Q&A With Artist Sally Benedict

One of my most favorite artists is visiting us today, Sally King Benedict.  Yippiiiieeeee!



I orginally discovered some of Sally's paintings while browsing Angie Hranowsky's blog, and I was instantly smitten.  She and I exchanged some emails, mainly me gushing over her and embarrassing myself.  And I've shared her work here on the blog a couple of times. 

Isn't she insanely talented?  I could cover every wall in my house with her work.



Then randomly we met while at a party here in Charleston.  And I gushed some more about her greatness. 

{Photo taken at Charleston Fashion Week}

Oh, I forgot to mention that she's GORGEOUS, sweet, and insanely stylish... more on that in a little bit.  But I thought it would be fun to do a little Q&A.  Sally happily obliged.

LLL: We're catching a jet to Barcelona.  What do you want to do first?
Sally: Throw our bags at the hotel and stroll through Barri Gotic....the most beautiful area in the city, stop in a sidewalk cafe for a long, late lunch, then off to the Museu Picasso.

LLL: What is your greatest extravagance?
Sally: a wash and blow-out

LLL: What type of art do you collect for your  home?  Your own?
Sally: We do have a large collection of my own art, but its constantly changing and being moved around. I love finding modern, colorful pieces from the 50's/60's. We have a white house with white walls for the most part...so all the color lies in the art. I would sell everything in our house for 1 Helen Frankenthaler. At the moment, we are hunting for a large-scale photograph…dying for a sam kweskin or neil krug.

{Sally's downtown Charleston home.  In her words, "It's like living on the beach downtown".}

{Top image is a piece by Sally titled "Hot Pink", bottow left by Helen Frankenthaler titled "Flirt", and bottom right by Sam Kweskin, {Jour de Plage".}


LLL: From where do you draw your inspiration for your pieces?
Sally: Currently, anything that involves soaking up the sun.

{Photography by Slim Aarons}

LLL: What is your most memorable life moment?
Sally: My wedding of course! It was the most beautiful, wonderful, happy, loving day. I am reminded every morning when I see my sweet husband.



LLL: You clearly have a flair for fashion?  Do you have a style muse?
Sally: I definitely have a few style icons! My grandmother is no.1-she is always dressed impeccably. Brigitte Bardot, India Hicks, Erin Wasson, and my one and only man, Yves Saint Laurent.

LLL: From which stores/designers does most of your wardrobe come from?

Sally: Opening Ceremony, Barneys, Ann Mashburn, Hampden, J.Crew, Pearl, Capitol, Thrift and Vintage.

{Jil Sander Spring via Fash Eccentric}

LLL: Have a bucket list? What's on it?
Sally: Spend time in the south of france, work on a dude ranch, go to africa, publish a book.

LLL: Who would you most like to have purchase your art for their home?
Sally: Simon de Pury.


Thanks so much to Sally for visiting today.  The pieces that I've shared here today don't even begin to scratch the surface of her work.  So go check out her website.  And for those of you in the Charleston area, Sally is having an art show on Thursday, May 19th at Stems (fabulous local floral shop) downtown.  I'll be there, would *love* to see some of you there. 

I'll leave you with one of my favorite pieces by Sally, titled "Face It".  Appropriately titled because it rocks my face off.

I Was Dreaming When I Wrote This

"Forgive me if it goes astray."  Tonight we're going to see Prince in concert.

{Photography by The Sartorialist}

"She wore a raspberry beret..."  I could be wrong, but isn't that The Glamourai?  

I look like a total dud in berets, so I won't be wearing one.  But there is a real good chance I'll be wearing my long, black chiffon skirt and my bright red (sexy lips, really that's the name) Laura Mercier lipstick.



So tonight I'm gonna party like it's... you know the rest.

A Playful Pouchette

I. JUST. LOVE. THIS.

{Rebecca Minkoff "Jelly Bean"}

That's all.

Stud Trend

Super lame post title, I know.  But it was better than, "tell me about it stud"...

You're aware that I'm digging the studded trend, right?  Lucky for us all, it's popping up everywhere!

{Asos sheer shirt, Alexander Wang bag, Balboa earrings, Sam Edelman pumps}

The sheer top and the heels are seriously haunting me.  I want.  Plus, the shoes double as a weapon...  I also really like them in the nude color available here.



PS- I hope ya'll really did celebrate your sweet selves this weekend!

Jylare Ann Photography Winner & A Few Other Fun Bits

Thank you to everyone who entered Jylare's photography session giveaway.  I'm happy to announce that Ashley of This City Girl is the winner.  Congratulations Ashley.  Be sure to contact Jylare at jylare@gmail.com.



Luckily for the rest of us, Jylare is offering 20% off sessions until April 15th for all LLL readers.  So if you've been contemplating (and it sounds like a lot of you have been), now is the time to do it!  

And now for a few lovely bits that I've seen around the blogosphere this past week...

Amber from Amber Interiors shared her dining room, and it was love at first site!

Christine from Bijou & Boheme put together a backyard garden space for the George Herman House project.  I could stay here all day.  Check out her post for a sources guide.

And lastly, Kendall K shared the photos from her launch party/trunk show.  Looks good Kendall, congrats!  Check out her post here to see more.

{Photography by Kate Daigneault}

Charleston Fashion Week Thursday Night Recap

There was a lot to love about last night's show at Charleston Fashion Week.  Including some dolled up attendees.  Love that first upper left dress!

{I was just as disappointed as you to not see my dapper, bowtie wearin' gentleman.}

And the runway opened up with a fantastic performance by Emily Hearn.  Beautiful voice.

{Photography by Cyle Suesz}

And if you're keeping up with CFW by my blog alone, then you may not have realized that each night starts off with a few runway shows put on by local retailers.  It's a great way for them to show what's to come in their shop.  Well last night's show by Hampden Clothing (Sound familiar? Probably b/c they get mentioned here often due to their fabulosity) was the first retail show that I actually really liked. 

{Photography by Ed/Fashion Wire Press}

The talented Michael Wiernicki won both the People's Choice Award and Thursday night's Emerging Designer contest.  While I can't pull off many of his designs, (I do know a few people who could though) his show was the most interesting and very well detailed.

{Photography by Ed/Fashion Wire Press}

And a great shot of one of the guest judges, Janie Bryant, who is the costume designer of Mad Men.

{Photography by Cyle Suesz}

Thursday night's Featured Designer, Hunter Dixon, didn't disappoint either with their gorgeous fall collection.  In fact, I just might need this velvet dress!

{Photography by Ed/Fashion Wire Press}

You can go to CFW's photo page to see a lot more pics.  I've had an awesome time the past few days, and feel quite lucky to be a part of it all.  Happy Friday, Everyone.

Dani Notes- Some Sponsor Love

So we're all nutz about Dani Notes' chic iphone cases...

And we love her party supplies...

{Above from Dani's son's recent 5th birthday party - so adorable!}

And her platters are super cute and practical (think parties, picnics, display...).



But she has some more things arriving soon to her store to get excited about!!!

IPAD CASES

&

SIGG WATER BOTTLES

Coming soon to Dani Notes' Shop, ya'll :)  Spring is here!!

PS- today is the last night to enter the Jylare Ann Photography Session Giveaway.

Charleston Fashion Week Wednesday Night Recap

I'm loving that I'm meeting some of your pretty faces under the tents at CFW!  Hoping to see some more of you tonight.  But how about a recap of last night's festivities, shall we?

One of my favorite parts is snapping photos of outfits that I likey!

{Yes HE was back and looking spiffy once again.  Such detail, and you know how I love a bowtie...}

And with a couple of my girl friends from The Art Institute of Charleston who is sponsoring Charleston Fashion Week.

And one of my favorite street styles of the night.  

{Photography by Diana Deaver}

And onto the runway... Admittedly, a night highlight for me was when one of the models' dress fell down exosing her lady lump and she cruised down the entire runway perfectly poised.  No, I am not including a photo of this.  I will share that Emerging Designer Cody Sai Adler won BOTH People's Choice Award and Wednesday night's Emerging Designer contest.  Congrats, Cody.  Your show was gorgeous.

{Photography by Ed/Fashion Wire Press}

And I adored the featured designer, Lindsey Carter's, Troubadour collection.  It was a perfect ending to the night.

{Photography by Ed/Fashion Wire Press}

{Photography by Cyle Suesz}

Pretty sure we'll be seeing more of Troubadour here on the blog.

I'll be back tomorrow with a recap of tonight's event!

Charleston Fashion Week Tuesday Night Recap

It was a smoking hot good time.  I arrived early so that I could snap some photos of great outfits I saw.  Wanna see?

And ya'll chose a great outfit for me b/c my ensemble was a hit too.  My shoes were aired on the evening news.  And I made CFW Street Style.  Check out the link for lots of fun daily outfits.

{Screenshot!}

{Photography by Diana Deaver}

And in case you were wondering which of Marysia's outfits had the most votes in Monday's outfit post...



Designer Barbara Beach showed, and she KILLED it!  Like, it was my favorite part of the whole night.

{Photography by Ed Kavishe/Fashion Wire Press}

Tuesday night's Emerging Designer winner was Veritee Hill.  She put on a beautifully detailed and interesting show.

{Photography by Ed Kavishe/Fashion Wire Press}

And I adored the collection of Tuesday night's Public Choice winner Sarah Parrott.

{Photography by Ed Kavishe/Fashion Wire Press}

The Emerging Designers are bringing it.  Can't wait to see what tonight brings!

Check out loads of more photos HERE!!