Ma Maison-Studio.

I had an unexpected day off today so I did some spring cleaning in the studio. Here are a few pictures. This is my creative space where I paint, collage, and attempt to sew. It's always a mess and every inch of it is covered with glitter but that seems to be the best for inspiring art.

My work space:

A work in progress:
A mixed media piece I did of myself for inspiration:

Baubles:

Did you doubt that there would be Parisian influence?:

My paint box:

A cozy reading nook:

Well equipped with decorating magazines and tea:

Paintbrushes:

Odds and ends:

Fabric scraps:

Storage:

And more storage:

As messy as it is, I do really love creating here:

And finally, every studio needs a unicorn:

Music of the Soul-The Pierces.

They are sisters. They are super stylish. A little dark. A little bubble-gum pop. They are quirky and sexy all at the same time. Super talented.....no, no, no I'm not talking about April and I, silly. I'm talking about The Pierces, Catherine and Alison. (They do really remind me of us though.)

What I love about them is that they easily could have gone mainstream with their looks and their talent but they decided to do their own thing. On more than one occasion I've heard people say they are a little scary or weird...which I love, because I don't know how many times April and I have been described that way too.

In any case, I love their voices. They harmonize beautifully and have a very upbeat yet mystical sound. They incorporate a mixture of different instruments on the tracks which give their music an ethnic/gypsy vibe. Their third album Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge is by far their best (as far as I know on this one they did all of the creative work themselves). Who wouldn't love a sister duo that sings "Don't be silly, turn on Billie, she's singin' us to sleep so we can dream our lives away. And if we wake up in full makeup, we'll paint the town pink cuz baby red is so passe"? Amazing. I'm not entirely sure why they haven't had more of a following...maybe because they are unusual but not so over the top eccentric that they fall into the Devendra Banhart category. And they are cute and poppy but not so much that they fall into the Britney Spears category. They are lost somewhere in the middle....but really aren't we all?

Earth Day.

I am up waaaay too late! But I had to post a pic of my seedlings in time for Earth Day. Here they are! I planted a few flower, herb and veggie seeds in plastic egg cartons. They have been growing very well in their little makeshift green-houses. Hope you have a great Earth Day! Reduce. Reuse. Recycle!

Couch Surfing.

Our friends Matt and Paulette clued us into a site called Couch Surfing. It's basically a social network with a twist. It's for people who want to travel on a budget and experience culture on a deeper level. You can post a profile and either offer your couch for someone to crash on or you can search for someone who has a couch you can crash on. It sounds like such a great idea so I signed us up and offered our couch/guest room. We were a little hesitant about safety at first but Matt and Paulette had a great first experience with their first surfer. They had a girl, Frederieke, from Germany stay with them for awhile last month. We met her one night when we all went to see a movie and she was a very nice. We figured we'd invite someone into our home first before traveling elsewhere so we can get used to the idea. Well, there's the update (plus it was a totally good excuse to post this awesome couch from Anthropologie). I'm so excited! I hope someone wants to come visit us way out here in the sticks!

I carry your heart with me.

Many of my friends and family are curious about my tattoo. Though I'm sure there will be more to come, my one and only tattoo is a line from an ee cummings poem. The poem is called "i carry your heart with me".

My sister, April, is my best friend (as many of you know) and we are probably closer than a lot of siblings are so we wanted to get tattoos that represented our unique bond without having something too cheesy. We chose this poem because it is a beautiful love poem that best describes our relationship and incorporates nicknames that my mother has called us since we were little. I have always been "Moonbeam" since I was the moody night child. And April is "Sunshine" because she was the energetic day child. So April's tattoo says "You are whatever a moon has always meant". And mine says "and whatever a sun will always sing is you". Here is the full poem. It still makes me cry every time I read it.

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

-ee cummings

I <3 Nebulae.

Ben is very into Astronomy....NOT Astrology, as I so eloquently call it. He is always showing me the latest pictures of gamma ray bursts or explaining that a comet's "tail" does not actually "follow" the comet as it appears to or discussing star nurseries, the Big Bang Theory (which is also our new favorite sitcom) or dwarf galaxies and how black holes are born (yes Ben I actually did retain all of this information). I really am fascinated with it all and even more fascinated at all he knows but in all honesty much of the science of it goes right over my head and sounds more like a twisted, cosmic, fairy tale than reality.

I do however always love the pictures. They are just absolutely stunning and so surreal. These photos look more like oil paintings to me than real life. They give me the sense of being very connected to this giant, infinite universe and being amazed that I belong to this, while at the same time making me feel so small and alone and insignificant. At times I feel as if I am swallowing the universe and other times that the universe is swallowing me.

Anyway, let's talk about Nebulae, which according to Wikipedia are "interstellar formations of dust, hydrogen gas and plasma." The way I understand it, nebulae are the beginning stages of stars and planets (Ben correct me if I am wrong). The dust, gasses and other matter start to bond creating larger and larger formations and eventually get large enough to create stars. The stars then have enough gravitational pull to attract more matter to them, creating plasma which forms the basis for other planetary objects. So there are many different types of nebulae which all have different characteristics. So here are a few of my favorites.


The Fox Fur Nebula:

Inside the Eagle Nebula:

The "Fairy" in the Eagle Nebula:

The Rosette Nebula:

The Keyhole Nebula:

And I don't care what anyone says, this is totally a unicorn:

Royal Couture.

I am in love! This is from a photo shoot with Emily Blunt in the new issue of Vanity Fair. I didn't actually read the article because I was so mesmerized by the photos by Michael Roberts and the dresses but I believe it is for a new period film that she is in called The Young Victoria (I'm assuming it will be similar to 2006's Marie Antoinette-at least the shoot resembles the one that VF did with Kirsten Dunst at Versailles for that film-even the color palette is uncanny). The second dress is actually a Dior gown that I blogged about in February and this shoot completely embodies everything that I pictured when I saw that dress. Of course, I must point out that it's really not accurate because it is clearly more French inspired than British as it should be to correctly represent the film. Not that I'm one to complain about gratuitous French Couture ;) Link to Vanity Fair to check out more amazing photos.

Ma Maison.

I have been trying to enjoy my home a bit more. I tend to get so tied up in decorating and "fixing" and cleaning that it's easy for me to forget to take a breather and actually enjoy the comfortable sanctuary that we've started to create. While it is not my very own...it is filled with a lot of love and crammed with all of my favorite things. I thought it would be nice to start to share pictures of "ma maison". I don't have too many right now. This one is just a simple shot of the dusty perfume bottles on my bureau. I will try to post a few updated ones soon.

The Art of Bellydance.

I can't sleep because I'm not feeling well....so I decided to play on my blog. I've been thinking a lot recently about beginning belly dancing classes again. I took classes in Worcester MA for a year or so and it is such a work out but you don't even realize it because it's just so much fun. My teacher, Shazar, was an older woman who was so uniquely beautiful. She was Egyptian and was just so graceful and feminine when she danced. Her husband Louie played drums while we danced. It was such a great experience.
Check out Shazar's page: http://www.shazardance.com/index.html

Though I really liked Shazar and her style, I'm hoping to find a class or teacher closer to my home and starting up again. I highly recommend this form of dance to any woman who wants to get in touch with their "inner goddess".

Anthropologie is in my blood.

I was looking for images from Anthropologie catalogs to get some home design inspiration and I came across this amazing photo:What's funny is that I have a photo of myself that I made my sister take of me last year while antiquing in Maine (I say made because I specifically remember her making fun of me for wanting a pics of myself but this shop was just so cool that I needed proof that I was there). The photo she snapped and the one I took of the shop's ceiling is eerily similar ...of course it isn't such a stunning photo and I'm not wearing any wonderful Anthropologie fashions but you get the idea. Strange?

Music of the soul- Francoise Hardy

One of my all time favorites. Francoise Hardy. She is a French lounge-type singer who was popular in the 60's. She is a style icon and chanteuse extraodinaire...did I mention she's French? Her music is fairly simplistic (though I think anything in French is fabulous) and it's very catchy. I highly recommend purchasing The Vogue Years which is a great CD collection of her work including "Tous Les Garçons et Les Filles" which is probably her most popular song. So awesome to listen to while washing your lingerie by hand in lavender water or drinking champagne and playing dress up before you go out with the girls...or something equally pretentious.

Springtime.

It finally feels like spring! We did some yard work at Ben's mother's house yesterday morning before a great, hot, turkey dinner. Then we headed to my mom's for a second dinner of ham and turkey sandwiches, pasta and potato salad and some great desserts. My mom, as always outdid herself with all the pretty decorations. We played games for the rest of the evening and then headed home for movies and relaxing before the week ahead. I hope everyone had a wonderful day welcoming spring and spending time with family and friends!

Music of the soul- Devendra Banhart

I couldn't wait a full week to post about more music. There are so many artists that I love, I really think I could post one a day and have enough to talk about for years. So, next is Devendra Banhart. He is an eccentric folk singer who spent most of his childhood in Venezuela. I first heard his music on his album Cripple Crow. But he has some older recordings and a newer CD out called Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain. I am really loving this rootsy/folksy style that artists are experimenting with recently. There is a definite Native American, hippie, naturalist vibe to a lot of the music I am into recently. I don't know if that's a good way to describe it. Well let's see...maybe this is better....it's the kind of music I would listen to if I were going on a spiritual vision quest to Sedona, traveling on the back of an albino elk with my barefooted, long haired children in tow and we stop at every forest we see to build fairy houses and take naps and play in the grass, and maybe encounter a gang of gypsies who we barter flower garlands and stolen gold jewelry with and when we finally make it to Sedona I realize that the whole trip has been a red-wine and opium induced dream. Yeah...it's that kind of music.

Lila Star.

My cousin Luke's wife, Lila Star, passed away after a very long struggle with cystic fibrosis. Today was the funeral. It was beautiful and of course very sad. They had only been married a few years and she was very young. She was a free spirit and her and Luke had the sweetest relationship. The family is happy that she is not struggling any more but our hearts go out to Luke. I just can't imagine going through what he is. Luke is a carpenter and spent the day after she passed building her casket from pine that he cut himself from the land that he owns up in Maine. How romantic and sad. Ben and I promised to learn from their story. Their love was so short lived but it was so pure. We have our whole lives ahead of us and are both in good health and there is nothing stopping us. I, like anyone I suppose, spend far too much time worrying and stressed about all of life's little trials. Lila was sick for her whole life and struggled to do many of the things that I am perfectly capable of, yet she was still such a genuine and beautiful person. I really have no excuses and it makes me a little embarrassed that I waste so much life and energy on trivial things. If nothing else, Lila has taught me that I should appreciate life a bit more, love a lot more and be sooo sooo overjoyed that I still have so much time.