Graffiti Day

Mr. Smiley :) Put on a happy face! ♡

It's almost Friday! (Thank goodness.) We've been busy with several upcoming projects that I can't wait to share with you guys! I really haven't had the time to go and check out the new graffiti and street art in my neighborhood lately. I enjoy these city walkabouts, very much so, with my pooch, MaQ. We've been at this for a couple of years, running around the city and him posing in front of some seriously talented and amazing art! But this morning I had a little extra time so off we went! You can check out MaQ's Instagram feed for tons of New York City graffiti, videos and more! As you can see, he takes pride in his modeling work. It's tough being a stud muffin! :)

The first art piece MaQ posed with is Zukie's Art and these adorable lil' critters. According to the artist, "Zukies are mysterious creatures that do not talk. They communicate with thought bubbles and facial expressions. Zukies intend to generate emotions through their visual thoughts and that is how they create an emotional bond with us." - Miss Zukie

Bullseye! ◎

Happy Happy, Thank God it's almost Friday! Let's dance!

I can't seem to find the artist who did the mural with the bullseye in the background. If anyone by any chance knows, please get a hold of me! I always leave credit where credit is due. It drives me nuts when I can't find something I'm looking for! Can anyone else relate to this? :P

The photo to the left is me in front of Steve Zolin's mural. His graphic art is just simply amazing! It reminded me of Diego Rivera's work at the Detroit Institute of Arts. There's so much life and color in Mr. Zolin's piece even though when I look at the mural as a whole, it's very industrial-inspired. Lots of blue and purple tones, as if it's being vivacious with feelings of melancholy simultaneously.

Centre-fuge Public Art Project with Hissxx's kitty cats & MaQ!

Yay! Hiss Art has made yet another appearance at the well-known trailer that displays graffiti from different artists with the Centre-fuge Public Art Project. We photographed some of his older work as well a few months back on this graffiti blog post. Funny random fact about MaQ: he despises cats! When he was only an itty bitty puppy (a stocky 18-pounder at 10 weeks!) one of our friend's cat's scratched his nose in retaliation of MaQ trespassing onto his 'territory'. Poor bub, ever since then, the two don't mix. They're like oil and vinegar. You should see us with a New York City bodega cat. They really startle us when they're outside of the stores sometimes. Perhaps someone wants to play peek-a-boo and the other doesn't? Ha ha!

I'm with Batman, not Robin. ;) Graffiti by: Ramiro-Davaro Comas

Isn't this Batman & Robin piece so dope? I believe MaQ secretly thinks he's Batman. Eh, who am I kidding, I think everyone secretly WANTS to be Batman. Heck, I wish I was, don't you? :) Batman is my ultimate favorite superhero. Everything about him is just so bad-ass and the toys that he's got? Talk about cool. The artist behind this stunner is Ramiro-Davaro Comas and I can't wait to see what he'll do next! I'd love to see an artist do a mural of X-Men characters. I would be totally geeked up about it!

Look at me! Graffiti by: Billy the Artist

Lastly, I have Billy the Artist's new art up on E. 6th Street. (Between 1st and 2nd Ave.) We also covered a mural of his back in September in this blog post, see for yourself; he's all sorts of awesome! Thanks for stopping by! We hope you had fun looking through our batch of graffiti photos! Until next time... have a spectacular, vibrant day! ♥♥♥

PS Don't forget to check out MaQ's IG Page down below! :)

Love & xx's,

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Metropolitan Museum of Art - Part 2

Jacqueline de Ribes — The Art of Style

Gossip Girl here. ;-) Follow me on Instagram! ✖️⚪️✖️⚪️, 💋 @suzannespiegoski

Happy Hump Day, y'all! Yesterday's post I reflected on some of my personal favorites at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Today I'm sharing the Costume Institute’s Fall 2015 newest exhibition, Jacqueline de Ribes: The Art of Style, which focuses on the internationally renowned style icon Countess Jacqueline de Ribes. She is one of the most celebrated fashion personas of the 20th century. A designer herself, she was also a muse to many — and was quickly recognized as the quintessential of French style. She is a classic but modern – beauty, like Audrey Hepburn, whose elongated neck, refined profile and couture clothes were well known to fashionistas here in New York as well as Europe. Emilio Pucci called her “Giraffina,” or “baby giraffe”; Yves Saint Laurent called her “an ivory unicorn”; Oleg Cassini found her “elegant to the point of distraction”; and Valentino named her “the last Queen of Paris”. She eventually went professional in the 1980s after raising money on her own and was no longer held back by her aristocratic in-laws from pursuing her career, officially becoming a commercial designer. It is very clear from this exhibition that Jacqueline's taste and style were timeless as opposed to trendy. In fact, her clothes are so classic – whether she designed them or simply chose them from the couture houses of others, it’s hard differentiating which decade they were made. I guarantee you, you could step into any of her clothes and feel magnificently dressed. The exhibition is on view in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Anna Wintour Costume Center until February 21, 2016. If you're at all into fashion, this is a must-see! Now let's go take a look inside! (Scroll down to see more photos from the exhibition.)

Love & xx's,

Entrance to the exhibition. Jacqueline de Ribes, 1955
Photograph by Richard Avedon, © The Richard Avedon Foundation

Photos of Jacqueline de Ribes through the years.

The many, many magazine articles on Jacqueline de Ribes with family and friends.

"Narcissism" photograph of Jacqueline de Ribes by Richard Avedon for The New Yorker magazine.

"My mirror, my only truthful advisor." -Jacqueline de Ribes

Yves Saint Laurent haute couture A/W 1980-81

Costume du Bal Oriental, 1969. Isn't this some supreme inspo or what?!

The Masked Ball Series. "Ball's were not for one's amusement, they were for being ravishing." -Jacqueline de Ribes

Fringe Envy.

"Glamorous people bring something to others. They are seductive, attractive—and it has nothing to do with frivolity. Glamour sticks to people. An object is not glamorous, but places where people go are glamorous. That's why New York is the glamour capital of the world." ♥

YSL Love.

Exquisite colors for evening wear.

A Christian Dior haute couture gown owned by Jacqueline de Ribes.

Flights of Fantasy.

"Elegance. It's an attitude. A frame of mind. An intuition, a refusual, a rigor, a research, a knowledge. The attitude of elegance is also a way of behaving." -Jacqueline de Ribes.

Metropolitan Museum of Art - Part 1

This past Sunday I spent the entire afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of my most favorite places on Earth! A trip to the Met always leaves me inspired and immediately wanting to go back for more, a must-see pit stop if you're in New York City! One of the many endless reasons why I love this museum is it's size and capacity. It is ENORMOUS and even after being there countless of times, I still, of course, haven't even seen half of it! (Or so it seems.) There's so much to look at, I get a little overwhelmed each time. I just want to see everything and soak it all in. I do have a minor in Art History after all. :)

Ranging from Quattrocento to Baroque art, to Impressionism and even Expressionism, (shocker!) here are only some of my many all-time favorite works of art at the Met. Trust me, I could write a book just on my selections from today's post! Scroll down to see art of extraordinary quality, or perhaps to see a painting you haven't seen before, or for a pick-me-up from the long weekend. What are some of your favorite art movements and/or artists? We love hearing from our readers!

Lastly, coming soon this week on the blog, a whole post on the Met's most recent exhibition: Jacqueline de Ribes: The Art of Style, focusing on the internationally renowned style icon Countess Jacqueline de Ribes, whose originality and elegance established her as one of the most celebrated fashion personas of the 20th century. AND FYI: you have to also check out Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom, an exhibition closing soon through January 24th. It was so spectacular I barely took any photos because I was so immersed in the artifacts. Really terrific, go see it now before it ends! Have a great day! Enjoy the pics below. :)

Love & xx's,

Fantastic Landscape. Francesco Guardi (Italian, Venice 1712–1793 Venice) ca. 1765. Oil on canvas.

Diana and Cupid. Pompeo Batoni.(Italian, Lucca 1708–1787 Rome) 1761. Oil on canvas.

The Birth of the Virgin. Fra Carnevale (Bartolomeo di Giovanni Corradini) (Italian, born by 1416–died 1484 Urbino) 1467. Tempera and oil on wood.

Water Lilies. Claude Monet. (French, Paris 1840–1926 Giverny) 1919. Oil on canvas.

Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (obverse: The Potato Peeler) Vincent van Gogh. (Dutch, Zundert 1853–1890 Auvers-sur-Oise) 1887. Oil on canvas.

Irises. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890). 1890. Oil on canvas.

Andromeda and the Sea Monster. Domenico Guidi. (1625-1701) Italian (Rome), 1694. Marble.

Ultimate favorite artist. Obligatory stop, Caravaggio's gallery, 621. With The Denial of Saint Peter, Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi) (Italian, Milan or Caravaggio 1571–1610 Porto Ercole), 1610 and The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist (1603). Oil on canvas

The Musicians. Caravaggio. (Michelangelo Merisi) (Italian, Milan or Caravaggio 1571–1610 Porto Ercole) ca. 1595. Oil on canvas.

The Storm. Pierre-Auguste Cot. (French, Bédarieux 1837–1883 Paris) 1880. Oil on canvas.

Oedipus and the Sphinx. Gustave Moreau. (French, Paris 1826–1898 Paris) 1864. Oil on canvas.

Bashi-Bazouk. Jean-Léon Gerome. (French, Vesoul 1824–1904 Paris) 1868–69. Oil on canvas.

Ancient Italy Ovid Banished From Rome. Joseph Mallord William Turner. (British, London 1775–1851 London) 1838. Oil on canvas.

Salomé. Henri Regnault. (French, Paris 1843–1871 Buzenval) 1870. Oil on canvas.

Nasturtiums with the Painting "Dance" I. Henri Matisse. (French, Le Cateau-Cambrésis 1869–1954 Nice) 1912. Oil on canvas.

Portrait of a Woman. Giovanni Battista Gaulli (Il Baciccio) (Italian Genoa 1639-1709 Rome) ca. 1670s. Oil on canvas.

Don Andrés de Andrade y la Cal. Bartolomé Estebán Murillo. (Spanish, Seville 1617–1682 Seville) ca. 1665-72. Oil on canvas.

View of Toledo. El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) (Greek, Iraklion (Candia) 1540/41–1614 Toledo) ca. 1598-99. Oil on canvas.

The moat around the Temple of Dendur, an ancient Egyptian temple in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Dreamy Visions of Couture

TGIF! Last night I had the pleasure of attending the opening reception of Cathleen Naundorf's exhibition here in New York at the Edwynn Houk Gallery. And wowzers! What an absolutely delightful evening filled with exquisite designer haute couture in fashion photography! Let me tell you more about the artist!

Opening reception with Cathleen Naundorf's photographs at Edwynn Houk Gallery.

Born in the small German town, Weisenfels, in 1968, Cathleen Naundorf began working as a photojournalist in the early 90's and photographed various groups around the world including the Yanomami in Amazonia, the Mongols and Kazakhstanis in the Altai Mountains, and the shamans in Yakutia, Sibiria. Her friendship with photographer Horst P. Horst, quickly grew her to be inspired by fashion photography.

"L'armore, 1", Valentino haute couture 1992 au château de Wideville © Cathleen Naundorf

In 1997 she began photographing backstage at Paris fashion shows for Condé Nast, and in 2000 she began working with her trademark polaroid and large format cameras. Her Polaroid photography resonates with magical, enchanting dream-like fantasies, and Naundorf's distinctive technique is not only inspired by her mentor Horst, but the images are so atmospheric, they present a surrealist world rich with intrigue that suggest a romantic aesthetic of a forgotten age. Paired with instant film's hazy saturation and the actual amount of time and effort that goes into making a couture garment, makes her images extremely fitting and quite unique.

Cathleen Naundorf, Valentino en Rose, Valentino – Haute Couture Winter 2007 - N°59, 2007, Gelatin silver print, 24 x 20 inches (60 x 50 cm)

Photographing the intricate haute-couture designs of fashion houses such as Dior, Elie Saab, Philip Treacy, and Valentino, clearly and continually reference an esteem for the antique and handmade. Plus the ethereal effect from the way Naundorf manipulates the inherent textures and color variations enhance everything in her prints. Just pure elegance, style and quality.

Cathleen Naundorf, An Ordinary Day, Valentino - Haute Couture Summer 2008 - N°20, 2008, Chromogenic print from original polaroid, 24 x 20 inches (60 x 50 cm)

From 2005 to 2011, she did the epic series Un rêve de mode for which the artist gained unprecedented access in the previously mentioned fashion houses. In 2012 Prestel published the series in the limited edition monograph, Haute Couture: The Polaroids of Cathleen Naundorf.

L to R: Gilles Decamps, Suzanne Spiegoski, Cathleen Naundorf, & M. Brendon MacInnis from in the Art world.

In the past five years, Naundorf has worked privately with Mr. Valentino Garavani on several projects including An Italian Story and the photo-documentation of Mr. Garavani’s collaboration with the New York City Ballet. Her work is consistently featured on the pages of Harper’s Bazaar and Condé Nast publications. She currently lives and works in London and Paris.

With the amazingly talented fashion photographer, Cathleen Naundorf at Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York City, NY.

Here are a few of my faves from the exhibition. Selected photographs by Cathleen Naundorf from the Haute Couture series will be exhibited at the Edwynn Houk Gallery from January 14th to February 27th, 2016.

L’arche de Noé XVIII, Dior haute couture summer 2012, 2012 © Cathleen Naundorf

Les liaisons dangereuses - The wedding meal, Dior Joaillerie, 2010 © Cathleen Naundorf

L'arche de Noé VIII, Dior/Philip Treacy, haute couture summer 2012, 2012 © Cathleen Naundorf

Love & xx's,

maQ-o'-lantern

Are you ready for Halloween? We are! With less than ten days to go, I wanted to get into the 'Trick or Treat' spirit and do something I used to do as a kid with my mom especially, who was the ultimate master at this; carving pumpkins. And I'm not talking about the typical easy-faced jack-o'-lanterns, we did everything from spiders to Frankenstein, to mummies and skeletons. The more difficult sketches were left for my mom, who happily accepted the challenge. (And I wonder where I get my competitive nature from...)

I always wanted to carve a German shepherd onto a pumpkin, but since I never had a dog as a child (I know, such a shame), I never got the right opportunity or time to do one! Being a city girl, I've never carved pumpkins since being in NYC! But now with MaQ, of course I had to make one, just for him! Ladies and gentlemen (and furriends), I present you, the maQ-o'-lantern! :)

Yes, I did this carving all by myself! The most difficult and time-consuming part was the etching, which are the parts that are not cut all the way through, just the skin peeled. I think the funniest part of the whole experience was waddling down the streets of New York with an 18-pound pumpkin! I couldn't stop giggling at myself after I had left the market! Let's just say I got my workout in this morning! ;)

What a pair! MaQ has never had an up close & personal meet up with a pumpkin of this size. He, at first, considered it to be just a big toy for him, (maybe a giant ball perhaps?) but once he got that enormous black snout of his on it, he went crazy! I think he smelled all the gunk and goo and pumpkin seeds inside and got really excited. At some point he started clawing at it but I had to have him stop since I didn't want him scratching the poor thing! He seemed a bit confused watching me scoop out all of the pumpkin's guts, as if he was watching mommy murder his newfound friend... LOL!

Here's a close-up shot of the sketch. I found mine online and just printed it and used it. Should you want to make one of your beloved pooch, there are tons of sketches you can find on the internet just by googling what you're looking for. It's really easy. The actually carving part? Not so much. Be ready to have time and LOTS of patience.

Here are a few outtakes from our shoot! We've got a variety of fun, serious, and oh so model-y! I love the first one where by chance I got him looking like he's saying, "Boo!" but rather just an in between shot where he was just licking his chops. It's too cute though, right? I had to share it with you guys! Below you can find MaQ doing what he does best: modeling. 🎃

Kill them with your smile, dude! I think he started getting more comfy with his pumpkin towards the end of the shoot. I'm still surprised by his initial reaction toward the pumpkin! Do any of you have a dog that wasn't a huge fan of something at first but grew to love it? Most GSDS hate vacuum cleaners, brooms, or golf clubs (I know a sheppy who DESPISES them), but a pumpkin?! I have the silliest fur baby!

I'm glad I introduced him to yet one more thing in life to experience, because that's what life should be all about! And I really do think he started to feel on that pumpkin because when I started putting down the studio, I caught him licking the crap out of it! Someone is in love...! Ha ha ha!

We can't wait to show you our Halloween costume! My hubby is even partaking in the fun! So excited to share! Stay tuned, it'll be up on Halloween Day, naturally. Hope y'all had a great Hump Day!

Love & xx's,

maQ + suz