SKIRT MAGAZINE

*Cover image from Atlanta July 2009 issue by Hadley Hutton

Many of you probably know of Skirt magazine. Skirt is a magazine ‘all about women, their work, play, families, creativity, style, health and wealth, bodies and souls...’. Skirt prints in several cities, but if you don't have it in your area, you can also enjoy national Skirt.com. I get almost giddy when I see a new issue of Skirt. I carefully fold the crisp newspaper like ‘magazine’, put it in my purse and wait for the perfect time to sit down with a glass of wine and plunk down on the sofa to indulge in this truly delightful publication. Each issue has great features such as ‘Skirt Loves’, ‘Skirt Mama’, ‘Skirt Events’ and my favorite, the ‘Essays’. The Essays are always my favorite part of Skirt as they are always thought-provoking, amusing, sometimes motivational and on occasion will cause you to shed a tear or two. One of the most moving articles I read that I won’t forget is “We were the Hubers and We Lived Here” by Christy Huber Rippel (featured in the Atlanta May 2009 issue) about a woman re-visiting her childhood home, the memories it holds and the heartbreaking reality of lifes unexpected turns. This is an amazing article you should really check out.

Skirt also features great items every month (many that are local independent designers), like this Filigree Thymes Perfumed Soap, $18...

This beautiful scarf by Echo Designs

These fabulous new perfumes by Benefit...

and these beautiful candles from Natural Selection Bath & Body...

There are really so many excellent features about Skirt, you just have to check it out for yourself. If your cities is one of the many to have the local printed issues, you have to pick it up...it is such a treat!

AQUAMARINE CUFF BRACELET

So I haven't been great about listing new items lately...but I have been working on somenew pieces that I am really excited about! Here is an Aquamarine cuff bracelet I just finished. The trillion shaped Aquamarine cabochon is beautiful and I loved the way the matte finish emphasized the stone rather than the substantial size Silver cuff. If you notice the pictures are a bit different, it is because I am experimenting with different backgrounds. Photographs are so important and I feel there is always room for improvement!

RICHARD MISRACH

I was introduced to Richard Misrach’s work when I was at the High Museum to see the Monet exhibit. Misrach is known for his photographs of human intervention in landscapes. In 2001, he made a series of large-scale, lushly colored photographs of swimmers and sunbathers in Hawaii. Working from a hotel adjacent to the beach, Misrach adopts a floating viewpoint that eliminates all reference to the horizon or sky to record people wholly immersed in the idyllic environment. The photographs, which are vast in scale and perspective, turn nature into ethereal, nearly abstract patterns of color and light.

Here are a few photos from his On The Beach series...keep in mind that these pictures are HUGE! Some pictures are as large as 6 feet by 10 feet! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

You can read more about Richard Misrach and see more of his work at http://www.artnet.com/awc/richard-misrach.html

IT'S BEAUTIFUL

Someone asked me once why I would buy other people's jewelry when I can 'just make it' myself!? I love buying other artists jewelry! Each artist has their own style, their own touch on every design and I love that about handmade jewelry. As a matter of fact, all of my favorite jewelry is from other jewelry designers. I was so delighted to see that my recent purchase arrived in the mail today. I put it on as soon as I opened the package! This lovely necklace is from a fellow Etsy seller It's Beautiful. I love this necklace and I think I will be wearing it a lot this summer!

My other favorites from this shop that I hope to have soon are:

Be sure to check out

It's Beautiful at:

www.itsbeautiful.etsy.com

This shop is so cute, it is definitely worth taking a look!

MONET WATER LILIES EXHIBIT

HIGH MUSEUM OF ART

Friday was a great day. I took a half day at work and met up with friends that I used to work with. We had a delicious lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Baraonda Cafe Italiano.

Over delicious food and good wine we had a chance to catch up and then we were off to the High Museum to see the new Monet Exhibit.

My friend Sophie LOVES Monet and we went together last year together to see the exhibit, but this one was special. This was the Water Lilies exhibit. Monet Water Lilies presents an intimate view of four of Monet's most spectacular works from The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The highlight of the exhibition is a breathtaking 42-foot painting that inspires a sense of serenity, meditation, and the infinite. Painted at the end of his life, this series became Monet's "obsession," as he wrote in 1908.


As I stood there looking at the painting, I was in complete awe...not only because of the beauty of the painting, but also because of the sheer size of it! It was so beautiful. Another painting featured in the exhibit was Monet's Japanese Foot Bridge painting.

This exhibit was truly stunning and if you have the chance to see it, you must go! The exhibit in Atlanta ends August 23. For more details, please visit www.high.org.