3 Favorite Pieces at the Olympic Sculpture Park

On Labor Day, we finally made our first trip to the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, which is often mentioned as one of the best sculpture parks in the United States. It did not disappoint, as it boasts many of the big names in monumental sculpture (Richard Serra, Mark Di Suvero, etc) and a really thoughtful and fun design. The park is situated right between Seattle Center and the waterfront, and it smartly interacts with both.

1. Eagle- Alexander Calder- The sculpture looks is pretty great on its own, but its placement in the park and interaction with the space needle, the park space, and the visitors (who can sit all around it in matching chairs) seems totally sweet and fantastic. It feels like an iconic placement within the park, and the qualities of the sculpture came to good curatorial use.

1.5. Michael Heizer- Adjacent, Against, Upon- 1976- Apparently, we had ventured all the way into Myrtle Edwards Park, but I couldn't leave this off the list, because I was so excited to see a Heizer being cold and unruly in the flesh. Residents weren't pleased with this multiple behemoth sculpture when they first installed it, but I think it is one of the biggest gems not in the sculpture park.

2. Split- Roxy Paine- We walked past this on entering without realizing we were looking at a tree made of steel, and only on our way out did it catch our eye. Usually, you think of outdoor art as asserting itself more fully as not of the landscape, but this attempts to blend in.

3. Eye Benches I, II, III around the Father and Son Fountain- Louise Bourgeois- To be honest, I did not love this fountain, but I was excited to see some of her biomorphic benches sat around it. Perfect place to take a little break, and apparently they have been the closest to car-caused disaster of anything in the park. Oh Louise, you are such a risky badass.

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Introducing new DOROTHY, 1940s wedding dress in fine Chantilly lace.

Dear Reader,
Ah, September, and back to school for us all... I hope you enjoyed a delightful Summer. I've saved up something rather special to show you for the new season: My new 1940s-inspired lace wedding dress. Ta-dah, here she is..!

...As you may remember, I'm loving all things 1940s at the moment. (I'll be doing a little round-up later this week, just to remind you!) And so, I've updated my Dorothy wedding dress with some gorgeous 1940s-inspired details...

The original Dorothy is so so pretty, with its fitted bodice, A-line skirt and lace overlay. It's a very flattering and elongating combination, and always a popular style with my girls...

This classic, flattering silhouette lends itself very well to more sophisticated and glamorous 1940s styling. For the new dress, we've added long elegant sleeves and a chic V-neck - giving a very different feel... 

Perhaps you've already noticed the gorgeous Chantilly lace we've used for the new dress? It's wonderful quality - very fine. And it has a beautiful border, which makes a stunning feature on the sleeves and the base of the skirt... 

The V-neckline is finished with a delicate French lace trim too. And the full-length skirt dips slightly at the back, giving just a whisper of a train.

For the lining, we've chosen a pale apricot/champagne silk. This colour gives the dress a warm and flattering glow, perfect for pale English Rose complexions. And it looks equally beautiful in the classical ivory silk option.

We're delighted with our new movie-star-glamorous dress. I hope you love her too. Dorothy is available now, priced £1595 with apricot silk lining, or £1495 with ivory silk. 

If you like Dorothy and would like to see more vintage-style wedding dresses, do check here. And I always have many fabulous original vintage 1940s and 1950s dresses here. 

And of course, I'd love to see you in person just contact me to discuss your needs!

Meanwhile, thanks for looking - and see you later this week.

Love

Helena

Heavenly Vintage Brides

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1940s Lace Wedding Dresses

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Picture of the Week- The Year on a Cake

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9 Things for the Weekend- Cotton, Shirley, Plastic Bins, and Primary Structures

1. Lemon Curd, but not lemon cake- I tried making lemon cake for our anniversary cake and I would describe it as not good. I mean, I know a cake is a failure if the Boy is in no hurry to eat it. The cake is thick and dry. Really, just not good at all. On the other hand, my first try at lemon curd turned out pretty well!

 Ceci n'est pas une Blague from ckcontemporary.com

Still Life with Judge, from artodyssey1.blogspot.com

2.Conor Walton- Favorite Genome for the day. At first, they look like pretty run of the mill still lives, but his paintings actually work like jokey Art History 001 Lessons. If I were still training to be faculty, he might be someone to put in my back pocket, though I have a sneaking suspicion he is an art history reject like myself. He does these strange allegorical paintings about all sorts of knowledge (particularly in the humanities), but the art historical ones are my favorite.

3. Cotton Anniversary Tent- I couldn't pull it together on my own, so the Boy helped when he got home from work. It was fun to build something together (I mean, after 11 years, acting like little kids can only be a good time and maturity has never been our strong suit). I made it with all things we had in our house (Command hooks don't work on our new walls! Problems waiting to happen), and we spent most of the weekend vegging out and watching Top Chef New Orleans to prep for our trip next weekend (we are eating at Commander's Palace! Crazypants!).
4. White lights- They make everything seem more special. We just keep pulling out these lights from our wedding supplies, and they up the effect every time. If you are planning a holiday/ anniversary/ just because surprise, throw some white lights up and it will step up your game big time.
5. Shirley- My favorite New Orleans Top Chef (seriously, this is all we did Friday and Saturday. I edited pictures and The Boy looked at computer parts. We can do a boring nesty weekend really well).
6. "Other Primary Structures" at the Jewish Museum- Just as I get to the point where I can't travel, they put on a show in New York City that I would give my left foot to see. So it goes. "Primary Structures" is one of my favorite historical exhibitions (I can list basically everything that was in it), and I am interested to see where contemporary minimalism is going, especially now with my current job. If you are anywhere near New York, let me know how it is!
7. Plastic bins- My current theory on adulthood is that no problem can't be solved by buying plastic bins. Our basement, the final frontier of horror, is finally in order, mostly thanks to a very big trip to Goodwill, another set of plastic bins, and 2 shelves. It doesn't scream beautiful, but it also is shaking off its fate as spider-covered catchall.

8. Painting- We are almost out of walls to paint, yet we still have a substantial collection of testers in our basement. I am plotting solutions to this problem, so no paint goes to waste. It may be time to paint the poles down there?
9. Curmudgucation on the Pretty Horrifying Anita Sarkessian harassment- You can read this here. I find the amount of harassment online totally mind-boggling and depressing, and hearing particular perspectives (like one adding this to the list of why women avoid STEM careers) can be helpful in trying to make sense of why ANYONE would be so angry and cowardly as to spend their time harassing women online. I am still trying to figure out why someone would put rape gifs on jezebel (and why gawker would allow it for so long). I also wonder a lot if there is something we can all be doing collectively to fight back harder on this? I know people don't want to make themselves targets, but I am happy to see it when another big online presence talks about how fucked up it is.

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Quote of the Week- 6 Months in our House

The fellow that owns his own home is always just coming out of a hardware store.  ~Frank McKinney Hubbard

 Unless one decorates one's house for oneself alone, best leave it bare, for other people are walleyed.  ~D.H. Lawrence

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3 Things for Yesterday- Oshinkoshin Falls, Reflecting on White Privilege, and Work Work Work

1. Michael Kenna, Oshinkoshin Falls- This is my favorite thing that I genomed yesterday for Artsy, and I just think it is ridiculous. Michael Kenna does atmospheric landscapes pretty consistently, but his play with snow and the Japanese landscape has quickly risen to be my favorite. I can't get the picture anywhere, but you can check it out on Artsy- https://artsy.net/artwork/michael-kenna-oshinkoshin-falls-utoro-hokkaido-japan
2. A Mother's White Privilege- http://manicpixiedreammama.com/a-mothers-white-privilege/ I have been thinking a lot of these things, as I grow yet another white man in my uterus. We like to think we earn things, but part of the challenge of race (and the ridiculous racial inequality still at play in our country) is there is nowhere to hide from our privilege.  I think the points she makes are solid, but I have been trying to think about what you can actually do with this that isn't condescending or it's own kind of problematic. How do you raise sons who are aware of their privilege and do something about it?
3. Work Days- Is there anything more satisfying than actually making progress? We are getting somewhere, albeit slowly.

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Today's Inspiration- Cayce Zavaglia

Zavaglia may top the list of my absolute favorite discoveries since I started genoming for Artsy (I am up to genoming about 100 artworks a day, so I am seeing an awful lot)! Cayce Zavaglia makes portraits, mostly of individuals, with embroidery thread. It may not sound like the most rigorous or complex methodology (it sounds very folksy DIY), but take a look at the finished product. They are not only gorgeous (do they kind of remind you of the texture on van Gogh self-portraits- not that modern but so beautiful) but incredibly impressive in their technical mastery and understanding of the different textures on the human body. They just look so real, like a Chuck Close portrait done in string.

Not all are of children, but I liked this example from the Colossal, because you can see the back of her canvas and the detail of her work. I am totally obsessed, so I hope you like her work as well. Go look at more.

from http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/10/new-photorealistic-portraits-hand-embroidered-by-cayce-zavaglia/

from http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/10/new-photorealistic-portraits-hand-embroidered-by-cayce-zavaglia/

from http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/10/new-photorealistic-portraits-hand-embroidered-by-cayce-zavaglia/

You can also see a video about her process here.

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