Arrived in the Mail: THE PAPER GARDEN by Molly Peacock

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a book in an online Give-a-way over at the The Picky Girl blog - my first book prize ever. Very exciting! Just from reading about it, I could tell that this was a book I'd want to own rather than borrow from the library. How did I know that? Well, from Picky Girl's wonderful review.  In fact, all the reviews I've read have been glowing.

Anyway, it arrived yesterday. THE PAPER GARDEN An Artist [Begins Her Life's Work] At 72 by Molly Peacock. It's a Bloomsbury Publishers book and you know how they take care with their books. This one is beautifully designed and just gorgeous to look at and hold.

The book is a biography of Mary Granville Pendarves Delany (1700 - 1788), a woman who, after a rich full life, and the death of her beloved husband after 23 years of marriage, took up scissors and invented a new art form: mixed-media collage.

This the sort of book that no Kindle or Nook can ever hold a candle to. Nothing mechanical can ever replace the look and feel, the luxury of something this beautiful. Such care was taken with the design that even the size of the book is perfcetion. Not too large or overpowering, it fits perfectly in the hand. The interior is filled with many illustrations of Delany's work which, amazingly, have survived over the centuries and are housed in the British Museum.

I am very much looking forward to reading this book and treasuring it for years to come.

Note: I notice that some of the book covers have the words 'An Artist...' replaced by 'Mrs. Delany...'. I'm assuming that the line was changed in a second printing or perhaps it's the British version. Don't know. All I do know is that my cover says, 'An Artist...' But the sharpest cover image I found online is this one I'm showing.



Mailbox Loot!

Guess what just arrived in the mail! A birthday prezzie from my friend Janine! Woo-Hoo! Check it out.: Brunetti's Cookbook with recipes by Roberta Pianaro and Culinary Stories by Donna Leon.

(Link to more about the book and a list of some of the recipes here.)

Well, what can I say? Combined with the bunch of Brunetti mystery books home from the library and my new found thirst for Campari and soda - Obviously I am currently travelling in Italy in all but the physcial sense. HA!


Janine:  "Sono felice, la ringrazio molto!"

Saturday Salon: A note on a nice art book find - an unexpected treat.

Yesterday at Barnes and Noble, I picked up a very nice little art book in trade paperback format: THE IMPRESSIONISTS by Diana Newal, part of an Art in Detail series, published by Art Metro Books, NY. This was on a sales table for five bucks and stupid me, I left behind THE RENAISSANCE - also in Art in Detail mode - and was already having second thoughts when we were back inside the car. But didn't feel strong enough about it to jump back out in the heat. A dumb non-move on my part.

The thing that first caught my eye about THE IMPRESSIONISTS (other than it's about one of my favorite schools of painting) was that the book has dye cut openings which focus on parts of the painting in close detail alongside short explanations of what the artist was up to. There are also succinct sentences talking about technique which is fascinating to me - always.

Newal concentrates on 20 different paintings and various artists, i.e. Pissaro, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot, etc. with brief comments and explanations. The book very much reminds me of the always wonderful Eyewitness books, just much less bulky. I love this sort of thing. One, because it's clever and two, because there's not a lot of mumbo-jumbo.

Far as I'm concerned art,in general, is to be understood, not made obtuse by deliberate and long-winded obfuscation. But maybe that's just me.

Artsy Pups: Domenica More Gordon

I have to thank the Brabourne Farm blog for tipping me off about the wonderful artist Domenica More Gordon. Look at the incredibly adorable felted pups she creates. I believe this sort of work is called 'felting'. But if you ask me how it's done, I just couldn't say. But I bet you could find the 'how to' online. Or at least, the beginning of 'how-to'. This sort of fine work, for me, rises above craft. Each little dog looks as if he or she might, at any moment, spring to life. All that's required is the wave of a magic wand. Is it art? Is it craft? Is it sculpture? Is it a toy?

All of the above.

To read about Domenica More Gordon's artistry and work, please go to to her website here.

Domenica More Gordon and one of her creations.

Today is OFFICIALLY National Train Day!

Okay, so today is the OFFICIAL National Train Day. I posted about it last Saturday and thought that would be that. But I've changed my mind. Can't let the day go by without some more train visuals I love.

Aren't these posters wonderful? I love the whole idea of the romance of train travel - way back when. The only train 'travel' I've actually done (besides the subway when I was a kid to and fro-ing from home to high school) was the train between London and Oxford, a friend and I took many years ago. It was lots of fun, but not nearly long enough to invite mystery and a good train dinner.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

A good and sunny Spring day - perfect for dancing in the streets (for those inclined) in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. Rocky the chihuahua and I will be holding a more quite celebration mostly having to do with good food - a burrito or two would not be amiss. We'd rather be dancing, but, at our age, we take our fun where we can find it.

Painting by artist Sandra Bierman. If you'd like to learn more about her work, please visit her website at this link.

Painted Floors: Part 2

My foot, which just coincidentally happens to blend nicely with the painted floor.


But first, the dining room chandelier decked out in Easter eggs. Love it.


A door to the library.


My favorite piece of artwork which happens to hang in the kitchen. I always mean to ask the identity of the artist, but I always forget.


Up above. Not the floor, but the wonderful living room ceiling with a stencil of a hummingbird.






I have to say I LOVE LOVE LOVE this chair and pillow.


The library floors.


I wrote about my sister-in-law's beautiful painted floors back around the Christmas Holidays, so this second post is an update on her project. She and my brother live in a gorgeous older home and Viv is always hard at work making their house even more special. Not quite finished at Christmas, she continued to stencil and paint until finally last week, we got to see more of what she'd been up to. I took some photos to bring us all up to date. Sorry the photos are not professional-grade, but I used my trusty little point-and-shoot, cause that's the camera I have and feel most comfortable with. You get the picture, anyway. (This link will take you back to the Holiday post, if you want to play catch-up and see the rest of the floors.)


Couldn't resist this: My granddaughter and Rocky on the painted living room floor.

40 Media Terms For Every Bookworm

It feels good and virtuous to suddenly be up on all the latest (some not so 'latest') phraseology. A few of these terms I admit I'd been curious about - just never curious enough to find out more. Now I don't have to. It's all here, in one handy little list. One of my favorite terms: picaresque. Gotta' love the look and the sound of it. You want to say picturesque, but you daren't. Kind of like wanting to say restauranteur for restaurateur. Know what I mean?

Thanks to Jon Winokur's 'Advice to Writers' Twitter link for the tip. Thanks to onlineclasses.org for the orginal post.
The inimitable Calvin and Hobbes cartoons are by the inimitable Bill Watterson of which more can be read about here. I admit I got misty when the comic strip came to an end.

National Bookmobile Day...

...was actually yesterday, so I'm a day late. My only excuse: it was on the 14th last year. So - honest confusion. The Bookmobile. Does the idea bring back memories? I found these two posts about a service I thought had long since gone the way of the dodo. But apparently not. I can imagine that in out-of-the-way localities (note the Camel Library), the Bookmobile would really serve a purpose -even in a modern world with computers in almost every household. Link to one post by the Smithsonian Magazine. Link to another post by A Pretty Book.

Speaking of Gorgeous Book Covers...

Have you seen these truly amazing needlepoint book covers commissioned by Penguin for their new Penguin Threads line? Several of their classic titles are now dressed to charm. Design blogs were buzzing about this yesterday. Artist Jillian Tamaki did the superb needle work - check out her website. Kudos to Penguin for attempting something different in an age of repetition and sameness.

Some Gorgeous Covers (Just to refresh your spirits.)

Since the previous post showed some of my least favorite covers. I thought a post showing some of my very favorite covers was called for.