Ordinary Specials

You know those days when everything you do feels like a sweet indulgence? I meant to post wishes for a great weekend earlier, but I've been so busy drinking in the perfectness of every little happening that I hope you will forgive me. Here's what I've been up to:

On Saturday morning, I drank my breakfast smoothie through a curly straw on the way to give this painting to an old friend who had commissioned it.

Then my sister and I spent all morning at this place digging for buried treasures.

Inspired by all the prettiness we saw, I finally picked up a brush and painted this bed that my husband made for our little peach.

Then I congratulated myself for my industriousness with this dinner of cake and beer. (O.K., O.K., there may or may not also have been a wheel of baked brie included in the mix.)

Satisfied (but somewhat disgusted with myself) I took this puppy for a good run to round things out.

 Happy Belated Weekend, Friends!

The Teensy Canvas

As some of you well know, I have a minor obsession with miniature things. Here, in no particular order, are a few more artists to add to the list of those working really really small.

Willard Wigan carved St Bartholomew's church into a single grain of sand and placed it in the eye of a needle. It is too small to be seen without the aid of a microscope.

Lorenzo Duran works carvings around the vein structure of leaves.

Dalton Ghetti sculpts object on the lead tips of pencils.

I've posted about Slinkachu's little people before, but they deserve a second mention.

If national art competitions show us anything, it is that the bigger the artwork, the more public attention it garners and the higher prices it can demand at sale. Still, it has to be said that working small can be even more challenging. 

Eight Great Years

I've been married eight years today to this guy! (I promise he's really the most relaxed person there is, but I think I was sketching him while he was watching a really intense movie!) Anyway, I just wouldn't be able to do what I do with out him. He is the calm to my storm and I love the heck out of him!

Monday Match

{Every week I post an image of an interior that reminds me of a work of art either in its palette, composition or mood.}

{Lilly Pulitzer’s home collection by Lee Jofa

 'Rock Lobster' by Nancy B. Westfall 

*I wasn't originally going to use this painting because it is much more decorative than art that I've posted here before. Then I started thinking about how the Lilly interior is really playful too and how it was actually put together in order to sell her products, so the match felt appropriate afterall. Hurray!

Happy Weekend, Friends!

I hope that wind is in your sails and this weekend takes you somewhere lovely!

ESCAPE

Friends, I have not been sleeping well and I'm blaming my recent obsession with the theory of escape velocity. Specifically, I've been waking up at ungodly hours thinking about how it could relate to lifespan. Yeah, yeah, technically the idea only applies to ballistic trajectories (or thrown objects for all us non-physicsy types.) 

What has me up though is the possibility that the death rate slows at the extremes of age. The concept is related to inertia in that things and people in motion tend to stay in motion. 

images via

I'm not really sure why I can't get my hooks out of that idea. Maybe it's the understanding that art making is a habit, put into motion by force of will and willful ignorance of its perils, with the objective of breaking free of the usual orbit. In any case, I woke up thinking that if there is any truth to it, I better get moving! 

Melting In

I've been working on a commission outdoors these past couple of weeks. It's been so hot that I feel like I could melt right onto the pavement kinda like this guy:

 

Photos by Zachary Bako via

(Chinese contemporary artist Liu Bolin camouflaged himself into Kenny Scharf's mural on Bowery and Houston.)

Monday Match

photograph by Masha Mel and styled by Tess Yopp via

"Peasant Girl With Yellow Straw Hat," Vincent Van Gogh

* Granted this match is not between an interior and a work of art, but doesn't this photograph bear a striking resemblance to this Van Gogh painting?

What Is Fair?

Friends, have you heard about the big (e)merge art fair and "unofficial stepsister fair," But Is It Art, coming to Washington, DC this fall? The first is an event modeled after Art Basel Miami Beach and its satellite events organized by Mera and Don Rubell, the prominent Miami-based art collectors, Helen Allen, the founder of New York and Miami’s Pulse contemporary art fair and D.C. dealer, Leigh Conner. The second is a response to the "practice of art tourism that (...) has little connection to the city’s artists." You can read more about it here. 

But Is It Art? hosts Alex Ventura and Victoria Milko

 I believe But Is It Art? is attempting to give local artists a platform while addressing issues surrounding the commodification and commercialization of art. If so, it's a worthy fight. I'm just not sure that it's being waged against the real enemy. 
Leigh Conner runs a cutting-edge gallery in the district and I've been to a few meaty discussions and events hosted there. She has been quoted describing the alternate fair as "fantastic." In fact, she welcomes it, saying "If like the Armory, if like Art Basel, if what (e)merge is doing is inspiring others, we’re happy that a satellite is happening.” 

(e)merge panel discussion that I attended last summer

 The bottom line is that Washington, DC is our nation's capitol, yet our art scene is widely considered lacking. I for one am excited to see my city hosting an event that aims to draw international recognition to the area as a place that considers art important. If that event encourages further happenings, then all the better!

Monday Match

{Every week I post an image of an interior that reminds me of a certain painting either in its palette, composition or mood.}

image via

John Everett Millais, "Ophelia"

*Sorry for the delayed post, Friends. My technical drama is thankfully behind me now!

Happy Weekend!

image by

I hope your weekend is chock-full of BBQs and beautiful lights! Happy weekend, Friends!

Sketching

When I am working on a problem (artistic or otherwise), I always turn to my sketchbooks. I have one stashed in every corner of my home, studio, purse and car. So much of our communication is digital these days, but there is an honesty in the way that your hand marks what your mind is thinking when you put ink to paper.

These are my favorites. You can find them inexpensively at most art supply stores. They have blank pages and canvas covers so that you can paint the outside if you like. I keep mine blank though. 

  I've toyed with the idea of painting a wall of my studio with chalkboard paint. Think what Ikea did for the above image, but less kitchen-y. 

 Imagine something more like this, but with more drawing involved.

I'm thinking something a little closer to this.

Anyway, now some brilliant soul has created a traveling exhibition of sketchbooks aptly named The Sketchbook Project. Artists pick a theme from such choices as "Along the line," "Sandwich" or "Stitches and folds" and fill a sketchbook with related drawings and thoughts until the book is full. The resulting books will be exhibited on the 2012 tour and cataloged permanently in the Brooklyn Art Library afterwords. I might just have to make a trip to New York to see the finished project!
After all...

via

Where We Live

I love what spaces say about the people who live in them. The following sites are two of my favorite sources for environmental portraits.

 Michael Mundy describes his beautiful site,  An Afternoon With, as "a project about our space and the things we keep and the things we don’t throw away."

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The Selby (of course!) is an inspiring look at the places where creative people live and work. 

Monday Match: Lazy Holiday Edition

{Every week I post an image of an interior that reminds me of a painting either in its color, composition or mood.}

*Sorry for the delay this week, Friends! I spent the Fourth of July relaxing with the ones I love. I think this painting by Mary Cassatt perfectly sums up the luxury of a lazy day.

Happy Weekend!

image via 

I did not take the above picture, but I could have. I was driving home from the studio today with my thoughts totally seeped in the project that I had just been working on, when a deer calmly ambled across Chevy Chase Circle, causing four lanes of traffic to screech to a simultaneous halt. It's a hot summer day in the city and everyone is zooming around town getting ready for the holiday weekend. Then this wild animal just comes out of nowhere and forces us to literally stop in our tracks and notice the world around us. It was funny little wake-up call, and I'm taking it as a sign not to miss a minute of life this weekend! Happy Fourth of July, Friends!