Art Archives

First Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – June 2023

June 2, 2023

One of my favorite days!

I thought that before our heroines went shopping today, they should each take a good look at what they currently own. This might direct their shopping in some way...

First, let's look at this heroine's wardrobe by showing all of her garments arranged by function:

I frankly don't know that any heroine will see too many gaps in her wardrobe when arranged this way, because she's been really careful to be certain that anything she has purchased so far can be worn in a variety of ways.

Maybe let's see how things look when arranged by color:

This is actually pretty great, but I think maybe she wants something else in denim blue? Yes, it's not a color in her palette, but I think ... View the Post

Year 2 – Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Shōman – Grain Full

May 29, 2023

It doesn't feel very summery still, at least in Chicago. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be thinking about what we will wear when the weather DOES get warm...

One of my new French style books (Le Dressing Idéal by Anne Montecer) suggests jumpsuits for Spring...

Uh, NO. I have hauled the top half of a jumpsuit over quite enough toilet floors in my life...

but I really like her writing, as a general rule - she has a blog too!

But a matching top and pants? Maybe. Or maybe just the print pants. There's a lot of concern that pants in a printed fabric will make your bottom half look larger, but I think that the distracting quality of the pattern makes it tough to evaluate the size of a body ... View the Post

Start with Art: Sport Coat by Pierre Mourgue

May 26, 2023

Okay, this is NOT at all in season, but I couldn't resist! I suspect that we will take a look at more of this artist - I'm quite smitten... Family, and Sport

Once upon a time, when a woman was attending a sporting event in the autumn, she would dress like the women in this lovely painting. Now, our heroine is using her colors, and her calm confidence, as her inspiration!

From time to time, one will be invited to see a family member do something sporty - a niece or nephew who plays football, or American football. Or any other number of sports - there are a lot of possibilities!

Our heroine wants to appear calm, relaxed and pretty. Not such bad goals, eh?

She can absolutely bet her entire retirement ... View the Post

Start with Art: Cherry Branch by Bror Lindh

May 17, 2023

I've never heard of Bror Lindh - what fun to find new (to me) artists!

Our heroine chose to include the darker green of the grass under the tree, rather than the more yellowish green out in the sunlight. Good move, I would say!

Garden Tour Weekend A group of her friends are going along - but the weather is expected to be unseasonably cool! Annoying, but not something that will keep them from attending...

They've been assured that there will be NO walking in grass or soil, so they can just wear comfortable shoes without worrying about bringing waterproof boots with them! (they have been on tours that felt more like trekking through the deep forest...)

She wants to be warm, but also have a variety of ... View the Post

Second Half of Six Paintings, 12 Months – May 2023

May 8, 2023

Let's see what our second trio of heroines has been up to!

The first has decided that she would like to own something sort of like a suit, so she finds a cardigan/blazer and pants that match. She can't resist the Liberty print shirt - it goes with so much of her wardrobe!

This is her wardrobe now; it might not suit many of us, but I can see this on the right woman...

Her accessories are a soft and feminine delight:

Her new outfits show that even an unusually light and delicate wardrobe can be versatile:

Our second heroine made a pretty big decision about her wardrobe this month!

The main character in her inspiration painting is wearing what appears to be a pretty dark purple coat. ... View the Post

Nothing today, but Wednesday will be great!

May 1, 2023

I don't know if it's flu or just a really impressive dose of fibromyalgia, but I'm sleeping all the time, and when I'm awake I feel like someone beat me with a shovel...

Okay, I've never been beaten with a shovel; this is what I imagine it might be like!

Here's a wee preview of Wednesday's post - generated using Artificial Intelligence on neural.love. AMAZING...

love,

Janice ... View the Post

Japanese 24 Seasons of the Year – Seimei – Clear and Bright

April 24, 2023

Why yes, I've completely lost track of time; you should HEAR what I did to my mother, getting confused about an appointment and wandering around the city for HOURS... Sigh...

But let's visit this season, literally a day before I get to THE NEXT season. It's a good thing that I work for myself, eh?

Here in Chicago, we're betwixt and between - some VERY warm days were followed immediately by snow... It's hard to know what one will need from week to week...

But I think that (once your warm weather clothes are sorted through and ready to go) many of us might be wise to purchase just ONE complete outfit to wear through the spring and summer.

After you've taken a good hard look at what you DO have ... View the Post

Start with Art: Lake Geneva with Mont-Blanc at Dawn by Ferdinand Hodler

April 14, 2023

Isn't this lovely?

I'm realizing that it's entirely possible to use a painting (or any other image or object, frankly) as inspiration for a wardrobe even if that image doesn't include your core neutral!

I know, I should have realized this years ago...

Here's how I'm showing this; note the navy outlines in the color wheel...

Frankly, this wardrobe only includes 3 navy pieces out of the 9 total - that's a small number of neutral garments!

And this wardrobe only has a pair of jeans and a pair of shorts for bottoms; this is a heroine who's going to be spending a lot of time in her swimwear, so this works out for weekends...

But first, she has to drive up to the lake!

If you like sweater vests, ... View the Post

Adding Accessories! Start with Art: Spring Blossom by Valerius de Saedeleer

April 12, 2023

The last of the "beige-based" wardrobes - and probably my favorite! (of course, this is the only wardrobe with any black in it...)

This is the wardrobe for our last heroine; she has a lot of beige, but her accent colors are unusual, and make quite a statement!

I suspect that this heroine will also find herself with a few pairs of colorful sandals!

Even though our heroine only has 2 black garments, I think that black sandals make sense for her; they bring a real balance to a simple outfit like this:

If you love lime green, indulge in some peridot jewelry too! You'll have it forever...

Floral earrings with a floral top seems nice to me; keep the rest of the outfit nicely muted...

Of ... View the Post

Adding Accessories! Start with Art: Drei Häuser By Paul Klee

April 10, 2023

I really love this painting - it seems so simple, but the more you look at it, the more the colors make themselves clear and distinct...

You may remember that this heroine assembled this wardrobe for the eventual arrival of warmer weather:

I haven't yet thought of a better way to add accessories than to go through a wardrobe and put together a bunch of outfits, and then make sure that each outfit can be dressed up (or down, I suppose?) appropriately. I don't think that there's a rigid checklist of accessories that everyone should own - some women don't wear jewelry, some don't wear scarves, some don't carry a handbag... You get the idea!

I enjoyed this - these colors are beautiful and ... View the Post

The Mailing List saga….

April 7, 2023

I lost my ATM card. Everything that was being paid automatically from that account shut down. Some things came back to life immediately; some did not.

The mailing list was recalcitrant, and is still behaving badly.

I think it is fixed, but if you don't hear from me on Monday, leave a comment; there will DEFINITELY be a post at 2:15 a.m. Central Time on Monday...

Sorry for the weirdness!

Sharing a favorite photograph with you...

love, Janice ... View the Post

Adding Accessories! Start with Art: Wagen in Silberner Strasse by August Macke

April 7, 2023

I love the accents in this painting...

Here's a reminder of the 16-piece capsule wardrobe that our heroine has chosen for the upcoming Spring and Summer:

Let's walk through a bunch of her favorite outfits, to see how she might accessorize each:

These wee stud earrings are available in 12 different stones - all of the birthstones!

This is our heroine's only scarf, but WHAT a scarf!

I love the subtle coordination of a "denim-colored" bag:

Those of us who own a Longchamp tote bag can vouch that they're SO useful!

Would you get a green pedicure? Or would that be overkill?

A simple beige outfit takes on a bit of shine with some jewelry!

This heroine seems to really like ... View the Post