This season I appear on Mad Men as the naughty Ms. Swenson. No better way to end this week than with a cocktail worthy of a series so creative in costume, set design and plot. For a classic martini, combine 3 oz gin and a splash of white vermouth over ice / stir until ice ice ice cold / strain / pour over rocks / finish with 3 olives or a twist of lemon. Gin makes you sin…cheers!
Tonight UNICEF’s Next Gen will host the 4th annual Photo Benefit in New York City. Every day around the world, 19,000 children die from preventable causes; the U.S. Fund for UNICEF believes that number should be ZERO. So this year, the theme of the exhibit is “Seeing Zero” ~ showcasing ZERO as a shape, feeling, place or abstraction. Proceeds support Next Gen’s Colombia Project, providing life saving support to the indigenous children and pregnant women who need clean water, food and safe shelter. Tickets for tonights event are still available here or follow along @UNICEFnextgen for pics from tonight’s event.
This week we are celebrating c r e a t i v i t y and I am so pleased to feature our friend and artist Field Kallop! Kind, chic + utterly graceful, Field has a gorgeous spirit and so it comes as no surprise that I love every piece of art she makes. Working with geometric patterns, pendulums, dye, bleach + diamond dust, Field creates canvases and installations that evoke space and the universe and the molecular chaos/order that connects us all. Well at least in my mind… I hope you enjoy this peek into Field’s studio and to see more, click here!
to live a more creative life means to live a more awake, fulfilled, and happy one.
here are a few breezy ways to exercise your creative spirit–open it up–and use it more often:
lay flat on the floor. relax. listen to a really great album or record in full:
eat fresh fruit in the sun / play with light and color:
stretching and inversions:
stretch for 5 minutes daily.
sun salutations is a great mind/body/heart/soul morning exercise that combines stretching and inversions. see and feel the world from a different angle via back bends, headstands, or just let your head hand off the sofa (helps increase energy too)! this is a good time to stop an inhale / exhale.
this is a good way to see normal/mundane things in new/exciting ways:
upside down christmas tree decor at a performance by bill baird in brooklyn
go to a museum. find a picture you like. make a quick sketch of it:
my favorite professor from grad school, philip perkis, taught me this lesson.
it’s meant to heighten awareness–why do you like this painting? what is the shape that takes place in it? where do the lines go and form to? you’ve probably never thought of a picture in this way before. it’s fun and you will see it–and things–in a different way once you do so.
i always keep fresh flowers in the nest.
if you are in new york city, visit the florists at all good things in tribeca.
my very favorite is saipua in red hook, brooklyn.
you can browse the website by seasons: http://www.saipua.com/
then go to trader joes or whole foods where you can buy flowers on a budget and arrange them yourself.
The Novo Project is a collection of stories, profiles and photographs of the things that inspire us. We are southern ladies on a journey, taking pause and making note.