My art collection is growing!

Let's see my new art!! Wait, I have to tell you where it came from first! The estate sale of famed New Orleans socialite Mickey Easterling. 

This woman was amazing! I became totally intrigued by her after she passed away a few months ago and caused quite a stir. See, Mickey was a partier. She was very wealthy and supported the arts but was very over the top. So over the top that at her funeral (held at the Saenger Theatre) she requested to be embalmed and positioned on a bench with a cocktail in one hand and a cigarette in the other! Only in New Orleans folks... only in New Orleans. 

I really went to the estate sale in search of awesome vintage clothes (which I got but that's a whole other post!) and happened upon a few awesome pieces of art. Oops! 

The first one is a classic nude line drawing. Signed but can't make out who the artist is but reminds me of Matisse. i love drawings like this. It's in our bedroom over the mantle and I love looking at it. I'd never get sick of this gal! It's about 36" x 24" so it's a good size. Framed and matted too. 

The above one was a no brainer to me but then I noticed this interesting black and white painting shoved in a corner turned around so people wouldn't notice it. I was on the fence on whether I liked it or not... then I googled the artist and was sold! It's by the Japanese artist Toko Shinoda.  She's 101 years old and her art merges traditional calligraphy with modern abstract expression. Her art has been shown at museums throughout the world. 

Here it is in our living room. I love it!! I had tried it in our dining room first but didn't like it at all - I thought oh no, why did I buy this!? I don't think I like it! BUT I moved it here to the living room and it looks so good in there. Funny how the placement of certain pieces can change whether you like them or not.

Speaking of living room - here's another shot of the art but also check out my new curtains I made!! (sorry for dark crap picture but you get the idea) FINALLY!!! Simple white linen drapes that were super easy to make and not sure why it took me over 3 years to finally get this done!?

And last but certainly not least, I bought this massive totally 80's ink and watercolor portrait of Mickey Easterling! This thing is huge. Now, I know this is not for everyone but it spoke to me. I saw it at the estate sale on the first day and thought it was cool then that night I started reading more about Miss Easterling and thought it would be neat to have a portrait of this true bon vivant! A great conversation piece and a part of New Orleans history as well. 

By the way, this is the temporary dining room when looking over the sink -before real renovations begin on the new kitchen/dining area - that will take place in 2025 ;)

OMG I almost forgot - notice that burn mark on her shoulder in the above picture?? Yes, that's right - the plexiglass frame has a burn mark!! The burn mark almost makes the painting even better in a weird way because that Mickey liked to party and I envision some fabulous party at her house where everyone was wasted and a candle tipped over onto the painting! 

I know she liked to party because 90% of her amazing clothes had stains, burn marks, etc. and I'm fairly certain she only wore each piece once - there were hundreds of gowns and dresses. Kinda makes her even cooler to me. From what I read she always had a champagne glass in hand and even brought her on glass to restaurants incase they didn't have the type of glass she liked! 

 The painting is very well done and has a lot of detail. I'm trying to make out the artists signature still. The entire thing is mostly done with cross hatching which I thought was cool. You can kind of see it in these pictures.

Hope you liked my new art!!