Week of the Arts Special Edition : The Art of Instruction

I promised Grace I'd cover for her while she was busy with Week of the Arts this week. It's the least I could do with her off encouraging young minds to artistic greatness. So I thought I should continue our theme of art and education this week by sharing some beautiful images from a book I gave myself this past Christmas. The Art of Instruction: Vintage Educational Charts from the 19th and 20th Centuries is just that—a gorgeous picture book filled with over 100 full-color reproductions of botany and biology posters collected by Katrien Van der Schueren, owner of voila! Gallery in Los Angeles. I've always wanted one of these pull-down methods in my home, but the real thing can be pretty expensive and hard to come by. This book has effectively put a bunch of pretties in my possession and has since inspired me to make one of my own, which I promise to share as soon as it's done. In the meantime, here are some of my favorites straight from the source: 

- Cathleen

Week of the Arts Special Edition : Wise Words from Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol, one of Grace's favorite artists, said some pretty smart stuff about art in his day. But this is one of the best quotes I've read. From anyone. Ever. 

- Cathleen 

Decorative Traces

My first glossary entry for Decorative Traces is up! I wrote about Thomas Jefferson's private home Monticello. Check it out here! 

* Image courtesy of Wikipedia

- Grace

Week of the Arts Special Edition : Artist of the Week: Grace McNicholas!

This week my bestie Grace McNicholas is hard at work producing the annual Week of the Arts festival at Blessed Sacrament School where she also teaches art to children from 5 to 14 years old. This three day extravaganza of creative activities for kids is something she tirelessly organizes for months leading up to the event, inviting artisans from all manner of media—glass blowers, stone carvers, paper cutters—into her school inspiring young minds to think beyond the typical still-life drawing and watercolor painting lessons on tap in most middle school art classes. 


Most of our readers might not realize that Grace is also an amazing mixed media artist. The above assemblage is something she made a couple years ago. I remember the first time I saw it in her apartment on one of my visits down south and immediately making her an offer on it that she REFUSED. I understood her not wanting to part with the piece—it is totally awesome and Rauschenberg-y—so I settled on her sending me a picture that was actually my desktop background for awhile. I don't know if I ever told her that. 


Anyway, I am obviously super proud of Grace and all that she does, but mostly that she picked me to be her best friend all those years ago. Good luck this week, bestie! 


xo, Cathleen 

DIY: Bug Mugs

Continuing the theme of painting and tea this week, I bring you a short tutorial on painted bug mugs! I received a lovely pair of black and white flowered mugs for Christmas and thought it might be fun to jazz them up a bit. Naturally I thought, "Put a bug on it!"And so I did. The feisty praying mantis and the destructive Japanese beetle were my inspiration, but you could paint just about anything on just about any ceramic object you've got lying around the house that will fit inside an oven. 


What you'll need: 

• A ceramic mug!  (Or plate! Or bowl! Or cat figurine!)

• Porcelaine 150 Paint by Pebeo!  (I used Peacock Blue & Tourmaline Red!) 
• A paintbrush! (I used a round #2 watercolor brush!) 
• A cup of water!  (For cleaning your brushes between paint applications!)
• A wet paper towel!  (For wiping up any mistakes!)
• An oven!  (For baking your newly painted mug when all is set and done!)

Once you've painted your bug, or bird, or funky geometric shape upon your mug, clean your brushes well with soap and water, and allow the mug to dry for 24 hours before popping it into a 300 degree oven for 35 minutes. After it's out of the oven and cool to the touch, your mug will be ready to hold the hot beverage of your choice! And best of all! It's dishwasher safe! 

I really liked how this little guy turned out. 

Oh! I also added some colorful dots to the inside of the flowers 

by dipping the butt-end of my paintbrush in the paint and dabbing it wherever I fancied. 

Other helpful tips: 
• You can purchase Porcelaine 150 Paint by Pebeo at any craft or art supply store (they also make some great paints for glassware). 
• Before you bake and set your design, the paint can be wiped right off the surface of the ceramic leaving no trace behind. If you make a mistake, no one has to know! 


So fun the ceramics in my house better watch their backs or they might get painted on. Boom!


- Cathleen 

Voynich Manuscript

Alchemy gets a bad rap today, but when it first came about it wasn't much different from modern day chemistry.

The goal of alchemy was to achieve the perfect and to do this the alchemist searched for ways to better the mind, body, and spirit.

Alchemists often wrote in code to elude prying eyes.

The Voynich Manuscript located at Yale University Library was (and this is straight from the website here) written in Central Europe at the end of the 15th century or during the 16th ce. The manuscript is written in code and still has not been deciphered.

The Voynich Manuscript is described as a magical or scientific text, nearly every page containing botanical, figurative, and scientific drawings. Rendered in ink with vibrant washes in various shades of green, brown, yellow, blue, and red.

The subject matter of the book falls into six categories:

1. Botanicals containing drawings of 113 unidentified okant species.

2. Astronomical and Astrological drawings including astral charts and Zodiac symbols.

3. Biological section containing a myriad of drawings of miniature female nudes, most with swelled abdomens.

4. Nine cosmological medallions.

5. Pharmaceutical Drawings of over 100 different species of medicinal herbs.

6. Continuous pages of text, possibly recipes, with star-like flowers marking each entry in the margins.

Enjoy the following images from the manuscript. All images courtesy of Yale University Library.

- Grace

Tea for Me!

Tea Rex, $14, Fred Flare

We're on a new beverage regimen in the McKeon-Cueto household: TEA. We've given up coffee cold turkey (Well, Micky has, valiantly. I still sneak a small cup here and there. Shhh) and replaced our regular morning jolt with the gentle nudge of hot tea. I'm drinking two, sometimes three cups of tea a day now. And it's great! Really! I appreciate all of the health benefits that tea has brought into my life, and a hot mug on a chilly afternoon around 2 or 3 can be just the thing you need to pick you up when you start dragging. But I'm starting to feel a little tea fatigue, I think. I have exhausted the regular old Earl Greys and Peppermint Greens available at our local grocer, and I'm thinking I might want to try mixing my own blend soon. I know, exciting stuff! With that in mind, I started investigating tea infusers that might make this whole endeavor even more fun. I know what you're thinking, what is more fun than concocting your own signature blend of tea?! Why, steeping that custom blend in a super cool steeper, OF COURSE! Here are some that I've found that have made deciding quite difficult: 

Tea Sub, $18, Fred Flare

Robot Tea Infuser, $12, Kikkerland

Tea to My Heart Infuser, Now $9.99(!), Fred Flare

Chrome Tea House Infuser with Caddy, $5, The Tea Corner

That last little gem is just like one my mom had when I was growing up, only once the automatic Mrs. Tea moved in, it was relegated to decorate the dusty windowsill over the kitchen sink. But now I feel a change is a-coming! Electric tea machines and soggy tea bags should tremble and beware: I think it is high (tea) time the infuser reclaimed it's rightful place in mugs and cups everywhere! 


- Cathleen