Design: Southern Female Artists; Part 2

Continuing with my series on southern female artists who have recently captured my attention, I am excited to feature two artists with ties to Charleston. While I don't know either of these ladies personally, from what I have read of them they seem like they would be great fun to hang out with and I would be more than happy to have a piece of both of their artwork hanging in my home.

 Sally Benedict King
I first learned of Sally Benedict King's work through the most recent issue of Matchbook Magazine which features a great article on Sally, her work and her chic Charleston home. Sally and the article made me want to be an artist "when I grow up!" Sally is an abstract artist who uses an amazing color palette. She reminds me of a modern, feminine Kandinsky. To see more of her work, visit http://www.sallybenedict.com/ or her blog http://www.blog.sallybenedict.com/.

ROSE HILL   48x48   acrylic, gouache, charcoal and oil pastel on canvas

VENTURA 48x48 acrylic, gouache, charcoal and oil pastel on canvas-framed

Sally at work via Matchbook

Lulie Wallace
I found Lulie Wallace's work through Sally Benedict King's blog and I just think the name Lulie is so southern and adorable! Lulie paints still lifes, mostly vibrant still lifes of flowers. I love that she has taken a subject that has been painted throughout the history of art and made it completely new and fresh with her unique composition and style. You can see more of her work, including what is available for purchase at http://www.luliewallace.com/.

24x30 Flowers For Mary Grace

24x24 Flowers for Lily

Images from www.sallybenedict.com and www.luliewallace.com.

Watch: Downton Arby's

This made me laugh this morning and helps a little with my Downton Abbey withdrawal. Happy Wednesday!

Style: Beautiful Silk Scarves

The mild March breezes have me thinking of bright silk scarves fluttering in the wind. I own one very cherished Hermes scarf that I wear year round, but truthfully it's vibrant pastel colors are much more suited for spring.

A scarf is the perfect accessory on those days I wear all black.

via Hermes

Two of my favorite things...a silk scarf and nautical stripes.

via The Mannequin

My favorite way to wear my scarf is with jeans and a t-shirt. There is something about the high/low mix that works so well.

via The Blonde Salad


Maybe if I get really daring I will wear it in my hair.

via Pinterest

 
I love the idea of framing a favorite scarf that may be too precious to wear.

via Katrina Scott Design

Or making luxurious silk pillows!

via Pinterest

Quotes I Love

This is a week of goodbye and lasts as my parents pack up to move cross country. It is bittersweet. I am excited for them and look forward to visiting them in the beautiful Arizona desert, but sad at the thought that they are no longer just a short drive from my house.

Someone gave my dad a parting gift with this sweet quote from Winnie the Pooh. I love it!

"Promise me you’ll never forget me because if I thought you would I’d never leave.”

                      -Winnie the Pooh

Design, Style & Taste: Spring!

Today is the official first day of spring! And though we had a mild winter here in Memphis, I am ready for longer days, spending time outside and the abundance of beautiful colors spring brings.  

Some inspiring design, style and taste ideas that make me think of spring....

Spring Design


Ann Mashburn's Home via Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles



Spring Style

via elle.com

Spring Taste

Beautiful angel food cake with berries, flowers and chocolate mushrooms.
Recipe via Home is Where the Boat is

Because I thought this was pretty....

Wild Garden Print via Etsy



Happy Spring!! 

Design: Gardening and Life

As I have mentioned here before, I am a frustrated gardener with really ambitious intentions that just don't seem to pan out each season. Well, something clicked for me this year and I think my black thumb may finally be turning green.

It's funny, some of life's lessons that I have learned recently are mirrored in what I am learning as a novice gardener. So for the beginner (and seasoned) gardeners who read The Zoo, here are five lessons that I am learning to love about life and gardening.

 1. Slow and Steady.
In gardening as in life, I want instant gratification. I want my vision to come to fruition immediately and will work myself up into a frenzy to make that happen. I will plow through a project, racing to the finish line and inevitably I burn out and don't want to even think about the project again for months. If I just slow down and realize there is no clock to race against, I can actually enjoy what I am doing and cultivate a passion.

This finally happened for me and gardening this year. I figured out (and with some advice from my dad) that I am better off when I just concentrate on one area at a time such as planting new hostas under a tree in my backyard instead of attempting a full landscape makeover in one weekend. So much less pressure and so much more fun!


A garden journal to record your trials and tribulations. From Terrain.



2. You Have to Know Where You Are to Know Where You Are Going (or Growing).

Every year, I get so excited about all of the pretty hydrangeas, peonies and other plants for sale at the nursery. I impulsively buy them and plop them right into my compacted, nutrient-deprived clay soil and then feel so disheartened when they die just a few short weeks later.



I have a friend who said about life "How are you going to know where you are going if you don't even know where you are starting from." This is so true about gardening as well. Even my self-will and determination (which are both pretty darn strong) won't make a sun-loving plant grown in my shady backyard. I have finally surrendered to the fact that I have to learn more about the not pretty stuff-soil and growing conditions-before I can get growing. I bought a soil testing kit and have actually had fun testing the soil in my yard...kind of like a seventh grade science project.

I am dying to read A Time to Plant by James T. Farmer III.
He has a great blog too, All Things Farmer.

3. Ask for Help.

Damn. This one is hard, in life more than in gardening, but it is so worth it. I just want to know everything about everything immediately and don't want to admit I need help (or as I told my mom when I was little and we were walking across the street "I am going to hold my own hand"), but I do. There is still so much for me to learn.

What I have found, though, is gardeners are passionate people and more than happy to talk about their passion and share their knowledge. In the past week, I have visited with a sweet lady at the county extension agent, bent the ear of one of the nursery staff at Lowe's and peppered my parents (both great gardeners) with questions. And guess what...I know a lot more than I did a month ago!


This beautiful book is not only informative, but a great addition
to the stack of design books that resided on my cocktail table.



4. Don't Dwell on Your Mistakes.

As a recovering perfectionist, this one is really hard for me, but I am bound to make them in life and in gardening. In fact, I can list several I have made in gardening, but I am wiser and a better gardener for that. Though there are countless resources about gardening, a big part of it is trial and error and I have to remind myself a particular plant will certainly never grow if I don't even try.



I love my garden clogs from Target!



5. Stop and Smell the Roses.

And finally, to borrow from an old gardening themed cliche, it is important to stop and smell the roses. One of my goals for The Zoo is to stop and appreciate the beauty of every day life. I realize in the garden I can get so caught up in doing that I can totally miss enjoying the beauty around me. And after all, that is the point of gardening, isn't it?



P. Allen Smith is a wealth of information about all things gardening.
I love his blog, newsletter and videos on YouTube.
http://www.pallensmith.com/



Design: Southern Female Artists; Part 1

I recently started reading Julie Cameron's The Artist's Way which had renewed my interest in art. I majored in Art History in college, so this interest isn't a big stretch for me but I haven't been attuned to art, viewing it or making it, in the past eight years or so.

With my renewed interest (and the rabbit hole that is the internet), I have been learning more about the fabulous young female artists the south has produced recently. I am proud to count so much talent among my generation and think it is inspiring to see these women pursuing their passion and dreams. In the first of a two part series, I am excited to introduce you to my favorite young female southern artists....

Bliss & Caroline

I am fortunate to count artists Bliss Campbell and Caroline Hurley as close childhood friends and lucky enough to have an original piece by each in my home. While they are both current New Yorkers, they are southern born and bred.

Bliss Campbell

I love Bliss's figure drawings which have such an ephemeral quality and mysterious nature. I feel like I can look at her work over and over again and find a new details that I didn't notice before.

Bliss gave all of her wedding party one of her beautiful figure prints which I now have hanging front and center in my living room. Such a great memory of a special weekend!

Bliss works in mixed media: charcoal, gouache, ink and pencil on board or paper. For more information and to view more of Bliss's work, you can visit her website: http://www.blisscampbell.com/.

Caroline Hurley

I love Caroline's use of color and the way she abstracts everyday things like rain or laundry. Her art is such a different (and beautiful) way of looking at the world.

Again, I am fortunate to have a very personal piece of art by Caroline. She was in my wedding six(!!) years ago and gave my husband and me a mixed media portrait of us on our wedding day. This is truly one of my most treasured possessions.

Visit her site http://www.carolinezhurley.com/ for a visual feast of color and her many more beautiful paintings and visit her blog http://carolinezhurley.blogspot.com/ to learn more about her new line of products for the summer.

I hope Bliss and Caroline's work inspires you as much as it does me. Do you have a favorite artist of your generation?