Art in the Truck

Next time my husband Dan and I are in SF we are going to The Lost Horizon Night Market, a nocturnal carnival making its fifth appearance in NY where trucks transform into small theatres for entertainment.. I would be thrilled to take portraits of this art scene. I read a great story in the NY Times Sunday newspaper regarding this entertainment. There are people that go to these shows and call this pure events raw out of the back of trucks. My kind of thing. The time and place is set for an event and there is no admission fee and happens every three or four months. The Lost Horizon Night Market has already spread to San Francisco and on Dec 11, trucks appeared along the city's southern waterfront. These are pure art events, no advertising, no money. Pure fun.

Escape to Hitchcock

                      


Dan and I both loved this film. The film, directed by Sacha Gervasi, is a creative insight into the making of the film Psycho. It shows how Hitchcock and his wife Alma (played by Helen Mirren), managed to get this film made in Hollywood. Anthony Hopkins does a compelling job of playing  Hitchcock, capturing his eccentric ways. See this one. It is the true escape movie experience.

Divine Dark Chocolate Chews

                   

           
My dear friend Lisa and her family sent us a box of Danville Chocolates chews. I usually ignore the chews and I know this harms their self esteem. I dive for the dark chocolates and tend to forget about those lonely chews. Try the tasty little salty dark chocolate chews for some pow wow flavor. You will not be sorry.

A Royal Affair

We saw this film at the palm theatre in San Luis Obispo. It is a story set in the 18th century a the court of King Christian VII of Denmark. It focuses on the romance between the queen and the royal physician Struensee. It is a historical drama film directed by Nikolaj Arcel. See it on the big screen and count your blessings you live in 2012. The costumes, acting and jewelry are worth seeing on the big screen.

Snow Snow Snow....

                     




My sister and her hubby live in the Ozarks. They got snow on Christmas and had some fun marking Herbie their bug. The simple pleasures of a snow Holiday in the Ozarks.

Merry Creative Christmas

Meet Marissa and Nadia. They work at Bank of America in San Luis Obispo, Ca. They spent Sunday evening watching the 49ers play and designing their own Christmas sweaters. I love people that know how to make things, enjoy the things they make, and have fun. These young ladies are surely the spirit of the Holidays. Merry Christmas.

The Art of Nativity

             

          My friend Regina has an amazing Nativity collection. I have a set that I picked up at a flea market in Texas that dates back to the early 1920s. The  Metropolitan Museum of Art's Christmas Tree is beautiful. It is located at Fifth Ave and 82nd St in NYC. There is a vivid 18th century Neapolitan Nativity Scene embellished with lifelike silk-robed angels hovering above the candlelit spruce. It is dedicated to the late Loretta Hines Howard who began collecting creche figures in 1925 who conceived the idea of putting together the Roman Catholic custom of elaborate Nativity scenes with the tradition of decorated Christmas trees that developed among the Protestant people of Northern Europe.

The Brown Sisters

             


             

            

The Brown Sisters is one of my favorite photography shows I have seen on portrait photography. Nicholas Nixon did a series of black and white portraits of his wife Bebe and her three sisters taken every year since 1975. The sisters are lined up in the same order, Heather, Mimi, Bebe, and Laurie. The setting he uses is outside in natural light. Love his work. The book I have of this show has climbed up in value and well worth the price.

Tree Time at Hoppers Tree Farm

Every year Dan and I have the joy of hunting for a tree. It takes me back to those COLD winter days in Hazleton, Pennsylvania to a local tree farm. We would bundle up and go find a tree in the cold snowy Pa weather. We are lucky to have Hopper Farms come all the way from Oregon to supply our trees for our Christmas season. There is something about loading the Frontier with a real tree that makes me fondly remember those cold Christmas seasons in Pa. We bought a Abies procera (Noble fir), it is also called red fir and Christmas tree. The Noble is native to the mountains of the extreme NW US.

Time of Day

 Time of day. Look at this festive  Grover Beach Window dressing and check out the different feeling you get looking at this window at various times of the morning.  I did  manage to sneak out on my day off  during Christmas Week to take that first shot of the day.

24 Hour Church of Elvis Museum

 

Located in the Pearl District of Portand is the 24 Hour Church of Elvis Museum. It is fun to view from the street. It has been in operation for some time. Only in Portland, can you go up to a street sculpture, pay 25 cents and  have a good time.

Ode to Paris

Love the light in this photo. Shot with Hassey 1984 Portra 400S film taken mid day. Lots of shadows in the store. Love the contrast. Love when color photography borders on black and white.

A Friend Dreams of Paris

A friend is going to Paris for her Holiday. When I dream of Paris, I dream of coffee shops, cobblestone streets, small book stores, chocolate shops, bakeries, quaint restaurants, and stylish women wearing black turtleneck tops with Hermes scarves draped over their shoulders. One of my favorite Contessa Shows is the one where Ina and Jefferey go to Paris and they eat eggs for dinner. Sounds good to me.

Vintage Etc.

This photo was shot 3/2012 at Vintage Etc., in San Luis Obispo. This little area in the store harbors the marriage decor. The touch of old photos and colors of the display, makes you think of marriage and the good memories that go along with the idea of what it means to be married. Love marriage stuff.

Beach Decor

This interiors shot was taken March 2012 at Vintage Etc. in San Luis Obispo. I love the decor of Vintage Etc. The store owners keep a fresh look to the store and they create these little areas in the store that have themes. If you are a coffee table traveler like I am, visiting this store will take you to the beach and many other places.

For the Love of a Store Window

I love the pleasure of going into the city and shooting the storefront windows. Barneys always has the best displays along with hundreds of other creative dressings done by artists across the globe. If you stand for a moment in front of the window you will notice there is always a  great theme going on in that small area.