Start with Art Archives - Page 2 of 30

Start with Art: The Plum Garden at the Kameido Shrine by Utagawa Hiroshige

September 2, 2020

I've received some requests to add accent colors to grey - I'm always happy to try to oblige!

ROAD TRIP!!! Yes, they're going to visit a BUNCH of gardens... For about 2 weeks or so! They're going to rent a camper (oh my...) and go to all of the places they've talked about visiting for years.

It's quite casual - touring these gardens doesn't require getting dressy! But she loves her color palette so...

She's going to stick with her core of grey garments, and then add 2 clusters of color...

She packs some warm teal tops, and then decides to include her tee shirt with floral prints... Why not?

Her coral garments vary from very soft and pastel to deep, almost rust. And she decides to pack a ... View the Post

Start with Art: My Autumn by Georgia O’Keeffe

August 20, 2020 We're ALL Going to be Home... For most of the winter. The kids are being amazingly disciplined about schooling remotely; they're old enough that they understand that education matters...

Her sweetheart has taken over the desk in the dining area, and so she's working in the basement. The kids are all in their own rooms, except when they need legitimate help with something...

She thought she was getting prepared; she started sorting out warm clothes. They've all agreed (all FIVE of them!) that they're going to try to keep the house as cool as they can tolerate, in order to save energy and money. With 5 computers running, at least there will be some warmth...

Still, this is what fall means to her. Back to school is ... View the Post

Start with Art: Revisiting Arlequin et Femme au Collier by Picasso

August 13, 2020 I Need to do WHAT??? Yes, she's missed 6 months in the office (although she has worked EVERY DAY...) and now she has to sit for a re-certification...

It takes 3 days. Away from home. In a hotel.

After being locked up with her entire family for half a year, she's really excited! The whole test thing isn't fun, but being able to eat room service and lounge around alone in the evenings has a certain appeal...

She starts with her favorite "travel inspiration" painting:

She knows that she could just wear sweatpants the entire time, but she actually feels more awake and more businesslike if she dresses a bit nicer than that. And she doesn't want to have to do much thinking about what she will wear! This is her ... View the Post

Accessories! Revisiting Blue Major Elle by Marijah Bac Cam

July 23, 2020

Of course she's packing accessories!

Yesterday, she expanded her initial 8-piece wardrobe to a 16-piece 4 by 4 Wardrobe, since she and her sweetheart are going to be staying up at her sister-in-law's B&B for a few weeks...

Her inspiration?

Her clothes are all good to go - this is what she's taking (or what's already there...):

And these are the accessories that she's already got on-site:

To be sure that she doesn't miss anything, she assembles a handful of representative outfits that she has packed. And then she thinks about what she's going to be doing...

The photographers and other staff want to make it seem as if all of the guests are piled into the kitchen, helping with dinner. It's ... View the Post

Strategically Expanding a Capsule Wardrobe: Start with Art – Blue Major Elle by Marijah Bac Cam

July 22, 2020

Well THAT went well... Yesterday, our heroine was caught off guard when she realized that she needed to pack and leave for the weekend in 5 minutes!

She managed, using this painting as her color inspiration; she felt that the swirling and diffusion in this painting accurately represented the state of her brain:

The photographer and crew from the famous food magazine LOVED her sister-in-law's B&B. They loved it SO MUCH that they're going to come back in a few days, and film a half-hour video about them for their You Tube channel.

Panic ensues. And our heroine and her partner and enlisted to come stay at the B&B for... well, for the foreseeable future!

They're both leaving everything that they packed ... View the Post

Start with Art: Blue Major Elle by Marijah Bac Cam

July 20, 2020

She's been confused for a few weeks; nothing medical, or really an issue, but the inside of her head often feels like this:

Although it feels like chaos, at least it has a nice tidy color palette, which could easily be all neutrals!

Are You Ready to Go? "What???? Go where???" She just got off of a conference call with the rest of her department, when her sweetheart came by their guest bedroom to check on her...

"You forgot? We're going to my sister's B&B for the weekend." They're going to be photographing for a magazine spread all day Saturday, and they were invited to help, and to eat all of the food...

"We need to leave in about 5 minutes if we're going to beat the traffic...."

Dear oh dear... ... View the Post

Accessories! Revisiting Petit Matin by Joan Mitchell

July 16, 2020

Our heroine's headed to the country for the rest of the summer! She's going to be staying at an inn very near a manor house with huge open gardens - even though she'll be working in their room for part of the day, she's going to be able to visit the gardens EVERY AFTERNOON!

That sounds better than being cooped up indoors, doesn't it?

This is her inspiration:

She already has quite a few accessories with her - including FOUR pairs of shoes. But she's going to be staying at the inn for at least 6 weeks...

She's going to have a 4 by 4 Wardrobe with her - happily, the inn is delighted to do laundry for her. They're giving such a great deal on their room that they don't really mind paying for occasional ... View the Post

Expanding a Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Start with Art – Petit Matin by Joan Mitchell

July 15, 2020

A few months ago, one of our heroines was heading off to a lovely manor house, with lots of gorgeous gardens...

Her wardrobe for this trip was inspired by this completely confusing but very beautiful painting:

For their relatively short visit, she packed this most lovely travel capsule wardrobe - it sort of radiates the feeling of flowers...

WELL! One day, out of the blue, the got a call from the inn where they stayed back in April. They were pretty desperate for business, and because they knew our heroine and her partner, they were willing to give them an AMAZING deal to come up for the REST OF THE SUMMER...

Essentially, they understand that having anybody in the inn, even ... View the Post

Adding Accessories to a “Two Mood” Travel Capsule Wardrobe

July 10, 2020

Yesterday, our heroine was getting ready to head to the lake, with a packet of relatives, for the rest of the summer!

For her packing inspiration, she started with this painting:

She has her clothes all ready to go!

But she doesn't have... well... shoes? earrings? a bag or two?

Let's do this!

She really likes her square earrings because they're called Lily Pad earrings! Although she's never seen a square lily pad...

She knows that she needs rubber flip flops - her feet will be wet fairly often! And sunglasses - you ALWAYS need sunglasses...

Next, she grabs her sunhat, and her Keds. Even if the Keds get wet, they'll be fine within a day... And even though ... View the Post

2 Moods in 1 Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Start with Art – Poem by Bunya no Asayasu by Hokusai

As of 7:36 Central Time today, I changed the downloadable file that many of you purchased. I understand that the first file was NOT downloading at all! I'm so sorry... If I could avoid these computer-ish snafus, I would!

love,

Janice

July 9, 2020 The Kids Can Canoe All Day... And the rest of us can hike, or go with the kids, or sit on the shore and watch...

She thinks this is brilliant - the 3 families will distance from each other for 14 days; the house is plenty big enough. It will require some vigilance to make certain that the children understand what's required, but they've been pretty smart, so far...

Knowing that they're going to be there probably 'til the first of September, she wants to plan carefully. ... View the Post

Adding Accessories: Portrait of the Countess de Martel de Janville by Boldini

July 7, 2020

Our heroine needs to go shopping, again!

After she picked up a few more garments, she was left with just the accessories with which she had traveled. This isn't a bad bunch of pretty things, but she might want a few more things:

She sorted her wardrobe out into a number of outfits, and then decided to very methodically get accessories for each outfit in turn.

To start, she went completely off the rails for a pair of earrings that she could NOT resist:

Well THAT was fun! The next day was quite warm, and she realized that she wanted a good hat!

Masks! Even in a city that's beginning to reopen after the quarantine, one still needs a mask. She decides that she might as well get a few that look good ... View the Post

Expanding a Travel Capsule Wardrobe: Shopping with the Countess de Martel!

July 3, 2020

Okay, she's no longer living; for our purposes, our heroine is a fictional character who looks a lot like her...

When we left our heroine, stocking her pantry in Paris with the essentials, she was traveling with this wardrobe:

She has just learned that she's going to have to stay in Paris for at LEAST 2 weeks longer than she expected! (let's not get into the details of why - it's fiction, and a fantasy!)

She certainly could stay with just the 8 garments she has - a little bit of well-timed laundry would be really all she would need to manage. But since she's going to be staying there regularly in the future, she decides that she will very carefully buy more clothes...

Even though she can't leave ... View the Post