Ruby Slippers

New issue of Nail Art Gallery Magazine is out! You can read it here.

I surprised myself a bit when writing my ed note. It got personal very quickly. You will find some amazing nail art in this issue inspired by the new film Oz the Great and Powerful. When thinking about Oz, my mind immediately went back to my childhood. We have an entire section on pop culture, and I really got to thinking about the effects living among TV, books, movies, and music can have on you. Is the reason I love shopping really because I love Carrie Bradshaw and want to be a fashionable writer like her? Did my love for Modern literature translate into a love of that excessive, Jazz Age type of lifestyle? Do I want a ring from Tiffany's because I love Audrey Hepburn? I honestly don't know. I can't pinpoint the roots of all my affections. But there is an undeniable influence these works of art have had on me, and I'm sure on everyone else too.

In fact, everyone in Southern California seems a bit obsessed with the entertainment culture. We watch our news daily (and here, content that is considered news, like what a pregnant Kardashian wore, is not what I would consider news). Everyone wants to be an actor or a filmmaker. Seriously, I can name so many of my friends who have tried to be in the industry. Everyone knows someone, or pretends to know someone, or wants to see someone famous. And you know what? That bubble is not for me. That lifestyle is not me. I would love to hear a traffic report without hearing about a celebrity split. I would love to meet more people who moved to California not to be in show business. And the times I go to events in Hollywood, I don't like sucking up or name dropping or fainting and fawning over "really important people." 

I think we need to get back to the art behind it all. There was a time when there wasn't a TMZ, when our authors and fine artists were celebrated as much as people who could sing or act. Rachel Zoe said something that I relate to very much, and that is for her, a celebrity is someone who designs clothes. I bet you the majority of people wouldn't know what the designer behind Dior is named (Raf Simons) or what the designers behind Valentino looked like. But these are the people who are creative geniuses, who are artists. One of the things I like most about Nail Art Gallery Magazine is that we shine spotlights on several artists, so you get to see their faces and not just pictures of the pretty nails they paint. 

Back in the day, films were done in black and white. You had to really imagine what an emerald city might look like. There weren't a ton of digital effects, so we had to trust the filmmakers to have creative stories and not just creative visuals to get us through a script. When I was growing up, the Wizard of Oz fueled my imagination. I was a daydreamer, I still might be. And I remember dreaming of places over the rainbow -- places worth singing about. I still worry about following the right road. I love a pair of ruby colored slippers. And part of the reason why I love them is because when I click my heels together three times, I do feel transformed. Because that is the magic of shoes. That is the genius behind great design. And no matter how many roads I wander down, or cities I visit while walking in my shoes, no matter how many dreams come true, I still feel like there is no place like home. So no matter how we choose to escape reality for a bit -- be it blogs, a book, a film -- we are all happy to return home. That's where the real stories begin. And for me, home is not really a place with a closet full of shoes. Home is at my grandmother's house, sitting on the carpet in the back room, watching the Wizard of Oz on VHS. Good art takes us back to where a story begins. Good art transforms us. And that power exists within the artwork itself, not within the red carpet of its premiere, or the number of tickets it has sold. I hope you enjoy the new issue and that you find something in there that transforms you, that takes you back, and maybe even causes you to dream a bit.