I saw this photograph in

The New York Times

last Friday.

An early version of a memento/inspiration board.

This 1703 trompe l'oeil of a letter rack was painted by Edward Collier.

It is part of the recent and wonderful donation to the

National Gallery of Art in

Washington D.C.

by Linda Kaufman.

More on DC tomorrow;

I am on the road again for a round of trunk shows and boutiques.

Amusing, clever and so beautiful

Who ever guessed that samplers could be so cool and witty.

Click A Bloomsbury Life

to see all the samplers.

You will enjoy the pithy verse.

"Stitching up the Noughties"

Exhibit in LA

at the ACME Gallery

here is the loom

with sampler in process

This winter I did a series on the artists in my family:

here and here and here and here

and now for the latest installment

TA-DA

the work of the one and only

miss is,

my lovely daughter,

who is 18 today.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

We have a tradition of making our own cards for birthdays

and Valentine's Day.

And for the last few years miss is created special artwork

as Christmas presents.

Last year I received the charming vignettes above

to illustrate our monthly activities.

I love it.

This happy piece hangs proudly in my day-office cube.

Gotta spice that place up!

Below is the Christmas present from 2008.

I made a little book with the watercolor sketches.

It is a work in progress...

I plan to add rings or ribbon to hold the book together.

We campaigned for Obama as a family.

Here I am making calls to Pennsylvania voters

miss is and dh canvassing in Rhode Island

Campaign headquarters - downtown Philly

Voter registration in Philly on Easter weekend

We hung out on a street corner in North Philly

trying to get people to register to vote in the primary.

and our invitation to the inauguration

(along with millions of other people)

We watched from the comfort of our cozy cottage in Connecticut

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

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.

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!

Serendiptity

Today, the Writer's Almanac from NPR

had a wonderful piece on

serendipity

here it is....and here too

It was on this day in 1754 that the word "serendipity" was first coined. It's defined by Merriam-Webster as "the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for." It was recently listed by a U.K. translation company as one of the English language's 10 most difficult words to translate. Other words to make their list include plenipotentiary, gobbledegook, poppycock, whimsy, spam, and kitsch.

"Serendipity" was first used by parliament member and writer Horace Walpole in a letter that he wrote to an English friend who was spending time in Italy. In the letter to his friend written on this day in 1754, Walpole wrote that he came up with the word after a fairy tale he once read, called "The Three Princes of Serendip," explaining, "as their Highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of." The three princes of Serendip hail from modern-day Sri Lanka. "Serendip" is the Persian word for the island nation off the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka.

The invention of many wonderful things have been attributed to "serendipity," including Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Charles Goodyear's vulcanization of rubber, inkjet printers, Silly Putty, the Slinky, and chocolate chip cookies.

Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin after he left for vacation without disinfecting some of his petri dishes filled with bacteria cultures; when he got back to his lab, he found that the penicillium mold had killed the bacteria.

Viagra had been developed to treat hypertension an

d angina pectoris; it didn't do such a good job at these things, researchers found during the first phase of clinical trials, but it was good for something else.

The principles of radioactivity, X-rays, and infrared radiation were all found when researchers were looking for something else.

Julius Comroe said, "Serendipity is looking in a haystack for a needle and discovering a farmer's daughter."

Wiktionary lists serendipity's antonyms as "Murphy's law" and "perfect storm."

Last night as I was reading my latest Harper's Bazaar,

I was amused

by these adverts by ghd

To fully appreciate the ads I will repeat the copy which is hard to read:

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, you're quite debonair

Now you've straightened and curled that long flowing hair

Your locks would appeal to many a suitor

So why not find someone who's taller and cuter?"

then,

"Cinderella's a beauty, her hair all a-curl

No need of a prince for this stunning young girl

She's saying goodbye to glass slippers forever

And running away with a bloke dressed in leather."

and finally:

"Little Red Riding Hood, neither timid nor shy

Whilst straightening her locks, a wolf she did spy

But far from fainting or running a fever

She started to laugh and pulled out a cleaver."

Call me crazy

but I was excessively diverted

and then

I had an e-mail about a new collection

from

Heather Ross

(one of my favorite fabric designers)

and who should appear

but Rapunzel

in her designs

Serendipity

by george i've got it

the pursuit of happiness

maira kalman has given me such happiness

for the last year with each installment

of her blog:

on the pursuit of happiness

in the new york times.

read today's installment here

by george she's got it -

savor the moment

proust said,

and i parphrase,

because i cannot find the exact quote:

you are never as happy as you think...

nor are things as bad as you think..."

savor the moment

try to find happiness

in life's simple pleasures

i say so long too

so long 2009

may 2010 be all that you hope for.

xo

m

with all the Christmas preparations in the studio and at home

and all the end of year work at the office

i completely

forgot...

about

Maira Kalman's blog post last week

heavens to morgatroyd

but it the latest installment has been postponed to New Year's Day

PHEW!

I was reading back articles in the Times this morning and came across this wonderful article about David Hockney - a favorite of mine. I encourage you all to read it and watch the videos that appear along side. Then, if you are in NYC in the next couple of months, you should check out his show of the landscape paintings. I remember being enthralled with him 25 years ago and tried to imitate his art with photographs and collage. It was fun - not as successful as his work but that's ok - I enjoyed it.

Check out the article here

28 of these paintings will go on view in New York in a two-gallery exhibition at PaceWildenstein, both in Midtown and in Chelsea, through Dec. 24.

Find creativity, inspiration,friendship, and beauty 

in the woods of New Hampshire

Imagine art all day long

in a beautiful camp-like setting

on the cleanest lake in New Hampshire

surrounded by mountains

here is one of the cabins

called Studio

RDC is a family camp established 100 years ago.

Families go back summer after summer

We stayed in this cabin for one week many years ago

and also the lodge in the top photo.

In the off season RDC hosts different groups

like the Squam Art Camps or a corporate retreat

Posie Gets Cozy wrote about this art camp here

The camps are run in June and September.

I wish I could go,

maybe another year.

the creative fairy gods

i enjoyed this talk; you might too.

(click on talk to listen)

Elizabeth Gilbert on TED IDEAS WORTH SPREADING

via on Julia, What Made Me Look, on February 15, 2009.  

a dream, a reality

Daily Candy Boston featured artist Katie Rowley recently

I checked out her art via her website.

The above letter is her web statement.

Make sure you save some your children's important creations.

Who knows who they will become.

I forget where I found this picture...

I was trolling around the blogosphere...

sorry, that I cannot properly credit the creator.

It is magical 

and

draws you in like a good story.

Look at the layers: a drawing, a photograph, a painting

the color red is wonderful...

I have been daydreaming about a story to go with this illustration.

Image from NYT's Magazine: TOP DRAWER DESIGN FALL 2008

Creation of Georges Rousse. 

An abandoned building transformed;

"equal parts illusion, installation and graffiti...

his work is never what it seems..."

I was paging through the magazine 

as I listened to the talking heads discuss 

the bailout that was and then wasn't... 

and thought the top picture was very interesting.

The artist reinterpretted the famous T.

Yes, "his work is never what it seems"