Creativity Earned

There is a wonderful quote by Ira Glass floating around on Facebook at the moment that I thought was a perfect way to start the weekend.   This blog post in the Washington Post took the quote and broadened the conversation to an article on creative persistence in writing.   May you give yourself time to think this weekend.

Shop Refresh

I had fun on Sunday moving everything in the shop around to make space for all the new goodies coming in for the season.   There are lots of new things and in their new homes, old things look new too!   I also finished a whole heap of new funky lampshades that are now happily hanging from the ceiling.

Emma Hack

Emma Hack takes body painting to a whole new level creating stunningly beautiful artworks.  If you are in London, she will perform skin illustration live at Art London (daily, 6-10 October), and photographs of her latest work will be exhibited at Rebecca Hossack gallery.

Images from The Guardian.   The photo slide show also features the eye tricking body art genius of Liu Bolin.

Heavenly Bed

Love this Schumacher advert for their new collection by Martyn Lawrence Bullard.   May this week be a celebration of pattern and color.

Happy Weekend

I stamped these tea towels recently and am still deciding if they (or something similar) will ever see the light of day.  But I love the thought, don't you?

Wishing you a weekend of fun and adventure!

Friday's Fabulous Woman: Iman

Born in Somalia and discovered in Nairobi by Peter Beard, Iman's distinctive gorgeousness made her a very in demand model starting with her first assignment for Vogue in 1976.   More than an incredible beauty, Iman speaks five languages and has gone on to be an active advocate for women and children, an author, a designer of clothes and home goods,  a CEO of a cosmetics line, and a host of a TV show.   And she's married to David Bowie.

Images - Cover of Iman's book I Am Iman; 1983 Kenzo campaign

Seen and Liked

Things seen and liked around and about this week.
Breakfast with Le Voyage Creatif;
Peter Pilotto collection at London Fashion Week via Covetur;
Fun chairs and sunshine yellow via Lobster and Swan.

Art: Lucas Grogan

Every now and then I fall completely head over heels in total love with someone's art and this morning is one of those days.  Design Files features an interview with an Australian painter called Lucas Grogan accompanied by a nice collection of his work. LOVE!

Myoung Ho Lee: Trees

Fabulous photography by Myoung Ho Lee who uses a canvas to separate a tree from it's surroundings and turn it into an object.  There is an interview and more pics here.

Friday's Fabulous Woman: Maya Angelou

This week's fabulous woman in Maya Angelou for living large and strong and for writing the poem Phenomenal Woman.   She is a poet, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director who at age 83 still travels the world sharing her thoughts.

Phenomenal Woman is one of my favorite poems - to me its the equivalent of a song on the radio that you crank up the volume for and sing at the top of your lungs because it makes you happy.   This is the first section - the full poem can be found here.

Phenomenal Woman
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Images from MayaAngelou.com

Nick Brandt New Photos

New photographs by Nick Brandt just became available at the Fahey/Klein Gallery.   Last year we carried his fabulous book: A Shadow Falls.  These new images are incredible.  The calcified flamingo is in turns horrifying and stunningly beautiful.

Teal and Crimson

I spotted this yummy cheese plate on CocoKelley this morning and it reminded me of a couple who were in the store this weekend looking for inspiration.  They were contemplating these two fab fabrics for a fun sofa overhaul for a baby boy's room.

A Room With A View

via House of Turquoise

Cupcake Tree

It doesn't feel anything like Fall in LA yet but I couldn't resist this lovely video.  It's the perfect amount of whimsy for a Monday morning.  via pod


fall dessert tree from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

Memories of Summer

via trendenser

May It Never Happen Again

Ten years ago I was living in New York.  My thoughts are with everyone impacted by 9/11.

Image from Time

Friday's Fabulous: Anna Wintour

With fashion front and center this week in the news thanks to Fashion Night Out events, I thought it was appropriate to highlight the talent of Anna Wintour, fashion icon and Vogue Editor-in-Chief for the past 23 years.

Born in London in 1949 to newspaper editor, Charles Wintour and philanthropist, Elinor Wintour, Anna Wintour held various editorial positions in London and New York before becoming Editor of Vogue in 1988.   I think that for someone to have the drive and work ethic that she is known for, after 20 years on the job is singularly impressive.  With her distinctive bob intact, She has built Vogue into the top fashion publication in the US and kept it there.

There is an interesting article on Huffington Post by the R.J.Cutler, Director of a recent documentary on Vogue's September issue summing up the management lessons that he learned from watching her at work: Keep meetings short, Trust your instincts, Surround yourself with great talent, and Don't look back.   I think that these apply to any business no matter the size.

image via here

Seen and Liked

A fabulous Peter Max print that I think I saw on ebay somewhere;
Luscious peaches photographed by the uber talented Jennifer Causey;
A perfect lunch spot via CoteMaison 

New Artist: Patrick Haemmerlein

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.   I took some time off which was fabulous  -- and came in this morning wonderfully refreshed and excited.

This morning our new artist, Patrick Haemmerlein and I hung a entire body of new work entitled: 'Out of the Woods'.   Patrick works on found wood mixing photography, collage, graphic design and painting to create a tale about the juxtaposition of nature and industry.  His work reflects his upstate New York roots married with LA, the city he now calls home. 

I feel like a kid in a candy store surrounded by all this great work.   Enjoy!