"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.

Read More...

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.

Read More...

Carrie Gustafson -- Glass Artist

I became acquainted (read: fell in love with) with the work of Carrie Gustafson at My friend Lori Warner's new Studio/Gallery in Chester, CT.

This Boston artist makes by far the most beautiful glass that I have seen anywhere. A graduate of RISD, Gustafson also studied in Murano. According to her website, her patterns are derived from nature. I find her finely textured is glass amazing and I think that I just talked myself into buying a piece. All of her work is at once delicate, yet substantive. She is a regular at the Smithsonian Craft Show. There is an excellent video describing the process here and it is clearly described on her website. Gustafson is also represented by the North Water Gallery on Martha's Vineyard.

Read More...

Categorizing PIECES -- Atlanta

I was admiring a very cool chandelier in the "what's hot" section of Elle Decor recently.

The store's url was listed and so I visited the Atlanta store Pieces. (Note: it is also a 1stdibs shop) Yes, the store has lots of cool stuff, but what I like about it is that it categorizes it's wares not just by function, but by color -- which is FUN! Am I obsessed? I'm rather like that with my collections, although I do shapes too. Time to get back to work!
Wonderful hand blown etched glass.
And a raincoat for my imaginary whippet Hermes.

Read More...

A Beautiful Eye Indeed -- Bell'occhio

I should be outdoors gardening today and here I am feeling guilty about not blogging for such a long time. My, how working gets in the way of things. Oh well, Happy Spring.

In today's T section of the NYTimes there is a one page spread on the store Bell'occhio in San Francisco. Meaning "beautiful eye" in Italian, it's a concept store with items ranging from a few dollars to thousands. Wonderful housewares, paper, ribbon. All sorts of goodies. And a rather whimsically written online store. Lots of clever boxes in an array of dreamy colors like the one above $24). The "Lavandiere Chapeaux, below, is so cool because it ties around your head and eliminates the inevitable falling off problem. ($48-$64)



I would gladly add this leafy ribbon to my ever-expanding ribbon collection. Great for wrapping gifts for gardeners. ($3 per yard)

This long handled goat hair duster would certainly encourage cleanliness. But I might not want to get it dirty. ($48)

Read More...

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.

Read More...

Ann Lightfoot Jewelry at New York Mag's Best Bets for the Whole Family

Ann Lightfoot, who I recently posted about here, will be one of many wonderful vendors featured at New York Magazine's Best Bets for the Whole Family sale in NYC on Saturday Dec 6th. I'm offering $10.00 of admission. Read on. . . .

The sale is located at the Altman Building, 135 W 18th St. from 11am - 7pm. There will be more than 40 exhibitors and STUFF up to 60% off, with activities and free admission for kids! I looked at the vendors and there are some great companies. LOTS of kid stuff. They are partnering with a really great sounding charity called Room to Grow, a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of babies born into poverty throughout their critical first three years of development. I'm excited to see the people from Greenwich Press; I love the concept of letterpress. Admission is $20.00. If you'd like a $10.oo off coupon for admission, send me a note in the comments section.

Read More...

Table or Tray?

My friend John Simoudis pointed out the German contemporary furniture firm e15.

Sure I like contemporary, but often find it difficult to incorporate it in my tiny18th century house. More about that another time. . . . So I was quite delighted to find this dynamite coffee table, the Habibi, that doubles as a tray. Or is it vice versa?
Handmade, it is available in polished brass and stainless steel and each tray is spun and polished. Designed by Philipp Mainzer, they come untreated by chemicals (another plus) and will age accordingly, but of course you could polish it and keep it as is. I'll update on the price and availability.

Read More...

Patterns: Paisley

For the past few weeks, I've been musing on paisley. It's a classic. One week, I couldn't find anything worth mentioning. The next I was inundated with images.

The perforated lanterns, above are from River, the wonderful shop in Essex CT belonging to my friends John and Joe. No one has better taste than they do. No 1. They opened in a new location there and it has changed the balance of the town. The following three images are Etro products. A tray, a throw that no Iphone can do justice to and a gorgeous tablecloth. I have successfully edited out Joe's leg. Cute as it might be. A word on Etro. The website is darling; not too great as a functioning site, but darling. Check it out.




Crate & Barrel sports this pillow along with some paisley linens.





Target has an understated paisley shower curtain reminiscent of Les Indiennes









And three good examples from the Bergdorf Goodman website. Check out the Stephen Dweck engraved paisley (silver?) earrings.





Love the Loro Piana cashmere scarf here.



Stella McCartney has the asymmetrical paisley print dress. Might have to see this in person.

Read More...

Aero Concept's Keiichi Sugano interview

There's a interview today on the wonderful Japanese site PingMag Make with Keiichi Sugano who made a brief case for himself that others are begging for. The product line is called Aero Concept.

A couple of quotes are in order and then check it out for yourself if you're intrigued.

That’s why although I get plenty of orders for the Aero Concept, I turn down requests from big trading firms. For example, the sound it makes when you close the case. I spent half a year working on that. I wanted to get close to the sound of the shutter of a Barnack-era Leica camera. Those guys don’t figure that in to the value of a product. But sound is important.

and

How can I make something as beautiful as possible, how can I make it without any gaps. Thinking about how to solve those problems is a kind of philosophy. When I was still in training, one of my mentors told me to go outside and polish the car. So I was outside polishing it and he came and yelled at me, saying, “What are you doing? That’s not what I call polishing!” Polishing a car is a way to learn about the making of a car. You’ve got to notice that as you polish. “This part is this shape, that part is like that, all because of the thoughts and feelings of the person who made it.”

Read More...