in living color
carina okula-polaroid paris and carina okula rue-view-paris
hi guys happy sunday! i hope you had a great weekend and are about to embark on a nice long night. we’ve been busy running around all week and today was a relaxing respite. i cracked my laptop lid for the first time in what seems like an eternity just now. instead of surfing around i’m stopping on the very first bit of beauty in my inbox. i can’t keep this photographer’s work a secret since her images of paris are so bright and cheerful and getting her newsletter is completely inspiring. hope you enjoy her work too! well, i’m off to squeeze in a little more downtime, have a great night!
museum quality
brrrrrrr! it’s downright bone chilling cold in paris! today was our final day trudging though the slush and snow at the markets all weekend but i can definitely say our mission was accomplished!
i was fully focused on shopping with the crew so didn’t get much but photo memories which is somehow ok, at least this way i’ll have them forever.. and as my guy always says, you can’t buy it all!
going through the shots i couldn’t help but see that this trip i was attracted to art, paintings, sculpture and architectural artifacts…
the markets are so rich and thick that it really feels like a living, breathing museum. it’s a place where you can find junk juxtaposed with truly fine art.
and it’s not what a piece is worth but the joy it brings
and who makes the decisions as to what’s valuable if not the beholder?
the way the market vendors curate their booths is much more than you’d expect at a typical flea market and this year many sellers are really stepping up their game.
all sorts of busts and statuary are displayed as if they’re uber important pieces in super simple vignettes.
of course you can always find the funky, fun stuff
and the french certainly have a sense of humor about their past!
and one piece can really set a regal mood. you’d never know these were flea finds!
i guess i do wish i could buy it all and surround myself in my own tiny museum
but for now i’ll settle for just enjoying the pics and thinking about ways to incorporate more art in my world.
as for the gang, we finished up our weekend with stephane who always brings the market to life and today he greeted us in the cold with champagne and oysters, using snow in an ice bucket and along a huge silver tray for the shells he shucked. we had a ball and everyone left happy and well overfed. i’ll clue you in when the time comes as to what we all did but for now it’s off to bed, a couple pounds heavier but i guess that’s what winter is for, n’est-ce pas? enjoy the rest of your weekend!
time is of the essence
hi gang! i am in and i’m out as heidi would say. i’m on reserve power and it’s midnight on the dot so it’s time to wrap it up toute de suite! just wanted to stop by and share one of the pieces i came across today. my sister in law found them in paris and gave me them to me to matte and frame for the upcoming event.
it’s one of a few original hand painted designs, this one for a wall. i love the details and the free hand of the artist, the way he make swirls and fleurs, i swoon! anyway hope you enjoy, i’m down to less than 2 mins power so bon nuit!
this side of paradise
hi guys, how’s your week shaping up? it’s good to be back on the continent as they (used to) say. as much fun as paris is, it’s still takes every ounce of energy to tackle it, if only for a few days. i’m back in miami for a day and fly to nyc tomorrow for thanksgiving, savoring every moment at home before taking off again.
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today i’m unpacking the goodies from the weekend and since i have to keep it all in one place till it gets shot, can enjoy it for awhile. my favorite was the very last piece we found. it’s a painting by an artist you may remember from the pochoirs i got a few trips ago by artist lucien victor guirand de scevola. this one stopped me in my tracks, an original oil in a gold frame from the 30s.
my little corner is showing signs of life so for as long as its mine, i’m gonna really enjoy it. hope you do too! back to unpacking and hanging stuff up!
the art of the fleas
hi guys, ça va? i’ve been meaning to get here for what seems like days but they just have flown by. my clients left with armloads of treasures and i had my fun too.
looking back over the pics it seems that i’m in an artsy mood these days and am still smitten with the flea market art.
there’s a lot if it in every shape, price range, color and style.
i actually did get a few pieces (like the one above)
there a
and am going back for a couple more today.
as my guy says, you can’t buy it all so i hope you enjoy these as much as i did even if they’re not hanging over our mantles…yet!
have a great monday and i’ll be back a bit later with well, who knows what! À bientôt!
Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art.
that quote is attributed to the dear ralph waldo emerson who seemed to be able to sum everything up so succinctly! hi guys, happy monday evening. where did the day go? liz and i have been working around the apartment and on the site all day listing new pieces and editing the pages.
we seem to both be gravitating toward art which is something i love and studied but never really collected.
in our travels we’re finding art we love at consignment stores and antique malls. these are a couple we picked up, one’s a chagall litho that needs to be reframed, the others are unknowns but who’s to say what’s art?
anyway she thinks it’s making my apartment very grown up. guess i’ll have to toss some pop art in here! well i hope you’re about to have a great monday night and wind down your day!
the art of life
bonjour tout le monde! what’s happening in your universe? i hope your day was good and productive and that spring is in the air teasing you. i had big plans to post tonight but came across this shot that i love on so many levels and had to just post it alone. i like the idea of taking a masterpiece and enlarging it to this extent. to live with such color, magnificence and grandeur by just covering one wall. and your room can be a mess and still look great! well i’m cutting out. early to bed c’est soir, can’t wait. bonne nuit!
image via suicideblonde.tumblr.com
‘England’s Glemham Hall features 18th and 18th Century art pieces enlarged to cover the walls – This room features Portrait of Baroness James de Rothschild (1848) by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Photographed by Tim Walker for W Magazine, April 2011.’
are we all on the same page?
hi guys! how’s votre vie en rose?
it’s a wonderfully quiet evening, just around 7pm, almost twilight as they used to say. or was it dusk? either way, the sun’s going down on another full day. are you getting what you wanted to accomplish finished? started? is it in progress? it seemed to me from this to do list that maybe our goals vary but basically we’re all exactly the same in so many ways. at least we’re in good company. well i’m off to get something done! hope you have une nuit fantastique!
j’ai deux amours, mon pays et paris
bonsoir à tous
it’s hard to believe that a month has flown by. this is officially my last night and the packing’s done, stomach full and lids are heavy. i’ll miss paris but love miami too and although my heart breaks for the oil spill, i’m looking forward to getting home and seeing what’s ahead.
packing artwork was the last thing to do and i just thought you may enjoy some of the pieces from the markets that are coming home with me. these are pochoirs by lucien victor guirand de scévola (meaning they’re hand painted over engravings). i fell in love with them cause they have the playfulness of paris’ sensuality combined with gorgeous colors, set in the backdrop of luxe paris apartments.
i love the tryst going on in the salon while the party is just outside the door…
i always wonder what went on in these apartments before our time, the fires that burned, who hurried home as dusk fell with treats from the markets to faire that famous french cuisine, and after, embroider, read, write and play and love. what could life have been like in this mysterious city for so many centuries? and to think it was all done by candlelight, with no running water and little heat. still so much was accomplished with such exquisite detail.
it looks like they were having a grand old time in spite of any hardships though. it’s because of those days that the fleas remain as fascinating as they do. how did people create such lovely things without the technologies and advances we have today using just their imagination and bare hands?
this oil is from the 20s and as a peony lover i just had to have it.
i didn’t get her (above) but love her just the same. but i did get these little books. the colors are still vibrant and the books are sweet lessons in love. the french have a way of making love so adorable and romantic!
and even though her hatbox is british, it’s still a bon voyage message to paris, i’ll be back soon (when the weather’s better hopefully)! it’s always bittersweet to leave but knowing this solid and magnificent place is here keeps me content. happy memorial day to you at home and see you on the other side!
in the thick of it
a little flapper love for no reason at all~
hey guys, hope you’re home and chillin’ tonight! i actually have to have a report ready by tomorrow (i feel like i’m in high school), so i have to make this short and sweet. i have to thank fifi flowers for sending me this painting she made from one of my photos of paris last spring. fifi, you always put a little more color in the world!
parisapartment.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/the-flowerbox-project
(you can see the original post above)
ok well sorry to cut it short but a call is coming in…i better go! have a great nuit!
xoc
