Art Everday

Futurist painter Giacomo Balla's painting Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, 1912 perfectly captures the hustle of a dachshund heading for one of his favorite spots.

Green Chile Stew

During our recently trip to Albuquerque we stocked up on green chile to replenish our supply at home.  The day we got back (yesterday) Ian cooked up a big pot of Green Chile Stew and we'll be enjoying it for lunch and dinner for the next few days.

This recipe come from Ian's brother Andrew:
1 pork loin cut into 1/2 inch cubes, lightly dusted with flour
Brown meat in olive oil in a nice big pot
Add a heaping teaspoon of cumin and garlic powder
Add salt, pepper, dash of oregano and a bay leaf
Let the spices cook in the oil for 15 seconds
Add finely chopped onion and sweat for one minute
Add 1/4 cup of flour and mix it all up into a pretty ugly paste and cook off the flour taste for two minutes
Add a 13oz tub of Bueno Hot Green Chile (even better if using the side of the road roasted real deal stuff, but use a little less because it's stronger)
Add two large 1/2 in cubed, peeled potatoes
Thoroughly drain a can of diced tomatoes, add
Add water to cover
Simmer on low for at least one hour
Serve with sour cream and tortillas

Art Everyday

Image courtesy of the Met

This 1530s portrait by Bronzino titled Portrait of a Young Man was on the cover of my art history text book in college and always reminds me of my classes. The sitter is unknown.

Happy Caturday!

The Oregon Humane Society recently adopted out their 11,000 pet of the year! A sweet little kitty named Azazel.  Last year OHS found homes for 11,521 pets. We adopted Lute from them in 2009 and feel proud to help support their efforts each month with a small donation. They certainly put the money to good use! Visit their website to learn more about their incredible work: http://www.oregonhumane.org/

Here's a photo of Lute his first day home. He was so cute! It's hard to believe that sweet little pup is now a 95 lb troublemaker ;).

Art Everyday

Image courtesy of Salon 94

Marilyn Minter, Heavy Metal, 2011, enamel on 3 metal panels, 108 x180 inches

Art Everyday

How fun is this festive polor bear by Lisa Congdon!? The print is available on 20x200.

Art Everyday

Image courtesy of MassMoCA

Sol LeWitt, Whirls and Twirls, 2005

MassMoCA has an excellent retrospective of Sol LeWitt's wall drawings on view through 2033.

Art Everyday: Merry Christmas!

Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art

Hendrick Avercamp, Skaters and Tents along the Ice, 1620, oil on canvas

And just for fun, here's a link to 20 cats in Christmas trees. Enjoy!

Art Everyday

Image courtesy of White Cube

Hiroshi Sugimoto, Seascape

The Hirshhorn recently had an exhibition of Hiroshi Sugimoto's Seascapes. In this series the artists took black and white photographs of the horizon line between the sea and sky at night. My favorites are the prints where the line is so indistinct that you can't tell where the water ends and the air begins.

Here's an installation view from the Hirshhorn's show:

More information here and here.

Art Everyday

Image courtesy of the Whitney

Alexander Calder, Calder's Circus, 1926-31

Did you know that Alexander Calder built a mini circus? It's incredibly charming and whimsical and is part of The Whitney Museum of American Art's permanent collect. Check out this film of the circus in action:

Bo Inspects the White House Holiday Decorations

Ian and I are flying to Albuquerque this morning to spend some quality family time with the Parkmans.  Here's a cute little video of Bo inspecting the White House Christmas decorations to get you in the holiday spirit.

Happy Caturday!

What could be sweeter than a kitty seeing snow for the first time.

Buche de Noel

Look at these gorgeous Buche de Noels from the French bakery Patisserie Poupon down the street from the gallery. When I was in high school my mom and I made a Buche de Noel for French Club it was delish!

Art Everyday

 Van Briggle, Climbing for Honey, 1904, pottery

 

One of my favorite T.V. show is Antiques Roadshow on PBS. This vase was appraised last year in my hometown of Eugene, OR. I love the color and the way the bears are moulded. Check out the clip from Antiques Roadshow here. Too bad it's way out of my price range!!!!

Art Dogs

We have a celebrity in our midst! Lute was featured on Art Dogs! This Tumblr features dogs that spend their lives around around art. Such a fun concept and what lucky dogs! Here's the picture of Lute taken in our bedroom.  Lute is such a ham and loved his mini photo shoot!

Art Everyday

Image courtesy of the artist's website

A few years ago, Ian and I were in Albuquerque visiting his folks. His mom, Amy, who is a docent at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, took us to see the exhibition Ghost Ranch and the Faraway Nearby.  The exhibition was a solo show of work by the photographer Craig Varjabedian and featured some of the most stunning black and white photography I have ever seen.  Follow this link for more information about Craig's Ghost Ranch photographs.  We're looking forward to being in Albuquerque again in a few days and getting to see the incredible landscape of New Mexico.

Art Everyday

Henry Darger, Untitled (6 Episode 3 Place not mentioned. Escape during violent storm, still fighting though persed for long distance), mid 20th century

Considered an outsider artist, Darger was a recluse who created a 15,145 page illustrated story known as The Realms of the Unreal that he worked on for 60 years. His life and his work are fascinating. Learn more about both here and here. Also, check out this interesting article about outsider art.

Art Everyday

image from arttattler.com

Roman Ondak, Measuring the Universe, 2007

Measuring the Universe is a performance artwork by the Slovakian artist Roman Ondak, in which viewers/participants are responsible for the creation of the work. Check out MoMA's website for more information about the piece as well as a couple of videos. Learn about some of Roman's other interesting projects here.

Happy (Belated) Hanukkah

Art Everyday

Odilon Redon, The Smiling Spider, 1891

I've always loved this creepy little spider by Odilon Redon.

Pretty

Ian was a sweetie and brought these home the other night.  He knows pink peonies are my fav :)

National Arboretum

Ian and I took Lute to the National Arboretum today. I'm a little embarassed to say that it was our first time visiting it, especially since we live about a 5 minute drive away, but I know we'll be back on a regular basis now.  I was a grey day in Washington and we had the place virtually to ourselves. Hope you enjoy the photos, I had fun playing with our new camera!

 My handsome fellas!

  Lute managed to pick up some bits of the arboretum on the walk

 

 These are some of the original columns from the Capitol Building

Art Everyday

The Book of Kells, illuminated manuscript on vellum, 800

The Book of Kells is considered one of the finest illuminated manuscripts in existence. I'd learned a little about it in my art history classes and it was thrilling to see it in person at Trinity College when Ian and I visited Dublin in June.

mini meatball subs

Ian and I had some friends over yesterday to watch the Broncos vs Ravens game. I decided to make mini meatball subs and used a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis (which you can find here), but ended up modifying it quite a bit. To begin with, I wanted to double the recipe and Ian wasn't able to find veal at the grocery store so we ended up with 1.5 lb each of ground beef and ground pork. I doubled the other ingredients and made one batch of the meatballs, but they didn't hold together very well...so I added one more egg, another tablespoon of ketchup, and 2-3 more tablespoons of bread crumbs, plus more salt and pepper. This seemed to do the trick and the meatballs came out really well. Then I added the marinara sauce and stuck it in the fridge overnight. The next day, shortly before our guests arrived, I assemble the sandwiches, wrapped them in foil and kept them warm in the oven. They were a huge hit and very easy to serve!

Note: One change I would make to this recipe in the future is to bake the meatballs, rather than fry them. It took much longer than I thought to fry all the meatballs (partly because I doubled the recipe), and being stuck in front of the stove for so long wasn't fun. Plus, I've baked meatballs before and I think they've turn out just as well if not better.

My friend Courtney took a photo of Lute, and as you can tell, he's literally at the center of the party...his favorite place to be! I'm still not sure how a 95 lb dog is able to fit under our coffee table.

 

P.S.
As you may have noticed from the meatball sub picture above, we got a new camera!!!!! I'm no longer using my iphone and the difference is incredible! We went with the Canon Rebel T31 DSLR camera and are loving it!!!!

Art Everyday

Yayoi Kusama, Fireflies on the Water, 2002, mirror, plexiglass, 150 lights, water.

So bummed that I missed Yayoi Kusama's exhibition at the Whitney! I would have loved to experience this installation, it seems so enchanting and serene.

Art Everyday

I think Nick Cave's soundsuits are so cool! I hope I can see one of his performances in person someday. Click here for a New York Times article about Nick Cave (and links to more Nick Cave articles).

Happy Caturday!

I hope you enjoy this great vintage film called "The Private Life of a Cat" by Alexander Hammid. It's a bit long, but so charming!

Art Everyday

Edvard Munch, The Sun, 1911-1916

This frieze by Munch is located at the University of Olso, Norway.  This frieze seem so full of life and hope when compared with Munch's more famous work, The Scream.

(image courtesy of The Art Newspaper)

Art Everyday

Henri Matisse, Interior with an Egyptian Curtain, 1948

Matisse is one of my all time favorite artists. The Metropolitan Museum of Art currently has a retrospective of his work on view. I hope I can make it up to New York before it closes!

Holiday Tags

Have you noticed all the great, free, downloadable holiday tags floating around blogs lately? Ez at Creature Comforts recently did a round up of some of the best. Here are some of my favorites:

Tags by Pauline Grayson on Sweet Muffin Suite

 Tags by Kelli Murray on All Things Inspiring

And tags by Emily McDowell, posted on Poppytalk

 

I also recently purchased a set of tags and labels designed by Rifle Paper Co. that will be great to have year round. I found the set a small specialty store here in DC called Table Top DC, but it looks like you can purchase them online through Anthropologie.

Art Everyday

I'm drooling over these luscious photographs by Kari Herer and for only $30 a pop they're a steal! Check out more of Kari's work on Etsy.

Wreath Inspiration

I love these holiday wreaths! They each have such a different feel and some of them look pretty easy to make. Sources: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six.

Art Everyday

Taryn Simon, A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters, pigmented inkjet prints, 2011

Currently on view at The Corcoran Gallery of Art, photographer Taryn Simon's project A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters tells the stories of 18 unique bloodlines.  Listen to Taryn discuss the project here.

Words to live by

For my birthday, my mom sent me a little anthology of classic poems. One of the first to catch my eye was Walt Whitman's This Is What You Shall Do from Leaves of Grass.  While I'm certainly a long way off from realizing Walt's advice, I've found myself thinking of this poem in moments of stress or frustration and it's helped me to keep the big picture in mind. Enjoy!

This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and
the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one
that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote
your income and labors to others, hate tyrants, argue
not concerning God, have patience and indulgence
toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known 
or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely
with powerful uneducated persons and with the young 
and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in 
the open air every season of every year of your life, 
reexamine all you have been told at school or church or 
in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul,
and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the
richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent 
lines of its lips and face and between the lashes 
of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.

Art Everyday

 George Bellows, The Lone Tenement, oil on canvas, 1909

The National Gallery of art recently had a retrospective of the American painter George Bellow's work.  One of the paintings that caught our eyes when we went to see it was The Lone Tenement. This painting depicts a tenement building under the Queensboro Bridge, blocks from where I lived in New York. In fact, I'm almost certain that the Food Emporium where I did my grocery shopping now occupies that exact location. Looking at this painting, it's amazing to think how much New York has changed in a century. For more info about this artwork go here.

Cozy Sunday

Hope your Sunday is as cozy as ours!

Art Everyday

James Whistler, Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, 1876-1877, oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, and wood.

Learn more about the Peacock Room here.

Art Everyday

As you may have noticed from this post and this post, I'm a sucker for Japanese-style woodblock prints. I recently stumbled across California-based artist Tom Killion's work on the blog In the Make and fell in love with his prints. Check out this great interview with Tom from In the Make. Image courtesy of Tom's website: www.tomkillion.com.

Happy Caturday!

In case today's first Caturday post scared you too much, here's something to make you feel better. Plus, this was just way too adorable not to post. Courtesy of Love Meow.

Happy Caturday???

Sooo... let me introduce you to the Ghost Cat of Otama Pond. I got an email from the Freer and Sackler Galleries yesterday about their Sunday events. Turns out they are showing three vintage Japanese horror films. One of which is The Ghost Cat of Otama. If I can convince Ian (who hates scary movies) to go with me, we might check it out tomorrow afternoon. Here are the details.

Art Everyday

Can you tell what this work by Brooklyn based artist Tara Donovan is made of?

Pins!!!! Thousands of pins!

Here's a close up:

This photo will give you a sense of the scale of the works. They're pretty big.

Guest Post by Ian (channeling Jack Donaghy)

Hope you enjoy Ian's first post! For those of you unfamiliar with Ian's humor, he's joking...mostly...he kind of wishes he was Jack Donaghy ;).  Also, this post makes more sense if you saw tonight's episode of 30 Rock. So sad that show is ending!

 

There are three acceptable types of art:

First, horses.

Second, ships with sails.

And finally, men with swords staring off into the distance. 

 

Don't let Elizabeth and the rest of the blog fool you. This is the complete list of acceptable art.