art

Gjusta + Getty Villa

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Ok, so going with my theory of always doing something cultural and eating something delicious, we had a great day at Gjusta Bakery and visiting the Getty Villa (different than the Getty Center!) in Los Angeles. These are not next to each other, but it was a quick drive from the bakery to the villa. And we wanted to do both (and recommend both, too!)

 

GJUSTA BAKERY

 

Gjusta is the sister restaurant of Gjelina (which is forever my favorite restaurant in LA, and also has the best cookbook and best sticky toffee pudding you will ever eat). It is located in Venice and everything in it is just beautiful and delicious.

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Giverny: Monet’s House and Gardens

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Sorry for the delay in posts — we are in Paris and have been nonstop with activities, museums, steps, and eating! The best! Anyways, I am now no longer jet lagged, no longer every second packed, and so I am baaaaaack. One highlight of the past week was a trip to Giverny, where Monet lived and painted. In all the years I have spent coming to Paris, I have never ever been to Giverny before. And it did not disappoint! Not only that, it exceeded expectations, and I highly suggest that everyone make a trip to Giverny if you have not yet been.

 

Every morning on our way out the door, we took our photos and did OOTD (outfits of the day) where we told each other our outfits.

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Jesse Krimes at The Met

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If you are in NYC before July 13th, I highly recommend stopping by the Jesse Krimes: Corrections exhibit at the Met. It is the best exhibit I have seen in a long time — and the story behind it is amazing. And even if you don’t have the chance to see the exhibit, I highly recommend learning more about Jesse Krimes (from this post, but also the other articles link, etc…) — he is someone to know of! Long story short, Jesse was put in prison for selling drugs, and during this time, he created art with the items he has access to while in prison.

 

This piece, called “Purgatory” is when Jesse was in solitaire confinement for a year (awaiting trial as he could not afford bail).  He created this with bars of soap and decks of cards — and put the faces of people from the paper using hair gel to create an impression on to the soap.

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Paris Art Exhibits

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For the final three days of our trip to Europe, we went to Paris, where the days were filled with walking, shopping, eating, and art. We saw two different art exhibits that I absolutely loved. Although they are closed now (we went to both in the final days), if you have the chance to see either of these artists in the future, I highly highly recommend.

 

1. Olga de Amaral

Olga de Amaral is a Columbian artist known for her fiber art — and holy crap — this was one of the best exhibitions I have ever ever ever seen. It was in the Cartier Foundation — a museum, I had never stepped foot in before — so it was also fun to see a new spot (randomly, it closed this past weekend and will be moved to the different side of Paris in the next couple of years).

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Luna Luna + Din Tai Fung

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At the VERY start of break (yes, I am very behind on all posts and catch ups), we went to one of our favorite dumplings spots, Din Tai Fung, and also to a fun immersive art experience, Luna Luna. I highly suggest going to both — for taste, color, experience!

 

Luna Luna

 

Lots of color — and super cool to learn about everything. (It was VERY cold and we stayed in our coats the entire time)

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Glass Blowing

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Over Thanksgiving break, we went on our annual trip to Northern California (well, we go to Northern California a lot more than once a year, but we have done it the past three Thanksgivings…). It was a nonstop fun filled weekend, not just with food, but with tons of activities. Hands down, one of the highlights was glass blowing. I mean, what is more fun than creating a holiday ornament! A BIG shout out to our hosts (sister from another mister) for organizing every single activity and finding all these fun experiences for us to do together — love doing life (and / or glass blowing) together.

 

It was a drive from where we were staying — but well worth it. Located on Mare Island, it is a random studio, but has everything you need to blow glass!

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Storm King 2024

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What a treat! A last minute trip to Storm King — 500-acre outdoor museum located in theHudson Valley — where I have visited with the family several times before but this time, I went with some friends, and had a personal guided trip which meant GOLF CARTS, not excessive walking, so much interesting information. Highly recommend making the trek to visit Storm King — especially in the Fall foliage and glorious colors — and if you can get a tour, even better. I feel like I attended a class and learned so much.

 

The leaves, the colors, the sunshine, the art!

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Tatter Textile — Basket Weaving Class

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You know how small the world is? Small — but here is an example of how small it actually is. When we were trying to figure out if Thacher was the right school for Cruz or not, we were put in touch with a NYC parent who has kids attend Thacher. This woman, happened to be the owner of Tatter Texile. I had no idea what Tatter was, but when I told my mom, she explained that Tatter is a textile store / workshop / library that she takes a million of zoom classes from. So when this summer I became interested in basket weaving, my mom signed me up for a basket class AT Tatter. I loved every minute of it — not just making the basket, but meeting the owner (Jordana — lovely human), being crafty, and getting a taste of Tatter and its beauty! Tatter offers a slew of different classes in all different art forms — highly recommend checking it out!

 

The beautiful library – I LOVE the sofa.

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Sola Cube

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One of my favorite go-to-presents is a Sola Cube — what is a sola cube? Designed by Koichi Yoshimura, it is a handmade piece of art by Japanese craftsmen that contains a real plant. They make a great touch to a nightstand, or somewhere where you can see the beauty of real nature and think of the plant inside. I especially like the dandelion, a symbol of hope and wishes, that is also a beautiful fluffy round ball.

 

A ton of different variations — but I still love the dandelion the most.

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Pressing Flowers

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In our final days in Oregon, we went to a U-Pick Flower Farm (believe it or not, our first time at this gorgeous farm!) and collected the most insanely beautiful flowers.

 

Hot day, so Stevie would try to hide below the flowers. Didn’t really work, but hey, like the effort!

We wandered the flower farm for about an hour and picked the most gorgeous flowers.

Look at this dahlia! Unbeliveably beautiful!

Our final collection.

 

We went to the farm, not just to see the pretty flowers, but to create art with dried pressed flowers! It takes time — but we first needed the flowers!

 

Getting to work.

Putting the flowers to be pressed and dried.

Smooching the flowers for a week — stay tuned!

 

We loved going to this flower farm, and if you have a chance to do something similarly, definitely go. In the meantime, we will be waiting patiently for our flowers to be pressed and dried to create something (bookmarks)!

Basket Weaving Class

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My mom is an avid crafter — even more so than me — so last week, she told me that she had accidentally signed up for two different zoom workshops at the same time, and so could I take one of them. Since I love crafts and had nothing else to do, I jumped at the chance. Basket weaving. A 4 (yes 4!!!!) hour zoom class where they taught you how to weave a basket. They sent a box with all the supplies – the needle, scissors, everything. The box is from Flax and Twine and I cannot wait to purchase more of these kits.

 

The box came with all the material.

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Sea Glass Space Invader

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As mentioned last week, I am obsessed with sea glass. I am equally as obsessed with Space Invaders. So, this week, I combined the two! LOOK!

 

When we were in Europe, we found 52 space invaders! 49 in Paris, 2 in Menorca, and 1 in Sainte Maxima. This was the last one on our last full day in Europe! So exciting.

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Sea Glass in France

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As I have mentioned before, I love searching for sea glass. It is almost an obsession — once I start, I cannot stop. It is SO satisfying and so fun — I love everything about it. Right now, I am in the South of France, and NO ONE collects sea glass — in fact, when I do it, everyone comes up to me and asks what I am looking for and what I am going to do with it — and because of the fact that there is no one collecting it, there is SO much sea glass. It is awesome!!!! And I came up with an idea what to do with the sea glass and I am so excited!!!!

 

For the past 4 days, every morning after my run, I spend 10-30 minutes looking for some sea glass. Yes, very flattering photo. But I wanted proof of the fact that I was in my running gear, walking on a rocky beach, spending time looking for these little jewels.

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Space Invaders

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Last week, I went to Paris with my two kids, and last minute, added two of Cruzzie’s friends. Initially, I had no plans, so it was a mad dash trying to figure out what to do with four kids solo and how to make it fun for everyone. Normally, I just like to walk around all day with no real plans, but I knew that that would be harder with four kids. Thankfully, I had a dear friend who told me about an app “Flash Invaders” which helps you track the space invaders — tile mosaics all over Paris buildings made by a certain French artist, an Unidentified Free Artist that goes by Invader.

 

First go to the App Store and download this app, Promise you, it is so fun! Addicting, actually.

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Enamor-Art Hat

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When we were in Mexico over Spring Break, I saw a straw hat that I couldn’t stop thinking about. I knew the minute I saw it, that I wanted to get it, but I always like to make sure I REALLY want something before I actually buy it. But sure enough, I could NOT stop thinking about it, so now I have a hat from Enamor-Art Hat and I love it!

 

I loved everything about it — but especially the neon pink and the metallic silver.

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Brooklyn Museum

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I have been dying to go to the Brooklyn Museum’s newest exhibition (Alicia Keys and Swiss Beatz Private Art Collection) since it opened three weeks ago. So this past Saturday, in a crazy rainy downpour, I ventured to Park Slope to see it. It took one hour by the  subway, got absolutely sopping wet, had issues with my tickets, lost my umbrella, and STILL found it worth it.

 

OY was it rainy!!! You had to check in your umbrellas — meaning, you couldn’t bring them in to the museum. Unfortunately, the check in for the coat check was SO ABSURD that I left my umbrella in a corner (a risk) and lost it (dumb me). Which meant, that my trek home on the subway was even more wet, long, and smelly than it was coming to the museum. OY!

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An Atlas of Es Delvin

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This past weekend, I finally had the chance to stop by the Cooper Hewitt Museum  to see the exhibition of “An Atlas of Es Delvin” and WOW it was incredible. So intrigued, I came home to spend the rest of the afternoon watching a documentary on Es Delvin and looking through all her art work. I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend going to the museum to see this exhibit, or if not in NYC, to look through Es Delvin’s work (and watch the video on her) to see what it is all about — absolutely inspiring. Es Delvin is a British stage designer that starts with all her projects first on pen and paper, then models, and then unimaginable set designs.

 

Cooper Hewitt is located on 90th street and 5th avenue in Manhattan. It costs 19 dollars for an adult and free for 18 and under. WORTH IT.

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Needlepoint Canvases

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Holiday season is upon us, which means more traveling and time to needlepoint! I love getting lots of canvases to work on during my travels (and down time), and here are some websites that I have recently loved purchasing my different canvases.

 

1. The Red Thread Atelier

 

I bought several canvases from this new website, and I love them all. Especially love this future pouch for all my emergency candy!

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Warhol at The Brant Foundation

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I absolutely love the Brant Foundation in the East Village. Years back, they featured Brant’s collection of Basquiat, and it was so amazing that I went back 3 or 4 times (with my girlfriends, kids, my brother, etc…). The space of the foundation itself is magical and beautiful, and the artwork itself is incredible. So, this past weekend, I went with my son and his brother-from-another-mother (aka his best friend), and we visited the newest exhibition, Andy Warhol. This collection contains over 100 pieces of artwork — all but one personally owned by Peter Brant. The only piece of art not owned by Brant is this huge Mao silkscreen on loan by The Met (and Brant donated it to the Met years ago). This exhibit is open to the public until July 31st and I HIGHLY recommend going. Plus, there are so many fun and different restaurants nearby, that you can make it an extra special outing!

 

You start on the top floor (4th) and then walk down the stairs to the rest of the floors.

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Sarah Sze: Timelapse

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Thanks to a college friend (the head curator of Storm King), I was invited on a private tour of the new exhibit at the Guggenheim: Sarah Sze Timelapse. It was a wonderful hour spent listening to the head curator of the exhibit, Kyung An, and learning SO much (apparently I am the last one to know about Sarah Sze!!!!) It is an interesting exhibit but made incredibly worthwhile with the descriptions and explanations of each work and the thought process behind it.

 

It starts at the bottom of the rotunda and then restarts on the 6th floor (there is another exhibit in between — but Sarah Sze is the main feature).

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Graffiti Workshop

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Last month to celebrate the end of school, I took Cruzzie and his friends to a graffiti workshop in Brooklyn. I thought it would be a fun and unique outing — something different — and sure enough it was. We were all a little skeptical (the teacher was late and the building that the class was in was a little unusual), that said, it was so fun and the boys had a great time and learned so much. I highly recommend — but if you do it, just know that there might be a couple kinks but it will all work out.

 

A quick background on the history of graffiti and then a lesson on how to do it.

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LV 200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition

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This past Sunday, I visited the old Barneys building (RIP) as Louis Vuitton is hosting an exhibition there until December 31st. This exhibition is the fourth and final stop of this traveling show. Not only is it an exhibit, but Fred’s (the restaurant, SOB, RIP) is also temporarily opened while Louis Vuitton is in the building.  The exhibit is located on three of the floors, presenting 200 trunks that were created by 200 different artists.

The building. Entrance is free — you can reserve a ticket online, or just simply walk in, depending on the time of the day and how busy it is.

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