I have a problem. I can't stop being decorative.  I have an accredited educational background in fine art and should know better than to be "simply" crafty or decorative. There seems to be something so disposable about it. And it's also a decidedly feminine activity. Coincidence?  Regardless, I have had to spend the last 10 years of my life willfully resisting the need to unnecessarily embellish, in the name of being taken seriously. I have attempted to smite the "afterthought", and have tried to ignore my instincts to decorate, and instead dig deeper into my artistic practice in search of what i'm "really trying to say".......and I have failed. Or have I? I have come to the realization that no matter how hard I try, I just can't stop! Maybe it IS what i'm trying to say. I live in a world that cuts every corner and always wants to know the bottom line. And I've realized that tying a bow on it is a reminder that no matter how practical or serious I try to be, there's a level of me that just wants things to be pretty. Why is this so wrong!? Is it escapist? maybe. But I no longer care.

i can't stop.

yes.

So I stumbled up on this recipe. Love the cooking instructions, descriptive, somewhat scientific, and very thorough! 

Check out the recipe here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/09/the-food-lab-braised-chicken-hatch-chile-white-bean.html

some drawings:

Loving the products offered by Mud Australia, available online and in NY at their Soho store. Delicate, colorful, and functional. Inspiring me to make some of my own!

I keep coming back to the blog of:

DIETLIND WOLF

Her curiosity for life comes through not only in the composition of these fantastical photographs but in the creation of her very own line of ceramics which are available at ABC Carpet & Home in NY.  What I love about her attitude towards prop styling is, if the she needs an element that's not readily available, she makes it herself!

I admire her aesthetic, true, but more so the fact that she wears many hats and defines herself through a variety of explorations in photography, ceramics, and illustration. 

I love the way she layers colors and textures in a very loose way to get the desired look, almost like an abstract painting.  Her compositions are so perfectly off-kilter! 

You can feel the process in each photo and it's so refreshing to see this kind of style in print.  As a stylist she makes beauty out of a thousand "imperfect" objects, creating amazing energy in each composition and mimicking the organized chaos of nature!

Playful, Natural, and for the most part, hand made.

Love!