Hot Child in the City

I have been so busy this week, however I did have one day off on Wednesday and headed down to good ol' Pike Place which also happened to be Bastille Day! I was surrounded by endless colour, great food, good company, warm sunshine and fabulous loads of inspiration! Hope everyone had a fabulous and relaxing weekend.

PS: I'm so very excited to see that I have some new followers--welcome!! XX

My New Favorite Artist {Helen Frankenthaler}

The other day I headed downtown Seattle with my mom to go enjoy some artwork at the SAM. I haven't been down to the Seattle Art Museum for quite sometime and I was excited to see what they had on display, (BTW: Every first Thursday of the month = free admission. I was pleased to see they had some of my favorite artists, Pollack and Rothko. However, a piece by Helen Frankenthaler totally caught my eye, with huge splashes of colour and organic forms. I have to admit any sign of bright colour and I am totally hooked!

When I got home and googled here and instantly fell in love with all the images that came up! I love her color choices within all her paintings and the overall "effortless" feel. The greatest thing about Frankenthaler's pieces are that they appear almost neutral because of how the colours flow so smoothly into one another.

Some fun facts:

• Frankenthaler does not prime any of her canvases and often uses wood cuts to paint upon (ie: Madame Butterfly).
• Another interseting fact is that she uses oil paints, even though at first glance her pieces easily come across as water colours.
• From 1958-1971 she was married to Robert Motherwell, another one of my favorite abstract painters.

I thought it'd be fun to pair some of my favorite pieces of Frankenthaler's with interiors to show how wonderfully versatile her paintings are in a variety of spaces. Most of her paintings are from the 1950's but come across oh so contemporary--I'd be more than happy to invest in any of her stunning pieces :)

Images Courtesy of: DecoIdeas, Domino, The Selby, Sfgirlbythebay,Helen Frankenthaler

Just In the Nic of Time

Just when I thought the weather wasn't going to turn around in Seattle, I heard we're finally going to see the sun this week and it might just be here to stay!! Now that I'm home and happen to have a lot of extra spare time. However, all I wanna go do is go outside and enjoy summer but I haven't been able fully do that yet, (crossies)--it will be a possibility this weekend! With all my extra time inside, I have been quite productive in the addicting world of blogging. I have discovered plenty of fresh, innovative and inspiring designers to add to my "little black book" of designers. Currently, I am obsessing over every little detail in Winsor Smith's impeccable creations. Absolutely divine! Smith has a terrific eye for color, proportion and variety. I hope her cheery spaces will help kick off your weekend to the right start.

All Images Courtesy of Windsor Smith Home

An Afternoon with Warhol, Pollock & Refreshing Interiors

Images: Courtesy of Google

I am so happy I finally made it to the famous Tate Modern Art Museum right on the River Thames in downtown London. And best of all, it was free entry! The Tate is home to legendary artists Andy Warhol, Claude Monet, Jackson Pollack, just to name a few ground breaking artists. The actual interior of the museum seems fairly new, an industrial building but balanced out with fresh graphic details and bright colors. After being in Interior Design for a full three years I appreciate abstraction and art on a whole new level. Here are some of my favorite pieces throughout the 5 story complex. (I realized I gravitate immediately to colour, texture & loose brush strokes, all of which are some of my favorite design elements--now I really sound nerdy analyzing art and my design principles!)

Robert Rauschenberg

Victor Pasmore

Piet Mondrian

Gerald Richter ( My favorite series!)

Jackson Pollack

Mark Rothko

Not entirely sure on this one...

Image: Courtesy of Keep Calm & Carry On

Ring a bell? I feel like I see this print in so many interiors, so it was funny that the above paintings reminded me exactly of this particular image. Fun fact about 'Keep Calm and Carry On' is that it was originally a British propaganda poster in the 1920's that was rediscovered in 2000 and the rest is history--no pun intended :)