Kalika Gorski Hezbollah Rally #2 (Every light city scene from afar), 2007
Colored pencil on vellum, 19 x 24 inches

For a while I have been meaning to post about artist Kalika Gorski -- we've taken 6 of her special drawings on consignment here at the shop. Each one is different, and though they tackle a range of subject matter (from the roles of Muslim women revolutionaries to poetic studies of nature) the common thread seems to be the study of conflict.

Kalika Gorski, Civil War Battle Study, 2005
Ink on vellum, 9 x 12 inches

For more info, including Gorski's bio, statement, more images or prices you can shoot me an email at sarah[at]saipua.com.

[delivery from last week, coral peony with salmon parrot tulips and peach roses]

[Plant shopping at Rudolph's - a "perenial paradise" - upstate in Carmel, NY.]

HA! Now that I have your attention with frilly Saipua stuff, lets get on with it...

My recent obsession with the Eurythmics! I could jump out of my chair watching this live version from '89, its so damn good!

I woke up this morning with this song in my head.* Watch the original here (you have to! its so bizarre) complete with whats-his-name from John Waters' films dressed as an angel.

Unrelated, but equally interesting is the Arctic Hysteria show at PS1. Went on Monday to see the Olafur Eliasson, but was more taken with the mystical gems showcased as part of this contemporary survey of Finnish art. Veli Granö’s film; Meet You in Finland Angel was breathtaking - a documentary of a Finnish couple who believe their daughter was taken by aliens and raised on Sirius. Poignant, mystical, and beautifully crafted; the film takes you through their difficult and mundane lives to an end where they transcend to reunite with Mika.




*last night's dream: I'm shopping in a mall department store with Nicole Richie. she's complaining that her managers have cut a deal with some large retailer, and there are now several "Nicole Richie" discount clothing stores sprinkled around New Jersey. I sympathize. Then I advise her to buy a large Prada tote bag for $14,375.

These fantastical gouache paintings by Tom Long are incredible and speak to the mystic in me today. [Found on Fecal Face.]

pollination

I've had pollination on the brain lately as I'm waiting for my tomato plants to get some attention from the few bees left in NYC...and I love this series by Kristi Moore of Asphalt and Air.

flower update

Bouquet for the bride above with a mix of tulips, goosenecks, trifolium, callas, freesia, peonies, and roses.


Bridesmaids had a more neutral palette; with peonies, goosenecks, geranium leaves, and a type of gladiolia I can't remember the name of...some smoke bush in there too.


Centerpieces packed up.

the Ballet, BBG and a burrito.

This review in Monday's Times prompted me to scramble for tickets to the last performance of Bach to Glass: A Musical Odessey II, a ballet choreographed by the late Jerome Robbins. In three parts, the performance transversed solo piano and cello suites of Bach, a violin concerto by Alban Berg, and three scores by Philip Glass (whose music demands a more contemporary approach to ballet.) The last segment was the highlight for me - my first encounter with Glass transformed on stage. (I am now completely enthralled with his 1984 opera Akhnaten.)

Also we visited the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens on Tuesday (June is rose month) and ate a burrito at Buddy's.

Eric has requested that all his food be wrapped in burritos. We've had many conversations like this lately:

ME: What do you want for dinner?...How about pasta and peas?

HIM: OK, wrapped in a burrito??

The screened in summer loveliness upstate and extra Paula Fey peonies for Dad in place of the remote control submarine I still can't find.

"When you put it on, something happens."

Man, I'm fortunate to work with some really stylish and classy ladies. This last wedding was really fantastic, and the bride chose a red and black color palette that made my heart sing after a lot of white weddings this season. Like usual we used everything but the kitchen sink; red charm peonies, scabiosa, garden roses, astrantia, chocolate cosmos, carnations (!), blushing bride proteas, astilbe, cymbidum orchids, and probably some other things I'm forgetting.... goosenecks. allium.


The bride gave me a wide black sash that matched her dress to tie off the bouquet. Really dramatic and lovely.

'Twas at the very chic soho house. Everytime i go there (which admittedly is really never) I see someone famous. Recently the old DA from Law and Order SVU; Alex. Guess she's not in witness protection after all, cuz the lady was planning a party.


Anyway its a members only club. which makes me think of the Members Only jackets that everyone's dad had in the 80's. Jackets which unfortunately have reemerged as a vintage token of hipster-dom. If I had one I would wear it to Soho house, and when asked for my club card, would point at my breast pockets with the Members Only insignia and do a little wink or thumbs up or something.

LOVE

When I was a kid my sister and I watched Really Rosie (by Maurice Sendak and Carole King) so many times the man in the video store finally gave us the movie. I lost it now, but can watch the whole thing in pieces on YouTube. Incidentally, I related to Pierre as a child, which is why I am sharing this particular clip. Chicken Soup with Rice is also stellar.

before and after

One of the busiest weeks. Pictures of flowers soon. Closed the shop today to recuperate and visit the Saipua patriarch, Pentti... Still learning how to relax, I'm lounging poolside with my laptop brainstorming flowers for our next wedding and reading this article on hypochondria that I really shouldn't. Eric is wrapping soap. Not poolside.

Fortunately there is a cocktail and an excellent meal at the end of every Saipua rainbow.

Queens; Burrough of Dreams.

Pictures from Queens Museum Benefit yesterday. Must keep working...

some curly willow roots and cymbidiums from a while back. our family cat RZA. right now i'm sitting on the floor surrounding by 32 vases of Mountain Laurel that need 1. smoke bush, 2. Paula Fey Peonies, and some other jams in order to become table arrangements for the Queens Museum tomorrow. It's eric's birthday. I have to go pick up his gift which is available on Atlantic Avenue. Maybe we will use it to make supper. He is wearing a bandanna that makes him look like a kamikazi warrior. He steps into the front to grab the tape gun. I am taking a last sip of cold coffee. it is 3:14 pm.

someday I will have more interesting blog posts.
SR

While working on a photoshoot this past March we found Cynthia Emerlye's hand-cut snowflake mandala's on her Etsy site and requested them to decorate a Christmas Tree. She was kind enough to send a few dozen of them for us to oogle. I have been meaning to share them with you ever since. Tonight, sitting in 90+ degree heat, they offer a refreshing escape.

Passion flowers.

oasis

a bermuda heat wave hit us yesterday in NYC 100 degrees of unbearable-ness...or as my friend Barbara says; crotch-rot weather. I really don't do well in the heat. I think of Spike Lee style heat-induced violence, the city's taxed power grid, malamutes and Siberian huskies forced to walk around the steaming pavement...

But today a friend and I found an oasis on pier 41. Lime Ade, a waterfall and tropical foliage.



I would skip summer if I could and fast forward to fall ... where I would have the guts to cut all my hair off like Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby and be wearing these clothes.. and would never get nervous about wedding flowers.

Just visited Aunt Lou's blog and found music by Rio En Medio... go to their myspace page and play Let's Groove. It's the bee's knees, or I can't stop listening to it, or it's saving me from my Marianne Faithful downward spiral.

Wrapped candles today. Ate soup. Realized Soup has no connection to Flowers. But something to do with Soap. Soup, Soap. Tricky isn't it!? Ah life...it's the little things folks!

Did you listen to that song yet?

I'm switching over to white vinegar instead of bleach for cleaning vases and around the shop...bleach has been doing a number on my hands...

Look at all the uses vinegar has here!!
Bend a chicken bone and call me in the morning!!

I also made a fungicide for my ailing scabiosa plant with the following fomula:

1 gal H2o
2 T. vegetable oil
1 T. baking soda
1 T. Dr. Bronners (or any non-toxic liquid soap)

Then I went out an spayed and neutered all the stray cats in Red Hook.

And now I'm turning water into wine!

Finally getting around to reading Botany of Desire. Spring dinner of fresh peas with bibb letuce and buttermilk dressing. Strawberry rhubarb cobbler. Brian Eno on the stereo. Eric reads The Onion outloud. I'm comatose around 10:30.

A special yellow peony arrangement for a birthday today.

This past weekend, amidst a furry of wedding-ness I found solace in Pandora radio once again. With my coveted R. STEWART radio channel. Which plays Rod Stewart and Elton John exclusively. Thats right, I said it: EXCLUSIVELY. Because easy listening is always better than a meltdown.

[The ceiling of the ballroom at Prospect Ballroom.]

[wedding party flowers with peony, rose, love-in-the-mist, thyme, lambs ear, pincushion flowers, goosenecks, pulsatilla]

More weddings. More hot days with no new summer clothes. Dolce de Leche. Eric's impression of the cat throwing up.