What do they dream about?

A night in with the cat and Marian McPartland :

Thank you thank you for your orders and good words, friends! Heading into Christmas with a warm heart. Could have something to do with a Seri in my lap.

20% OFF Till Midnight!

Today I'm celebrating Cyber Monday with a 20% discount on everything in The Shop till the stroke of midnight! Use code CHEER20 at checkout. I've also opened a requests page for custom prints here too if you had something else in mind!

Some gift ideas? hmmm...let's see

For the crafty and stylish little sweetie you might know and love:

An autographed copy of I Had a Favorite Dress+archival print make a pretty pairing!

An autographed copy of Just Being Audrey with a print or boxed card set also make a special gift for a Hepburn fan:

("Audrey on the Silverscreen" is the bestseller)

...and there are two *new* mini prints!
Titled "Cédille Fille I, II" 5x7 mini prints (started from doodles after french class):

(P.S. There are a few of "Carol of the Belles" card sets still left!)

So have fun cruising around Cyber Monday storefronts (I had fun putting up a little digital garland :) Thanks for shopping handmade!

New Christmas Card: Carol of the Belles!

I'd like to introduce you to a little "belle" who came caroling to my door (painting desk) last week. She wanted to become a Christmas card:

You can order your own 10-card set of "Carol of the Belles" for your holiday letter writing here. They are printed on beautiful white heavyweight matte card stock with a satin finish. Each card comes with a matching shimmery cream envelope. Interiors are blank. Now available for order in The Shop. I had a very small quantity printed, so snap this lady up while you can.
Keep your eyes peeled for new items in The Shop and the upcoming HOLIDAY sale discount code coming soon (but let's please have Thanksgiving first!) If you have a custom print request you can use this request form. Ohh, it's getting cozy 'round here, happiest holidays to you!

Beauty as Duty

When I need rejuvenation, the museum is my magic place. It's thrilling to buy a ticket and wonder how your vision will be changed once the visit's done. I love the straw-teak smell in the rooms holding the oldest artifacts, the layered years behind glass, the quiet power of color on a wall.

(Peter Coffin, Linde Wing)

Last week, I wandered the MFA with my talented friend, Amanda (kindred spirit & accomplished painter) and wanted to share. (See her post here) If you are in Boston, this fall's exhibits are especially worth a visit! Our aim was to see the current exhibit, "Beauty as Duty" which focuses on the inventive relationship between war-time fashion (and the rationing of it during WWII) and politics (think witty propaganda scarves!)...

"Switch off that light!"

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who lived in a world of her own, who lived with her wicked stepmother who kept all her clothing coupons for herself..."

"Trot out your whatnots and save shipping!"

War planes in lace!

Then we happened upon a live show in another gallery, of a Greek women's dance troupe performing ancient steps that Theseus supposedly danced after slaying the minotaur. (My "Denos" blood was appeased.)

(El Anatsui, Black River, 2009, Linde Wing)

Wandering on from there, we found ourselves in the stunning new Linde Contemporary Wing where we made gleeful fools of ourselves with unfettered gasps of "Oooo...LOOOKKKKKK"

(Linde Wing)

(A tiny little shirt as social commentary.)

(Amanda, I can't wait to see your take on toile!)

(Linde Wing)

(Giampalo Babetto, Linde Wing: "It is better to use a form that is somehow pure.")

(I'd like to eat this.)

Finally we searched for our favorite, The Art of the Americas Wing.

There, I visited the man who was the second president of the United States, who once lived down the street from where I live today, in the town that bears his son's name (Quincy). It is said that he thought history would forget him! But we haven't, John Adams! Thanks for your letters to Abigail. I think of you whenever I drive by Peace Field.

(John Adams by Gilbert Stuart)

A sketch of a coffee pot Paul Revere's son poured:

We ended the night in two dim and delicious current exhibits:
Aphrodite and the Gods of Love, and another on rare Jewelry...

(Betsey Cushing Whitney’s American Indian tiara, worn visiting Queen Elizabeth II)

Museum trips are terrible in a way! You are tugged by two forces the entire time: absorption and creation, in almost a frenzied cycle: your eyes are feasting, your brain cogs are turning, your heart is sparking, you need to get to your desk and CREATE, but wait, look over there! On the T home, we were BURSTING with new things to paint, trying to recall them in lists for each other, gratefully dazzled by the beauty we'd seen. Museum day success.

What resets your palette?

type type type

Been listening for words lately, and not just watching for pictures.
It's a different experience entirely. Words are like wild animals I feel a little unsure of when I go to tame some in the white space. Sometimes I think fellow creatures, especially cats, better understand the nature of how language chooses to inhabit its space.

Cats are very much like stories: coming to you in their own time, of their own choosing, willing to be tamed if respected, finally padding into a patch of sun to glisten at you (if you are lucky).

New York/New Art

Last weekend in New York City went by in a whirl of wet snow flakes and taxi rides (pictures to come) I'm back and tidying up after a book I just finished before departing, called Letters to Leo by Amy Hest, about a little girl and her loyal pup in NYC (appropriately!) Every time I finish a project, I always pause on clean up:

It's a sweet and sad little moment. You've come to sort of live in that world while you go about your day, gotten comfortable in the neighborhood, befriended some characters and, as soon as you sort your pencils back into their cups, POOF, it's done. Like playing pretend and moping about having to clean up for dinner time...


So cheers, Leo and Annie (more on this duo soon!) Their world existed on Riverside Drive facing the Hudson, so I went there last week to see it for myself: