Happy Chinese New Year

The Chinese Year of the Ox. Around about year 4700 in the Chinese calendar.
People born in the Year of the Ox are born leaders who are patient and quiet but can be stubborn and eccentric. The Ox is a sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. Although predisposed to financial security, Ox people will not indulge in gambling or risk. They believe in success through endeavour.

Happy New Year to everyone. Careful with the firecrackers!

Contempo House in Wyoming.

Okay, this one is better. Remember my blog posting a few weeks ago railing against that hideous concrete mess in Idaho? If not, HERE it is. Anyway, I just have a thing about modern houses set in natural landscapes just to make a statement. Why don't you work with the landscape--it's so rare!? Well, I came across this house above in Western Interiors (amazing mag), and was pleasantly surprised. I feel like they (the couple and the designer) actually gave a little thought to the location of the home. They worked with the landscape and tried to integrate it in a modern sort of way. The house was designed by a couple, Lori Ryker and Brett Nave in Wapiti Valley, Wyoming. Take a look.

The materials that were used were glass, wood, steel, and rammed earth. I'm not sure what rammed earth means but it sounds natural.

You can see right into their living room from the outside, but they don't exactly have close neighbors. I like how the angle of the roof is a mirror reflection of the jutting angles of the mountains behind it.

From the magazine: "We took our cues from the rock formations and their varied colors,” says Ryker. “The exterior forms were shaped by our thinking about the interiors, and we strove to make them an integral part of this wild and beautiful landscape." I think this choice is quite apparent. Well done.

Like the other house, the decor feels a tad stark for my taste, but I know that must reflect the style of the home. The window to the right looks like a framed landscape picture and can you imagine waking up to that view?

What do you all think? Better? Worse? Same? I feel like this home looks like a string of old miners huts on the side of a hill. I like how they respected the old style of the area but brought a little of their modern personality to the site.


Alicia B.

Gardenpartying: Permaculture party for pot-plant wrapping

Paul Bongiorno, actor/actrobat/permie,

and Myriam Lewis, wall painting restorer

It was fun. It was delicious. And today was just the rehearsal. I got all these new ideas for how to make the next pot-wrapping party, Feb 15th, enchanting.

Illustrators know, every new thing needs a first draft. Parties too.

Sharon Macaulay the town planner, Sandy The Mosaic teacher/artist

Holding it in place with old elastic,
so we can straighten up the hessian stylishly before wiring it on.

Finished result, with dark and light pink gauze ribbon,
matching the hessian's pink stripe.

People went home poised to transform things, with some ready-cut hessian.
Of course you can't do something totally new in one go, by yourself (you can, but the odds are against it) . I'm looking forward to their photos.

Devon Kelley Yurdin

I just got this adorable signed print from Devon Kelley Yurdin on Etsy! She's an incredibly talented artist, originally from the east coast, had a stint in Brooklyn and now lives in California. She uses watercolors, which I think are very hard to master, and her own drawings. I'm so excited to have this framed and put it in my new apartment! I'm thinking a charming print such as this one, would be great in my front hall or in my cute grey bathroom, for a fun pop of color. You best check out the rest of her work, as she is amazing.


Alicia B.

Top Drawer; Kimono Wrap Dress

For you who didn't quite make it to Top Drawer for the show; here are some snippets of what you missed. Some of our own designs and some of the many other brilliant designs we saw. It was great meeting up with old friends - and it was great meeting new ones. A big thank you to Veronika for inspiring us with an idea for a new product. You know what we're talking about... For the rest of you - you'll just love it!

Alfred Stevens at The Clark Museum

Last weekend, when I was home, I went to see the collection of art at The Clark Museum up in Williamstown, MA (the town where Williams College is). The art was amazing, but one artist in particular really struck me. Alfred Stevens was an amazing Belgian painter from the mid 1800s. At first the paintings seemed like your typical portraits of beautiful women in beautiful dresses, but if you look closer there is something different about each woman. Some of them have a look of regret, some of loss, some of insecurity. Take a look at some of the ones I like the best.

The Blue Dress.
This dress is obviously gorgeous but you look closer and see so many things in this painting: the tiny footstool peaking out from under the dress, how in her haste, the woman has only taken off one glove to read this letter, and in person how beautiful and delicate that screen is behind her.

Pleasant Letter
Another painting of women reading a letter which was a popular subject of the time. I especially love the screen in the background and then the lacquer chest off to the left.

Summer
What a pretty pink dress. This painting is from a series that Stevens did called The Four Seasons. They are installed in a round shaped room in the Clark Museum which used to be a house.

Winter
Another beautiful woman from the series of four paintings. Such an elegant pose as we see this woman looking at herself in a similarly elegant full length mirror. I love the lighting in this painting too and the wall paper.

Hesitation
Hesitation? Why? I love how each of these have a narrative that makes you want to know more about the woman. What is her story? Doesn't she have everything? The colors in these paintings are also very beautiful. They don't come across as strongly in the Internet, which is a bummer. Anyway, the colors are brilliant and very deep. I'd love to have a door like that in my house someday.

I was also drawn (obviously) to the beautifully rendered interiors spaces. I was surprised that the artist took such care in this and I found out through some reading that his father was an interior designer(though other sources say that he was just an artist). No wonder I had such a strange fascination to this painter. If you're ever in the area, I would highly recommend going to the Clark Museum. Sterling and Francine Clark had such a grand and extensive collection of paintings.


Alicia B.

Practical

There were many great products at Top Drawer including this handy set of jar tops. Buy the lids and use your favourite jar as a shaker, pourer, storage container. Practical, thoughtful, useful design by Royal vkb.