TGIF!

Good morning! You’ve made it to Friday–in just a few short hours you’ll be lying on the couch avoiding all those household chores you put off til the weekend. But first, a few TGIF! links to peruse.

Small disclaimer: It really bothers me that people assign colors gender. I’ve never understood why less than a century ago, pink became assigned to girls and blue now belongs to boys. And I am forever indebted to my mother for painting my nursery yellow! That said, Racked had a feature recently called “How Pink Became a Color for Girls,” and it was really interesting!

Proof that girls have always run the world. (cue Beyonce) In 1860, as Abraham Lincoln was running for president, he received a letter from young Grace Bedell asking him to grow a beard. His reply is ever-so sweet, and he actually asked to meet her when he rolled through town on his inaugural train journey to DC. Read the story here.

And while we’re on that subject: I’m just gonna leave this here.

The rainbow was created by this reddit user a year ago, and it’s basically my favorite thing right now.

Design*Sponge’s Grace Bonney recently sat down with Marie Forleo to talk about “Doing The Work You Were Born To Do.” I really enjoyed their discussion. (You can check out more Marie Forleo vids–they’re great!–on her YouTube channel.)

This needs no introduction. Just enjoy! (“We love you, Uncle Jesse!”)

Finally: My day job is working as a designer for HGTV and DIY Network. At the end of last week, we wrapped up a project months in the making: the new DIYNetwork.com! Watch a little intro below and then be sure to check out the new site!

Spring-ify Your Ride

Every year, at about this time, I spring-ify our car. In the winter, most people will make sure the ice-scraper is in the door and maybe add a blanket and some kitty litter if they’re up north. (A trick I learned from That 70s Show–not something we have to teach our young ‘uns in the South.) But in April, I like to be sure we’re prepared for all of our favorite warm weather activities. So here is a little guide to help you Spring-ify your ride.

1. Umbrella. April showers bring May flowers. (This particular cuteness is Cath Kidston.)

2. Guide books. Regardless of where you are, you can find a guide book with short little walks or hikes around your area. We picked the one pictured above up at a thrift store last week. If you aren’t lucky enough to live in a national park, perhaps consider exploring your area. My friend the Madcap Heiress has been exploring her work neighborhood (Midtown East in NYC) this week and sharing what she finds on Instagram.

3. Sunnies. Obvi. (I just got these lovelies from Boden.)

4. Recycled Sari Bags. My mom bought me my first sari bag, and I am now a devotee. They are *ah-mazing!* Made from beautiful recycled saris, these bags are surprisingly strong and fold up into themselves. The small pouch is so easy to throw in your purse. Then, when you see a farm stand on the side of the road, you can stop and fill up your own shopping bag! The best part? The ones I’ve seen are fair trade and made by coops of women in India so you’re also supporting business women around the world!

5. A pretty quilt. You never know when you’ll want to have an impromptu picnic. In the words of the scouts: Always Be Prepared. I’ve tried wool blankets and those fancy roll-up picnic blankets with the waterproof bottom, but I always go back to our trusty old quilts. They’re just so soft and easy to shake off.

6. A little cash. The odds are that cute a-frame ice cream shop that’s on your way to the mountains has neither a credit card machine nor a Square.

7. Shoes you can get dirty. Throw in a pair of old tennies or invest in a nice pair of outdoors-y shoes. This pair of Keens will probably be my next purchase because they’re equally suitable for walking in the woods or through a river.

National Library Week

In today’s edition of Fun Facts with Hannah B: Did you know it is National Library Week? I used to love visiting the library. My elementary school librarian still looms as this magical figure in my head. She introduced me to Curious George and haiku, and I will never forget the day I learned to look things up all by myself in the card catalog.

Trips to the library with my mom were frequent too, which is where I met Harriet. Harriet was my favorite. Finally a girl who also carried a notebook everywhere she went–a habit I developed early and never gave up.

National Library Week | Hannah & Husband

A recent doodle from my sketchbook… Library Week has been in my brain I guess!

If you look at the inside cover of my copy of Harriet the Spy, you’ll find this inscription scrawled by a 8 or 9 year old hand:

There’s this line in Harriet the Spy that I love, and it’s at the very beginning. Sport wants Harriet to play football and she’s too busy setting up her imaginary town. She’s trying to tell Sport what and where everything is, but he doesn’t seem to buy it. So she asks him what he’s going to be when he’s a grown-up.

“You know what. You know I’m going to be a ball player.”

“Well, I’m going to be a writer. And when I say that’s a mountain, that’s a mountain.” Satisfied, she turned back to her town.

I love that. First of all, that she’s so convicted about what she wants to be. Like I mentioned last week, not only is that rare, things often don’t turn out exactly as we plan. But everything Harriet does is geared toward her end goal. She’s a writer so she writes.

Second, the power her statement gives writers! “…when I say that’s a mountain, that’s a mountain.” Writers create magical worlds that we must commit to every time we open a book. I have a personal policy of giving up on books when I’m not digging them. Reading is a pleasure and committing my time to a book means it becomes a part of your own story. So I’m pretty choosy about what worlds I want to buy in to. What is it Kathleen Kelly says? “When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading your whole life does.” True dat, homegirl!

Today, I’m suggesting you take a trip to the library this week to celebrate National Library Week. Libraries are these magical places for commitment phobes like myself that don’t like spending money but really like committing for two week increments to beautiful piles on their side table.

There’s a collection of my current favorites below to get you started. (The list changes with the wind, but this happens to be today’s so enjoy it while it lasts!) Also of note: my new favorite thing: This tote bag by Emily McDowell.

My Life in France by Julia Child / Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell / The Bucolic Plague by Josh Kilmer-Purcell / Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling / Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster (this is another fav of her’s) / The Pursuit of Happiness by Maira Kalman

Is there any book you’ve absolutely loved that should be on my list? Tell me in the comments below.

Weekending

I’m currently missing our weekend view (seen above) from the hammock. This weekend, we got away to the mountains. It was blissful. The trees are in full bloom. The birds’ chorus was both beautiful and incessant. And, hopefully, the river is starting to warm up a bit–we saw a few kayaks out but weren’t game enough to jump in ourselves. Soon.

Our Favorite All-Purpose Seasoning

My mom never cooked with many spices, which I actually think is pretty common among a lot of American cooks. It’s hard to experiment on a weeknight when you’re just trying to get dinner on the table. Plus, a lot of classic “American” dishes (burgers and fries, meatloaf, etc) don’t require many herbs and spices to taste good. This blend is a great, all-purpose seasoning that you can use as a cheat of sorts to add a bit of flavor to just about anything. Plus, if you’re trying to get healthy, it’s a great salt substitute!

My mom used to put a version of this blend on everything from popcorn to cottage cheese. I finally asked for the recipe about a year ago. It was one she’d gotten from Woo-Woo who in turn had gotten it from someone else. And, of course I changed it because we like things with a little more kick and earthiness.

All-Purpose Seasoning:

4 parts onion powder
2 parts paprika
2 parts garlic powder
3 parts cayenne
1 part turmeric

I mix with teaspoons and keep it in a big shaker on our spice rack.

Try it on:

eggs
popcorn
potatoes
roasted vegetables
meat (Make a marinade for steak or beef with a little citrus, a little olive oil, and a pinch of salt.)

What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?

Do you remember when grown-ups were constantly asking, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I remember getting this question for the first time when I was five years old from a Sunday School teacher. I replied “cartoonist” to which the (bitter) lady said, “You should probably think of something more practical.”

Anyway, this question crossed my mind the other day when I was digging through a box in the basement and found these notebooks. When I was in middle school and high school, I spent hours drawing rooms in these notebooks.

I’d make up elaborate back stories about families that had come to me wanting design services. Then, I’d design houses with decor that would fit all their personalities and meet their needs perfectly. I may not have partied in high school, but I could recount every detail from last week’s Trading Spaces (#TeamGenevieve).

A dozen years, 14 college majors, and 1 very uncomfortable conversation with my dad about his honor student going to art school later: I basically do this for a living. And I think I’m an anomaly.

I’ve talked to several people lately who ended up in their field by chance–maybe they didn’t even know the job existed in college.

Some people work in a field that in no way represents their hobbies, and they like it that way. It offers a clear distinction between work and play.

I’ve also found that, in this job market, asking someone what they do for a living can be a touchy question. In fact, I try to avoid it.

So here’s my idea: The next time you’re at a dinner party, ask your new drinking buddy what they wanted to be when they grew up. It’s such a fun question! People love talking about wanting to be a cowboy or a fire fighter or Genevieve Gorder.

Maybe it informs what they do now or maybe it’s the furthest thing from it. Maybe it’s still a totally valid question because they haven’t found that thing that clicks yet. But, I guarantee, it will tell you a lot about the person! So…

What did you want to be when you grew up? Is it what you do now?

Tell us in the comments below.

Springtime is soooo here!

Springtime is the season of rebirth, new projects, and, naturally, a little chaos. Springtime is soooo here! We are in the middle of launching a new project at work, Husband and I are working hard on a new project that we’ll share on the blog this summer, and I’m so tired of being indoors, I could burst. So today, I thought I would share some of the bookmarks that have been building up since I skipped the TGIF! post last week. So… here are some fun things from around the interwebs to distract you from the Wednesday slump. Enjoy!

Friday's AIGA benefit with art from Knoxville area kids, Beth Meadows, and Will Gay | Hannah & Husband

The art across the top is by local children, bottom left: Beth Meadows, bottom right: Will Gay

It is only appropriate that after a week of encouraging you to buy art, we bought some on Friday! Our local chapter of the AIGA held a benefit to support local school art programs and had a silent auction for art that the kids had made as well as other (grown-up) artists. We bought the piece above by Will Gay. I’ve admired his work for awhile. Will is Creative Director at Disney’s Yellow Shoes, and this particular print is from the 2012 Festival of Masters at Downtown Disney.

Dr. Loretta Jackson-Hayes, professor of chemistry at Rhodes College, wrote an article for The Washington Post called We don’t need more STEM majors. We need more STEM majors with liberal arts training. It is fantastic!

In January, Iris Apfel discussed her work with Deborah Needleman. With all the buzz about her new documentary (and Albert Maysles’ last), I thought it was worth posting.

Springtime is the season for southern spreads! I whipped up some hummus and pimento cheese last weekend. We are hooked on these crackers, and I swear by Rebecca Gordon’s Pimento Cheese recipe.

How to Start Your Art Collection Pt. 4

This is it! Today in part 4 of How to Start Your Art Collection, I’m giving you a simple rundown of preserving and displaying your art. So Husband and I thought this would be the best time to give you the story behind the piece that we recently purchased.

As I mentioned yesterday, Husband actually spotted this piece on the Dr. Seuss site, and we immediately fell in love. It combines two of our loves: black & white and boobies. (#freethenipple) Not to mention the fact that we both share an affinity for whimsical art, and who is the master of whimsy if not the doctor himself?

How to Start Your Art Collection Pt. 4 | Hannah & Husband

This is a detail of “Booby Trap” by Dr. Seuss that I shot when we pulled “Booby Trap” out of her shipping container for the first time. It was totally a “hold your breath and don’t sneeze” sort of moment.

The print is a limited-edition serigraph (or screen print) of a pen and ink drawing that Dr. Seuss did in the early 1940s on illustration board. During this time, Dr. Seuss helped create the “Private Snafu” series with Frank Capra’s (It’s a Wonderful Life) U.S. Army Signal Corps and Warner Brothers. The series was intended to school the younger soldiers entering the military late in the war and also boost morale. You’ll recognize the voice actor as Mel Blanc–a favorite voice actor of many, me included, who voiced numerous Looney Tunes characters including Bugs Bunny and was also a regular on the Jack Benny Show. You can watch the remastered short below.

So when you invest in a piece, regardless of what medium it is, you must find the best way to protect it. For this, call in a professional. Find a reputable framer in your town who’s been doing this for a while and knows their materials.

I’ve already mentioned acid-free paper and canvas, but at this stage there are other steps that you can take to be sure that your piece is cared for.

If you’ve invested money in art, I’d suggest going in and asking for the “archival” treatment.

This means a few things. First, the frame’s glass will be archival glass, which is sort of like sunglasses for your piece of art. It literally helps protect your painting from sun damage with a UV filter. Next, make sure that everything touching your art in the frame will be acid free. This includes the mat as well as any tape (they have a special kind that is easily removable) the framer may use to keep the piece in place.

After you’ve talked quality, it will be time to pick the mat and frame. If you don’t know your framer, it may be helpful to bring in a couple pictures of the room where you’re planning on displaying the piece. That way they can get an idea of your style as they walk you through choosing your mat and frame.

There are seemingly infinite choices so if you get overwhelmed: remember that you are talking to a professional, and let them do their job.

Finally, the detail that you may not be expecting is a certificate of authenticity. I thought this was particularly cool because it stated why the limited editions were made as well as the printmaker that did the run. Our framer put this is an envelope on the back of our frame so that we don’t lose it.

Finally, hang that sucker up in a place of prominence! Choose a spot that is out of direct sunlight to further insure that it doesn’t get sun-damage. Here is “Booby Trap” hanging in our living room. We smile every time we see that fateful pair perched on our black walls right next to an antique church sconce. Fits in perfectly, no?

Miss the rest of this series?

Read Part 1: How to Start Your Art Collection

Read Part 2: Finding Your Inner Art Lover

Read Part 3: Acquiring Your Art

How to Start Your Art Collection Pt. 3

Boy & Bee by Emily Winfield Martin, 2013
You can read a little about the boy beekeeper on Emily’s blog.

On Tuesday, we talked about why we collect art. Yesterday, we talked about how to find your own style. Today, in part 3 of How to Start Your Art Collection, we’re going to talk about actually acquiring your piece. (FYI: This is the best part!)

Finding an original piece of art really is like a treasure hunt. You know who you like, you’ve researched where to find them, and then you play the waiting game. Eventually, that piece goes on sale and your brain is completely distracted until it is yours! A painting, sculpture, or limited edition print is something that the artist has often put hours of work into, and it is an honor to hang it on your wall. But before you can, there are a few things you need to know about the process.

First, Know Your Terms:

acid-free paper or canvas: These materials have been treated to neutralize their acidity. This means that your work should be protected from discoloration or deterioration.

limited edition: These are identical prints that are printed in a limited run. Because there are fewer, they’re usually worth more. If you look beside the artist’s signature, you’ll see a handwritten number. For instance:

7/80 mean it was the seventh print pulled from a run of eighty.

There are countless terms I could mention but, instead, I highly recommend this site.

Dandies & Quaintrelles by Elizabeth Graeber | Elizabeth Graeber is someone I first discovered through social media. Given our obsession with seersucker in the South, I snatched up a print as soon as I could. Then, when the original became available, I bought that too!

There are several ways to go about acquiring art to fill your home. Here I’ve mentioned my main three with some details about each.

Buy directly from the artist.

It’s the age of the internet, y’all! Art has gotten more personal than ever, and you can now get to know the artists you support. I read Emily Winfield Martin‘s blog for years before I was able to buy one of her originals. I keep up with most of my favorite artists via Twitter and some artists, like Keyth Ryden, literally sell their art on social media.

Check out Artsy.

Artsy is where the fine art scene is moving. (Check out this article in Fortune.) I have been completely overwhelmed by this site, and I absolutely cannot believe it’s free! Artsy is a website that allows you to “follow” your favorite artists (from Édouard Manet to Lisa Congdon), see any works of theirs that may be for sale, and follow galleries and museums.

But aside from being a new media marketplace, it is also an amazing educational tool. As someone who spent many college credits taking extra art history classes, the “Education” section is where I’ve spent a lot of my time. Artsy actually employs a team of art historians who map connections in art to help people discover art they may not otherwise come into contact with. They call it The Art Genome Project.

Buy from a gallery.

Galleries tend to focus on a primary group of artists. To illustrate, let me tell you about the latest piece of art we invested in.

A few weeks ago, I saw that there was a Dr. Seuss pop-up shop in NYC (via LoveTaza’s instagram of one of my fav Dr. Seuss pieces). This sent me down a rabbit hole until I landed on Dr. Seuss’ art site–a site that specifically focused on his artistic work not a site for kids to download Cat in the Hat coloring pages. So I looked through the collection and sent the link to Husband.

We are both huge fans of black and white work as well as naughty puns. So when he pointed out “Booby Trap,” we couldn’t resist! But, in order to acquire the work, we needed to contact the closest gallery to us that sold Dr. Seuss’ work. This happened to be Ann Jackson Gallery in Roswell, Georgia. So I gave them a call, they confirmed it was available and told me the price. After we ordered the print from them, they contacted the place that stores the prints (most likely a larger gallery) and had it sent to us. In other words, the galleries are dealers that act as the middle man between you and the art!

Dr. Seuss at the framer. | How to Start Your Art Collection Pt. 3 | Hannah & Husband

A shot of the latest treasure we’ve added to our collection: a serigraph by Dr. Seuss. We’ll tell you more about it tomorrow.

How much does art cost?

I cannot possibly emphasize this enough: There is art out there that you can afford. Find it. If you’re interested in collecting, it’s a good idea to start building up an art fund.

If you’re really looking at art as investment, after doing quite a bit of online research, I’d suggest starting with $1,000 to $5,000. Find a dealer you trust who can help you find something that will be a true investment, or use a service like Artsy to help you find that trusted source. When you start dealing with more expensive works, I’ve found that the Blouin Art Sales Index could prove helpful at lending a little context to some of the numbers.

In most cases, I don’t suggest negotiating. This is where having trusted dealer can help because they know how to help you make informed decisions about where to spend your money. Also, don’t forget to factor into the price how much it will take to properly preserve your art, which we’ll talk about tomorrow.

Click here to read part 4 in the series “How to Start Your Art Collection: Framing Your Art”

How to Start Your Art Collection Pt. 2

Today’s post is part two of our How to Start Your Art Collection series. To read about why we started our own collection (and why you should too!) click here. The thing about art is that, like music or even reading the classics, it can be overwhelming to find what you dig. The options are endless, which I think can intimidate people before they even begin. So here are some practical tips for finding pieces that are just your style.

Visit a Gallery. Visit an art fair.

For a smaller space, like a gallery, it might be easy to just visit, wander, and see what you’re drawn to. Likewise, the way art fairs are organized usually makes doing too much background research a chore. So put on some sunscreen, grab a coffee,and wander!

I completely fan-girled when I ran across Lisa Price‘s tent at the Country Living Fair in Columbus one year. It was so cool to meet the lady who’s imagination had dreamed up the block print textiles I loved.

How to Start Your Art Collection Pt. 2 | Hannah & Husband

Mondrian room at the MoMA, another of Husband’s favorites

Visit a Museum.

Visiting a museum like the MoMA, any of the Smithsonians or even the Guggenheim is overwhelming without a game plan. I’d suggest doing a little research before you get there. Go to the website and see what exhibits they’re promoting. Usually, the exhibits they’re promoting on their homepage will only be on view for a short time, and they’re always heavily curated. This means they were put together with a specific theme in mind (time, place, artist), and it will be easy to find history and reading material to inform what you’re looking at. If any of the promoted exhibits catch your eye, go there first.

That’s how Husband became a fan of the work of Jasper Johns after visiting the Art Institute of Chicago when he was in town for a conference. He hadn’t been to many museums but they had a special exhibit of Jasper Johns’ work. He said he was initially drawn to the collage-like elements (because I use that in a lot of my own work), but what really got him was how expressive monochromatic works could be.

Think of the Context.

Many artists had relationships with musicians. Think about the music you listen to. Did you know The Velvet Underground was Andy Warhol’s house band? Husband got interested in Wassily Kandinsky after learning that he was a friend of the composer Arnol Schoenberg. They were both expressionists; they were just working in different mediums.

Think about the books you read. Are you drawn to a certain time period or style of writing? Google it. There may be a corresponding artistic style or period.

some of Monet’s Water Lilies at the MoMA

On the other hand, sometimes the books you read introduce you to artists you’ll love. Last week, I mentioned the book Linnea in Monet‘s Garden. I credit the gifting of that book as the reason I ended up in an art class in college. In a way, wanting to learn more about Impressionism led me down my life path. In the same way, The Incredible Book Eating Boy is how I learned about the work of Oliver Jeffers. Book worms make great art collectors! (Just wait until you see our latest piece!)

Bemeleman’s Bar at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City is covered in illustrations that Ludwig Bemelmans did himself when his family lived there early in the 20th century.

Think about your favorite place. We really love vacationing in Charleston, South Carolina and, as it turns out, there’s some great art that comes from there! Southern artists are often different from those you’ll find in New York. On a recent trip to the Met, I fell for the art of Florine Strettheimer who captured a lot of the issues of her day with her imaginative paintings of the city.

a detail from Florine Strettheimer’s Cathedral of Wall Street

What style of art are you drawn to?

How did you find your favorite artist?

Click here to read part 3 in the series “How to Start Your Art Collection: Acquiring Your Art”

Hannah and Husband

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