Merry Christmas

Simple Cool.

Absolutely beautiful in simplicity.  She is so cool.  Found this picture of Jean Seberg on The Impossible Cool.

Pastime of my summer.

Being at the beach has become my ultimate summer pastime.  I just spent a beautiful weekend in Montauk and I am becoming more and more obsessed with beach culture.  

I love the simplicity of only wearing a swimsuit and never dressing up.  I love seeing the surfers (maybe I'll learn someday).  I love the calmness of nature at the beach.  I love the deep relaxation in induces.  I'm finding everything there, and everything about the culture around it, very inspiring.

tres New York: coffee

This is me. This is probably you. All I want when I'm out of my house to start an early day is my coffee.  Large?  Yes please!  Really, it is the only thing that gets us through our mornings.  A simple pleasure that can bring a little redemption to whatever task you have to do or wherever you have to go first thing in the morning. 

New Obsession: Edward Steichen

The most beautiful and inspirational photography I've seen in such a long time.  How did I not know about him?

Soaking in the sun.

Rainy Day

Girl Slippers

I've wanted ballet inspired shoes for a long time now, and I don't quite have the resources to make for myself the shoes I design.  So, I decided to go with the original thing: simple leather ballet slippers. I took them to my local shoe repair and had a sole put on the heal and the toe, now I can wear them out!

Audrey.

Let Loose

I love when inspiration hits.  This past weekend I was in Charlotte, NC to celebrate a graduation on Saturday and Mother's day on Sunday.  Having had a prolonged winter in NY, I welcomed the sunshine in the south.

Stepping out onto a green field on the warm sunny Mother's day, the question was whether or not to run down the hill, inspired like a child.  We answered yes.

Letting loose a little sometimes brings good things; like a smile to your face, a feeling of freedom and inspiration, and sometimes, a few great shots.

The Most Delightful Holiday

Easter.  As I thought about it's arrival this year, I wondered what I would do and who I would spend it with...another Holiday in New York, unlike holidays at home with families, they are times where new traditions are born and things are done very unlike the ways remembered.

As I thought about Easter, I realized that it used to be one of the most exciting holidays when I was a child; with new dresses, shoes and hats, bright jelly beans (and loads of other candy), egg hunts, a day at Grandma's with family, fresh mowed grass, the arrival of Spring, and Christ's resurrection, why wouldn't it be a favorite?  Easter was perhaps the prettiest and most whimsical holiday of them all!

This year, I am remembering my Easters' as a child and spending it with the one family member I have in New York, my sister, doing fun and perhaps child-like things...the park, painting, cooking, church...attempting to capture the delight, joy and whimsy that I remember this holiday embodying.

For Friday

 As I was working last Friday, I walked past a mirror and stopped, thought about my weekend and said, "wooooo!", with a tilted head.  This illustration is what I saw in that mirror (sans the cute outfit).

Not that I hate working and not that I party-it-up on the weekend, rather, I get excited about the weekend because it feels like freedom, space to be creative.  We have to get excited about something and it seems my free creative time is what I get excited about...shocking, I know (said sarcastically).

Happy Friday! Happy Creative Time!

Outsider Art

 I had my first experience this week with Outsider Art,"art brut" in French, translated "raw art" or "rough art".  I am blown-away by this genre that I had previously known virtually nothing about.  Having heard about the fair through a Times article by Robert Smith, I was interested and went to check it out.  For those who like myself a few days before, do not know what this genre is, it is art that is created by individuals on the fringes of society, untrained in classical art, and separated from the traditional world of art.  Originally, this term classified mostly people in insane-asylums, people who did not think as the rest of society.  Now, the genre encompasses many more than those institutionalized for mental problems, it is any art that is made without the influence of the traditional.  Outsider artists are also people like Winfred Rembert, who while in prison, learned to make art on leather; his work is so descriptive as well as rhythmic and has a very clear commentary.

I found this art so special because it recognizes the artistic heart and sometimes the unadulterated flow of the mind; describing how things are and what the world is like.  In it, there often isn't such a strain to achieve perfection or demonstrate a certain learned skill and as a result, what is made often is very raw and very straightforward.  

Some of the art is very fun, and will make you smile.  Other pieces will make you think and stand in awe of the clarity that they achieve.  The genre on a whole, gives me inspiration and encouragement in my own work as well as renews my faith in our ability to see the value that all individuals have, regardless of what society at whatever particular time chooses to value.

Below are a few of my favorites from the show.

Daniel Belardinelli

Jim Bauer 

Sunday, Sketch Day

I fell in love with this street shot of Edie Campbell on the Jak & Jil tumbler.  She looks so chic and mysterious...I kind of had to draw her....

Longing for Spring

These photographs are from a test shoot that I styled last spring for a very talented friend and photographer, Patrick Kolts.  I love the beauty in their simplicity.  The concept for the shoot was Patrick's and we had a very talented make up artist and model who completely nailed the looks.

I remembered these photos as the weather has been cold and I've been longing for spring.  They really invoke a sense of beauty, innocence and nature.  They give me the remembrance of sun on my skin and the care-free expectancy that spring brings in a simpler place.

New Sight for the New Year

Happy New Year!  It’s here.  I am always so thankful when it comes around, not because it erases the past year, nor because it is a chance to start over- honestly, every day is a chance to start over (every day is fresh with no mistakes in it)- I think I love the change of year, because it always brings me into new sight. 

The change of year makes me take inventory of the past year, see the value in it, itemize the successes, the lessons, compare where I thought I would be last year at this time to where I am today.  When I do this, I see growth and I see the opportunity for more growth - which is the exciting and fresh part!

I’m not a big resolution person - as I said above, every day you can change your life.  What I am big on, is understanding what this year will mean for your personal journey in life; if you understand that, you make the minor changes along the way that people often categorize as resolutions (running more often, seeing more movies, making time for friends, writing, etc.).  I don’t like resolutions, if at some point you stop going to the gym because your life gets busy, your resolution becomes a failure.  We have to be adaptable because we can never be certain what life will throw at us.  What we can control in the next year and in our life, is the kind of person we want to develop into.

Put on fresh glasses! (I actually found a steal on my new Balenciaga’s, so I think this metaphor was meant to be).  What kind of a year is it for you?  Who do you see yourself as?  Let's make positive life choices and be gentle on ourselves in the small things, and let's grow on the greater whole.

A Girl Can't Help It

While cleaning up my work area, I came across these items: a Miu Miu sunglasses box with a velvet sleeve, a piece of Fresh soap wrapping (for Freesia) and one of my business cards.  Together they made a very pretty story.  With all of these things I saw, I have very specific and predictable taste, and a girl can't help it; she likes pink, she likes pink.

Seeing Spots this Summer

 All summer, Yayoki Kusama's spots have been popping up all over the city.  I've been noticing them everywhere and last weekend I finally got to visit her exhibit at The Whitney.  If you have a chance to go, definitely go, it's worth seeing.