Cool people like cool things, which is why we asked cool person Petra Cortright to share some recommendations on Perfectly Imperfect.

Petra Cortright is an LA-based artist known for her paintings, sculptures, films, websites, webcam videos, and involvement in the ‘Post Internet’ movement of the mid-to-late-2000s. You can find her art everywhere from Youtube to the MoMA. Her incredible digital paintings are meticulously comprised of layers upon layers upon layers of brush strokes and manipulated images using Photoshop. She also just did these really cool skateboards in collaboration with GX1000 (mentioned below…). Petra has great taste and didn’t hold back at all with these recs, lucky for us, she’s here to talk about what she’s been into.

Without further ado

Petra Cortright (instagram, twitter, website)

 🎨 Outsider Art

The majority of art in my house is outsider art. Self taught work makes me believe in art, whereas most contemporary work makes me question that belief. You can get affordable, wonderful work from Creativity Explored in San Francisco. They will ship from their online store, but the best is to go there in person. You can flip through thousands of works in the flat files and you can meet the artists. They also have ceramics. Some iconic outsider artists that I love - for all of you God posters, look into B.F. Perkins. Mose Tolliver paintings on wood are true genius. Marcia Weber Art Objects is a good source - also a great place to visit in person. My husband and I did a road trip to her gallery in Alabama and started in New Orleans - take the back roads not the main highways, it’s longer but it's worth it. Speaking of New Orleans, it's a great place to look for Hatian vodou flags - sequined, hauntingly beautiful and mysterious. 

 🐑 Sleep

I take glycine at night. Glycine is good for you, it helps the body function better in many ways. Everyone should take glycine. Start with 3 grams and work your way up from there. It might give you crazy dreams. I always take calm gummies as well. Lately I’ve been into these vital proteins sleep shots - I feel like I’ve been sleeping well on them, they are a little bit of a novelty and a little bit expensive to be doing every night - but I also have a young child who wakes up early and I treasure good sleep. Matteo LA bolster pillows make a bed look so put together - like a hotel. The 14x60s are huge, it takes strength to move them around - the14x30s are more manageable, two side by side can fit next to each other on a king bed in front of a headboard and behind the pillows. It used to take me years to “break in” pillows for sleeping but the parachute home down pillow, standard size, soft is what I want a pillow to feel like already. They sell out of the soft one quite often. I think firm mattresses are better for your back. I've been impressed with the extra firm saatva “loom & leaf” mattress. We recently added a Holy Lamb Organics mattress topper and I never want to get out of bed. For sheets we have winter flannels on right now, LL Bean makes really nice plaid flannels and Martha Stewart for Macys makes really cute patterned ones with like, birds or pinecones on them etc. I like cheerful holiday sheets for winter a lot. For summer sheets Matteo LA “tru” are simple and nice - we have linen ones too but honestly in general I have found linen sheets don't last, they get holes in them so easily.

🍊Yakami Orchard Yuzu Marmalade 

My go to gift. If I am showing up at someone's home I am bringing this and I am bringing a loaf of bread from Seed Bakery in Pasadena, it's the best bread in LA. It would be cute to bring butter as well, my favorite butter is the cultured french butter from Trader Joes. 

❄️ ALONE Season 7

My friend Lex Brown visited LA last year and told me to watch this show. She said start with season 7. I can't even say how captivated and obsessed I became with this show. Alone is a reality show about people surviving in the remote wilderness by themselves, and they have to film it all themselves. The person who lasts the longest wins. Season 7 is set in the Arctic and the format is slightly different because they have to survive for 100 days to win. I am so impressed by these people and their skills and I just can't recommend it enough. I think starting with season 7 is so good, then you can go back and watch from the beginning or whatever. Season 7 is perfect. 

 🫖 Wellness Formula 

I have been passionate about this on Twitter and I hope it is helping people. This will keep you from getting sick, or if you are sick it will help you recover faster. It comes in two forms: capsules and tablets. The capsules are easier to take, the tablets are horse pills that taste absolutely awful, but they work better. My hardcore regime is 6 tablets 3x a day if I am trying to prevent being sick or if I am sick. For more casual maintenance you can take ~3 to 6 per day. I always bring them on international trips to help with jetlag and protect my immune system. My other travel secret is nuun caffeinated electrolyte tablets - the product is called sport+ caffeine. It's for athletes but I find it so helpful for travel and being in a hotel, it's so convenient to just drop a tab into a glass of water. The hydration from the electrolytes is really helpful for jet lag and I like easy access to caffeine. One of my pet peeves is being away from home and having to get dressed to go out for a cup of coffee or tea, I like to enjoy these things in bed in private - I don't want to see anyone. The nuun tablets are a way to deal with that if there is no coffee maker in the room, although almost all hotels will have a hot water kettle and even if it's not in the room you can usually request it. I travel with my own tea for this reason. I switch between Harney & Sons Paris tea and Mariage Frères Marco Polo because you can get both sachets - and you don’t need a mug to brew tea, you can pour hot water into a glass from the bathroom and it's better anyway because you can see the color of the tea and get the strength just right. One more thought on the nuun tablets - they are amazing for a hangover but i don’t drink anymore so thankfully I no longer have to worry about that.  If want to feel “festive” my favorite n/a beer is the pale partake its only 10 calories and not sweet, I just wish they would change the name because it’s really embarrassing and dumb.

🎶 Hixxy, Dougal & Gammer - Phaze 2 Phaze

My favorite song of all time is Gigi D'Agostino - L'amour toujours (I'll Fly with You), but this one is a close second. It's a special treat for me to listen to it full volume, driving by myself, all the windows down. I also listen to it a lot on repeat when I paint.

🖼️ Nichols Rugs 

Nichols rugs are Chinese Art Deco rugs. Almost all the rugs in my house are Nichols rugs, they're the only rug I know about. Ebay has them. Rugs can be insanely expensive, these are relatively affordable and also thicker than most rugs. A good tip for rugs is never to skimp out on a rug pad, get the thickest most expensive pad you can find, the feeling underfoot is so much more luxurious and it makes it so you can really lie down and sprawl out on the floor. I am the type of person who likes to sit on the floor a lot, in my opinion it’s extra seating if you have a nice enough rug situation. 

⚙️2022 RAM 2500 LONGHORN LIMITED EDITION 4x4 IN PEARL (with the 6.7L I6 Cummins Turbo Diesel Engine) 

This truck is sick as fuck. We just bought one for Christmas. We needed it for Montana and thought it would be potentially too big for LA but it's not - people just get out of your way - it's incredible. Also just the respect and nods from the guys that are checking it out. It's the most fun driving I've had in a while. The Longhorn edition has kooky details like belt buckles and embossed leather that looks like alligator skin. It has insane storage compartments that are totally for guns even though they don't outright say it, but that's what it's for. Again - very convenient for Montana. It's a good family car, it's massive - a car seat fits into the backseat no problem. My 2-year-old son is head over heels infatuated with the truck. Don't talk to me or my son ever again when we drive in our truck. 

🍳 Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Bean Paste

I use this so much I buy it in the 32oz size. I can never, ever go back to vanilla extract. This is more convenient and less expensive than scraping a real vanilla bean, but in my opinion has the same effect and flavor. My wonderful friend Leela invented the best banana pancake recipe for babies (and adults): Mash 1 banana in a bowl (smash it good), crack in two eggs, sprinkle in some cinnamon, nutmeg and the vanilla paste (I use a lot of the paste - at least a tablespoon) - stir to combine. Heat some coconut oil in a frying pan on medium heat and when the oil is hot spoon in mini dollops of mixture, the size of like.. a sand dollar? lol. Flip when you see a few bubbles popping on the surface, and then brown to golden on the other side. Wipe the pan with a paper towel and re-oil a bit before you pour the next ones, it helps make perfect pancakes every time. I made these for my son every morning for almost an entire year. The best pan to do (really anything) in is a Mauviel M'Heritage 250B 2.5 mm copper pan. I have two -- if you cook, it’s worth it. You feel so pro and nothing ever burns. Go the extra mile and serve pancakes on a golden florentine tray, they are elegant and also not slide-y which is an under valued quality in a tray imo.

🍴Flatware 

I'm always interested in finding out people's priorities and hierarchies when it comes to eating, drinking, cooking, etc. I am not interested in enduring life without nice flatware, but I will drink out of a cheap IKEA glass no problem. The feeling of lifting a cheap fork or spoon physically bothers me, I like to hold something with some weight. Conversely drinking out of a really expensive, thin glass gives me anxiety, like I could take a bite out of it. It gives me the creeps. I really like vintage pottery barn flatware for the weight, you can ebay/etsy around for them. We just got a pattern called antique rope for our cabin in Montana (I’m not going to do any montana spoilers - you don't do it out of respect for the sanctity and the mindset of the vibe of the state) but the weight of them is insane, like a weapon - it’s fitting. For California we use the Matilda Goad rainbow cutlery set. I love her teaspoons and I eat with those ninety percent of the time, even a big bowl of soup I will eat it with a small teaspoon, I just prefer a smaller bite. 

⚖️ Floradix

I'm prone to anemia which makes me feel tired and weak - two feelings that I despise - so I take this. If you're a E-Girl or a waif you should be taking it too (for your bruises etc). If you’re pregnant you should definitely take it - and it also helped relieve restless leg syndrome which was a bizarre and horrible sensation I had when I was pregnant, and when I took floradix at night it helped me sleep a little bit better. 

🍃 Fioriware Majolica 

These dishes are my all time favorite. They make me so happy. Food always looks really beautiful against them as well. The weights and sizes are unique as well - the dinner plates are exquisitely huge, I don't know if they make the dinner plates anymore, it looks like you could contact them to ask about a special order. My mom bought a lot of these in the 90s and I have them now. We also use seletti toilet paper plates - they’re cheeky and fun and the tin ones are unbreakable and good for kids. 

 🍼 Baby 

I love baby things. The most beautiful baby things come from makié clothier, especially the hadagi section. Lewis Home makes my favorite crib sheets and swaddles. I am also a big fan of their quilts which are really nice and thick and in a good shape and size. There is a german brand called macarons that makes onesies, they call them overalls - the fabric is unlike anything else I’ve seen in other brands, and the cut of the clothes grow with the child for a while, they outlast other things by a lot. Disana is another good brand from Germany that makes a really nice blanket, I loved it so much I got several of them. My favorite pajamas are from Mabo and last a really long time which is hard to do for baby and kid clothing.

⚔️GX1000

Saved one of my favorite things for last - The charming, fearless, talented boys of GX1000 make the best hoodies and the best videos. 

Follow Petra on Instagram and Twitter.

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