@gamine_co on Instagram:

Attn fellow outdoor kids coping with 4 pm sunsets: a request to crowdsource underrated video programs on the internets (we already know about Game of Thrones). I'll start with Fake or Fortune -- there are a few episodes on Netflix, but a treasure trove on YouTube. The episode digging into the 18th century painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle with her cousin Elizabeth Murray is too good to miss (one of the earliest known English paintings to depict an African woman in a positive light).
5 years ago I found a perfect, US Naval deck sweater from the Korean War (my fave warehouse geek told me because the inside tag was damaged, I was able to afford it). I found myself wearing it as much as possible--from bulb plantings to meetings at the Guggenheim-- it never failed. I always lamented that there weren't more like it. Recently, I found myself in a position to be able to collect wool from domestic farms to send to Maine to be processed & naturally dyed, then on to Brooklyn NY to be knit into a proxy of that perfect sweater. As of today, they are up for grabs. Two years ago, my colleague showed me a remarkable Podophyllum hybrid he grew from seed (via dozens of crosses). Among its many garden worthy attributes is a tolerance toward our increasingly hot, humid summers. This past year we've been propagating this hybrid, hoping to be able to share with gardeners next year... Nobody ever told me a life's work could exist at the intersection of sweaters & woodland species, but pleased to report, it sure can.
The first time I met Bill Cunningham, he took my picture while I was installing Nasturtium vines at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Over the years, as Bill (weirdly) photographed me at work, we dished about our mutual love of plants & workwear. He taught me so much. I miss him-- especially his punk attitude-- dearly. One particularly fateful day, I told him how much I loved his signature, blue work coat. He took it off and gave it to me (he insisted!) & sent me in the mail two others, from Paris ca. 1950. He wanted me to see the decline in the quality of the fabric used to make his favorite work coat —he said that the newer versions were “cheesy.” Recently, the archivist at Dickies showed me a swatch of a sturdy, blue Japanese twill and I immediately thought of Bill and his favorite work coats. Together, we worked to put a twist on a vintage shirt pattern from the Dickies archive to create a shawl collar layering shirt in honor of my friend’s enduring legacy. I feel so lucky to champion the people I love via work clothing. Thank you to all the nerds who have supported my work -- it still blows me away (& has me out of my comfort zone talking about these things here!) 💙
New England Bauhaus (Walter & Ise Gropius)
Cup.runneth.o'er. (on the heels of articulating my fatigue with the dominant visual language of instagram (à la Christopher Lloyd's distaste for "good taste"), I'm thinking about offering up more of life's contours & textures (nary a rose tinted lens to describe a gardener? or work clothing?). Is instagram more than pageantry? Ought it be? #thesearethedaysofourlives)
A tiny PSA from two of the tiniest dogs in the tiniest state's tiniest town: in keeping with the tenor of 20th century lyfe (pre-internets), you may have missed word that Sakonnet Garden is opening doors Saturday one last time this year in conjunction with their Symposium, "elastic gardening-the art of reinvention" (talks from writer/nurseryman/gardener, Jonny Bruce (refreshingly, not on Instagram), scultptor/floral designer @emilythompsonflowers, & yours truly). I am told they are able to squeeze in a few more people for talks, but the garden is open 12-6 Saturday & we (@issima__ ) will be flogging late season flowering plants at our last plant sale of the year. Opportunities like this rarely come up, especially this time of year, so I'd hate for you all to miss the opportunity if you're up for the travel...
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