Pet Post -- The Animal Odd Couple

Thank you, Karyn!! Utterly incredible.

Baracketology -- Obama's Picks

WISHING YOU AND YOURS A VERY HAPPY MARCH MADNESS!!

image via The White House

Image Inspiration

This photo by Jean Pierre Stoop makes me want to:

1. Clean my apartment immediately
2. Re-watch Mr. Clean commercials from way back when
3. Help more people with canes carry groceries
4. Buy white slacks for spring

Image Inspiration -- Dragons and Hindemith

I recently had the pleasure of enjoying the very talented Amelia Hollander Ames play a viola sonata by Paul Hindemith. It totally blew my mind. Then I saw these creatures hanging from the ceiling of the school and their faces represented the range of intensity and emotion that the music brought to life.

If the Blues Don't Cure Me...

I've been enjoying some incredible bluegrass lately and thought you might like to know about some killer bands playing around Brooklyn these days:

The Dive Bar Dukes at Freddy's Back Room

Smokey's Round Up at Sunny's Bar

The one and only Smokey Hormel (Who also turns out to be my friend's Godfather!?!)

Oh, and be sure you don't miss Crooked Still coming to town... cheers for now!

Pets -- Sheer Fun

From Best Friends Magazine: "A Bedouin leads sheep into the sea...once a year [and washes them] in the ocean to make it easier to cut the wool off before the highest temperatures of the summer arrive." I love their faces and the composition of this photo!!

Sachiko Kanaizumi -- AOD

These recent illustrations by this contemporary Japanese artist embolden the fairy tales that live within us and add a bit of brightness to this gray day... More here

images copyright (c) Sachiko Kanaizumi

Spotted: Hoyas Bus!

Go Georgetown!!!
This post is dedicated to my brother: You're swens.
More on Hoyas Basketball here

How's YOUR March Madness shaping up?!

Art Review - Spring at the Hirshorn

Robert Gober, "Untitled," 1990

This sculpture reminds me of my 9th grade History teacher. His wife picked out his clothes for him, from the tie all the way down to the socks.

See more "Strange Bodies" at the Hirshorn Museum this month -- a fun show full of surprises!

And while you're there, be sure to circle your way around Louise Bourgeois' retrospective. Not only did it distract me from daylight "savings," the show revealed the honesty and perseverance it takes to be an artist. Abstracted bronzed body parts dangle from the walls along side framed personal notes about the artist's true source of motivation. Something about Bourgeois reminds me of my grandmother -- aesthetically sensitive and endlessly creative, all the while making you feel nurtured by her unique sense of self.


Louise Bourgeois, "The Blind Leading the Blind," 1947-49

From the Hirshorn Collection

Pet Post

Two of my favorite things.

John Mann -- AOD

"Untitled (Libya)," 2007

Find out more about the artist and others through the wonderful Humble Postcard Project here

Martin Ramirez -- AOD

From the American Folk Art Museum: "Considered one of the self-taught masters of twentieth-century art, Martin Ramirez (1895 - 1963) created hundreds of drawings and collages of remarkable visual clarity and expressive power within the confines of DeWitt State Hospital in Auburn, California, where he resided for the last fifteen years of his life. Nearly one hundred of these drawings and collages were on view in the American Folk Art Museum's 2007 retrospective of the artist.

An astonishing development during the run of that exhibition was the discovery of a group of previously unknown works: more than 120 works on paper were brought to the museum's attention by Dr. Max Dunievitz. 'Martin Ramirez: The Last Works' features twenty-five artworks from this newly discovered treasure trove, including three drawings gifted to the American Folk Art Museum.

In this newly found body of work, Ramirez explored the same subjects and themes as in earlier years -- horseback riders, trains and tunnels, landscapes, Madonnas, and animals."

**They are throwing a party at the museum tonight with free admission and music so check it out if you can! More here **

Also, an interesting article about Ramirez in the NY Times here