Category: art

Lovely Saturday

On Saturday, N and I took the kids to an artists’ studio sale Linnie was participating in. The artists at the sale were cleaning out their studios and selling pieces at a big discounts.

I have a serious weakness when it comes to art (and let’s be honest–crafting books, cook books, and fabric) and enjoy collecting things that I like. We’ve run out of wall space in our house but I tell myself that when we eventually move it will be nice to already have pieces that means something to us to decorate the house with. (That makes sense, right? Or do I just sound like an unwell person on Hoarders?)

Linnie was selling mostly older pieces and I snagged this original on paper that I liked for $25.  The photo I took of it isn’t very clear but the painting’s colors and texture are nice and it reminds me of a Bodhisattva so, score.

We were the only people at the art sale with small children which was a bit nerve-wracking. E and Mimi were both really good though so after the sale we stopped by two bakeries (one vegan for E, one not) and picked up a few treats.

We had been wanting to visit Les Madeleines so we picked up a few macaroons and tried the  specialty, their Kouing Aman pastries which they’re well-known for. 

IT WAS SO GOOD.

The top was crisp and caramelized and the inside was soft and pillowy. It was buttery and sweet with just the right touch of salt. It’s a good thing the bakery is over 30 minutes away from our house because my fitness plans might be seriously derailed if it was more convenient.

If you’re local and you haven’t been to Les Madeleines, go! (Except not today because they’re closed on Mondays 🙂

I Heart Art: Sarah Jane

I’ve been a fan of illustrator Sarah Jane’s work ever since I saw some of her fabrics at a quilting shop. To me, her work is sweet but not saccharine. I like how she captures the magic of childhood in an endearing and classic way.

I was browsing the Sarah Jane blog over the weekend and saw that she had some new inspirational children’s prints:

This was my favorite print in the new collection. There are versions for girls and boys. You can also personalize the print to match your little one.


You can see a few more of her new inspirational prints here.

Sarah has a number of other art prints; this family tree is another favorite of mine.

Wouldn’t it make a sweet gift for a new niece or nephew? This print also comes as a fabric panel; I love the idea of making Mimi a quilt with it.

If you like Sarah’s work, check out the Sarah Jane blog and shop.

(All images in this post are from Sarah Jane Studios)

Tobin Sprout Paintings

I can’t draw to save my life, but I love art. N and I both like following the careers of a few artists and adding their work to our little collection when we get the chance. Mostly we have affordable prints by artists involved in comics or music.

But we recently bought a few small paintings by Tobin Sprout, painter and guitarist in Guided By Voices (the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band of the modern era).

Moon Ray by Tobin Sprout

Flying Saucer #1 by Tobin Sprout

These paintings are quite small, about 5 inches wide, which was why we could afford them 🙂 Up close they really are quite nice, especially Moon Ray. We’re going to hang them in E’s room since he is gaga over all things space/robots/laser guns.

I Heart Art: 20×200

20×200 and Tiny Showcase are two of my favorite places online to browse for affordable art. I’ve bought a few prints from Tiny Showcase over the last few years, mostly work by Scott C and Jen Corace, but I haven’t bought anything from 20×200–yet.

I have a voucher to 20×200 that I bought on one of those deal-of-the-day sites burning a hole in my pocket and these are some prints that have caught my eye.

Vogue JUL07:pg145 (Ripeness is All) by Lauren DiCioccio
(I LOVE these pieces by DiCioccio.)

28 Camera Drawings by Christine Berrie
(The vintage Polaroid camera N gave me earlier this year is the same model as the one in the upper right.)

Memories of Festivals by Tatsuro Kiuchi
Squeeze by Gary Petersen

What do you think? Do any of these (or anything else on 20×200) strike your fancy?

Amy Ruppel on Tiny Showcase

We’re still under the weather around here but thankfully I think I’m starting to feel a little better.

I just wanted to hop on and give the head’s up that Amy Ruppel is going to be on Tiny Showcase tonight.

I love her work and can’t wait to see the the print they’re going to release. Only 100 copies will be sold and at $20 a pop they’re going to go fast.

Check it out at 5:30 pm today Utah time.

Jen Corace Print

I know I’ve been posting about art more than usual lately but I have to tell you about this print by Jen Corace. I really love Jen’s work: we have a couple children’s books she’s illustrated but none of her prints. So I was really excited to see this print she did for Tiny Showcase. It’s bigger than most of TS’s prints (7″x10″) and half of its $30 price goes directly to help with the gulf oil spill which is nice.

Down, Down, Down by Jen Corace

It’s summery and serene and I think it would look great in my guest bath/laundry room. (Hmm…)

If you’re interested, you’ll need to act quickly. The print run isn’t limited but it closes after tomorrow. More info here.

Toothpick Masterpiece

As someone who “hearts” art but hasn’t really studied it in depth I often find myself drawn to folk artists–people who aren’t formally trained but feel a need to create nevertheless.

Scott Weaver is 3rd generation San Franciscan who has built sculptures out of toothpicks since he was 8. He’s spent over 3,000 hours creating his masterpiece, Rolling Through The Bay, a 100,000 toothpick sculpture of San Francisco complete with functioning streets through which ping pong balls can roll. It is amazing.


(Found via Apartment Therapy > The Experts Agree)

Weekend Report

This weekend had it ups and downs. For some reason E wasn’t sleeping well and had an uncharacteristically high number of meltdowns. I think it his seasonal allergies might be bothering him a lot right now or maybe he’s fighting off a bug. I guess he could be acting out just because he’s two and a half but for the sake of my sanity I prefer to believe that it’s something that can be overcome with Zyrtec or a couple days of rest rather than waiting months for him to grow out of it.

We did make it to the art sale and I bought this piece by my friend Linnie. This photo doesn’t really do it justice–it’s huge (3 ft. by 3 ft.) and the colors and texture in it are fantastic.

I bought it as sort of an investment–not as in I hope Linnie becomes crazy famous and I can sell it for $$$ later (although, now that I think of it that’s not a bad idea, Linnie!) but more of an investment for a future house. Our current place doesn’t have a good place to hang it but I think it will look great over a sofa or console table. But I really liked it and the price was right so it came home with us.

After the art sale we realized that we were just a few blocks away from what is probably the best Mexican restaurant in the state and so we stopped by for a delicious lunch. And then we went home and did chores until it was time to meet some friends for dinner.

Sunday was a little rougher. E (understandably) has a hard time sitting still at church and I’m developing fears that he’s becoming “the problem kid” in nursery. He just likes to run around a lot. Every week he comes home with a blank coloring page with his name written on it because he doesn’t sit still to color. Yesterday N picked him up from nursery so I didn’t hear about it first hand but I guess E took a header off a chair–oops.

After a busy weekend I’m really looking forward keeping it low-key today. A mountain of laundry has never seemed so relaxing!