Too Cool

Wishing that I could ever look so effortlessly cool. Here is some inspiration from The Satorialist. 

Grant Wood

I love Iowa. So, I love Grant Wood. Grant Wood, along with Thomas Hart Benton and John Stewart Curry, showed the world the beauty of the Midwest. So often when people think of natural beauty its all about enormous snow capped mountains or the span of the Pacific Ocean, but the Midwest has its own enchanting beauty. Grant perfectly captures the overlooked beauty of Iowa's rolling hills with rows of corn, sunsets among groves of trees, and the brilliance of the changing seasons. 

From top to bottom: Fall Plowing, Young Corn, Near Sundown, January

Gabo and Pevsner

Every Friday I sit in this cramped room for three straight hours and listen to my art history professor (who is awesome, by the way) talk about all kinds of artists, from all over the world, from all different times periods. Usually I've heard of them, seen some of their work in person or in a book at least. Some things I think are okay, some I really hate, and others I flip out over. Today he introduced me to Antoine Pevsner and Naum Gabo, brothers from Russia who created these amazing sculptures. I am totally fascinated by these works and I would love to see one up close.

From top to bottom: images 1 & 2,  Constructed Head No. 2 by Gabo

image 3, Torso by Pevsner

image 4, Head by Pevsner

The materials they used amaze me, celluloid, bronze, plexiglass, these flat pieces that create these amazing, complex 3-dimensional pieces, the geometry, the simplicity that makes something so complex. I can't wait to find out more about these artists!

Mucha.

Alphonse Mucha was born in what is now the Chez Republic. He's like, the grandfather of Art Nouveau , the gorgeous style of art popular in the late 1800's. It is ornate, sensual, and inspiring. His posters of actress Sarah Bernhardt inspired this movement that led to applications in architecture, furniture making, and jewelry, as well as painting and printmaking. The women in his paintings always have this flowing hair that sculpts itself into these great designs, they are decorated with halo-like head pieces, and always look dreamy. I want to look like a girl in a Mucha painting. Surrounded by flowers, a long flowy dress, a gorgeous head piece. Art Nouveau may be my favorite artistic style and Mucha is most definitely among my favorite artists. His style has been copied by artists world-wide, and even inspired the psychedelic posters of the 1960s. If you are unfamiliar with his work, check out The Mucha Foundation .

Natural Makeup

With all the orange foundation, black eyeliner, and gloppy mascara out there, natural looking make up is something I celebrate. Women look so much better when they wash their faces clean and apply just a little mascara, some moisturizer, and lipgloss. In the summer months who really wants all that makeup on anyway? I find I sweat most of mine off during the day no matter what brand I wear. This month in Real Simple , they have a great tutorial on how to apply barely there makeup. Lets all take a tip from Kate Winslet, who was voted Ultimate Natural Beauty , beating out Audrey Hepburn who held that title for decades. Less Is More.