Men & women in uniform

Happy Memorial Day weekend! I'll be trying to figure out how to have a great grill-out using only fruits and veggies and hanging out in the garden. I give you a few magazine covers celebrating the armed forces as well as a couple of films I'll be watching this weekend.

The New Yorker August 1943. Cover by Constantin Alajalov

A 4th of July 1943 cover by Constantin Alajalov that is also perfect for Memorial Day

The New Yorker Feb 1943 | Cover by Constantin Alajalov

Lilliput Magazine cover by Walter Trier, July 1942

A lot of of war movies playing this weekend on tv, and there are many excellent ones. I have a personal affinity to World War II films. "From Here to Eternity is one of the best.

This has to be my favorite World War II film. William Wyler's beautiful 1946 drama of soldiers returning home after the war to try and pick up their lives. Playing tonight at 10:30pm EST or 7:30 PST on Turner Classic Movies' Memorial Day Marathon. &… — This has to be my favorite World War II film. William Wyler's beautiful 1946 drama of soldiers returning home after the war to try and pick up their lives. Playing tonight at 10:30pm EST or 7:30 PST on Turner Classic Movies' Memorial Day Marathon. Don't miss it!

Abtract Saturday: Robert Motherwell

I've been trying to learn abstract painting this past year, so naturally I spend a lot of time staring at the great Abstract Expressionists who burst forth from obscurity to turn the art world on its head in the 1940s. These are my favorites from Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1991).

Wall painting with stripes  1944 -1945, by Robert Motherwell — Wall painting with stripes 1944 -1945, by Robert Motherwell

Robert Motherwell. Western Air. 1946-47. MoMA, NYC via Renzo Dionigi's flickr — Robert Motherwell. Western Air. 1946-47. MoMA, NYC via Renzo Dionigi's flickr

Motherwell, Robert. Pancho Villa - 1943. Oil, gouache and paper collage. 71,7 x 9,1 cm

Robert Motherwell. Personage, with Yellow Ochre and White. 1947. MoMA, NY via flickr

Blue with Crosses, 1947 ROBERT MOTHERWELL via opera gallery.com — Blue with Crosses, 1947 ROBERT MOTHERWELL via opera gallery.com

Wall of graffiti 1950 via Allentown Art Museum

Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 34 by Robert Motherwell (1953-54)

ROBERT MOTHERWELL The Little Spanish Prison, 1941 -1944 | Oil on canvas 27 1/4 × 17 1/8 in | 69.2 × 43.5 cm — ROBERT MOTHERWELL The Little Spanish Prison, 1941 -1944 | Oil on canvas 27 1/4 × 17 1/8 in | 69.2 × 43.5 cm

Robert Motherwell, Provincetown Bay, 1990 via paam.org

This week on my drawing board

I lived in New York City for nearly 10 years, first working as an art director on the now-defunct Ladies Home Journal, and then as a freelance illustrator. I adored the freelance life! Especially wandering the streets while everyone else was working. Footlight Records was a wonderful place in Greenwich Village, a record shop specializing in vintage vinyl — broadway shows, classic jazz, vocals. Nearby I could buy a slice of white pizza. Around the corner, the Strand Book Store.

Footlight Records, Greenwich Village NYC c 1990s. 11x17 Gouache on wood panel.

And here is the sketchbook painting I did for this, a mini-version of the larger painting.

Mid-century modern in San Francisco

Lagoon House is a 1962 A. Quincy Jones home on the San Francisco Bay. Restored by architect Craig Hudson with the help of interior designer Gary Hutton. See more at OneKindDesign.com.

The living room overlooks a lagoon in Belvedere.

I really like the kitchen remodel, which updates yet retains a sleek mid-century feel.

I'm crazy about this idea of the hallway tucked behind the living room fireplace. Matthew Millman Photography — I'm crazy about this idea of the hallway tucked behind the living room fireplace. **Matthew Millman Photography**

+onekinddesign.com

Ludwig Bemelmans

"In an old house in Paris, that was covered with vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines... the smallest one was Madeline." So begin the beloved Madeline children's books of Ludwig Bemelmans, the Austria-Hungary born American writer and illustrator. Here are a few examples of his beautiful work.