Soulemama's New Book

It's been waaaay too long since I've posted, so here's a goodie:

The Creative Family
By Amanda Soule, a.k.a. Soulemama

I try to read her blog on a regular basis, and it's one of my tried-and-true stressbusters. Her writing style, photos and outlook on life calms and soothes me. I'm really excited about her book and can't wait to buy one for pretty much every crafty person I know (this means you, AM and SEW, so don't buy it).

A bonus on the blog - she lists some great books and music on the right side bar. Very cool stuff.

Jonathan Harris on TED Talks

Jonathan Harris is a storyteller/artist/computer scientist who is a great example of Frank Lloyd Wright's "form and function" philosophy. This TED Talk demonstrates why.






You can see more of Harris' work on his website - make sure to peruse the sketchbook.

While in Tennessee...

We visited the Hunter Museum of Art in downtown Chattanooga, a really cool place that we need to return to at some point with kid in tow - there's the Aquarium, the Creative Discovery Museum, neat shops and lots of historical locations of interest. But for me the best part of the visit to downtown was the Deborah Butterfield sculpture titled "Hunter." Butterfield is an American sculptor who "is best known for her sculptures of horses made from found objects, especially pieces of wood." (Wikipedia) What was amazing to me was the sense of presence you got when you first saw the piece - I couldn't ignore it, I had to get close to it . Even though the piece was of the horse standing, there was a contained but vibrant energy to the piece - she says in the Wikipedia entry that "For the pieces I make, the gesture is really more within the body, it's like an internalized gesture, which is more about the content, the state of mind or of being at a given instant." The appearance of the horse as being made of driftwood also resonated with me (maybe I am truly a New Englander?). Other works by Butterfield are online at the Gallery Paule Anglim, as is her bio and reviews.

Cafe Atlantico, Washington DC

If you've talked to me since I got back from Washington, you know I'm about to wax poetic about the Best Guacamole I've Ever Had. There's nothing like fresh avocados mixed right there at your table with cilantro, fresh tomatoes, red onions and more served with warm flour tortillas and a cold mojito...nothing better. If you're in DC, visit Cafe Atlantico
to partake in these and other gastronomical delights.

Cesaria Evora

One day I went to get my requisite caffeine boost at Starbucks and I actually went in the store instead of going through the drive-thru. I'm glad I did, because I heard Cesaria Evora for the first time and just fell in love with her music. Several of her albums are on iTunes, emusic has a couple compilations of world/folk music with a song or two of hers, and there are a couple of her performances on YouTube. Her website (http://www.cesaria-evora.com/) has a lot of information, including a newsletter and discography. I'm a little embarrassed to say I found out about her at Starbucks, but hey, their Hear Music stores are awesome, and if it's good, it's good, right?

art

I found this today completely by chance after first finding the awesome FancyPants site (I was looking for an image to go along with the word fancy) and randomly choosing other places to visit - I love looking at art gallery sites online and once, I even bought a really expensive painting from a great gallery in Portsmouth, NH (Nahcotta) completely on a whim (when I could do that sort of thing, pre-new-sewer-pipe-needs).

I think my favorite piece on the Blue Bottle site is "Thaw"...how the snowman is listing slightly to the side, how the tree is bare but with no snow on the branches...also "Moon" is pretty neat, it reminds me of Tim Burton.

Speaking of him, if you haven't seen his books, they're weird and wonderful and I can't wait to buy them for X.