Work of the Week: Kerrie Hess Illustration!

Hi guys and happy Sunday!! I hope that you have had a restful and enjoyable weekend so far. Today I wanted to share the work of one of my favorite illustrators, Kerrie Hess. She does incredible illustrations for designers including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Kate Spade, and is featured in magazines like Vogue and Harpers Bazaar.

I love her expressive style, fluid lines, and use of bright color. Here are just a few of my favorites:

If you like her style, check her website for lots & lots more of her beautiful work!

Also, if you're on instagram, she is one of my favorite people to follow… so inspiring! (@kerriehessillustration)

xo,

Grace

Work of the Week and More Liebster Award Love!

As you read this, I am driving up the east coast to meet my mom in Charleston, SC for the week! I am SO excited about spending time with her in one of my favorite places in the world.  Stay tuned this week for some extra special Charleston fun!

Otherwise, welcome back to a new Work of the Week (with an additional surprise at the end)! This week, I wanted to do something similar to last week and feature another living artist. French painter Claire Basler is one of my all time favorites. She has been painting since the 1980s, and her work could not be more different than the experimental abstraction of the 1980s urban art scene.  Instead, she turned to nature, drawing inspiration from the organic.

I love this quote from her:

The observation of nature brings me the ability to listen and to be open. I am but a link for the transmission of its vitality, its force, its gentleness, its violence, its sensuality.

Its wealth is an inexhaustible source ; its tenacity is a teaching ; its beauty is an emotion that finds itself every day renewed.

                                                                                                                                                Claire Basler

Photo: Remodelista (be sure to check out their post on her studio!)

She paints, draws. creates textiles, and murals. For more, check out her beautiful website! All her works are absolutely enchanting.

Textile 

Paintings (in her home)

Mural

Textile

Secondly, I was nominated by the lovely Matilda from Matilda Elizabeth for a Liebster Award. Thank you so much for the nomination Matilda! It is much appreciated :) Head over to her blog, its beautiful!

Because I have already gotten a nomination from Novelette, and have previously posted my 11 questions (see post here and I will include them below), I am going to just answer Matilda's questions this time around! She asked some good ones!!

Matilda's 11 Questions for me :)

1. What is your favourite thing about blogging?

Definitely getting to connect with a diverse group of talented, amazing people who I otherwise would never have the opportunity to interact with! 

2. Do you have any tattoos?

Nope, none! 

3. Shimmery or matte eyeshadow?

Depends on my mood/the occasion, but usually I'd go matte. 

4. What is your go-to hairstyle?

I have thick, long, wavy hair, so I think it looks best and is easiest to style when I wear it down and in loose curls. My favorite thing to do is let it mostly air dry and then add some more defined curls with my flat iron (I'm hopeless with a curling iron and think that my thin flat iron works better for curls anyway!).

5. Do you have any pets?

YES! And I love them SO much. I have two boxer dogs, Henry and Bella. They currently live with my parents but I am trying so hard to get them moved here to be with me full time! I miss them everyday.

6. Where would you love to visit, and why?

There are so many places that I would like to travel, but in terms of doing touristy things on an active vacation, I think I have to say Paris. I feel like its a place I need to see during my lifetime and I would love visiting the museums there. Plus, I've always wanted to go to Versailles. 

7. What is your dream job?

This is a great question! As soon as I started thinking about it, my mind started going in a million different directions, so I'm going to go with what first popped in my head. My mom is from Guatemala and I spent a lot of time growing up there. My dream job would be working for or starting some kind of Non-Profit that helps artists and craftsmen there, sharing the incredible culture and artistry of Guatemala with the world. 

8. Who inspires you?

My mom and dad.

9. What is your pet hate?

When people crinkle or rub newspapers it drives me crazy. It sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me. 

10. Do you have a favourite dessert?

Cake or Cupcakes! I love frosting!

11. What is your favourite book?

The Harry Potter Series… nothing can beat it for me!

Thanks for the great questions Matilda!

I nominate anyone who reads this and who wants to participate!! I'd love to hear what your responses to my questions are! Be sure to let me know if you participate :)

Here are my questions for YOU:

1. If someone gave you unlimited funds right now to re-decorate your home or re-vamp your wardrobe, which would you choose?

2. What is the one fashion accessory you could never give up?
3. If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why?
4. What made you decide to start your blog and what is your favorite thing about blogging?
5. You're running late getting ready in the morning and have to decide between doing your hair or your makeup. Which do you decide to do?
6. Do you have one go-to beauty product you couldn't live without?
7. What is the fall fashion trend you are most looking forward to trying?  
8. Who is your style icon and why?
9. Where is your favorite place to shop when looking for fashion on a smaller budget?
10. Would you rather shop online or in an actual store?
11. Describe your style in one sentence: 

(to see my original post on this and the rules, click here)

I hope you enjoyed this post and are having a great weekend!!

xo,

Grace

Work of the Week: Rene Magritte "The Treachery of Images"

Happy Sunday and welcome back to another Work of the Week! I was talking to my mom a few days ago and she asked me what work I would be writing about this week, and how I go about selecting one each Sunday.  I told her that the honest answer to both of those questions was that I couldn't really answer because each week, events or circumstances just happen to inspire me, leading me to a particular theme or image.

Magritte, "The Treachery of Images" 1928-1929

That is definitely true this week, as I've seen at least three t-shirts in the last 7 days with this painting (or a stylized version of it) plastered on the front.  I think its budding popularity as t-shirt art may have something to do with Hazel Grace (Shailene Woodley), the protagonist of the extremely popular film The Fault In Our Stars, wearing it as she toured Amsterdam.

Hazel Grace sporting the Graphic Tee in the Film + One for sale online

I wonder how many people wearing this graphic tee realize that they are wearing a representation of one of the greatest surrealist paintings of all time?

Magritte completed stylistically diverse surrealist paintings, and "The Treachery of Images" is one of the most visually simple works in his collection. The representation of a pipe, with pronounced three dementional shading, hovers above cursive script reading "This is not a pipe." Despite it's "realistic" portrayal as a pipe, he states below that it is not a pipe at all.

So, what is it?

It is a commentary on representation, and the serious limitations of it, never before unearthed in such a clear and pointing way as Magritte does here.  The flat canvas covered in pigment will never be a pipe, only a image for viewers to impose their understanding of what a pipe is onto it.  Without the viewer's judgement, preconceptions, or understanding of the object we have designated to be a "pipe," the object would simply be a flat shape on a stagnant canvas.  

Images can betray us because the thing being represented may seem as if "reality" to the viewer, but in fact it is nothing more than a two dimentional surface.  This is not to say that images have no place in representation, but instead challenges the viewer to question their own reality, to question their perceptions, and to look past shiny facades to what really may lie beneath. 

As the artist himself says, "Only thought can resemble. It resembles by being what it hears, sees, or knows; it becomes what the world offers it."

So in fact it is not a pipe, but a series of lines and shadings that the viewer uses to impose their preconceptions into a judgement of what is "real."  Now, why is Hazel-Grace, a young woman suffering from cancer, wearing this on her shirt? I'll let you think about that one.

Have a great Sunday!

xo, 

Grace

Work of the Week: Lilly Martin Spencer: Young Husband: First Marketing

Welcome back to a new Work of the Week post!

I hope you have all had wonderful weekends!!

Today's work is by American 19th century artist, Lilly Martin Spencer.  Spencer is very well known for her scenes of domesticity, or "genre" scenes typically popular during this time period.  What some do not know about Spencer is that she was the breadwinner and financial provider for her family.  After Lilly Spencer wed, her husband decided to quit his job and help her out with housekeeping while she devoted herself entirely to producing works for purchase.

Despite her work ethic and talent, the Spencers were never econonmically prosperous and spent most of their lives in financial distress.

This painting, Young Husband: First Marketing (1854), is widely considered to be an attempt at humor in portraying gender relations in the mid 1800s (which were thankfully much different than gender relations today!).  The "Young Husband" clumsily walks through the rain, dropping produce from his shopping basket after picking up groceries-- shocking as men were not generally portrayed as facilitators of the domestic sphere.  This, however, was Lilly Spencer's reality.  A darkly dressed man with a sinister expression, and especially pointy umbrella, jeers at him from behind.

Most New Yorkers who first viewed it in the National Academy of Design in 1854 got a good laugh from it, as it was quite preposterous and odd to see a male figure infringing on what was seen as the female realm (and doing such a poor job at it too!).

I propose a less humorous reading to this image. Personally, I see this as a frustrated commentary by Spencer on her financial and home-life situation. She bore the complete responsibility of financing her household, while her husband managed the domestic issues…a total reversal of the "norm."  In turn, society, embodied here by the jeering man, looked down upon them with more than just laughs, but a sort of inescapable darkness, willing and hoping for the Spencer's "strange" situation to fail.  As evidenced by the "Young Husband's" frazzled struggles, it was not easy for either of them to endure.

It is especially interesting for me to reflect on this work today, as almost two centuries later, I would hope that we have progressed far enough to not find it silly when a man buys groceries.  However, we certainly still struggle with similar gender issues and inequalities.  This work is an important reminder of the pain, humiliation, and fear that people who enjoy perpetuating stereotypes can impose on one deemed to be "different." Let us strive to not be the jeering man!

I hope you enjoyed this post and have a wonderful Sunday Night! I must confess that tomorrow I am going to Harry Potter World (***yay!!!***) and will not be posting. I will be back Wednesday and stay tuned for a review of the New Diagon Alley!! 

xo, 

Grace

Favorite Coffee Table Books {Currently}!

Hi guys and happy half-way through the week! Hope its been good to you so far. Today I want to share a few of my favorite coffee table books. My mom has always decorated with and collected coffee table books, so growing up I was always surrounded by the glossy pages of far away locations, beautiful art work, or cozy decorating ideas. Just like her, I love books and I love to decorate with them as well!  They are a great way to show personality in your home as they are a fantastic opportunity to showcase your interests or passions.

Here are my current favorites:

1. Hue by Kelly Wearstler // 2. Will Cotton Paintings and Works on Paper by Francine Prose // 3. Houses in My heart: Carleton Varney by Carleton Varney // 4. Contemporary Classical: The Architecture of Andrew Skurman by Andrew Skurman // 

Hue was introduced to me by a woman I used to babysit for who loved interior designer/fashion designer Kelly Wearstler's style. It definitely rubbed off on me and this is such a fun book for colorful inspiration, decorating outside the box, and looking at cool modern art. My only complaint is that I have the smaller version and I wish I had gotten the larger book so that it has more presence, but still, one of my favorites for sure.

Will Cotton by Will Cotton is like looking through dreamland. His paintings and drawings mainly feature women dressed up in all kinds of candy or cakes, or landscapes of candy-worlds. His work is seriously amazing (you may remember him from Katy Perry's teenage dream album cover/artwork). 

I purchased Houses in my Heart while on vacation with my family at the stunning Greenbrier Resort. I have always loved The Greenbrier and the way that Dorothy Draper decorated it with bright colors and fun florals (check out In the Pink: Dorothy Draper).  Carleton Varney is now the president of Dorothy Draper and Co. Inc and is active in decorating many hotels including the Greenbrier. This book has beautiful images of his bright and vibrant decorating.

Finally, Contemporary Classical was a gift from my parents and I find it very relaxing to look through. Skurman's clean lines and classic aesthetic are refreshing in a world where there is so much stimulation.  This book is fantastic for the interior decor and the architecture alike. 

What are some of your coffee table books? Have a great afternoon!!

xo, 

Grace

Work of the Week: Basilica of San Petronio, Bologna Italy

Welcome to a new Work of the Week post! This week, the "work" is actually an architectural structure.  One of my major areas of study was architecture, specifically cathedral and basilica structures. I find them to be fascinating and beautiful-- I hope you feel the same!

Many people are familiar with (or have at least seen pictures of) the Florence Cathedral, or Il Duomo di Firenze.  This Gothic Cathedral is well known for its massive dome (a harbinger of the Renaissance period not started until 1421), but the cathedral structure itself was begun in 1296, overseen by Arolfino di Cambio.  Sadly, di Cambio died only six years into the project so never saw the project even come close to completion.  Despite his death, his plan for the structure remained basically unchanged, which is remarkable as this period was marked by the multitude of opinions and potential drama while building large religious or cultural structures.

Florence Cathedral 

An interesting anecdote about the dome is that Brunelleschi, the architect who made the proposal for the dome structure, was unsure how to go about vaulting such a massive structure. He went to commissioners and artists to seek advice, and one prominent proposal was to fill the entire octagonal drum (the base of the dome) with dirt mixed with gold coins, place a resting dome on top of the dirt, and then encourage random people to clear out the dirt with the promise that they would find gold coins mixed in with it.  Not a very smart plan, but still an interesting story!

Florence Cathedral 

I begin with the Florence Cathedral because it is connected to the lesser known Basilica of San Petronio that is our focus today. Bologna is a much smaller city in Italy in comparison to Florence, but wanted to assert its presence as a viable, powerful, and autonomous locale.  The best way to do this during the 14th century was by presenting impressive architectural ability, and that is exactly what the city of Bologna tried to do. 

This structure was begun almost exactly one hundred years after the start of the Florence Cathedral (during the Gothic period it often took two centuries or more to complete a cathedral structure).  In an attempt to be at a similar level as Florence, and seeing the impressive work of the florentines, the plans for San Petronino were incredibly ambitious and can be said in today's modern language as an attempt to "one up" the florentines.

Setting out to build an unbelievably large structure in a relatively small town, impressively, within the first fifteen years of building, the entirety of the main arcade (basically the long portion of the cross shape that cathedrals make)was completed. However, after 1405, construction came to reach a long pause. From 1405 on, the construction moved at a snails pace, and the structure was never completed.

This forever incomplete example of late gothic architecture is a perfect example of the big aspirations 14th century individuals had in their cathedral construction; the city of Bologna really knew how to dream BIG!

Today- Still incomplete facade of the structure 

Exposed brickwork never covered 

Fortunately for us, a wooden model of one of the original plans for the structure survives today, so we can compare how far the structure made it against what it was "meant" to be.

Wooden Model of Original San Petronio Plan

Compare this wooden model with the above image. In the wooden model, the bottom section of the long leg of the cross shape is all that was ever constructed (although never finished as it is still mostly "naked" brick).
The cross section (side chapels), or the short leg of the cross that forms the "t shape" was never begun, the dome on top of the crossing was never begun, and the four towers were never begun.  Just to be entirely clear because I know architecture terms can be confusing, I circled in the below image all that was ever partially completed.

Circled shows what exists today

What is remarkable  about this Basilica is the sheer ambition behind it.  It is actually said that the architect in the later, early 16th century plan wanted to make this structure even larger and grander than St. Peter's in Rome.

It is also interesting and unique because the impotence to this structure was not the church wanting to build a cathedral structure, but the town and the townspeople themselves wanting a gothic cathedral for their hometown.  The structure was property of the city, not in the hands of the church, until 1929, and consecrated in 1954.

I hope you enjoyed this post! I hope it wasn't too confusing and that you had a great weekend!!

xo, 

Grace

Work of the Week: Millais Ophelia

As an Art Historian and art lover, I am so excited about today's first "Work of the Week" post; every Sunday I will be featuring one of my favorite works of art or architecture and providing some information about it!  I recently graduated from university, and what I honestly miss most about it is attending my art history classes.  The world of art history is vibrant, exciting, mysterious, and vital to human life and modern culture.

To kick off this new feature, I selected John Everett Millais: Ophelia (1851-2).  This oil on canvas work is of particular importance to me because it was one of the first paintings I studied in my freshman art history survey class that lead me to love the field of art even more.  The simultaneous presence of beauty and tragedy pulled me in and never let me go!

Millais Ophelia 1851-2

The painting is based off of Shakespeare's Hamlet , depicting the character Ophelia about to drown in a river after falling in.  Supposedly, she is supposed to still be alive here, kept afloat by her boyant dress, singing as she floats down river.  I, however, hold the opinion that Ophelia has already departed from this wold in this depiction, showing the eerie peacefullness of her quiet passing.

Here is the passage on which the painting is based:

There is a willow grows aslant a brook,

That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;

There with fantastic garlands did she come

Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples

That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,

But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them:

There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds

Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;

When down her weedy trophies and herself

Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide;

And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up:

Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes;

As one incapable of her own distress,

Or like a creature native and indued

Unto that element: but long it could not be

Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,

Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay

To muddy death.

The most interesting aspect of this work is what Millais went through during the painting process.  He was so dedicated to accurately depicting the river scene, that he spent five months on the bank of the river capturing every detail.  For these five months, he was out there at least six days a week for about twelve hours a day…. That's dedication!

When it came to painting Ophelia, he hired a model and had her lay in a cold bathtub in his studio, completely still and fully clothed.  Eventually the model got sick and essentially sued him to pay for her medical expenses. There's some art history drama for you!

I  hope you enjoyed this first Work of the Week and I look forward to exploring a new work with you next week! Have a great Sunday---

xo, 

Grace