The Magic Language of Things

When I found a beautiful curved dish at a Goodwill many years ago, I had no idea that it had been designed by one of the most important woman designers in modern history. At the time, I was drawn to its shape and by the brightly colored floral pattern, and later I learned that the shape of the piece is what distinguished the designer from other designers of her time. So, when I heard that Eva Zeisel had died on December 30th at the age of 105, I was sad, but at the same time I thought what a long and illustrious life she lived. She was an industrial designer, known for her work in ceramics, and she designed into her 100s. Her design career spanned seventy-five years. Pretty amazing.

If you don't recognize her name, than perhaps you'll recognize some of her work. She designed these pieces in the 1940s and Crate and Barrel has recreated some of these pieces in a new line. Every time I walk into Crate and Barrel, I look for the gravy boat. Known for the sensual curves in her designs, Eva Zeisel often told interviewers that she was inspired by mother and child and many of her pieces resemble birds and look like a mother bird nestling her young.

The piece that I found at the Goodwill was one that she designed for Hall China in the 1950s, from her Bouquet collection. It is the celery dish in the top of the photo. Last year, I was lucky enough to find a matching plate when I was out thrifting. I was thrilled that I had found another Eva Zeisel design to add to my collection. 

I've read that Eva's work in industrial design was her 'search for beauty.' I think she found it, don't you?

You can read about Eva and her work at http://evazeiseloriginals.com/. And just a few months ago, a new book was published: Eva Zeisel on Design: The Magic Language of Things.

A Coloring Journal

I have long been a colorer. Ever since my mom bought me my first coloring book and crayons I have spent long hours coloring away. I even keep a coloring book and crayon set stashed in one of my desk drawers at work and take them out when I have had a stressful day and need to look at something besides a computer screen. Coloring just relaxes me. While browsing through Etsy this morning, I discovered this coloring journal for grown-ups by Cynthia Emerlye and love the idea that it mixes beautiful, complex images to color with blank pages to write down your thoughts and meditations.

I think I am ready to move on from my Suzi's Zoo coloring book. You can find Cynthia's coloring journal on her Web site and while you are there, check out her other beautiful artwork. She also sells some of her work in her Etsy shop and she has an art blog at www.EmerlyeArts.blogspot.com. Check out her lovely kirigami Valentine she just posted.

Artful Seed Packets

It's not too early to dream of next year's garden and to begin thinking about what you would like to plant. And while you are dreaming and thinking, why not browse (and buy) a seed library that has beautiful art packets at the same time?

Last year I bought some of Hudson Valley Seed Library's Art Packs and seeds for the very first time and I am smitten. I am thrilled to see that their Art Packs are out for 2011 and are available through their Holiday Gift Catalogue.

The artists for 2011 were picked from a pool of over 70 submissions and come from all over the Hudson Valley and New York City. The mediums they used were collage, encaustics, oil, watercolor, digital, paper cutting, and ink. Each artist's rendering celebrates the joy and beauty of heirloom gardening. You can read about the artists in the holiday gift catalogue.

Also, while you're over there, visit the Hudson Valley Seed Library blog to read a fun post on how Victoria Gardens photographed their art packs.

A Book of Roses

When I was antiquing recently, I came across this small 1939 Penguin book on roses that includes 16 color rose plates. I was drawn to the tattered, well-worn cover with its old, dusty rose shade of pink. When I picked it up and saw that some of the pages were browning with age it made me wonder about the book's owner or owners and how much this little book must have been used and loved. 

The book is a short history of the beloved rose and includes color plate illustrations by Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759 - 1840) from his folio Les Roses. These are just a few.

Cabbage Rose (left) and Damask Rose (right)

Rosa nitida (left) and Sulphur Rose (right)

Rosa gallica

I have always loved botanical prints and I would like to try to enlarge some of these plates on a color copier and mount and frame them. I think they would look beautiful grouped together on the wall of the family room or even along the hall, don't you?

The Murals of Coit Tower

Since there were only a handful of people at Coit Tower when we arrived it gave me an opportunity to look around inside. It was wonderful because usually when you get there a line of people waiting to take the elevator to the top of the tower wraps around so you can't see the artwork on the walls. This time I got to study the beautiful murals that depict life in California in the 1930s.

Steelworker by Clifford Wright

Railroad and Shipping by William Hesthal

The murals were commissioned by the Public Works of Art Project by the U.S. Government. Twenty-five Bay Area artists and assistants were selected to complete the project. 

Library by Bernard Zakheim

The artists were heavily influenced by social realism and the work of Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Due to controversy over the social criticism present in the artwork the opening of the tower was delayed until 1934.

California by Maxine Albro

Another California scene by Maxine Albo

by Maxine Albo

All the murals are frescoes. Fresco is an ancient technique of wall painting that was revived during the Renaissance and then abandoned in the 1600s. This was a technique that Diego Rivera used and again shows his influence on the muralists. 

Meat Industry by Ray Bertrand

In fresco, a master plaster applies a thin coating of fresh plaster (it is fresco in Italian) to the wall, but only as much as the artist can paint in one day which was about two feet. The artist then paints with a wet brush dabbed in dry pigments. The lime in the plaster binds the paint to the wall. It is a slow process and each stroke of the brush is final. Colors cannot be blended as with oils.

Department Store (left) by Frede Vidar; Banking and the Law by George Harris

City Life by Victor Arnautoff

Newsgathering by Suzanne Scheuer

These photos are only a few of the murals from inside the tower. They are truly awe inspiring and it is amazing how much detail the artists achieved using the fresco technique. 

Post-it Art

How cool is this?

image from Post-It 0n Facebook 

In celebration of their 30th Anniversary, Post-it Notes partnered with a non-profit company, Publicolor, to hold a National Student Art Contest where the students had to create artwork that answered the question, "In 30 years I will..." The winning entries are displayed in a Student Art Exhibition at the Grand Central Exhibit Hall in New York City, along with the world's largest billboard made up of over 112,000 post-its. It took the artist, Eric Daigh (an amazing conceptual artist who creates art with push-pins), one month to take the winning selections from the contest and create the billboard. I would love to see this in person!

Homage to the Seed Project

I learned about this wonderful project from Robyn over at gardenrooms. Sophie Munns is the artist in residence at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in Australia and she is having a postcards from the blogosphere "homage to the seed" show at her open house July 12 - 18. 

Visit Sophie's blog for more information on how you can participate. Hurry, though because you will need to act quickly so that Sophie will receive your handmade postcard before July 12th.

Take Tuesday: Street Art Murals

I have long been interested and fascinated by street murals. It amazes me how the artists can work on such a large canvas. There are so many beautiful examples around town. Here are just a few:


This street mural is on the back of a building in a small park in Gardenland, a small section of Sacramento that has the most fertile soil. You can throw a seed in the dirt and it will sprout in no time.

This street mural is on an antique store that I often go to.

I watched the artist work on this building. He started each image with just a white circular background and then painted the various jazz artists. Do you recognize any of them?

Here is a beautiful one in Carmichael Park.

A Mother/Daughter Memory

One of my fondest memories as a child is the day I traveled to London with my mother to see Swan Lake performed by The Royal Ballet. It was a special mother/daughter trip and was the first time I saw a real ballet. I was taking ballet and tap classes at the time and my mom thought it would give me inspiration.

To say that I was mesmerized by the performance is putting it mildly. I was spellbound and eagerly took in everything around me. I was enthralled by all the ballerinas and watched their feathery costumes as the dancers seemed to float in the air. And although I cannot remember every single detail of that day and night, I can still remember the music - how it moved me with joy one minute and to tears the next - how the costumes shimmered in the lights - how the audience buzzed with excitement - and how the applause at the end of the performance was deafening and seemed to last forever. It was a night that sparked a little girl's imagination and ignited a lifelong passion for the arts.


So, today, on the day that mark's the 170th birthday of Pyotr IIyich Tchaikovsky, I am thankful for that memory shared with my mom and grateful that I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to see The Royal Ballet perform one of the greatest ballets of all time.

The Love Tree

Simply adorable. Available at The Love Shop

Missed Connections

I find Sophie Blackall's Missed Connections art so intriguing. She draws pictures of chance encounters she observes in the city. How romantic is that?

Sophie's artwork is available on etsy.

An Incredible Artist

My mom sent me this video below in an e-mail. Please read the text below before watching the video.


This is the text included in the e-mail:
"This video shows the winner of "Ukraine's Got Talent", artist Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch.


The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the prize of about 75,000 pounds (about $122,411).
She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated.


It is replaced by a woman's face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns, and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman's face appears. She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns in a monument of an Unknown Soldier.


This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window, as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from a house...In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.


The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine, resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to eleven million deaths out of a population of 42 million."


The artist, Kseniya Simonova says: "I find it difficult enough to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is beyond me. The art, especially when the war is the subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. And there's surely no bigger compliment." You can see more of her art on YouTube.

Happy Earth Day

Okay, I freely admit it - I largely wanted to post today just so I could save this image. I really have enjoyed Dennis Hwang's (the Google artist) artistic images for a long time and look forward to every holiday just to see what he has created. 

Celebrate Earth Day and plant something - anything. Just go outside and get those hands dirty.

Shouting Distance

The Sacramento Film Festival is an unincorporated, not-for-profit film organization that is a showcase for film arts and artists from Northern California. The festival begins March 22 and runs through April 5. Of special interest to me because she is a friend of a friend of mine is a short film by director, writer, and actress Loreni Delgado that will be shown on March 31st at the Cine Latino during the festival.

The film is about a woman's husband who is a journalist and who has been covering the war in Iraq, but since he came back from the war he is a changed man. This is "a story of a woman who uses her art and a little imagination to reconnect with her husband." Here is the trailer from the film, Shouting Distance.