House

House

1993

Rachel Whitread

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Jill, 1959

Is there anything better than discovering something that you never knew existed

and finding that something to be extraordinary

exciting

and inspiring?

Frank Stella

Jill, 1959

This image does no justice to this painting.

Not an iota.

So I'm not going to try to convince you of it's beauty.

But I could not stop looking at it.

It's extraordinary.

It's on display at the Albright Knox Gallery in Buffalo.

Here's what they say:

Frank Stella first came to the attention of the art world with his so-called “Black Paintings,” which he created between the winter of 1958 and February 1960. He began by drawing lines with a pencil and ruler, then painted the black stripes freehand—without the use of tape—using enamel and a 2 1/2-inch-wide housepainter’s brush. The light strips between the black are blank canvas showing through. In a radio interview of February 1964, Stella made a statement that has since become well-known in the history of twentieth-century art: “My painting is based on the fact that only what can be seen there is there. . . . All I want anyone to get out of my paintings, and all I ever get out of them, is the fact that you can see the whole idea without any confusion. . . . What you see is what you see.” The referential titles of the “Black Paintings” might seem to negate Stella’s goal of having them relate to nothing outside themselves, but because they refer to aspects of Stella’s life rather than to the content of the paintings, they shed little interpretative light on the works. Most of the titles of the “Black Paintings” refer to specific places in New York and elsewhere, music, literature, politics, and various nightclubs. Jill is the only one named for a contemporary individual—a woman who, according to Stella, “was around at the time” as a part of New York’s underground nightclub scene.

The gallery has an impressive collection of contemporary art.

We spent three hours there.

But it didn't feel like it at all.

You should go.

Skip the outlet malls and go to the gallery.

It's worth the drive to Buffalo.

life imitates art II

life imitates art 1

Grandma's Superhero Therapy

I decided that I need some new regular reading material.

Expand my horizons a little.

Learn some stuff.

I came upon a site called 

My Modern Metropolis

and have since put it into my regular rotation.

It's a site of my favorite things 

art

design

photography

(which I happen to think is art)

They featured one collection called Grandma's Superhero Therapy.

A photographer named Sacha Goldberger discovered that his grandmother Frederika was depressed and lonely.

To cheer her up, he dressed her up as a superhero and photographed her in a variety of poses and scenarios, depicting her incredible strength and her life as a superhero.

Apparently the photos went viral:

With the unexpected success of this series, titled "Mamika" (or grandma in Hungarian), Goldberger created a MySpace page for her. She now has over 2,200 friends and receives messages like: "You're the grandmother that I have dreamed of, would you adopt me?" and " You made my day, I hope to be like you at your age."

The photos are hilarious

but touching at the same time.

You can see more photos here.

You can also check out Sacha's website here.

stop

Bear River, Nova Scotia

I hurt my back in August.

I had felt a little pain

and had a scheduled appointment with my chiropractor the next day

so I didn't think anything of it.

I woke up the next day and it was worse.

Went to the chiropractor

and he said the SI joint was acting up and being out of place.
(the SI joints are in your lower back, where those little dimples are. You know the ones.)

He did an adjustment

and it all went downhill from there.

That was on a Wednesday.

By Friday, I'd had it.

The first meltdown happened when I went to get ready for bed.

I couldn't bend over to wash my face.

I twisted and turned and bent my knees

but I splashed water all over the floor.

Then I tried to brush my teeth.

That's when the real waterworks started.

I felt useless
and that's what really got me going.

For the record, it's not easy to cry and brush your teeth.

But in that I was successful.

On Saturday I had another appointment with the chiropractor.

I was totally fine in the morning. Still stiff. But ok.

Fella had gone off to work

and I had intentions of hitting the mall after my appointment

to buy something really exciting - a new iron.

I know.
Scintillating.

Anyway - I walked into the clinic and he looked at me and asked me how I was and I said grimly,

Not good.

I have to say - I really like Dr. Green.

We chat and joke and have great talks when I go to see him.
I'm never very serious.

Most of all - I totally trust him.

I know he wants me to feel better

he's not in it for a cash grab.

He's a great doctor.

He put me in one of the examining rooms

and put on the cursed Dr. Ho's version of electro-shock.
It's a horrible device.
It sends electric shocks into muscles to release the tension.
And when your muscles are as tight as can be
it really hurts.

That's when I started crying.
There I was, laying face down on the table.
Blubbering like a baby.
And I couldn't stop.
And I didn't know why I was crying.

After about 10 minutes he came in and jokingly said
How's my little twitcher?

I looked at him and said,
I can't stop crying.
And I don't even know why I'm crying.
But I've been trying to stop for-oh-5 minutes and I can't.

He pulled up a stool and asked if everything was ok.
I said yes. I'd been fine before I got there.
I was going shopping for a iron afterwards!

But I was still crying.

He said that it's really common for back pain to trigger tears.
It affects everything you do
so it can really wear on you.
He said that the good news was that the pain I was suffering
was not an indication of the severity of the injury.
The injury was very minor.
It just takes 3-4 weeks to go back to how it should be.

He also said that a lot of people cry for no reason in his office
so he's used it.
His kindness made me cry more.
(I'm not a big cryer but kindness gets me almost every time.)

I pulled myself together
and we finished up and I left.

I realized that I needed to pull myself together before I could go anywhere
so I sat down a low wall across from a fountain.
The fountain has a public art piece in it.
It's this odd metal canoe skeleton with pointy spear -like thingies sticking up out of the water.
I walk by it whenever I go to that office and dismiss it as stupid every time I look at it.

But that day was different,
I actually sat and looked at that piece
and I saw it for the first time.

And it made sense.

It's hard to stop - you plan out your time
and convince yourself that all the things on your list are necessary.

But when you stop, that's when you really catch up.

It made me feel better.

Mostly, I think, because I took the time to focus on something outside of myself.

And isn't that, sometimes, what art is about?



baby art

A friend of mine is having a baby

(actually several of my friends are having babies! It's a boom!)

I decided that rather than buy a onesie or some other adorable clothing

(which is what I usually buy) that they will outgrow in a couple of months

I would go with my other love,

art

I love Sharon Montrose's photographs of animals

so it was easy to settle on her.

But what animal?

I decided to go with the baby deer

because

a. it's adorable

b. it's not super "babyish"

(in other words - they could hang it elsewhere in their house).

Her other photos of baby animals are beautiful

and heart wrenchingly cute

but there was something so gentle and peaceful about this photo

that I thought it would be perfect for a nursery.

I'll pick up  a simple white gallery frame for it

and that will be that!

What do you think?

Good choice?

Barbie and Ken

I loved,

I mean LOVED

Barbies

when I was a kid.

I still have a whole bunch of my Barbie stuff

and I'm grappling with what to do with it all.

Part of me says "Pitch it!"

(the part that usually starts wheezing

when I see the stack of Rubbermaids in the basement)

but something keeps me holding on.

Finding this site didn't help in the least:

A photographer named David Parise did a series of photos

where he posed vintage Barbie and Ken dolls in their original outfits

in hilarious scenarios

and interractions.

There's something for everyone!

The prices aren't bad either.

It's only $40 for an 11.5 x 17

which I think is pretty reasonable.

Maybe I need to limit my art purchases to one per month?

Or at least until I have framed and hung all that I already have?

It's so hard to resist....

If you're like me and still harbour a crush on Barbie,

check them out!

http://barbieandkenphotos.com/?load=flash

beautiful things

amen to that.

source

hello monday

Well it's Monday again.

How the weekends fly by.

Here's what we got up to:

Went to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on Friday.

It was good.

I really enjoyed it while I was watching it

but I realized the next day that it didn't stay with me.

I didn't think about it after it was over.

But that's ok.

I was entertained.

I was also entertained by the commentary by the more "elderly" patrons of the movie theatre.

There was one group who, on several occasions, liked to whisper at the screen

as though the characters would hear them and change their plans.

"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, SPY!" they whispered,

one by one,

 in the loudest stage-whispers I've ever heard.

Then at the end, the couple behind us had a little chat.

The wife said to the husband,

"did you understand it?"

"Not at all", he said.

Then she proceeded to try to explain it to him.

And I'm not sure that she got it entirely right.

Ah well.

On Saturday we cleaned and cleaned.

There were still remnants of Christmas that had to go.

And so they did.

Then we went to Maggie's on College St. for brunch

(source)

It was blissfully quiet for once.

We then decided to poke about Kensington Market because it was a sunny day.

Cold, but sunny.

Went into Bikes on Wheels.

I need a new bike.

Mine is about - oh - 17 years old and, frankly, it kind of sucks.

So this spring

a new one will be coming my way.

After bike shopping

we wandered across the street, attracted by a store called

Paradise Bound

and intrigued by the sign that said they sold vinyl and Japanese Art.

Interesting combination.

I've never had the slightest interest in Japanese Art but once I started looking at the paintings, I started to appreciate how beautiful they are

And they are really, really old.

This is the one I was really tempted by:

"Suzume (Sparrows) by as yet known artist, painted between 1750 and 1850. Remounted 20th cent. Good old sumi-e (ink). 23″ x 80″ – $250"

This photo is from their shop's website.

It doesn't reflect how gorgeous it really is.

Did you see in the description above?

Painted between 1750 and 1850.

Old.

If we weren't going on vacation next month

I would not have hesitated.

The owner of the store told us all sorts of stuff about the paintings and what the symbols mean. It was fascinating.

If you're down in the market, check them out.

Great store.

Fella bought two records.

On Sunday we went to the Antique Market at St. Lawrence.

I picked up a couple of things.

I'll take pictures and post tomorrow.

And that was the weekend!

It was busy but we got lots of stuff done and I felt rested when I woke up this morning.

Happy Monday!

What did you get up to over the weekend?

Hmmmm?

P.S. I'm almost done Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

I can't put it down!

Novel Poster

I saw these cool posters on The Cut this morning.

Alice in Wonderland

The Metamorphosis

Packing for Mars

Wizard of Oz

And my favorite:

You can buy them here.

$30 U.S. each



Let's Call Her the Lenni

Years ago, there was a clothing store on College Street called Ewanika.

Fella and I used to walk by it regularly and there was a photograph in the window that we both loved.

We used to talk about it long after it had been removed from the window display

and thought of it as

"That photograph of the beautiful woman."

As I said, years went by. 

We were at Bathurst and Dupont one weekend and saw that Ewanika had moved there.

We went in and looked around and the beautiful things

(and they are - simple and classic. Gorgeous.)

As we left, I thought again of the photo and thought to myself

"I'm going to email the owner of the store and see if I can track down that photo."

Some time went by.

But finally I did.

Her name is Trish Ewanika

and she is very, very nice.

She responded to me within a day

and after some back and forth, 

she remembered the photo.

The woman in the photo is Lenni Jabour. 

She's a local musician.

The photographer's name is Rick O'Brien.

I found his website and email address.

I wasn't sure how he'd take it - a stranger out of the blue emailing him and inquiring about a photo from ages ago

but a friend of mine who has worked with photographers for many years assured me that he would be flattered that I remembered his work.

And so he was.

He was very nice and he sold me a copy of the photograph for a fair price.

And now she's mine.

When Rick and I were "negotiating" he started calling the photo

"The Lenni" 

so that's how I think of her now.

She's on the mantel for now

but when I get her properly framed, I'll find a better spot for her.

I did this once before.

I saw this piece at the Square Foot Show

but it was already sold by the time I got there.

This little elephant's name is Hortense.

After, oh, a year or maybe two, I tracked down the artist and she made me another one.

I love Hortense too.

She was totally worth the trouble.

Sometimes Toronto seems like such a big city,

but at times like this,

it seems to shrink.

And people are somewhat easy to find, in the end.

p.s. I wonder what I'll find at this year's Square Foot Show? It opens next week!

Just coming around roads, some place, and having the sensation of a piece of it, a piece of nature, like a fence, something on the road...And I really get very elated by again looking, by again seeing that the sky is blue, that the grass is green.

Willem de Kooning

AGO - Abstract Expressionists

Last Friday we went to the Abstract Expressionists exhibit at the AGO.

Sadly, I had not been to the AGO since the renovation, so I was keen to see all of the changes as well as the exhibit.

This kind of art affects me differently than others. I know that sounds like a simplistic, perhaps even silly thing to say but my approach to art is very basic - it's emotional and reactionary? Is that the word I'm looking for? (I fear that I'm losing my vocabulary. I need to start reading smarter books again, I think)

My favorite pieces were photographs by Robert Frank -

absolutely gorgeous.

apparently he lives in Cape Breton now.

Maybe I can look him up.

Another favorite was this:

Franz Kline

so beautiful. Totally moved me.

Can't tell you why

just that it did.

Definitely check out the show,

especially if you haven't been to the extreme makeover version of the AGO.

And make sure you leave time to visit the Grange and if you can, take a tour of the kitchen with the lady from Florida. She has really juicy stories about early Torontonians.

Oh and make sure you see this guy's work:

Giuseppe Penone

(In the Italian Galeria)

It will blow your mind.

art wall

gallery walls seem to be the big thing lately.

I just read two posts on other blogs just now!

I think they are a great way to fill up a big blank space

and I love the "ordered chaos" of a mishmash of colours and styles.

All of our art tends to be small

(as I've mentioned many times before)

and I had a bunch of little pieces that I adore that I thought would go nicely together.

(please forgive the picture quality. The lighting in the room is not so great and my skills with my new camera are even less great.)

I think they're hung too far apart

but i can change them around

or add to the wall as I get more stuff.

Chester is really unimpressed with the change.



art

I bought this piece from 20X200 after seeing it on A Cup of Jo.

They didn't have any of the $20 size left so I went for the $50 one.

I can't wait to get it!

It's an amazing site - lots of great stuff for very reasonable prices.

$20? Really? Yes!

You can have great art for $20!

We also picked up a piece on Sunday that we bought a few weeks ago from an artist named

Gary Clement

It was part of the Dark Energy Show at Loop Gallery on Dundas St. West.

We were driving home from the gallery yesterday and I was holding it on my lap.

I sighed and said:

I love art.

It makes me happy.

If I had a million dollars...

120 Castlefield Avenue

We went to this gallery on Saturday because we'd never been and it's really, really close to our house.

There was were several pieces that I loved, loved, loved!
(and they were paintings, which is funny since I don't usually go for painting much...)

There was one artist I really loved but her name isn't listed on their site and I can't remember!

I do remember it was about $7,500.....

Sigh...

liberty

Perhaps I shouldn't admit to this
but until last Saturday I'd never been to Liberty Village.
For those of you who are not from Toronto, this means very little
but for those of you who are - yes. I  know. I live in a bubble.

I was delightfully surprised! It wasn't just full of pretentious hipsters (although there were those aplenty)
The old buildings, the delicious coffee, the West Elm...
I enjoyed it very much even though it was a very chilly, windy day complete with crazy blustery snowflakes going every which way.

We also hit the strip on Dundas West and went here for brunch:

(photo from blogto)

The food was somewhat disappointing but I enjoyed it anyway.

Then we wandered along Dundas and spied Loop gallery

we went in and bought a piece of art!

The artist's name is Gary Clement

and he's done a whole series of pieces that are both funny and dark at the same time.

All of the pieces are $200 each which makes them totally affordable

(and since so much of our art is already 12 x 12, it will fit right in!)

It was lucky on our part that we happened by

since they were setting up for the opening reception that afternoon

so the show hadn't even opened yet.

I'm sure a lot of the pieces will sell 

but you might want to check it out.

It was after the art fest that we headed to Liberty Village.

We wanted to find a place to sit so we decided upon this:

where they made me this:

pretty cafe o lait.

Yes, I should have posted this a week ago but this week was....a challenge and I kind of tuned out and watched a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer....

more to come!

Doublenaut

There was an article in the Globe on Saturday about how Torontonians

like Toronto posters and stuff on their walls.

It makes sense

and I'm all over it. 

I mean -

I have this

and this:

and love them both.

I'm not from Toronto

but it's my city of choice

so

that's got to mean something.

Anyway - the Globe article featured a couple of hipster brothers - Andrew and Matthew McCracken.

They're graphic artists who have designed all sorts of stuff

band posters, music festival posters and the like.

Their company is called 

Doublenaut

Their work is pretty great

and I think they would make a nice addition to my...living room? office? tv room?

(I really want some art on our barren living room walls. It's downright bleak.)

I'm not so sure....

I love the combination of soft colours and sharp lines.

Next Stop

We picked up this poster over the holidays 

at Soho Art on Roncesvalles.

$59 for the framed one seemed like a good deal so we hung it in the upstairs bathroom.

It's a tiny bathroom but I think the art makes a nice addition.

We also hung this one in the kitchen...

Fella thinks it's too big for the kitchen but I kind of like it.

Especially since a lot of our other art is really small.

And clearly we are dedicated to our city!

(It is our city of choice, after all!)