Sol LeWitt still gives -- The Shul print

December immediately brings to mind giving.

The late Sol LeWitt was an active member of the Chester community. He was extremely generous to so many people. When I visited the Chester Gallery recently (one day they will have a website) owner Sosse Baker showed me the "Shul print." The Chester Gallery is selling a limited edition (175) print framed or un-framed. Proceeds will benefit Congregation Beth Shalom the synagogue in Chester that Sol was instrument in designing. Please note that the photograph doesn't quite do it justice.

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Dalton Ghetti -- Graphite Guy

On a recent visit to the New Britain Museum of American Art I came upon three framed pieces of Dalton Ghetti's amazing carved pencils.

The focus of the visit was to see the Escher exhibit (which was fascinating) after which we decided to look at the contemporary art galleries. Poking around, I was surprised to see Ghetti's work. I ran to my friend all most yelling. "He's here, the pencil guy!" Fortunately good friends usually understand my distinctly ridiculous stringing together of words when I am excited. My friend Sosse Baker of the Chester Gallery loves all things pencil and in August she sent me a bunch of his images. They are literally mind-bending. You'll see what I mean when you get to the final image.

Brazilian born Dalton Ghetti is a Bridgeport (CT) artist who has spent years carving magnificent miniature masterpieces on graphite pencils. His tools consist of a razor blade, sewing needle and a sculpting knife. The process is extremely slow; pieces can take years to complete, but they can also break while being worked. In the event a piece must be scrapped Ghetti keeps it and places it in a sort of broken object cemetery. What struck me when viewing the life-size framed pieces -- having only seen images on the computer -- was that they are really small. The "Alphabet" below gives you a hint of the actual size.

They are not for sale. But . . .

He would love to do a gallery show in London if his travel expenses were included.

Love it.

This last one demands serious consideration.

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Vittorio Constantini -- Glass Artista

Departures Magazine most recent issue is devoted to the city of Venice and gives a shout out to one of the most amazing glass artists, Vittorio Constantini.

I visited his studio a few years ago. It's tiny and not easy to find, but it is heaven. If you ask for direction from Piazza San Marco, you will be told to take a vaporetto, but don't. Look at Googlemaps; it's really a very short walk. And you probably will get lost. If your heart is set on seeing him, call ahead. He's busy, he travels. I think he visits the States at least once a year. Some of his work is at Harvard with their magnificent Blaschka glass flowers.

He had been represented by a gallery in Nantucket, but I do not recall its name. My love of bugs and fish brought me to him. Here is a link to a bunch of great videos.

Cocchinella



Bees and honey are glass.

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Paper Artist -- Anna-Wili Highfield

For the past few days I've been making repeat visits to the website of artist Anna-Wili Highfield.

Anna is a young Australian artist who, while pregnant with her first child, took paper, watercolors and thread and began making decorations for the nursery. She paints archival cotton paper, tears it and gets to work sewing. The piece above is "Budgerigar in a Bell Jar".


Love the shadow of the "Magpie" above. If you visit her website you can expand the images. When you do, you'll be able to see the actual stitching. "Turtle" really shows some large basting sort of stitches.


I wonder if the (presumably heavy) watercolor paper moves when there is a draft? It could be very dramatic if the owl's wings began to move!

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Volkswagens new EBike -- Bik.e

This went right under my radar early in the spring when it was announced in China. VW's new electronic EBike or more properly the Bik.e.

While only a concept now, it seems to me it would be a hit. Love the clean design. Not sure how it would be on hills, but for city exploring or flat areas, it looks like fun. With a speed of 12.5 mph you'd better like meandering. Its range of 12.5 miles also limits its functionality, but alas (!) it's meant as a car accessory. Volkswagen sells cars. The car, in fact, charges the bike and watch how it folds. Check it out in this video.

There are no plans to actually produce them, but one can dream. No word on cost either.

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Bad Blogger

My apologies for not showing up for a while. Bad blogger. I offer flowers to you and promise to be more diligent about posting.

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Topics One Would Never Suppose I'd Write about: Home Depot and Martha

Martha Stewart Living has hooked up with Home Depot.

Actually she is cross-branding with them. This partnering is truly inspired. I must admit, I am not a Home Depot kind of person. It's big; I like small. But the display was quite impressive.

Studying MSL's color palette makes me swoon. I find myself easily smitten by the color names.

Check out the names of these colors:

ballet slipper pink
corkboard
graham cracker crust
chopstick (?)
picnic basket
Pup Tent


Loving these:

cornichon
river mist
spring melt
SEA GLASS
muscari
faded ink

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SHAME --There's an app for that

I have neglected my blog for many months. Why? I've been way too enamored with the apps on my latest Iphone.


Bad Jil. An app a day is not a way to live. That said, I am addicted to some of them. One particularly fun one for color enthusiasts is ColorSnap for the Sherwin Williams paint company. It has one feature that integrates with the camera on your Iphone and allows you identify a color or family of colors. I took a photo of an Anichini throw, the colors of which move me.



I then tweaked it and the app analyzed my palette. An email function means you can then send yourself or your decorator or your painter an email listing those exact colors.

Other cool features include making customized palettes, a Sherwin Williams store locater, and a really time wasting by fun section called "explore color" where you can zoom your finger over a color then play with lightening it, adjusting the saturaton and on and on.

While it is doubtful anyone will have actually missed me, I feel as if I have provided a somewhat rational explanation as to my MIA status.

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