Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.
I am such an artist.
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♥ Vintage Scarves
For someone who is completely content wearing jeans and a white t-shirt every day, I simply can not live without my pearls and drawers full of colorful, vintage scarves. And most days I don't even wear them, but do look at them for beauty and inspiration. Look around. Who really wears pearls and scarves these days? Well, me!
And yes, wearing vintage scarves can make me feel silly or conspicuous. And then some days, wearing them can make me feel chic and powerfully connected to my scarf-wearing sisters, like ...
Grace
Today I can't resist the hunt at estate sales, thrift stores, and antique shops for lovely, vintage, silk beauties. And I'm even toying with the idea of designing a few of my own.
How about you? Do you have a few vintage scarves tucked away? Pull them out of hiding and let's unite! Dare to be a little different, classic, maybe even chic.
"When I wear a silk scarf I feel so definitely like a woman, a beautiful woman."
– Audrey Hepburn
"Money doesn't buy elegance. You can take an inexpensive sheath, add a pretty scarf, gray shoes, and a wonderful bag, and it will always be elegant."
– Carolina Herrera
"Dignity is an affectation, cute but eccentric, like learning French or collecting scarves."
– Dave Eggers
"Her lips were like the soft beauty of a delicately designed silken scarf."
– Howard Gordon
♥ Figs
The Fig tree at Windy Acre Cottage has been exceptionally prolific this year. I think I'll call her Pomona, after the ancient Roman goddess of fruitful abundance.
Besides bagging up several quarts of fruit to share with friends and family, I kept a gallon for myself to make into jam. My dear friend Sonja loaned me her grandmother's WWII-era cookbook for the recipe. If you would like to see the recipe and step-by-step process, click here.
My favorite meal to make with figs is simple and delicious... Pizza!
I simply take a round of store-bought Naan (from the deli area) and apply a thin layer of herbed chèvre (goat cheese) and sliced figs, and simply bake until warm and melty.
And then there are days when I basically clean out the fridge and make a very tall, Naan pizza with goat cheese, sliced figs, grilled chicken, cheddar, and prosciutto. This one you have to tackle with a fork and knife, but well worth the effort.
"O excellent! I love long life better than figs."
– Shakespeare
"Well there are a lot of things I like to eat but at this time of year I'm finding I'm making fig and chèvre salad at least once a week and that's a combo that's hard to beat."
– Karen Walker
♥ Impressionist Escapes Engagement Book
Recently a dear student gifted me with a most beautiful gift, a 2021 Engagement Book from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York featuring paintings from the beaches of France to the beaches of the eastern seaboard of the United States, incorporating both French Impressionism and American Impressionism.
In. One. Book.
It's almost too pretty to write in, but believe me, I will. Not as an engagement calendar, I intend to use this lovely book as a daily one-sentence journal and be inspired by it's paintings and it's editorial and educational content. For example, Gauguin, discouraged by the lackluster reception of his work in Paris, set sail for Tahiti in order to live inexpensively and to have time to cultivate his art.
What a game changer!
Can you even picture a Gaugin painting that wasn't painted in Tahiti? He arrived in Tahiti in 1891 and shortly thereafter his work arrived on the world's stage and has remained there ever since.
Also pictured is the tiny folio of American Impressionism by William H. Gerdts, also filled with paintings, insight and information on American Impressionism. I love the book so much, I purchased the tome, considered the definitive study of the subject.
"Art, to me, is the interpretation of the impression which nature makes upon the eye and brain."
– Childe Hassam
"If I had to choose a single destination where I'd be held captive for the rest of my time in New York, I’d choose the Metropolitan Museum of Art."
– Tim Gunn
"Some day some of you will become painters, and a few of you will do distinguished work, and then the American public will turn you down for second and third rate French painters."
– John Twachtman
♥ Pumpkins
This month I've enjoyed an outing out with my parents to Amish Country and out with friends to Cheekwood. On both occasions I was completely delighted with the abundance of beautiful and colorful pumpkins. They are so easy to love!
Ringing in the Harvest season in glorious autumn colors, the Amish offered the most charming of Cinderella pumpkins I've ever seen. Cheekwood had the most exotic, including unusual shapes and strips and combination of colors.
– Henry David Thoreau
– H.E. Bates
"Gardening is how I relax. It's another form of creating and playing with colors."
– Oscar de la Renta
"Man — despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments — owes his existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains."
– Paul Harvey
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Originally the account was created years ago to benefit "Happy Tails" animal rescue,
but now it benefits my pack of rescue dogs and assorted fosters at Windy Acre Cottage.
Thank you!
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