Happy Designs

"Theme from the Fables of Hans Christian Anderson,"
by nine-year-old Italian art student Iride Berardi,
from the cover of Everyday Art, Volume 36,
Fall Issue 1957 (The American Crayon Company).

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Friday, after what was for me a terrifically hopeful, wonderful week. I'm still in the midst of all my changes, and I'm trying to take them day by day. I'm going to sleep at a decent hour every night (some might say obscenely early) and trying lots of new recipes, with a real emphasis on greens and veggies of all kinds. Who knew that tofu kan tastes so great in a salad? Last night's dinner--grilled portabella mushrooms over spinach with sweet potatoes on the side--was not a huge hit with the kids, but I loved it. The portabella mushrooms taste so meaty! And I've made pumpkin everything so far--fritters, pancakes, puree, muffins, and a pie (my husband made that one; he's the pastry king). I've even managed to get in a few walks this week to enjoy the warm weather.

I also wanted to share some of the graphics from the vintage art education textbooks and magazines that I have collected over the last few months. The art books and magazines from the 1910s through the pre-war years contain wonderful examples of Arts and Crafts design.

End paper for Industrial and Applied Art Books, No. 2, Edited by Walter Scott Perry, Florence H. Fitch, Walter Sargent, and Frederick G. Bonser, Mentzer Bush & Co., 1926.

The Industrial Arts Magazine, March 1917, The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The exuberant, colorful designs from the postwar years really make me happy.

Brayer Print by Norman Laliberte, cover of Everyday Art, Volume 38, Fall Issue 1959 (The American Crayon Company).


I also wanted to share a little trick that a therapist taught me a decade ago. She pointed out that in our daily lives we establish habits (eating buttered popcorn while we watch a movie, eating when we're stressed or bored, watching TV every night, voting for Republicans, etc.) that get ingrained and wear such a familiar little groove in our neural pathways that we automatically do them even when they no longer serve us. To get me unstuck from my unhealthy eating habits, she urged me to try to take a familiar, benign habit and completely change it. So, for example, I usually take the same familiar route to drop off my son at school. It's easy and I don't have to think about it. But in the last week I have figured out several new routes to take. One goes through the arboretum and along a lovely creek, so it was a bonus that I found this lightly traveled and scenic route. It seems silly, but a little change like that can open you up for making other changes in your life and forge some new neural pathways to boot. End of sermon!

Have a great weekend!