A Shot of Magenta

I think the gray weather has me craving some vivid color. I could see myself living happily with either of these bright furniture pieces. Maybe even set next to a magenta wall.

Stripped Kilim Sofa at Anthropologie and Pink Toile Chest at Bryonie Porter.

A Hint of Spring

It feels so much like early spring today. The sunlight outside has that end of winter feel. Must be why I found my self in a mood to clean and clear. I didn't get very far but I'm making a new bag for the Salvation Army and a bag to go to a consignment shop. Project pair down continues.

This lovely print by Shotei Hiroaki c. 1930 reminds me of spring and also of how less is truly more.

A New Sketchbook To Fill

A new sketchbook is definitely less intimidating than a free standing blank sheet of drawing paper. I think a blank sheet of paper is well the toughest place to start drawing. I usually mark or color my paper immediately so it is not so wide open and scary.

Still, I always feel much freer drawing in a sketchbook maybe because of the privacy factor. Close the cover and it is your own private drawing world. Also there's always a next page if you don't like the one before.

I got really inspired looking at Linzie Hunter's flicker stream of her Lettering Sketchbook. Above is just one of the great pages in it. If you like Linzie's work there are still some of her prints available at 20 x 200. Now I'm off to break in my own sketchbook and make it truly mine.

In the Deep of Winter

We still have at least two months of cold weather ahead and perhaps some real snow too. I find it a bit disconcerting to go into stores and see all the bright yellow we are all destined to wear this spring. I know, I know, it's Resort Wear season but, I'm still deep in winter and not in the mood to start planning what I'll be wearing come April. Above are a few items more fitting for my wintery state of mind.

Sugar Stacks Ring in amethyst by Paloma Picasso for Tiffany
Ruffle Skirt by Econica
1890s Amphora Earrings at Erie Basin
Top by La Casita de Wendy

The Art of Spin

I gave my nieces and nephew a Spin Art for Christmas. My niece mentioned that theirs had disappeared, so when I spotted one in the craft store I snatched it up. Later it occurred to me that perhaps it did not disappear by accident. After all, my Play-doh used to go missing regularly thanks to a neat freak mom who didn't like how it became permanently embedded in the carpets. Such is the price of art. Now I can't wait to make some spin art with the kids. Here's to messy art toys!

Want vs. Need

This pretty much sums up how I feel a lot of days. Wanting is fine. Wanting is natural and can be motivating. Getting what you need on the other hand makes for a more peaceful existence. Which leads me to thinking what do I need? The basics are pretty obvious. Food and shelter of course. But I'm drawn to considering what are the things that make me thrive. Here's a quick impromptu list:

Sunshine. Really bright warm sunshine. I find it too rare this time of year.
Time to doodle and draw and think. I'm working on giving myself a little time every day.
Friends. I wish mine were not scattered so far away these days.
Laughter and love. My daughter provides both in abundance.
Hope and purpose. I'm naturally hopeful but could use more direction and purpose some days.
The pursuit of knowledge. I thrive on challenges and learning new things.
Free time. To delve into thoughts, books, drawings, people.

Wow, my list surprises me.

Perfect Pairings #1: Drawn to Each Other

I'd love to have either of these two works hanging on my wall. Even better would be to have both and hang them together in a little ode of sorts to curves and color. The photo print Velodrome is by James Deavin and the print Curvilinear Time by Jessica Snow. Both are available at 20 x 200.

Drawing Inspiration: Paper Worlds

I'm gearing up to get drawing. I have had eight sheets of paper with a first layer of color up on my closet door for over a year now just waiting. I'm starting to get attached to them just the way they are, but now I'm going to risk ruining them. I think that is what drawing and art making are all about: how far you can take something before you go too far. Knowing when to push it and when to stop. Can't wait to dive in.

I was doing image searches this morning and found some offbeat inspiration while clicking through the patterns and color ways on the Thibaut Wallpaper website. The site has nice functionality and the option to bookmark favorites. I ended up wishing I had a room to wallpaper. In the meantime, I love the crazy details in wallpapers like the parrot feathers above and also seeing how changing the color palette completely transforms a design. I wouldn't be surprised if a crazy parrot emerges in one of my drawings.

Finishing Up Old Projects

I spent yesterday tying up some loose ends literally. I sewed up three hats to send off to friends and while I enjoy knitting I certainly don't enjoy seaming. To keep myself going I thought of how nice it feels to finish things and kept a beautiful ball of Crazy Sexy Wool from Wool and The Gang in my sights. I stumbled across their new shop in Soho just before Christmas and couldn't resist leaving the store without something. So I ended up buying one ball of chunky wool in a vivid magenta. It is destined to become a warm cowl that I'm going to keep for myself.

To Resolve or Not to Resolve

I find New Years resolutions so heavy. It's like setting oneself up with a lot of "shoulds". Should is just not a fun word. It has built in to it, that one really doesn't want to do the the thing in the first place. Not a great way to start any undertaking.

I should pay my bills on time. Of course I should, but I often don't. Saying should never helped me pay my bills. They get paid because I have to pay them. So rather than setting myself up to feel like a failure and weighed down, I'm forgoing resolutions this year. The "have tos" among the "shoulds" will end up getting done.

But it is the start of a new year and a new decade, so something seems in order to get things headed in the right direction. So in place of resolutions, I have decided to make a list of the things I want to do this year. A list of things I like to do, want to try, am curious about or feel will make our lives more fun, more interesting, richer and worth remembering in ten years years.

Here's a few of the things I've come up with:

Read bedtime stories with my daughter

Plant 100 sunflower seeds and see what happens

Learn to make Vegetable Green Curry

Go swimming as often as possible

Finish building the Fairy Circle wall I started

Teach my daughter her numbers and letters

Read at least one good book, maybe a classic I've never tackled (No small feat these days)

Start a full blown vegetable garden with carrots and lettuces

Get a great photo of my daughter and me together (Another not so easy feat)

Play more music

Put on a little lipstick each day so I feel a little more glamorous

Talk to and see my friends more often

Draw with my daughter, draw by myself, draw, draw, draw!