I love the surprise and adventure of finding artistic treasures on my travels. Bringing a select few back to share is part of the fun!
I stood facing the marina surrounded by lush mangroves, soft jazz and bacon wafting through the air. The atmosphere was particularly fresh, the sky was oh so blue, and the water was like glass reflecting the boat hulls tethered at the slips and along the dock. It was a perfect temperature, not too hot – just right. The artists gathered in Front of Estudio Café in Nuevo Vallarta www.estudiocafe.net for their ritual Saturday morning art fair and breakfast gathering. Fresh slow food is prepared at a delightful exhibition kitchen where all the action is unfolding right before your eyes. The freshest ingredients, fresh squeezed orange juice, bountiful beverages with spinach, carrot and other fruits and veggies appear in tall spotless glasses of green refreshment and rejuvenation – the perfect antidote to the tequila of the previous night’s indulgences.
I met a charming and incredibly talented glass artist there. Estela Herrera creates architectural pieces – to incorporate into the structure, powerful free-standing sculptures and these fabulously whimsical, sentimental hearts. The manageable scale of these intimate love treasures had me arrested in my tracks. What looked raw and almost tribal adornments – became fun and refined upon closer inspection. The lovely leather with glass hearts – screamed celebration of love and joy!
Dangling from generous lengths of soft, pliable leather, these glass pendants speak volumes. Further adorned with crystal, brass and silver beads the stands of leather of Estela’s heart-throb necklaces have an elegantly bohemian quality that transition from the most formal to the easy jeans and cut-off beach garb. Whether relaxed or decked to the nines, these translucent gems will bring peace, love and joy to all who wear them and everyone who sees them passionately wrapped around the privileged neck of a select few.
Unveiled today – I only brought 10 back from this last escapade into tropics south of our border. I hope to select more in the future – but as Valentine’s Day approaches – these will be sure to make a singular statement – no two are alike – for your special Valentine. Call us at 505 242-7646 or email shop@patriciandesign.com for more information and individual photos of available pieces.
Simple Ornaments Make Signature Style Design Statements
We are greeted by a Caribbean Christmas season in the tropics! This is how one McDonald’s decorates for the holidays – their signature Happy Meal boxes dangle from a palm tree! What better ornaments than these happy red boxes – a brilliant contrast of eye-catching red marketing material and the fresh green of nature. Environmentally visual – those little cardboard art pieces dance in the breeze.
During the summer months, we created a play area beneath our large blue spruce tree. The low branches provided an eye-level decoration area just the right height for the smaller kids. So we drew images and colored them with crayons and cut them out and laminated them between two pieces of waxed paper – like you would when pressing fall leaves in autumn. We then punched a hole in each and tied them to the branches with a loop of ribbon. They created a lively, colorful personalization art exhibit in this secret hiding place and defied the weather there in the protection of the big tree for a remarkably long time.
We have wild gourds in our area of the high desert in New Mexico. They are nearly perfectly round and about the size of tennis balls. After the magnificent white blossoms have passed, the new gourds each harvest season are hard and fresh, but the previous years’ forgotten fruit nestled amidst vines are in varying stages of drying out. These dehydrated orbs are perfect for painting, decoupage, or applying decorative embellishment. I preferred to paint a simple red poinsettia on them –using fast-drying and easy clean-up acrylic paint – leaving the background color of the natural gourd exposed and then glossing them with gel gloss medium. Drill a hole in the top and glue in an eye screw and Voila! The finished ornament weights practically nothing and is quite durable. I’ve even used a hair pin – not a bobbie pin, but the old zigzaggy hair pins that when squeezed together and forced down into the drilled hole spring back with just enough tension and held by the zigzag of the metal make an even easier hanging mechanism! An ornament hook or a ribbon and you’re ready to hang!
What creative homemade ornaments might YOU create as your signature style?
The Art of Collage as Architectural Motifs
Pat Forbes builds layered paper collage for her series Architectural Motifs.
Pat Forbes builds tippy towers, cantilevered blocks and layers of geometric shapes to create her series Architectural Motifs.
Geometry layered with cut paper pieces constructing resemblances of architectural forms are the signature theme of a new series of compositions by New Mexico artist Pat Forbes. She comes from other places where tall buildings loomed and urban density was the tapestry of her world. But now, here in the desert, she has abstracted those forms and intensified the colors resulting in hallucinations of those urban scenes to hang on the wall.
Whether on wood or stretched canvas as seen here, Forbes likes squares. She builds tippy towers, cantilevered blocks and layers of geometric shapes to create her series, Architectural Motifs. The contrast between the brilliant colors and fluidity of the open spaces of New Mexico and the rigid over-lapping planes and cubes of color fragmented in the urban architecture join to make her bold statement. See more of her fine work at www.PatriciaForbesArt.com.
Art is about observation and interpretation. Knowing your medium and using it to produce an idea, expression, emotion…the abstraction of an artist’s thoughts and ideas can be most intriguing. Using expressive abstraction in Interior Design brings bold color and conversation to the personality of a space.
Roden’s Pastels – Sparkle and Joy
Watching Susan work, beginning with her blank paper/boards with their varying colors and fine sanded texture is like watching something being born – a flower unfolding, a sunset growing with fiery intensity, a precious pet or special person coming to life and the luscious pastry creations that have such delicious personality of their own.
Unlike most pastel artists, Susan doesn’t blend her colors. Rather she carefully layers them working the sticks broadly and loosely at first, then gradually details with the sharp broken edges and blunt points until she has refined the piece with her complex combinations of colors.
White isn’t white. And if it is to be, she starts with an off-white color only punctuating real white-white at the very end – otherwise she tells us, “it looks dirty.” Her whites are actually comprised of so many diverse colors that it is upon closer inspection that her color genius is revealed. She works with many organized
From a photo, Susan works on a commission for a pet portrait.
drawers filled with hundreds of color sticks.
She further explains that pastels are a pure pigment, just like oil paints – only they have a different binder. They will last for centuries if properly protected. When a surface is completely covered with pastel it is called a painting. With any of the background surface left exposed, the piece is referred to as a sketch.
Visit Susan’s blog at susanroden.blogspot.com to see more of her fine work and enjoy her many projects. She (from her home in San Diego) is in a donut/cupcake “war” with an artist in Rhode Island. Every Monday they present to one another and the world a new painting of a confection. The point is to get feedback as to who’s piece is the best that week! She also has her “Kid’s Corner” where she works with kids from all over – anyone with children or working with children will be fascinated by her program to incorporate a child’s artwork as the background for a cupcake painting – returning the original art to the child and when her pastel sells, she sends a $25.00 stipend to the young artist as a thank-you for participating and as an incentive to pursue their love of art.
I am so honored to have Sue as a friend and participating artist in our gallery. Her paintings bring great delight and art appreciation to all who see her work. Thank you Susan for your sparkle and endless joy .
Feel the Felt, Feel the LOVE and Wonders of Woven Wool.
This season we’re all about felt! From jewelry to handbags—and we have had a blast finding the coolest examples out there of this wonderful wearable art medium!
Traditionally, felt has had many practical applications – nomadic people in eastern cultures found this non-woven method of making cloth easy and serviceable. From clothing items to construction material its strength, texture and insulating properties have many uses. The colors are limitless as the wool can be dyed and the brilliant combinations can be dazzling.
We have discovered many wonderful applications for felt-work in home fashion and personal accessorizing! Right here in Albuquerque, fiber artist Louise Lucero stitches artful combinations for home décor. Her pillows and table top dressings are delightful. Her medallions for round tables and runners for squares and rectangles warmly accent the surface whether as everyday pieces or as a special party statement for a festive occasion. She also makes unique bookmarks—great for book club party favors or as gifts for the avid readers in your life. Her larger scale wall pieces and bed quilts make spectacular one-of-a-kind interior design accents. We’re currently talking with her about a new collection of hats and handbags too!
Lucero’s felt pillow on handpainted Peabody chair
Another pair of local talents here in the high desert of New Mexico is making felt hair ornaments. The very creative Ms. Ella and her sister Ms. Sara explain that their floral, felt hair clips are made from recycled plastic bottles—that makes them especially eco-friendly and the two sisters create this whimsical wearable art in a smoke-free, child-friendly home! What a special arrangement—resulting in charming handmade adornments!
Recycled bottles = felt! Artists Ms Ella and Ms Sara
Soft balls of felt beads from Nepal for necklaces and bracelets. The bright multi-colored strands go with many colors—dress up an outfit of jeans and a t-shirt or wear them with strings of sterling beads for a dressier look.
Fabulous felt balls – colorful soft jewelry!
When we were in Turkey last Spring I was enchanted by the fabulous color combinations and designs of these smashing, snuggly wearable Ottoman wool art pieces! Walking through the cool drizzly rain glistening off the beautiful stone streets of Istanbul, the lights started coming on and the vendors and shoppers began gathering to barter. Spicy fragrances, brilliant colors and amazing artwork come to life! Knowing that I would buy at that moment with summer coming and save them until fall, I have been chomping at the bit all this time waiting anxiously to present them to our clients! Get ready to wrap-up in these exquisitely artful scarves.
Ottoman wool scarves from Istanbul!
Pair it up with one of artist Rene Rector’s handwoven chenille and mixed media hats – very creative – wearable art style!
Rene Rector’s handwoven hats!
WOOL – WONDERFUL WOOL and FELT—FABULOUS FELT!
Screaming With Quiet Talent, Susan Geissler Makes Her Mark
Geissler’s studio is front row seat on Main Street for Fireman’s Field Day parade Youngstown, NY
Freedom Crossing, Lewiston, New York
Susan Geissler with miniatures in her studio Youngstown, NY
To come upon a screamingly talented yet humble artist in a quiet storefront studio on Main Street in the sleepy western frontier village of Youngstown, New York is a contextual experience that dazzles the senses. The town has one flashing stop light. The emerald green Niagara river flows parallel to the Main Street and spills powerfully, yet quietly into the blue expanse of the great Lake Ontario . Surrounding farms offer fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the season while fishermen venture forth and sailors race across the waters between Canada and the United States sharing this joy of the fresh water sports. Steeped in history, this area marks significant battles between British, French and American troops trading occupancy over the land for ages.
Susan Geissler is a local artist and her outstanding larger than life sculptures have entertained, provoked and educated her public all across America far from this quiet rural pocket of western New York. Proud, loud can can dancers that have been commissioned to travel aboard cruise ships to teachers reading patiently to students atop colorful alphabet blocks, Geissler captivates her audience.
She’s funny and self-effacing – brilliantly talented and sensitive. She sees amazingly intimate detail in anything that she selects to depict. Water turtles balancing on logs, carp swimming with nymphs, cheetahs lanky and elegant bodies stalking, butlers at your service, sunbathers reclining in camaraderie, her subjects are as real and varied as her imagination and real life can provide.
We strolled along the waterfront park in Lewiston just up the road to the very compelling Freedom Crossing Monument Installation. The intention was to “honor and pay tribute to the enslaved, who against all odds, sought a new life of freedom, and to the local volunteers who protected and helped them on their journey.” A bit larger than life, this action scene filled with desperate emotion captures the plight of escaping slaves on their way to freedom via the underground.
In addition to honor and pay tribute, this important sculpture is intended to “highlight and celebrate the historical importance of the Niagara River as a gateway to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Once fugitive slaves crossed the river, they were free forever.” This multi figure passionate study of a scene depicting “ the moment in time when fugitive slaves saw Canada for the first time after traveling hundreds of treacherous miles, avoiding slave catchers who were paid to capture and return them to the South.”
The Historical Society of Lewiston, New York continues to describe “handing the baby to the fugitive mother is Josiah Tryon (1798-1886), Lewiston’s volunteer “station master” for the Underground Railroad. A man of simple means, Tryon was quiet, humble and religious. By secretly escorting the slaves to freedom in his rowboat under the cover of darkness, he gave them hope and became a champion of justice and equality. He truly had a rainbow heart, embracing people of all colors and creeds.”
“With her outstretched arm pointing to Canada, Laura Eastman is the iconic heroine in the historical fiction book, “Freedom Crossing”. Laura has become the symbol of the triumph of the human spirit over oppression.”
From that historic and incredibly important portrayal of a time in history to the sculpture of long-haired, muscular Friesian (also Frisian) horses quietly grazing in a pasture just minutes from her studio, Geissler loves her subjects. She knows her subjects and she feels what they might be feeling to the best of her ability to do so.
Never been to Niagara Falls? Take a trip and make your way another 25 minutes along the river to Youngstown and the Old Fort Niagara. On your way, stop along the short stretch of Main Street and have a latte, maybe a grilled cheese sandwich, a beer and an ice cream cone on the corner and see the art in the window at Susan Geissler’s magical studio and if you’re fortunate and she’s there – you’ll meet an extraordinary individual who will welcome you with modest enthusiasm and quietly express her limitless talents and present fascinatingly animated subjects to dazzle your senses!
The Price of Personal Style…is Perhaps Priceless?
I came upon an article about weathervanes. It was about Massachusetts artist Edwin Waskiewicz and his 20 year old practice of hammering custom copper and brass art pieces into animated creations to indicate wind direction or just for the charm of them as a decorative embellishment. You can imagine the twinkly shine and patina of these manipulated materials perched atop shingles spinning their eclectic forms into the skies. But how many people are in the market for these fine pieces of art and at what price when layered with other retailers’ representation? By that I mean mark-up – or in the case of a gallery, the sharing of the selling price to cover the cost of said representation. After exploring these channels of selling his work, this artist recognized that he could do better with direct representation – this direct market approach has been the basis for entrepreneurialism for artists (and other manufacturers for that matter), since time began.
People looking for unique pieces of anything are willing to research the myriad sources to seek their private find. Exclusive at the least, these treasures are often regarded as private due to the buyer’s opportunity to intimately create with the artists to achieve one’s desired and very custom results. What is the price of personal style? This is true in Interior Design as well when you strive to create combinations of fabrics and furniture that nobody else has – your own personal statement for your environment. Fashion – look for the finds or create your own – it’s all about personal style.
What a contrast custom commissions are to commodity production. Yet, the mass produced items that flood the marketplace every season to emulate these custom pieces still constitutes a treasure hunt – just not as expensive or exclusive. Whether searching retail firsthand – the tactile and seemingly old fashioned way versus the seemingly limitless offerings available when scouring cyberspace – the hunt is on!
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” says it all as relates to this experience in relativity. Perfectly good wing chairs sitting on the curb for pick-up…NOT because they are no longer useable or even presentable – but merely because there is no room for them. Donating is good – and it’s interesting to see what treasures can be found from curbsides to Goodwill stores, junk shops to antique boutiques. It’s fun and exciting – it’s challenging and satisfying – regardless of the price-range, budget and scale, maybe we’re all just a little bit “pickers.”
The price of personal style…is perhaps priceless?
Watching the Art of Pressure Flaking Glass
I learned about something new today – they say that will happen every day “if you pay attention.” And today I enjoyed the experience of meeting and watching artist Patrice Jaureguiberry work his magic with glass and the natural volcanic silica (glass) obsidian. The colors are luminous and what Pat creates with these many wonderful pieces is incredible.
In this instance – although new to me, this art is an ancient technique. Pat has fascinating tools of bone and copper that he works against the glass. The method is called pressure flaking or knapping. This is the art that crafted flints and arrowheads. Here on our Gold Avenue sidewalk today Pat demonstrated this ancient art form and made some exquisite pieces in addition to the ones that he had previously made. It is quite an impressive presentation of unique artwork.
From bolo ties made with the glass arrowheads and strung with colorful climbing rope and weighted with bullet casings adorned with semi-precious polished stone beads to necklace pendants, decorative knives and fanciful trees. His work is sculptural and fine.
The Cat In the Hat Brings Fond Memories and Interior Design Fun!
As I sat down to pen this blog, I was forced to race upstairs and extract my very own original copy of The Cat in the Hat from my childhood library. Yes, I maintain the luxury of a room entirely devoted to the things of my past (and ongoing for that matter), and it overflows with nostalgia, collectables, letters, photos, travel memorabilia, artwork, a vintage Schwinn excercycle and so much more! This edition says copyright 1957 without mention of a later date of issue…which means that if it is an original release (and I hate to admit how close to my birth year that actually was), I have a treasure in my hands. Original paper jacket and my own handwritten name penciled on the first inside page – well, I wanted to make sure everyone knew it was mine – so I wrote my name in pencil on the inside cover AND the first page…and two versions of my name to boot! The pages are perfect – a tad yellowed, maybe – but quite remarkable for the hours of enjoyment that this book provided over many years. “The sun did not shine, It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house All that cold, cold wet day.”
This past weekend we were treated to the first of our Third Annual Summer Saturday Art Series on the sidewalk in front of our shop. Outrageously talented artist Gene McClain presented an array of fantastic creatures, furniture, and fun!!! Gene carves, builds and creates incredible painted pieces of all manner of expression with humor, sarcasm, prose, promise, fun, frivolity, and thoughtful perspective.
For kids of all ages, I selected The Cat InThe Hat upon which to pose. This fabulous chair would be the PERFECT decorative, functional art piece for the child in all of us!!! So as you remember the cat tempting fate with all of the ridiculously daring stunts he demonstrated to Sally and her brother – open your hearts to the whimsy and genius that was Dr. Seuss and who’s genius now in Gene McClain brings one of our favorite all time characters into our interiors! Presenting The beloved Cat In the Hat – chair???!!! http://bit.ly/hbUV02
Perching to pose with The Cat in the Hat by Gene McClain
Where to Find It – the Fun, Adventure, Exploring and Buying
The world is so small – thanks to the internet and all of the advanced media channels that allow international exposure to design, culture, social activities and far-reaching trends. We see things before we experience them first-hand or we experience first-hand things that originate from afar – from places we might never visit. Yet we DO experience some of the sensory features like seeing the art, touching the textures, smelling the scents of products that end up in our world – from museums to retailers like IKEA, Pier One…the adventurous originals (who remember Dockside in Old Town Alexandria?) they who “shop the world so you don’t have to!” They have brought folk art, flavors, cultural influences, design and décor from all corners of the world to us everywhere for decades. Oh, we can go way back before that to the adventurous explorers, spice traders, and global swashbucklers who dared to dart across the open seas to trade between exotic ports.
When you actually travel to these distant places, you see many of these same things but, in context. Sometimes a disappointment of mass production or poor living/working conditions but, more often it’s a joyful exhilaration of realizing that you are actually at the place where these wondrous things originate – whatever they might be. To see the villages and regions, from where folk-art traditions have been continued for generations, is amazing.
It is great fun to have an outlet to actually “travel the world and shop to you don’t have to” as I explore the markets, meet the artists, and barter to bring small representations of these experiences home for my eclectic little shop. Customers delight in seeing what treasures they might find that are not available elsewhere – that perfect gift and where to find it. I had always thought it would be a great adventure to be a buyer for a big pocketbook – Horchow, Gumps, those marvelous retailers who intentionally scour the globe in search of new design offerings and make contacts for custom fabrication. Yet I am quite content to incorporate a small treasure hunting exercise into each of my travels to discover and convey a selection of bounty resulting from each exciting encounter. (Like thes tiny glass bluebirds and fabulous handpainted/glazed bowls brought back from Greece last week!)
