Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Sea and its Wonders

Lovely gift from my partner, Tina. She has talent and skills when it comes to thrifting; this was today's find, which she knew I'd love. Publishing date: 1896



Monday, August 22, 2011

Eggplant?



Never been a huge fan of eggplant, but thought I'd experiment tonight since, well, I had a fair amount of eggplant donated from a neighbor's CSA. Onions and garlic in olive oil, chopped eggplant, parsley, salt and pepper and some fresh chopped tomatoes all simmered to meld the flavors nicely...layered over penne and topped off with freshly shaved parmesan...not half-bad!

Cork!

As I stood staring and smiling at this gorgeous wall, a few folks glanced my way, as if to say "Hey lady, it's just a flower." But I was mesmerized. Seriously, I stayed there for quite some time just taking it in. Loved the image, the colors and then, wait, what's the medium used for this enormous wall installation? 18,000+ handpainted corks! Swoon.



I embrace days like today where I have the opportunity and time to meander downtown a bit. Found myself strolling through Anthropologie...such visual yumminess! As an artist and a boutique owner, I can't help but be inspired by their merchandising and visual displays. It's just so good. Love the simplicity and beauty in these repeated vertical rows of red and white dots.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

This seems as good a place as any to start.

For years now, I've said that I'd start a blog "someday." Despite my lack of direction and my exact focus, I've decided that my 40th Birthday (or shortly thereafter, as the case may be) seemed like as good a time as any. So, here goes.


Since the age of 7, I've kept journals, sketchbooks, scrapbooks and diaries. Around the age of 20, I began to combine those collections into visual journals of experiences. This caused me some serious angst as I had tendencies to compartmentalize and categorize everything. Sometimes I fall back into my old ways, but for the most part I have learned to embrace my wandering, messy! stream of consciousness creations.


This journal entry was compiled from writings while on a recent trip to Nova Scotia...talk about a place to indulge one's senses. Wow! I made it a point to take a very limited amount of art supplies: paper, pens and tape. Several weeks after returning home, I have incorporated them into the beginnings of yet another visual journal. I've been known to use old books, ranging from small novels to over sized atlases, as my base. This one is a simple 14x17 (not exactly travel-size!) wire bound pad of sturdy paper.