just a snippet: window view

From Clare Vivier tumblr

It's all connected, at least in my head.

Henri Matisse, The Open Window

Pierre Bonnard, The Open Window

a little home improvement: some lighting options

Ikea daisy pendant

It's too late for spring cleaning, but I've been doing a little summer refreshing around the house. It's amazing what you don't notice when you've lived with it for years, especially in rooms like the guestroom where you don't really linger. Some of our lighting fixtures are dated, ugly—just plain not our style. One of these, from Ikea and way beyond pricewise, might make an appearance soon. (Who am I kidding—it's likely to be Ikea all the way. Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Lindsay Adelman chandelier

Serena & Lily chandelier

West Elm pendant

be wild and free on etsy

Camel print

I'm a sucker for anything floral and delicate–with an edge. It's all about the balance, the contrast—whatever you want to call it. Carly Deblock's Etsy shop gets the mix just right.

Teeny tiny heart painting

Narwhal painting

Lowercase a print

Succulents print

my brother's birthday present

From David Pollack vintage poster shop

I'm looking for a vintage (real, not fakey reproduction) travel poster for my brother's birthday. He's turning 40 and already has everything, really. But he loves to travel, and his home office could use a little something something, to go with his photos of Santorini and Tangier. So I'm thinking a vintage poster could work. I'm leaning toward the simpler, more mod-ish ones, as opposed to the Art Deco types you see all over the place. These all look a bit cooler and less familiar—and less like something you'd find in a cafe bathroom.

Hawaii from Abe Books

Japan from Abe Books

Africa from Abe Books

Brochure cover from International Poster Gallery

Australia from David Pollack

lisa hochstein

Something about Lisa Hochstein's paper art is really working for me. Her deceptively simple compositions remind me, in the best possible way, of these spectacular quilts. (Which are worthy of a post themselves, but that's for another day.) 

bluemics on etsy

Kimiko Kotouge makes these pretty ceramic pieces in Okayama, Japan. They're inspired by traditional styles, and made completely by hand, and they definitely have a modern vibe. And the dark blue with cool white is a perfect combination. You could group them on a shelf (or wall), but I think they're too pretty not to use.

monday thoughts: black and white

Robert Motherwell was a major American painter. Huge scale, bold shapes, gutsy movement, provocative titles: his work is stunning, full stop. He was a member of the New York School and is often classified as an abstract expressionist, but he was also his own thing—more than a single label or school, I mean. He studied at to Harvard to please his father, became friends with Jackson Pollock, taught with Cy Twombly and Robert Rauschenberg, and married Helen Frankenthaler. (And he was unusually articulate when talking about his work; his writing is definitely worth a look.) I grew up looking at and admiring one of his Elegy to the Spanish Republic series. The stark but complicated black and white scheme is inspiring me all over the place right now. (My Pinterest boards are full of color, but if I'm being honest my real life is mostly black, navy, and gray.) I would add some self-deprecating line about how silly it is that an icon of modern American art is affecting what shirt I wear. But art is where you find it, and so is inspiration.

Alternative apparel raglan

Emerson Fry top

Seahorse print

Old Boston terrier

Detail from a sketch

Frame with an owl

I hadn't worn these since college.