no gingerbread for me

Well, I attempted to go the Pomona Library's Gingerbread Sociable for Laura Ingalls Wilder's birthday. Again. But apparently you really need to get there when it first begins in order to see anyone dressed in calico dresses...oh, well.

I still poked around and looked at the Little House exhibit, however, though I'm a little late in posting this. As I've previously mentioned, Pomona holds a number of Laura's precious original manuscripts and letters since she corresponded with the children's librarian. It's interesting to see the tablet with the Little Town on the Prairie draft and compare it to the final published version. It's amazing to look upon it and know that a woman I admired so much used that very paper to write about literaries and birthday parties with oranges and fashionable autograph albums.

The letters, newspaper clippings, and programs from various events over the years are specific to Pomona Library, and it is the photocopies that are on display. One of the letters contains a copy of her famous gingerbread recipe and was clearly written when she was in her late 80s after her husband died. I know she lived a long and happy life, but it still made me rather sad to read:

I'm living alone and it is very lonely without Almanzo, but it would be lonely anywhere and I would rather stay in my own, old home.

I do hope the original letters are locked away somewhere for safe-keeping, as it's a little worrisome that the photocopies and books on display are so faded and worn. I also wish there were more explanations for the artifacts...are those a family member's shoes? Where did the dolls come from? One of these days I'll have to go back and hunt down a librarian to answer some questions. In the meantime, it was really nice to see evidence of her legacy, however. And it's always nice to be amongst other Laura-lovers.

british children's book illustrations at huntington

We visited The Huntington Art Collections yesterday to see an exhibit of British children's book illustrators. It was a quite nice, although much smaller than I expected--really just one small room or a large closet, even. The two items in the collection I liked best were the Kate Greenaway and Arthur Rackham illustrations, which are pictured here.

It took us just a few minutes to go through the exhibit, which was a tiny bit disappointing since we'd come a long way and, although we love the Garden, it's a little expensive, and it was a bit too hot to walk around very much. Still, we braved the heat and did wander through the shadier sub-tropical rain forest, the Japanese and Chinese gardens, and the koi ponds again, where I did some more dragonfly-stalking.

Huntington is one of my favorite places to go in Los Angeles, though. The first time we came, we didn't know what to expect and ended up spending more than 5 hours there, and we even had tea in the Rose Garden Tea Room. The many gardens are just beautiful and impeccably kept, including an Australian one, a desert one, and a formal one with statuary. Their art collections includes the Blue Boy and many other beautiful paintings, and the library is well worth a visit with its astounding collection. It's a place that reflects impeccable taste and dollars well-spent, as well as a great place to spend a long afternoon.

scherenschnitte: the art of papercutting

The art of scherenschnitte, or "scissor cutting," has been around for hundreds of years. Artisans in Europe, Asia, Mexico, and the Middle East have produced beautiful works of art for centuries armed with nothing more than a leaf of paper and a pair of scissors or knife. 

I first read about the art of papercutting a few years ago, and went so far as to contact a few artists with the intention to write a story on the art for a website I used to edit. The story didn't end up happening since I left as an editor last year, but since this art form has popped up as a trending topic in the crafting community recently, I thought I'd share some of the resources I gathered at the time. I spoke with several artists about their work in papercutting, and I've featured three of my favorites below.

The delightful Elsa Mora is well-known in the scherenschnitte circles for her delicate, intricate designs. I love the intelligence and thought that is behind each of her pieces, as well as the minute, feathery details and suggestion of movement in each one. This California-based artist's wonderful blog The Heart of Papercutting is full of generous links and resources for anyone who might want to try out papercutting for themselves, and it was her work that inspired me to try my hand at it. 

I attempted to cut two of the storybook children she designed (as pictured above) with a craft knife and self-healing mat, and surprised myself by finishing within a matter of hours with each one. Though my Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan have sadly slightly misshapen hands and are a bit rough in spots here and there, I think they turned out pretty well for a first attempt, and it was a really satisfying project to try. I finally got around to mounting the two children this week, and put them in wooden frames that I painted a slightly pearlescent grey.

Along with prints of her work, Elsita now also carries simple patterns in her Etsy shop for beginner papercutting enthusiasts, which is a much easier way to learn this beautiful craft than the way I went about it. She also offers her original papercuts for sale through Three Graces Gallery, and the complexity and subtle mystery in her work is truly unforgettable.

Su Blackwell is another scherenschnitte artist whose ethereal artwork makes me catch my breath. This UK-based artist creates dreamy three dimensional works, as with While You Were Sleeping above, and specializes in artwork cut from vintage books. Her 12 Dancing Princesses is just one of her many pieces inspired by fairy tales, although she also does fantastic commercial work for magazines and retailers as well.

Su alerted me last year that her artwork would be included in a Slash: Under the Knife, a group exhibition at Museum of Arts and Design in New York, and I popped in to see it last fall when I was visiting friends. The exhibit was really wonderful (even if I blanched at the admission price to the museum...oh, New York!) and I was glad to see some of Su's work in person. The exhibit just closed this spring, but you can view more of her work on her website or on her blog.

Cindy Ferguson is a graphic designer and artist who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. She says, "I have always loved drawing. When I went to Europe a few years ago, I visited my grandparent's farm in Germany. In their sitting room, there was an old scherenschnitt on the wall. It was so intricate and beautiful. I thought I would like to try my hand at the art and have become quite obsessed with it."

Cindy's Scherenschnitte blog is updated frequently with updates on her most recent projects, as well as with tutorials and free templates to download. Cindy also accepts commissions for custom silhouettes and artwork through her cindymindypindy Etsy site. My very favorite of her creations happens to be her custom piece for a man who wanted a papercut for his wife, whose favorite film is Pride and Prejudice. It features the moving quote featured in a pivotal point, "It taught me to hope," said he, "as I had scarcely ever allowed myself to hope before." I can't even imagine the amount of discipline and fine motor control that Cindy had to use in order to carve out the lovely text. I love all the details in this papercut, from the stripes in the Elizabeth's skirt to the hands in motion to the perfect frame provided by the trees.

Please do visit all three artists online for papercutting inspiration and beauty--the patience and artistry required for each complex work of art is incredible..and perhaps you'll even be inspired to try out this beautiful craft on your own. Photographs courtesy of  the individual artists.

As I was editing this post, I realized that all three of the artisans featured have created artwork centered around books and fairy tales--no wonder I was drawn to them! (Incidentally, Hans Christian Andersen was also very well known for traveling around and telling stories to children while snipping away with scissors to create instant papercuts while he was spinning tales. The book The Amazing Papercuts of Hans Christian Andersen features many of his papercuts, and if you're a fan of his writing, it's nice to learn more about this lesser-known talent.) Two things I really love, books and craft, come together in perfect harmony.

norton simon museum & garden

Today we went to the wonderful Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. This private collection, comprised of mostly European paintings and sculptures, was put together by a wealthy philanthropist-businessman who was also married to actress Jennifer Jones.

We were pleasantly surprised by how excellent the permanent collection is, particularly those in the Impressionist gallery. There were many works that were familiar to us, as well as really great pieces we'd never seen before from the likes of Rodin, Degas, Gauguin, Monet, van Gogh, Rembrandt, and many others, along with some more modern artists such as Picasso, Diebenkorn, Kandinsky, and Noguchi.

The museum also has a small but very pretty garden filled with sculptures and, somewhat appropriately, with water lilies, where I spent some time happily stalking dragonflies by the edge of the water. We don't have a super-duper high-powered camera yet and they don't always just fly up to us to visit, so for now I have to rely on stealth and patience and luck to wait for the dragonflies to light on a bit of greenery nearby.

The good thing is, we often do see them when we go to gardens here in southern California. I like these red dragonflies quite a bit--I think they're flame skimmers?--although there's an elusive, light-bodied blue-green one with transparent wings I've never been able to capture on film.

world of william joyce

If you're in the Los Angeles area, don't miss the small but wonderful World of William Joyce exhibit at Central Library in downtown. The exhibit includes artwork from many of his books for children, as well as great accompanying text that gives insight into his artistic process.

If you're a fan of Rolie Polie Olie or Robots, you've seen William Joyce's work; he also worked on concept art for Toy Story, and has illustrated many New Yorker covers as well as other commercial works. But I really love his artwork for picture books best, which is where warm color and subtle humor come through the most. You can visit the free exhibit here in L.A. through August 15th, 2010.

"When I was growing up, nobody thought you could make a living by painting or writing...

but things worked out and this is my job. It's like getting paid for recess."

~ William Joyce

artful saturday

Today we had a series of cultural adventures in the city. After a thwarted attempt to visit MOCA (we, um, couldn't find our brand new membership card) we headed over to Abbot Kinney in Venice, where we found creepily awesome art someone assembled with disassembled doll heads, limbs, and torsos. Not for everyone, but I thought these were pretty fun.

Can you imagine the maker sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by plastic body parts? Surely there's a picture somewhere, which I'd dearly love to see. I don't remember the name of the artist, unfortunately, but will try to pop back into Double Visions gallery again to see if I can find it. Strangely, Googling "doll heads cage art" doesn't turn up terribly useful information.

My favorite is the doll head in the first photo below, which is missing an eye.

We also had a tasty lunch of pizza slices at Abbot Pizza Company, where I love the bagel-crust 5-onion pizza drizzled with a bit of garlic oil. Tummies full, we headed over to Zingara, a store full of fantastic clothing, toys, and accessories where we found the perfect birthday present for our 2-year-old niece:

This amazing hand-knit wool sweater was handmade in Peru, and features sweet animals appliqued into little tableaus on the front and on the back. The level of detail is really wonderful, and it's something Katherine will be able to wear for at least a couple of years. There are 7 - 8 inches of snow back east right now, so it will probably come in handy this season, too.

After leaving Venice, we went to the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, where a friend of mine had somehow "accidentally" curated a weekend art show.

This group show, titled "Mastodon Mesa," featured some interesting experimental artwork and displays, including a dark cave filled with balloons, a prism room, and some art from Michael Hsiung, an LA-based illustrator I've always liked. His drawings are always a welcome part of every show, and I enjoy the quirky humor that comes through in his work.

All in all, a most satisfactory day. Hope you're having a lovely weekend, too!