Fenway Park: Under Left Field Grandstand - photo by rnolan1087.

claude nature, paris

i have taken the decorno original content challenge this week so you will be hearing a bit more about me. not usually something i write about...but here goes.
so, my visit to claude nature. this spring i went to paris for the first time ever and naturally, upon my arrival, the weather took a turn for the worse. in a few hours the rain had arrived to stay for the duration of our trip and it was pouring rain that drove us into claude nature the very first night, just trying to escape the downpour. we fell into the door looking like we had just swum over from the ile st louis and it was not until i wiped the fog from my glasses that i realized my great fortune. it was a REAL cabinet of curiosities, cases and cases of insect specimens, fossils, shells, just enormous beauty from the far reaches of the earth. if i ever realize the dream of my own boutique, it will have a section devoted to just this.
the couple keeping shop (the owners i assume) did not speak a word of english but we had a lovely visit nonetheless. the more interested and exclamatory i became about the specimens, the faster they would talk and the more treasures they would drag from the back.

when i chose the saddle color bug with the curved horn for my box, the woman proudly produced from the back a specimen 100x it's size. seriously the size of a teacup puppy and sporting a tremedous horn. as my good fortune continued, the man who ordered the giant bug like mine arrived to pick it up. i told him in butchered french and grand hand gesture how i admired his bug and he returned the favor, patting me on the back and shrugging (i translated this as a good natured "i agree with your taste, but see how mine is so grand?"). so there we were, me selecting bugs, mr. big bug and shopkeeper giving me feedback in fast exclamatory french, opening and reopening box after box of strange specimens, the holding up to the light, the looking at the backs, the reading of the scientific names, the measuring, the pinning, the remeasuring and finally standing back in admiration. two hours later.
this little box of bugs does not even measure 8x10" but the experience was so great. it is amazing how genuine interest and and a little kindness completely erased the language barrier.

here is my box of bugs on the bookcase that my husband built. a few weeks ago my son came home with the tessellation artwork that matches the bugs exactly. go figure! soon i will replace the scotch tape with a frame. i love it.

and here is a better shot of the hubs handiwork. his cabinet making improves with every house. he is now quite good and i am quite lucky.

francis bacon and the kindness of strangers

crucifixion 1933, said to be his first success. the work came across strong enough to be purchased by telegram by foremost english collector sir michael sadler. later the same year sadler sent an x-ray of his own skull to be incorporated in one of 2 further crucifixion pieces he purchased that year.

study for a portrait, man screaming 1952 is a masterpiece lost for 40 years after a collector bought it in the early 60's for £3000. it resurfaced at christies, london in 2000 and was expected to sell for around £1.8m. obviously they were very excited to have it show up! his screams, no matter the screamer, are considered by some the best in the art world.

apparently francis was highly allergic to dogs because of his asthma. they show up in quite a few works throughout the years, as does a major series of unsettling shrieking popes suggested to mirror strong feelings about his father and the horrible war years. but that's another post entirely.

and now, the kindness of strangers.


i would never have found this great francis bacon website with tons of history and explanations had jessica of the the shiny squirrel not mentioned in a comment that whitney mcveigh reminded her of francis bacon. because of her quick note, i looked up an artist i had never heard of and enjoyed something completely new. thank you jennifer!

if you are ever visiting and recognize or are reminded of something, i hope you will leave a quick note if you have the time. i appreciate the chance to look at things in a new way and explore something completely new altogether. all i know of art and design and architecture is whether i react to it emotionally. even if i am moved by the architecture of a building, my immediate reaction is to want to hug it, to pick it up and carry it around and i feel frustrated that i can not. maybe it's not a bad thing that i can not pick it apart academically, that i can just enjoy it how i feel it. or not. either way, after a little research, learn a little about the building, the architect, and it's place in history i can appreciate it beyond wanting to hug it (although the urge never leaves me). so, if something crosses your mind while you are here, i hope you will leave a note and that concludes more about me than you bargained for!

now i am off to investigate the shiny squirrel.

desire to inspire by midcenturyjo

midcenturyjo has opened a new etsy shop for her illustrations. i hope everyone will head right over and share some love and support. bravo jo!

jo and kim from desire to inspire not only inspire me daily with design and architecture from around the globe, they are lovely about supporting other folks in their art, their websites and other endeavors. i am happy to have the privledge of returning the favor.

whitney mcveigh

something about these works by whitney mcveigh. my favorite is above. while investigating, i came across this entry on her blog. how very exciting and good for her! oh what i would give for such an invite...endless gratitude for sure.

june schwarcz

gold plated copper and enamel

also at de vera, this beautiful work by june schwarcz. read a very interesting interview for the archives of american art, smithsonian institution, here. i enjoyed this interview very much, especially in the way ms. schwarcz is so honest and matter of fact. i enjoyed it in the same way i enjoy a great studio shot. it makes the art seem possible and all the more fascinating.


mattte silver plated copper

patinated copper with enamel

de vera

on suggestion of a VERY stylish david, i paid a visit to de vera while in new york. if you have not been yourself, you must go straight away. not only is everything there spectacularly beautiful, wildly unusual and interesting, but the folks keeping shop are....FRIENDLY, INFORMATIVE and HELPFUL! is it just me who inspires keepers of fabulous shops to only reluctantly give fragments of information when i ask about their beautiful wares? perhaps they can tell by looking at me that i will not be purchasing the bowl with the price in the five digits and decide that information on the beautiful vessel will be given on a need to know basis. not so at de vera.

it was obvious we would not be buying the $45,000 temple bear when my husband made an involuntary noise upon hearing the price, but a very nice man answered all of our many questions anyway. when my son was convinced that the glass hermit crab was small enough for him to afford given he had $22 in his pocket, the very nice man went downstairs, opened the case, let my son hold the glass crab, took it upstairs, looked up the price in the catalog and did not even hint at annoyance when my child was $353 short.

if i could, i would shop there for anything and everything i ever needed. i hope that if you can, you will. and if you need an ancient brass temple bear about the size of very fat bulldog...... i'm telling you, it is really gorgeous!

dear claudia

claudia (designer, author, entrepreneur extrordinare and all around lovely, generous person) of the paris apartment was kind enough to squeeze me into the most busy of her days while i was in new york. i very much enjoyed our visit and walked away with a greater resolve to keep moving forward and try new ideas, to not be a chicken.... it is so great to talk with someone who has created opportunities for themselves and done something about it. thank you, claudia, for the inspiration. bonne chance and bonne santé in your new endeavors!

ingo maurer

today was a fabulous day for us in new york. because our child will freakishly withstand hours of modern art and design we decided to spend the morning at the cooper-hewitt.....and the retrospective on show? none other than INGO MAURER !!. it was beyond exciting to see his work in person. so much of it i had never even seen in a photograph.


we were greeted by a sharpie embellished mr. and mrs. carnegie who, when motion detector sensed a visitor approaching, began moving their eyes back and forth and whispering to each other from their frames. love it!



"a memory from shanghai, or was it cairo?" it is hard for me to pick a favorite, but if i had to pick one work to save from impending doom, it would have to be this. the fact that the mice are wearing little red sleep masks really seals the deal for me.



led wallpaper. even if i were to take up residence in the chateau de versailles itself, i would find a way to work this in.


"l'eclat joyeux", my husband's favorite. son especially appreciated the upside down guy at the bottom.


"one can't be tall without the small!!!", my son's favorite.


something we have in common! love of circuit boards!

sadly, they were sold out of the catalog but i have ordered one to be shipped when they are replenished. i WILL be holding my breath.

hella - ella - ella

nice texture for a change. love the seals and that red is a knockout. hella jongerius for makkum.

UPDATE: i saw these in person at the cooper-hewitt shop and they are large, of beautiful proportions and really lovely. the red one was calling for me...

more makkum

jan broekstra. again with the texture. makkum.

metalaceart

metalaceart by talila abraham. i choose gold.

new york city

photograph by premshree pillai.

i'm off to kick around the city for the week. if you have suggestions for interesting art or fabulous boutiques that are off the beaten path, i would be so grateful for the tip! have a happy weekend and i will post this week from the road.

i would like eleven or so, arranged as a chandelier. just the thing to lighten up a dark, masculine room. from cox & cox via the lovely esprit boheme.

nancy lorenz

mother of pearl, gesso, enamel on wood panel


mother of pearl inlay, pigment and shellac on panel. i am not a big fan of the butterfly (though i like moths? why?) but i included this because of the mother of pearl inlay which i seem to always like. especially used this way.

nancy lorenz via pdx contemporary art.

untitled

formal cogitation