Size Matters
June 14, 2015
What do you get when you combine artist Lars Zech, a felled tree, a chainsaw and total immersion into the process? This bleached oak bowl of epic proportion.
Oak 40″ diameter
For more of this artists work:http://www.larszech.com/10.0.htmlphoto via:http://www.marchsf.com/store/lars-zech-bowl-sculptures/dp/5490
Worth the Wait
May 4, 2015
April showers bring May flowers…indeed. Looking like some sweet floral confection, these pink Parrot Tulips prove that Spring is definitely worth the wait.
photos:gp
Just Right
April 12, 2015
If Marcella Hazan’s smothered cabbage soup could sustain us through the Winter, then this adaptation of her peas and rice is sure to be a hit this Spring. Five ingredients, minimal prep and 25 minutes is all you need to serve up the perfect April lunch.
This simple recipe for Aristotelian Rice and Peas can be found here at Food 52 http://food52.com/recipes/25942-aristotelian-rice-and-peas-or-the-whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts
In like a Lion…
April 9, 2015
out like a punch in the face. As if another brutal Winter and fourteen weeks in a sling with a fractured wrist and elbow weren’t quite enough fun for one season…Bam!… a two-week bout with some new strain of Spring virus. I might be delirious or just have cabin fever…or, it might be that I just can’t seem to get warm that has me dreaming of the desert. Any desert, the hotter and drier the better. Ahhh…I can almost feel the sunlight baking the chill right out of me.
top to bottom:
A simple branch parched by the sun and sanded smooth by blowing sands. photo: gp
A T shirt and linen pants. What else do you need to loll around on a 100 degree day?http://madebymuku.blogspot.com/
Ocotillo, or Devil’s walking stick. I’ll have to wait for my get-a-way in the desert to put it’s sculptural qualities to good use.http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/trans-p/nature/images/ocotillo.html
Georgia O’Keefe knew simplequietmodern when she saw it in her Abiquiu home and studio early in the last century. Not hard to get inspired here I’m sure. http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/abiquiu-home–studio.html
“Sitting quietly,
March 19, 2015
doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.” *
*Lao Tzu
photo:gp
PS
March 12, 2015
Crack the cover and you’re almost there. Close your eyes for a second and feel the hot desert air. Palm Springs…get-a-way to the rich and famous for decades documented in this reissue of Palm Springs Modern:Houses in the California Desert. Explore the best examples of midcentury design at its most glamourous from the 1940’s to the 60’s. This could be the best spring break ever at $40.
http://www.rizzoliusa.com/book.php?isbn=9780847844104
A stretch…a yawn…
March 4, 2015
a slow awakening. Sloughing off Winter to greet Spring all scrubbed and polished. Feeling like that first lungful of air that just smells like the earth is waking up too.
My simplequietmodern morning essentials; a Nuetrogena Original Formula Clear Cleansing Bar and Trader Joe’s Savon de France Oatmeal Exfoliant Ginger Almond soap…a fresh loofa and a natural nail brush. A perfectly simple bath environment for that total spa experience couldn’t hurt either.
top 2 photos: gp; bath photo via http://remash.tumblr.com/
The Perfect Rx
February 27, 2015
Nothing puts me on the road to Winter recovery like the first of March. And, with the first of March comes that perfect shot in the arm…the Daffodil. Simple joy and happiness found anywhere and everywhere by the generous handful for a couple of bucks. Is there anything quite like their gentle fragrance and burst of color when Winter is still trying to dig its heals in with bone chilling cold?
photos: gp
Three Bags Full
February 23, 2015
Not wool, but newsprint yarn spun during last winters onslaught to ward off cabin madness. Now what? A starting swatch alone provided great textural interest…the addition of sisal twine added more. Then some manipulated copies brought things back to the original two-dimensional roots of the original newsprint sheet. Adjustment to scale might be next. Go big or go home? Yeah, that sounds right.
photos: gp
Brrrrrrrr
February 16, 2015
When the temps reach the zero mark, even I can can get into a big piece of meat for dinner. And, if the recipe is as simplequietmodern as this Oven Braised Beef with Tomatoes and Garlic….well, I’m all in. With only three ingredients…a beef roast, a can of tomatoes and a head of garlic… you’ll be wondering as I was why you haven’t made this before. If there are any leftovers I see some Braised Beef Tacos in my future as well.
photos:gp
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