Victorian microscope slides

Some fascinating images from the Cabinet of Curiosities of Howard Lynk.

"Stars of Deutzia". Silicaceous hairs on the underside of leaves of deutzia scabra, imaged between crossed polar filters. More here.

An exhibition mount of arranged diatoms, butterfly scales, and plates and anchors of synapta.

via seed magazine.

Yes

Many thanks to Lark About blog for this. Two of my favorite things, Nina Simone's "My Baby Just Cares For Me" and aardman animation, together in one video. This made my day. Enjoy.

It's J.S. Bach's birthday

Bach's music has gotten me through more hard times than I can say (good times, too). I keep coming back to it and discover new things to listen to all the time. Recently it has been choral music (his chamber works remain at the top of my list).

via daily kos

image from dave's j.s. bach page

Pretty Little Things

I really love Lauren Haupt's jewelry at locallibrary's etsy shop. I have her Little Wings necklace (shown below). Her work is simple and wearable, but interesting.

I also like this necklace (among many others):

A Rare Spirit

Nice NYT article about Patti Smith. I have always admired her for the fact that she thought (rightly so) there was no conflict between being a wife and mother and an intelligent, tough-minded artist. Plus she loves clothes.

Read the article here.

Color

Beautiful color for a sunny spring day (finally).

via Solid Frog

Vienna

I've been feeling nostalgic about my trip to Vienna last summer. Especially Sunday morning at the Cafe Hawelka, drinking milky strong coffee and eating warm-from-the-oven apricot pastries while catching up on the newspapers. This was the view from our booth. Pretty much perfect.

Later that afternoon, we saw The Third Man, one of my favorite movies, at the Burg Kino.

Our pension was just down the street and around the corner from here.

Damaged Goods

 
Dark and whimsical animation by Barnaby Barford using altered porcelain figurines. Check it out, and be sure to watch the film:

Now Screening/New York Times

A Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, Or How I Spent My Saturday Afternoon

I just discovered the Bibliodyssey blog. It's fantastic, and I can see many hours lost in this site. Seeing as how I am fond of tortoises, this image attracted me immediately:

From Volume One of 'Locupletissimi Rerum Naturalium Thesauri' by Albertus Seba, 1734, newly available from the Missouri Botanical Garden's Botanicus website.

There are many other wonders to explore here if you love books and book-related imagery:

I Feel Good

Happy Friday!

Looks like health care reform might go through after all.




(thanks to daily kos)

Cute and Practical

I generally avoid sketchbooks because they're "too nice". I'm actually not much of a sketcher, anyway, but I like using a pad of Bristol board for my preliminary drawings. It's less intimidating. But this could be nice. Small, inexpensive, and the sheets tear out.

Happy Birthday, Dalai Lama!

Today is the Dalai Lama's 75th birthday and Tibetan Independence Day. From boingboing.net:

In honor of both, Shepard Fairey collaborated with photographer Don Farber on this limited-edition, signed and numbered 18"x14" print, which goes on sale at this link Wednesday, March 10, at noon Eastern/9am Pacific. Net proceeds divided between Tibet House and LA Friends of Tibet.

Also, His Holiness now tweets.

Monday

Fred Astaire, dancing on the ceiling

"Tennessee Williams once wrote, We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it.

What Tennesse failed to mention was that if we look out of that window with an itchy curiosity and a passionate eye; with a generous spirit and capacity for delight; and yes, the language with which to support and enrich the things we see, then it doesn't matter that the house is burning down around us. It doesn't matter."

Tom Robbins

Some of my work

Pandora Takes a Cigarette Break, graphite on paper

Epiphany #25, graphite and colored pencil on museum board

Click on the Gallery link at the upper right for more.

Currently inspiring

 

Kiki Smith, The Blue Feet, with adapted text by Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz, Carpe Diem Press, Mexico, 2003

You can see the exhibit here.

And, for some reason, listening to this audio clip of honking geese in the distance.

Searching for the Groove

"The Groove is so mysterious. We're born with it and we lose it and the world seems to split apart before our eyes into Stupid and Cool. When we get it back, the world unifies around us, and both Stupid and Cool fall away.

I am grateful to those who are keepers of the Groove.  The babies and grandmas who hang on to it and help us to remember when we forget that any kind of dancing is better than no dancing at all."

--Lynda Barry

Magic

I love this artist's work. So delicate and evocative. Her name is Julianna Sweeney, and she also has a blog.

Beauty

Epigram

46 x 50 x 11 in.

Aluminum (found cans), wire, lead, and soot

I recently discovered Paul Villinsky via chelliswilson. (photo via morgan lehman contemporary art)

Esty love

One of my favorite etsy shops is back from vacation. I love these:

 

 Moon Water pants by idea2lifestyle

 I have purchased a few items from them before, and they are beautifully made and well-priced, especially for a custom-fitted garment.

Hello

"I am in search of the simple elegant seductive maybe even obvious IDEA. With this in my pocket, I cannot fail." -- Tibor Kalman