“Art is not about art. Art is about life, and that sums it up.”

 This week's muse is French-American artist and pioneer Louise Bourgeois. 

I'm so excited to share with you the latest in our 5 Things series with Rachel Saunders of Rachel Saunders Ceramics. 5 Things is a series of interviews where we talk with inspiring female leaders making waves in their industry. 

Even as a native Angeleno, Los Angeles continually surprises me. For a city that gets a bad reputation for being superficial, you'd be surprised to find that L.A. has a lot of depth hidden beneath the surface. There is no better example of this than the annual Mercado Sagrado, a two-day event (Nov. 4th + 5th) quietly tucked away in hills of Malibu Canyon that offers an array of workshops, lectures, and activities intended to inspire grounding, creativity, self work, and community. Workshops include everything from learning how to grow your own food, read tarot cards, tie dye with indigo, and activities like sound baths, breath work and meditation, and a kava ceremony. With speakers like Shiva Rose, Josh Siegel, and Olympia Auset, you can learn about love and numerology, biohacking, holistic living, clean beauty, and the intersection of spirituality and social justice. With so much going on, you hardly have time to explore all of the many unique and like-minded vendors in their marketplace.

"I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you." --Frida Kahlo

Today, we celebrate the birthday of the woman who taught us that the ultimate form of art is self-acceptance. Happy Birthday, Frida! 

  

Happy Birthday to one of our favorite female artists, Shirin Neshat! 

It comes as no surprise that one of this summer's biggest trends is the nature-inspired print. Exotic floral and palm prints have graced the runways this season in a variety of forms: peplum and bra tops, pants, form-fitting dresses, and high-waisted skirts.  Although often overlooked, fruit and vegetable patterns have also made their way into the Spring/ Summer 2012 collections of countless designers, including Dolce & Gabbana, Moschino Cheap & Chic, Missoni, and Kenzo.

Dolce & Gabbana 2012

Kenzo, Paris 2012 

Dolce & Gabbana 2012

The resurgence of nature-inspired prints as a major trend this season suggests a humble return to the earth and celebration of nature and its bounty.  The naturalistic theme and combination of warm yellows, oranges, and greens in these patterns are reminiscent of the portrait and landscape paintings of the famous French post-impressionist artist, Paul Gauguin.

Gauguin (1848-1903) is best known for his painted scenes of Tahiti, characterized by a stark contrast of bold colors and depiction of soft, rounded human figures.

Femmes de Tahiti (Sur la plage) [(Tahitian Women (On the Beach)]

1891 (150 Kb); Oil on canvas, 69 x 91 cm (27 1/8 x 35 7/8 in); Musee d'Orsay, Paris 

Nave, Nave Moe (Miraculous Source) 

1894; Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

For the majority of his early life, Gauguin worked as an artist in Paris, where he lived a bohemian lifestyle typical of artists during the late 19th century. However, Gauguin quickly grew dissatisfied with the Parisian bourgeois society and in 1891, left Paris and Western civilization as whole for the remote island of Tahiti.  For Gauguin, Tahiti was a land of beautiful and strong people, untainted by the superficiality of Western culture and instead, grounded in a love and respect for the earth and natural environment that surrounded them.  

-----RD