Maybe she isn't blue at all because these joyful tweeters are from all over the rainbow. Wouldn't they be the greatest thing for a nursery? The sweet fabric birds hovering about their homes are the perfect combination of beauty and whimsy. I can imagine an entire children's room built around Tamar Mogendorff's art, but I could also see the birds in a sunroom, classroom, entryway, or gardening space. Really, the possibilities are limitless - especially when you have wings.
Friday, April 17, 2009
The Bluebird of Happiness.....
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Reason to love rain (#2)
Spring in North Carolina means pine pollen. It coats everything: cars, outdoor cats, bikes left outside. If you open your windows (for that wonderful spring breeze) you'll soon discover - a fine yellow dusting on your books, window sills, and picture frames. It looks like someone banged out erases in the middle of your living room. And so I want it to rain. I'm ready for the big spring wash.
bee covered with pumpkin pollen (sometimes it feels like this!)
image via: http://dalantech.deviantart.com/
Spring Morning
by A.A. Milne
Where am I going? I don't quite know.
Down to the stream where the king-cups grow-
Up on the hill where the pine-trees blow-
Anywhere, anywhere. I don't know.
Where am I going? The clouds sail by,
Little ones, baby ones, over the sky.
Where am I going? The shadows pass,
Little ones, baby ones, over the grass.
If you were a cloud, and sailed up there,
You'd sail on water as blue as air,
And you'd see me here in the fields and say:
"Doesn't the sky look green today?"
Where am I going? The high rooks call:
"It's awful fun to be born at all."
Where am I going? The ring-doves coo:
"We do have beautiful things to do."
If you were a bird, and lived on high,
You'd lean on the wind when the wind came by,
You'd say to the wind when it took you away:
"That's where I wanted to go today!"
Where am I going? I don't quite know.
What does it matter where people go?
Down to the wood where the blue-bells grow-
Anywhere, anywhere. I don't know.
Also, a look at what spring rain can do... (thanks to artist Jeff Scher's sweet little animated film, "Welcome Back").
via The New York Times: http://scher.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/welcome-back/
"The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them." - Samuel Butler
If you call the Boston area home or are just passing through, there is one spot you can not miss. At most, a bibliophile's dream come true and at the least, the perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon, the New England Mobile Book Fair (http://www.nebookfair.com/) is the most extensive and unique bookstore around. It is a discount bookseller's warehouse filled with everything from current bestsellers to out-of-print treasures. The maze of a space is organized by publisher and navigating can be a challenge, but the wandering is the best part. It is the perfect place to outfit a library or classroom, find that unusual gift, or pick up your book club's latest selection. I'm partial to rooting through the children's remainder titles- there is nothing like holding your favorite picture book from the second grade again. Located in the Boston-neighboring city of Newton, the Book Fair offers titles for a minimum of 20% off of the retail price, but more importantly....it smells like your childhood library. Breathe it in.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Collage and Cornell
This sweet collage by cabin + cub made me run through my collection of Joseph Cornell images. I love how Cornell, and this artist, both use found pieces (old children's books, illustrations) and familiar images (birds, the moon) in their assemblages.
Secret Toy
by Charles Simic
You make unknown the child’s sleeping face, his half-open eyes
and mouth.
Everything in his world is a secret, and the games are still
the game of love, the game of hide-and-seek, and the chilly
game of solitude.
In a secret room in a secret house his secret toy sits
listening to its own stillness.
Crows fly over that city. The ghosts of his and our dreams
come together at night like window dressers and their man-
nequins on a street of dark, abandoned buildings and white
clouds.
poem from: Dime-Store Alchemy: The Art of Joseph Cornell
yellows, reds, birds, boys (both present and absent):
some very serious owls:
bright blue flight:
Cornell images via: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cornell/
Friday, April 10, 2009
Snarky Chicks
I have loved Sloane Tanen's clever and wry chicks since I got "Bitter with Baggage Seeks Same" two Easters ago from a friend with a wicked sense of humor, but I had no idea that she also made sweet little versions for children like "C is for Coco" and "Coco all Year Round." Wouldn't these make great books for a child's Easter basket?
via: http://www.bloomsbury.com/copyold.aspx?id=521
Also, I found a great interview with Tanen on balancing her work with motherhood via mommy track'd: http://www.mommytrackd.com/sloane-tanen
Thursday, April 9, 2009
"let the wild rumpus start!"
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Polish Easter
I won't be able to go home for Easter this year. I'm going to miss making up the Easter basket - the sugar lamb, bit of horseradish, the piece of kielbasa and babka, the brightly colored eggs (and a wooden one or two as well). A traditional Easter basket is just so pretty.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
"...and Owl tried to sleep."
I recently came across Pat Hutchin's picture book, "Good-Night, Owl" (1972) about an owl who just can't get a wink of sleep because of all the racket those other birds make during the day. I know Hutchin's "Rosie's Walk," but I have never read seen this book before and it was a joy to discover. I love the rich royal blue and gold on the hardcover edition, but don't the books illustrations seem to be influenced by the patterns as well as colors (the oranges and yellows) of traditional Russian folk art? Maybe just a little.
Oh, to be more like Anne...
This past weekend there was an essay in the New York Times, "Got Poetry?" by Jim Holt, that makes a very convincing case for memorizing poetry. Yes, there are the "it's good for you" reasons, but I liked how he argued for the pure pleasure of it.
And if you need more evidence - look no further than Anne (the Anne, of "Green Gables" fame) performing "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes (in the 1985 PBS movie). Isn't the look on Gilbert Blythe's face enough to convince you to run out and commit something to memory??
via: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcAzEea4j-w
To read the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/books/review/Holt-t.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/books/review/Holt-t.html
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Reason to love rain (#1)
"Selecting A Reader"
First, I would have her be beautiful,
and walking carefully up on my poetry
at the loneliest moment of an afternoon,
her hair still damp at the neck
from washing it. She should be wearing
a raincoat, an old one, dirty
from not having money enough for the cleaners.
She will take out her glasses, and there
in the bookstore, she will thumb
over my poems, then put the book back
up on its shelf. She will say to herself,
"For that kind of money, I can get
my raincoat cleaned." And she will.
and walking carefully up on my poetry
at the loneliest moment of an afternoon,
her hair still damp at the neck
from washing it. She should be wearing
a raincoat, an old one, dirty
from not having money enough for the cleaners.
She will take out her glasses, and there
in the bookstore, she will thumb
over my poems, then put the book back
up on its shelf. She will say to herself,
"For that kind of money, I can get
my raincoat cleaned." And she will.
by Ted Kooser
A sampling of "Umbrella" posters:
I like these as a pair. Because of the blue and musical notes.
Hello yellow. Notice how 3 of these posters are of the exact same image? Her umbrella, his arm.
I love the vertical lines, as rain, in these two.
And why not make it a double feature with that other soggy, but vibrant musical - "Singin' in the Rain" (1952)?
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