It’s Friday and
I’m in love…
with a new App that I must share, in case you haven’t discovered it yet.
It takes your photos, like the one above
and does this.
and this. In like 10 seconds.
It’s called
Here’s the link; WATERLOGUE
The Amanwella hotel, Sri Lanka
The watercolour I did not paint when I was there.
A very blurry and rushed iPhone photo
just became a little more interesting.
Here’s Waterlogue’s story;
Original iPhone photo
makes its way onto ‘Instagram’
and then ‘Waterlogued’
I’ll admit it’s a bit of a cheat, and certainly doesn’t come close to a real hand-done watercolour (except, ya it does!) but it’s so much fun!
Perhaps it might even inspire one to really paint.
Our kitchen counter
becomes a sweet little vignette
A bedroom at the beach house (photo via House Beautiful)
Ta-fricking-da!
There are plenty of options to play with; depth of colours, brush strokes etc.
for example,
but don’t let this scare you in any way- click 3 times Dorothy and bam, you’re an artist.
It’s THAT easy.
Another pic from the beach house (photo via House Beautiful)
You can get as abstract as your little artistic heart desires
Waterlogues may be instantly emailed, tweeted, Tumblr-d, Instagramed, even sent as snail mail postcards directly from your account (for an additional $1.99)
“The Front Porch” store in Sun Valley, Idaho
I really like this one, even if I do say so myself, but that’s part of the fun. You never know how the pics will turn out. Some photos I think will be great don’t translate well and vice-versa. I’ve only just begun to play.
‘Waterlogue’ may very well have created their ultimate monster in me.
~
Lastly, as my post title promised, a flashback…
Not sure how many of you caught the Grammy Awards last Sunday, but much ado was made of Pharrell’s choice of “chapeau”
Now I’m not one to toot my own horn ( except every possible chance I get 
) but the moment I spied that HAT I was transported right back to 1980′s London faster than you can say “Kajagoogoo”!
I couldn’t resist chiming in to the Twitter Universe immediately ( I believe I was the first to call it-cue horn) to inform all the haters that, in fact, Pharrell was sporting an uber cool vintage Vivienne Westwood/Malcom McLaren “Buffalo Girls” hat.
Yes, I’m that old and also apparently proud of it on occasion!
These were early, East Coast feed tweets, People!!
BTW, Ronan never tweeted me back. Whatever…see if I watch his new show now.
Although I realise Malcolm McLaren & Vivs Westwood weren’t as well known Stateside, if you’re young and even vaguely interested or, um, perhaps just wish to ignite old memories too, you can click to view the original video HERE
As I hash-tagged in my tweet…nothing’s ever really new, just re-intrepeted.
PS. Pharrell wore THE hat again the next night at the taping of ‘The Night That Changed America; A Grammy Salute to the The Beatles’ which I was most awesomely lucky enough to attend.
And what an brilliant show it was. I don’t want to spoil the surprises-just watch if you possibly can. It airs February 9th on CBS-50 years to the day The Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.
50 years.
Have a FAB weekend and we’ll chat again…
in February!
xoxSP
~
PS. I have no affiliation nor receive any free stuff from Waterlogue
~
(hold me)
On the sweet side, meet ‘Leon’
“Bellosguardo” presides over the last ocean cliff separating Montecito from Santa Barbara, capturing panoramic views of both the mountains and the sea, to no doubt breathtaking effect. The estate was built by the preposterously rich, copper mining Clark family in the 1930′s as a summer residence and is “The House on the Hill” of our little hamlet.
It’s actually so close I can walk to it from my house. My doctor’s office is just to the left of the bird refuge/lagoon you see on the lower edge of the property. Huguette built the refuge as a tribute to her deceased sister.
Huguette was a child-like woman who owned several vast homes yet chose to live in a small, spare hospital room (in very good health) for the last 20 years of her life. Until the day she died she seemed to prefer the company of dolls to humans, but was unfailingly polite, charitable and kind to everyone she came in contact with. She loved music, cartoons and everything Japanese, yet never visited Japan. She was an accomplished artist, loyal correspondent and friend, devoted daughter, loving sister, and generous patron of the arts.
This last known public photo was taken on her honeymoon in 1928 at the age of 22. I believe she was probably much prettier than the photo would suggest, but she was extremely uncomfortable being photographed. No Selfies for ‘Hugo’ . Privacy was everything to her.
Both long time lovers of antiques, Holly and Dawn define their Mixx concept;
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and remember…
I remember making silhouettes in art class back in elementary school and having my own silhouette done at a fair…
Linen napkin image via Remodelista
How do you do get the light at the front and dark right behind it??
via 
slim paley photo
Restoration Hardware
This image via Graham Moss is a nice example of how silhouettes can be used to ’modern’ effect.
Contemporary artist Kara Walker turns the traditional concept of ‘Silhouettes’ on its head with her cut-paper images that critically address gender, sexuality, race and power within an antebellum tableau.
Kara Walker
Slim Paley photo
Slim Paley photo
The question (which arose once before on my “Graffiti” post) as to whether these clandestine installations, both on public and private property, constitute ‘Art’ or not is an interesting one.
Unfortunately (actually, he probably doesn’t give a toss as it only brought him more publicity) Banksy lost many supporters after he harshly criticized the design of the new World Trade Center.
photo by Ara Guler
This was my Instagram photo of the moment we arrived, but in the space of a few minutes the mist lifted, the clouds dispersed and it turned out to be a stellar day.
Kykuit (Dutch for “Lookout”) is a stately stone home sitting high upon a picturesque knoll above the town of Sleepy Hollow. After getting off to a very rough start, the house was finally completed in 1913.
It was 1893, when John D. Rockefeller, encouraged by his brother William’s glowing reports of the Pocantico Hills, first bought the property. The family gradually acquired the surrounding land until they’d amassed almost 4,000 acres.
Impressive, if not too surprising, the original landscaping plan was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (of Central Park fame) More surprising was that John D. was less than thrilled with Olmsted’s efforts and in addition to taking much of the garden design upon himself, commissioned William Welles Bosworth to finish the grounds more to his taste.
Having a really great tour guide is like getting your hair done by the best gossipy celebrity hair stylist. Buckle up and get ready to dish the dirt!
A side view of the house reveals that Kykuit is much larger than it appears from the front.
I found one small image of the interior of Kykuit, but unfortunately no photos are allowed to be taken in the house-and I bonded too much with the guide to sneak any iphone pics ( hate when that happens)
“Surrey with the Fringe On Top”
What was it like to drive around in 40 ft long Cadillacs? Check the separate windscreen for the back seat!
A tour of the lower levels of the house features a pretty major art collection including works by Picasso, Lautrec, Calder, Giacometti, and Chagall. I must admit this was my least favourite part of the tour. I was underwhelmed, not by the art but the space, which isn’t very appealing. I couldn’t wait to get out and back up into the natural light, the gardens and the views, which are spectacular.
The 9 hole golf course within the the 250 acres of walled and gated property surrounding Kykuit is gradually being forsaken. It costs $100,000 per year to maintain…per hole.
The view from the front entrance.
and the leaves were starting to turn in Sleepy Hollow. Does this look like a great Halloween street, or what?!
The Old Dutch Church
A three minute jaunt uphill from the Kykuit Tour meeting area and you’ll arrive at the Old Dutch Church. One of the oldest cemeteries in the country, it’s chock full of famous residents, including Brooke Astor, Elizabeth Arden, Walter Chrysler, Andrew Carnegie, Washington Irving, and William Rockefeller. That’s some after-party.
The legendary characters of Washington Irving’s “Sleepy Hollow” are also buried here (including the ghost of the headless horseman who is said to ride nightly) We saw the tombstones of the Van Tassel family (Katrina from the story) amongst many other intriguing headstones, ranging from Teeny-tiny to Wow-Now That’s Impressive. I imagine the guided walking tour here is quite lively. No pun intended.
Nothing like a stroll through a cemetery on a beautiful day to remind you to seize The Moment.
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