Giant Roses on Park Avenue.

Chicago.

This past weekend, I was in Chicago.  A dear friend from high school is expecting her first bebeh, and this weekend was her baby shower.  It was, as always, fantastic to catch up with my friends from high school.  But I also had the opportunity this time to explore Chicago, which was really great.

Romantic Street Art.

As someone with a fundamental problem with authority, and as a hopeful romantic, these signs make me exquisitely happy.  I love the idea that someone has so much love that they have to paint it all across public spaces.  It is an important step towards autonomy and toward reclaiming our world, our public spaces and our lives in the name of love.  What's better than that?  Nothing, that's what.

From the internet.
 

From in front of my house!  We woke up one morning, and it was right there, right below our front gate.

20 x 200

I'm on a bit of a decorating kick right now-- not sure why.  Probably something to do with the new year.  So, due to my need for art and nesting, I just got my first print from 20x200.  Prospect Park in the snow.  It's so pretty, right?  And really, only 20 bucks!  I put it in a frame I already had, so with shipping it was less than $25.  Awesome!  I can't wait to hang it on our bedroom wall.

The Sledding Hill By Joseph O. Holmes.

This has me really excited for my trip to New York in April.

Kiki Smith.

One of my favorite living and working artists today, and a remarkable woman.  I adore her and her whimsy and the way she weaves in themes of women artists' lives.  I was lucky enough to see her show at the Brooklyn Museum in person last year.

Pretty phenomenal, no?

 

a piece from Kiki Smith' Sojourn

 

Kiki Smith's Fawn

Red Canna.

A birthday gift from my dad years and years ago, which recently and finally found it’s way to my home after years of storage.  I really, really love it (I've seen the original in real life a couple of times).  And it matches the red motif in my apartment really beautifully.

Georgia O'Keefe is one of my favorites of all time, and I was extremely lucky about ten years ago to go to the museum dedicated to her in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I highly recommend going if you're ever in the area.  I also recently saw her work at the Amon Carter Museum in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Louise Bourgeois.

I’m not sure if I have anything more to add to what the Guardian had to say, but great celebration and gratitude is in order for the extraordinary Louise Bourgeois.  She lived such an amazing life and created some of my favorite sculpture of all time.  Her work engaged with some of the great themes of women’s lives and reveals an emotional vulnerability of which I am in awe.

I am deeply fortunate to have some of her pieces in my city-- on the roof garden of SFMoMA.  If you're in San Francisco, I strongly recommend going to see her piece, right in front of the Blue Bottle Coffee kiosk.

I was also lucky to see her work in Tokyo at Ropponggi Hills.

Farewell, beautiful woman.  And so many thanks for the incredible body of work you leave behind; I treasure so dearly the experience of witnessing your work.