New Vintage Inspired Kitchen Towels

June 10, 2013

I am pleased as punch to introduce some new products in The Curious Kitchen shop - Kitchen Towels! It has taken quite a bit of research and experimentation to get them right but I have finally gotten the kinks worked out. First I had to find a place to have them printed that has good fabric and isn't unrealistically priced. They are 100% cotton, washable and the colors are nice and rich. Then I had to figure out the best way to photograph them which took a bit longer than I expected but I wanted them to be crisp and color accurate. I tried natural lighting, tungsten bulbs, photo flood bulbs and just about every setting available on my camera! It was actually quite fun "styling" them with a bowl of eggs for the Breakfast Towel, a croissants on a plate for the Desserts and watermelon for the Barbeque Towel, all of which had to be consumed in the end by yours truly. I also thoroughly enjoyed designing the labels which I wanted to be cheery and express the vintage feeling of the shop. I think it all works together and I hope you agree.

www.thecuriouskitchen.etsy.com

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Italian Marinara Sauce

June 4, 2013

When I was growing up in Philadelphia it just wasn't a proper Sunday if the smell of simmering tomato sauce wasn't wafting throughout the house. Fresh tomatoes, aromatic basil, tangy garlic and onion, mmmmm! I created this watercolor painting as an homage to my italian family, particularly my Grandmother. It is now available as a print in my shop The Curious Kitchen.

Apartment Therapy House Tour

March 30, 2011

Last Monday I received a call from Jill Slater at Apartment Therapy saying they wanted to photograph my apartment for the House Tour section of their website. Needless to say I was thrilled but I only had 2 days to get it ready! I spent that time dusting, scrubbing and generally straightening things up like a madwoman. I know how cluttered this place can get in the blink of an eye being only 400 square feet or so. In the end I am very pleased, I have spent a lot of time over the years putting it all together. It is so interesting to see your home through some else's eyes! I've included a few photos but to see the whole slide show be sure to click on the Enter House Tour button in the post. The post is called Lisa's Artistic Time Capsule!

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Some Still Lives

February 10, 2011

I am taking a little break from the Mr. Peanut paintings and working on something new. I have lots of vintage knickknacks around my apartment that I've collected over the years and I thought it would be nice to have some of them in a series of paintings. One of my favorite collections is my wind up alarm clocks from the 40's & 50's. I began with my first Westclox Big Ben that I bought on Ebay because it was just like the one my Parents had in the bedroom of our house in Wildwood, NJ where we spent our summers. I just love falling asleep to the rhythmic, tinny ticking of that clock that brings me straight back to a very happy time in my childhood. After that I added a gorgeous cream and tan Baby Ben and a beautiful Moonbeam which doesn't tick but glows when the alarm goes off. These are the subject of the first painting that I just finished.

I also have several General Electric clock radios from the 50's and 60's that I love, 2 of which belonged to my Parents as well. These are the subject of 2 more paintings (sketches below) both shown with a little scottie dog pull toy I found in a flea market. I even threw in a few of the vintage desk accessories that I have; a beautiful old inkwell with a dip pen that was in a cabinet in our basement, a little silver desk calendar that you flip every day to show the date and another of my alarm clocks. I decided to put all these on a vintage red tablecloth against the pistachio green wall of my kitchen. I think they look very cheery and I can't wait to turn these sketches into paintings!