SIA: PSA

Bonfire, Andrew Wyeth
Watercolour on paper, 1992

During our this week of Style Imitating Art, I picked Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth. I have written before on my admiration of the Wyeth family and I felt the need to return to Andrew's work after visiting the Greenville County Museum of Art, firmly ensconced in Cardiganland, and holder of the largest collection of Andrew's watercolour paintings in the world. (I have plans to highlight the patriarch of the Wyeths, N.C., soon--unless Jen or Salazar beats me to it!)

Consuming Andrew's watercolours was a delight for me; although I grew up on visits to the Brandywine River Museum of Art, I was too young to really understand what I was absorbing, and most of their holdings were for Andrew's oil paintings. Andrew started as a watercolour painter and eventually moved into oil, the medium in which his most famous pieces were created, but he maintained a healthy appreciation for watercolour throughout his life. Seeing the part of the collection on display was truly enlightening--I wrote an extensive pathfinder on the Wyeths for an art libraries class in grad school, and I feel like the amount of knowledge I have for the Wyeths is so vastly expanding by seeing their art in person as an adult.

So anyway. I picked Bonfire specifically because it was one of Wyeth's more recent watercolours, and for me, it showed his progression from traditional wet brush watercolour painting to a far more experimental process, which installed different media, dry brush techniques, and colour variety. It's a truly striking piece, too.

Email me your submissions by Monday night (APRIL 7TH!). I hope you all enjoy this one!

Franz Sinatra

Top: J. Crew Factory | Dress: Ann Taylor Factory Store | Belt: Target | Tights: Target | Flats: Payless

I'm in charge of purchasing music for my library system (talk about a dream come true!), and today my boss and I spent some time going through some boxes of donated music to see what could be added to the collection and what could move on to be sold by the Friends of the Library. There were some real gems, but my favourite moment was when my boss pulled out an album to read me the artist (so I could check to see if we owned it already) and ceremoniously announced "Frank Ferdinand".

So, so close.

SPACESHIP

Shirt: Eddie Bauer | Skirt: eShakti | Tights: Target | Boots: Off Broadway

I recently had the opportunity to see The LEGO Movie and Muppets Most Wanted, both of which are probably too amazing for their own good. The LEGO Movie is exactly as good as everyone has claimed it is (you don't get a 96% 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes just for funsies), and Muppets Most Wanted is just as charming as I wanted and hoped it would be (77%, if you're wondering). Since I finished school, I don't have a lot of tolerance for really serious culture--even the Oscar nominated films I saw, The Wolf of Wall Street, Her, Nebraska and American Hustle, are the lighter fare of this year's group. Oh well. Someone has to watch the really stupid shit, right? Right??? (Hell yeah I'm right.)

American flamingo

Necklace: Target | Sweater: J. Crew Factory | Belt: Target | Dress as skirt: Target | Tights: Target | Shoes: Urban Outfitters | Nails: butter London Ladybird

I mean...I feel like I nailed it.

For more SIA interpretations, check out Jen's blog!

SIA: PSA

Flamingo, by Alexander Calder
Painted steel, 1973

I have been sick as a dog for the last week and a half. Outfit posts will resume as soon as I can stand for a 20 minute length of time.

Jen has made the best pick ever. We all know that I have a warm love for Alexander Calder, and I have greatly enjoyed the time I have spent in Chicago, a city with a great support system for public art. So the combination--a giant stabile in front of the Federal Building in the Loop--makes me very happy, and I'm thrilled to see it appear on SIA. Calder was a true revolutionary and is credited with the creation of the first real stabiles and mobiles, and his designs have been heralded (and sometimes replicated) all around the world.

Please oh please submit your photos for this SIA to Jen by Monday, March 24th! I had that I didn't get to take part last week (sorry Salazar!) but I'm so excited for this one and hoping I'm healthy enough to take part. Go forth and SIA!

SIA: PSA

The cover of The Sandman: The Sound of Her Wings (vol. 1/#8), by Dave McKean
Looks like watercolour on paper, 1991

The Sandman is one of the graphic novels (an ongoing series, in fact!) that has helped to define the genre. I've never read it (I'm not much for Neil Gaiman--begin gasps and rage), but I know that it has been vastly influential and one of the reasons why Vertigo became such a juggernaut in the comics industry. The Sandman has won dozens of Eisner Awards, which is like the Oscars for graphic novels and comics.

Send your inspiration to Salazar by Monday, March 10th! There's a lot of depth to this piece, so I'm excited to see how everyone interprets this piece!