peace out

, originally uploaded by rachel.am..

happy labor day!

pass the diebenkorn, please

untitled~still life with iris {1956}

untitled #5 (1981)

man drawing ~ {1956}

horizon~ocean view {1959}

cups {1957}

i'm having a diebenkorn moment this evening....join me. please.

she shoots food...and brides

i once dated a guy whose mother was a food stylist. one summer afternoon, we sat on his kitchen counter, plowing through a big bowl of the sweetest, ripest, most perfect, strawberries. each one more perfect than the one before.

photo cred:dulcelife on flickr

it wasn't until we had about drained the bowl, that we found out his mother had spent the entire day, sorting and preening each one of those berries for a photoshoot~scheduled for that evening. oops. we were summarily sent off to every market in the area buying up all the strawberries we could find. { she was sort of grouchy about it} usually, it takes hours of prep time and myriad little tricks-of-the-trade to produce exquisite food photos like these. but making them look effortless and fresh without all the bells and whistles, is a whole other art in itself. photographer jennifer causey is the eye behind this stunning, salivatable {new word} work. who knew crumbs could look so beautiful?

jennifer also takes some pretty spankin' shots of interiors/vignettes AND does weddings.

rikshaw design bedding

i realize i tend to be the broken record around all things, boho, cotton-y, wood block printed for home and the bod.

but i'm actually sort of picky. if it looks too patchouli, if the colors are off-register just a tad too much, or like it would smell like haight street, then no.

there's a fine line, and i know it when i see it. and i'm seeing it all over the fine lines of rikshaw design {don't you sort of want to get a little squeeze in on that chubby thigh?}

super beautiful, soft, yummy cotton bedding for your little bohemian beach baby. recognizing a need for something different in the baby bedding department {'word' to that} creator, catherine fitzsimmons pulled from her experiences in the far east as a textile buyer for "the barn", creating cotton bedding with beautiful designs in soft, sherberty colors~ all hand printed via wood block. i love these whimsical elephant pillows. i want one in every color. who knows, maybe your baby's first word will be 'om'. rikshawdesign.com

my front yard {ish}

yesterday, i slacked big time. i left my loft-ice, pushed some appointments and headed to the beach for a bit of the summer swan song.

soba noodles to room

seriously? i know, i know.

but honestly, i think you can find inspiration in anything. the other night, while making dinner, i opened a package of japanese soba noodles and was struck by how beautiful and simple they were.

there was no need to take the time to add a beautiful little checkered paper band around each serving size. but someone took the time, and i for one totally 'got it' and was inspired to create a room around....soba noodles. this wallpaper by schumacher has a light, twiggy and delicate vibe, while the madeline weinrib carpet anchors the room repeating the raspberry red. elements such as this 19th century fish basket {from franya waide antiques} add a nice organic element.

and i love the cerused oak used on this custom daybed {from donzella}. the modern lines mixed with the organic and delicate design of the wallpaper come together with the consistent use of colors.

when you do this sort of virtual shopping, with a limitless budget, it's hard to stop 'buying' all of the great little extras found here and there. 1. barley twist, set of 8 fish prints, holland, 1860-1880 2. schumacher, 'twiggy' wallpaper 3. pearl river, teak stool 4. heather & company, pair of asian bronze birds

peace out

balloons, originally uploaded by Millie Motts.

lykke li

my friend becky just reminded me how much i like this girl.

she's a total freak with such a great look and great music. love her.

{who's the little androgynous, simian edie sedgwick character snapping in the background? update: i've been informed }

one more observation~ look at those cool silver staffordshire dogs and birds behind her in the very beginning. I want those.

less is a bore

the swedish design team, jantze brogård asshoff has been working their ...magic, helping ikea embrace chintz and curvilinear design by introducing a few key pieces to the otherwise, modern, mostly angular, collection.

the interesting thing is that for years, ikea had an ad campaign chiding the english for their taste of mock-Edwardian reproduction furniture going so far as to call them, "life-hating snobs and neurotics, telling them to “stop being so English” and “chuck out the chintz.” i guess they decided change is good and less is a bore. personally, i love the option. don't you think the collection has that brocade home feel ?

raising the roof

clever swedes. from **the design group who will be bringing a little english to ikea, check this out: the little front porch is the pedal, that opens the roof...i think i'd keep the dog food in this.

finger fronts

and why not.

just. land it man.

just bedazzle those nails with gold fronts and stick 'em in the air, like you just don't care. {in all of my stunned awe, i really don't even remember where i found these~ so, no link here}

33 stewart avenue

these are big and they're pretty great.

i bought this one

love *this guy's work. it totally captures the glistening (sometimes 'hurt my eyes' bright), urban, concrete sprawl of los angeles. really reasonably priced too.

*this guy is aka sean finocchio and you can pick up his, limited addition glicee prints here, at supermarket

art~ the narcotic of choice

this art makes me feel like i'm on tranquilizers i just finished a yoga class.

in december of 2006, artists, maria alexandra vettesethe and stephanie congdon barnes began taking photos of things randomly displayed on their kitchen tables {all before noon} and posting them to flickr. complete strangers and living 3191 miles apart, neither woman was aware of the other or that she was doing the same. eventually catching wind of the other's work, they began developing a blog together. the two continued to post their photos, one next to the other. everyday. and the crazy thing is that they've only met, in person, once.

really. incredible story isn't it?

the beautiful pairings of their work will appear, this fall in their book "3191, a year of mornings" the book is a compilation of these serene images, taken by two women with a love for early mornings quiet hours and the beauty found in the simplicity of life~ 3191 miles apart.

their newest blog "3191, a year of evenings" can be seen here. ahh. breathe in. breathe out.

peace out

succulents, originally uploaded by bagel47.

plant a tree

french fashion designer, vanessa bruno supports the "planete urgence association" by offering to plant 5 trees for each 'plant a tree' cd purchased, helping make possible the reforestation operation....blah blah blah

this is really great. really altruistic, earth loving, and all of that. but really, i just wanted to post this because, well, get a load of that donkey with the feather sticking out of his forehead. this woman is a marketing genius. i'd buy fingernail clippings for a worthy cause if this little donkey was the bait.

nicely done mademoiselle bruno. {the cd is actually pretty good and can be purchased here and heard here}

gray area

my current fixation: the deep, charcoal wall accessorized with pops of color. not a novel idea just something that's been rolling around in my cluttered head.

i think it started with this shot of, designer, ruthie sommer's kitchen in the first issue of domino {spring/summer '05}:

i love the fact that a dark color/hue can actually open up a small space {especially so, when the color is allowed to travel on to the ceiling}

{above photo credit: todd selby}

creating, an easily achievable, graphic punch to an otherwise overlooked space.

kind of like throwing a great, pin striped jacket over a pair of crapped~up jeans and t shirt. {in really good way}

{above photo credit:marie claire french }

of course we can't ignore this clever idea of using a darker, possibly, flat against satin paint, to create a great design element~ brilliant.

suddenly friends are saying, 'have you always had that aubergine wing back?' yes, and now the purple chair that you found dumpster diving, has become 'aubergine'.

{photo credit, flickr 'indierocket'}

{photo credit, flickr: 'kimhas6cats"}

i may need to get the paint brush humming....