Balzer Designs

Toulouse-Lautrec Exhibit at the MFA

There is currently a great Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit at the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) here in Boston. When they first announced the exhibit, I wasn't that excited about it. I had seen a wonderful Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit at MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art) in NYC in 2014 and I thought there was no way this one could top it. I was wrong. This exhibit is an entirely different beast. The official title of the exhibit is "Toulouse-Lautrec and the Stars of Paris." I would say about half of the exhibit is artwork by Toulouse-Lautrec's contemporaries. This exhibit, therefore, tells a... Read more →

Cleveland Museum of Art: Part Two

Today I'm sharing more photos from my visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Lots of lovely paintings to see today. I tried to take a lot of close ups so that you could really see the hand of the artist. Enjoy! I am mildly obsessed with this George Bellows painting of two men boxing. Personally, I have a lot of trouble watching boxing in real life. Two people hitting each other in the face isn't my idea of a good time. Nonetheless, this painting is done with such mastery that I must have stood and stared at it for... Read more →

Cleveland Museum of Art: Part One

While I was in Cleveland, I stopped by the Cleveland Museum of Art. This was my second visit to the museum and I got to see a bit more of the museum this time around. In fact, I saw enough of the museum that I've divided my pics into two posts for you. Today is part one -- lots to see and enjoy and be inspired by! These next few images are from an exhibit on Scandinavian Textiles (swoon): I find fabric design absolutely fascinating. I can spend hours scrolling through Spoonflower and thinking about how clever and talented other... Read more →

Art in Bloom: Part Four

For today's Art in Bloom post, I want to talk about the "so what" factor. What is the "so what" factor? In essentials, it's the question: Why does this matter? Every time I write a blog post I hope that it does one (or more) of the following things: inspires educates brings joy One of the reasons I love Art in Bloom is because it does all 3 of those things for me. Inspires I am inspired by the notion of creating a new form of art based on a piece of art. It's not a literal translation, but an... Read more →

Art in Bloom: Part Three

I've got more flowers and art to share with you today. My Mom and I went to Art in Bloom -- where I took all of these photos -- together and talked a lot about what we liked and didn't at the time. But she called me yesterday and said, "I'm finding all of your Art in Bloom posts really interesting." So we went on to discuss that. There is something about seeing them in photos that creates a different viewing experience. It's both easier and harder to see the similarities and differences. Photos flatten a 3-D experience. You miss... Read more →

Art in Bloom: Part Two

More flowers + art today! Which ones work for you and which ones don't? Personally, I really responded to a lot of the vessels that the floral artists chose. It made me think about how much the container is a part of the overall arrangement -- which also makes me think about how much frames are a part of the artwork. I think frames are a thing that I neglect to think about. But they do tell a story about the work. I hope you're excited to see more flowers tomorrow! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Art in Bloom: Part One

The Museum of Fine Arts, here in Boston, hosted their annual Art in Bloom weekend recently. I've been several times and it is always one of my favorite art events, even though I know less than nothing about flowers. Why do I like it so much? Well, let's look at the premise: Floral artists interpret a piece of art in the museum through a floral arrangement. I find that these floral arrangements force me to think about the art more deeply than I ever have before. I stare at the floral arrangement and at the art piece and I think... Read more →

Color Factory NYC

You've probably seen the photos online. Super cool candy-colored photographs of this place called "The Color Factory." It was a West Coast thing for a long time and then I heard that it was finally coming to NYC! Well, I knew that I had to book tickets and go! And so we did. And it was super duper fun! Take a peek: Paper strips hanging from the sky! Giant color buttons on the walls! You have a timed ticket when you visit The Color Factory. And you walk at your own pace through a variety of rooms. You can take... Read more →

Relational Undercurrents at PMA

I shared some pics from the Portland Museum of Art's Art in Bloom on Wednesday. And I could have sworn that I've shared pics of PMA's permanent collection, but when I looked through my archives, I didn't see a post. (FYI: You can use the search box on the blog to look for any posts you might be missing or thinking about.) If that's true, I'll have to go spelunking for the photos from my visit last year and get them posted to share with you! In the meantime, PMA is hosting a fantastic exhibit called "Relational Undercurrents." It's contemporary... Read more →

Art in Bloom at PMA

A few weeks ago, I headed up to the Portland Museum of Art (PMA) in Portland, Maine. They were hosting their second annual "Art in Bloom." This is an event that many museums host, where local florists and garden clubs are challenged to create floral designs inspired by specific works of art in the museum. We took a docent-led tour of the Art in Bloom installation and it was fascinating for two major reasons: The docent really wanted us to give our opinions about whether or not the floral arrangements "worked." There was a lot of disagreement in the crowd,... Read more →