Restoration....

Hope you all had a great weekend.

I am playing in the sun for a few days to restore and renew.

Hope you all can find the time to do the same...

Inspiration from Old Books...

Always hunting for old images from fantastic specimen books from the 1800's and beyond...LOVE these...

Via- Ancient Industries

Guilherme Callegari

Love this piece by Guilherme Callegari.

Sem Título/Untitled a photo by Guilherme Callegari 

Video of the Week....

This blows me away...This is the first 35mm film EVER,
taken by a camera mounted on the front of a San Francisco cable car.
I wonder if any of these people are your relatives?

I LOVE the boys in their knickers trying to outrun the cable car,
women in their enormous hats, and the little troublemakers hanging on to the back of the cars.
The soundtrack is of one of my favorite french bands, (Air).
Amazing...

Lunch in Seattle...

When you come to visit me here in Seattle, 

we are definitely hitting one of my favorite spots for lunch in Seattle. 

Oddfellows...

They serve fresh, delicious, homespun food, 

(and I am not talking casseroles, and fried chicken). 

Homemade soups, great salads, and AMAZING pastries...

(That I have been eating WAY too much of lately!)

The wait is sometimes long to get one of these suckers...

The vibe is very cozy with all of the civil-war era photo's lining the walls, along with antique knick-knacks.

These two kids were so adorable...

YUM....

Photo's by me...

Simple Intricacies...

 

This bedroom has all the makings of a cozy night's sleep. 

I am guessing the sheets are fine linens that have been freshly 

laundered, and may have been hung out in the sun to dry. 

It smell's like fresh baked orange and date brioche, 

and I think one might wake up in the morning with the sun shining 

through an open window, birds singing, and a grandmotherly type 

coming in with a spot of tea, humming a sweet and comforting melody...

Photo- Elle Decor

Art for Charlie

I am happy to present the work of  3 year old, Walker Greenman, who, along with his family, is trying to raise funds by selling his hand-painted cards on Etsy to help pay for his baby brother's rising hospital bills.

Fellow blogger, Sarah Greenman, from La Maison Boheme is the proud mamma of these two lovies, and seems to have boundless positive energy around the entire
experience...We are sending our love to you and your family, Sarah.

About Baby Charlie:
Charlie was born on August 4, 2010. Approximately 12 hours after he was born, he began having seizures. An MRI revealed he had suffered two strokes affecting the right side of his brain. Charlie's stroke may or may not be due to another condition he has called Craniosynostosis. This is when two skull plates fuse prematurely in the womb. It is going to take years to fully comprehend what the stroke will mean for Charlie's motor skills, cognitive and language development. Only time will tell how his brain will recover from the trauma. In the meantime, Charlie has the love of his family and us - a strong network friends to help him grow and heal.

Go here to purchase cards, or here to donate anything your little big heart desires...

Grow stronger everyday baby Charlie..Our hearts go out to you...

Cy Twombly : Master of Abstract

Wilder Shores of Love, 1985

In my opinion Cy Twombly's work is to Abstract painting, what
 John Singer Sargent's work is to Portrait Painting...
They are masters of both of their methods, and no one really compares...
Honestly, I think "Wilder Shores of Love" (above) is a piece that I would trade 
all of my teeth for,(if I lived in a society that traded all of their teeth)? 
My favorite painting ever...

Untitled, 1988

Pan II, 1980

Coronation of Sesostris, 2000 (panel 8)

Untitled, 1989

Fifty Days at Iliam: The Fire that Consumes All before It, 1978

Hero and Leandro (A Painting in Four Parts) Part I, 1984

Hero and Leander (To Christopher Marlowe) [Rome], 1985

Untitled 1954

Suma, 1982

Min-Oe 1951

Untitled I, 2005 (Bacchus)

These would fit in so many different environments, it is really quite amazing.

Traditional palm beach estate? Check. Upper East-Side apartment? Check.

Mid-Century/Boho-Luxe Silverlake villa? Check. Miami penthouse?

Check. Airstream trailer, down by the river? Check. And that is

where I would be living if I ever tried to buy one of these...

In the Studio...

Photo by - Erik Simkins / Seattleite magazine

I am going to bore you with one more post on myself...I try really hard to feature mostly OTHER

artists on Art & Lair, but every once in a while, I will share my work and/or life here. 

I am not a very good pimper of myself, or my work, and yet I have heard from some readers that they like to see the the life of the person behind the blog for it to feel authentic, which I tend to agree.

If I am not able to peer into the lives of some of the blogs I follow, (and not just to see their work), I almost wonder what they are hiding. And on the other hand, if a blog is too much about their personal life, it can feel a tad like looking at the pics of someone else's photo album, which sometimes is fun, but not all of us are related to them, and don't have the same interest in their kids doing cartwheels. (Even though we think they are stinkin' cute!) Or we are surprised, and maybe a tad disappointed in what we see, and so our fantasy of them has been blown. 

I like to be inspired and educated when I read blogs. Posts of books, or art that people love, people with mad, (and attainable) cooking skills, inspiring designers, recommendations on where to eat or shop in their town, or amazing photographers.  My life, (like many other's), is insanely busy, I feel like I barely have time to shower in the morning, and when I am in blogland, I am in the mood to escape(mostly), to be educated, (Thank you, TED!), to gather inspiration, and maybe even go into fantasy land a bit, and as long as what I am reading feels like it is coming from an authentic place, I could peruse for HOURS, and sometimes do,(to the annoyance of my family).

Blogging is fun, insanely time consuming, sometimes burdensome, and yet feels oddly rewarding.
I am not sure why I just wrote all of this...Thanks for reading...

Also, a BIG  THANK YOU to the new (fabulous) magazine Seattelite, who featured me in the studio, and were a talented bunch, let me tell ya...

I love that the article starts out with the line, "Her fingernails might say otherwise..."

My fingernails are so thrashed from pushing them into the paper to get the look I want with my printmaking, that they have hangnails galore, along with almost constant paint or ink underneath the tips...I am in serious need of an in-house manicurist.
Hope you like..(And even if you don't, I hope you come back soon to see the other artists, that I think are amazing. I know you will be inspired by a few of them...)

New work...

"Sunset : The Day After"

This is a piece from my new series of encaustic paintings, 
(which involves a hot wax and paint or oil sticks), titled, "Sunset",
each with their own sub-title
of an effect that has made them what they are. 
I will let you interpret what event may have occurred
that made these "Sunsets" the shapes and colors that you see..It is hard to see all of
the wonderful details within the wax in a photo, but hope you enjoy...:)


Jennifer Ament Art

Elegantly, uppercrust...

Painting of "The Peacock Kimono", by Evan Wilson

The new traditionalists we call them, the modern preppy... 
A life that is, seemingly, perfectly, well-organized, well-planned, and well-thought out.
These are the fantasies I conjure up in my head, as I look at these images...
Of course, no one's life is perfect...but it sure is easy to think it is,
when art and home, look as beautiful, and put together, as this...
(And they just happen to be (mostly) in shades of gorgeous green).

One of my favorite rooms of all time, is Billy Baldwin's insanely gorgeous 
salon, (above left), that he decorated for Marie-Laure de Noailles. 
I wish I knew who the photographer was that shot this, 
because, he, or she, played a big part in the brilliance that it is.

Dejeuner

Gisela von Wehner by Albert von Keller, 1906

1. Evan Wilson 2. Unknown 3. Martha Stewart Living 3. Unknown 

4.Dejeuner  5.Unknown 6.Walnutwallpaper.com 7.Albert Keller 8.Unknown 9.Unknown 10.Unknown

 (If anyone knows where these unknowns are from, please let me know and I will list them.)

Artful on the outside...

I LOVE these gorgeous gardens, where lounging and hanging out with
friends and family is comfortable, AND beautiful....

I LOVE this last photo...Only in California would there be a 
velvet couch in the garden....I would do the same if it was a
tad drier here in Seattle...

Photo's 1. Unknown 2. Elle Decor 3. Unknown 4. Elle Decor

Coming to Seattle? EAT HERE....

If you live here, or are visiting soon, and have not yet been to the Boat Street Cafe, 

it is an absolute must. It is a lovely place, with an AMAZING menu, focusing

on locally grown gems, with very simple, delicious preparations. Last night I attended

a fundraiser for a person who is a friend and employee of the restaurant,

 who's family was severely affected by the Tsunami, losing there home,

and all of their belongings. Some fantastic restaurants, shops, and artists

donated items and gift certificates to be auctioned off. 

It seemed to be a huge success....

Fresh oysters being shucked before your very eyes...

FRESH local clams in this delicious clam chowder, (that I could NOT stop eating)...

I was finally able to meet Molly Wizenberg,  from the fabulous blog, Orangette, 

(she is also the author of the wonderful book, A Homemade Life).

It was a fun night, and it reminded me of the importance of community and how much

I love being a part of the one in Seattle...

Photo's by (me), Jennifer Ament, (and one by Molly's husband).