I am officially starting my Christmas vacation! Wore this holiday look today. My new BCBG Max Azria pants with my favorite top and a sweater I never wear, lol. But my absolute favorite part of the above look is that I could wear sandals to work today! It is sixty degrees in Syracuse. Yes. On December 23rd! Last year at this time we had a bunch of snow. A week later we had these cray-cray sub zero temps!
Banana Republic cardigan and pants, Bailey 44 top, BCBGGeneration sandals
I am LOVING this warm weather. Green Christmas, here I come.
Banana Republic cardigan, Banana Republic dress, Nine West bootiesBanana Republic cardigan, Trina Turk dress, Nine West booties
After Christmas, I am going to put on my thinking cap and start making future art plans. I expect to concentrate on this art career of mine. I should have bigged myself up a few weeks ago – I could have sold some art and merchandise from my redbubble.com site. You can still buy it, just not in time for Christmas. Oh well.
Ann Taylor cashmere sweater, Bailey 44 skirt, Nine West boots
BCBGMaxAzria top, pants and belt, BCBGGeneration sandals
I’ve been in a whirlwind of social activity, including art stuff – like I went to Plowshares, an art show at Nottingham High School in Syracuse, NY over the weekend. I went there to shop for Christmas gifts because I am a firm believer in buying local.
BCBGMaxAzria dress, Nine West boots
The vendor in particular – Michelle DaRin. Michelle is a jewelry designer and I absolutely love her work! She often does art shows and fairs but you can also find her work here. For Christmas, she is offering different specials every day.
Lord & Taylor cashmere cardigan, Rachel Roy top, Champion yoga pants, Nine West booties
I also stumbled upon a great boot sale at ninewest.com. On Black Friday, they had 50% off boots then an additional 20% off that, so, I bought lots. Not that I needed them, of course, but now that I am fashion blogging, I just desire new things. Curbing spending will be a New Year’s resolution…or not. I say it in my head then go – nah!
JCrew sweater, Banana Republic skirt, Nine West booties
Most of my waking hours are spent on bcbg.com. They have 60% off stuff! Just bought a top, and pants that I haven’t worn yet. As you can see, my new belt has been in heavy rotation these past two weeks!
JCrew cardigan, Trina Turk dress, BCBGMaxAzria belt, Nine West boots
I see Amanda LaDue at Miracles in Fayetteville, NY every three weeks. She added more highlights to my hair to the point that my blonde sister asked me if I was single-white-femaling her, lol. We are definitely twinning right now!
Trina Turk dress, Steve Madden boots
I took my sister’s yoga class for the first time ever. She is an instructor at O Yoga. It was really pretty amazing! I am a pilates girl but I think Sophie is about to convert me to yogini – nah!, well…maybe….
Lord & Taylor cardigan, Bailey 44 top, Trina Turk pants, Nine West booties
Trina Turk was doing 30% off stuff. What you need to do is get on the emailing list so that you can receive invitations for all the special sales.
BCBGMaxAzria dress and belt, Ralph Lauren boots
I am not sure what is up next – there are loads of craft fairs going on. A new art gallery in Armory Square and several art exhibitions that I have been invited to attend through my connections on Facebook.
Banana Republic cardigan and pants, Bailey 44 top, BCBGGeneration booties
As for my own work, I will wait for whatever comes my way in the new year. I am planning to revise my Shopify.com store and you can still purchase merchandise with my artwork on it – phone cases, T-shirts and mugs – through http://www.redbubble.com.
Free People cardigan, Lucky Brand top, BCBGMaxAzria leggings, Nine West boots
I guess that is another New Year’s resolution – to be more the vendor than the customer – nah! well, you know…yes!
BCBGMaxAzria sweater and belt, Trina Turk skirt, BCBGGeneration booties
The school year is winding down quickly. I started working here nineteen years ago. It’s basically the longest relationship I’ve ever had discounting the ones I have with my immediate family members. It doesn’t seem like so much time has passed.
BCBG Max Azria dress, BCBG Generation sandals
There is history and yet I feel like a time traveller in a way. Working with 8th graders tends to take me back to my own middle school years. It was 1976. I remember having a crush on someone because he resembled Shaun Cassidy or was it Leif Garrrett? (the kid didn’t like me at all). Having a faux Dorothy Hamill haircut that took years to grow out (not showing you a picture of that!). Getting a 96 on the Algebra regents – I’m still angry with myself that I made the same subtraction mistake twice, which caused me to lose the two points on each mistake.
Whatever I had, I purchased with my paper route money – clothes, art supplies and eventually a 150-watt stereo for my bedroom so I could listen to Casey Kasum do the American Top Forty after delivering the Sunday morning paper.
I honestly can’t remember where I bought clothes then. Department stores? I remember that there was a Levi Strauss store in Shoppingtown Mall where we bought colored corduroy jeans. Our shoes came from Thom McAn.
Banana Republic suit with cropped pants, Rachel Roy top
It was a completely different time. I always had to be responsible at such a young age, but instead of teaching me to save money and build a future, I think what I learned is that I will always know how to work then buy stuff with the money I earn. I will eventually retire from my job, but I will never retire from being an artist or a writer. I will never abandon creativity. In that respect, I may not be rich but I will always have riches.
What else have I learned in thirty-nine years? I still have a tendency to crush on men who break my heart, lol. So I haven’t learned anything there. Yeah – no wisdom there.
Trina Turk blouse and leather skirt, Champion tank and shorts (underneath), BCBG Generation sandals
My fan-love for Dorothy Hamill though – my sister met her at an event last year and in conversation, Dorothy said, “Send your sister my best regards” !!!!!!
My sister with Olympic Gold Medalist Dorothy Hamill
And Algebra is probably my favorite subject to work on with students in my study hall. I love a good Greek theorem. Math is eternal even though the way it’s taught these days is in a wonky new math style. My way still works. I want to say it’s because of the teacher I had in 8th grade, but to tell you the truth, I can’t remember anything about the teacher. Man or woman? IDK!
Banana Republic T-shirt and skirt, BCBG Generation sandals
I guess I would prefer my students to remember what they learned in art rather than simply remembering me and my silly antics. At the very least, my hope is that they have fond memories of the middle school experience – like in my own life, a lot more comedy to drown out the drama.
BCBG Max Azria top and pants, BCBG Generation sandals
As for clothes? I shop on-line mostly. Banana Republic, BCBG, and Lord & Taylor dot coms are my favorite. And when I review my purchases, which I kind of do reluctantly because I kind of don’t want to see myself coming and going (fashion should be about individuality so encouraging people to copy you via a stellar review seems a little bit defeating) – I call myself Tashionista.
Dare I say that this year was the best ever? Don’t want to hurt the feelings of students who came before, because it’s not because my students were better. Okay, don’t want to do the same to my current students. The truth is that after all these years I had a paradigm shift. I changed my outlook about love, life, art…pretty much started realizing that life can be seen through rose-colored lenses without needing glasses at all. And even though I am nearly forty years older than my 8th grade self, I still have 20-20 vision.
The weather is all flim-flam again. Hot last week, cold today, rainy tomorrow. It’s really all over the place. So for the last two weeks, it’s been dresses and sandals or pants and sweaters, or something in between.
Banana Republic cashmere sweater and skirt, Steve Madden boots
There are four weeks of school left! Can’t believe how fast it all went. (Go bears!) I have some art shows planned for the summer – more about that later!
Trina Turk dress, BCBG Generation sandals
I live in exercise clothes and paint smocks in the summer, so I don’t foresee posting outfit-of-the-days (#ootd) between June 24th and Labor Day-ish. But I can’t rule it out. I was thinking about going back to the say yes policy I practiced last summer. I already said no to a bunch of things this week – I’m still working on it.
Banana Republic dress, BCBG Generation sandals
I love this Banana Republic olive ponte knit dress. It was the last one on bananarepublic.com – on sale with an additional 40% off. I never get breaks like that. In a dream world, this fashion blogging would lead to free clothes from my favorite designers. And if you are listening, I’m a 0 in Banana Republic, a 2 in Trina Turk and a small or XS depending on style and a 0 in BCBG Max Azria. 7 1/2 in a sandal, 8 in boots.
Trina Turk dress, Mia shoes
I know it’s kind of a fantasy – too bad I wasn’t born in the ’90s, because these girls seem to be living the dream.
My sister suggested I change out my poses and another person thought my classroom was messy. But those are my favorite things about my photographs (I am the only person on Instagram currently using the hashtags #fashionintherealworld and #fashioninrealtime). That and my shoes. If I had a dollar for every time I heard how-do-you-walk-in-those-heels?, I would have that six figure salary!
Edme & Esyllte top, Champion pants, Coach booties
I wore this outfit the day I taught gym classes in addition to art in order to help out with the dance lessons – swing, bunny hop and hokey pokey for the WWII event. I wore Champion fitness gear under that yellow tunic top. Got very sweaty that day jumping around for the equivalent of four hours. I don’t know what I was thinking. It was totally exhausting!
I feel most comfortable in black. I usually wear it every day of the first week of school because I am in mourning for my summer vacation, lol, and then I’m partial to black Monday throughout the school year. I think I have at least eight different pairs of black pants – and a new pair at the alterations place getting hemmed as we speak. But whatevs, you can never have enough.
Banana Republic cardigan and pants, BCBG Max Azria top, Coach booties
Purple though – almost nothing. We do a purple Thursday at work. I just can’t do it. It’s so Donny Osmond’s socks circa the ’70s. I can technically wear that Trina Turk pink dress. It’s actually the it color of last season – wild orchid. Or I can do what some of the bloggers do – initiate a pink Wednesday. That’s from Mean Girls or Clueless or some such ’90s chick flick. I’m sure those big buck fashion bloggers would know. 🙂 😉
It got cold again in the ‘cuse this week after 85 degrees last week, so it was back to sweaters and long sleeves. It also felt right to go neutral palette – black, white, cream, beige, and grey with some navy blue thrown in, which is pretty much my whole wardrobe (heavy on the black).
When I really like something I buy it in several colors. I have the above Bailey 44 top in black and in red, and I have these BCBG Max Azria leggings in black with faux leather and in navy blue.
It’s already been a month since I got my smart phone, a month of different outfits and about a month of school left to go.
Black Brown 1826 cashmere sweater, BCBG Max Azria leggings, Nine West booties
Life seems really exciting. I love that feeling I get when something is fun and the universe is filled with things to look forward to, as though it will fulfill its promises. Not sure if that is bad for my art. Lots of artists seem to be brooders, creating work out of anger, misery or melancholy. But I am all into happiness and joy. I want people to feel good when they look at my work, as if they are in on a secret. A secret language that enlightens, if that makes any sense. I am thinking about painting on paper for the “futura” series. That feels right too.
BCBG Max Azria lace top with Victoria Secret camisole underneath, Calvin Klein jeans, Coach booties
I will have time to paint this summer, but before I do anything I want to work on the business of being an artist and that includes securing venues for exhibitions. I have something in the works for July that I am VERY excited to share but I believe it will have to wait to be revealed, as it is some type of top secret thing-a-ma-gig. Will let you know soon though. I promise.
This week I did a lot of black on the bottom (BB). So far, I have not done a single repeat in clothing or shoes. I like the idea of planning what I’m going to wear for people to see because it’s kind of a fun way to look forward to going to work, so thank you to all of the people who liked my Instagram #ootd (outfit of the day) posts.
BCBG Max Azria sweater, Trina Turk leather skirt, Etienne Aigner oots
I went to a funeral this week. My great aunt died. I know how some of you don’t like being morbid, but I can’t help trying to see a big picture to life when someone I cared about leaves us for good. I know, and I don’t even think about dying at all. I think more about all the living I need to do and the existential quest of what I am supposed to be accomplishing, as though I had a plan before I was born. I am supposed to find something or someone in a search for happiness, as if I had a bet with someone up there in the ether that even within the parameters of the life I was given, I’ve been challenged to still find it. Whatever that may be.
It reminds me of the famous Robert Rauschenberg story of the Erased DeKooning piece. In the video made at the time of the 1997 Guggenheim retrospective, Rauschenberg talked about how he had been doing a series of white paintings and he had conceived the notion of erasing a work making it white again (the paper). The idea of the process backwards, you see? It is such a cerebral notion for a guy who spent a lifetime laughing.
He decided he wanted to erase someone else’s piece since erasing your own would have this feeling that you already knew how it was made, so it would be a lot easier to erase your own work. You know how much pressure you had placed on the pencil and how much elbow grease it would require to get rid of those marks. That makes sense, right?
So he went over to DeKooning’s, a formidable guy even sober. He knocked – the artist didn’t answer at first and he thought, okay so the idea has now died. I tried and knocked and …nothing. Done and done.
But DeKooning answered, let him in, closed the door behind him and stood in front of it so that Rauschenberg couldn’t escape after announcing his query – in the back of his mind he thought for sure that DeKooning would beat the crap out of him.
But instead, DeKooning said something like. “Okay, I understand what you’re asking. I’m going to give you something hard to erase.” He handed Rauschenberg a drawing made with charcoal and paint and other materials, and Rauschenberg spent months trying to erase it.
Banana Republic blazer, Bailey 44 top, Banana Republic skirt, Nine West boots
It was a challenge, and that made the idea more fun. And as much as non-artists scrunch up their noses and think that’s not art with an Emperor’s New Clothes mentality, you really have to admit that it took loads of time and a lot of work to erase that art. So in essence, it was and is artwork.
Art history scholars tend to relay it as a message delineating the changing of the guard from Abstract Expressionism to the new Pop Art establishment, but Rauschenberg himself insisted that was not his intent.
Bailey 44 top, Banana Republic skirt, Nine West boots
No matter what we do, people will put their own spin on things. Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez are Instagramming like clockwork, and they take the good and take the bad along with it, the negative-nellies who voice their harassment of the selfie variety, and can be very harsh in doing so.
I won’t let that stop me from continuing my journey. I am having fun with the fashion stuff, which was heavy on the Banana (Republic) this week.
In light of the death, my parents were talking about buying their plots this week. Preparing for the inevitable in a way to reduce our stress when the time comes. My great-grandfather bought one extra plot a long time ago and Mom and Dad were thinking of trading it in for their two – but that spot is like my perfect spot. It is a short walk from my great aunt and uncle’s graves, overlooking the Comstock Art facility, which is next to Manley Field House at Syracuse University. I kind of want to keep it for myself. It seemed familiar, like a part of the puzzle that made sense but didn’t….
It really is surreal to think of ending up there. Like, what? That’s all this was? Me, dead, with a view of my art school, along with a giant oak tree and a huge gravestone marked MILLER? What is that supposed to mean? I mean, I know.
Someone on Linkedin.com asked me what the purpose was of a particular blog post, as if, perhaps, I appear as a scatter brain all over the place artist, like I have no purpose, maybe? On the same day, a reader professed a non-stalker style (he assured) love for me and my personality.
This all necessitated another one of my existential meditation quests. Who am I, and what am I doing here? I paint in oils with collage, paper collage, watercolors and encaustics, and have many different looks to my work – the symbology look, the abstract expressionism one…. I also like to draw realistically.
I am a visual artist who has had gallery representation in the past and is seeking it again, an artist who wants to sell my work in whatever/wherever the venue. In this case, it is on the internet – on this blog, on shopify on redbubble and through other social media – my Facebook like page and now on Instagram.
I broke down and entered the new millennium, and purchased a smart phone. Now I can tackle instagramming my head off, because I had read it is the place for savvy art business peeps.
I am also a person who loves fashion, something that seems to go against the rules of the starving artist. I can’t help it. I posted about Karen Bakke’s fashion illustrations last week and in a previous post, shared my sewing skills with costume design.
When I first started this blog, it was to share only my artwork. Then it snowballed into the what-I-want-you-to-know-about-me more three dimensional me. Kind of a let the chips fall where they may and by chips, I guess I mean the puzzle pieces of my persona. I am many things and I can’t pigeonhole myself into being one person, place or thing.
Last weekend I was a judge for a juried exhibition of artwork. It was sponsored by the local penwomen association. I used my expertise as an art critic, something I don’t technically do when I blog about local art shows. And I do that because I feel like you can’t just exist alone in a small city art community. I’ve always believed that we Syracuse artists can be successful together as a team rather than going the lone wolf route.
I’m not being paid to blog, so why not blog about whatever art related topic is going on in my world or in my head, or whatever. I love writing, and it seems like maybe that is what I’m doing here, to answer that linkedin woman’s question.
With that said, I’m really fascinated by the job of fashion blogger. That it is a job, I guess. Something that would have appealed to me when I was in college and still does.
Lord & Taylor cardigan, Banana Republic T, BCBGMaxAzria pants, BCBGGeneration sandals
Now that I am on Instagram.com (my handle is karen_tashkovski), I’ve decided to post #ootd, which stands for outfit of the day, if you don’t know the lingo. Someone takes a picture of me so that I can post my head-to-toe fashion and in this way I am a fashion blogger too!
Free People Cardigan, Bailey 44 top, Trina Turk pants, Nine West booties
My favorite designer is Trina Turk. She liked the above picture on Instagram as did shopBailey44 because I’m wearing a Bailey 44 top. Those likes totally made my life. They really did. Because it still fascinates me that the world has become so small that you can reach out to your favorite _______, whether it be designer, fashion house, famous artist or celebrity, and they will respond with a little red heart.
Banana Republic cardigan, Trina Turk blouse, Rachel Roy top, BCBGMaxAzria leggings, Ralph Lauren boots
That positive energy blows my mind. It is such a feel good feeling!
Free People cardigan, Trina Turk dress, Calvin Klein jeans, Nine West booties
My work look is about layering. I pretty much always top it all off with a cardigan (or blazer). Long sleeves are difficult because my hands are in all sorts of things from clay and plaster to paint. I’m constantly washing and drying them, so I usually remove the sweater and add an apron or smock and maybe a pencil or two behind the ear.
I worked five days straight and I can’t remember the last time that happened what with all the snow days we’ve had, the superintendent’s conference days without kids (technically still work, but you know what I mean), the bout with the flu and vacations. I’m thinking of doing a dress or skirt week soon. Well, as soon as it stops freaking snowing here in the ‘cuse.
Banana Republic cardigan and pants, J Crew tissue T with Champion tank underneath, BCBGGeneration booties
No #ootd today. I’m still in my pjs (Calvin Klein).
