New York Fashion Week - Spelunking with Ann Yee, Fall 2012

I've been a lucky girl these last few years, able to attend numerous events connected to New York's Fashion Week; many in the famous tents of Bryant Park and (now) Lincoln Center. As someone who is heavily influenced by this world of art and fashion, the week's glamour overload feeds my needy muse. This season, a longtime desire has come true. For fashion designer Ann Yee's latest collection, my artwork has now become part of the show!

Tam Tam Printed Cocoon Dress

Shirley Printed Reflection Dress

This exciting project started back in the fall with an introduction by good friend, Layla, fashion maven and food blogger of Glass of Rosé. I later met with Ann who described her vision and inspiration for this collection - caves with minimal and natural pattern, abstraction, and muted colors. Ann is known for her chunky knits contrasted with diaphanous layered solid chiffon ensembles. For our print collaboration, she knew exactly what she wanted. After I busily went to work preparing some artwork, the fabric was then manufactured in no time. 

Robyn Printed Dolman Inset Maxi Dress

Gwen Printed Wrap Short

Statement jewelry by Linhardt

A few of the pieces were constructed entirely with the print, and in other places it was used as a detail highlighting willowy necks and delicate wrists. The models had either short cropped hair or a singular braid yielding a big brushy bang to match thickly-defined brows. For fall, the colors were spot on- lilac greys dominated with pops of mustard and cinnamon. Uniform combat boots kept the style grounded in a way that can only belong to Brooklyn or the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. She's bewitching, but watch your step. Fitting the theme, the girls and guests enjoyed sticks of good 'ol fashioned rock candy.

Thank you, Ann. This fashion-lover's dream has finally been realized!
For more of Ann's beautiful creations, go to: www.annyeecollection.com

Happy Valentine's Day

Another small painting from the Chemical Romance series, now available as a print too.
More art like this piece is available here.

Getting Medieval - The Cloisters

So far, February has been about as pleasant and mild as a day in April. The spring flowers are about as confused as we are. On a particularly bright, warm day last week, I made an afternoon trip to the Cloisters Museum far up in Manhattan’s most northwestern corner. It is an extension of Midtown’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, housing the main collection’s spillover of Medieval art. The area boasts breezy views of the Hudson and the cliffs of the Palisades on the New Jersey side.

The Fort Tryon Park heather field.

One room displays a series of seven tapestries chronicling the hunt and capture of a unicorn. The image above, The Unicorn in Captivity, is probably the museum's most famous image. As I looked around the room, the woven pieces appeared to become increasingly violent and somewhat sad. I felt for this poor creature. As I learned by eavesdropping on the three o'clock tour, the horn of the unicorn was highly sought after in Medieval stories because the possession of its horn was thought to remedy any potential poison in one's wine. The fear and suspicion of being poisoned in these times must have been pretty high - this is also the storied origin of the tradition of clinking glasses during a toast. Each person holding a cup of wine was to tip a little of his/her beverage into the other's so that if poison were a possibility by the other party, each would then have the poison and be expected to drink.

It’s been a while since I have revisited my “early”artistic roots for my graduate thesis when I studied the relationship between modern art and Byzantine art with a focus on Matisse and Picasso. I was particularly interested in seeing some stained glass and illuminated manuscripts from Spain that I studied many years ago. Walking around the museum’s enclosed herb gardens and having its corridors practically to myself made for a really spectacular day.

Someday My Prints Will Come

...and now they have! I am now offering prints in my Etsy shop. Up to now, I've only listed original artwork. For years, fellow artists have been telling me that I should get reproductions made of my paintings. As a new goal set for this year, I finally did the research and got it done! The resulting prints are slightly larger than the originals and the quality is amazing showing all details and maintaining that prized velvety quality on the archival paper - available at: www.kipi.etsy.com