Have a great weekend!

I hope all of you have an incredible weekend full of rest and joy.

Be blessed! And I'll see you next week!

Novel idea--the Penguin deck chair

I came across this while perusing the archives of fellow blogger, A Bloomsbury Life. (I really love her blog; you should check it out!!)

Anyway, I think these chairs are fabulous bursts of color and a must have for any great reader (or witty intellectual who doesn't mind poking a little fun at him/herself!)

There are nine choices ranging from an orange chair/Katherine Mansfield's The Garden Party to a royal purple/Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own to a red/Bernard Shaw Man and Superman.

To find these incredible chairs, visit the Bloomsbury Product page, here.

Beloved Curiosity: Alex Katz

Alex Katz is an American born artist who paints the most incredible figural paintings. I love the colors and the effortless feel of his work. Check out his Web site, Alex Katz.

Enjoy!


"Peter Humphrey," 1960.


"Alex, Ada and Vincent," 1961.


"Upside Down Ada," 1965.


"Rowboat," 1966.


"Ada and Vincent in the Car," 1972.


"Blue Umbrella 2," 1972.

Feedsack Cloth

I had a conversation with my grandmother the other day about the Great Depression. I want to hear all the stories she has, and considering these stressful economic times, I especially wanted to hear what life was like during the Depression. While she didn't go into great depth, she vividly remembers how difficult it was for her family (she was one of seven children) in rural Alabama. They were farmers and grew all the produce for a small mining community. While their lives were filled with so much worry, back-breaking work, and hunger, she fondly remembers the vivid color brought to her life by the feedsack dresses her mother made for her and her sisters.

The era of the printed feedsack started in the 1920s, when manufacturers realized they could sell more of their feedsacks if they were printed with bright colors and patterns. The timing is a bit ironic, I must say. Anyway, feedsack cloth is hard to come by, but I've come across some on eBay. These are truly beautiful. I can only imagine what my grandmother's dresses looked like...

To see each listing, click on the photo!

Beloved Curiosity: Miroslav Sasek

Miroslav Sasek was a German illustrator who created the incredible This Is book series. Each book profiles a major city or country of the world with the wonderment of a child's eye. The collection consists of eighteen books that cover locations from Paris (1959) to Edinburgh (1961) to Cape Canaveral (1963), Hong Kong (1965), Greece (1966), and so many more!

I've only recently come across his work via the Internet, but I will forever keep an eye open for first editions of these books!

Here are some of his incredible illustrations, and be sure to check out the official Web site, This is M. Sasek.



left: from This is Paris, 1959.
right: from This is London, 1959.


left: from This is Venice, 1961.
right: from This is San Francisco, 1962.


left: from This is Cape Canaveral, 1963.
right: from This is Texas, 1967.

Happy Weekend!!

Happy weekend everyone! I've been super busy with photo shoots the past couple days, but I will be back in action Monday! Have a great, blessed weekend!!

Curious Party Idea: Masked in the Garden.

A friend and I are planning to have a masquerade dinner once Spring finally comes along. You know that scene in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette when they have that beautiful garden dinner party? That's what we're going for... all white and various shades of cream and the natural greenery surrounding us. Lots of candles. We are thinking of gourmet potluck to save the expense of having a catered thing--I mean, who really has the money or time for that?

The point is to have an effortlessly chic party, so all a guest will need is a good dish and an interesting mask.

This is kind of the mood I'm trying to capture--relaxed, intimate, bohemian, neverending...

left: I love the length of this table, the green bottles spanning the length, and the mismatched rustic chairs. Image, courtesy of Alaskan Photo Adventures.
right: Great, glowing atmosphere. Image, courtesy of LJC Blog.

left: I love the fringed tablecloth, the candles, and the lights in tree in the background. Stock photo, courtesy of Photo Search.
right: Photo, courtesy of Martha Stewart (of course).

A little lighting...

left: Photo, courtesy of Zonefred's Flickr.
right: Solar lights, courtesy of Inhabitat.

These are some fabulous masks I found on etsy that are simply exquisite and beyond perfect for the party! I'm loving the whole animal/mythological theme to the masks. Couldn't you just picture a long table packed with wolves and owls and scales and feathers, teeth and wild grins illuminated by the candle light??

left: Thetis Sea Goddess mask, from asuwish.
right: Mildly Medusa mask, also from asuwish.


left: Ooly Owl mask, also from asuwish.
right: Silver Asteria mask, also from asuwish.


Bluebell Fairy Mask, also from asuwish.
Pink Daisy Mask, also from asuwish.


left: White Fox Mask, from Merimask.
right: Unicorn Leather Mask, from Tom Banwell Leather. (I'm totally going to get this one!)


left: Big Bad Wolf Mask, by Masquefaire. (I would get this one for my husband.)
right: Lunar Fox Mask, from 1ntegral.

Beloved Curiosity, Herbert Gehr.

Amazingly, I can't find any biographical information on this amazing photographer other than he was born in the US in 1910 and died in 1983. I know he shot a lot for Time-Life.

But aren't they AMAZING?? Gehr really captures what I've always imagined of post-war America--the clinical existence, the probing, the automated lives, the voyeuristic clinical gaze... These are fascinating and disturbing images. They're just unsettling...I LOVE them! What do you think??