A WEEK IN JACKSON HOLE, WY

I just got home from our executive retreat in Jackson Hole. I haven't been there in about 5 years but I love it just the same! Jackson holds a lot of memories for me and I was happy to create a few more to add to the collection.
While I was shopping around town I stumbled into the Mangy Moose Emporium and immediately fell in love with this piece of art. Part tribute to my childhood, part Andy Warhol I couldn't stop looking at it. Due to the price tag I just didn't feel right about purchasing it on the spot; I wanted to consult with Nate first.
I took a few snaps and when I got home, and after I told him how much I loved it, he said, "I think you should get it". I'm incredibly happy to say I'll be placing the order very soon.
Other fun in Jackson?

• bowling and dancing Thursday night
• bison steaks
• the first snow of the season
• 30 great minds all sitting in the same room
• merkins on the moon
• chilling at The Wort and listening to live folk music
  

LAID-BACK LUXURY MEETS THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND

I love everything about the tour of Anya Hindmarch's home in the latest Domino. First, she's adorable and has a really cute family of five, she let's her kids carve messages in the kitchen table for posterity and she's got great artwork that includes a few images of the Queen that are delightful {DFace and Chris Levine's "Lightness of Being" prints}. Oh, and she has the dream job of designing shoes and handbags.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

Cool design, no?

SAVE THE DATE

Don't forget to visit Target on Sept. 14 to get your John Derian on.

BEAUTIFUL PAPERCUTS

While I was in China I came across two women doing beautiful papercuts. Very detailed. Very unique. Some are distinctly Chinese style and others are very ethereal and woodsy. Unfortunately you can't click on the images on the site to view them larger. But trust me, if you do decide to order one, they are high quality. This is just a screenshot from their site.

HUNTING FOR PRINTS

I'm looking for prints to go in our bedroom. It's fairly sparse right now and I actually like it that way. Not a lot to distract; just enough to relax and calm the mind. I'd love to add some yellow to the bedroom walls though so if you've seen any pretty prints {with yellow}, let me know. In the meantime, I'm thinking about adding this to the "maybe" pile.

CAN WE? SHALL WE?

This hand screenprint from Rob Ryan might be the very most perfect gift to give your lover for a birthday, anniversary, or just for no reason at all. I love the fun little story and how it reminds me of the relationship between Joel and Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

"Can we? Shall we? Call in sick one day and travel to the sea and hold hands all day. Can we? Shall we? Eat our sandwiches on the train, get drunk on fresh air and come home tired and never tell anyone...ever."

ART AFTER MY OWN HEART

Freedom Wig features one painting or drawing a day by artist Martha Rich. I read about it on sfgirlbybay and went for a browse. Really appreciated the intro to Freedom Wig:

Welcome to Freedomwig, my one-painting-a-day website. Freedomwig is the name of a real wig. I named the site after a wig because wigs can either make you feel like someone else or make you feel normal. The art on this site is like that. Not everyone will get me. If you do, that is excellent, you are the coolest, if not there's nothing I can do for ya. You'll probably just have to get your art from Walmart.

I pretty much found a piece of art that needs to belong to me.

14 DAYS OF VALENTINE: DAY 2

Fun art from Elloh's etsy shop.

YOU+ME

The Village brings us another perfectly contemporary and sentimental poster. I'm trying to talk Nate into hanging For Like Ever in the dining room but he thinks it's just too girly. Perhaps You+Me would be a good compromise.

SOWA'S PIG

I've mentioned before that I really like the whimsy of Michael Sowa's work. I especially love this rebel pig jumping into a lake. I just cracks me up.

TWO PRETTY HOUSES

I got these two prints, one from Elloh's etsy shop and one from Little Paper Planes. I think they'll go wonderfully together.

PAINT BY NUMBERS

I've been thinking about paint by numbers lately. I like the unapologetic intentional outcome. Coincidentally, Victoria of the lovely sfgirlbybay posted about an eclectic paint by numbers she worked on with some artist-friend embelishments. Now I'm going to turn my "thinking about paint by numbers" into "doing paint by numbers".

SADIE'S RED DRESS

Polly made a copy of Sadie's Red Dress just for me. So I bought it. Can't wait to put it in my office.




















She's got other great pieces on her etsy shop that would look so cute in a woman's dressing room or big fancy closet. Here are some of my favorites. {black top and racy in black}

I HEART ART

After I saw this photo on sfgirlbybay last month I became inspired to purchase more original art {etsy here I come} and hang it in interesting groups on the walls of our home. At this moment, five months after moving into our brand new house, not a single thing hangs on our walls except for three mirrors. I'm too paranoid to hang anything and damage our currently unblemished walls. But, I have to ask myself, are they so perfect without the personality and charm of pretty art?
Here are some loves I found courtesy of etsy artists.

I know many of you are fans of the office so I thought a small grouping of my favorite characters might be fun. Question: should Pam and Jim hang next to each other? Elloh has some fabulous tributes to pop culture including Amelie, the late Bob Ross, and forever my favorite Johnny Cash.
























ashleyg has some cool images including this one called Windy Day.



















And I absolutely love this print by pollyjarman called Sadie's Red Dress. Hoping she'll make some prints and make it available again.



















Lastly, matteart has some fun owls and birds. One please.




















In the end, I think a nice evening at home with Nate is on the docket for tonight. He gets home from SF tonight, yay! And I think one of us will probably have our laptops humming so why not take a fun shopping stroll in the comfort of our own couch and start decorating our walls. sfgirlbybay told me she didn't have a single piece custom framed; everything was done by her using frames from Ikea. I love to hear stuff like that.

SOMEONE'S GETTING RICH OFF MY IDEA!

I've blogged a few times before {here and here} about wanting to use celebrity mug shots as artwork. Well, look what I found lurking in the window of Russeck Gallery in San Francisco.

TREASURES IN VICTORIA BC

While in Victoria I decided to find something unique for our house. Nate and I found these prints done on canvas. If they look familiar, watch the video clip and you'll recognize them in their few moments of fame.
The artist is Michael Sowa. I've found a few other prints I'd love to add in our house including the pig diving into the lake. It's so silly and takes your mind on a journey wondering just why the pig is so anxious to get into the water.

CREATIVITY EVERYWHERE

I discovered two new blogs that I found inspiring and fun to read. Laura Gunn of Laura Gunn Studio is a painter/mother, and Heather Bailey of HELLOmynameisheather is a designer and mother. Both are very gifted artists. Sigh, I really wish I had more time to be creative. Have you ever thought that your actual real life is sucking the life out of you? I feel that way every morning when I'm faced with a new day at my 9-5.
















{Calla Lily painting by Laur Gunn}

RED + PINK = LOVE {thanks to andy warhol}

"Art is what you can get away with." Andy Warhol

In highschool {circa '85-'89} I recall specific rules about dressing. What was acceptable and what was not. Molly Ringwald was a real trend-setter although I never quite had the guts to pull off some of those genius ensembles. Until now.
In the informal formal 80s and 90s, there were particular rules that, if broken, brought immediate shame; colors that should never be worn together {pink with red}; distinct fashion lines that should never be crossed {hemline of a skirt and the height of a heel}; panty hose vs no panty hose {um, you should never wear panty hose}!
2007 brings total freedom from all these lame restrictions. Expressing yourself meets more applaud then it used to; finally and thank goodness.
Yesterday I wore lavendar and green. Today it's pink and red. I think I'll try and take many of my color cues from Warhol since he seemed to know what he was doing.

A PLACE FOR LUCIFER

Amie and her husband went to Mexico about a month ago {read longest week of my life} and stumbled onto a really cool artist who paints retro mexican wrestling masks {I call them Nacho Libre for obvious reasons but they are really called Lucha Libre}. If you're into that, you can buy your own actual Mexican Lucha Libre mask here.
The painting, as I'm told, was hanging outside a bar where the artist was working. Amie's husband saw it, declared that he HAD to have it...and the rest is history. A few days after they got home this fabulous 4'x4' original artwork arrived via DHL.
The best part is that the painting had the word "Luzbel" painted down the side. Neither Amie or her husband knew what it meant {and quite frankly didn't care because they liked the art so much}. We happen to have a few Spanish speakers at the office and when she asked what the word meant, she was told it meant "Lucifer". Now Amie and her husband have made a place for Lucifer - and doesn't he look marvelous? She has such a great home!