Weekend Art School - William Wegman

William Wegman (b. 1943 in Holyoke, Massachusetts) is an artist best known for creating series of compositions involving dogs, primarily his own Weimaraners in various costumes and poses.

Hansel und Gretl

Wegman reportedly originally intended to pursue a career as a painter. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from Massachusetts College of Art in 1965 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1967.


While teaching at California State University, Long Beach, he acquired the first and most famous of the dogs he photographed, a Weimaraner he named Man Ray (after the artist and photographer). Man Ray later became so popular that the Village Voice named him "Man of the Year" in 1982. He named a subsequent dog Fay Ray (a play on the name of actress Fay Wray).

Miss Mit

On January 29, 1992, Wegman appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and showed a video clip of "Dog Duet," his 1975 short of Man Ray & another dog slowly and mysteriously peering around. Wegman explained that he had created the video by moving a tennis ball around, off-camera, thus capturing the dogs' attention.

William Wegman was artist-in-residence at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts in spring 2007 where his work featured on campus in the Addison Gallery of American Art.

On Set

Wegman has also been an artist in residence at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, Massachusetts where his Circus series was created with the College's 20x24 inch Polaroid camera. He received the College's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1987.

Wegman's dogs first appeared on Sesame Street in 1989. Fay Ray starred in segments like "Old McFay Counts to 40". In February 1996, descendants Battina, Crooky, Chundo, and Chip starred in new segments based on nursery rhymes. Wegman told Entertainment Weekly, "They are only [being shot] maybe 30 seconds at a time. The rest of the time they're sitting around, rather blase about life."

Evolution of a Bottle in Space

Wegman's photos are well-respected in the art world, are held in permanent collections of the Hammer Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. His photos and videos have also been a popular success, and have appeared in books, advertisements, films, as well as on television programs like Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live. In 2006, Wegman's work was featured in a retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Norton Museum of Art, and the Addison Gallery of American Art. The Brooklyn Museum explored 40 years of Wegman’s work in all media in the 2006 retrospective William Wegman: Funney/Strange. The exhibition also ran at the Wexner Center for the Arts in 2007.

My Art-Full Life - Home Decor

I love decorating and I love being crafty. Sometimes the two combine.  In honor of Friday's Living the Art-Full Life posts, I thought I would share with you some of the artsy-crafty goodness that I have been working on in our house:

This was a dark wood, vintage credenza style record player that was all busted up, but the player still worked.  Got it at a garage sale for $20 and created this:
 

Guitar Picks cover the two outer panels

Still working on the side piece. Not quite sure what I plan to do yet!

I also worked on creating a stained glass looking creation on my TV stand.  It is actually just black paint on the outside glass and colored glass painted inside to create the stained glass effect.

An old IKEA lamp became the perfect place to use all the leftover glass bead pieces I have been making over the years.

And below is what may become the newest addition to my site http://www.prettyusefulstuff.com/.  Just need to finish it and decide if I like it as a card or a print:

Are YOU living the Art-Full Life? Tell us all about it - we'd love to feature you and your work!

Earth Day, Every Day

"The Earth is what we all have in common." - Wendell Barry

Today is Earth Day and though EVERY day should be Earth Day, it is nice to have a date to honor our planet. We take so much of it for granted - the air, the sky, the sun....just to name a few.  Today, take a moment to truly realize the wonder that is our home. 

Below are some beautiful Earth Day inspired pieces from Etsy for today's treasury:

From Top to Bottom, Left to Right: River Rock Earth Magnets by Casa Expressions $10, Earth Day Girl Art Print by Little Sage Creations $13, Vinyl Wall Decal by Pop Wall $80, Earth Day Ernie by Plush Team $20, Boho Earth Girl Necklace by Wickedly Good $30, Earth Pinup Girl Vase by Laura Walls Taylor $175

I'm Right On Top of That, Rose!

Years ago I was an Administrative Assistant and while I don't miss the paperwork or the incessant phone ringing, I do miss Administrative Professionals Day. The day when lunches were paid for, flowers were sent to the office and everyone stopped by to say "Thank you."

Now, I truly feel we should thank our co-workers daily, but just in case you have some making up to do this year, here are some unique secretary / administrative assistant gifts for that special someone in your office life:

From Top to Bottom, Left to Right: Mad Men Perfect PinUp Office Art by Vanguard Gallery  $48.95,  Hello Kitty USB Flash Drives  $34,  Stapleless Stapler  $9, Vintage Style Typewriter Necklace by Luna Shine Shine $24, Fuzzy Wuzzy Flocked Pencils $10.95, Secretary Bird Collage by Catwalk $35.00, "BookCup" Notebook $47.05,  USB Heated Slippers $25, Sassy Secretary Bracelet by t8designs $38

Living in a Perfectly Imperfect World

Vogue has announced that this fall - imperfect is in.

Their Style Guide states, "Do you ever see a girl on the street- maybe she's a model, maybe she's just cool-and her hair, tucked behind an ear, in a loose ponytail, or falling out of a low bun, is just right?....That's the key to fall: Real Beauty. That's what we call perfectly imperfect."

Photo courtesy of Glam

Viktor & Rolf were way ahead of this trend with their gorgeous Summer/Spring 2010 line that featured layers of thin chiffon, cut and equipped with holes to create divine imperfections.

Photo courtesy of Design Related

 "Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." - Marilyn Monroe

Some of my favorite perfectly imperfect things:

Organic Rough Diamond Earrings by Lex Luxe on Etsy

Splendidly Imperfect Girl Mug by Imperfect World on Etsy

Imperfect Angel Photograph courtesy of

Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel

Broken China and Silver Plated Fork Pendants by

Gus Karlson (Dr Gus) as seen on http://www.men-access.com/.

Photography by Jessica Faren

"Sometimes we strive so hard for perfection that we forget that imperfection is happiness."

Without The Rain, There Would Be No Rainbows

Rain coats are cute, but I LOVE umbrellas. They can enhance the look of an outfit, express personal style and be whimsical, romantic, mysterious and even trend-setting.  They can be used in decor, art or yes....even to keep youself dry on a rainy day.  Bring on the rain:

Images above courtesy of The Crooked Brains Blog who created

an amazing gallery of umbrella art installations.

This graffiti appeared in New Orleans, USA in August and was part of a spree of new Banksy Graffiti to mark the anniversary of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

This high-quality print is from Visual Creatures on Etsy. 

The Umbrella by luminatii evokes sadness and loneliness in its beauty.

And just the opposite, Fashion Fucsia's Marie and Umbrellas is pure happiness.

Art Shark Design's City Love prints are sooo sweet.

I can't wait until they do a Florida set!

Ready Made Magazine gives instructions on how to make this retro-inspired umbrella pendant lamp. I am a little superstitious though (about opening umbrellas inside)...does this lamp trap the bad luck in between? ;)

And some of my favorite umbrellas:

Bella Pagoda B&W Pinwheel at Umbrellas.net

Illegal to own, but really badass

guy de jean's sexy umbrellas - produced by guy de jean for jean paul gaultier, 2006 -2008

Courtesy of Popgloss

My inner geek adores this very much - it looks like a lightsaber!

 LED umbrella

Sleek, modern, playful and space saving - Splash is the most design-versatile piece on the market.  Created by Japanese designer, Yasuhiro Asana, this umbrella stand is shaped like water splashing out of a puddle and can store both wet and dry umbrellas. (Great find from http://www.lushlee.com/!)