What’s Black and White and Read All Over?

My dear loyal readers. Please accept my apologies for neglecting you once again. I’ve been hard at work on a top secret project. Fear not, you two (maybe three or four)! I’ll blog about it sometime in the near future with hints along the way. Until then however, you’re stuck with my musings on the colors red, white and black.

The Yogurt Excuse:



This big bowl of yogurt and strawberries got this intriguing thought flow started.

The Truth

Actually I wanted an excuse to write about my two new favorite freebies from my boss at oldimprints.com. In the past Elisabeth has given me some beautiful vintage marbled paper to use in my various art projects. For instance, the green paper seen in this painting:



I was thrilled when she let me have this massive sheet of uncut paper.



It’s about 24 x 36 inches. Something incredible is to be born from this sheet. I’m thinking a long thin landscape with trees and a red sea. Keep checking back with me.

Watch Your Head



My other latest favorite reddish item given to me by my boss is this copy of Oscar Wilde’s Salome illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley, published by the Illustrated Editions Company circa 1930.




I have always loved the illustrations from this work and am so happy to have my own copy of it to read. Beardsley, an English artist, used mostly ink in his work and met with a bit of controversy during his day for his often dark, erotic, and sometimes perverse subject matter.

Stuck on the Fridge

What’s truly dark and perverse are the eight horrible months I spent working at Kinko’s in Beaverton, Oregon. Luckily I worked with some pretty cool people such as my friend Orin who made me this fantastic magnet:




He cut out individual pieces of adhesive vinyl and layed them out just right. I still don’t know what I did to deserve something this cool and evil looking.

My other favorite magnet is this vintage looking Stork Club piece.



I got a little curious about the club after starting this article and did some research. Good old Wikipedia has some interesting info on the history of the place and its racist owner, Sherman Billingsley. The things we find out from day to day! Oh well, I still like my magnet.

Red and Living

My favorite houseplant is not just red…it’s metallic red! It is a gorgeous Rex Begonia plant that I have come close to killing at least a dozen times. Somehow it’s managed to stick around and brighten up my apartment.

A Clue

This past year I’ve gotten into sewing. Check out my lovely Janome:

This sewing machine was a very special purchase for me. Part of the proceeds went toward “The Heart Truth Campaign” which raises awareness about heart disease in women. Just to keep you on your toes: Heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined. Yikes! Don't forget that glass of red wine with dinner.

Alright, I think you have read enough about black, white and red. I’m off to bed.