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.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Vittorio Constantini -- Glass Artista
Friday, January 2, 2009
Socket (deer) to You!
Short post. I'm surrounded by deer. But this takes the cake.
They eat everything in the garden. So why not start the year with a minimalist post in a post-consumptive world on these very cool deer electrical outlet covers. The idea is that you put your mobile phone on the wall for charging. Antlers for all three types of deer are the perfect shape to hold things, so it is simplicity itself. Made of durable urethane rubber they are unbreakable. You could also use them on light switch covers for keys. The company, nendo, is based in Tokyo and Milano. Sweet.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Something Fishy
Departures magazine has a feature in its Nov/Dec 2008 issue titled Necessary Luxuries. Mario Batali chooses bottarga along with Dom Perignon Rose 1988 and beef jerky. Not sure about the last one.
Bottarga is the salted roe of grey mullet or tuna from Sicily. You can find it here at Gourmet Sardinia in Houston. It is not meant to be cooked. Typically you grate it over salads, or pastas or over thinly sliced hot toasted bruschetta with olive oil. It can be added to risotto or fregola. As it is seafood, you don't add grated cheese. Thinly shaved slices could be added in a similar way. It seems expensive, but one chunk of it can last a very long time. Very. I use it with a couple of other strong flavors so there's a balance. At best, can be characterized by its strong and most surely acquired taste. Martha Stewart has a simple, quick recipe here.
