ARTmonday: 16 Obscured Cityscapes

As much as we love spending time in our little Florida enclave, surrounded by palm trees and ocean air, there is always something exhilarating about zipping back into the city on the Uber ride back from the airport. Sure, it’s not Manhattan (for one, it only takes ten minutes to travel from Logan to downtown Boston), but there are still bridges, and lights, a river, and a tall building or two in the Boston cityscape. It’s nice to escape to other environs, but urban landscapes are really where I prefer to be long term.

Taking inspiration from the cityscape with which we were met as we arrived home the other evening, I’ve pulled together cityscape artwork, but not straightforward postcard images (ick). No sunsets behind skyscrapers here. This cityscape art portrays views that are deconstructed or somehow obscured. It might be a scene enhanced by a reflection, shot from above, viewed from beneath a bridge or through a window, or made blurry by the rain or the photographic lens. Here are 16 pieces of cityscape art that celebrates the city, no matter which way it’s looked at.

cityscape-Berlin #3

Berlin #3 by Matthew Ling
$425 at Saatchi Art

cityscape-NYC-MK-08

NYC MK 08 by Marco Lugli
$400 at Saatchi Art

cityscape--adjacent-building

Adjacent Building, 2012 by Ronald Erskine
Starting at $200 at UGallery

cityscape-1-misha-dontsav

Cityscape I by Misha Dontsav
$200 at Saatchi Art

cityscape-barcelona-skyline

Barcelona Skyline by Neema Sadeghi
$22.88 at Society6

cityscape-bridge-photo

Bridge, 2012 by Mikhail Palinchak
Starting at $275 at Amazon/UGallery

cityscape-columbus-circle

Columbus Circle by Joseph O. Holmes
Starting at $60 at 20×200

cityscape-down-the-street

Down the Street (2013) by Ulrich van Brodt
$400 by Saatchi Art

cityscape-green-Branches

Green Branches by Tod Seelie
Starting at $60 at 20×200

cityscape-Amsterdam-View-Opus

Amsterdam View Opus 45 by Geert Lemers
$1,800 at Saatchi Art

cityscape-14-london

14:14 London by Marek Emczek Olszewski
$1,200 at Saatchi Art

cityscape-waiting-for-nothing

Waiting for Nothing by Pedro Correa
$3,800 at Saatchi Art

cityscape-with-trees-11

Cityscape with Trees II by Steven Irwin
$300 at Saatchi Art

cityscape-tower-poppies

Tower Poppies 07 by Pete Edmunds
$21 at Society6

cityscape-charles-bridge

On the Charles | Cambridge by Grey Circle
Starting at $20 at UGallery

cityscape-nowhere-to-run

Nowhere To Run ’11 by Gonçalo Castelo Branco
$290 at Saatchi Art

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Sunday Bouquet: Neon Pink Tinged Roses On Flokati

Pink Roses From The Bouqs On Flokati Rug

Neon pink tinged rose bouquet by The Bouqs
Flokati rug from Wayfair

The Bouqs, a new online flower delivery service, delivered this bouquet of bright, crisp roses (gratis) via FedEx, right to my doorstep.

Based in Venice, California, The Bouqs  offers a 40 pretty floral bouquets with cute names like Happy Harvest, Tiki Torches, and Thick As Thieves. And they’re all $40 or $50. Try finding another online flower delivery service (especially ones that don’t specialize in tacky red carnations) for that price.

The Bouqs works exclusively with farms that are independently certified by agencies such as Veriflora and The Rainforest Alliance as being sustainable and eco-friendly. And its Happiness Guarantee means if the flowers arrive late or last less than three days, they’ll send out another bouquet.

The quality of these flowers from The Bouqs was definitely superior to other online flower delivery services I’ve tried. They weren’t all wilted when I removed them from the cardboard box, and they’re still looking lovely four days later. The downside is that you have to plan ahead, as the lead time can be a week or more, depending on the collection. Also, since they’re shipped rather than hand delivered from a local florist, there’s no vase.

My roses, which came with purple statice that I separated out and arranged with local floral and fauna found down by the pool (shh!), are from the Desperado bouquet.

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Shop Bouqs for affordable flowers delivered to the doorstep >


Scheming: Master Bedroom In Florida Condo

I haven’t posted many photos of our little Delray Beach condo, mainly because until this summer it had white wall-to-wall carpeting, tan walls with navy blue and hunter green trim, a plethora of pink tiles, and dingy blinds. This summer, we had the whole place done with cork flooring and all the walls painted bright white. Yesterday I spiffied up the master bedroom and took some photographs. Given the limited accessories at my disposal (not to mention the small budget) and my ineptitude with a camera, they’re hardly print ready, but you can get a sense of how it’s coming along. Here’s our beach bedroom makeover, unveiled.

bedside-table-with-tulips

BeddingStyle.com sent me a beautiful bright white Puckered Diamond Matelasse Coverlet and Shams by Vera Wang for the bed.  I layered the coverlet with our existing grey fleece blanket for a mix of cozy and crisp. I love the result. (The simple white bed frame from West Elm we got when we first moved in.)

 The artwork is an original painting by Lulu de Kwiatkowski. I’ve interviewed Lulu a couple of times for my work with Matouk (she designs a line of bedding for Matouk, and I co-write the Matouk blog). She is tons of fun, so I was psyched to buy a painting I love on the LuluDK website she launched last year with her products, prints, and original artwork.

white-and-gray-beach-bedroom

The rug is new too. I ordered it from Wayfair thinking it might work in the boys’ room, but it seemed too earthy. Luckily it looks perfect in the master bedroom; the watery color imbues a calmness. It’s a rough wool dhurrie, so I have to use a yoga mat when I stretch out before bed (itchy!), but it covers a lot of the room without being overpowering.

celadon-dhurrie-rug

Thanks to the folks at Rug Pad USA, the rug feels quite cushy, as it sits atop  3/8-inch thick felt pad. A co-founder offered to send me a rug pad when he saw my recent post on rugs. Rug Pad USA, which launched a couple of years ago, manufactures higher end, eco-friendly rug pads that are made in the USA.  I went with the Eco-Fiber Felt Pad. It’s made from 100 percent recycled felt materials and is resistant to mold, moisture, and mildew. It’s thick and doesn’t shed or smell, and the rug stays put. (The cheap rug pad I bought somewhere else had to be banished outdoors until the toxic odor was gone.) I’m thinking eco-fiber rug pads are the way to go. Now I need one for Flokati rug I just purchased for the living room.

I think that’s about everything. The rug and the matelasse bedding from BeddingStyle.com are the centerpieces., but let me know if you have any questions (or suggestions for that matter, as it’s still a work in progress). Yes, we travel with the cat. He sits in his carrier under the seat in front of me. No, he doesn’t meow.

S W A T C H I N G

Master Bedroom With Cork Floor And Green Rug

S H O P P I N G 

1 Blue-Green Sea Painting by Lulu DK.

2 Samtid Floor Reading Lamp, $39.99 at Ikea. 

3 Simple White King Bed Frame, $399 at West Elm.

4 Jaipur Maroc Geometric Area Rug $951.50 at Wayfair.

5 Vera Wang Matelasse Coverlet & Shams, $249.99 & $79.99 at BeddingStyle.

6 Slice Wall Mounted Storage Shelf, $149 at CB2. 

7 Lack Side Table, $9.99 at Ikea.