My new favorite cooking site

Posted on 09. Jul, 2010 by kchristieh in art, food

What happens when artists from all over the world showcase their skills to clearly present their favorite recipes? You get “They Draw & Cook: Recipe Renderings by Artists, Illustrators & Designers.” This fabulous blog features mouth-watering recipes depicted in a variety of different artistic styles, but all within a one-frame picture. The recipes range from cake to salmon rillettes to salsa verde, and hail from countries as diverse as Japan to Italy to Poland.

I love seeing how people can take the same assignment and come up with something completely different. I’d love to make all the recipes, but I think I’ll start out with the Tatziky,

the Tilapia,

and the Pan-Fried Fish with Lemon Caper Sauce.

If I had the time, I’d depict my mom’s amazing lasagna recipe. Maybe someday…

My new Easter egg tradition

Posted on 05. Apr, 2010 by kchristieh in art

Many years ago, some friends and I decided to give a fancy send-off to a friend moving back East and each make a dish from a Martha Stewart cookbook. (This was so long ago that she didn’t even have a website yet!) Unfortunately, about half of the things that people made didn’t turn out as expected.

Therefore, I was proud of myself yesterday that when the Easter egg decorating technique that I learned from the Martha Stewart website worked perfectly. I bought some lace at Jo-Ann’s, tied it tightly around hardboiled eggs and wrapped a ribbon around the strands, and dipped them into a mixture of warm water, vinegar and food coloring. Here’s the end result:

I’ll definitely keep this in my repertoire. I think that next time I’ll let them sit in the coloring longer.

If you’re interested, here’s the video that explains how to make them. I think the key is to wrap the lace really tightly.

I’m looking forward to having lots of egg salad this week.

“The Life of Christ” – Painting by Ayres Houghtelling

Posted on 04. Apr, 2010 by kchristieh in art, religion

Jesus fit a lot into the short time he ministered here on Earth, and Ayres Houghtelling did an excellent job of conveying the most important events in one painting, “The Life of Christ”. My grandparents had a print of “The Life of Christ” hanging in their home when I was growing up, and I loved it so much I found my own copy on Ebay a few years ago. I wish that my photo of the print did it more justice, because its incredible details draw you in as your eye follows key events in Christ’s life.

The Life of Christ by Ayres Houghtelling

Houghtelling called this technique of visualizing a series of events on one canvas an “art-told tale”, and it’s the same technique he used for the Alice in Wonderland painting I recently blogged about.

I found the article below from the Dec. 22, 1948 Norwalk (CT) Hour via Google’s impressive archives:

From the Norwalk (CT) Hour, Dec. 22, 1948

It explains that before even starting the painting, Houghtelling spent six months preparing himself mentally and spiritually, studying the New Testament and determining his concept of the characters and the continuity of the scene. The painting was ultimately praised by prominent religious leaders including Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, who wrote that, “This beautiful picture evidences deep and reverent knowledge of the life and mission of the Saviour and inspires one to prayer and meditation.” Another article in the Google archives, from page 23 of the the , says that the original painting depicts Christ 46 times in a span of 40 ” x 30″. It was scheduled to be displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York later that Spring, and was featured in Collier’s magazine the following winter. The article said that his next project was slated to be a pictorial depiction of “Treasure Island.”

After I blogged about “Alice in Wonderland”, I was honored to hear from Houghtelling’s widow, Lydia Houghtelling. She says the following about “The Life of Christ”:

It was his first attempt at painting in an allegorical style and he thought that if he could paint the entire life of Christ in that style, then he could do anything. He spent a year on Marco Island (before it became a settled community), researching and painting it. It was viewed in the Crowell-Colliers Boardroom by Cardinal Francis Spellman who wrote a lovely letter commending the painting…After it was published, Ayres’ agent told him that the painting had perished in a warehouse fire….That was then…years later, when we had met and married, he decided to redo his Life of Christ ….and also painted another beautiful painting, Restaurare Omnia in Christo…representing the Renaissance of Christ.

Mrs. Houghtelling generously sent me some absolutely amazing cameo prints that her husband painted after the original “Alice in Wonderland” painting. I’ll share them with you in a later post.

Have a wonderful Easter, and I hope that you are inspired by this incredible painting.

The whole Alice in Wonderland story in one print

Posted on 03. Mar, 2010 by kchristieh in art

No picture has ever drawn me in like “Alice in Wonderland” by Ayres Houghtelling (b. 1912). Alice is pictured at least 24 times in this 19″ x 25.5″ print as she makes her way through all the major events of the book. My mother inherited the print from her stepmother, and I admired it so much that I purchased one on eBay many years ago. This print was created in 1947, and was the centerfold in Colliers magazine. I love how Alice in Wonderland has inspired such a range of artists and performers, and can’t wait to see the new Alice in Wonderland movie. (Click on the picture below to see a larger version.)

Houghtelling is a man of principle. This from the Ottawa Citizen tells how he snubbed the Italian government by smearing blood on a mural he’d just painted that included a hand “crushing a mass of nude humanity, and a key figure – a helmeted nude of little or no beauty – executing one of those extended arm salutes.” The Italian government threatened to remove the art exhibit if he didn’t “remove Mussolini” from the mural. Houghtelling responded, “I cannot change this mural, which I consider a masterpiece dedicated to an American free press.”

I also found another print by Houghtelling on eBay that depicts the Life of Christ. I’ll blog about that on Easter, so stay tuned.

In case you’re looking for your own copy of these, the words at the bottom say “Art-Told Tales” and “Beck Gravure.”

Evacuation links & resources + a tiny art lesson

Posted on 20. Jan, 2010 by kchristieh in art, local news

Here are more evacuation links and resources, courtesy of Kelly M. at JPL:

Evacuation centers have been set up at La Cañada High School, the Glendale Civic Auditorium and the Sunland Recreation Center.

Website Resources for most current evacuation centers:

• LA County: http://fire.lacounty.gov/default.asp
• Red Cross: http://redcrossla.org/news/redcross-los-angeles-evacuation-centers

Animals:

• Animal Shelter Locations
• Also, the Pasadena Humane Society will be at La Cañada High School to receive and care for evacuated pets.

Helpful Websites and Resources:

• Guide for Flash Flood Preparation
• C.A.R.E. – Coordinated agency Recovery Effort – website includes evacuation areas and safety preparedness
• City of La Canada website
• City of Sierra Madre

Hotels Offering Discount Rates for Individual Evacuated:

Pasadena Courtyard by Marriott (king or double queen rooms)
$99/night
180 N. Fair Oak Avenue, Old Town Pasadena

Ask for the “Weather Evacuation Group Rate”

Burbank Residence Inn by Marriott (all suites with kitchen) $199/Wednesday, or $149/night (Thursday – Saturday)
321 S. First Street, Downtown Burbank
, or

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I’ve always loved Behind the Gare St. Lazare, the Henri Cartier-Bresson photo pictured above. When I studied in France, I purchased an oversized poster of it and actually schlepped it back home with me. Here’s what IconicPhotos says about it:

Gare St. Lazare has been portrayed by many artists (Monet, Manet, et al) but Henri Cartier-Bresson’s 1932 take on the station was totally different. Derrière la gare de Saint-Lazare is not a photo noted for its historicity, but it is a photo that represented the entire life’s works of Cartier-Bresson. Throughout his life, Cartier-Bresson had been a champion of the Decisive Moment, and a seeker of the unexplored–Derrière la gare de Saint-Lazare represents both, and defined his career.

However, Cartier-Bresson didn’t intend this to gain such an iconicity. ”There was a plank fence around some repairs behind the Gare St. Lazare and I was peeking through the space with my camera at my eye. This is what I saw. The space between the planks was not entirely wide enough for my lens, which is the reason the picture is cut off on the left.” Again he proved he was the right man at the right moment

Click to see a LEGO re-creation of the photo on Flickr.  :)

From the Norton Simon to hippos

Posted on 05. Dec, 2009 by kchristieh in art, food

My son needed to visit a museum today to complete a report for his high school photography class. He insisted that we visit the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and two of his friends chose to tag along.

I love the Norton Simon. It has a very high quality collection that reflects a wide array of periods and styles. My son especially enjoyed the “Divine Demons: Wrathful Deities of Buddhist Art” exhibition. What teenage boy wouldn’t? I was very impressed with how thoughtfully each of the boys examined all the art, and they had many good insights. I got a kick out of how they noted that some of the Renaissance paintings reminded them of scenes from video games.

My favorite exhibition was “Gaze: Portraiture after Ingres.” It showcased several centuries of fine portraits in a wide variety of styles. One of my favorites was this caricature that Wolo Trutzschler drew of Galka Sheyer. It captured so much in one drawing, and I think that if I were to see her walking down the street, not only would I recognize her, but I’d have an idea of what makes her tick.

I was intrigued enough to look up Wolo Truzschler when I got home. It turns out his full name was “Baron Wolff Erhardt Anton George Trutzschler von Falkenstein” and he loved living in San Francisco. His son’s website says that he drew the original design for Edgar Bergen’s , was a caricaturist for the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote and illustrated five children’s books, painted murals and gave puppet shows.

I discovered that I’ve appreciated his art before, as he was the artist behind the now-defunct Hippopotamus Hamburgers in San Francisco. I think I first ate at Hippo Hamburgers when I visited California on a high school church handbell tour, and raved about it to my hippo-crazed sister and friend back in NJ. The place was themed so well that the toilets were even open hippo mouths! This place is legendary in our family.

But further Googling found this gem of a Wolo von Truzschler drawing, which accompanied a recipe for the Stanfordburger in the Hippopotamus Hamburgers cookbook. Right-click on the picture and choose “view image” to see a larger version, where you can read the complete recipe. Note that olive on top. That’s supposed to reflect the top of the “Freudian” Hoover Tower.

Maybe I should serve it at my next pre-reunion party…

Take a peep at these awesome dioramas

Posted on 17. Apr, 2009 by kchristieh in art

When my son was younger, he used LEGO figures for every school diorama project. The pinnacle was a LEGO figure as Colin Powell.

We never thought of using marshmallow Peeps, but they’re just as versatile. Here are some of my favorite entries from the recent Washington Post Peeps Show III Diorama Contest:

First, the winner, inspired by Edward Hopper:

This one reminded me of the book I adored when I was in high school. (I’ve been a nerd for a long time…)

And finally, laugh out loud Thelma and Louise:

If I ever have the time, I’d love to enter this contest.

The book of wrecked books that got wrecked

Posted on 16. Apr, 2009 by kchristieh in art, books, local news

I visited the Flintridge Bookstore this evening to purchase Dianne Emley’s most recent book, “.” Thankfully, the car carrier that plowed through the store didn’t wreck these books. I managed to get a signed copy, and I can’t wait to get started on it because I couldn’t put the first two down!

While I was paying for the book, my mom started chatting with the store owner about the accident. After I joined them, he showed us a book called “” that was wrecked by the truck. Ironically, it contains pictures of books that have been wrecked.

In 125 startlingly complex works of many strata, extraordinary textures, luminous colors, and unforeseen juxtapositions, Purcell considers the vulnerability of books to the transforming powers of water, fire, gravity, organisms, and time.

Here’s what the store owner’s book looks like:

I think Rosamond Purcell should include his book in her next edition.

Wayward conversation defiles classic French poster

Posted on 14. Apr, 2009 by kchristieh in art, international, music

I hate it when something I like winds up having a negative connotation. Like a favorite name (Katrina) that becomes associated with a major hurricane, or a date (4/1) that will be remembered for a very sad event.

That happened on a smaller scale this evening. Somehow a conversation wandered to the subject of Michael Jackson, and I joked that we should purchase the gates to Neverland that are being put up for auction. Wouldn’t they look marvelous on our driveway?

But then my son passed through the kitchen, and saw the little framed poster of a French woman gazing fondly upon her daughter as she served hot chocolate to a cat: “Compagnie francaise des chocolats et des thes.”

He wrecked it by noting that the woman looks like Michael Jackson. Doesn’t she? Creepy. I need to take a break from this picture for a long, long time.

Come to think of it, Michael Jackson is guilty of wrecking the name “Neverland” for legions of Peter Pan fans.

Transform your pictures into stories by inserting them into templates

Posted on 08. Apr, 2009 by kchristieh in animals, cool websites, quotes

If a picture speaks 1,000 words, what do these have to tell? Many thanks to Photofunia and FunPhotoBox for their free photo insertion sites.

“If you can look at a dog and not feel vicarious excitement and affection, you must be a cat.”
~Author Unknown

“When a man’s best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem.”
~Edward Abbey

“You think dogs will not be in heaven?  I tell you, they will be there long before any of us.”
~Robert Louis Stevenson

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself.”
~Josh Billings

Etsy Friday: Panoramic Sugar Easter Eggs

Posted on 27. Mar, 2009 by kchristieh in my life, shopping

When I was little, sometimes the Easter Bunny would bring me and my sister sugar panoramic Easter eggs. They were so beautiful that even in our most ravenous moments we’d never dare eat them.

Here’s the Easter egg my sister gave to my daughter about 15 years ago. It’s still wrapped in the plastic it came in, so it’s stayed preserved. I have no idea where she got it. In fact, I’m only about 90% sure that she gave it to her. Perhaps I did. I would have, if I’d found one.

You can find beautiful sugar Easter eggs on Etsy. Here’s my favorite, from PBDoggyToo’s shop. It costs $14.95. I think it’s even prettier than my daughter’s.

Check out the inside:

The description says it’s edible, but I think it would be an incredible waste to eat this.

Spell a name or a word with photo art

Posted on 21. Jan, 2009 by kchristieh in art, politics, shopping

Check out Krista’s Creations. You can choose which photograph you want to represent any letter you choose, and spell out a name or a word. Then, you can customize the shading and the background, and pay to have them print it out for you.
Here’s what I chose for today:

The perfect art for a California office

Posted on 07. Nov, 2008 by kchristieh in art

I was thrilled yesterday when we received an announcement from Scott Moore about two new lithographs he’d be offering. We had purchased his “California Highways” lithograph for my husband’s office awhile back, and everyone loves it. Now that the office has expanded, there’s more wall space to fill, so we’re on the prowl for more art.

Scott’s two newest pieces, “The California Desert” and “Rocket Inn” fit in perfectly with the vague “Route 66″ theme of some of the other pieces in the office. Besides “California Highways,” my husband also has Nelson De La Nuez’ “Route 66″ canvas work in his office. The Route 66 theme works because the office is on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, which is part of the old Route 66. Of course, not everything in the office has this theme. When my husband started his practice, we purchased some framed posters, several of which were of Ansel Adams’ work. That’s been supplemented by several of Ron Dietel’s exquisite black and white photographs of local nature scenes.

I highly recommend that you check out Scott’s website. Besides beautiful, reasonably-priced art, there’s a great section which explains how he created several of his pieces. After viewing his site, we also decided to purchase “America’s Railways.”

I can’t wait to receive the lithographs and get them framed! Too bad I won’t see them every day. I guess this means I need to visit my husband’s office more.  :)

Wish Tree for Pasadena allows you to dream of a better world

Posted on 16. Aug, 2008 by kchristieh in art, local news

What’s a wish? A dream? A prayer? A hope? I saw all of those on the pieces of paper tied to the 21 small trees that comprise the Wish Tree for Pasadena project. People who visit can write their wishes on pieces of paper and tie them to branches, and can also see other peoples’ wishes.

The wishes ranged from “I wish for a fish” to “I wish that my children would live long healthy lives” to “I wish for world peace.” I was particularly moved by “I wish Grandma could remember” and “I wish there was a cure for autism” and “I hope that my mother become healthy.” The last one brought me to tears, as it was “signed” by a 2-year-old.

I made about six wishes. Several were for the health and continued safety of friends and relatives, and two were more global in scope. I know that putting a piece of paper on a tree won’t make something come true, but I think that by doing so I concentrated on doing what I can to make that wish to come true and I made a point of praying and continuing to pray for each one.

Interestingly, although I saw many from people that wished that Obama would become President, none mentioned McCain. I suppose that’s consistent with Obama’s declaration that he’s the candidate of hope.

Here’s how the Wish Tree website describes the project:

Wish Tree for Pasadena is an art installation that consists of 21 living crape myrtle trees installed amongst the café tables and chairs in the Courtyard of One Colorado. Visitors are invited to write their wishes on pieces of paper and hang them on the tree branches. Yoko Ono’s Wish Tree for Pasadena is free and open to the public.

Wishes from Wish Tree for Pasadena will be joined with others from all over the world and placed in specially constructed capsules to be installed in the area surrounding Yoko Ono’s Imagine Peace Tower on Videy Island, off the coast of Reykjavík, Iceland.

The Wish Trees will be displayed until November 9th. Check them out and be inspired!

Pasadena Chalk Festival highlights

Posted on 15. Jun, 2008 by kchristieh in art, local news, my life

No Father’s Day is complete without a visit to the annual Pasadena Chalk Festival. I’d thought we were going to miss it, but then my husband chose to go to Paseo Colorado for his Father’s Day dinner. Here are a few highlights:

Of course we liked the drawing of Barack Obama.

No chalk festival is complete without a Diego Rivera. I bet Rivera would have loved this festival.

It’s no wonder people love peacocks so much: they’re beautiful! Too bad they’re so loud and have such prolific excretory tracts. Also, it’s only the peacocks that are so pretty, not the peahens.

I really liked this one. It works well in chalk.

This one reminds me of Penelope Cruz in Volver. We saw it the other night, and loved it. We loved the strange, fantastic storyline, and Penelope Cruz is amazing in her native language. The Spanish in this movie was much faster than it was in Pan’s Labyrinth. Thank goodness for the subtitles. Of course, it would also help if I spoke Spanish instead of French.

After we left dinner at Islands, my daughter said she’d probably be pretty happy and relaxed living in Hawaii. I would too. It’s just too bad it’s so far from my relatives. I wish I lived on a beach like this one. Sometime I’ll need to visit Patti and Sheree!!

My daughter loved this one. If she had blue eyes, she’d kind of look like this. Except, I don’t think she could look so mean without laughing.

Here’s why we rushed out of the chalk festival. My husband was pretty antsy to get home and watch the Laker game. The Lakers just won, so I guess it was worth it.

Patricia O’Neil made me a beautiful house tile

Posted on 23. Mar, 2008 by kchristieh in art, my life, work

One of the best things about being a website designer is that I get to meet lots of great new people and learn about their businesses. One of my clients, Patricia O’Neil, is an artist in Laguna Beach. She makes exquisite porcelain Santas and gorgeous handmade house tiles. She recently needed some updates on her website, so we struck a deal that instead of paying me, she’d make me a house tile.

Here’s what she delivered to me today:

The photo doesn’t nearly do it justice. The colors are more vivid in real life, and it’s three-dimensional. The trees, the fence, and the porch are all further forward than the house itself. It’s 14″ x 9.5″, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. It usually takes me awhile to hang new artwork, but I put this up immediately. I chose to put it in our kitchen, so that if there’s an earthquake and it falls down, it’ll only go as far as the counter and hopefully won’t break.

This would be a perfect housewarming gift or going-away gift for someone. Our old house had a very nice watercolor painting that someone had made of it, but it was big and had been left there by several previous owners, so we left it behind too. I plan on keeping this tile with me wherever I move, however.

Design your own kaleidoscope picture

Posted on 18. Mar, 2008 by kchristieh in art, cool websites, my life

Here’s a cool site I Stumbled upon recently: Kaleidosketch. Whatever you draw in one section is repeated in the other sections. You can choose different colors, or go with a more random rainbow option. My latest sketch is featured to the right. I think it would actually make a nice kitchen tile.

This definitely appeals to my compulsive side. I crave order, and detest chaos. Had you noticed?

Artsy Russian umbrellas

Posted on 29. Jan, 2008 by kchristieh in art, shopping

The next time it rains, it’d be cool to have this umbrella designed by Evgeny Kiselev from wisli.org:

Here are more patterns:

Too bad it’s a Russian website. I wonder if they ship to California? It costs 3500 rub, which equals $142. Ouch! It doesn’t rain here nearly enough to justify that. I’ll stick to my Monet umbrella.

Create your own Jackson Pollock-like painting

Posted on 28. Jan, 2008 by kchristieh in art

I hate chaos. I either flee it or try to eradicate it. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the quick “painting” that I made at JacksonPollock.org is more orderly than most of Pollock’s paintings.

I once read a little story about a kindergarten teacher whose students consistently produced beautiful works of art. When someone asked her what her secret was, she said she knew when to take the crayons away from them. I tried to heed that advice in the above “painting.”

The oldest thing I own: photo book published in 1892

Posted on 20. Jan, 2008 by kchristieh in art, books, history, international

Many years ago, my grandfather asked me whether there was anything of his that I’d like when he dies. I told him I’d love to have some photographs, and would be happy to scan them for everyone else. He laughed and said I’m just like my mother.

Perhaps that’s why, despite moving nearly twenty times in my life, I’ve somehow managed to hang on to “Glimpses of the World: My Portfolio of Photographs, Prepared Under the Supervision of John L. Stoddard.” It was published in 1892, and my copy says “Lizzie J. Brown, 1894″ on the cover page. To the best of my knowledge, it’s the oldest thing that I own. What a testimony to the fleeting nature of possessions.

This 549-page book is entrancing. It has photos from all over the world, and under each one there’s a paragraph describing the picture. The explanations are just as fascinating as the photos, as they reflect the author’s perspective and biases.

This book is pretty big – 11.5″ x 14″ – so it was hard to scan without breaking the binding. Here are a few of the most fascinating pictures and descriptions from the book. If you click on them, you’ll see larger versions and be able to read the text.

Here’s the “Royal Palace, Honolulu, Sandwich Islands.” The caption talks about how much progress has been made in the islands since Honolulu harbor was “discovered less than a hundred years ago.” The picture includes King Kalakua, his wife, his daughter, and Col. Judd, his Secretary of State. At the time, Honolulu had a population of 14,000.

Here’s a picture taken in San Francisco’s Chinatown. According to Stoddard, “a trip to Chinatown” was “an essential feature of a visit to the Pacific coast.” Click on the picture to see the caption. It’s completely politically incorrect for our times.

Here are some straw cottages in Salamanca, Mexico. The author was more sympathetic towards these Mexican villagers, though his analysis again errs on the side of political incorrectness. “These Indians are said to be generally happy and contented, but it is hard to believe it in view of their condition. Many of them certainly have a hopeless and even timid look, like that of a well-meaning dog that had been beaten and abused.”

No photo book would be complete without some Yosemite pictures, and Stoddard obliges. It’s mind-boggling to think that these pictures were taken before Ansel Adams was even born! Here’s a horse drawn carriage driving through a tree in Mariposa Grove. I think I’ve seen postcards with cars doing the same thing.

I think this book was pretty popular in its time. My freshman roommate had one at her house, and there are some available for sale on the internet. It’s no wonder people have kept them: it’s a window into another time and many other places.

What your toys do when you’re asleep

Posted on 12. Jan, 2008 by kchristieh in art

Remember how active the toys in Toy Story were when humans weren’t around?

Well it’s all true. Toys really do have their own lives. “” gallery on Flickr proves it.

Tapestry pre-dates computer art

Posted on 29. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in art

Elaine Reichek explains the continuum from tapestries to modern computer art in this week’s New Yorker magazine:

“I think that what makes tapestry so topical is its relation to computer art,” Reichek said recently over lunch at her studio, in Harlem. “They both involve patterning, and reducing or enlarging an image to a charted form. A stitch, in essence, is a pixel. With any pixellated surface, whether it’s a tapestry or a difital photograph, the more pixels you have, the higher your image resolution.”

So impressionism, and in particular, pointillism, would be between tapestries and computer art in this timeline.

I never thought of it this way. Now I feel more like an artist. :)

What is art?

Posted on 05. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in art

My friends Dave & Lisa experienced 15 seconds of faux fame in the world of art many years ago. When they moved into their first house, they wanted some art for their walls but couldn’t afford it. So they bought a blank canvas, some paint and some brushes, and had fun creating their own personal masterpiece. Please bear in mind that these people are a lawyer and a nurse, and have no illusions about their artistic ability. Several years later, they held a yard sale, and decided to sell their “painting.” Imagine their surprise when they were offered several hundred dollars for the painting. When the collector asked who painted it, they said, “DeLisa.” They laugh about it to this day.

This reminds me of the new movie, “My Kid Could Paint That.” It chronicles the ascendancy of a very young girl into the world of high-priced art. According to today’s NYTimes review,

The child is Marla Olmstead, who was born in 2000 and who found herself, a few years ago, at the center of a minor media frenzy. As far as anyone can tell, it all started innocently enough. Marla’s father, Mark, a factory manager in Binghamton, N.Y., was also an amateur painter who set his daughter up with brushes and canvases while she was still in diapers. On a whim, Mark and his wife, Laura, a dental assistant, exhibited some of Marla’s paintings in a friend’s coffee shop, where patrons expressed interest in buying them. A show at a Binghamton gallery owned by Anthony Brunelli followed, and a column in the local newspaper begat an article in this one. Soon Marla and her family were being interviewed on national television, and her paintings were fetching five-figure prices.

Eventually, people started to be skeptical of Marla’s talents, and accused her father of having too much input into her work. The movie explores the whole family’s journey into the world of fame and inevitable scrutiny.

What makes art worthy? Is it the artist, or her work?

I believe it’s both the artist and the work. Knowing more about an artist, her background and her motivation can help us to appreciate a piece of art on a level that just viewing the art in a vacuum wouldn’t allow. It’s much more exciting when a “prodigy” paints than when an older person does, as there’s a primal innocence to the work.

That said, I don’t think art should completely depend upon its creator. When it does, we’ve crossed over from the art world into the world of celebrity. A piece of art should stand well enough on its own, and the identity of the artist should just be icing on the cake. And of course, like food, art is very subjective. I may adore a modern sculpture that you may think is just a bunch of rocks. Or you may love a painting that I consider to be a bunch of paint splatterings. But both are art, and we should respect each others’ opinion of it.

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Graffiti? Hobo symbol? We may never know.

Posted on 07. Sep, 2007 by kchristieh in art, my life

Rattling the Kettle’s post about aboriginal art in the Antelope Valley reminds me of the drawing someone made on the side of our house in the middle of the night at the end of May, 2003. I can’t find the photograph I took of it, but the symbol to the right is what it looked like. It was about 18″ high, and was drawn in a dark marker or paintbrush. It was covered over when we painted our house a few years ago.

I have no idea who put it there. It was on the south side of our house, halfway down our driveway. It was very deliberately drawn, and reminded me of a hobo symbol. I looked all over the internet for what it meant, and here’s what I found:

The combination of the diagonal cross with a vertical line is of special importance in Western ideography. It is the sign for Jesus Christ (from the initials of the Lord’s name in Greek: I and X).

In the form it is a sign for Sunday on clog almanacs (for more details on clog almanacs, see in Group 5).

Why would someone leave that on our house? It was pretty surreal. At least it worked for us, since we’re Christian.

Sure beats being tp’d!

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Scott Moore lithograph added to art collection

Posted on 12. Aug, 2007 by kchristieh in art

Thanks to my wonderful client Patricia O’Neil, my husband and some friends and I were able to attend the Laguna Beach Sawdust Art Festival last weekend. It was great to finally meet Patricia, and to see that her work is far more extraordinary in person than in photos. I was so impressed by how three-dimensional her house tiles are that I’m going to order one of our house!

My husband purchased a Scott Moore lithograph (pictured below) for his office. The office is located on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, which is part of the legendary Route 66. (“Get your kicks…”) He has a Nelson De La Nuez painting that’s got a Route 66 theme, so this California Highways lithograph, with its reference to the Rose Bowl, fits in perfectly. I love how Moore uses collages to play with scale in his paintings. I liked all of his work. (Note: The actual art looks much better and brighter in person.)

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Turn your profile into a wooden pirolette

Posted on 03. Aug, 2007 by kchristieh in art, parenting, shopping

Forget about bronzing the baby shoes: the newest way to remember those baby (or adult) years is to have a person’s profile made into a wooden sculpture called a “pirolette” at TurnYourHead.com.

I’ve included two examples to the right.

You can even store a special keepsake such as a lock of hair, a tooth, a ring, or a rubber chipmunk (long story) in the hole in the bottom of the pirolette.

Too bad this wasn’t around 45 years ago. My husband recently found his bronzed baby shoes at his parents’ house. I’m not sure what to do with them. I relegated them to his personal bookshelf in our bedroom.

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PTA cartoon from The New Yorker

Posted on 29. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in art, education, parenting

Love this cartoon, but perhaps I won’t include it in one of our high school PTA newsletters this year. But I bet it would help get people to our meetings!

It’s from the July 30, 2007 issue of The New Yorker magazine. Buy the magazine and see more great cartoons, of course!!

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500 years of women in Western art, morphing into one another

Posted on 27. Jun, 2007 by kchristieh in art, videos

Here’s an amazing which features famous portraits of Western women from the last 500 years morphing into one another. It highlights not only how art has changed, but also how our culture’s concept of beauty has changed.

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Chalk festival in Pasadena

Posted on 16. Jun, 2007 by kchristieh in art

We had dinner at PF Chang’s in Paseo Colorado to celebrate my son’s 8th grade graduation, and had fun walking around afterwards to admire the sidewalk art at the 2007 Pasadena Chalk Festival. Here are some of our favorites. The festival continues through tomorrow.

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Get that monkey off my back!

Posted on 10. Feb, 2007 by kchristieh in art, my life, work

Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I’m never fully at rest unless I clear out my email inbox. This happens about once every two months. Pretty pathetic. It indicates a good work ethic, but I probably need to relax more.

It happened this evening. But while I was writing this post, I got a few more emails. I think I can clear them out pretty quickly, however. It’s like throwing the ball back into the other court.

I love this Jennifer Morgan print – it reminds me of what I feel like until the inbox is cleared. I like it when the monkey jumps from my back and runs up the street. I think it goes and plays at the park for a few days, then comes back when it misses me.