postcard from provence

Wish I was here.

Lavender fields at Monieux
18cm x 12cm (7"x4½"), oil on gessoed card

Today's painting will be sold by auction - auction starts today at 8pm GMT and ends on Sunday 1st August at 8pm GMT (4pm EDT / 1pm PDT)

Starting price: $100
To register or login to the auction visit: http://auction.shiftinglight.com

aardvark manifesto

Get it here.

life in topanga

Our organic farmer's market is on Fridays from 8 - 12. It's such a treat to have this in our own backyard.

Among the vendors were Maggie's Farm (above) selling fresh leafy greens and herbs. Etheridge Farms' Aaron Etheridge and Becky Martinez who left Fresno at 3 a.m. to drive here with fresh yellow and white peaches and nectarines, apricots and sweet dark cherries that would make anyone a believer in the benefits of eating organic. Lily's Free Range Eggs in Fillmore sold eggs by the dozen or half dozen, among them duck eggs and sprout-fed hens' eggs, as well as assorted bouquets of fragrant roses. McGrath Family Farms (below) displayed an assortment of strawberries, beets, carrots, greens and an amazing array of flowers - among them dizzyingly aromatic lavender, sunflowers and gladiolas.

I bought these amazingly fragrant roses - of course. Not your typical hot-house product.

renegade craft fair - sf

For more info click here.

I used to live in this town!

Cardiff surfer sculpture to be rescued from shark's jaws

LA Times: Despite a groundswell of public support for leaving it alone, the "shark" that mysteriously encased the official surfer sculpture at Cardiff-by-the-Sea is set to be removed Tuesday by city workers, officials said.

The shark was put in place under cover of darkness Saturday, appearing to eat the "Magic Carpet Ride" sculpture along South Coast Highway in this seaside community in northern San Diego County.

The sculpture, installed three years ago, has been derided as unsurfer-like by locals who call it the "Cardiff Kook."

A petition soon sprouted on the Jaws-like creation asking Encinitas city officials to let the shark remain.

But Howard Whitlock, assistant superintendent of public works, said it will be removed to avoid any liability for the city. The parts will be hauled to a city facility "in case anyone wants to claim them," Whitlock said.

Removing it will require about four workers at a cost of $300 to $400 in labor and equipment, Whitlock said.

"It will be much easier to remove than it must have been to install," he said.

The surfer sculpture does not appear to have been damaged by the shark, Whitlock said. With its pedestal, the sculpture rises 16 feet.

-- Tony Perry in Encinitas

designer tag sale :: Saturday July 31st

Vanessa Squared Productions (interior designer Vanessa De Vargas and design editor Vanessa Kogevinas) is proud to present its Third High-End Designer Tag Sale shopping event in Brentwood, California, July 31, 2010 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. The tag sale is being held in conjunction with Erin Castellino and Carrie Carr of Little Castle Productions (an interior design production company) and Mark Castellino of Fyndes (premier online home decor shopping site).

The Designer Tag Sale is an upscale interior designer yard/tag sale hosted by Fyndes and Little Castle Productions that will feature over thirty of Los Angeles' top interior designers and stores/vendors selling items including small furniture such as side-tables, lamps, rugs, pillows, art, accessories and more at incredibly low prices—from $5-$200 only!

Get the list of participating designers and retailers here.

daniel schorr :: good night

NY Times: Daniel Schorr, whose aggressive reporting over 70 years as a respected broadcast and print journalist brought him into conflict with censors, the Nixon administration and network superiors, died Friday in Washington. He was 93.

His death was announced by National Public Radio, where he had been a commentator for two decades. A spokeswoman, Anna Christopher, said he died at a Washington hospital after a short illness. He lived in Washington.

Mr. Schorr, a protégé of Edward R. Murrow at CBS News, initially made his mark at CBS as a foreign correspondent, most notably in the Soviet Union. He opened the network’s Moscow bureau in 1955 and became well enough acquainted with the Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev — whom he called “the most fascinating person I ever met” — to secure for “Face the Nation” the first television interview for which Khrushchev ever sat. (He had never even done one for Soviet television.) At the end of 1957 Mr. Schorr went home for the holidays and was denied readmission to the Soviet Union.

Read a lot more here.

renegade craft fair

2nd Annual Renegade Craft Fair in Los Angeles – July 24 + 25 from 11am – 7pm in Los Angeles State Historic Park (aka The Cornfield, located at 1245 N Spring Street)!!

potted arrangements

Furcrea macgougalii in a potted arrangement

In youth, this plant looks like the most vertical agave you have ever seen. With age, it develops a trunk. If you set it free and give it some space, the trunk might grow to as much as 10 feet tall. But with its foliage pointing straight up towards the heavens, the plant will still have a narrow profile. When it blooms, a flower spike will emerge that will add another 20 feet. A bunch of baby plants called bulbils will be attached to the flower spike. Then the mother plant will die. If the plant is happy, this process will take about 15 years. Happy with minimal supplemental water, this guy is as drought-tolerant as they come. Hardy to at least 28F.

via Flora Grubb

inky interpretations

Dior Couture AW10

Dion Lee SP11 Collection via Jak + Jil

Dion Lee SP11 Collection via Jak + Jil

Have you ever had a pen leak, maybe in your bag or in your pocket? Inky spills permeated the runway from Australian designer Dion Lee’s Spring 11 collection to the haute couture show of Dior. Although the inspirations were different, the bleeding, ink blot effects were similar creating organic, soft patterns. Lee’s prints appear cosmic and atomic in form while the botanical influences of iris, orchids and pansies leave a larger than life impact on Galliano’s diaphanous dresses for Dior.

Courtesy of Patternpeople.

nightmare in apt. 9b

I've heard stories of battles over coveted Manhattan apartments but this one beats all. For those of us in Los Angeles, it might be comparable to the value of a rent-controlled apartment on Montana Ave.

SIGNATURE SHAPE The towers of the El Dorado, at 90th Street, scene of a family’s claims of abuse, inheritance and co-op shares.

SOMETHING was wrong in Apartment 9B.

As the housekeeper opened the door, the two Tibetan spaniels were on edge. “Tibby was sort of hanging onto me,” she would testify later.

The housekeeper, June Gordon, pushed past the dogs in the pantry that May morning in 2005. She moved deeper into the apartment that was like some cobwebby Miss Havisham version of high-end Manhattan living, with peeling paint, torn furniture and a permanent stink of cigarettes. She found Joyce Cheney on the small red sofa in the big living room, with its impressive view south over the tops of the West Side brownstones.

Mrs. Cheney was a slight woman with short gray hair. She was 83. “June, help me,” she said. She had been there all night, in her urine-drenched nightgown, unable to move. Her arm was broken.

It would be a while before Mrs. Cheney would provide a consistent account of what had happened that night, which she spent in the apartment with her 51-year-old daughter, Diane Wells. “She tried to kill me,” the mother would say, although her daughter was never charged with anything as serious as that.

Read the rest of the story here.

a house in the hills, part 3

I thought I could stretch one more posting out of these house photos. Here are a few inside close-ups.

a house in the hills, part 2

Here's the inside of the house.

a house in the hills

A few months ago, Josh Coggeshall, the architect that designed our house brought a photographer, Josh White to our house to document it for his portfolio. With all of his hi-tech photo equipment he made our house look much grander than it really is. Here are all the outside photos. Tomorrow, I'll post the inside ones. Enjoy!

project lampshade

We have a very tiny guest room that houses two twin beds and all my "stuff". In order to simplify and de-clutter I made two hanging lamps from IKEA that were supposed to have exposed bulbs. But that turned out to be too bright so I came up with these lampshades.

I got a half sheet of cherry veneer from a local hardwood shop and cut it to size. Then I used metal "staples" to keep it round. I applied tung oil and added bamboo skewers to hold the light in place.

And here are the finished products. They cost all of about $16 each.

Grigio enjoys the new soft light.

the kids are all right - a must see

In wide release starting 7/16. Click here to find out more. Reviews here and here.

google pays homage to frieda kahlo

Google is paying homage to one of the most famous Mexican artists of all time, painter Frida Kahlo who was born on July 6th 1907. The special Doodle depicts one of her self portraits.

Frida Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón was born on this day in 1907 and died in 1954. She painted more than 140 paintings during her lifetime, many of them self portraits.

She said many times that she creates self portraits because they represent the person she knows best. Her work, vibrant , intense, inspired by folk art had a major influence on Surrealism, Symbolism and European Realism. She was also known for being a communist and for marrying fellow Mexican painter Diego Rivera, who shared her political views. Their relationship was a very tumultuous one, both of them having numerous extramarital affairs.

what you'll be wearing next spring & summer

Pinklemon - Colour Forecast Womens Wear Spring Summer 2011

These are all really beautiful color pallettes. I could see a wardrobe in all of these colors. Shop on!

Pinklemon delivers trend talks - a combination of power point and verbal presentation - with focus on womens-,mens- kidswear or interior. Please contact Pinklemon if you want further informations: info@pinklemon.dk

back . . . but different

So I'm back after taking a little break. But I'm going to try to do things a little differently - not so often, and more original content. Let me know what you think.