Bottles of thanks to you

I was going to post a photo of a pretty bouquet to give you flowers as thanks for letting me whine in the last two posts. 

But instead, you get a bottle tree.  I love these trees.

So, many bottles of thanks for letting me whine!

Thank you for the solid advice.  I'm trying to put some of it into play and still a little scattered at the moment.  But it's nice to hear from you!!

And this poem, below, has nothing to do with whining or bottle trees, but I like it.  Reminds me of the things I say to the CO Boy when he asks about school.  Part of me thinks he should learn this stuff and part of me thinks, not really.

To David About His Education
by Howard Nemerov

The world is full of mostly invisible things,

And there is no way but putting the mind’s eye,

Or its nose, in a book, to find them out,

Things like the square root of Everest

Or how many times Byron goes into Texas,

Or whether the law of the excluded middle

Applies west of the Rockies. For these

And the like reasons, you have to go to school

And study books and listen to what you are told,

And sometimes try to remember. Though I don’t know

What you will do with the mean annual rainfall

On Plato’s Republic, or the calorie content

Of the Diet of Worms, such things are said to be

Good for you, and you will have to learn them

In order to become one of the grown-ups

Who sees invisible things neither steadily nor whole,

But keeps gravely the grand confusion of the world

Under his hat, which is where it belongs,

And teaches small children to do this in their turn.

Yves St. Laurent and Madeline Albright in one day

Bug pin from Madeline Albright's collection

Auntie is here for the weekend and generally when she is here, we don't venture too far from home.  Eat, nap, go to Target or JoAnn Fabrics, maybe HomeDepot if we're feeling wild.  But today the Roping Dummy suggested we go to the art museum.  We took in the Yves St. Laurent exhibit as well as the Madeline Albright, "Read My Pin" exhibit.

The St. Laurent show was just beautiful.  I'll be going back a few more times.  I promised to take one of my sisters and I'll have to go back with my sketch book just for the sheer joy of it all. 

The Albright show was also amazing.  She has a gazillion pins.  She points out that most are not expensive but the value is where they are from or when she wore them, etc.  For instance, the bug pin, pictured above, was worn when she met with Russian officials and she had recently learned they had bugged a State Dept. conference room.  Heh.  Got a sense of humor, that Madeline.

It was nice of the RD to suggest an art museum trip.  I've about had it up to here with boy stuff lately.  Just wanted something that didn't involve horses, cows, or learning to tie square knots.  He and the CO Boy kinda forget I'm a girl sometimes-:).

Jerimiah Goodman

I love art work of interiors.  I find myself sketching chairs and armoires a lot.  I've shared Cecil Beaton's interior illustrations before but don't think I've ever mentioned Jereimiah Goodman. 

His watercolor works are so gorgeous and they make me "feel" the rooms.

Babe Paley's bedroom

Bruce Weber's home

a desk (I have no idea who it belongs to)

Library (again, no idea who it belongs to)


My sister, Lizzie, gave me House Proud for Christmas.

I have wanted this book forever!  It showcases illustrations housed at the Cooper - Hewitt Museum.  They are all watercolor interiors and just amazing in detail and feel.  It's a book that  makes me happy and I like to look through it when I'm sitting in bed at night.

Gershwin in Cartoon Form

Monsieur Boudin by Lab Partners

I've recently discovered these delightful cards.  I love them.  They remind me of Gershwin, full of mischief and a bit jaunty.



Book Love - Wait for Me!

North American cover

I'm reading the memoirs of Deborah Mitford.  Actually I'm listening to them on CD.  I don't usually listen to books but my schedule has been challenging and I find I have little time to read.  So I decided to make use of my commute and listen to a book.

The Mitford sisters were so interesting.  I'm not really sure why.  Maybe because some of them were outrageous (one was a Fascist who married Sir Oswald Mosley, and another was a Communist, while still another shot herself in the head when she realized Great Britain declared war on Germany).  Deborah is probably the most conventional of all of the sisters and the youngest of them.  How funny that a Duchess would be considered, "conventional".  They had an interesting childhood and her writing is very "listenable".  It helps to have a good narrator in the way of Anne Flosnik.

Even though the girls didn't have a formal education (their mother was big on what we would be something akin to homeschool and she cared little for exams), they were so creative and witty.  All of them were voracious letter writers and their words have been preserved in various books written by them and about them. 

Most people know of Nancy Mitford, who wrote books about her family, thinly veiled as fiction.  You know my love of portraiture, be it human or dog or horse.  This is a portrait of Nancy Mitford I discovered and I love it.  She's a bit pointy looking in it, but I love it nonetheless.  I tried to find information on the artist but came up empty.

Nancy Mitford portrait by Mogens Tvede

The guys are off to Cub Scout Camp and I have three days to myself.  I'll be cleaning my filthy house, but also doing some stuff that will be more enjoyable.  Like staying up late and reading!

This is the voice, or why Arlene just wants to be Blossom Dearie

I love music.  Everybody knows that.  And I listen to a variety of styles.  But I always go back to certain types of artists and I'm in one of those periods right now.

This morning I was on youtube (can't you just spend way too much time on that site??) and watched this video of Blossom Dearie.  She is older in this video but still has the same voice I love and plays the piano with such magic.  Her song selections are always a treat to hear.  Side Note:  After I watched this video, the CO Boy woke up and we had to watch "Unpack your Adjectives", the old Schoolhouse Rock video in which Blossom's voice is featured.  See.  Everyone loves Blossom.  Here she is with Billy Taylor.  The lyrics to this song make me laugh.

Then fast forward to about a decade ago when I found Stacy Kent.  Her phrasing is so deceptively simple...and gorgeous.  Her song selections are wonderful and her recent LP is in French with some French standards as well as some current compositions.  But one standard that makes it into my all-time Top 10 is "You Are There", written by Dave Frishberg.  She has a wonderful recording of this song.  Unfortunately no video, but you MUST listen to the song below.  Just close your eyes and listen to her the beautiful song. Interestingly enough, Blossom recorded this song but I can't find a video of it either.

And then there's the jazz that is more tinged with Brazilian rhythms.  I love Gretchen Parloto.  She is so free in her singing but yet she knows exactly where she is.  She's singing "Flor de Lis," in this video.

Fast forward to just today and I stumbled upon Jules Day.  She and the Roping Dummy are FB friends.  They have a lot of mutual jazz musician friends from the Los Angeles days.  Her songs are original compositions, and for the most part I like them very much.  She looks like Diana Krall just a bit, but not nearly as annoying with an almost-dead delay in vocal delivery (sorry, DK - you're a fab pianist, but listening to you sing brings out such anxiety as I wait for you to get the words out).  Jules is a blend of jazz, pop and bossa.  I'm diggin' it.

So I'm just gonna samba my way upstairs for the night and sing softly like these ladies, albeit not as beautifully.

Snoopy is Real

At least to me he is.  He's always been real.  And now the CO Boy is sharing in my laughter of the beagle's antics.  He'd seen the holiday shows, but he'd never seen, "Snoopy Come Home," which is my favorite.  So I rented it and he and I have laughed until we hurt.

Because of the CO Boy's interest in the canine, I printed out some snoopy pictures with the idea that he could draw them during our Peaceful Time (as he calls our nights in bed when we draw).  He loved it.  But to back track a bit:  Last week he was frustrated because he couldn't draw the airplane the way he wanted to.  What he was doing was drawing it from an overhead view but he was looking at it from a side view.  We had a whole discussion about drawing what you see and how the mind wants to impose what it knows on to the page, but you must draw what you see to make it look as you would like.  Well he did it and was so happy with himself.  So when he drew his Snoopy and Woodstock picture I was quite impressed. 

He was going to draw it for his Tia Bel, but he liked it so much he couldn't part with it.  So we're working on a piece that might be suitable to send to Tia Bel.

I just love how he gets so engrossed in drawing and really seems to enjoy it.  As I've said before, he's a lot like his dad, but there's a little bit of me in him too.  That would be the Pajama Days and Peaceful Time-:).

The Cecils

"Mickey" by Cecil Aldin

"Pup with Indigestion" by Cecil Aldin

"Mona & Harrison Williams - Palm Palm Springs" by Cecil Beaton

"Dorothy Hirshon" by Cecil Beaton

Sharing two of my favorite artists with you:  Cecil Aldin and Cecil Beaton.

I've posted Cecil Aldin's work before.  He was famous for his drawings/paintings of animals, usually dogs but also he did a lot of work for hunters (as in fox hunting).  His animals are always so animated and I just want to hug them.

Cecil Beaton is probably best known as a photographer.  He photographed everyone from Queen Elizabeth as a young woman to Babe Paley and other socialites of his day.  He was also a set designer for films.  My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn is one of his films.  But I like his drawings and paintings the best.  His painting style is now considered fashion illustration.  I don't care what you call it, but I like it.

Thanks for the feedback on the Lego Room.  I'll keep you posted.  If I have the courage, I'll take the "before" picture and post it along side the "after" picture.  But I'm working up the courage to share the disaster area online.

Santos

Vintage Santo

I was over at Jennifer Rizzo's site where she had a posting on Santos dolls she was working with.  She featured another place called SantosCageDolls and I went over their and fell in love with their work.

As kid growing up in an old (like 1598 old) family from New Mexico, I remember going to mass at my grandma's church and seeing all the santos at the altar.  This is probably foreign to protestants but pretty much every Catholic - particularly Hispanic - family I knew had a few in their home. 

My grandma had them all over her house, but one room in particular seemed comforting and haunting with their presence.  The living room housed several santos which were more formal and therefore seemed special.  It was a room we were not allowed to play and of course, we always wanted to sneak in and play the pump organ.  The linoleum floor had a maroon background with white feather-like swirls through it and crunched under our feet as we tiptoped through the room.  We'd go into the room and begin pumping the organ peddles, trying to make sounds on it.  For those of you who've never pumped an organ, imagine being a very small child and pushing on those pedals - we were lucky if we could get a groan or two out of it.  The whole time we whispered so Grandma wouldn't find us, but then once the organ bellowed we'd scream because we'd scare ourselves, certain that one of the Santos was going to get us.  And then Grandma would come in the room and order us out in Spanish.   

As I said, they were both comforting and haunting-:).

Santos from SantosCageDolls.com

I think this one is gorgeous.  Of course the last thing I need is a wooden doll to clothe.  One more project for my already scattered brain to get excited about.  But if you should care to buy her for me, I wouldn't complain...

Restful sleep. Not

Sleeping Partners by Cecil Aldin

This is sort of what I look like in bed at night with the two dogs, and my guys all fighting for space.  Then I wonder why my back hurts.  I love this painting - done in pastels for a book Aldin published.  I'd love to have it.  But alas, the copies I've seen are hugely expensive for this HP Girl.

I may have mentioned before that the CO Boy and I like to draw before bedtime.  We try to do so at least once a week, but he has become quite fond of the exercise and last night he asked if we could draw every night.  Well hey, you don't have to ask me twice!  We sit in our pajamas, drawing pads on our laps, Stephane Grapelli on the CD player and quietly draw side by side.  It's the sweetest thing for me.

Last night he began to take an interest in drawing what you see.  He did his very best to copy a photo of a puppy who was pictured at a side angle with only part of his right eye showing.  Then he asked if I would show him how to use a tortillion to blend his pencil markings.  I must say (even if I'm a bit biased), the drawing was quite good for a first go.  The CO Boy is rather impatient, so I have explained to him how drawings are developed in layers and how we can't do all of it in one night, but rather, several nights.  He seemed satisifed with my explanation and we'll begin again tonight.  I'm a lucky mother to have a boy who enjoys some of the things I enjoy.

Friends

Drawing by Cecil Aldin

I don't have many "real live in-person" kind of friends, but of those few, I have some good ones.

Last night, I had a great meeting with the Nerd Club.  The Nerd Club is made up of my neice and nephew and moi.  We all write in one form or another and so our meetings surround the writing process, our goals, our frustrations, etc.  I used to babysit these two (they're cousins, not siblilngs, btw) and it's a real pleasure to know them as adults.  The photo above is of lazy puppies - a non-activity we have elevated to an artform!

Regarding the artwork, I LUV Cecil Aldin's work.  He was an illustrator known for his animal drawings, particularly dogs and horses.  I draw animals and can only dream to do work as beautiful as this.  But I keep trying-:)

(Gene and friends)

And then this afternoon I had a lovely visit with two girlfriends.  We met through our boys but have our own friendships which are a treasure  This was our first outing sans boys and we've decided on a monthly visit because it was glorious to sit there without boys!  Now we didn't sing and dance ala Gene, Debbie and Donald, but a great time was had nonetheless.

Of course you knew it wouldn't be too long before I posted a Gene photo.  For you newer readers, I adore him.  I could watch Gene Kelly movies 24/7 and be quite happy, thank you.  His dance sequences are mesmerizing and I could rewind over and over to see them. This particular shot is from Singing in the Rain. 

I've often read of the importance of being with friends.  You live longer, you're happier, etc.  But with this HP Life, it becomes so difficult to find the time.  But I can say I came home last night feeling cheered about life, and then today as well.  I must remember this.

Work day tomorrow and the CO Boy is after me to crawl in bed and draw. 

So that's what we shall do.