Indulge me. I know that this is at least the third time I've addressed the topic of toile (and insects for that matter) but I promise this will be different.
In this morning's Financial Times there is a wonderful how to spend it Special Interiors Section that had a sidebar on the Glasgow design firm Timorous Beasties. Founded in 1990 by Alistair McCauley and Paul Simmons who studied textile design at Glasgow School of Art, Timorous Beasties was once described as, "William Morris on acid." The name TB comes from the Robert Burns poem, "To a Mouse" (pronounced 'moose") and edgy in their creations. From their website:
The Glasgow Toile above and the London Toile below.
Which brings me to their insects. Insects have long been used in traditional design. Here are two from the TB line of fabrics: the Napoleon Bee and The Moth.
Check out Nice Legs, below. Wouldn't you love to have a duvet covered in this pattern? Maybe not a table cloth.
And finally Stripey Legs.
The image at top is Leaf.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Timorous Beasties
Monday, March 21, 2011
Gleena -- Wedding Season is Upon Us . . . .
Recently I stumbled upon this delicate looking line of hand-made porcelain called Gleena.
Gleena (which means clay in Russian) is the work of Asya Palatova a graphic designer turned ceramicist with an MFA from RISD. The graphic designer is present in certain types of pieces such as the wedding bowls below. You can also ask for similar set as baby gifts. There are also objects with great calligraphy. You can see more on her Etsy shop here. Palatova works out of her studio in Pawtucket, RI.
It's her nature motifs that I am most drawn to. I would love to see more insects.
While the porcelain looks and feels delicate, it's actually extremely durable. I love her palette. These are colors I could look at every day. Actually, I already do.
Monday, January 10, 2011
"The King's Speech" -- via The New Victorian Ruralist
One blog I check at least once a week is The New Victorian Ruralist written by James Snowden of Lexington, KY.
He recently wrote about a post about the movie "The King's Speech" and it expresses my feelings exactly. Do check it out and tell him what you think. I will see it again just to savor the colors and textures.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Sol LeWitt still gives -- The Shul print
December immediately brings to mind giving.
The late Sol LeWitt was an active member of the Chester community. He was extremely generous to so many people. When I visited the Chester Gallery recently (one day they will have a website) owner Sosse Baker showed me the "Shul print." The Chester Gallery is selling a limited edition (175) print framed or un-framed. Proceeds will benefit Congregation Beth Shalom the synagogue in Chester that Sol was instrument in designing. Please note that the photograph doesn't quite do it justice.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Dalton Ghetti -- Graphite Guy
On a recent visit to the New Britain Museum of American Art I came upon three framed pieces of Dalton Ghetti's amazing carved pencils.
The focus of the visit was to see the Escher exhibit (which was fascinating) after which we decided to look at the contemporary art galleries. Poking around, I was surprised to see Ghetti's work. I ran to my friend all most yelling. "He's here, the pencil guy!" Fortunately good friends usually understand my distinctly ridiculous stringing together of words when I am excited. My friend Sosse Baker of the Chester Gallery loves all things pencil and in August she sent me a bunch of his images. They are literally mind-bending. You'll see what I mean when you get to the final image.
Brazilian born Dalton Ghetti is a Bridgeport (CT) artist who has spent years carving magnificent miniature masterpieces on graphite pencils. His tools consist of a razor blade, sewing needle and a sculpting knife. The process is extremely slow; pieces can take years to complete, but they can also break while being worked. In the event a piece must be scrapped Ghetti keeps it and places it in a sort of broken object cemetery. What struck me when viewing the life-size framed pieces -- having only seen images on the computer -- was that they are really small. The "Alphabet" below gives you a hint of the actual size.
They are not for sale. But . . .
He would love to do a gallery show in London if his travel expenses were included.
Love it.
This last one demands serious consideration.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Vittorio Constantini -- Glass Artista
Departures Magazine most recent issue is devoted to the city of Venice and gives a shout out to one of the most amazing glass artists, Vittorio Constantini.
I visited his studio a few years ago. It's tiny and not easy to find, but it is heaven. If you ask for direction from Piazza San Marco, you will be told to take a vaporetto, but don't. Look at Googlemaps; it's really a very short walk. And you probably will get lost. If your heart is set on seeing him, call ahead. He's busy, he travels. I think he visits the States at least once a year. Some of his work is at Harvard with their magnificent Blaschka glass flowers.
He had been represented by a gallery in Nantucket, but I do not recall its name. My love of bugs and fish brought me to him. Here is a link to a bunch of great videos.
Cocchinella
Bees and honey are glass.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Paper Artist -- Anna-Wili Highfield
For the past few days I've been making repeat visits to the website of artist Anna-Wili Highfield.
Anna is a young Australian artist who, while pregnant with her first child, took paper, watercolors and thread and began making decorations for the nursery. She paints archival cotton paper, tears it and gets to work sewing. The piece above is "Budgerigar in a Bell Jar". 
Love the shadow of the "Magpie" above. If you visit her website you can expand the images. When you do, you'll be able to see the actual stitching. "Turtle" really shows some large basting sort of stitches.
I wonder if the (presumably heavy) watercolor paper moves when there is a draft? It could be very dramatic if the owl's wings began to move!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Volkswagens new EBike -- Bik.e
This went right under my radar early in the spring when it was announced in China. VW's new electronic EBike or more properly the Bik.e.
While only a concept now, it seems to me it would be a hit. Love the clean design. Not sure how it would be on hills, but for city exploring or flat areas, it looks like fun. With a speed of 12.5 mph you'd better like meandering. Its range of 12.5 miles also limits its functionality, but alas (!) it's meant as a car accessory. Volkswagen sells cars. The car, in fact, charges the bike and watch how it folds. Check it out in this video.
There are no plans to actually produce them, but one can dream. No word on cost either.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Bad Blogger
My apologies for not showing up for a while. Bad blogger. I offer flowers to you and promise to be more diligent about posting.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Topics One Would Never Suppose I'd Write about: Home Depot and Martha
Martha Stewart Living has hooked up with Home Depot.
Actually she is cross-branding with them. This partnering is truly inspired. I must admit, I am not a Home Depot kind of person. It's big; I like small. But the display was quite impressive.
Studying MSL's color palette makes me swoon. I find myself easily smitten by the color names.
Check out the names of these colors:
ballet slipper pink
corkboard
graham cracker crust
chopstick (?)
picnic basket
Pup Tent
Loving these:
cornichon
river mist
spring melt
SEA GLASS
muscari
faded ink
Saturday, April 10, 2010
SHAME --There's an app for that
I have neglected my blog for many months. Why? I've been way too enamored with the apps on my latest Iphone.
Bad Jil. An app a day is not a way to live. That said, I am addicted to some of them. One particularly fun one for color enthusiasts is ColorSnap for the Sherwin Williams paint company. It has one feature that integrates with the camera on your Iphone and allows you identify a color or family of colors. I took a photo of an Anichini throw, the colors of which move me.
I then tweaked it and the app analyzed my palette. An email function means you can then send yourself or your decorator or your painter an email listing those exact colors.
Other cool features include making customized palettes, a Sherwin Williams store locater, and a really time wasting by fun section called "explore color" where you can zoom your finger over a color then play with lightening it, adjusting the saturaton and on and on.
While it is doubtful anyone will have actually missed me, I feel as if I have provided a somewhat rational explanation as to my MIA status.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Marthe Armitage Hand Printed Wallpapers
A recent article in the BBC's Gardens Illustrated featured the work of Marthe Armitage.
A British treasure, Armitage began making wallpaper after WWII and to this day, cuts the lino blocks and does the printing herself. Her papers are now carried by Hamilton Weston Wallpapers & Design. They render me -- nearly -- speechless. Apparently, if you place an order, you can ask for a color of your choice, but the artist is in charge of the final color she uses. I can imagine some of my pickier friends who love to control all decorating details freaking out at this.
The design above is Tansy. The two below are Hops. Both are courtesy of Hamilton Weston. There are 24 designs in all. The Hops on Gold, is something I never thought I would like, but it is lovely.
My daughter suggested that I go and apprentice with her. I would love to. Marthe is also a member of the Bloomsbury group Art Workers Guild.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
NOLA on my mind -- Zeitoun, Hazelnut and Robert Tannen
Sometimes things just come at you all at once. I've been meaning to write about some very cool jewelry designed by New Orleans artist and planner Robert Tannen.
I saw his work at the Lori Warner Gallery earlier this month. AND, he's the father of my friend Erica Tannen who carefully composes the e-list -- which encourages shopping and cultural visits along the CT shoreline. The shape is based on the traditional New Orleans shot gun house. Proceeds from the sale of the wooden shot gun house necklaces go to rebuilding the city. I like (love) the silver "block" necklaces (see below). Thanks to Kim Tyler for the photographs.
Then I heard that Tannen is collaborating with architect Frank Gehry on some new affordable housing for the city. Here is a model of the Modhouse.
Last night I finished reading Zeitoun Dave Eggers magnificent non-fiction account of the lives of Kathy and Abdulrahman Zeitoun during Katrina. Phew. This afternoon I see in T&C mag that Mad Men's Bryan Batt has a shop in NOLA called Hazelnut where he has a line of toile de Jouy based on the city's scenes. Check out this tray below.
NOLA, we're done for a while. Except I need something from Hazelnut. Anything.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Rebuilding Rawand - Brick (Itafari) by Brick (Itafari)
Leave it to HARO founder Peter Shankman to be involved with a really wonderful foundation working to help Rawanda recover from years of genocide.
There will be an online fundraiser September 25-27 by the Itafari Foundation to help build the Kigali Parents Secondary School. You can sign up here to receive updates. You can buy a brick for $75 and help build the school. You can help others see that this isn't just Africa's problem. You can watch a moving video here.
Ok, no more fundraising for at least a whole week. Back to design stuff.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
September means Charity Water reminder
Last September I wrote about Charity Water here.
This year Scott is 33 and he's asking his friends to make a donation of
$33 in his honor. I continue to be amazed by the wonderful work of this organization. This year I am happy to say that the September Campaign is highlighting their work in Haiti, a place dear to me.
I have made a donation in honor of my friend Peter Olausson (21/9). Happy Birthday Peter!
And happy birthday Scott.
