Looking for something new to decorate the holidays this year, I’ve become smitten with origami decorations for the tree, to hang in the window, or place on the table. Or even to give as a small gift. I learned of the idea from my friend Peta Rimington, who had a gourmet food store and cafe called…
Read MoreWhen contemplating a life change, what’s better: scared or sensible? How does one choose? And why? After wrestling for several grueling weeks with making a radical, lock-stock-and-barrel move, I’ve decided to stay put and work on making a meaningful internal geographic instead. In many ways this kind of psychological change is a much tougher adventure, in…
Read MoreOn design sites recently, we’ve been noticing quite a few interesting iterations of industrial storage cabinets —new and vintage—as furniture, like the classic Bisley 10-drawer steel storage cabinet, above. We’ve relied on the trusty Ikea lacquered metal Helmer drawer cabinets ($39) for years,
Read MoreInspired by Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”, Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde created a wondrous solar-powered LED bicycle path that glows luminous green in the dark. The path, which has been likened to a “river of stars, fallen down ‘Starry Night’”, is located in Brabant, the county where the painter was raised. How wonderful it would be as…
Read MoreI saw this old dhow (wooden boat) in the harbor at Lamu in 1988 and took a quick shot of the transom. It was a lousy photo and I always regretted not getting a better shot. Then I found this one of the very same boat in Bibi Jordan’s book, Swahili Chic: The Feng Shui of…
Read MoreI’ve been collecting a stash of graffiti images for a while. They range from cutie kitsch to angry gangbanger to political harangues. The ones I like best combine existing natural foliage with painted images and play around with scale—large and small—creating an improvised, witty, public art gallery.
Read MoreAs fall turns inexorably toward winter, the Day of the Dead festivities serve to help us re-experience
a powerful and sustaining truth: that the intense sorrow of death and the intense joy of living are indivisibly
and forever, One.
Halloween is Friday, and we’re anticipating many examples of The Art of the Pumpkin. As with other materials-for-making, pumpkins inspire what to do IF we “listen to that which wants to be done“, a la Anni Albers. If the message is unclear, or you’re feeling uninspired, here are some unusual jack-o’-lantern examples to spark your imagination.
Read MoreReading Holton Rower’s “Run Toward Your Fear” sign recently, I recalled a remark that Tom Robbins made to me years ago when I was fretting about whether to sign up to design a big, new project with a tight deadline that required a great many skills I did not have—skills I would have to learn on…
Read MoreJapanese artist Tanaka Tatsuya witty miniature worlds inspire our own improvisations using tiny toy people. After all, when life seems out of control, and the world’s closing in, nothing’s more centering than taking a moment to stop and play.
Read MoreI’m crazy about how mirrors can animate a room and bring it to life. Particularly oversize, leaning mirrors. I thought these were beauties. … You don’t need to do anything — no hanging or rigging; just set them where the look best or reflect the best view. An oversize picture frame can easily be fitted…
Read More(Video link HERE.) State-of-the art eating in Ethiopia. Made by hand, eaten by hand. When I was there, I don’t think I saw a cooking utensil that wasn’t either wood or clay, a rough panga for chopping beef, and a cheap plastic cup here and there for pouring. No need for Sur la Table, Williams-Sonoma or a…
Read MoreThe invitation to a baby shower asked guests to include a note divulging our most sage piece of advice for successful child wrangling. Two words make an equally effective mantra spoken anytime and anywhere—with significant others, friends, co-workers, and all the others with whom you co-exist. Here they are.
Read MoreSusan Dworski sent us an email recently with images of a dish from Green Kitchen Stories: Shakshuuka with Hummus and Sweet Potato Chips, and this note: We eat Shakashuka for Sunday night supper at leasst twice a month. Or more. My recipe is very similar to this one, but their hummus sounds great. And the chips.…
Read MoreSusan Dworski sent us this powerful quote from poet May Sarton after we mentioned how helpful reading Pema Chodrun is during times of upheavel, accompanied by this note: Pema’s book is a standby at our house. Good call on that one. It reminded me of a quote from poet May Sarton that has always been an inspiration…
Read MoreSince posting the sudden announcement a week ago that I would be taking a break due to a confluence of big life events, I’ve received the most generous response from Improvised Life’s readers: notes of sympathy, gratitude, understanding, support, all affirming that family is to be found in places we don’t often imagine.
Read More(Video link HERE.) Don’t know about you, but we could use some fantasy flying about now. Although we find ourselves a bit over saturated with GoPri videos and curiously jaded to their magical effects, not so with this video of acrobats “dancing” on the side of a building. We find it even more magical with the…
Read MoreWe have an infestation of flies in this Southern California heat. Particularly in the kitchen. Having no screens no doubt complicate the issue. But, hey, we haven’t really had to deal with this before. In a fit of rage I started shooting them down this afternoon with PAM oil spray wherever they landed. Overjoyed to…
Read MoreWhen we saw the image, above, of a hacked cargo bike Susan Dworski spotted on a Venice California beach, we thought of our old friend Peter Hoffman, chef of Back Forty and Back Forty West (formerly the great Savoy) in NYC. When his kids were young, he’d ride his odd-looking custom-made cargo bike to Union Square…
Read MoreRecalling Virginia del Giudice‘s recent post on using needlework to cover holes in vintage garments, Susan Dworski alerted us to an inspiring iteration on the theme of embroidery fixes:
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