happy thanksgiving!

i love this holiday in new york. really, i love any holiday that is centered around food...

these are a couple of gorgeous images from new york magazine's spread on thanksgiving recipes a few weeks ago. they were too beautiful not to share... like a dutch still life.

the photos are by zachary zavislak. more of his work...

speaking of dutch still life paintings... the other day in john derian i found some really great glassware reproductions of vessels typical to these paintings. if i had all the money in the world i would drink out of them every day. i'll do a full post about them one day - once i find out the name of the company that makes them. but for now, just imagine these brought to life:

ps - i'm sorry i've been missing in action around here lately - i promise more new posts soon. and they won't be as random as this one was.

christmas in nyc

i have a love/hate relationship with christmas here in nyc. i love it because there are so many amazing things to do. but i hate it because there are TOO many amazing things to do....

this weekend is no exception - there's the martha stewart holiday craft sale.... with items created by the contributors to martha's craft blog. something tells me there will be some pretty impressive stuff there.

then, there's a workshop at the museum of arts & design on japanese holiday cards and gift wrapping. i love the MAD, and judging by the picture, i'm pretty sure i NEED to know how to wrap gifts japanese-style.

plus, there are gifts to be bought, cards to be made, friends to catch up with, and apartments to clean.... how to fit it all in???

beautiful window

everyone around me keeps talking about the dia:beacon in Beacon, NY. it's a contemporary art museum out in pretty much the middle of nowhere, north of nyc. from what i hear, it is worth the trip on the metronorth - i need to make it up there sometime soon.

i was looking at the website today, and i can't quit staring at this image. it's one of those, "why haven't i ever thought of that?" moments... i love the frosted glass mixed with the clear glass. to me it makes the view outside seem like a work of art in itself....

watercolor birds

i would like to be able to use watercolor like this....

these cute little birds are by Christine Lindstrom, and i found them on fey handmade.

it's funny, i think watercolor is probably my favorite medium to look at, but i get so frustrated when i try to actually work with it.... hmm, maybe that will be my next class to take....

wanted:

wanted: 20 of my best friends, willing to split the cost of a gift that keeps on giving... 25 colored pencils, thoughtfully put together in a package and sent my way - once a month for 20 months.... to add up to 500 pencils.

more info here.

how do YOU take in art?

i don't normally post articles, but i thought this one from the times yesterday was really good. it's about how and why we take in/appreciate art today in contrast to how/why we experienced art before we could just hop on a plane to take a trip to the louvre, or just click to get a view of the mona lisa online. i thought it was really interesting stuff. also, it made me feel a little guilty for not truly "appreciating" art like i should....

So tourists now wander through museums, seeking to fulfill their lifetime’s art history requirement in a day, wondering whether it may now be the quantity of material they pass by rather than the quality of concentration they bring to what few things they choose to focus upon that determines whether they have “done” the Louvre. It’s self-improvement on the fly.

read it all here.

wow.

simon schubert's paper-fold 2-d sculptures have already made the rounds on a ton of the blogs i follow, and for good reason!

my jaw dropped when i saw these.... my goodness.

if money grew on trees....

i would join in this day-long alabama chanin workshop with natalie chanin & angie mosier. they're having a workshop in NYC on april 4 for the low (note the sarcasm please) price of $450. so i'll start taking donations now, thank you...

here are a few more images i loved from the alabama chanin website...

go mad!

this week i got to go on a tour of the new building for the museum of arts & design - Ben Hartley, one of the deputy directors of the museum, showed us around. i haven't gotten a chance to visit the MAD since they relocated to their new building at 2 columbus circle. it's a pretty small museum, but i love all that they have on display. it's my kind of museum!

right now they have an exhibition called second lives: remixing the ordinary that is pretty amazing!... it was all about repurposing ordinary things to have a new life. there were a couple of standouts: Terese Agnew's Portrait of a Textile Worker is made completely out of clothing labels! - one of the coolest things i've seen in a while...

MAD's website also has a great feature where you can search all of the items in their permanent collection.... this is one good database!

....now i just need to find a way to get a job at the museum...