Collecting

This is our Wall of Icons. When we lived in Los Angeles, David and I started collecting them. We began going to the incredible flea markets around LA, and there was a different one every Sunday. Our first one was the Elk's Club, and in 1987, painted Monterey furniture was cheap, and just about knocked our socks off. We would go with our East Coast friends who were living in LA at the time, and we were all completely taken with Bauer pottery, vintage cowboy stuff & Western paintings, vintage fabrics, lamps from the 40s and 50s, and wonderful old, peeling furniture. It was a magical time, getting to Pasadena in the early morning when they were unloading trucks with primitive Mexican furniture that was painted in shades of green and turquoise. The winter sun was always shining and you were surrounded by mountains. Eventually, we started going to the Rose Bowl, Pasadena City College, and Long Beach...all filled with the stuff of Old California. We bought a big sturdy Mission armchair (now recovered using a Mexican blanket), dark green Adirondack chairs, vintage textiles and clothing, McCoy Pottery, sets of dishes, stunning oil paintings, and we hauled most of it back to the East Coast. Our house is filled with found objects have been refurbished, garage sale stuff, and lots of our old flea market purchases. Now of course, a painting that you bought in 1992 is worth ten times what you would have paid then. And the icons above are one of the things we went wild for in LA--where you would see a jeep with a Virgin of Guadelupe tire cover hanging off the back, driving around the Valley. I'm so nostalgic for our LA life lately...the boys were little, and we had a wonderful group of friends, many of them from New York, like us, who were there for a period of time. My sister Linda & her family lived around the corner, our wonderful friend Julie Von Zerneck had her lovely Portrait of a Bookstore (and still does), our dear pal Brett Brdas lived down the street, our neighbor Lilly Holden and her mom lived across from us. LA was an incredibly inspiring place for us---it's a city that has so much creative energy and such gorgeous terrain--mountains, desert, beach, and all that Old Hollywood history.
PS--the cool peace sign is made by David!

A Girl's Favorites

This is Ruby Ritz's new fabric design, with all the things she holds nearest and dearest to her heart. Shoes, lipstick, perfume, a ladylike handbag, her grandmother's pearls, and of course, a good strong cup of coffee and her cell phone---which she could never be without! And that hard-to-find perfect moisturizer. We thought a soothing pastel palette would become her and calm her nerves. She has so much on her mind these days, and is stressed to the max....but aren't we all? Money, money, money...that's all anyone can think about. And you're either working too hard, or hardly working. I guess we should have put a TV on this design too---a nice HD flatscreen--as it seems that's how Ruby's spending a lot of her time. Watching TCM & HBO. Wondering how she's going to make it through the winter without Mad Men....Betty's outfits, Joan's snappy career gal wisdom, Sally's directness, Roger's cool, Don's flaws, and Peggy's resilience. And the spot on, perfect art direction--how about poolside 60s LA in the final episode? They even got that slightly faded polaroid color just right.

Photoshop Fun

I just learned this weekend how to put a design in repeat in PHOTOSHOP, and I think it's going to be a huge life changer! Now, these repeats, as you can see, are basic side-by-side style. I have to figure out how to do a half drop repeat, which will give a different look. But still, I can take a design and instantly turn it into a repeated one...so it's really exciting. And of course, I have Danika to help me if I get in a jam and am stuck. And my son David is a Photoshop pro as well. I have a lot of designs in my portfolio that are painted and finished, but not really in repeat...this way I can make them more fully developed, and maybe get them printed up. I found this website called SPOONFLOWER that I had read about last year, and forgot the name. You can upload designs to them, and they'll print them on cotton fabric. You can get samples for $5 a yard, or actually order yardage for $18 - $32 per. So, it sounds like it would be worth a try! I'm not sure what digital quality is like on fabric, if the colors are a rich, but I definitely want to look into it. 

These are some more of my fabrics printed by Michael Miller. You can get them online now at the Fat Quarter Shop website, as they're sold out at MM. Clotilde made dresses out of the cream colored one, which is called "The Old West". They are adorable, trimmed with a brown & white gingham. The red design is called "Ropin'". 

I have to say, it's so much fun to have your paintings made into fabric...there's just something about it that's so tactile....it's very different than having it just stay flat, like a painting on a wall or a print. It moves, folds, drapes, and molds into whatever shape you put it on, like a chair. It's a totally different experience.

Jamestown sketches

We spent the last two weeks in Jamestown, RI.
 We were house sitting for Marisa Quinn& Jay Sisson, watching their two Labs, Maq & Gillie, and their cat, Samson. It was very relaxing, and I spent a lot of time drawing, just using colored pencils. We went to the beach, and hung out in Newport and Wickford, just poking around. 
Here are some pics of Jack Romano, Ray Noonan, and Patrice Arundale. Jack made a trip to Mackerel Cove while recuperating from spinal surgery. He looks fantastic, and is about 8 inches taller! Ray, of course, is never without a guitar, and was plinking away while watching some tv show. And Patrice  was nice enough to sit in her yellow & white striped suit while we were at the beach one late afternoon. The next night she made us a fabulous dinner!

Ginty Pool

This is my son David reading yesterday at our lovely neighborhood pool. I brought my colored pencils along, and he was kind enough to sit for me, in between dives. It was a hot & steamy July day, but we were cool as cucumbers in the shade. It's a beautiful setting; there's always a breeze and Ginty's a perfect pool. It's big and clean and turquoise blue, with lanes for the swimmers, and a deep end for diving. It's surrounded by trees, so by late afternoon it's all shaded over. They actually have a given time every hour for "adult swim"...so anyone over 18 can have a quiet break from the jumping, splashing, shriekingly adorable kids. They couldn't be having more fun. There's nothing better on a summer afternoon than bringing your chair & a book, and taking a swim.  David's brother Ray met us there with some cousins in tow: Tess, Zelda, & Edward Noonan from France, and Michael Tatlow (NJ) + Emmett Noonan (RI). David recently graduated from Vassar College, and was a Biology major. This summer he's doing volunteer research on Zebra Finches and their songs at Rockefeller University's Upstate NY facility.  Ray, who is pre-med at Vassar, just finished an intensive EMT training course, and has joined the Morristown Volunteer Ambulance Squad.
David is most likely meditating on his future here.......plastics?

Vintage book covers

These are two of my favorite book covers ever! I've been collecting vintage books,  especially Young Adult ones, because the cover artwork is always so amazing. I read Jean and Johnny in 7th grade, and totally related to the shy, bespectacled heroine. Of course, Beverly Cleary was one of my most beloved authors growing up, and I remember being so happy to find her in the Junior High library. I adored Beezus and Ramona, Henry and Ribsy, Henry Huggins, Otis Spofford, and all the books about the kids in their neighborhood. Ramona was my absolute all time favorite story book girl...does anyone remember the description of her art teacher and the class? She was so difficult, and I just couldn't get enough of her & her sister. Jean and Johnny was published in 1959, and The Luckiest Girl was published in 1958. I guess I kind of was hoping I looked like Jean on the cover....I had the same harlequin glasses...until my mother insisted I get contacts.