artful body painting with mud and a bottle

We found this startling image on Roy Arden’s blog…as usual, no provenance. Oh, but the beauty you can create with some mud and a (Coke) bottle…like this curiously chic, modernist pattern stenciled right on. (We love the idea of our bodies as a canvas). Related posts: body as artist’s canvas “why doesn’t everybody paint their…

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a wondrous ipad app for kids and adults

Yesterday, we downloaded several iPad apps, hoping to check in with what the latest technology was doing. We tried apps for viewing art, reading magazine articles, listening to music that promised to present a ‘multi-dimensional experience.’ Among the most compelling was an multi-dimensional app designed for children, that charmed and resonated with our grownup selves.…

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reader’s improv: street tennis

Film Maker/ProducerLauren Malkasian recently sent us this email: “We love your daily inspirations and have very much been taken, moved and forever changed by ‘the improvised life’; it’s like a magic tonic everyday. So here is a little something from us, all the way from LA, that we thought you might enjoy. We live on a street…

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post halloween candy stash

If you’re a kid, one of the pleasures of trick-or-treating is AFTERWARDS, when you’ve got a big stash of candy. Maria Robledo sent us this photo of her daughte Isabel’s haul: “she organizes her Halloween catch & stashes it conveniently under the couch for easy access while reading…” We envy that very cagey strategy… Related…

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kid’s book we love: joel henrique’s ‘made to play’

We’ve written before about how much we love Made By Joel’s, Joel Henrique’s website that features his charming handmade children’s toys. This October 11th will mark the release of Joel’s first book, Made to Play!: Handmade Toys and Crafts for Growing Imaginations.The book compiles a number of great toy-making and craft projects for children and…

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‘what every girl/person needs’ via miranda july

We’ve loved Miranda July’s work for a long time because her work always directly addressed the INSIDE of our heads, all those crazy voices and opinions and questions that take up so much space, and are really NOT who we are. Suddenly she’s become pretty famous because of the Future, her recent film that is getting…

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aelita andre: what if you gave a child their own art studio?

When she was two years old, Aelita Andre, now four, created paintings so sophisticated and beautiful, they fooled an art dealer, who thought they’d been done by an adult and wanted to represent her. Since then, Andre has gained worldwide fame, and her own website and dealer. Seeing her gallery of paintings makes us think…

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ellen silverman shot gwyneth paltrow !!! (w recipe)

Our dear friend Ellen Silverman, resident photographer at ‘the improvised life’, did all the photos for Gwyneth Paltrow‘s new cookbook My Father’s Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness. To quote Heather Horn of The Atlantic Online “the book is an eyeful”, no doubt due to Ellen’s sensual and luminous images. Here’s a sampling of…

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how to dye easter eggs with food-based dyes (easy!)

Easter is next Sunday, and we’re planning on dyeing Easter Eggs, the holiday’s totally fun, messy activity that invariably yields charming results. Eggs become our blank canvas on which to improvise all sorts of gorgeous colors and designs. We love Ambatalia’s post on making your own plant-derived egg dyes out of ordinary foods, like onion skin for…

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