three things we love

Lasse Hallström's Chocolat

The film Chocolat is based on the book by Joanne Harris

Lasse Hallström, Lena Olin, Tora Hallström

I have loved every film Lasse Hallström ever made (Cider House Rules, My Life as a Dog, What is Eating Gilbert Grape to name a few) and somehow the film Chocolat, perhaps my favorite of all, popped into my mind today after not thinking about it for many, many years. I decided to watch it again and I loved it as much as before! I invite you to see this little gem if you haven't already or again if you have--it's a perfect movie to see around Valentine's Day. It is about the pursuit of joy and free spiritedness vs. austerity, religion and tradition in a small village in France, with a love story mixed in, starring an all star cast of Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Lena Olin and Judi Dench.

To my delight, I also discovered that Hallström is currently working on a new film to be released soon about the fascinating artist Hilna af Klint, starring his wife Lena Olin and his daughter Tora. Looking forward to seeing that too!

A Few Valentine Love Songs

Here are a few love songs in honor of Valentine's Day. Sit back, click the images, and enjoy!

Our Animal Series Prints

Fish on Wheels 8” x 10” mixed media giclee print

Butterfly 8” x 10” mixed media giclee print

I thought I would spend this column talking about Gert's and my animal prints--of which we have over a hundred + different images. This collaborative series started when we found this wonderful Mexican bark paper at the original Paper Source store in the River North section of Chicago, back in the late 80s when we rented a studio there for a few months. We liked its rawness and it was small and easy to carry on our many early trips back and forth to California and Europe. We would often work on these small 8" x 10" painting collages on a hotel room floor, literally passing them back and forth and having a lot of fun in the process. Gert would usually start (he had more of an imagination for the fantastical than I did) and then I would add my touches, organize and clean it up a bit. It might go back and forth again. At that time we sold them in sets of twenty only through the Elaine Horwitch Gallery in Scottsdale, Santa Fe, Sedona and Palm Springs (they called it their magic wall). Our collection of animals grew over the years and we now sell them in giclée print form only, as singles as well as in groupings. Here are a few of our favorites. To see the whole collection, click here.

Grazing Cow 8” x 10” mixed media giclee print

Orange Dog 8” x 10”mixed media giclee print

Green-Eared Pig 8” x 10” mixed media giclee print

Grouping on the wall of Valley Variety in Hudson, New York

Amate Paper from the Amate tree, made by hand in Puebla, Mexico

This piece was started by Gert—I can still collaborate and finish it up!

Charity of the Week:
Southern Poverty Law Center

Please donate to the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that has been on the forefront of fighting hate and white supremacy for many years.

Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow Maine Floating House Series mixed media on canvas 54” x 54” $7500

About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.. And by the way, let me know in the comment section what you think of the new haircut...