Christmas Cookies

Having a 4 year old in the kitchen is a bit like cooking with a monkey (at least our 4 year old). None the less, we are making memories along with our mess. Good time (and sugar high) was had by all.

My Laboratory of sorts

Here is a page from my "decorative arts" journal. It's not really what I'm after, but I think this is a process...


What am I after? I want to know more about movements and people who have set about with a vision for making domestic life aesthetic.  That might include William Morris, the Arts and Crafts movement, Frank Lloyd Wright... to name the tip of the ice berg. 


So how to present these objects, gardens and houses by capturing their essence without being too literal? That is my goal. My ultimate hope is that I develop something that others like to look at too. Then what?... one step at a time.


Thanks for tuning in. I hope the drawings and paintings will be a mix of personal and lovely.

Halloween

Here is the latest Laurel Journal entry- I seem to average about a month behind. I can live with that.
Look for a "Laurel makes Christmas Cookies" entry to come (should be in about a month).


In the mean time, I'm working on some ideas for a domestic design series. So stay tuned.

October Girl

Here we are post birthday and pre- Halloween. Lots of playing dress- up and pretend. All dressed up in pearls and a handbag, L comes to me and says: "I'm ready for my holiday!" (in an English accent no less). I'm not sure where these things come from, but its all amazing fun.

October Diary

I'm still reading the book "American Eden" and the chapter about early colonial gardens. While doing this series of little drawings, I was thinking about how the Europeans were carving out their outposts in the new world. Tulips and exotic tropical fruits were signs of status. They were considered "living booty" and the reason for "swash buckling botanist adventurers".


 I was also reminded of that scene in "The Great Gatsby" about the light at the end of Daisy's dock. Here's just a little of that lovely passage:
"And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island that flowered once for Dutch sailors eyes- a fresh, green breast of the new world... face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder."

Wallpaper?

Playing around with photoshop and multiplying images. My computer skills are not very good. But I've always liked pattern and repetition.

American Eden: Monticello

Today's post drawing, like last week's, is a "collage" of drawings added over time. I am increasingly interested in how people carve out their lands (whether thousands of acres or just a suburban plot) to create their vision of utopia. This drawing is inspired by Jefferson's Monticello as discussed in the great book "American Eden". I will just write words that inspired me in this drawing: Enlightenment, experiments in perfection, Palladian architecture...