Julius Schulman - Architectural Photographer

Above: Julius Schulman, perhaps the most well-known of architectural photographers, who had the good fortune to launch his career in the midst of the era of optimism and growth of the modernist movement in architecture. His photographs present icons of the period in architecture and have become icons in themselves. Part of the recent free flowing resurgence of interest in Mid-Century Modern architecture and furnishings has been enabled by the splendid photographic documentation Schulman's work provides. An anecdotal aside, Schulman loaded up his station wagon with appropriate modern furnishings to place in the buildings he was to photograph and often had people posed in them---he wanted to show the buildings as they could best be seen and "lived in".

Photo by Julius Schulman, Case Study House #22 - Stahl House in Los Angeles, California - designed by architect Pierre Koenig 1960.

Photo by Juilius Schulman: Kaufmann House in Palm Springs by architect, Richard Neutra in 1946 (The Kaufmann's also commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design Fallingwater for them near Mill Run, Pennsylvania about a decade earlier.)

Friends and I attended the screening of the film Visual Acoustics , the Modernism of Julius Schlulman by Eric Bricker, last night at the downtown library. Eric Bricker was at the screening and spoke about the making of the film, as well as his friendship with Schulman. Visual Acoustics will be available on DVD in late May.

This is "Spring"? (and Portraits)...

I've already mowed the lawn two weeks in a row, and now it's snowing again!It's made up of those pretty little kernels of corn snow, not unusual in Spring and a perfectly desirable type of snow for skiing (here in Utah, where we have the Greatest Snow on Earth).

Tulips in the garden are out in full blooming glory---now trying to hold their heads up under the new snowfall.

It's really a good day to stay inside and focus on my indoor task of painting pet portraits for a lovely greyhound mom. She commissioned portraits of her three greyhounds. I've sketched out all three poses on canvas and am beginning to lay in the tones and colors with paint on the first one (shown at the bottom).

Gone biking...

Project complete . . . WHEW!

Six tall spindle-back (Windsor-esque) dining chairs I painted robin's egg blue.

The photo below shows my inspiration (from Urban Grace) . . .

I ran across another photo (below) while in the process of painting. With turquoise being "this year's color", it's not surprising to see lots of examples of the color used in furnishings.

Yesterday House of Turquoise posted a dining room with turquoise (what else?) spindle-back chairs. Mine are a bit taller, slender steam-bent back type similar to those above, and were pretty hard to find. I'm happy this project is done---on to dining tables!

Patience is a Virtue...

...that I sometimes lack. I couldn't wait for the back room to be completed, so I moved in and enjoyed it all winter. Below is my new favorite place to curl up with my book and drink coffee. (An extension cord plugged into a kitchen outlet provides electricity for the lamp.)

Below, The room doesn't have walls, but it does have art work hanging.

Below is my new favorite place to have breakfast. There are no finished walls or ceiling, no finished floor, no electricity, but there is good insulation, rugs and drapes and plenty of sunshine and books.

Below photo shows the pups' new favorite place for meals. The bottom shelf of a vintage potting bench makes the perfect raised feeder for my tall greyhounds.

I just heard from my builder today. With winter well on its way out, he's talking about coming back to complete the backroom project---beginning next week. I'm not holding my breath. We won't suffer too much because we are already enjoying "camping out" in relative luxury.

The Paper Rose Club

Authors Jennifer Youngblood and Sandra Poole invite you to check out the latest segment (Twenty-three) of THE PAPER ROSE CLUB just released.

My nephew's wife, Jennifer and her mother, Sandra wrote and published the novel Livin' in High Cotton in 2004. I ordered it from my local Seattle neighborhood bookstore. Inspired by the life of Sandra's grandmother---all these gals are originally from Alabama---Livin' in High Cotton is set during early depression era in Alabama and reveals some intriguing twists in the conflicted racial relations of the deep South. Jennifer and Sandra published their second novel in 2007, Stoney Creek, Alabama set in modern times. The mother and daughter team are currently writing a third novel, The Paper Rose Club, which is available online, as chapters are completed. If you'd like to read The Paper Rose Club online "book" for free, click here and you can sign up!

And, of course you can check your local library or order Livin' in High Cotton and Stoney Creek, Alabama from your local neighborhood bookstore or Amazon. I'm an "Auntie" by marriage, but I'm still proud!

P.S. Below is a post from Jennifer Youngblood's blog on the topic of writing Stoney Creek, Alabama.

Football is alive and well in Stoney Creek, Alabama
10:20 AM PST, January 21, 2008
One thing that our readers love about our work is that it's real. My mom and I are both native Alabamians and are very proud of our southern heritage. In our second novel, Stoney Creek, Alabama, we wrote about football. Football has always been a large part of my life. Many of my friends played high school ball and because I was a majorette, I went to every single football game. And I was not alone; the whole town shut down on Friday night. The years we had a winning season (and we usually did) the games would go on until mid to late November. Sometimes the temperature would drop to the thirties. We must've looked ridiculous in our teenie outfits, trying to smile while catching a frozen baton that hurt like a brick being hurled from a two-storey building when it hit our hands. To say that everything revolved around football was an understatement. It was our way of life--our religion. We lost the state playoffs two years in a row to the same team. And to add insult to injury, the game went into double overtime both years. I remember watching our players as they collapsed on the field and bawled like babies at the end of the game.As passionate as my peers were about football, they paled in comparison to my dad. Not only was he a football hero in his hometown, but he got a scholarship to the University of Alabama where he played under Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant on the famous turn-around team. I believe the year was 1957. It was a good Saturday in our home when Alabama won, and when they lost...the rest of us just stayed out of Dad's way. It was great having an in-house expert when writing Stoney Creek, Alabama. My dad has an incredible wealth of knowledge and interesting stories to share. It was very rewarding to see this portion of our manuscript come together in such a real and vivid way.

Community-Supported Agriculture...

Above photo: by Toni Youngblood
This picture shows a typical yield every three-four days from my tomato garden last summer. That's an artichoke gone to seed from my garden on the right side of the basket. This year, for several reasons, I've decided not to plant a veggie garden. Instead, I'm going to join a CSA. I've considered doing this in the past and this year I'm going to try it. I'm joining Borski Farms CSA which will deliver weekly to an address just blocks from my home. I have purchased one share, which is described as "a small mount (approximately 1 lb. per item) of 3-5 different items per week. One share is good for two adults." My hope is to be introduced to a few new produce items which I may enjoy cooking and perhaps planting in a future garden of my own, as well as shaking up my routine veggie choices at the markets. The season lasts for 15 weeks and the weekly cost averages out to about $13.

The picture below illustrates one of the tasks I have ahead of me in my own garden this year. I don't want to use toxic weed killers in my yard and will be working on more natural methods to get things back in order. I will also be augmenting the soil with the compost I've created over the last year or so.

In the meantime, I'll be experimenting with the CSA and learning exactly what types of produce are our local Utah seasonal wonders!

If you have seen the film, Food, Inc., you will have serious concerns about the effects that mass-produced food processes have on our health. For a quick and facinating history and description of CSA from Wikipedia click here.

Several months ago, I watched the quirky but ultimately satisfying film, The Real Dirt on Farmer John, which documents the resurrection of a family farm through its conversion to a CSA model. Got me thinking about CSA's again. ;o)

Out solving mysteries...

Who left Teddy out in the rain?

Above: Photo by Sparky Youngblood

Something for the birds...

Above: Toni Youngblood - Crows in Tree at Dusk 2010

I was delighted that a member of the board of directors at the Tracy Aviary purchased my painting, Crows in Tree at Dusk 2010, during the Ready to Hatch fund raising event last Thursday evening.

Utah Watercolor Society 2010 Spring Open Exhibition

Artist's Reception is May 7, 2010, 6p.m.-9p.m.

The Schorr Gallery is located at 8000 South Redwood Road (in West Jordan City Building) on the third floor, ph. 801-712-1358.

Above: Toni Youngblood -

Santorini Revisited 2010

I'm very happy the painting I submitted was juried into this show.

Salt Lake City Gallery Stroll Friday April 16

Tomorrow night I will be in at least three places---two are on the Gallery Stroll Calendar and the third is a very special reception for artist Linda Moffit.


Above: Watercolor painting by Linda Moffit--Watercolor Exhibit - April 16 til May 20 Reception Friday April 16 from 6:30 to 9:00 at Ginkgo Gallery

April 16th is the opening reception for Linda Moffit's watercolor exhibit at The Frolic Farm/Ginkgo Gallery and Gift - 2030 South, 900 East Salt Lake City, UT 84105, ph: 801-953-0253, alt: 801-484-4274. I met Linda more than sixteen years ago through co-worker, Sara Miller (architect/interior designer) and Linda has been prodding me to join Utah Watercolor Society for all these years---which I finally did, two years ago. Linda teaches watercolor painting and genuinely and generously expresses joy in the successes of other artists! She paints beautiful watercolors and I enjoy hearing her talk about her creative approach.

Tracy Aviary will open the beautifully restored Chase Mill to Gallery Stroll for their juried Ready to Hatch exhibit, which includes five of my own crow paintings.

Jenevieve Hubbard will be showing her latest work, Narrow Passage at Charley Hafen Jewelers - Gallery.

My "short list" for April Gallery Stroll - April 16th, 6-9 pm. :
Charley Hafen Jewelers – 1409 S 900 E; 801-521-7711, Presenting A Narrow Passage, by Jenevieve Hubbard featuring her new collection of embroidered fingerprints and labyrinthine landscapes painted and carved into wood panel.
Tracy Aviary – 589 E 1300 S in Liberty Park; 801-596-8500, In the Chase Mill, featuring the work of Lucia Heffernan, Jamie Christensen and Toni Youngblood.

For the full listing of this month's Gallery Stroll go here.

catching some rays...

Photo by Toni Youngblood - Harri-berri - Miss Conform-iality

Hanging tomorrow...

Painter Lucia Heffernan, photographer Jamie Christensen and I will be installing our artwork tomorrow morning in the Mill at the Tracy Aviary. Fundraiser is Thursday night and Gallery Stroll is Friday 6-9 PM (40% of proceeds from art sales go to Aviary operations). Each of us will have a wall for grouping our work. My five paintings are shown below. Gleaning Crow - Toni Youngblood 2010
Crows in Tree at Dusk - Toni Youngblood 2010
Found a Peanut, Strutting - Toni Youngblood 2010
Allopreening Mother and Fledgling Crow - Toni Youngblood 2006
Murder of Crows on the Line - Toni Youngblood 2010

Spiral Jetty turns 40 years-old this month...

To celebrate, I'm driving my 1981 FJ40 Land Cruiser out to see it with the Wasatch Cruisers (local chapter of the Toyotal Land Cruiser Association). An interesting article about the art and science of the Jetty appears in this month's issue of 15-Bytes, The Spiral Jetty: Strata of Water .

Photo by Hikmet Loe

Gone Painting...

and using a broader brush...
Above Photo: Fabienne Verdier

Wayfarer

Wayfarer - Sparky Youngblood, Acrylic paint on board, April 2010

Welcome, SPRING!

Happy Spring and Happy Easter!

Pets OFF Furniture

Desire to Inspire blog has a regular feature Monday Pets on Furniture.

I LOVE my greyhounds like any other dog lover...however...letting them up on my furniture? Imagine a 60-80-pound speed machine with legs of steely muscle and claws like a hawk. A creature has to be powerful to break 45 miles/hour in a race, and the toes on those paws are made for digging traction. Unfortunately, in the process of "nesting", my two hound girls have ripped through bedsheets and a protective cover I placed on the sofa. I tried several techniques to discourage them from getting up on the furniture. The most successful was spreading the dining room chairs on the bed and sofa whenever I left the house. That was a chore! I then researched ordering the strips of porcupine-like material used to keep birds from landing on buildings---as shown in the first two photos below...
Just before placing the order, I got a somewhat more...natural idea. I had a couple of dozen tree branches a friend had given me when he cut down his ancient willow tree. I had planned to use them for a little veggie garden fence. I pulled a couple from the cache and draped them across the bed...

and draped one branch across the sofa...

Now the pooches (45 m.p.h. couch potatoes, as greyhounds are called) stay on their own comfy beds...or halfway draped across the carpeted floor...

When I'm ready to go to bed, I just place the tree branches in a corner of the bedroom. They aren't so bad to look at, in themselves.

This is working well for my big dogs, however, a miniature breed would not be discouraged from leaping right up between the branches. They probably wouldn't be capable of ripping through upholstery-grade fabric, however. ;o) P.S. The branch as a motif is not foreign to our little house. Starting with the front porch mailbox with a bird on a branch...

and leading into the foyer...