THRIFTED: Cafe Terrace At Night.

This vintage dress is possibly one of my most exciting thrift finds to date.  I remember plucking it off of the rack at a local thrift store and squealing with delight, as I imagined promptly leaving the store and heading directly for the Netherlands, where Vincent Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Night (1888) lives in the Kröller-Müller Museum.  Alas, I still have not seen this fantastic painting in person (which, coincidentally is not signed by the artist), but I spent an afternoon with the Van Gogh pair at MoMA, reveling in the swirls and undulations of the paintings and my outfit.

Dress: Thrifted

Tights: Joe Fresh

Boots: Delman

Bracelet: Vintage Givenchy (via Goodwill)

Photos by Kathy Paciello; Cafe Terrace image via prweb.com.

ART TO WEAR: Primavera.

I live for garments like this Valentino Haute Couture Spring / Summer 2014 gown, which feels right at home with Sandro Botticelli's 'Primavera'. What do you think of this luxurious example of Art to Wear? Image via Artsy.net.

ARTFULLY AWEAR X WAVERLY WORKSHOP

I'm extremely excited to share photos from the first ever Artfully Awear workshop!  A Saturday class through the Waverly program, this particular session was geared toward girls ages 9 - 11, and was hosted by the boutique Torly Kid.  We had a fantastic afternoon learning about inspiration and making our own masterpieces!  If you're interested in attending or hosting an Artfully Awear workshop, email artfullyawear@gmail.com.

Thank you to our wonderfully creative inaugural group of budding artists & designers, to Molly Wills, director of Waverly, and to Torly Kid for providing a space!

We started off by talking about inspiration and our favorite colors.  Each girl got to choose an accessory in her favorite hue and don it in a creative way throughout the class.

To get warmed up, the girls were given blank fashion design templates and asked to draw an outfit inspired by a work of art that we discussed. 

Their creations were completely fabulous, and clearly captured the artistic inspiration!

Waverly program founder Molly Wills models my pom pom jacket, used as inspiration for the big project.

After discussing the artwork that inspired my pom pom jacket, the girls got to work, adorning a purse, a hat, a dress, and sunglasses with colorful pom poms in striking patterns.

After the collection was complete, they posed for photos with their masterpieces!

The pom pom jacket finds another enthusiastic wearer.

They were so proud of their creations, and we had so much fun with this photo shoot! 

All in all,  I was so impressed by the girls' willingness to listen and learn, and they taught me so much more about inspiration and helped me to see things in new ways.  I look forward to the next Artfully Awear workshop!

Photos by Kathy Paciello and myself.

I HAVE A DREAM

Romare Bearden, Martin Luther King - Mountain Top, 1968

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have a dream: that our culture will continue to embrace art as a means of expression, promoting equality, education, and opportunity.

[Image via IFPDA.]

CHRISTOPHER WOOL at the GUGGENHEIM

I'm excited to share my newest DIY, inspired by the Christopher Wool retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Wool (b. 1955) is an American artist, known by me for his large text-based canvases, such as the ones shown here.  Using commercial materials, such as black enamel, rollers, and stencils, Wool creates paintings that feature words as their subject, drawing to mind the shapes and contrasts that words create on a white page.

The New York-based artist studied painting at the New York Studio School, and subsequently studied film at NYU, before dedicating his career to painting.  I was surprised to find beautiful suites of black and white photographs as a part of the retrospective, depicting lonely scenes of city life. These works were surprisingly relatable to Wool's large canvases, equally monochrome and devoid of human interaction.

Making this dress was an enlightening experience, providing me a glimpse into the process behind Wool's much more involved canvases.  First, I chose a plain black dress from my closet (worn here), and found some commercial stencils at an art supply store.  Using acrylic paint, I painted the words from Wool's Untitled work, "THE SHOW IS OVER THE AUDIENCE GET UP TO LEAVE THEIR SEATS TIME TO COLLECT THEIR COATS AND GO HOME THEY TURN AROUND NO MORE COATS AND NO MORE HOME." The quote is from Greil Marcus' Lipstick Traces, and is a poignant example of Wool's theme of nihilism.

Seeing Wool's retrospective gave me a much greater appreciation of his work, helping to establish a broader context of themes and mediums, and viewing the full timeline of his practice.  The exhibition closes on January 22nd.

Dress: DIY (originally from H&M)

Tights: Topshop

Boots: Ash

Sweater: Velvet

Photos by Hannah Kauffman.

SNOW DAY

Kim Beck, Total Sell Off (1), 2009

What do you wear on a snowy day in the park?  This ensemble was inspired by Kim Beck's Total Sell Off (1), which I found via Artsy.  Much of Beck's work deals with the financial crisis, using phrases related to liquidation and shut downs.  One of her projects involved planes that flew over Manhattan, releasing smoke that spelled out the words "Lost Our Lease".  I'm thankful to have a warm, happy home on this snowy day.

Scarf: thrifted

Leather jacket: DKNY, thrifted

Skirt: Courtesy of eShakti Custom

Gloves: Saks Fifth Avenue

Sunglasses: Linda Farrow

Photo by Kathy Paciello; Beck image via Artsy.

SHE LIKES TO PARTY

Yolanda Sanchez, She Likes to Party, 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My New Year's Eve attire was inspired by this expressionist oil on canvas work by Yolanda Sanchez, aptly titled She Likes to Party.  I hope you enjoyed time with family and friends over the holiday, and wish you all the best for 2014.

Dress: Cynthia Steffe, thrifted

Tights: Uniqlo

See my Abstract Expressionist NYE outfit from 2011 here.

Photos by Lauren Ricciardi, Sanchez image via Artsy.