. Not really.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

late nights & messy dining rooms that pretend to be studios




Its tomorrow already!
Yikes.
I am up painting and choosing colors for my new portfolio site. Its pretty fun- but I'm wiped out & my dining room/studio has looked like this (see pic) for the last week and I was in NYC for a huge part of that
 ++  the coolest thing is this: we spent my 1st day back at home in this room. Teddy working on his Mission to Mars Legos... Lulu played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star over & over (is that where I got this headache?) and Julian played a little game with his wooden trains under the table- saying "Thank you, Mom" over and over. I don't know what he was profusely thankful for- but he certainly knows the right buttons to push!

Its funny that the living room/studio has bled into the dining room now, too. Since its summer- we eat most meals in the pretty garden in the back of the house- so we don't necessarily need this space... I'm enjoying reflecting on the space, the time, and the light here. Perhaps OVER-thinking it & should just get back to work and paint something or GO to BED!

Happy Ribbon Day!
I like ribbon day- and I plan to celebrate it tomorrow. This is a picture of ribbon day in the dining room from my last show... 
let me explain.....................
                     I love to play with yards and yards of pretty vintage & unusual ribbon from my amazing ribbon drawer (often stocked by Bobby- who knows that coming home with a bag of pretty ribbons with make me weak in the knees!)  I make little ribbon frames around my wood panel paintings. Its so wonderfully colorful.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

A 6am moment in August, Central Park Yoga

Good-morning!
We are are up after a short summer's sleep and off for a jaunt in Central Park. Yep, I'll bring my camera. I'd share a pic of this moment... but my bed-head just wouldn't be pretty.
This is my last morning in NYC and I have that happy anticipation of going home to my family.
But, there's that pang of remorse that I'm leaving this place a bit too soon. Without a visit to my friend Jenni's favorite museum or a spin through the MoMA or the Met. Even so- its just about 6:30am and we're up and at it.
Can I just say... I think I've gained 6 lbs... at least, in 3 days. The food is so yummy! Amy & Chas take such good care of us while we're here.

Here's the photo of what came of this touristy morning in NYC:


anno on the town

Dear bloggery... is that what you call an online diary? Hum?
Its around 2 am in NYC and I'm staying at 6 Columbus with my Room Seven friends... here playing with an amazing spring collection hot off the design table in Holland! We've had yummy sushi 2 nights... and stuffed ourselves silly at rosa mejicana. I have seen so many inspiring concepts that I want to get back to the studio and paint... 
                Also fun~ I have had the chance to shoot some really cool photos of my room seven-girl friends... I'll share one in a moment when I upload them. 
I love this about NYC- the funky brand names on bags of chips (see photo of Sabrina & me dripping in sweat from the humidity & that drat steamer)... it feels like I'm in another country!