Matisse Does Please

Just viewed Matisse: Radical Invention at the Chicago Art Institute on Saturday.  It closed today (Sunday).  My favorites above.  The bottom, Bathers by a River has always intrigued me - was great to see and realize how it evolved over the span of 8 years.

Speaking of spanning...Renzo Piano's Modern Wing addition to the museum itself is quite amazing - increasing the size by a third. The architecture and design collection is quite nice.

Knife, Fork, Stamp.

Cheap pleasure this $3.99 stamp was.  Even more so that it was 40% off.  I stamped it alternating in black and moss.

Reminds me of this book I love and adore.   A handy pattern for a cocktail napkin or kitchen towel to use while cooking or dining along with the book.  Can't cook without it.  A necessary accessory?  But of course!

For the Wood

The most banal job becomes the most desired...
I can just buy the fire wood for my log carrier and use the ax as a prop, right? 

Both by Partners & Spade.

Ina is Mine-a

Looking forward to digging into Ina's Back to Basics which I received from from a friend as a birthday gift...signed.  SO impressed shoppers can purchase her books and have them personally addressed and signed by the super star (in my world anyway).

Equally in love with her sleek barn home she features throughout the book: simple, refined rawness.  *drool*

Also simple and refined, but hopefully not so raw is her Mustard-Roasted Fish.  Dinner soon.

Tool Studies

Back to the drawing board...
Had some fun sketching old tools and pairing them with words from an old bin of industrial machine parts.  Most of the script appears exactly as it was written on the tool drawers from which I copied.  Good thing there is a plentiful supply of junk to "draw" from. 

Summer Soon

Two great new albums from two artists I've long adored.  Sounds like summer is coming early and this music proves it.  Save Jason for a road trip and Josh for hot summer nights.

Listen to El Turista above or here.

More Jason here.

Both available for download on iTunes or, if you're like me, from a local record store. (Nothing beats the tangible every so often.)

Feel the Paine

First weekend of Roooms of Blooms complete.  We installed Thursday afternoon having brought the designs about 80% complete.

The piece in the main gallery was to respond to three  Tiffany lamps...two of which have never been shown publicly. Our result was a naturalistic representation of the lamps repeating elements from throughout the original works.

For the table setting, we utilized a 1970's Capidomonte porcelain vessel filled with orchids, roses and unusual greens all set atop a 1930s linen created by the woman of an Italian convent.  Privileged to get our hands on this stuff from THE MIXX Design Centre.

More photos of the event here.