Ahhh, relax, refresh, re-energize...

We all need a little R&R. : ) And the beach always does it for me. Here at Siesta Key.

Remember Ceramics Class?

Even when I am on vacation, or maybe especially when I am on vacation I am distracted by beautiful things that I need to capture and share. My niece, Maddy, age 17, created these coasters in ceramics class for the family beach house. I am so charmed by the patterns she created.

Power to the She

Athleta has a new campaign that I love. They put their mission statement right out there in the ad. I love it. And the tagline: Power to the She.

Easter Eggs

My favorite

I love coloring Easter eggs. I grabbed one of those gold pens and doodled some designs over the colors. Playtime on a Saturday night. : )

Irresistible Research

Some people call it retail therapy, I call it consumer research. I am working on a project and I needed to do some target audience research at Anthropologie. I swear, I cannot go into that store without leaving with something for myself. This time it was these charming cups which have kept me inspired and happy for days. They even make pea soup look good.

This is how I show my love on Valentine's Day...

More about Oberlin

There were a lot of cool shops and gallery-type places in Oberlin. I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was kind of busy browsing. But I snapped a few at this one shop that had the most gorgeous textiles. It seemed like most of the items were African, masks and such, but I was mostly focused on these fabrics. A lot of batiks and absolutely beautiful patterns and colors.

The Cause of Art is The Cause of The People: Allen Memorial Museum of Art

I went on a field trip yesterday with a group of friends out to Oberlin, OH, home of Oberlin College and the Allen Memorial Art Museum. I was overwhelmed by the collection at this museum! Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Cezanne, de Kooning, Klee, Warhol, Lichtenstein to name only a very few. So many impressive and beautiful works in a wonderful building. The outside of the building has an inscription on one side that says "The Fine Arts A Heritage from the Past" and on the other side "The Fine Arts A Gift To The Future"

There were actually many collections to view including art from the Italian Renaissance, Egyptian art,  African art...But these were my favorites from the contemporary pieces. I need to return soon and see the Frank Lloyd Wright House that is also a part of the AMAM.

Tangerine Tango, my new best friend. Pantone 2012 Color of the Year.

I think I just like saying that name, Tangerine Tango. Pantone 2012 Color of the Year is Tangerine Tango. Love the color. Love the name.
By the way, the color is Pantone 17-1463 and you can find the color data here. And if your swatch books are as outdated as mine, Pantone has a palette for Adobe applications that you can download here. Thanks, Pantone!

Above, is a style board, playing with some Venice-inspired surface designs using the color of the year, Tangerine Tango! Here's a peek at some more color tests:

Watercolor exploration with orange.

with violet...

maybe with brown...

more color exploration...

You can view more of my work at cathyhuntstudio.net

Buon Natale!

Merry Christmas, Roman-style! Many of the restaurants in Italy had beautiful displays of food either in their windows or in front of the doorway, but this place in Rome was dressed early for Christmas.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Ahhh, The Colors & Textures of Venice

Late afternoon light on the Grand Canal

My sister-in-law, Annie.
"Everyone looks more glamorous with Venice in the background."

Venice made me feel like I was a photographer...with my point & shoot.

I just returned from Italy and I am newly inspired! What a beautiful place. It will take more than one post to cover even the highlights, but I am starting where the trip started, in Venice. What I loved most about Venice was all the ancient, weathered walls and window shutters in beautiful, muted colors and textures. The pinks, corals, ochres and earthy grays and browns have me inspired to start a new series of watercolors. 

Collage of texture and the start of a new palette.

My favorite photo of Venice.
Residents chat with their pull cart of market purchases
 on this side street off Via Garibaldi.