What would Thorton Wilder Think?

The Williamstown Theatre Festival people send me emails on a regular basis. Call me old fashioned, but I find it disconcerting to attend a WTF event or get a 10% discount on WTF logo apparel and merchandise at the Patron level. WTF? I'm going to wear a WTF tee shirt?

For a donation of $1,500-$2,499, I can be a Benefactor and be on the WTF Annual Honor Roll.
Heck, I might already be there.

But to see Campbell Scott in The Atheist and Kate Burton and Darrell Hammond in Beyond Therapy, I might just have to be quiet and stop this silliness.

Of course, while there I will have to visit Mass MoCA where there is an Anselm Kiefer exhibit of paintings and sculptures in this North Adams art mecca. He's a controversial and prolific artist. I certainly respect that. I remember his books at MOMA in the 80's or 90's. I think of golden grasses when I think of him. Desolation of the sort I recall.

If you visit this area, you will inevitably decide to stay at Porches the hotel where you, too can pretend that you were a factory worker. When I visited several Thanksgivings ago, I nearly froze to death. But, realizing I was living a life from the past, I actually had fun. It's a charming place, but best visited in moderate temps.

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Sunday Sculptures

I so admire the work of sculptor Pamela Sunday (above). Her forms are both organically familiar and yet otherworldly. In fact, after reading the modest bio on her website, I thought that perhaps she was a Brit. But nope, her studio is in the Boerum Hill/Carroll Garden section of Brooklyn.

Sunday started out as a math and econ major at Fordham and, while never taking an art course, wound up as a stylist at Bergdorf Goodman after a stint on Wall Street. Why does this not surprise me? She then turned to ceramics as art rather than creating functional pieces. Pamela told me that she's inspired by "microscopic forms found in nature."

I hope to visit her studio in the near future. Serious but fun. I like when an artist can survive by doing what she loves.

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Interfering with toile

Fun article by Penelope Green in today's NY Times on the work of Richard Saja where she describes his work as "interfering with toile".

Isn't it great when people subvert traditional objects? You can see more here. 

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I-Park -- under my nose

My friend B'sie told me about this place I-Park and it seems amazing. Think Yaddo or Vermont Studio Center.

Hartmut Stockter made the clever mobile Behive Hat. I love it. He was a 2007 Fellow at I-Park. The place sounds wonderful 450 acres in a heavenly area. I cannot wait to explore it.

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Peony photographs by John Simoudis

My friend John Simoudis has a series of peony photographs that was a pleasure discover on this rainy Sunday afternoon. The rain is welcome, but the cold it has brought is not. But back to John. His help in the design of my blog was invaluable. He is a master of design who excels at both commercial and a fine art photography. I met him at River, the shop he owns with his partner Joe Marini. More on Joe at another time. Their home was recently featured on DesignSponge.

My friend Barbara and I are planning to attend the first Farm Dinner of the year, although it won't be at a farm, but rather the Connecticut River Museum. Far fetched, one might think, but, alas, the river is the "farm" tonight. The evening will be a celebration of the Connecticut River Shad. Our boniest claim to fame. I've been enjoying shad for a month or so. I finally began cooking it in parchment paper because all of the other methods, while tasty, wind up falling apart and look plain messy. John Simoudis has a wonderful photograph of the Shad Shack on his website, but I hesitate to publish it without his permission. It is number 22 out of 25. Check it out.

I'm hoping that somehow rhubarb is incorporated into the menu. . . .

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All-in-one-kitchen by Fevzi Karaman

Check out this Swiss Army knife of a kitchen. Of course the gray and green encouraged me to linger. I found it this morning on Cube Me.

Turkish designer Fevzi Karman sure has thought of everything in this stop-whining about how small your kitchen is kitchen. Check out the little sink in the upper right hand corner. No, it wouldn't be suitable for preparing lavish dinner parties and cleanup? Ouch. But it's fun, contemporary, and a thoughtful suggestion considering the state of things today.

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Joseph Scheer Photography

argema-mimosae

Stumbled upon some wonderful photographs of moths by Joseph Scheer. If I had my druthers, I would post all of his wonderful images. I have no idea of the pricing, but the size seems to be 34" x 46".

coloradia pandora davisi

Scheer is a Professor of Print Media at Alfred University. His work can be found at Ruby Beets in Sag Harbor. I am definitely planning a trip there. Soon. Actually the store itself looks very cool. Ruby Beets also carries the Middle Kingdom ceramics l wrote about last week

gonodonta species

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Saturday Morning Keyboard Waffles

You gotta love this. This for the GTD gang. The 43 Folders posse.

Nothing more to say. Find even geekier things here.

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An Unfinished Life

Jeff Cooley is exhibiting the work of Allen Butler Talcott at the Cooley Gallery in Old Lyme, Ct through June 7th. Talcott died in 1908 at the age of 41. The exhibit makes me want to sit and stare and study.

Normally I don't care for the work of the Lyme Impressionists. The style is way overdone in this area, in particular. The whole plein air notion is anathema to me. But this guy's sense of atmosphere is stunning.

The painting above, April Buds and Blossoms, is a perfect example of what I love about his work. Evidently he liked scratching and using textural techniques. The scenery begs for it. The back and forth between the detailed versus the squinty areas. Adore his palette. In fact, in this painting he uses my secret color that I put in every piece.

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Angela Liguori

I found a great source for paper goods a few weeks ago:

Angela Liguori. Her studio is in the Chestnut Hill section of Boston. 

What really struck me was her line of Italian cotton ribbon. Bellissimo!

There are plenty of colors; some rich and strong, others more subtle.

They also come in two different weaves. The one at the beginning of 

the post is the looser of the two. 

She will do custom invitations and has hand bound books.

Her francobolli line is a delight.I purchased a couple of the 

Vittoriani line for gifts.  I'm sure her work can be found nationwide

or you can go to her esty store, but I found her invitations in Essex, Ct at

Weekend Kitchen.

Angela gave me the heads-up about the National Stationary Shoe

May 18th through the 21st at the Javits Center in NYC. She is at booth

# 1934.

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Smitten by the Middle Kingdom

About a month ago, I visited a new concept store on the green in Guilford, CT called MIX.

I knew a little bit about the store and its evolution, but really had NO idea 

what it would carry. . . . What it would look like. . . . But I had a good feeling about it.

I was wowed.

A few things blew me away. Mostly a porcelain line called Middle Kingdom. The forms, the colors. Breathtaking. The interiors are sometimes a different color. As in my new vase. It has a pink interior and made me run out an clip bunches of ornamental quince. I am not a photographer, so the photo doesn't do it justice. The color might be better at one of the other websites.

While at the ICA in Boston last weekend I found many other designs

by this firm and am certain I will be a collector.

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The One That Got Away

I was out foraging for ramps this morning when I passed

an intriguing-looking tag sale. Most of the time I detest tag
sales, but this one was at an interesting looking house.

There was a screen that I thought my daughter might like, 

but I wasn't sure. I took a photograph with my phone, but alas

there was NO service in this part of town. By the time I reached her

and she said yes, it was fifteen minutes later. I raced back to the

tag sale only to find  it was sold and in the arms of another. 

For fifty dollars!

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My First Post

First day of my new design blog. Promise to self: don’t
fritter away time from other work . I think that the blog is going live today.

I wonder if I am the only person who has ever wanted a secret or private
blog.

Visited Boston this past weekend. It was rainy but not uncomfortable.
Spring was in the air. The tulips in the Boston Commons were abundant
and the gardens on Commenwealth Ave. absolutely stunning. I hadn't been
in bean town for many years, but felt it had a very European feel.
Not better than NYC, but perhaps a sense of more space? Perhaps because
the areas I visited were historic? Or was it the Max Mara and Hermes?
More on Boston in a future post..

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ICA in Boston

The purpose of the visit to Boston was to see the new ICA.
It was a dreary day, but worth it. One artist I found thrilling
was Ranjani Shettar a young artist from Bangalore. She makes what she calls Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles. In her description of the work she speaks of the fact that some people react to the sun by sneezing.At first glance, they looked like gold bangles, but upon inspection they were made of more humble media. Muslin and tamarind power.I looked like masking tape up close. It made me think of my favorite Eva Hesse works, which were made, unfortunately, of much more dangerous constituent parts.

The Media Center was both amazing and, somewhat frightening. Amazing in that it was what appeared to be a lecture hall with an Apple computer at each station, but it is cantilevered over the Harbor. I walked down, as far as I could and suddenly felt the cold air. Is this always the case? Are there holes in this building? I did not get my nose to the glass wall. I held on to the railing for dear life. But, hey, that's just me.

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