June 2011

Within a budding grove

Memorial Day weekend is less of a holiday then most. It is the weekend that Yankees are schooled to put in their gardens to avoid the random frosts that patrol the month of May. As such, its is a very busy weekend. I do double time during the weekend as I am normally just back from NOLA and the bush hog beckons. I love cutting the grass and I consider my tractor my oasis within this budding grove. I can think on the tractor, and focus not on the larger issues of running a business or the difficulties of certain designs, but on the simplicity of line as a theme unto itself. The only thing I care about for hours on end is keeping the beautiful symmetry of the mown grass and smelling the fragrance of nature as it happens. There is no telephone and no interruptions. The job is not an easy one as I  find it the perfect place to have champagne. Most of my friends are aware that I believe that farm machinery and champagne do mix when done in moderation. I chose rose champagne this weekend to toast the cherry blossoms that are singing their swan songs, and announce the planting of mortgage lifter tomatoes that have that lovely pink color when they start to blush in the Fall. The lines are straight in  the fields, and the new garden freshly watered. We await first the cherry fruit that Proust obsesses about in the book "within a budding grove", the second book of  his series, In search of lost time. I find lost hours on the tractor and can't imagine spring or summer without that outlet to enjoy. I admit to being especially excited about "Yellow Meat". This is Arkansas cognoscenti vernacular for golden colored watermelon. In my humble opinion the fairer brother to beluga, but much more approachable. I would give up all food with the exception of cheese for watermelon, and consider a feta and watermelon salad genius.

Posted by varney on 06/02/2011 in | Add comment

Root of all

This past weekend was the beginning of the polo matches at Mashomac Club near my farm in upstate New York. It was an interesting time catching up with many of the people I grew up with as a child. Most of them know me as extension of my parents as opposed to a contemporary, so the conversation often turned to them at some point. Friends of my parents like to assume that it was my mothers jewelry that got me interested in designing as a metier. Perhaps so. My father as long spoken about the first room someone remembers in their life as the cornerstone of their taste. The premise being that if it was a happy room with good memories they try recreating that space, conversely their taste will sometimes run counter to the style of that first room if other feelings prevailed. I buy the theory. Yet the weekend punctuated me looking at the theory as it related to the jewelry I make. I had never done that before, never. Full disclosure, my mother has dementia and my brother and I had a conversation regarding her jewelry just two days prior. Should we sell it, should we keep it for our own wives ( one day ), etc. The combination of all the comments and my own feelings dealing with the possibility of selling any of her pieces was very interesting.

Posted by varney on 06/28/2011 in | Add comment

Savage Beauty

I have gone to see the Alexander McQueen show at the Met for the third time. The latest trip up 5th avenue was with a pen and paper. I just stood there in the  gallery quickly sketching portion of his clothes I found inspired. What made it so difficult is the amount of detail in his clothes that is firmly rooted in genius. Last year at the CFDA awards they presented his last collection. It was hands down the finest fashion show I have ever seen. I believe his talent was so immense that it became impossible to live.  Too much passion.

One of the themes I relate to was the "Mechanics of Nature" . The uneasy relationship of nature and the binds that are applied to harness it. That theme has been the lifeblood of my work. The idea of conflict in harmony. Please go see the show. I was so impressed with the amount of students and young people there.  I am sure that many of them had never heard of  McQueen before. The show rivals anything I have ever seen, and transcends art.

Posted by varney on 06/30/2011 in | Add comment