Yesterday I snapped a few shots of my friend Claudy of C&C Closet Concierge hailing a cab… That suede raspberry PS1 is heavenly. Also love the scarf, which apparently she bought on the street… Note the fingerless gloves, a must have for iPhone users. Check out her daily style picks HERE. 

Life in NYC… Hailing a cab in a light drizzle, while the world whirs by…. A part of me wishes that cab wasn’t in the picture so it could have just been her with the buses and cars blurring past… OH well… Im still learning… bear with me!

The matte black finish and simple shape are heaven to me. I love the idea of one simple piece on a dining table… Kelly Wearstler did it in her Malibu beach house and I’ve always loved it… much better than her dining table with 100 sculptures and vases on it. Although thats a fun thing to do for a photoshoot.

I originally thought I would put my black Shona sculpture on the dining table, but its so heavy and the tabletop is so delicate that it wasn’t practical. This works much better…

The bowl is by Pampaloni. Ideally this is how I would style the whole apartment. Simply.

I know I post about this often, but this whole sconce as art, sculpture and lighting device is just so happening for me right now. This one thing: a long armed wall light- could solve so many design problems! Like: No overhead lighting in a NYC apartment (we all know what that means: concrete ceilings and 800 lamps), large awkward wall behind sofa that one can’t afford/doesnt want to fill with art, rooms that are too blah and need a JOLT of life… Well, just those few for now. But those are important! Plus a lot of these are plug ins, so you don’t have to have them hard wired. I love the idea of these pieces in addition to a single painting, alone on a wall, or even in a gallery… So basically, I always like it. Ha.

I did a little round up of my favorite pieces from around the web… not all of them are gigantic, but they are all the little !! or ?? or the ;;;;;; that a room needs.

High End:1. Prouvé Potence Lamp $1720

2.Serge Mouille Two Arm Sconce – on sale for $4420

3. AJ wall Sconce $796

4. 265 Wall Lamp $1032

5.Tube Sconce $625.

And mid/high to low end:

PB Teen, $199, aint no shame in it! Atelier de Troupe, Large: $595, Small $395 WEST ELM, Long Arm Sconce- on sale for $99

I can think of at least 3 people that need big lamps hanging out of their walls right now. And unfortunately, none of them are me.

Is there anything better than good looking Euros in well made clothing? I mean, I’ll take a hunk of Grade A American man any day of the week, but over in Europe they are still using pocket squares with abandon and without a trace of irony. They’ve got the art of the scruff down pat, the flip of the collar and lets not even get into the layering and print mixing.

Its good stuff…

I just saw this apartment in Brazil designed by Studio Guilherme Torres on the Contemporist.  All the main pieces of furniture such as tables, sideboards and sofa were designed by the architect. I find the palette  and almost all those pieces to be magically beautiful. Pastels are so huge for spring, and the first image is just tantalizing, isn’t it? When you use these pastels, jewel tones and even neons, a sweet dash of primary color makes the whole combo sing. That wall sculpture makes it, doesn’t it?

The only things Im not loving are the pillows and the fabric covered ottoman.

The super gigantic long chesterfield? The asymmetrical robin’s egg table? The simple primary hued wall art? The little mushroom tables? The lone black chair? Yes.

You ottoman, not so much.

While I don’t live in a home this spare, and I doubt I ever could, I just love the idea of every single piece of furniture being a work of sculpture.

Thoughts?

The original spot painting By Damien Hirst, 1986

I wasn’t going to write about the showing/publicity stunt of Damien Hirst & The Gagosian Gallery’s THE COMPLETE SPOT PAINTINGS 1986-2011.

I really wasn’t. Every major news source has had an opinion on it thus far, Huff Post even wrote a recap of all the different reviewers opinions, which you can check out HERE.

My favorite quote was from the NYTimes reviewer who said “The good news, of course, is that they’re not all in one place. And none involve dead animals, maggots, encrusted diamonds or vats of formaldehyde. They’re mostly just grids of repeating, neatly made circles, each a different color. How bad can it be?” Answer: The show is at times “rather good” at times, and at others “oppressive”, “ludicrous” monotonous and “very bad.” Some canvases pulse and sing while others fall flat.

Basically, Damien Hirst and his assistants have produced over 1500 of these paintings between 1986 and 2011, and are showing 331 of them simultaneously in Gagosian galleries worldwide, prompting one attendee to say “The sun doesn’t set on the spot paintings.” (Hirst is also rewarding anyone who visits all 11 galleries with a signed print. HA!)

The spot paitnings are a series of enamel high gloss circles painted onto canvases. The diameter of the spot is equal to the space between them, and no color can repeat on a canvas, although they come quite close.  Apparently, Hirst has only painted 5 of the 1500 of these paintings himself, although he claims that true art is in the conception and that he has been involved in every aspect of their making. He even went so far to say  ”The best spot painting you can have by me, is one by my assistant Rachel. Mine are shite compared to hers.” (The highest price ever paid for one was $3.48 million.)

Why am I writing about it then? Because I LOVE seeing the original spot painting and where Hirst took it conceptually from there. Personally, I enjoy the original the most: the messy, drippy, blobby conceptual fetus of a canvas. Its interesting to me to see how far he took it. It really is. The problem is, that the entire formula and the idea of this formulaic making of art has gotten a bit boring after 1500 different incarnations, obviously.What could motivate this man to keep making these things other than money?

Furthermore, the original painting reminds me a lot of my mini paintings: a somewhat under baked idea that is a visually appealing expression of color… It makes me want to develop it further, but not to the point of 1500 paintings.

As Andy Warhol has famously said ” Art is what you can get away with.” Right?

You can visit the spot paintings in a Gagosian Gallery near you until late February. Click HERE for details.

Aight, so this is one of my best creations ever. As you know, I got a new Fuji x100 for Chanukah. Amazing little vintage looking babe of a camera. I also bought the brown leather case it came with… which is also gorgeous, but I was eh on the strap. My husband actually gave me the idea to make one. Obviously, I hit M&J, and the strap was as good as done. Once you have all the supplies, this couldn’t be easier to make! When I saw the green and red stripe, I obviously thought: VINTAGE GUCCI! Yum, yum, yum…

You need:

1.5 yards of striped webbing… thats what the thick canvas strap part is called.

2 swivel closures -if the bottom of the clasps aren’t wide enough for your webbing, you also need

2 D-rings, I found amazing leather covered ones

2 buckles

Glue, sewing machine, or iron on hem.

(A lot of these items are available in store only or by emailing info@mjtrim.com)

Instructions:

First you thread the buckle onto the webbing, then you thread that through the D-Ring to which you have attached the clasp. After that you thread the webbing back through the buckle, underneath the first piece. Sounds complicated, but I promise when you are in the moment its obvious. Then you glue/sew or use iron on stitches to secure the end piece of the webbing back over the edge of the buckle onto itself. NOT onto the long part that goes around your neck because then you won’t be able to adjust it. And thats it. The whole thing takes 5 minutes.

The reason why you can use glue here, is because the webbing and buckle are so secure that even if the glue did open, the camera wouldn’t fall. We are just using the glue to hold the end down… You could also take it to the shoemaker and have them sew it for you.

(Thanks to Courtney of Breaking Down the Big Beige Box, for modeling for me! PS, she is so beautiful, look for more photos of her showing off my shit in the future. And guess how we took these photos? The Brown leather camera case is empty cause I needed it for the photos! )

I also made one with a raffia band, for summer, or you know, when you are on safari and stuff.

Even if you are a novice DIYer, this one is easy, manageable and professional looking when finished! ENJOY!

Cute, huh? Her etsy shop, Third Floor Design, makes adorable brightly hued prints of both classic and traditional chairs, vespas, horned animals and more… Adorable.

Do you think the dude who sold me that chair on Ebay had any idea what would become of it? Ha!

Did any of you catch a glimpse of this wallpaper yesterday on One Kings Lane’s ‘High Altitude’ sale? I‘m usually not head over heels in love with anything on any flash site. BUT THIS WALLPAPER!!!!!! This is everything.

Of course I had to google “arrow wallpaper” 10 times before I found this… Its by Cavern, and the pattern is called Tapestry.

This is why I need a country house. So I can take this wallpaper, put it in a kids room behind two twin beds in red leather, with triangular tops al la KW, one crazy  swingy sconce and a sisal and you are good to go. Screw the kids, I want it for myself now too.

Seriously, where could I put this!?!?

(Photo via Country Living)

I’m freaking over every single look in their look book. I mean, this isn’t news. Its CELINE. But still. The upcoming images are making by brain tingle with delight. For real. I could wear the next 10 outfits in rotation forever. Lets look:

If aliens came to Earth, or we evolved to the point where we would all were uniforms, or if I became an icon like Steve Jobs and needed to pick an outfit to wear everyday for the rest of my life…. I would pick this:

And thats it. In my imagination, I look this cool. And you know how, when I like a picture, I reuse it 10 different times in ten different ways… be prepared to see a lot of this one.

So how bout you, what’s your dream uniform?

Photos via Céline.