Posts from the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Now, in California for a holiday, I was in Palm Springs over the weekend. I love a good sun motif. Let us all evoke the power of Apollo! Do you remember when raisin bran used him too–illuminating the hearty longshoremen.

The shopkeep at Studio One 11 told me they are known for unusual and one of a kind pieces within a mix of modern to vintage pieces. There was a petal table and a swag desk–older pieces that have a quiet layer of depth to them. There were also some BassamFellows stools.

I particularly thought this screen brilliant. A complex wood frame painted as if with milk paint and a panel made up square cut paint by number boards.

There is an original look to a paint by numbers painting. The quality of the paint by numbers paint–muted tones of greens and browns and blues that develop into a graphic scene from the contiguous application of paint in a pre-specified areas.

When this artist cuts the paintings up and rearranges and complies many different paintings together it starts to develop a new narrative of its own (Did he paint these himself? Did he collect them from garage sales over a period of years? Is he implying something about creativity?) and he assembles his own work; a new landscape.

Some might say that this now has moved outside of the world of art and into the realm of the decorative arts and ornament with its central purpose of utility: to block or shield the eye from some view. This utility is further articulate by the nail heads which help to create a over all balance in a rhythmic repetitious field.

Did i say I adore this screen? I can not remember the artist’s name but you can find out if you contacting the nice shop keep directly.

Have you not read Virgina Woolf’s short story, The New Dress or, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman? When a client says, I just adore yellow–flags of warning start to wave in my eyes.

I have had an adverse relationship with the color yellow since 1992. During a stretch in Seattle when I thought I’d be come a faux painter, I practiced on the walls of my bijoux apartment transforming it into some Tuscan villa ca 1972 with an avocado green love seat and a Nuguchi dining table and peach silk curtains–all found in the basement of my former apartment building. I must say I worked what I had to a fantastic effect.

But, how could one pass up this lamp? The glaze with hints of burnt umber and its integral base is complete in itself. All it needs is a crisp linen lampshade and a bit of rewiring– at Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market.

As for having a yellow room, I’m coming back around to it. I would recommend the color for your guest room where you won’t be staying for any prolonged periods of time.

There is always an expectation of a precious find when visiting Penine Hart. Penine, a thoughtful editor of the interesting, romantic, and beautiful, has a keen eye.

When I was in last week, Penine told me that she bought these candlesticks because they were similar to a matching pair that she had once found in France. These three of regulated heights ; brass with a center rod of glass, I thought were at first an odd combination of lucite and brass within a Federal-like form, but Penine made it clear they were glass.

The clear glass shaft one might find a comparison–lingering in the liminal depths of our minds– to more contemporary Lucite pieces like Dorothy Thorpe’s candle holders. There, the center acrylic shaft was turned into a knot or bent perpendicular and either one or both ends were capped with a sterling silver holder.

The brass and glass candle sticks can be purchased for about 200 if they are still available over at 100 Kenmare Street in NYC.

This shop has long fascinated me but I’ve never be in to look around. A Saturday or two ago I was out strolling and a bit of shimmer caught my eye. I almost didn’t take a picture of it, but I like everyone should learn to not fear being perceived as gauche so I went back to take the picture through the window and here it is as a nod to my childhood.

This little bird reminded me of my Grandmother who had a small bevy of glass birds. When I was a little boy, her birds were my first contact with the idea of owning a simple object for the pure sense of amusement and delight. This little bird delights as it sits on a stack of plates; the gilt framing its translucent color and slightly abstracted form. I have two similar to it: one turquoise and one in a bright red.