10.31.2007

double trouble




Here on the home front, it's one last blast for Hermione Granger. Yes, indeed. My eldest daughter will be charming up visitors and residents of the Upper West Side this evening - spreading magic, abracadabra-ing (or avada kedavra-ing, as you like) and filling her dark arts bag to the brim with collected booty. Her sidekick (aka her two-year-old sister) will don her ultra-fab, super-luxe Hedwig costume. Too excellent.

(Photos are from a summer trip to the Cloisters - Hogwarts, rather - another don't miss on any visit to NYC.)





Happy Halloween!

10.30.2007

que seurat, seurat



For those planning a trip here during the holidays, do. not. miss. Seurat's drawings at the Modern (MoMA). For those who live here, you've probably seen it already - no excuses for not going. The show is getting rave write-ups across the board. One of the most attractive features of the exhibit is the computerized interactive art that allows the viewer to flip through the notebooks, page by digital page, from cover to cover. (From an inside source, the visitor-mucho-friendly device has only been used a few times previously in other museums; undoubtedly, we'll be seeing a lot more of it.)

Roberta Smith of the Times writes:

Facsimiles they may be, but they instantly communicate the show's intent, which is to clarify the way the silent, classical remove of Seurat's impeccable, stylized paintings was distilled from an active, socially aware engagement with the world that registered most fully in his drawings.



And please check out the exhibit site here. It's just brilliant.



“Georges Seurat: The Drawings” is at the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400, through Jan. 7

10.19.2007

autumnal splendor


Gadzooks! It can't possibly be mid-October already. The weather here isn't helping promote a sense of seasonality - it's about 77 degrees, balmy, downright steamy. I'm still wearing linen, although in dark colors. Anyhoo...

These beautiful photos beckoned with their rich texture and deep, dark, sumptuous color - trademarks of this favored season.

Oh, autumn. I adore thee.








:surroundings, tony duquette, skona hem, sheila bridges via nysd

10.08.2007

silver bells



I like the various (but few), interestingly-juxtaposed elements in the white room above. And the silver sphere theme carries over to this marble, silver & chrome-clad kitchen. I think these caught my eye because I'm thinking about scheduling the trek to our storage area to retrieve our load of holiday ornaments and decor - including many mini-versions of the silver balls you see here.

Likey, or no likey?


(Lurv the Bertoia counter-height stools...)



:images courtesy of Ghislaine Viñas, photographer Steven Randazzo, Shootfactory - pilfered from purplearea

ink + wit = paper bliss


I'm a complete nutball when it comes to gorgeous papers with great design and color. As for these adorables at ink + wit, I'll say this: Resistance. Is. Futile. I mean, the designs themselves convey a clear message of goodwill. Why wouldn't you order a batch of postcards to have at the ready and share the love?

Need an excuse for raiding this great online store? The start of fall is the perfect time to stock up on notecards and stationery, and to prep for all the gift cards and thank you notes ahead. And ink + wit's holiday postcards aren't just for Christmas & New Year - check out these stylish (yet spooky) black crows and spiders...


The next three are pure charm and delight. (And did I mention they're POSTCARDS! No envelopes! Loving that!)




:inkandwit

10.01.2007

if walls had eyes

Cole & Son has come out with these beautiful - and in the case of the classic "eyes/faces" images, a bit unnerving - wallpapers utilizing the celebrated works of Piero Fornasetti. When Karen Beauchamp, creative director for Cole & Son, was invited to collaborate on the collection, she was "bowled over by the depth and beauty of Piero's drawings," according to an article in this month's New York Home magazine. True to the Italian tradition of "disegno", the process of drawing and redrawing from classic inspiration, Beauchamp adapted and incorporated signature Fornasetti designs to suit wallpaper. By screeen-printing the wallpapers by hand, Cole & Son continues the Fornasetti tradition of impeccable craftsmanship on a large-scale-production level.


(I just love these patterns; they make such nice autumn blog-decor!)






from top: variaziani, ortensia, corallo, frutto proibito, peonie