Good Morning

A winter view of paradise

the the birds are chirping..the sun is brilliant

and the snow is dazzling...

spring will be here soon.

Posts have been sporadic these last couple of months.

The day job has taken a lot of time in 2010...

just finished another big exam...

spent a lot of time in the library...

My perch for the last few weekends

but a lovely place to be

Our public library is wonderful -

a place for everyone

and this lovely courtyard

just right for daydreaming while I am supposed to be studying

Here is the other spot where I have spent most of my time

this winter.

the office view

There is a tidal river just outside the window.

I love it because the scene is always changing from low tide to high tide.

Another great view for daydreaming.

And a great place for a walk and fresh air

during the day.

Now that the studying is done

I can concentrate on fabric and the spring collection

visuals treats soon

Another artist in the family; this is Liz's self portrait.

Liz, daughter of my sister B, whose work I featured here and here,

is also my goddaughter.

Hanging On

Liz graduates from college this spring.

She is a wonderful, happy, talented young lady.

Not sure whether she will be an artist or a social worker

or a sailing coach...or maybe she will continue her studies...

maybe all of the above...

Terrific work Liz.

Good Posture

Liz has sold a few paintings recently -

Congrats!

the one below is on its way to a NYC apartment.

Not sure if this is the NYC subway or the T

(9 ft long)

Check out Liz's blog to see more of her art - click here

Know somebody who just got into college?

I do.

Congratulations!

(hint, hint, double-clue)

I just sent this frame to my nephew.

I am thrilled to report that my monogrammed frames

will soon be available at the

The Monogram Studio

in Greenwich, Connecticut

Continuing with the family theme -

here is artwork of another sister.

P started taking botanical drawing classes

a couple of years ago

at the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens

These two pen and inks were P's

Christmas card in 2008 and 2009

I just love them.

another work in progress

P has a beautiful studio - windows on three sides

hot chili peppers

a special b'day present for T

Beautiful work P - you should have cards printed with your artwork.

A sailor's valentine.

Lovely.

Surely this deserves the blue ribbon.

"Courtship consists in a number of quiet attentions, not so pointed as to alarm,

nor so vague as not to be understood."

From Laurence Sterne's great comic novel, Tristam Shandy,

published 1765

This Paper Boat

by Ted Kooser

Carefully placed upon the future,
it tips from the breeze and skims away,
frail thing of words, this valentine,
so far to sail. And if you find it
caught in the reeds, its message blurred,
the thought that you are holding it
a moment is enough for me.

"This Paper Boat" by Ted Kooser, from Valentines. © University of Nebraska Press, 2008.

From the NPR's The Writer's Almanac

In honor of the 2010 WinterOlympics

Fun frame with ski resort euro stickers

A customer just purchased this frame

for a friend who lent them their ski house.

We have certainly had enough snow and cold weather

for good skiing.

In my last post I told you about some family talent.

Here are some paintings by my sister B.

You can see more of B's artwork on her website here.

Don't you just love the bottles of nail polish above.

Choose a color, any color, for your weekly indulgence.

This painting is in B's bathroom in her beach house.

I love it.

Another fun painting located in the guest bathroom.

A painted reflection of the real medicine cabinet to the right.

Check out the colorful contents.

And then here is another style.

This is Quissett harbor.

Remember the post about a winter walk at the cape

on the Knob - click here -

this is the very same harbor

This painting greets me every morning as I traipse downstairs

for a daily cup of coffee and the NYT -

it is nestled in a nook above the staircase

and here I am at the Cape - painting and photo by B

along with a delightful mermaid from

the Nantucket Mermaid - more here

ps. nantucket mermaid has some loverly treats for Valentine's Day

My sister B is also a very talented interior decorator

check out her website here

Give B a ring if you want some help on a project.

B works with clients throughout New England .

I did a post last year about B's talent - click here

Love your work Bets!

That cupcake looks delish!

In memory of my mother

JSR

19 August 1929 -

4 January 1986

I was going to publish this a month ago

but something intervened and it just did not seem to be the right time.

My mother loved Sister Parish's work.

Pictured above is SP's NYC apt.

This decorating scheme looks so current,

yet it dates back to the 70's or 80's

watercolor by Mita Corsini Bland

in the new book

Did you know

that Sister Parish made it into 2010 decorating trends

according to Mrs. Blandings?

Read some excerpts from the Kansas City Star via Mrs. Blandings:

“More craft and things that have been touched by hand,” said Keith Johnson, buyer-at-large for Anthropologie stores and the subject of the Sundance Channel’s “Man Shops Globe.” This trend is good news for my business, mrr design and my products: new fangled pictures frames and memento boards made by hand in the USA - the entrepreneurial spirit lives on.

We’ve heard “this ain’t your grandma’s …” A new buzz phrase just might be “that’s so granny.” Patricia Shackelford thinks we’ll see more patchwork quilts, hooked rugs, needlepoint and chintz.

Shackelford said it’s the return of Sister Parish design, using heirlooms or pieces with history. “It’s a way to bring comfort to formality,” she said. Susan Bartlett Crater, granddaughter of Sister Parish, said using family pieces can be stylish. “My grandmother always said houses should be receptacles of memories,” Crater said. “What better way than using grandmother’s things?”

Looking around my own house I see Sister Parish's influence... I love her style and use lots of objects and pieces from my family...in fact, I see my heritage everywhere in furniture and objects. Each piece brings back memories and is a touchstone for a story to tell my daughter.

Not only furniture but clothes. My mother died a long time ago. She was too young. We did not dismantle her closet for a few years. I have five siblings. I think we all stopped at the closet and gazed and thought about her - it wasn't morbid. It made me think she wasn't gone. She was still with us somehow - it was something real we could touch. She is still with us - in thoughts, in conversation, in a random memories sparked to life by a word, an action, an image, a color, a flower... I talk to her often. I miss her terribly. Somehow we all managed to have our babies and to raise our families without her. There were so many questions we wanted to ask but never got the chance.

But back to the clothes. We finally did dismantle the closet years later when my father sold the house. We saved the very special things. My sister P just mentioned to me that she wore Mom's Bonnie Cashin coat a few days ago when she was walking the dog on a frigid morning in Vermont. Now it is hard to picture my mother walking a dog, but she did love that coat in the winter and she looked beautiful in the warm salmon color with raccoon fur.

My mother was a great knitter. I have lots of her sweaters. They have been stored away and just the other day my daughter and I explored the cache. So many hand knit treasures and so beautiful and they fit Miss Is to a tee so she started wearing them. When Miss Is is complimented she proudly says they were her grandmother's. Some other 17 year olds might think that is bizarre but I think it is wonderful.

My mother influenced me in so many ways; she had great style and a great eye. Years after she died I found magazine articles about the Isabel O'Neil School of Decorative Painting in NYC that she had saved.. and what is stranger still is that I had taken a dozen decorative painting classes in nyc years after she died ... talk about being in sync... I never knew she was interested in painting...she was artistic...she would have loved all that my sisters and I have done...and my brother too...more on my sisters' talents in upcoming posts...and so in a tribute to my mother and to all mothers, especially one new mother, sarah and her beautiful baby Huck...and for my dear friend d as she moves through these dark days, I toast mothers and their children and leave you a few special photos of my daughter and me.

happy and cozy mother & daughter