Painting Seashells...

Painting seashells in watercolor.is a lot like painting blobs.
You lay down a pool of water on your paper.
And then start dropping in the colors, preferably a warm color and a cool color.

You get to play with the positive and negative shapes.

The more blurry the patches, the better.

I like to think of watercolor this way-

The water is the tide washing in and out.

And the granules of paint pigment are the sand

that gets pushed around by the tide.

Painting seashells is just as much fun as playing on the beach.

Play is the operative word here...

Japonism, Woodblock Surimono Prints

Japanese woodblock prints have been a big influence in my still life watercolors.
The French Impressionists, particularly Manet,

collected Japanese prints like mad. The abstract areas of black in the prints, the mastery of balance in composition achieve serenity and intensity at the same time,

all strongly influenced their paintings.
My studio walls are covered with print reproductions. I like to think I'll soak up their beauty by osmosis.
Utter simplicity balanced with wonderful negative/positive shapes.
I bought this facsimile ages ago. The colors are so soft and delicate, yet the composition is very strong. Artists began making still life prints after Commodore Perry "opened" Japan and the new influx of European painting.

The ships also brought in the Prussian or Paris Blue pigment you see in so many prints.

I can't resist Japanese household objects either; 

the shiny, deep reds, pale greens and blacks.

Plus all the wonderful surface textures. I bought all of these at KORIN.

The book that got me addicted:

The Great Wave:the influence of Japanese woodcuts on the French, from an exhibit at the Met. The prints first showed up in France,used as wrapping paper for shipped pottery from Japan. Their strong patterns and asymetrical compositions captivated the Impressionists. Van Gogh copied them exactly in oils to better understand them. I started collecting prints after that show and they still hold my rapt attention.

(Reposted from October 26, 2006)

Ispahan Mit Schlag!

This is an homage watercolor

to Merisi's discovery of Pierre Herme's Ispahan

migration to Vienna!

I would like to rename it

The Ispa-HAM!
Since the Viennese chefs have seen fit to load up on WHIPPED CREAM

or mit schlag as they call it...

Merisi took this photo.

Every which way you turn in Vienna

you will be loaded up "mit schlag"
It's the law of the land.
I happen to be one of those rare birds

who doesn't care much for cream in any form.

That's why this "Mont Blanc" at Angelina's is deflating... There are other Ispahan copy cats right in Paris itself!
This kitty is missing the treasured rose petal.
Hmmm...wrong wrong wrong
Since Herme's inspiration was the Ispahan rose.Plus I do not see the tiny, marvelous droplet of moisture
(a glob of glycerine experts tell me)
that graces Pierre Herme's Ispahan. This is a serious lapse of pastry expertise in my opinion. Not that anyone's asking. Lucky Anita of Dessert First has not only sucessfully
made her own version of the Ispahan,
but she got this wonderful souvenir at Herme's Paris shop...
I've never seen it the enteen times I've visited so it must be a limited edition...
What wouldn't you give for one of these?If you are into schlag, then run to Vienna
and if that isn't convenient,
check out this book
or Wolfgang Puck's recipe for Cremeschnitten.Mit schlag or not,
do not miss
Merisi's marching Ispahans.
I have to admit they're pretty damn gorgeous
even if they are copy kittens!

Soir de Paris and Impulse Control...

Yesterday 2 little words,

with a good helping hand from Google

led me down a twisty-turny path...

Those 2 words:

"Paris Blue"

are something I've been around for 6+ years, two days a week

and never given much thought.
But when seen out of context I had to find out more...

Paris Blue is really the French version of Prussian Blue,

also known as Iron Blue, Berlin Blue, Antwerp Blue, Chinese Blue, Steel Blue.

It was first made by colormaker Diesbach in Berlin around 1704.

Searching for PARIS BLUE I came up with Soir de Paris,

a perfume made by BOURJOIS in 1928.

Hmmm...not what I expected at all.
Look at these beautiful "Paris Blue" glass bottles!!
Instant love...

And look at this glam poster - so evocative of the 50's
There are many more of these and you can own them!
Quite a few online sites are selling empty vintage perfume bottles..
Isn't this tasseled purse flacon dreamy?
A bit of history on BOURJOIS...
In 1863, Monsieur Alexandre Napoleon Bourjois was busy concocting
superior makeup for actresses. He came up with the first powder blush,
Pastel Joues. The fashion spread from the theatre to the masses.
You can still find these little round pots of blush in Monoprix.
The perfumes came later...
I love this bit of BOURJOIS vintage advertising.
Just 2 weeks...14 days till I am there
in PARIS!
So yesterday while searching for the color Paris Blue,
on an impulse I bought the vintage perfume bottle I painted above..
The description reads:
A small amount of eau de cologne is left in this vintage Evening in Paris cobalt blue perfume bottle. Original silver cap. Original silver paper label must have been made for consumption in France as it reads: Soir de Paris which means Evening in Paris in French.

This is where impulse control comes in or the lack there of.

Impulse control disorder is a set of psychiatric disorders including intermittent explosive disorder (hot-headedness), kleptomania (stealing [shots?]), pathological gambling, pyromania (fire-starting) and trichotillomania (pulling one's hair out) says Wikipedia.
Uh OH!
Well...I did control my impulses at the CHANEL parfum counter...
And this little bottle only cost $12... Google is a dangerous place to set foot in if you lack impulse control.
Learn from my bad example and stay clear :)

The Thief of Bergdorfs...

No, I did not go back and nick any Chanel perfume bottles at Bergdorfs! I'm not that insane!

Though the scent of 31, RUE CAMBON still lingers on my left wrist 2 days later. I had to skip WaterGym at the pool. Chlorine and fragrance don't mix. But I did go again to the 7th floor

and steal shots in the adorable vintage china shop at Bergdorf's.

i.e. the blurry photo...

My name is Carol and I am a repeat offender. Who could resist?
One of a kind cups and saucers. So pretty and brimfull of memories...
I saw this one on the last stolen visit.

I wonder who drank out of these dainty china cups? Scarlett of Tara perhaps..?
It makes you want to have a tea party doesn't it? And the slight nip in the Fall air says you should!

Did you notice Paris Breakfasts has had a face lift?
It's been on the drawing board waiting to happen and long overdue.
I've always been mad for French labels.
Especially confiture labels.
Thanks to collaboration with graphic designer Pamela Fenwick
I got my new banner just the way I wanted it.

And with some overseas surgery (all the rage now)

Di of Designers Block installed the banner and even got me over to

NEW BLOGGER Hope you like it.

Let me know between sips of tea :)

CHANEL 6

Yesterday I did one of the bravest acts of my life! Visiting Tehran, Hong Kong, Rio was nothing on this.

I set foot in Chanel's New York flagship store on 57th Street. I marched up to the perfume display of the new

Les Exclusifs eau de cologne like I owned the place.
And I started spritzing!

They have these sweet logo cards you can spray samples onto.
CLICK on this picture and ENHALE!!!

I sprayed my left wrist with 31 RUE CAMBON and my right wrist with EAU DE COLOGNE. Today I can still smell like a divine orchid hot house. I read Luca Turin's reviews of these 6 new fragrances and decided to give it a whirl. His words of praise -the thrill of feminine beauty, the pang of pain and longing gave me courage. Bravery pays off.

The truth is Kat of K & S wrote me yesterday that she'd taken some pictures of Chanel windows in Japan as requested in August.

I ran to get some more window shots and then I got up the nerve to enter. They were nice as pie to me even though I was wearing my MTA map T-shirt...ahem Afterwards I went in to Bergdorf Goodman's to try more of the new Chanels and they were rather snooty.hmm...

So all over the world in Chanel boutiques pearls are getting dragged on the floor. Don't you love it!What about these jailbird stripes? Only SONIA RYKIEL can do stripes in my opinion...
Don't you love their tragic luxe looks? Have they been enhaling too much EAU DE COLOGNE? Did I mention it's $170 a bottle?
Les Exclusifs do not show up on Chanel's website.
They are sold only in 11 "doors" they told me at Bergdorfs.
So want to win a box of Liquorice macarons to match you new black and white Chanel outfit?
I dare you to set foot in the nearest Chanel flagship boutique in your town and try on the new colognes. Not fair if you live in Paris or work for Chanel or live in Timbucktoo.
USA only.
You could also make your own Les macarons a la Réglisse
if you visit Pure Gourmandise.com
It helps if you speak a bit of French. Is this contest for real?
Do you think I have been enhaling too much perfume?

The Pomegranates have arrived!

The POMEGRANATES have arrived

Heavens!

It's only September for Gawd's sake

Usually they show up in time for Thankgiving tabletop decorations...

I fell in love with pomegranates in Venice about 4 years ago...
So romantic no?
But you don't have to go to Venice to get a pomie.
You can go to your unexciting Key Foods market!
They were mad for pomegranates in the 17th century too.
And they didn't even know about flavanoids and antioxideants.

I saw this gorgeous painting by Saraceni at the 2003 Natura Morta exhibit in Florence.
These pomies are by Cristoforo Munari.
They are sitting beside quinces, which I have yet to try...
In the good old days pomegranetes were symbols of fertility and richness.
This relief is by da Firenze. I don't know why we had to wait 500+ years to wake up to the power of pomegranates?
I woke up 4 years ago and now I never get a winter cold,
as long as I down a few seeds (arils) daily.
My family used to say a blessing over the first fruit of spring.
Well I'm saying a blessing over Fall's first pomegranates.
While my co-workers are sniffling and snuffling, I will be cold-free thanks to the all-mighty Pom.

There's always pomegranate tea if you can't bear the thought of those seeds. Hmmm...I would love to know

why are there NO POMEGRANATE MACARONS?
Please get a pomegranate and try one!