Art and Advertising

"Publicity images often use sculptures or paintings to lend allure or authority to their own messages" - John Berger

(Left:advertisement for Pizza Hut Classic Italian Crust, Right:Portrait of Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci)

Monday Match: Where Martha Stewart Finds Her Best Ideas Edition ;)

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

Bedroom featured in the sadly extinct Domino Magazine.

William Merritt Chase, For the Little One aka Hall at Shinnecock

*Those of you who have been popping over to this blog for a while now may remember that on January 24, 2011 I posted my very first Monday Match and have been posting a new match every week since then without fail.

Another Domino room. Sigh.

Takashi Murakami

 So you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled across a Martha Stewart post from April 25, 2011 on paintings and their room counterparts! You can check out their design team's impressive matches here.

Happy Weekend!

hilarious pic seen here

Friends, I am not going to lie, this week could have been one big disaster rolled in exhaustion if it hadn't been for a few good laughs with some amazing people! I don't know about you, but it can be so easy for me to get all tangled up in all the "must do"s and emergencies of life. Thank God for friendship and the hilarious moments that help keep it real. 

I hope that no matter what needs to get done this weekend, you squeeze in a little room for a few side-splitting laughs!

Artists Make the Best Friends

What do you bring your friends as Thank You gifts? Wine? Pretty stationary? Fancy soap? 

Apparently if you are Marc Chagall you give your hostess ten intricate, enormous mosaic panels for her garden! 

*image of Georgetown resident, Evelyn Nef, in front of her Chagall via

BRRR!

found here

Is it summer yet?

Monday Match: Year-Round Sunshine Edition

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

Joanna Goddard's room designed with help from Jenny Komenda

Henri Matisse, Deux fillettes, fond jaune et rouge

When I stumbled on Joanna's cheerful bedroom makeover I was instantly reminded of this Matisse painting. The palette, the quality of line, the cheerful yet adult mood -- oh my! 

via

I don't know about you, but I had no idea how much I needed a snow day until this morning. I woke up to that particular early morning silence that only seems to happen when tree branches are coated in ice and rolled back under my warm covers. Sigh. No studio this weekend for me, just big mugs of hot chocolate. Happy Weekend, Friends!

"To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour."
William Blake

Professor Gary Greenberg of University College London has magnified and photographed tiny grains of sand. The professor shows us that viewed at this extreme magnification, they "as unique as snowflakes."

images via

The Tortoise Enclosure

Friends, do you have a space for creating? 

Francis Bacon's studio
When I was first starting to work professionally as an artist, I tried painting from my apartment. 

Picasso's studio
There were a million reasons why this seemed practical, but eventually I decided that I needed a space solely devoted to my work. 

Jackson Pollack's studio
I have friends who adore their studios and home offices, but I find it absolutely crucial to have a little creative hideaway that is completely disconnected from my home life in order to make art. 

Nara Yoshitomo's studio
So I was excited to find this clip of John Cleese discussing "the tortoise enclosure" where the creative mind can poke its head out and make sure everything is safe:

I'm curious: Do you need head space to be creative (professionally or otherwise)? Do you have a studio space, have you carved out a corner of your home, or do you just need to get in the right frame of mind?

Here is a photo of my studio. You can see more via this Apartment Therapy post.

Wash Me!

Or don't. Artist, Scott Wade, might replicate a masterpiece on your dirty windshield while you are away!

Monday Match: Spring Palette Edition (A Girl Can Dream, Right?)

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

Ivy and Piper Magazine via

Martin Johnson Heade
Sunlight and Shadow: The Newbury Marshes

Happy Weekend!

MLK and his daughter. Children have a way of keeping us honest and reminding us why we strive. You can read more about this photo here. 

My apologies for the sudden hiatus, Friends. I have been spending every waking minute outside of the studio working on proposals for different exciting opportunities. Thanks to the generosity of my clients an a couple of key family members, I am very happy to say that I am finished...for now. I am so very grateful to everyone for the testimonials and editing. Thank you!

Now I plan to spend this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend soaking up the goodness of life with those I love. 

It is difficult to talk about Dr. King without resorting to cliche, so I will leave the big thoughts to my more eloquent friends and say simply that his example of courageously and steadfastly stating the truth in the face of incredible cultural adversity is something that I will spend my whole life attempting to imitate.

I hope that you have a very happy weekend, Friends!

It's snowing! I confess that I am not a winter person, but who doesn't feel about ten years old again watching fluffy white snow falling outside the window? My talented friend, Hendrik Paul, is the artist behind these beautiful photographs. We made a promise back in school to exchange works of art, but I can never quite decide which of his prints to choose!

Monday Match: Royal Edition

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

From the home of design royalty, Kate Spade

George Gower, Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I

Happy Weekend!

image via

What are your plans for the weekend? We are going to see a production of The Sound of Music tonight and will be taking down our Christmas tree on the Feast of the Epiphany as always because my husband is a total nerd when it comes to traditions --teasing, teasing! Also, there are a couple of really spectacular looking exhibits going on around town that I'd like to visit. I hope that you have a very happy weekend, friends!

Stuck

If this were my project I might dedicate it to all those families who have the back windows of their cars COVERED in stickers. In fact, this is so cool looking, I'm kind of tempted to recreate my own version in the play space of our house. If you care to do the same, the formula is pretty simple:

Take an entirely white room.

Pass out some stickers.

Let the tiniest artists go to town.

AND WATCH...

WHAT HAPPENS!

Artist Yayoi Kusama set up shop in the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane. Her Obliteration Room was designed to look like a typical Australian home only with all of its furniture and accessories painted white. Children visiting the museum filled in the rest..literally.

Have You Heard? Happiness is a Place.

Isolated in the Himalayas there is a country that prides itself on being the happiest place on earth. Happiness is such a priority for Bhutan that since 1972 it has measured its Gross National Happiness instead of its Gross Domestic Product. Recently artist Jonathan Harris interviewed over one hundred Bhutanese people in preparation for his project, Balloons of Bhutan. The result is a gorgeous catalogue of information and images like the one above. After a season of gift-giving that can sometimes feel mired in commercialism, this project is a great reminder for the new year that life itself is a gift worth celebrating.

Its That Time Again!

I'm sharpening my colored pencils and laying out my paints! image via street art utopia

I am currently accepting commissions for the late winter season! 

With the winter holiday gift giving behind us (phew), this is traditionally my slow season. My pain is your gain though: Anyone booking a portrait, house portrait or other commission in the month of January or February can treat themselves to my 15% late winter discount! 

One of my favorite clients surprised her honey with a little still-life painting for Valentine's Day last year. Such a sweet, unexpected gift! 

 

Monday Match: My Friend is Spending Christmas in New Mexico and I'm Jealous Edition

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

Steve Soria's home. image via design sponge.

Georgia O'Keeffe, summer days

* Can anyone see a skull like this and not think of Georgia O'Keeffe? That blank white fireplace with its warm brown hearth and couple of plants serving as accenting color notes just drives the match home for me. 
I hope that you had a sparkly New Year's celebration! One of my resolutions for 2012 is to make one small, quick line drawing of something that I am grateful for each day. What are your goals and dreams for the new year?