i love, love, love

this work. Found Severine C.’s beautiful photography during a google search on pillow books. This one in particular  is a favorite of mine. This one, too. So many beautiful images. Check out pillow book  set.

in the butterfly tent…

in the kiddo’s room at school, the new butterflies have come out of their chrysalis’s. The kids can sit, one at a time, in the little tent with six butterflies. And while they do, this beautiful cd, A Pink Whale and a Very Tall Tree, sings along; sings about the little things that, when one is very young…or, still young; are so very, very big. “This is butterfly music!”, classmate Hazel declared. It is indeed. And more.

Shana has made one beautiful, magical cd. Check it out, and don’t forget to see her whimsical animations, too.

2Cool

things. First, I just found out that there’s a retrospective of Francis Bacon’s work at the Met through August 16. Yes!

And, Gael has a new flick out, Rudo y Cursi. With Diego Luna (don’t you just love that name? Actually, I love both their names. But how cool would it be to have Luna (the Moon) as your last name? Reminds me of silver) . I love these two together. It’s about another love of mine, soccer. Sounds good.

ritual

Discovered the work of spanish photographer Cristina Garcia Rodero quite by accident…very fond of her work. Cristina documents Spanish rites and fiestas and is primarily focused on the sacred and the profane. I also like her works with children. She is particularly interested in  rituals and celebrations of the religious sort in particular, that are fading from culture. I have to say, I’m quite jealous of cultures infused with a sort of pagan wildness, the European and Latin American cultures in particular. You just don’t see it in a country founded by Puritans. We hawk the idea of freedom, and yet repress and even reject human responses to  religion, rites of passage, and human sexuality that are primal, magical, and perfectly natural.

nice work.

Dutch collage artist Woefoep. I like this. And this. And this. This, too. And so many others. Check it out…excellent collage.

it’s what it is…

whimsical. enchanting. playful. Nature, that is. Check out Amy Ross’s art.

good read

I need. I want to read The Sky Below, and this one(admittedly because of the John Irving comparisons. His own latest have disappointed.). Any others I’m missing? Anyone?

Also, after virtual absence of interest in photography for too many years (photography was my major), I have been looking at the recent edition of BW magazine. Wolf Suschitzky’s work, especially his By the Water, Light and Shadow, and  Loving Care  galleries, I like.

darling…

this is. I don’t know how Left Handed Scissors landed on my dashboard, but after a quick peek at this new blog, I’m charmed by her sewing projects. I’m in awe of people who sew…in this age, there’s a lot of love of the craft behind those projects.

other thoughts….

C.C. Sabathia…a Yankee? I love his durability and skills, but I’m skeptical in of a player who seems like one of the least enthusiastic prospects ever to consider playing for  this legendary team. C.C. always struck me as a Californian…as in, Angels. And wouldn’t he have loved to play in L.A. for Joe Torre? Ah, well….

I’m appalled by the Illinois governor, aren’t you?

I got a Plenty magazine subscription free in the mail and I have to say, this could be one of my favorites. Good read for the environmentally conscious.

Sense and some sensibilities

I’ve been waiting for him to come along. A no nonsense, down to earth sort who takes no prisoners. Talks tough when he has to. Doesn’t kiss ass, or sway whichever direction the wind blows.

No, I’m not talking about a man. Or a candidate. I’m talking about an equal, my friends. For the kiddo. Heaven knows she needs one.

The kiddo is liked by many of her peers, but not until very recently, has she mingled with anyone her own size who doesn’t fuss over her and tend to her like the baby she prefers to be, or who (usually a male) lets her run the show and is more than willing to fight with others for the privilige of doing so. Know where we found him? Practically in our own yard, where he (Nathan) can be found often, hanging out with her on her Little Tykes playcube.

Nathan doesn’t relate to her on turf other than level, equal, fair and square ground. He will not be pushed. He is not a passive tourist in whatever play itinerary the kiddo attempts to force upon him. Her pouting moves him not. He’ll walk away when it comes to that. Of course, five minutes later, probably when there’s a commercial on, I’ll here the sliding glass door of his patio open, and he’ll be out looking for her again. This is guaranteed to happen at least three or four times an hour. But tedious as it is, I’ll take it. She needs a dose of reality on this level. They’re like siblings, spatting with each other one minute, clasping hands and proclaiming their mutual admiration for each other the next. Nathan wishes the kiddo were a boy, so they could have sleepovers. The kiddo just wants a brother. It appears that she’s found something like that. Good for both of them.

Toni Morrisson has another book coming out. As far as I’m concerned, she should just live forever so she can keep writing great stories and characters. And I’ve discovered Ghada Amer, a painter and sculptor whose works in embroidery on the themes of eroticism, pornography, the myths of beauty, and gender roles intrigues me. Her work can be seen  in the current addition of Fiber Arts.

I like these

Audra Kohaut’s Doll Assemblages. The dolls I did play with were never just….dolls. They had wild and crazy fantasy lives; super powers and alternative universes, and were real; as good as living as far as I was concerned. These assemblages allude to that kind of world and more. I like Cornelia’s Walk here in particular.

I like this page from a travel journal.

Chris Natrop’s cutouts on paper….gorgeous in their skill, dense with imagery.