The Gift of Dance

Art is such a beautiful thing, so free, so personal, no need for conviction--beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. One of the greatest gifts to art is the human body and one of greatest gifts to eyes is the ability to see movement and dance...Friday October 16, 7:30 in Baton Rouge, LA...I can hardly wait--Ailey II; the images below speak for themselves. Wanna join me?? Purchase tickets here.

Not in Louisiana? Click here for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Ailey II International Tour schedule and help them celebrate their 50th anniversary.

More of that Pretty Garbage

I posted a picture of the one of the garbage trucks that the Mural Arts Program and the Design Center of Philadelphia University teamed up to turn into mobile art using beautiful textile patterns. In total they painted 10 trucks and they are all so fun and funky (no pun intented)!

Charley Harper and the Cardinal

I thought it was fitting that I post about red cardinals; for the past three weeks I've spotted the birds on my morning walk and with red being my favorite color I think they are some beautiful creatures. Famed illustrator Charles (Charley) Harper often made the feathered friends a subject of his artwork and you can even find home accessory collections featuring his illustrations of the birds. Here are a couple of my favorite pieces that he's done.

Ain't we lucky we got em...Good Times

How many people remember the hit sitcom Good Times from the 1970's? It was about an African American family , The Evans Family, that lived in the Cabrini-Green housing projects in Chicago. I wasn't born when the series aired or went off the air but I've watched all the re-runs. Anyway the eldest son of the family, J.J.'s character, was a gifted painter on the show. I thought it would be interesting to share with you the real talent behind all of the beautiful artwork shown on the series...Mr. Ernie Barnes.


Ernie Barnes is a very influential African American painter and one of the most collected artists in the world. He has lead an interesting life, which he chronicles in his auto-biography From Pads to Palette. The book describes how a one time NFL player went on to sell out art galleries, have his work highlighted on national television and become commissioned as "The" artist for the 1984 Olympics. You can read all about Ernie Barnes here and here.


Below are just a few of his beautiful pieces including the infamous "Sugar Shack"


"Olympic Gymnast"

"Olympic Finish"

"Song of Myself"

"Sugar Shack"

With everything that has been going on lately in the world, my life, and not to mention the state of the economy I've really been living by the above title..."Ain't we lucky we got em...GOOD TIMES!"

Way Cool Couch

This couch is really cool, the fabric is made to look like pixels, and it's full of color so you know I love it! It was designed by Christian Zuzunaga and you may have seen it on another site already but another look won't hurt.

Speaking of pixels, I pulled up behind this truck and thought it would make a great pop art photo.

I bought a frame that included a matte and held three photos so I decided to manipulate the picture in order to use it for all three frames; it didn't work out (the frame came with the photos that couldn't be removed) but I love the pictures and can't wait to actually use them. Check it out below.

Pixelated (above)

Inverted color (above)

Highlighting Howie Green (and blue, and pink, and yellow, etc.)

While browsing online one night I came across this fabulous site, full of hand painted pop art and infused with culture and color! Needless to say I was blown away and I found myself moving from one painting to the next always assuring myself with each click that I would surely find my favorite...but of course they all ended up being my favorite!

This excellent work I speak of is by none other than artist Howie Green. His artwork has been noted as "An eye candy pop art wonderland, with an accent on fun", and I couldn't think of a better way to describe it. His imagination combined with his perception of art in everyday life, and the strokes of his paintbrush has earned him over 40 awards. Howie has had a long prosperous career creating murals from colleges to restaurants, libraries to museums, all the while he has continued to be fresh and innovative. I urge everyone to check his website and fall in love the way I have.

I had to choose some of his work to highlight so I chose to fuse my love of music with my love of art (not much of a stretch lately) below are some classic album covers that Green has converted into pop art.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Words can't even express how great a time I had in New Orleans! I'm a simple girl (at least I like to think) so there are certain things that really excite me that others might think of as boring or corny...but whatever, because I enjoy doing me. I found the trip to be rich with history and there was culture around every corner. Just bear with me if it this doesn't sound like a blast to you...lol

In my two days in New Orleans I visited the art galleries and antique shops in the French Quarter and on Julia St in the Warehouse District. I had some awesome cajun cuisine from several restaurants including one across from the historic Jackson Square, rode a ferry down the muddy Mississippi River, ate beignets at none other than Cafe Du Monde, took a horse a carriage ride through the French Quarter, chilled out at some sidewalk cafes and bars, listened to Tom Sacton and his jazz band in the courtyard of The Historic New Orleans Collection , toured Ogden's Museum of Southern art, the Contemporary Arts Center, and St. Louis Cathedral. I'm tired just thinking about it! There was way too much to include it all here so I'll do highlights here and there in the future to discuss in detail all of the art and architecture I encountered. Check out the flicks of some of the sights I saw as we walked and rode along.




I love color (how many times can I say that), so I couldn't pass by these porcelain pears and not take a picture. Cherry blossoms are also a favorite of mine, and that wall sculpture is quite beautiful so I snapped a picture as we walked along Julia St.


Henrique Oliveira was commissioned by the Contemporary Arts Center to construct a cloud made of discarded bedding material found in the streets of New Orleans...pictured above is the result that now hangs in the entrance of the museum.
Shown above are just more random pictures that I wanted to share. I'm sure many of you are familiar with or have seen some of the "Blue Dog" paintings by George Rodrigue, he has four studios throughout the United States, one of which is in New Orleans.


Although the photo is not detailed, and rather dark I had to get a picture of the ceiling of the St.Louis Cathedral.
I truly enjoyed the jazz in the courtyard (don't tell anybody I was dancing in my chair), and it wasn't because of the free Stiletto Vodka martini's...the band was really great!

I've lived in Baton Rouge (about 45 minutes away from New Orleans) all my life, and I've been to New Orleans way too many times to even attempt to count, but I'd never seen the city like this. I've said before to be a tourist in your own city...I have a whole new appreciation for that place, so wherever you're at get out and see what there is to see!

Subway Sign

I love this Subway sign from Pottery Barn; I've had my eye on it for weeks and at $79.00 I would buy it, if only I had a wall left to hang it on!

It's been a long time coming...

but a change has came and I've finally got some pictures I feel are suitable to post! There are still a few changes I'd like to make, but I'm excited and I feel really productive when I come to work in this room (which was the whole point).

The picture shown above is of two frames that sit on my desk that really motivate me, they are hue's logo and a pop art picture that I made; it's FULL OF COLOR, which I feel is my biggest inspiration.

The picture above is my desk/table, I needed something large enough to have an accurate amount of workspace so we bought a cosco folding table and jazzed it up a bit! I love to recruit help so my little sister painted the surface of the table with the yellow paint used on the chairs. I'd seen these panels in a fabric store that appeared to have a print similar to damask but instead of buying them I went to the hardware store and bought three wood panels...

Painted them black...

Drew and etched out a stencil, then painted the stencil onto my boards.

I must say I was very pleased with the outcome of the boards. Next I needed plenty of storage for my sewing machine, project samples and hardware so I sewed this skirt for the table and added black satin ribbon to finish the edge and there's a TON of stuff under that table, which made it an even better buy!

Of course roomie couldn't be left out, so this is her work area shown above. We had to add more color so I dissected a picture of us that I'd changed to a black a white photo, added some pops of color and mounted it to the wall (below).


We found this great chrome hand statue that I think sums up the feel of the office...A OKAY!

Last but not least, I've said all along that the office had to function as a guest bedroom. I played with the idea of several things on the wall and ended up going with a pattern that accented the "vaulted" ceiling. We also decided instead of a traditional looking bed we would convert this day bed into a lounge sofa, it sits pretty low to the ground but it's nice and quite comfortable...we've even had a guest to sleep here already!

A couple of things that didn't make it into the photos were the window treatments (you can glimpse in the photo above) but they are three sheer panels, two of which are the black and white pattern and one yellow sheer between them. We also have a black shag rug to break up some of the blah berber carpet. All that's left now is to mount the tv to the wall, or find an eclectic television stand and maybe a couple of floor pillows.

Fashion Prints

Although interior design is my first and true love, I enjoy and appreciate all things beautiful and artistic. These prints were done by Eduard Erlikh, a fashion illustrator, that has been used by countless designers and magazines. They are gorgeous and full of life and color, so much so that I found it very difficult to narrow down which prints were my favorite, that's why I'm showing eight!

Roomie and I, before we decided to convert our extra bedroom into an office, were considering making it a huge closet; there are lots of clothes and shoes in a house with two women! I could just imagine fashion prints hung on the walls inspiring outfits and looks on a daily basis. I still think it's a great idea to use these in a dressing room setting and some of the prints shown can be purchased for $200.00, so if you've got it to spare...go for it! You could always use an idea similar to this one if you're doing this on a budget, because after all even your closet deserves to look great!

Perfect time for us to "Fade to Black"

I'm a huge music fan, so you'll often see me quote lyrics during my posts and post titles. Jay-Z happens to be one of my favorite artists but it wasn't until this picture was being painted that I found it appropriate to title the work. Initially the only goal I had in mind was to create something that would pull together the "crayon explosion" color palette that I call my living/dining area! I ended up with the picture shown below, and I LIKE IT. (I really really like it!) So as we officially end this week full of color I'd like to share with you what came to be my interpretation of "Fade to Black".

I apologize for the picture quality, light is a tricky thing and I'm far from a professional photographer, but I'll try to get another picture minus the blinding light spot!