the painting, my side of the story

Like my husband says in this blog post, we have been hungry for original art in our home since we moved here in 2007. I was turning 30 at the end of 2009 and had been thinking of throwing a NYE party to celebrate. I was pretty set on that idea for months. However, 2 months before my birthday I had a sudden thought - instead of throwing a party, why don't we just invest in original art - it will be something that we'll have forever and something that we will cherish together. Brilliant!

So I began the search. I have bookmarked dozens of artist's websites that I've admired over the years. I looked through their work, went to many galleries, open studios and even trolled Etsy for a while. Nothing struck my fancy. Then one day, Lisa Congdon tweeted that she has a big birch forest painting for sale. I fell in love with Lisa's birch paintings the day she first blogged about it a few years ago, I even bought a print. I mulled over it for a few days and decided to send Lisa an email to ask if we can look at it in person. She obliged and said that she'll gladly come over to our house to show it to us. I was a little scared and star struck - Lisa at our house?



She came over that weekend with the painting. Of course we fell in love with it. What else was I expecting? We started talking about which wall the painting would go on and Phurba casually mentioned that in his dreams, we would like to put a painting up on our main living room wall. Yes, the huge wall behind the couch. One thing led to another and next thing we knew we had taken out the tape measure and started measuring. OMG this is really happening! Lisa said she's never painted anything this big but she's just waiting for someone to ask her to do so! Phurba and I didn't even have to talk it over. We looked each other in the eye and gave a nod. Yes! Yes! We'll do it!



So it's now happily up on our big wall. We stared at it a whole lot the first few days. We still stare at it today. It is absolutely wonderful. Momo is in it. We love it. Thank you, Lisa!

Momo detail

a first

Hi there, this is Phurba; guest blogger and the love-struck husband of Giselle. Anyone that knows me knows me to be very mellow and hard to excite or impress. However, today is one of those rare occasions.

For a while now, we've been looking for the perfect art piece to complement our creative taste and fill the missing decorative gap in our living room. We've been visiting a lot of open studios and galleries during our free time but haven't been too inspired. When Giselle finally showed me an image of Birch Forest Number 5 by one of her favorite local artists, Lisa Congdon, I initially didn't share the excitement she showed for it. It wasn't until today when Lisa came to our home and I got to see the piece up close and personal. I was so taken with the piece as it reflects my pining for natural things (in this case trees and the woods). The intricacy and creativeness pops off the canvas making the piece come to life. I can see why Giselle was so excited. Lisa's awesome.



So taken were we that we commissioned her to do a larger piece for us. One that we wanted to personalize by making Momo, our precious little blind chihuahua mix, a part of the piece. We're so excited to see how it will come out and I'm sure that Giselle will put up pictures of it.

Oh by the way, this is my first blog entry ever. If I get this excited again, I may be inspired to write a second one. Maybe when Apple finally switches to Verizon.

favorite tweets 11/08/09

• RT @indiefixx: watching handmade nation. did u know u could buy a copy from @buyolympia? http://tinyurl.com/yjr3hzv U MUST own this!

I'm ashamed to admit this but I haven't seen Handmade Nation yet! I'm adding this DVD to my holiday wish list.

• RT @pigeon_toe: http://twitpic.com/ojx8j cereal bowl with spoon rest. I'm gigglng with delight.

I've never met a Pigeon Toe ceramic I didn't like.

• RT @soulcocina: Outside In - Street Food Music Art Flamenco Gorditas Adobo Creme Brulee Fries Gumbo Jerk Summer Jams in the Wintertime http://bit.ly/2jGRfg
• RT @ohjoystudio: super fun blog by @psimadethis http://psimadethis.com/

Photo courtesy of P.S. - I made this ...

• RT @SeattleVelocity: Finally a functional family gathering, as chairs at least. In the store today. Come in to see them. http://tinyurl.com/ylfzcfz

My husband can tell you that I have a chair addiction. I would paint these and use them as dining chairs.

• RT @ashleygoldberg: soooooooo good http://bit.ly/2CPQ7C via far out brussel sprout

favorite tweets 10/11/09

• RT @abbytryagain: I'm really liking this blog lately http://www.travelerslunchbox.com/. It's just so darn cute.


• RT @HMSBeekeeper: Wow. Awesome beehive in Reno that hangs off an overhang of a courthouse roof! http://bit.ly/XRwh0

• RT @neawear: Woodland in your Hair http://bit.ly/ApTHq

• RT @jenhewett: Just listed in @etsy - galoshes and skirt notebook! http://bit.ly/r3lT8

• RT @FilipinoFood: Vegetarian CHICKEN adobo! http://bit.ly/vegadobo

It's great that Filpino food is finally getting well deserved recognition and attention in the Bay Area! A vegan Filipino restaurant is going to open in Oakland. It's weird to say vegan and Filipino food in one sentence.

favorite tweets 10/04/09

• RT @inhabitat: Mikal Hameed Uses Trash to Make Music, Inspire Community http://bit.ly/Ob1uN

• RT @_finderskeepers: Publisher textiles featured on indie.com.au http://bit.ly/aydfU

• RT @poketo: Did you know Chris Bettig was one of the guys who built the Where The Wild Things Are dome and Pop Up Shop? http://flic.kr/p/74k59U

I'm loving twigs and branch-like things at the moment. This dome is pretty and looks like it took a while to build. I am also looking forward to seeing Where the Wild Things Are.

• RT @sparkershop: Store leftovers with pizazz! Vintage tupperware in citrus hues: http://bit.ly/gUrDb

My parents packed my lunch in this tupperware when I was a kid. It definitely brings back memories.

• RT @annwoodhandmade chillingworth: http://bit.ly/yIkA5

I love Ann Wood's stuffed animals. Chillingworth is so perfect for Halloween. Wait till you see what he's made of.

favorite tweets of the week

I don't have much time for anything else these days besides work and quality time at home. I really don't want to neglect my blog so I'm going to try this easy-piecey new blog post and I will do my best to post this regularly once a week. It'll be a round up of my favorite tweets for the week.

• RT @inhabitat Urban Infill Strikes Gold in San Francisco http://bit.ly/PSOXZ

• RT @7x7Magazine Snag Jorge Colombo's sweet SF iPhone sketches http://bit.ly/1YQGXz.

I can barely draw with a pencil, Jorge Colombo draws amazing art using the iSketch app on his iPhone. Amazing.

iSketch837 by Jorge Colombo

• RT @skinnylaminx Have you seen the @hisforhome Ercol flickr group? It's Ercol-icious: http://bit.ly/18Tt1R

• RT @lisacongdon Favorite new product at @raredevice http://bit.ly/V0koF

• RT @RenegadeCraft http://twitpic.com/ihue2 - Loving how awesome these new neon "It's Okay" sculptures from Multipolar Projects look all laid out together!

• RT @sfgirlbybay http://twitpic.com/jaga2 - okay, one sneak peek, only 'cause we don't want @zoestagg getting carpal tunnel from refreshing the blog until Monday.

Victoria has rearranged her furniture again! I know I am not alone when I say that I am very excited to see what Victoria concocted over the weekend. She promises to post more pictures on her blog this week. Love the living room so far.

Photo credit: sfgirlbybay

a visit to flora grubb

A couple of my girlfriends and I paid a visit to Flora Grubb nursery a few weeks ago to attend a succulent workshop. I was looking forward to this visit because I've heard so much about how wonderful this nursery is. The other big plus is that they have a Ritual Coffee bar within. It's hard to beat a beautiful scene + good latte + a sunshiny beautiful Saturday morning, camera in tow.

No shopping carts here, just Radio Flyer's litlle red wagon.

I love the various creative displays they had, starting with this gorgeous wall of succulents.




This old car has been used as a planter.



As well as this sink.




They even sell gardening supplies, books and garden furniture. I can literally spend an entire day here just lounging, admiring the plants, the display and sipping my coffee while getting inspiration.

Renegade: Interview with Jen Hewett

Name: Jen Hewett
Website: jenhewett.etsy.com

Describe your art: Print maker and crafter. It’s slightly girly without being poufy.

What is your favorite item that you’re selling at Renegade SF: That’s hard! It’s either the Michelle Obama paper dolls or the silk screen bags with the shoes on them.

Name artists that are also here today that you admire: Diana Fayt, love her stuff and also Mati Rose.

Where do you find inspiration: Pretty much everywhere. I’m out and about a lot and things catch my eye, colors catch my eye.

I was happy to see Jen's booth at Renegade. She is actually a friend of a friend, however I was not expecting to see her there. I instantly loved her stuff at first glance. Based on the note on her Etsy shop, it sounds like I wasn't the only one! She sold out of a lot of her prints during the fair. Congratulations Jen!

Something's Pink

This past Friday, I went to the opening of Mati and Lisa's show at the Curiosity Shoppe. The show is entitled Little Pink Houses. The first thing I noticed while walking towards the store is how many people were hanging out right outside. As we squeezed our way into the store to see the installation, I ran into Mati in her lovely pink dress. By my feet was the ever cute Wilfredo wearing a pink necktie just for the occasion!

Wilfredo and Lisa

I expected lively paintings and cute pink houses. These 2 artists did not disappoint. The show is an explosion of color, whimsy and nature. If you are in San Francisco, you really must see it in person, the show will be up until July 31.


Alternatively, the art work is also available online.

Craft Day

My friend Ruk and I spent last Saturday afternoon working on various projects that we have been putting off. It was a nice sunny weekend so we were almost tempted to just lay out in the sun and drink some wine. In the end, we got off our butts and crafted. I added doily applique to a lampshade and also managed to make a yoga mat bag. Ruk worked on her cross stitch project.

We used a glue gun to attach the doilies to the lampshade.

I managed to sneak in a yoga mat bag

Ruk's cross stitch in progress

Our trip down undah: Street Art

There's a multitude of street art in Melbourne and Sydney. I took a bunch of pictures of these colorful murals and thought that I'd share them here with you.

University of Sydney

A-Space on Cleveland Art Gallery

Our trip down undah: Sydney Markets and beaches

We spent a full week in Sydney. I really wanted to be there during the weekend so that we can experience the markets that Sydney is known for. We managed to visit 2 of them, the Glebe Markets and the sightly more posh Paddington Market.

I loved the Glebe Markets where there were a lot of independent designers and crafters. One thing that I noticed was that booth owners did not want anyone to take pictures of their wares. This was obviously a letdown for me. One person even asked us to delete any pictures we just took. Even though I was able to sneak a few pictures here and there, I don't think it's right for me to post them here so images for this post will be few and a bit generic.

I want to say though that I bought a very pretty necklace from lime lily. If you go to their site, you'll find a few images of their line.



One more thing that Sydney's not short of are beaches. I was amazed at how clean the beaches are. The water is almost always crystal clear and the sand so fine and white. We visited Bondi, Manly and Watsons Bay. It was so nice to just hang out at the beach for a few hours to relax. That's something that we rarely do here in Northern California.

Click on the image for a bigger view:

From Watsons Bay with a view of Sydney

A surfer at Manly Beach

A rock pool on the way to Manly from The Spit

Swimmers at Bondi