Almost Time for Braids

I've been longing for a lot of warm weather niceties lately. Eating most meals in the backyard, pedicures you can show off and braids. I'm a sucker for braids dangling below ears, twirled on top of the head... one long one down the back. I don't know, can I still pull of braids? I found these wonderful hairdo drawings by artist Lauren Levy. I'd love to see these blown up to a few feet across for a salon. To look at more of Lauren's work you can go to her flickr site here.
First photo is one of Paul's. I've never had the back of my head loved so much. The following are of Lauren's art.

Poem for Monday

No. 24

-Alyn Carlson

Collage using silkscreened paper, thread and ephemera.

No. 24

-Barbara Schweitzer

Long she had held the image in her head,

able to live shuttered and craven years

because she kept it fueled and safe unsaid,

held near, as far away as unshed tears.

Names written in unfamiliar hands, she

parsed and stored inside as if stolen gems

she might finger in the quiet of sleep,

the one room of dreams she kept clear for him.

While freed prisoners might tell of fierce relief

when cells open and air floats unbound,

for her a straight back chair, an assortment of fruit

became invitation enough for brazen hope

to reposition the earth and uproot

her,  graciously as socks turned inside out,

giving her back to what she was all about.

No. 24

-Pat Hegnauer

Little time to sit in a kitchen

full of canning, baking, and stewing,

teething baby bawling in her cot.

A cook’s heart must cultivate itself

when gardens want water and weeding.

Victuals are a woman’s overlord

demanding measured concentrations.

The table’s a meadow to be plowed,

planted and gathered three times daily

while tuckered men chew, drink, and smoke.

Art and poetry are from the Ekphrasis show now up at the Hera Gallery.

This show is a joint effort between the Hera and The Origami Poetry Project.

The OPP places free tiny books of poetry throughout RI. It's a wonderful

show where words and pictures come together.

Summer Shoot

Warm weather is really coming. I just finished art directing a summer supplement for Swarovski's Touchstone Crystal devision. My pals at Hornick Rivlin were my shooting team and the very talented Joji Goto styled us up big time. The focus for this new collection is bright pink, purple and green enameled flowers with Swarovski Crystals set in them. We went with soft neutrals and bright whites for wardrobe and used some of my watercolor out takes for backgrounds. The bold brights with the delicate watercolor palette was a beautiful combination. It should be going to the printer next week. It took a great team to pull off an incredible amount of work in just a few days. Thank you so much to Sandy, Rick, Joji, Steve, Cathy, Laura and Kacie. 
Hornick Rivlin Photography
Hair and make by Kacie Corbelle from Ennis
Styling Joji Goto
Touchstone Crystal Jewelry
Our lovely model Laura from Maggie in Boston

Goodbye Kit

Nice to be back to say hello. I lost a dear cousin a week ago to cancer. Katherine Vinal, or Kit, was my oldest cousin and my Aunt Willa and Uncle Lester's first of eight children. She was magnificent both inside and out. Kit was fearless, compassionate, funny, street smart (she proved it possible for someone from Maine), defender of the underdog, could calm a nervous horse, explain how an owl's digestion track worked, our clan leader, and seemed more goddess than human to us younger cousins trailing behind her. For the last 30 years she lived with her husband Dale, in Fort Fairfield Maine on their sheep farm. She managed a veterinary practice for a doctor where they tended mostly farm animals and many lost and wounded wild animal. Any homeless creature within 60 miles of Kit would somehow find their way to her. Two weeks before she died, barely able to walk she was baking bread. I will miss her wicked sense of humor, compassionate strength and being able to start a conversation right where we left off, years before. When I got the news, I went and told my chickens. This Mary Oliver poem has always seemed to me, to be written for Kit. The image is one of my pastel paintings to see more you can go here.

Making the House Ready for the Lord

-Mary Oliver
Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but
   Still nothing is as shining as it should be
for you.  Under the sink, for example, is an
  uproar of mice—it is the season of their
many children.  What shall I do?  And under the eaves
   and through the walls the squirrels
have gnawed their ragged entrances—but it is the season
   when they need shelter, so what shall I do?  And
the raccoon limps into the kitchen and opens the cupboard
   while the dog snores, the cat hugs the pillow;
what shall I do?  Beautiful is the new snow falling
   in the yard and the fox who is staring boldly
up the path, to the door.  And still I believe you will
   come, Lord: you will, when I speak to the fox
the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea-goose, know
   that really I am speaking to you whenever I say,
as I do all morning and afternoon:  Come in, Come in.

If Pucci and Disney Had a Child

70's interiors shots by Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin printed on fabric is the stuff Mary Karantzou Spring collection is made from. Fabulous and outrageous and you know Target's going to try and run with this. Thank you coolechicstylefashion.blogspot.com

Fascinated by Facets

A few years ago I started layering line drawings on top of my watercolors that were more angular and faceted. What I thought was only my little muse's nudge, apparently has been a universal nudge. Facets are everywhere. For me, the winner of mastering facet rendering, is Carley Waito. These are not photos but oil on Masonite. Makes me wonder where my mom put my rock collection I started in the third grade. Her site and blog are here.

Is Sparkle a Color?

I'm in heavy layout mode for Swarovski in the next 2 weeks and keeping my eyes peeled for facets, shimmer, high glam, low glam and all that sparkles. I came across this artist who, uhuh, paints in glitter. I'm not one of those magpies that am attracted to every piece of flash, but Jamie Vasta's work made me stop. She does glitter but turns it on it's ear, dresses it up (possible with that medium?) and gives us art that slips onto a wall at the MFA without a hitch. She has a solo show coming up in April at the Patricia Sweetow's gallery in San Fransico. I first heard about Jamie through Meighan O'Toole's wonderful blog My Love for You is Like a Stampede of Horses.

 

 

Poem for Monday

Sweet Darkness

When your eyes are tired

the world is tired also.

When your vision has gone

no part of the world can find you.

Time to go into the dark

where the night has eyes

to recognize its own.

There you can be sure 

you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your womb

tonight.

The night will give you a horizon

further than you can see.

You must learn one thing:

the world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds 

except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet

confinement of your aloneness

to learn

anything or anyone

that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.

-David Whyte 
Image by Paul Clancy for Mole Hollow Candles

Pinkscapes

Landscapes from Dongchuan Yunnan, China. Pretty crazy. These images are from Tcyuen on flickr and to view more you can go here.

Ingredients for Great Blogs

My friend Arley-Rose Torsonne has just started to blog. I've posted about Arley-Rose and her sweetheart Morgan, a power couple I have a talent crush on, a few times. Arley's paid me a nice complement (took me by surprise) that she thought I had a very good handle on the blogging thing. I started to assess what works and doesn't work with my blog, how I can improve it, and what are the ingredients that make a great one. And PLEASE I would love any comments or recommendations at any time that will make colorgirl more enjoyable, informative or dear to you. This is kind of 101 stuff but hey a good reminder, too. Here's my list of ingredients-

OH I GET IT- I want to know right away what this writer is passionate about and who they want to hang out with. Description of who they are is a big tip off. If they were a club what would the name be on the door? Some clubs are more defined then others. No Girls Allowed, The Fisherman's Association or for a broader gathering and my favorite little dive in town The Westport Social Club. And if you're about selling don't be sneaky, get it out there right away. Two great examples of this is Lari Washburns artistswhoblog and Grace with designsponge.
TRANSPARENCY- This one can be tricking and we each have our own threshold of public exposure. But to build a friendship, connection which is what I'm after, a certain level of "hey this is who I am" has to be there. The extreme example of this- the queen of TMI, Heather Armstrong's theduce
AUTO-DIDACTIC- I'm a person who's cobbled an education together. Some part time art school, night classes, absorbing good design by looking at the best, just figuring out what works and doesn't. I appreciate a good search for truth and knowledge on my own terms. The best bloggers are sponges. Out there, and I mean often away from their computers engaging, doing what they love, as well as following leads on the web. Elsa Mora's elsita is one of my favorites for this.
GOOD EDITING- not too much blah blah blah Seth Godin. He's my touchstone for the quick hit, to get me back on track for both my business and my blog. I have preached the gospel of Seth to so many patient friends and clients. He doesn't pussy foot around so be prepared to cry a little. Seth Godin
PLEASE NO BUTT UGLY- Rather than get into the bad examples- a couple of hints... templates do work, stay away from the too muchies- too much color, type variations, backgrounds. Lot a eye assault happening out there. Give us all a break with less is- you know.
4 FOR YOU +1 FOR ME- We all know we start to blog to get the word out about me, me, me. But it's also a lot about finding our peeps and getting the word out about them. Share great how-tos, get some movement going to a new star on flickr, show the world your wish list on etsy. And yes tell us what you're up to. Anna's is a good one to study and she's very generous- annekata
WE'RE IN THE ROOM TOGETHER- Because I'm a digital immigrant, I need to make most of the digital world into metaphor. And a good blog to me should have a tone of not being talked at, but with. I virtually get to have coffee or hang out after work with someone I greatly admire, am not intimated by and I feel wants to listen to what I have to say. A seeker rather than a soapbox barker. Always had a talent crush on one of the masters in my industry, Ernie Schenck. And funny thing, the first person who informed me of what blogging was in the first place. Check him out here.