A Gift Guide Inspired by Art, Music, and Nature

It’s the time of year when gift guides are on the menu. But we don’t care if you don’t want to buy anything. (Who does? It’s so boring). We just want you to know that this holiday season, we’re looking for things that inspire and serve JOY.

We found it in:

Cortina’s stunning mountain setting
the sparkling visual works of Mickalene Thomas
the genre-defying music of Rosalía
the restorative power of analog rituals
Japan’s art in nature (and nature in art)

The Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games kick off in February with the dramatic and daring Dolomite Mountains as the playground for the world’s best athletes. It’s the second time the games will be held in the mountain region; the 1956 Olympics marked the first time the Winter Games were broadcast to the world. (The Olympics are the only time we anticipate and look forward to crying during commercials.) Sports fans will see the debut of ski mountaineering, which combines cross-country uphill with downhill ski racing, along with the classic snow-and-ice competitive sports. Whether you’re in a league of your own or a passionate viewer, it’s a rare chance to get swept up in the celebratory spirit of resilience, personal sacrifice, and national pride.

Product photos courtesy of the companies.

The visual artist Mickalene Thomas, known for her elaborate paintings, mixed media sculptures, and complex lifesize interiors composed of rhinestones, acrylic, beads, and enamel, is a mastermind of striking visuals (see, also: her personal style). Thomas’s work provides an alternative history of repair and care; her subjects are often women — mystical, glamorous, sexy, feminine — celebrated and held up to the light of high art. She is the first African American artist to have a major solo exhibition at Le Grand Palais in Paris, which you should absolutely experience firsthand (All About Love, December 17, 2025 - April 5, 2026). Bring your favorite women with you.

Mickalene Thomas, Afro Goddess Looking Forward (2017) and Untitled #18 (2016)
Maryjane Claverol Maribel Turban
Guanabana Mitra Bag
Formosa eau de perfume
Adina Eden Tart Cherry and Strawberry hair claw clips
Big Night rainbow glass bowl
Cult Gaia Caldera Clutch
Kurt Geiger Pom Pom Ankle Tie Sandal

What can we say? We’re glassy eyed from scrolling and scratching our heads at AI. We’re drawn to human connections and simple analog pleasures — playing games, working with our hands, sharing language, being in nature. Simple mechanics and natural materials rule. Don’t forget it.

Hilma af Klint book, What Stands Behind the Flowers
Maria Popova Almanac of Birds: 100 Divinations for Uncertain Days
Enthusiastic clapping via Variable Applause Machine
Eco-friendly Fox Family Watercolor Paint Kit
Ben Schott book, Schott’s Significa
Purl Soho Learn to Knit Kit
Hand crank Butterfly Flipbook Machine
Duchamp and Man Ray chess set
Grapat wooden rocking bird

Background photo by Luca Lago / Unsplash. Product photos courtesy of the companies.

Rosalía’s new album, Lux, feels like a revelation. Spain’s most talented vocalist veers from her flamenco-inspired global pop stylings and moves into symphonic, opera-like storytelling that’s passionate, playful, tragic, and joyful. That voice! She expresses the human condition in thirteen languages, but you don’t have to know a single one to appreciate what she’s singing. Backed by the London Symphony Orchestra and stretching into the avant-garde, the album is classical, radical, and risky. Listen to the whole thing in the dark, alone — or clutching someone you love. You will be transported to the edge and back.

Rosalía album, Lux
Velvet Canyon Momentum sunglasses
Mr. Larkin off-the-shoulder maxi dress
L’Objet smoking lips incense holder
Reformation Aphrodite pleated pouch
Pat Mcgrath Mattrance Lipstick in Nude Venus
Cos ribbed sheer socks
Baublebar Gigi bow lariat

Naoshima photo by Ahab Sun / Unsplash. Product photos courtesy of the companies.

More and more travelers are discovering the joy of Japan for themselves, and record-breaking growth is changing patterns in visitor flow beyond Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka (don’t skip — they’re amazing). The country is adding infrastructure to help people access the many hidden gems and regional delights that showcase tradition, craftsmanship, hospitality, and the thoughtful (superior?!) stewardship of culture. Case in point: Naoshima, Teshima, and Inujima, the cluster of “art islands” in the Seto Inland Sea. They’re home to Tadao Ando’s concrete designs, James Turrell’s light spaces, Monet’s water lilies, Yayoi Kusama’s polka dot pumpkins, the Setouchi Triennale (which just wrapped this month) and a new museum of art. The islands essentially function as a giant, living open-air museum and the world’s most ambitious, environmentally conscious, long-term experiments in place-based contemporary art.

Louis Vuitton Yayoi Kusama Dots Infinity bag
Rice Pot “Inaho”
Dan-Ten quilted jacket
Takashi Murakami Kaikai Kiki dolls
Gardenheir floral scented pencils
Yayoi Kusama cups and saucers
Irodori Kobako watercolor set
Tatcha blotting papers