Big things do come in small packages...
The Mini Book of Major Events
The Little Book of Big Ideas
http://www.artandsuchevan.com/
Thursday, May 15, 2014
BEAUTY: Illustration--Evan Lorenzen
Oh, the delightful irony: such huge ideas packed into such a tiny space. Miniature handmade books conceived, drawn, and made by artist Evan Lorenzen.
Big things do come in small packages...
http://www.artandsuchevan.com/
Big things do come in small packages...
http://www.artandsuchevan.com/
White Heat
We are in the middle of a wicked heat wave here in Northern California, and when it gets this hot, the interior designer in me dreams of lounging in spare, white spaces that promote a cool respite from the heat.
I'm going to be spending some time in the South of France this summer and I hope to encounter lots of spaces like this. We are starting our trip at a friend's farmhouse that looks a lot like this...
I'm going to be spending some time in the South of France this summer and I hope to encounter lots of spaces like this. We are starting our trip at a friend's farmhouse that looks a lot like this...
Rêver de la mer
We are having an absolutely fierce heat wave here in Northern California... it was 104* here the other day... too hot even to go to the beach! But it is cooling off, and I plan to visit the shore this weekend... in the meantime, I am going to cool off in my imagination...
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Currently listening to...
...a lovely live version of the tender, heartbreaking "Among The Leaves" by Sun Kil Moon (Mark Kozelek).
A pillow lays on cold cement
A sleeping bag, a broken vent
She's there a while
And then she's gone
I'm away for weeks
Arrive at night
She hears my steps
Turns off the light and runs
It's no mind at all, more space than I need
It's just me among the weeds
Among the ghosts
Among the leaves
We've never met but it's a girl
Romance paper books
The floor is covered
In long blonde curls
On afternoons I walk the graves
The rusted cars, the mine shaft caves
See a girl sadly unkempt
A child of neglect
Under moons I pass the tombs
Cross the highways, smell the fumes
See a girl frighteningly gaunt
Somebody didn't want
How do I tell her I don't care
If she sleeps downstairs?
I see her on my errand runs
Looking nervous like a young Mia Farrow
Walk along the gas stops
Window browsing, pawn shops
Guns, bows and arrows
Up on past the Halfway house
Past the signs 80 south
Buttercup and Carrows
Deep inside the county line,
At the churches and the pines,
Sleeping with the sparrows
When evening comes I play guitar
To the planets and the stars
I leave the porch light on
Like I do when I'm gone
Winter, spring, summer, fall
Basement's yours, have a ball
There's always room for you there
Really baby I don't care
http://www.sunkilmoon.com/
A pillow lays on cold cement
A sleeping bag, a broken vent
She's there a while
And then she's gone
I'm away for weeks
Arrive at night
She hears my steps
Turns off the light and runs
It's no mind at all, more space than I need
It's just me among the weeds
Among the ghosts
Among the leaves
We've never met but it's a girl
Romance paper books
The floor is covered
In long blonde curls
On afternoons I walk the graves
The rusted cars, the mine shaft caves
See a girl sadly unkempt
A child of neglect
Under moons I pass the tombs
Cross the highways, smell the fumes
See a girl frighteningly gaunt
Somebody didn't want
How do I tell her I don't care
If she sleeps downstairs?
I see her on my errand runs
Looking nervous like a young Mia Farrow
Walk along the gas stops
Window browsing, pawn shops
Guns, bows and arrows
Up on past the Halfway house
Past the signs 80 south
Buttercup and Carrows
Deep inside the county line,
At the churches and the pines,
Sleeping with the sparrows
When evening comes I play guitar
To the planets and the stars
I leave the porch light on
Like I do when I'm gone
Winter, spring, summer, fall
Basement's yours, have a ball
There's always room for you there
Really baby I don't care
http://www.sunkilmoon.com/
Just finished reading...
...one of Mary Renault's historical novels, THE MASK OF APOLLO.
Because I am an actor, a friend of mine sent this book to me after I recently appeared in an historical stage play. She said it was about the birth of theater, but in that respect, it is really about the birth of the commodification and the business of theater, since the form of theater happened far earlier, with man primeval re-enacting adventurous or dangerous hunts by firelight as the rest of the tribe looked on. Theater can be traced back to rituals in caves.
In Renault's book, we follow Nikeratos, an actor in ancient Greece, as he navigates not only the everyday world of ancient Greece (not ancient of course but a contemporary world to him--Renault must have spent so much time researching aspects of daily life in this time and place), but also of political intrigue between city states and other countries. Our narrator might be an actor but the world of the theater becomes secondary to a larger, more encompassing story. Along the way, he meets Plato (yes, the Plato), Dion of Syracuse, and a fourteen-year old Alexander the Great.
It is a fascinating glimpse into a culture and a time past that in many ways bears little resemblance to how we live today, but in other ways, the universality and timelessness of the human condition (love, hate and all in between) are present as well. Renault makes it come alive.
Recommend? Yes, it is interesting from an historical perspective, and I learned a few bits about ancient Greece, but it is interesting from a human perspective as well. Could be a good summer read...
Because I am an actor, a friend of mine sent this book to me after I recently appeared in an historical stage play. She said it was about the birth of theater, but in that respect, it is really about the birth of the commodification and the business of theater, since the form of theater happened far earlier, with man primeval re-enacting adventurous or dangerous hunts by firelight as the rest of the tribe looked on. Theater can be traced back to rituals in caves.
In Renault's book, we follow Nikeratos, an actor in ancient Greece, as he navigates not only the everyday world of ancient Greece (not ancient of course but a contemporary world to him--Renault must have spent so much time researching aspects of daily life in this time and place), but also of political intrigue between city states and other countries. Our narrator might be an actor but the world of the theater becomes secondary to a larger, more encompassing story. Along the way, he meets Plato (yes, the Plato), Dion of Syracuse, and a fourteen-year old Alexander the Great.
It is a fascinating glimpse into a culture and a time past that in many ways bears little resemblance to how we live today, but in other ways, the universality and timelessness of the human condition (love, hate and all in between) are present as well. Renault makes it come alive.
Recommend? Yes, it is interesting from an historical perspective, and I learned a few bits about ancient Greece, but it is interesting from a human perspective as well. Could be a good summer read...
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Colorful Chocolate by Unelefante
Tatiana Sánchez's Unelefante boutique in Mexico has collaborated with chocolatier extraordinaire Jorge Llanderal to create edible works of art (one was inspired by the legendary drip paintings of Jackson Pollock). These supremely colorful bars are 54%-65% Colombian cocoa and hand painted with colored cocoa butter or embedded with neon wafers!
Available to order from:
http://unelefante.mx/inicio/
https://es-es.facebook.com/pages/Unelefante/205045506289838
Available to order from:
http://unelefante.mx/inicio/
https://es-es.facebook.com/pages/Unelefante/205045506289838
"Across The Sea" by The KVB
The KVB (Nicholas Wood and Kat Day) perform "Across The Sea" from their EP "Out OF Body". The Guardian said of the pair, "...this London duo mix and match New Romantic synths, motorik rhythms, and narcotised voices." Sounds good to me...
https://www.facebook.com/thekvb1
https://www.facebook.com/thekvb1
Thursday, May 8, 2014
"Midnight Moon Pt. I and II" by Kan Wakan
Wow. I am kind of blown away by this song and the video...
Kan Wakan are a new L.A.-based group, a trio consisting of composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Gueorgui I. Linev, vocalist Kristianne Bautista, and producer/guitarist Peter Potyondy. At this point, they have only released four songs but a full-length release entitled "Moving On" is scheduled for June of this year, 2014. Visit their website for more information or to pre-order.
This video is eleven minutes long, so watch when you have some time, but it is definitely worth it. It's a rather mysterious story which seems to be describing a psychological state more than actual events. But having said that, there is an actual central event that is rather distressing and relentless...which offers a reminder that we can't always prevent bad things from happening, but we can be present and offer comfort and compassion when they do. Watch in full screen mode.
The band list their influences (a fascinating mix,and I think they can almost all be heard in this single grand, ambitious, sweeping, jazzy/orchestral-symphonic, and at times ambient track):
Bill Withers, Pink Floyd, Wilco, Nina Simone, Nick Drake, Brad Mehldau, Leonard Cohen, Philip Glass, Jim O'Rourke, Brian Eno, Moondog
http://www.kanwakan.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KanWakan
Kan Wakan are a new L.A.-based group, a trio consisting of composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Gueorgui I. Linev, vocalist Kristianne Bautista, and producer/guitarist Peter Potyondy. At this point, they have only released four songs but a full-length release entitled "Moving On" is scheduled for June of this year, 2014. Visit their website for more information or to pre-order.
This video is eleven minutes long, so watch when you have some time, but it is definitely worth it. It's a rather mysterious story which seems to be describing a psychological state more than actual events. But having said that, there is an actual central event that is rather distressing and relentless...which offers a reminder that we can't always prevent bad things from happening, but we can be present and offer comfort and compassion when they do. Watch in full screen mode.
The band list their influences (a fascinating mix,and I think they can almost all be heard in this single grand, ambitious, sweeping, jazzy/orchestral-symphonic, and at times ambient track):
Bill Withers, Pink Floyd, Wilco, Nina Simone, Nick Drake, Brad Mehldau, Leonard Cohen, Philip Glass, Jim O'Rourke, Brian Eno, Moondog
http://www.kanwakan.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KanWakan
BEAUTY: Interior--San Francisco Decorator's Showcase 2014
Last weekend I attended, as I do every year, the San Francisco Decorator's Showcase which takes place at a different mansion, usually in Pacific Heights in San Francisco. This year, the Showcase is situated in the Classical Revival house that was built for legendary San Francisco resident Alfred Sutro and his wife Rose in 1908. The six bedroom, six and a half bath mansion just sold for $18 million and boasts amazing views of The Presidio below and to the San Francisco Bay beyond. Some standouts from the amazing collection of interior design talent follow.
The entry reception area by Jonathan Rachman features a mind-boggling floor covering: a custom area rug composed of brick-sized pieces of hair-on-hide stitched together and dripped with melted gold paint. The otherwise neutral space had touches of gold almost everywhere. The inspiration for the space, says, Rachman, was Kate Moss and the Lorde song "Royals." I liked the whimsical white and gold ceramic anatomically correct heart sitting on some books on a console table!
This living room by Heather Hilliard is deceptive... it looks plain in this photograph, but in person it is full of texture and light, looking out into the green backyard, the blue skies, and the blue of the Bay itself. Hilliard's design does not compete with the view but only serves to enhance it. The walls are done in a delicious lime paint which is burnished to a glass-like finish, much like Venetian plaster. The color of the paint changes in layers, giving the stunning impression of geological strata.
The Music Room by BAMO features an incredible, modern chandelier (Le Pentagone by Jonathan Browning Inc.) anchored to a golden-bronze-y ceiling. I attended the Showcase this year with some clients and we all fell in love with the very simple but effective window treatments in this room: roman shades made of a very loosely woven linen banded with fabric tape of a Greek key design. I will be designing a version of these for said clients soon!
When SageraBrazil Design proposed their design for the dining room, they were instructed to retain the hand-painted wallpaper that is original to the house! Other designers may have seen this as an impediment to their design, but George Brazil and Cecilia Sagera-Hill embraced the garden-theme of the paper and created a delicately verdant dining room that feels like one is dining al fresco.
The wooden library which features an original carved coat of arms for the Sutro family was done by Geoffrey De Sousa in a neutral palette to let the wood and views of the Bay sing. The massive blown glass shade over the library table is the draw in this space.
I love art hung salon-style and this Artist's Home Studio by Matthew MacCaul Turner uses art to great advantage. Since the space was imagined to be used by an artist, the raw wood floor was splattered with paint, as a real studio would be, which became an art piece in itself.
Lisa Bakamis created what she calls The Soaking Lounge, a bathroom sanctuary for a teenage girl. This space was full of disparate elements that puzzled me... I am not sure how a teenage girl would respond to the heavy, rustic reclaimed wood walls and live-edge wood counter, the gritty rope-hung industrial pendant lights, or the slate flooring. But interestingly, these things only served to make the colorful butterfly wallpaper and the pink tie-dyed curtains stand out even more. The space was uneven, but I include it here because when all is said and done, it is an intriguing mix... one that pleased me somehow. And I especially liked the leopard-print smoked mirror tiles from Ann Sacks.
The Woman's Office, so named by Laura Larkin, features an amazing product on the ceiling: a sort of quilted-rubbery wallpaper that looks like antique plaster work!
One has to be careful when creating a theme room for children: it can get out of control and end up looking like a nightmare version of Disneyland. But these two rooms really hit the right notes. The first three images are from The Little Roamer's Room by Regan Baker. Just like the dining room with its hand-painted wallpaper, this room sports the original wallpaper based on a design by Diego Giacometti. Baker used the motif of animals as a springboard for an adorable room organized around the idea of camping in the wilderness and all the adventures that entails. The array of stuffed animals in this space is supremely cute...
...and the next child's room is called Little Boy Blu [sic] designed by Shelley Cahan and features a chalkboard ceiling with hand-drawn blueprints of a fighter plane!
One of the last spaces that visitors walk through on the self-guided house tour is the kitchen designed by Steven Miller; the space has been named House Beautiful's Kitchen of the Year. It might not seem like a likely color choice for a kitchen, but this glossy, sleek, all-black space is quite stunning and sophisticated while still retaining a sense of a traditional kitchen thanks to a more conservative door profile. I have been hearing my industry talk about the continuing decline of stainless steel as a finish choice for appliances and this kitchen's black refrigerator, ovens, and dishwasher certainly make that case. Additional sparkle is brought in with mica-flecked wallpaper, and slate and hematite-colored back splash tiles laid in a herringbone pattern. But the most striking feature is the geometric recess in the ceiling that holds an LED light feature lined with actual quartz crystals. The coordinating lounge area adjacent to the kitchen makes a nice transition to the outdoors.
If you live in or near San Francisco, consider visiting this year's Showcase. It is on until May 26, 2014. Geoffrey De Sousa mentioned to me that this and the Kip's Bay Showhouse in New York are the two most important interior design showhouses in the country!
http://decoratorshowcase.org/
The entry reception area by Jonathan Rachman features a mind-boggling floor covering: a custom area rug composed of brick-sized pieces of hair-on-hide stitched together and dripped with melted gold paint. The otherwise neutral space had touches of gold almost everywhere. The inspiration for the space, says, Rachman, was Kate Moss and the Lorde song "Royals." I liked the whimsical white and gold ceramic anatomically correct heart sitting on some books on a console table!
This living room by Heather Hilliard is deceptive... it looks plain in this photograph, but in person it is full of texture and light, looking out into the green backyard, the blue skies, and the blue of the Bay itself. Hilliard's design does not compete with the view but only serves to enhance it. The walls are done in a delicious lime paint which is burnished to a glass-like finish, much like Venetian plaster. The color of the paint changes in layers, giving the stunning impression of geological strata.
The Music Room by BAMO features an incredible, modern chandelier (Le Pentagone by Jonathan Browning Inc.) anchored to a golden-bronze-y ceiling. I attended the Showcase this year with some clients and we all fell in love with the very simple but effective window treatments in this room: roman shades made of a very loosely woven linen banded with fabric tape of a Greek key design. I will be designing a version of these for said clients soon!
When SageraBrazil Design proposed their design for the dining room, they were instructed to retain the hand-painted wallpaper that is original to the house! Other designers may have seen this as an impediment to their design, but George Brazil and Cecilia Sagera-Hill embraced the garden-theme of the paper and created a delicately verdant dining room that feels like one is dining al fresco.
The wooden library which features an original carved coat of arms for the Sutro family was done by Geoffrey De Sousa in a neutral palette to let the wood and views of the Bay sing. The massive blown glass shade over the library table is the draw in this space.
I love art hung salon-style and this Artist's Home Studio by Matthew MacCaul Turner uses art to great advantage. Since the space was imagined to be used by an artist, the raw wood floor was splattered with paint, as a real studio would be, which became an art piece in itself.
Lisa Bakamis created what she calls The Soaking Lounge, a bathroom sanctuary for a teenage girl. This space was full of disparate elements that puzzled me... I am not sure how a teenage girl would respond to the heavy, rustic reclaimed wood walls and live-edge wood counter, the gritty rope-hung industrial pendant lights, or the slate flooring. But interestingly, these things only served to make the colorful butterfly wallpaper and the pink tie-dyed curtains stand out even more. The space was uneven, but I include it here because when all is said and done, it is an intriguing mix... one that pleased me somehow. And I especially liked the leopard-print smoked mirror tiles from Ann Sacks.
The Woman's Office, so named by Laura Larkin, features an amazing product on the ceiling: a sort of quilted-rubbery wallpaper that looks like antique plaster work!
One has to be careful when creating a theme room for children: it can get out of control and end up looking like a nightmare version of Disneyland. But these two rooms really hit the right notes. The first three images are from The Little Roamer's Room by Regan Baker. Just like the dining room with its hand-painted wallpaper, this room sports the original wallpaper based on a design by Diego Giacometti. Baker used the motif of animals as a springboard for an adorable room organized around the idea of camping in the wilderness and all the adventures that entails. The array of stuffed animals in this space is supremely cute...
...and the next child's room is called Little Boy Blu [sic] designed by Shelley Cahan and features a chalkboard ceiling with hand-drawn blueprints of a fighter plane!
One of the last spaces that visitors walk through on the self-guided house tour is the kitchen designed by Steven Miller; the space has been named House Beautiful's Kitchen of the Year. It might not seem like a likely color choice for a kitchen, but this glossy, sleek, all-black space is quite stunning and sophisticated while still retaining a sense of a traditional kitchen thanks to a more conservative door profile. I have been hearing my industry talk about the continuing decline of stainless steel as a finish choice for appliances and this kitchen's black refrigerator, ovens, and dishwasher certainly make that case. Additional sparkle is brought in with mica-flecked wallpaper, and slate and hematite-colored back splash tiles laid in a herringbone pattern. But the most striking feature is the geometric recess in the ceiling that holds an LED light feature lined with actual quartz crystals. The coordinating lounge area adjacent to the kitchen makes a nice transition to the outdoors.
If you live in or near San Francisco, consider visiting this year's Showcase. It is on until May 26, 2014. Geoffrey De Sousa mentioned to me that this and the Kip's Bay Showhouse in New York are the two most important interior design showhouses in the country!
http://decoratorshowcase.org/
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