Where is my garden? Where are my Dogs? This photo along with yesterday’s photo represent nine days of leaf fall. That’s right only nine days. Up till now, I’ve been able to keep up with the mess. But I’ve decided to let it be for a few more days, because I find these drifts very beautiful.
The big dump has begun and is begging me to mess up my plans for a fun weekend in order to clean it up. I’d rather take long walks while enjoying the wonderful weather we are having and spend the remainder of my time continuing to build a brand new website and blog utilizing new tricks like jquery, media queries, HTML5, and CSS3 along with the newly upgraded WordPress as the backend power. And no, I’m not kidding. I have several website design jobs that I need to tackle ASAP. Learning new digital tricks will always be an integral part of my life if I want to remain viable as a designer. With print media such as newspapers and magazines disappearing, I really have no other choice.
Coral Bark Japanese Maples when stripped of their leaves blaze into a riot of red during the winter months and provide a flashy contrast to their dormant neighbors. This color, I am told, intensifies as the temperature drops, and since these two trees are new to my yard, it will be my first winter to verify if this rumor is true or not.
Dressed up like dolls. If we don’t look ecstatic to see Santa, it’s because Win and I learned early on not to take him very seriously. Not once did he ever bring us what we had asked for. The usual presents for me were more hats, gloves, underwear, slippers, socks, and nightgowns. I know, I should be grateful. At least I wasn’t running around naked.
I’m pretty sure that number holder thing also served as an ashtray. Everybody smoked in those days, including Santa.
This annual bit of holiday fun was mailed last week. If you normally receive a card from me but haven’t received this one yet, don’t worry, it’s on its way. Snail mail isn’t what it use to be.
I kept the inside greeting pretty tame to compensate for those who may be offended by the lizard wearing the santa hat: Well no… It’s definitely not your typical innocent holiday card. But look at it this way, there’s snow, a sleigh, a glowing church, and a santa hat. Happy Holidays to you and your family!
I’m pleased to say that there has been only positive feedback so far.
Provided by Karen Weiner of The Reading Room. Here’s another ornament that I managed to wrangle from the The MAC’s Blue Yule ten plus years ago. It has remained charming and timeless despite being moved around during my home’s seven year restoration process and has now found a permanent home in my office.
Originally a Christmas ornament, this red head has been part of my office decor for twelve years, and is one of the many creative ornaments that I have purchased at The McKinney Avenue’s annual Blue Yule. What’s different about The MAC’s ornaments is that they can be used all year round. I couldn’t resist not taking a photograph of this one as the afternoon sun was lighting up the reflective paint. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be doing a series of posts showcasing my strange collection.
Shall We Dance from 1937 has some very stylized sets. Several scenes feature custom designed hotel rooms for each sex, which is common in Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films. I’m pretty sure that in reality, this never happened. Here’s a list of common design trends used for contemporary film interiors during the 1930s and 40s: padded and/or studded walls, curving walls, lots of built-ins, wall murals, bare-bulb sconces, heavy usage of fluorescent wall and overhead light fixtures. The following photos will show you what I’m referring to.
A newly bracketed focal point. These two cast stone benches arrived Friday, but I had to wait for the weather to clear up before I could photograph them. If the brick and decomposed granite appear unusually saturated color wise, that’s because they are saturated from days and days of badly needed rain.
I did a tremendous amount of research before choosing this pair. The strict criteria of depth and length determined by the brick terrace’s shape and size, and the height determined by the central pot drastically limited my choices. And then, of course, there was the overall design to worry about. Do you know what kind of designs there were plenty of? Foo foo. Lots and lots of frilly overwrought foo foo. Bleh! The best choices were found through Campania International, and since they are strictly wholesale, Nicholson-Hardie had them ordered and delivered to me. The Pansy Bench was the only choice that had the right dimensions and clean lines. Unfortunately there’s a wee bit of flower frippery on the pedestal supports that will hopefully become less noticeable as the concrete ages.
The Index Cards: Vincent Falsetta will open at The Reading Room on Saturday, December 3 from 7 to 9 pm and continue through December 31. There will also be an artist talk on Saturday, December 10 at 4 pm.
“Process as content is for me a form of indexing the moment, “Falsetta says about his practice. The index cards date back to the 1980s. There is a format that he follows. First the work is described in detail: dimensions, materials, when the canvas was stretched, then title and any dedication. There is usually but not always a thumbnail of the work, sometimes a diagram or chart, and questions that he poses to the work and to himself. He writes, deliberately, with pen and ink, thus slowing the process down and making it more than just documentation or a journal entry. There are over 600 cards.