Sugar with a Touch of Spice: A Gentle Blend for the Musical Pallette

This is a beautiful song, which was performed live at my alma mater in 2008. In many regards, I was a late-comer on the Avett Brothers wave, only truly getting into their music last fall. But, the more I explore, the more I am taken aback by the depth of their lyrics and by the tender, stripped down nature of songs like this one. Take a sip of their music, and you might leave with a hint of lemon on your lips; drink deeply and the flavors will meld in your mouth like a fresh glass of carefully steeped sweet tea that slowly burrows its way into many a southern repertoire. Enjoy!

Spring Orchid Tour

Lately, I've been taking some intentional outings to cultivate my design sensibilities. This past Sunday, I stopped through downtown DC for a few hours and spent a bit of time at the US Botanic Garden to stimulate my senses. During this particular visit, I browsed around primarily in the orchids section, which is the portion of the gardens right inside the main entrance. Immediately upon entering the room, I was hit with the wonderful light aroma of flowers and warmed by the rays sifting in through the high glass overhead. I snapped a few pictures which i've included below. For you photo gurus, please excuse the low quality of these photos, they were taken with an iPhone, since the visit was a bit off the cuff.

In this picture, I wanted to capture the juxtaposition between the moss, flowers, and water. I love how the water in this photo has taken on a bit of a soft and shimmery quality, which adds a nice contrast with the hard edges formed by the moss' visual character and the burgundy-spotted orchids with their vibrant yellow backdrop.

This delicate blend reminds me a bit of pansies, and I really enjoy how the colors in this flower play off of each other in an almost tiger-striped pattern.

I really fell in love with the pattern on these yellow flowers and ended up taking many pictures of them for future inspiration. The bright daffodil-yellow of these flowers is stunning and I love the carefully-placed water droplet effect that the burgundy shade plays, helping to pump up the volume for these beauts.

A Different Kind of Passion for Fashion

Image: Vogue "Beauty and the Beast" Shoot

Last weekend I watched "The September Issue," a documentary about Vogue (or about as close as it comes) and boy was I in for a surprise! In watching this film, I expected to see a bit more of the human side of the ever-watched Anna Wintour, but instead I found myself captivated by one Grace Coddington. This woman stands as a fierce red-headed ribbon of distinction amongst Vogue's elite. 

In the documentary, Coddington is featured wearing comfy loafers to the Vogue offices and sporting several loose-fitting semi-casual black ensembles. And yet, as Coddington unfolds her creations as Vogue's creative director all one can do is simply stand back in sheer awe. Even Wintour notes Coddington's creative genius, and this genius is wildly evident in Coddington's photos that made it into this documentary. 

To Wintour's potential shame, Coddington is the star of this movie. "The September Issue's" filmmakers reveal stunning image after image shot under Coddington's perceptive eye. These images have such sophistication, such beauty, and such humanness. And, they're fun to boot. Quite honestly, they stand as a stark contrast to much of the content featured in the beauty industry and are a true breath of fresh air amidst too much uber-modernist flair. 

And there you have it, I believe that Grace Coddington is literally breathing life into the pages of Vogue through her self-styled, self-directed photo shoots. At times, her photos are whimsical and airy, at others they are highly styled with ornate backdrops and over-the-top hairstyles, but they are always about more than selling clothes or even selling a lifestyle. Her photos express the part of the fashion tale that opens up our emotions, not our pocketbooks. To that effect, i'll close with a quote from Coddington herself:

You have to have that fashion story. You know, spots are in, or stripes, or full skirts, or straight skirts, or whatever it is. But I try to make that secondary. We build a fantasy around the girl and what she's doing, what she's thinking, who she is. [emphasis added]