And this

We saw Joanna Newsom at Town Hall. Surprisingly she was only playing one show in New York City, and somehow we managed to be seated front row. The show was breathtaking, an audience so silent and focused you could hear a pin drop. One of the most beautiful, inspiring concerts I’ve been to in awhile.

inspire~inspire

]]> http://sarahblankstudios.com/blog/2010/04/06/march-into-april/feed/ 4 http://sarahblankstudios.com/blog/2010/03/18/these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-things/ http://sarahblankstudios.com/blog/2010/03/18/these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-things/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:05:05 +0000 Sarah Blank http://sarahblankstudios.com/blog/?p=836

Inspired by a recent and very beautiful post by Encore Petite I would like to share some things that make me happy. First, I must honor the real essence of life that makes me happy- my husband, my kitty (and the presence of all animals for that matter), creating art, tea and time spent with friends, sunbeams and being outside, music…these make me the happiest. But these are not things. So here are the things that make me happy. Just little bits kept in my studio that I can hold in my hand and be inspired by~

♥Fabric and pretty blouses that pick up the sheer beauty of sunbeams through a rain-soaked, foggy (and now open) windows that has not seen the sun in days.

♥ A teeny-tiny bit of my old frame collection (my favorite is the wooden black forest frame):

♥ Blue Jay feathers from my collection (although Blue Jays are not the kindest of birds their blue-striped feathers are so beautiful)

♥ Vintage brooches from my collection:

♥ And this one is my favorite (although it might tie with the little faux-scrimshaw ship)

♥ Oh, and ruffles!
♥ Old books with birds printed on the covers

♥ This one is my favorite!

♥ And, finally, the table (a shrine-of-sorts) where I set up found, vintage, and nature things that inspire.

♥Especially the bits of wasp comb that I found this winter during a snowy storm.

♥ And outside the studio, abandoned cottages on rainy days in the back woods (this one I am particularly fascinated with.)

♥Which leaves me with a favorite promise of spring…snowdrops covered in raindrops peaking out from decayed leaves.

Tell me, what are some of your favorite things?

♥♥♥

♥ I have front row tickets to see Joanna Newsom March 18th (thanks to my thoughtful husband.) We are super excited to see her and so psyched about the release of her new album February 23rd! I can’t even begin to express how inspirational her music has been to me.

♥ and today I have been dreaming of this:

I really don’t care about winter anymore. I’m tired of cracked hands.

♥ Today I bought a huge bag of old envelopes, complete with stamps and addresses. I think they will be fun to doodle on.

♥ I can’t stop buying old sewing machines. I don’t even use them all. My most recent machine was a vintage baby blue singer.

♥ I don’t have a television, nor do I plan on getting one ever again.

And a little heads up…tomorrow or Saturday I will post my giveaway!

It’s perfect for lugging my sketchbooks and whatnot around.

I am going to be doing a giveaway here in the next few days, to celebrate all my new readers (and “old” ones as well). Here’s a little snippet of fabric (which is a tiny hint to the theme of the giveaway)

Can you guess which painting will be featured? Another hint is that the giveaway will be wearable art. And the third hint is that it will be part vintage. Can you guess?
]]> http://sarahblankstudios.com/blog/2010/02/16/home-all-day/feed/ 15 http://sarahblankstudios.com/blog/2010/02/15/sweet-winter/ http://sarahblankstudios.com/blog/2010/02/15/sweet-winter/#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:49:33 +0000 Sarah Blank http://sarahblankstudios.com/blog/?p=783 We had a sweet valentines day. I came home to beautiful winter white roses (to match the newly fallen snow).

Quiet corners.

Twilight, after the huge storm, beautiful.

Lace

Sewn of thread and absence,
lace belongs at the hem of a garment,
pinned to a collar, near the face,
or clinging to a tabletop amongst teacups.

Like frost, lace paints a pattern
on edges and surfaces. In lace, fine line
and space loop around one another.
It is true that skin under lace appears more

visible, that veils and drapes of lace
let in light, and yes, pull a viewer’s eye.
An ivory web of flowers does what?
Embellishes. Decorates. Even as it claims

to cover, to conceal, lace invites air
and sun and gazes. Place this
punctured shield wherever there is longing,
delicacy: table, skin, bed, window.

Poem by Hannah Stephenson from the Storialist.

Hannah writes poems inspired by found images. This poem was inspired by my painting, “We Come From a Delicate Place”

A snippet:

Thanks to all who commented on my feature in Artful Blogging. Much appreciated!

I am super excited to announce the good news I mentioned awhile back. There is a 6 page article about my blog in the lovely Artful Blogging Magazine. The magazine hit the newstands at the beginning of the week and I was finally able to get my hands on one. I wrote an article about my process and inspirations, and features some of my favorite blog photos and artwork. This year my blog will be six years old (where has the time gone?) and I was completely honored to be asked to be in this publication! So here’s a little sneak peak (you’ll have to get your hands on a copy of the magazine to read the article).

i just love melting winter snow!

Also, I want to repost some of my favorite photos here that were featured in the magazine. My artwork images can be found here.

A corner of my studio- one of my drawing desks (although my Mac resides on this desk now).

A beautiful vintage pendant (that contained a mini print of my artwork) that sold last year.

Blackberry summer breakfast (in my favorite vintage ship teacup) along with my favorite Indian scarf.

A sweet haul from an antique treasure hunt.

Summer dreaming and petals- outside homage to Louis Janmot.

Another pendant I made (a mini print from one of my oil paintings.

Thanks for visiting today! I have yet another bit of good news…really BIG news but I am going to keep it secret for a wee bit longer…

I am hopelessly consumed with mapping out my plans for the new year (more on that later), sketching, making lists and preparing for the year ahead!. Today I made a wish box full of antique lace goodness and sparkleys. And colorful tights. I know I always say this but I wish for more color in my life, in my surroundings, in what I wear. Juicy, lush color and pattern. So today I wore a garden to start the year off right!

Have a beautiful New Years!

and walking in the dreamy woods…

But first I would like to say that I just put a larger, ORIGINAL drawing (11″ by 14″) of “From Within” in my shop.

It’s a darker version, similar to this one, from a few post’s ago, with the birch trees at night. Yes, I sketched a third one! I wanted to try her without the ribbon around her neck. I am so happy to offer it in my shop (and it is so hard for me to let it go)

I’ve been thinking about wildflowers and all things green and lush (yes, very unfall-like of me). I pulled out one of my favorite found embroideries and hung it on my wall. I’ve been thinking about it ever since I received this package. I took photos of the queen annes lace embroidery and posted them here last year, but I just love it so much, so here’s more!
Beautiful detail.

And knowing that winter will soon be here I have been adorning my windwsill with this and that, summer memories and other things, found.

The sandy bottle was a wash up at the beach. It’s very old! The other, smaller bottle I found in the early spring during a walk through the woods. Did you know that the frost pushes old bottle and other discarded items up out of the ground in the spring?

I have been painting too. This is a piece in the earliest of stages…just the underpainting and I’m sure it will change and morph into something totally different. But the concept will stay the same for the most part. The raw umber scribbles you see in the right hand corner are actually a grove of willow trees with a piano in the middle. I imagined a procession of birds soaring out of it.

The leaves were in their glory over the weekend! They are now falling. To everyone in the northern hemisphere, enjoy the remainder of autumn bliss !

This weekend was…

And, sparked by a recent commission…

As well as other images, made into big pendants, for the shop

mmmmm….I just love when the late afternoon sun pours down like honey.

]]> http://sarahblankstudios.com/blog/2009/09/14/late-late-summer/feed/ 8 http://sarahblankstudios.com/blog/2009/09/09/today/ http://sarahblankstudios.com/blog/2009/09/09/today/#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:27:55 +0000 Sarah Blank http://sarahblankstudios.com/blog/?p=635 A cloudy day late summer walk, on my way out the door…

I found the black bunny on the curb the other day (amongst heaps of trash) !!

I love when the roses bloom in late summer.

Traipsing through town taking photos of my favorite historic homes, for memories.

So perfect in so many ways.