ragtags studio central: sarah's random this & that

random means "having no definite aim or purpose," (1655), taken from "at random" (1565), "at great speed" (thus, "carelessly, haphazardly"). In 1980s college student slang, it somehow, and sadly, acquired a distinct sense of "inferior, undesirable." (Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper) Well, okay, fine, Mr. Online Etymology Dictionary person, but THIS is the 21st Century. It's a whole new ball of wax.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

look beside my bed

Check out the sidebar section "Look beside my bed - you'll find" - there's a whole new stack of books luring me to the bedroom early of late. Really, the job at which I would most excel (y'all do realize I am seeking gainful {read, mortgage paying} employment, qué no?) involves books - I could read to anyone, having excellent read aloud skills. I can compose a pithy review, and while I'm at it, write a book or two of my own...
photo above courtesy of Sydney Swap and Sell Market

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Portrait of the Artist, in her studio, reviewing

Now, just imagine I'm sitting right here in front of you, going on about the swell book I just read:

Fabulous photos, interesting interviews, intelligent info...style, naturally is an excellent source/guidebook for anyone looking to green their personal style. The 50+ page index of resources --- web addys, street addys, and phone #s for manufacturers, shops, and nonprofits worldwide makes it worth the price alone; the rest makes it feel like you just got your hands on the biggest bargain of the summer, combining solid info with a sense of humor and a dash of perspective. For those just starting out on the road to green living, this book will serve as a source of inspiration and provide enough basic steps to getting you on the right track. Feel like you already know it all? Think again. There is SO much packed into these 300+ pages that I can guarantee there is something new under the sun. Not just fashion/style either; skin and hair care receive serious coverage (!!!) and consideration. Vegan? There are plenty of helpful and fun notes and sources listed for you as well as for straight up eco and/or vintage fashionistas. Comment

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Friday, July 24, 2009

Dog Dayz of Summer Sale!

Okay, if you have been waiting for the price of Pasticcio Quartz to fall (along with everything else), then you've been waiting for the Dog Dayz of Summer Sale! Now through Sunday, prices are slashed in the shop, on all six issues. (Prices marked are the sale price.) They'll go back up Monday, July 27th, so why not give yourself a REALLY cool treat, one that will last much longer than a dilly bar or nutty buddy and won't turn into a sticky mess all over the porch?
No, you are NOT hallucinating from all the heat, you read that right...all 6 issues of Pasticcio on sale now through Sunday right here.

One more thing - thanks Cloth, Paper, Scissors for the recent mention of In This Garden in your feature "read this". A big plus for those prospective readers? The price y'all have to pay is not the one quoted - ANYWHERE!! They made a little mistake, so yay, for unexpected deals!

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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Digging Deeper: March 14, 2007 There'll be a change in the weather

Seth has offered us another opportunity to dig still further into the archives of our blogs for additional Buried Treasure. While the contents of this post from March of 2007 may not have been deep, it's subject matter certainly was! We were just thawing out after several months of a big snowstorm and since Thursday night my book club comrades will be at my house watching Christmas in Connecticut (1940's, Barbara Stanwyk!) as we celebrate Christmas in July, I thought it would be the perfect thing to re-post. And maybe serve as a cooling refreshment to anyone in the middle of a Heat Wave...
Spring is just around the corner. In fact, it's only a week away. We are so happy to see it beckoning, from the snow crocuses peeking up through frozen ground, to the green aura of the aspen buds. For most of the week we have had windows open to the sky and gone coat free. However, there has been a rumor circulating for several days that we haven't seen the last of THIS (above). Those pictures were taken in my yard after a good deal of melting had occurred.
Fort Collins had 70 days in a row with snow on the ground this winter! Dante was inspired to make the sign by Denver Post photo archives Corina sent to us. They're from the Blizzard of 1913. Brrrrr!This one actually looks kinda familiar --- it's vintage deja vu!

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Snips and Snails and Ragtag tales

I'm a mess. Ouch. It seemed like there had been a LOT of improvement the past few months, but the other day all I did was pick up Little Miss Ezra Grace and it all went by the wayside. I am officially torn AND impinged. Left shoulder, and since I lean that way, it feels extra frustrating. The tape feels great though --- and it's SOOOO sexy.

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Friday, July 17, 2009

Swell summer reading


Did you miss the 6th (Summer 2009) issue of Pasticcio Quartz?
You can still get it right here!
Inside you will find ---

Art by:
Caroline Douglas
Cindy Couling
Connie Feedman
Cori Dantini
Edith Blackwell Holden
Elaine Pearsons
Elle Moss
John Melville Kelly
Laura Dannhauser
Lia Kent
Marilyn Szabo
Paulette Insall
Sally Turlington
Shariyah
Shirley Ende-Saxe
Shoshanah Jennings
Tawnya Romig-Foster
Wildrose Hamilton
and that's just in Palais du art...
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Articles by:
Cheryl Miller
Cher Lashley
Juliette New
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Sections on:
Claudine Hellmuth's latest products
vegetables you should grow
it's an element, it's a tool, it's TAPE
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Plus:
poetry and quotes to inspire your art journals,
links to all the latest, greatest,
and last but not least,
art by the always inspiring Angela Cartwright, and me

Perfect reading and art inspiration whether you're hangin'
in the hammock or basking at the beach...

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

The REAL Buried Treasure


But seriously. Seth is hosting a 'Buried Treasure' blogathon today. The skinny? Bloggers repost their personal fav posts from their own blog's past.
So, that Shiv-whittling post really WAS my total fave ever but this one rates too, and will (I hope) show that I'm as much serious as sarcastic (though honestly, I DO prefer squandering to shiv-whittling, so, whatevs):

The first art I remember attaching to a named artist when I was a kid was a wildly green and yellow piece called The Rabbi and it was painted that way by Marc Chagall. A copy of it hung in our rented house for an entire year. My mother checked it out of the library over and over again; I'll never forget it as long as I live. (I'm including a copy of the painting in this post, though I prefer his "prettier" pieces.) So I knew who the guy was, but would I have called him a favorite?
No, I would probably have named someone like Rackham, the illustrator of the fairy tales of a consummate reader’s childhood or Marguerite de Angeli, another remarkable illustrator.
It was as an older teen that I truly fell for the brilliance - the utter explosion of color - with which Marc Chagall, born Moyshe Segal in a Russian village in 1887, the oldest son (of nine children) of grocers, was able to fill canvas after canvas.
He was to live in his native Russia for a relatively short number of years, not consecutive. Eventually he traveled to & lived in France & the US. He also traveled virtually everywhere to complete a myriad of commissions from sacred spaces to theaters throughout the world.
Considered primarily a Cubist & Surrealist, though showing bits of influence of his friends & mentors who included Leon Bakst & Paul Gauguin, he retained throughout his awesomely long career a style & application so uniquely his own that his work could NEVER be mistaken for the work of anyone else.
He was one of the most versatile & prolific artists of the twentieth century, producing book illustration, ceramics, costumes, etchings, lithographs, mosaic, murals, sculpture, stained glass, tapestries & theater sets in addition to his incredible volume of paintings.
Today we can find his works reproduced in pop culture items ranging from rubber stamps to seder plates to t-shirts. Nearly everyone can afford to own at least a reproduction of an incredible piece of art by an incredible artist!
Not a player, though mad for womankind, Chagall was a loving husband to his wife Bella & after her death it was many years before he was to marry again. He was crazy about kids, an excellent teacher & more than happy in the role of father.
As Marc Chagall is most appreciated visually, I consider myself lucky to have seen spme originals at The Art Institute in Chicago and several museums in New York City.
A distant second, but certainly better than nothing at all are these selected books showcasing his life and work (the starred two are personal faves):

Arabian Nights Marc Chagall, illus. 1999
pub. by Pegasus Library

***** Chagall*****
by Albert Skira 1972
Crown Publishers

Chagall
by Sydney Alexander 1978
pub. by Putnam

***** Chagall from A to Z*****
by Marie Sellier 1996
pub. by Peter Bedrick Books

I Maestri del Colore: Chagall
text by Renate Negri 1967

The Jerusalem Windows

Marc Chagall 1887-1885
Painting as Poetry
by Walther & Metzger 1996
pub. by Taschen

may i feel said he? by e.e. cummings, Marc Chagall, illus.

Twentieth Century Masters: Chagall
by Mario Bucci 1971
Crown Publishers

Related:
Burning Lights
by Bella Chagall with 36 drawings by Marc Chagall
orig. published 1946

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There's a film available on both VHS & DVD titled Chagall.
You may also want to look for My Life, his autobiography.
*****************************************************
"Two years ago, André Malraux asked me to paint a ceiling for the Paris Opéra. I was troubled, touched and deeply moved. . . I doubted day and night. I thought about the whole structure of the Opéra. I profoundly admired the genius of Garnier's building and Carpeaux's inspired sculpture. I wished to reflect, as though in a mirror high above, in a bouquet of dreams, the creation of actors, of composers, to recall the colourful movement of the audience below. To sing like a bird, without theory or method, to render homage to the great composers of opera and ballet. . . I laboured with all my heart, and I offer this work as a gift, in gratitude to France and her school of Paris, for without them there would be no colour, there would be no freedom."
Marc Chagall, 1964

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Buried Teasure

Like 33% of Americans, I actually prefer Squandering to Shiv-whittling.

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Sarah, September, Dante, Sebastian: Summer Road Trip 2009


(If you click on "view all images" you can see larger versions of the snapshots. You can turn the song off by clicking the little speaker icon at the top, though I can't imagine you would want to...)

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Monday, July 13, 2009

Good Dog! Sit, stay, party

Party Animals was Jill Beninato's second project hosted to support A Place To Bark. She invited 20 artists to join her, each to create an original piece of artwork based on the theme, using any medium. She created a zine featuring everyone’s work, along with several fun additions and info about A Place To Bark. The zine is full color, 43 pages printed professionally at lulu.com. Your purchase of Party Animals is tax deductible and 100% of the proceeds go directly to helping the animals at A Place To Bark. So not only do you get a totally cool zine full of Party Animal art, you will have helped a fabulous cause...Order your copy today (and be sure to get a few extras to give as gifts to all the other pet lovers you know).
The original artwork will be auctioned off on ebay on October 15th, 2009. Jill will post additional info about the auction on her blog. A list of the artists whose art will be included in the auction is as follows:

Jill Beninato – sitstaysmile.com
Bernie Berlin - aplacetobark.blogspot.com
Suzi Blu – suziblu.typepad.com
Rebecca Collins – artpaw.com
Wendy Crumbley – 2dogstudio.com
Ingrid Dijkers – ingriddijkers.com
Manon Doyle – hoochiepoochiestudios.com
Sarah Fishburn – sarahfishburn.com
Rice Freeman-Zachery – voodooandzen.com
Heather LaHaise – heatherlahaise.com
Melissa Langer – pugnotes.com
Maija Lepore – maigirlz.typepad.com
Anne Leuck Feldhaus – annesart.com
Tamandra Michaels – heartdogstudios.com
Kim Rae Nugent – kimraenugent.com
Linda O’Neill – abbycreekstudios.com
Nancy Schutt – gooddogart.com
Jill Marie Shulse – jillmarieshulse.blogspot.com
Kelly Snelling – soulhumming.typepad.com
Carla Sonheim – carlasonheim.com
Kathy Weller – wellerwishes.com

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Apropos of apricots

A Newborn Girl at Passover
by Nan Cohen

Consider one apricot in a basket of them.
It is very much like all the other apricots--
an individual already, skin and seed.

Now think of this day. One you will probably forget.
The next breath you take, a long drink of air.
Holiday or not, it doesn't matter.

A child is born and doesn't know what day it is.
The particular joy in my heart she cannot imagine.
The taste of apricots is in store for her.

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Thursday, July 09, 2009

Kind Hearts and Coronets?

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Monday, July 06, 2009

Good Dog gone to rest

Baby Josie with Silver
+ + + 1994-2009 + + +