Fantasy Centerpieces in a Magical Setting

Inspiration for centerpieces – here – a neutral color scheme – white on white on white…Often limited to weddings, take a tip from a social phenomenon – Diner en Blanc for dramatic centerpieces! Any of which could be ablaze with seasonal color – depending upon your desired theme. And with the advancements in LED lighting, the colors are limitless and instantly changeable.

The Diner en Blanc is an international event that began in Paris, 1988. An amazing concept that began with an invitation among friends to an elegant al fresco affair. This unique gathering was prestigious and decadent.

Someone gave a nod to the city of origin!

Everyone wore white so that they could find each other amidst other crowds who were gathered at the venue. ( Which becomes rather humorous amidst 2,000 people ALL wearing white!!) https://www.google.com/search?q=origin+diner+en+blanc&oq=origin+diner+en+blanc&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.5779j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

The remarkable event spread around the world and Albuquerque has celebrated this creative event for several years. This is my second experience with this white fantasy. Every year the venue is kept secret only to be revealed at the last moment when attendees are assembled and usually transported on buses to the destination. This surprise location was right across from the designated gathering places downtown. And instead of boarding a bus each group, expecting just that, cued up as though to go aboard – only to be led single file across the street to the expansive Civic Plaza!

One big patio party!

This year with the Hyatt Regency team screaming with creativity from the table dressings…to the phenomenal food…to the fabulous frivolity – it was magic!

Would you believe luscious, chunky lobster salad served in a half tail, sliced beef filet and many artfully decadent extras…

Asked to wear white, bring your own tables, chairs, table dressings, centerpieces – all in white – the evening unfolds with exciting flurries of fabric, flowers, statuary, lights – all intended to make a spectacular statement for each group’s table.

Imagine all of this theatrical staging with 2,000 performers (we) in one enormous space – outside in the perfection of a last ditch of summer evening. It is a remarkable event.

Pretty parasols…
mysterious masks…

As I strolled through the tables capturing photos of the various “tablescapes”, I realized that the creativity was applicable to so many possibilities of table dressings – with color added!

LED lighting set the scene aglow with myriad magical colors! It changes the perceived temperature of a scene.

So enjoy seeing these creations and imagine them in seasonal splendor – fall now…winter coming…spring bursting forth and summer ablaze with color – for your upcoming parties throughout the year!

The scene changed and darkness fell..

With magnificent mariachis to flowing flamenco dancers the entertainment was dazzling and morphed into an enthusiastic DJ who rocked the stage for dancing into the night… It was an exterior nightclub – an excellent setting for a many faceted affair! https://www.facebook.com/DinerEnBlanc.Albuquerque/

An elegant table for Dion’s Pizza and water bottles!!!

Cheers to elegant parties! Who needs an excuse???

Upholster a Rock?

Some fabrics are just so fabulous that they can carry a design scheme. You could wrap a rock with them and feel that they are accomplishing the design statement to set the theme, mood and encourage interest, if not confidence in comfort! Stimulating the senses is a major part of design.

Often, a throw pillow can make an effective accent. We joke often when we find exclusive fabrics in the hundreds of dollars a yard and say “Perhaps a throw pillow?” Knowing that the projects affording such luxury for miles of drapery panels are few and far between!

Duralee offers statement furniture pieces of unpretentious luxury and comfort with a collection of fine fabrics that will satisfy any budget. Birds take flight from this delightful Duralee pattern.

Sight Sound Smell Taste and Touch – you know. Colors and textures catch one’s attention. They set the mood.

Upon entering a space you take-in the colors and textures and if fabric is in play.With further tactile examination fabric contributes greatly to these two sensory perceptions – sight and touch.

This playful Donghia organic has fuzzy tactile balls sprouting from the linear twigs. From the “ground” to all the intertwining and overlaying weaves, the complexity of textiles is exciting. Come see these exceptional designer fabrics in our studio.
Many fabrics have multiple colorways. If you see an intriguing fabric that’s not “your color”, its worth asking about the entire collection.

Juxtaposition can also be an effective technique. When placing a modern pattern on a vintage piece, you breathe new life into the forgotten history – refreshing and capturing the best of both worlds!

You might not have a lot of confidence in someone who wants to wrap a rock to make a design statement. However, my point is, when you love something you want it regardless of the delivery system! Find fabrics that you love and insert them into your rooms – home or office. It’s like your favorite flavor. Sweet or savory – slather it on a piece of cardboard and you’ll be significantly satisfied. You need not struggle with how to do it – just make it happen. So to get a little taste of an exciting textile, make a table runner, simple dining chair seats, select a backing and make a throw or an accent pillow. Bring the joy of exciting textiles into your interiors.

Here are a series of fun fabrics from our source library – tools of the trade. We LOVE fabrics and must touch the texture, feel the weight and evaluate the colors. Seeing images on-line do NOT do justice to the many incredibly creative textiles are available to enhance interiors.

Cute critters march across this sophisticated yet whimsically novel woven.

 

Other considerations not necessarily in evidence are the wear-ability/durability of a fabric and the resistance to ultraviolet rays, mildew and other elements. Wool is inherently flame retardant, for example. And exteriors have come alive as these amazing performance textiles will often fool you in disbelief that they have the properties to withstand the radiating ultra-violet rays of the sun and damp conditions which invite mold and mildew. These incredible fabrics are truly indoor-outdoor in appearance and extraordinary performance!

High-performance luxury weaves such as jacquards, piques, tapestries, matelassé, ottomans, damasks and sheers defy their extraordinary performance properties.

Roy Hamilton a recognized designer in many media, brings fresh patterns to Chella.  Roy Hamilton, designer of exclusive ceramics, sculptural and textural interior elements and fabrics for over sixty years.

Call for an appointment to explore our source library for the most unique fabrics in the world!

Floor-to-ceiling shelves of samples await your exploration for commercial and residential application!! You can order most textiles by the yard!

Animating Interiors – for Fun!

The total sum of an interior…comprised of the shape and volume of a space, the colors and textures, architectural details…then layer the lighting, furnishings and decorative accessories and ta-da! But is that all there is?

The beauty and intrigue of interiors is what keeps us discovering and creating. Yes, finding intimate pockets or grand expanses that please and dazzle.

The romance of this setting caught my eye…the far table by the window – set for two seemed a likely scene for a tete e tete to take place!

While traveling in the tropics these last few weeks, I discovered many interesting places. Oddly, while experiencing all the sights and sounds flavors and colors of this paradise, I immersed myself in the unlikely and completely opposite world of early 20th century Russia with A Gentleman in Moscow.

Just for fun, I sat with Federico Leon de la Vega today as he did 4 – minute sketches of some of my photos…needless to say, proper illustrations would have proved more telling of my romanticizing the talents of artists conveying imaginary activities in interiors…but it was fun to play with this today!

The beautifully and artistically articulate writing style of Amor Towles held me captive. And what a dichotomy to play ping-pong with my brain as I digest the restricted realm of Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov while basking in the warm sunshine with fresh sea air and palms rustling overhead…It seems that the extremes of this pairing suited me well as it was a dual escape – a vacation getaway while taking me further into fantasy with another dimensional experience of this incredibly great read!

Although there were many fascinating observations made by the author, it was this passage regarding the Count encountering a young artist/architect that prompted this subject for this week’s blog. The architect, finding himself in Moscow in the post Czar age of socialistic experimentation and implementation, bemoans the lack of work “The way things stand, I’d be happy to design a birdhouse.”

“The way things stand, I would be happy to design a birdhouse!” Sketch by PH

The mayor of Moscow has made an observation espousing the birth of  “the golden age of the prefabrication, cement-walled, five-story apartment building”  – with the very practical  “four-hundred-square-foot living spaces with ready access to communal bathrooms boasting four-foot tubs (after all. who has time to lie down in a bath when your neighbors are knocking at the door).” The mayor further emphasizes and rationalizes “So let us not get bogged down with elaborate designs or bow to aesthetic vanities. Let us apply ourselves instead to a universal ideal that is  fitting for our times.” A horribly inhuman decree in my opinion, rather than a should-be, truly magnanimous spirit. Humans are designed to design!!

The sentiments of the new regime left the architect with having to find avenues to utilize his talents – specifically sketching as he set forth to illustrate a brochure of the city’s finest hotels as retained by the Intourist department. How sad to possess the talent and passion and be reduced to capturing the grandeur without having the opportunity to design??!!

So three things struck me about this situation…one – that the artist was practicing only a portion of his talents and not the true, complete creativity that beckoned him to pursue his career…two – that renderings not only offer the opportunity to preview the proposed design of a space, but they can use artistic license to animate the space for its intended function and three – that spaces are not truly realized until they are filled with the people that are intended to occupy them.

So much so is a room not really finished until it is occupied by the inhabitants for whom it was intended to function, but Towles observes through the renewed appreciation by his architect, “I suppose a room is the summation of all that has happened inside it.” And that is what I enjoyed being revealed as a result of this simple exchange in this one of many experiences in this remarkable storyline .

Humans are designed to design. Rooms are intended to perform a function. They cannot function until they are animated with whatever they were intended to serve. Sketches allow the preview. Sketches are more spontaneous and artfully creative than computer generated versions of the same. Celebrate beauty, creativity and artists!

2019 Pantone’s Color of the Year LIVING CORAL!!!

Color. Fashion and trends. Pantone’s annual pick and announcement – this year, based upon observation of the field of design scenes namely Airbnb and Apple, really? I find that amusing. Described by Pantone as “an animated life-affirming shade of orange, with golden undertones.” If orange had golden undertones, it would be more yellow-orange – a golden orange – NOT the pinky-orange suggested by their swatch of Living Coral and myriad examples that are being set forth.  However, a few months ago I noticed and saved (because I liked the colors), a Smith’s Food Store envelope featuring peaches that illustrated the cozy combination of the rosy-orange coral tones with the golden yellows – a perfect pairing.

This pinky coral – a hot, but smooth, orange-ish color – has been one of my favorites for years! In 2004 I referenced it as “lipstick” that wonderful color between red, orange and pink! A hard-to-find  lipstick shade sought by many!!! It melds fabulously with citrus colors and is cooled and contrasted by blues. A wall of colors depicts this perfectly.


We painted the wall, took a photo of it and emailed it to Federico Leon de la Vega in Mexico to commission him to do this grapefruit painting with its luscious, pink center and coral shades, wrapped in  a yellow peel and surrounded by cool, bold, brushstrokes of whites and brilliant blues.

A few years later we devoted an entire project to the fresh, citrus, color tangerine – which because of my personal preference leaned toward the coral shade of orange rather than the pure, natural tangerine. But art is about taking liberties and when developing an orange accented color scheme, all versions are allowed. Right?

This project was punctuated with orange tones from tangerine (for which it was named), and deep warm coral-pink shades. The hue and its many vibrant values!

However, to photo these nuances of color is tough. I walked around the Tangerine project a couple of days ago. It has  stood the test of time by beating trends by a few years and not adopting any particular design elements that would have given it away today.


Look at how much nature played a part in the staging of these coral infused scenes!

My advice is to pick the colors that  you like – the colors that make you feel good. Once determined, develop design based upon when to use that/those colors and when to contrast them or perhaps neutralize them.

Coral is bold and warm. It can read hot and energized – although is softer than red and less harsh than orange.

Nature is abundant with coral – not just the living sea coral – but flowers and the rare fabulous accent fur of Vietnamese monkey the red-shanked douc!

Vietnam’s red-shanked douc- brilliant coral accents in his coat!

The thought of warm saltwater and fresh sea air at this time of year is tantalizing. Living  coral doesn’t just say – coral, (of which there are many colors) it  evokes that shade that we snap to when mentioned. Hot, soft pinky coral – a color of seduction. It is featured in jewelry and art renderings, architecture and interiors.

My advice is to pick the colors that  you like – the colors that make you feel good. Once determined, develop design based upon when, where and how to use that/those colors and when to contrast them or perhaps neutralize them.

A little whimsy to celebrate this bold exciting color of the year!!!

Have fun with color – any color- all colors! Welcome Pantone’s Living Coral, into the conversation and design elements, for this New Year!!!

Refresh and Renew Designing Purposefully for the New Year

Designing with a purpose is always the way to begin a project. But it is particularly valuable as a tool to start the New Year off fresh! What I mean by purpose is that your interiors should reflect the purpose that they serve for you and your family. By establishing a purpose for your spaces, you will achieve happiness.

Sounds simple, but happiness is proved by what brings you joy, peace and a smile to your face. To achieve this, you will need to evaluate your lifestyle, routines and the rooms in which you perform certain functions.

Upon entering your home, do you feel satisfied? Does arriving home make you feel happy? Is it your safe and comfy retreat from the outside world? Do you like the smell? Yes it matters. Like a realtor telling a home seller to boil some cinnamon sticks on the stove to create the scent of spices in the chilly months or fragrant floral bouquets in the spring and summer…all of the senses come into play when you are staging an interior. And to enhance the design of your own home – you are staging for yourself! If your home smells musty or stale, consider the sources and do a little fabric refreshing, open windows, check for grease in the kitchen…purge the unpleasant odors.

So how do you start your day? Is your room light or dark and how adjustable is it to modify as needed? Is the floor upon which you first set your feet in the morning warm or cool, rough or soft?  How do these elements make you feel? How do you want to feel? Consider all of your senses. Consider the purpose of the space and what you want it to do for you. As you evaluate these small details, ask yourself “Do I want to make changes in any of these existing conditions? It’s usually fairly easy to do and if you just take one piece at a time, you will find that the improvements are very effective.

Is your bedroom restful? Are your feel happy when they hit the floor? Examine the sensory details to get started designing with a purpose.

If you  enjoy cooking, see how your kitchen functions and how it looks to you as a workplace. Do you have things handy? Is what you use most often easily accessible? Evaluate and rearrange if needed. Re-organize your kitchen.

Some cooks like everything concealed, while some like having certain of their equipment out and ready. Make it suit your purpose.

When you entertain, how do you like to do it? Is your style casual or more formal? Where do people gather and how many at a given time? You can “zone” your entertaining so that some are gathered in established seating areas while others might pull up a stool and watch you cook. Consider the flow of your gatherings.  Consider the purpose. I find that I am up and down a lot and therefore I opt for a little upholstered ottoman that I can scoot under the glass top coffee table when not in use. Benches, ottomans, even floor pillows can be great supplemental seating for overflow and these pieces are lower and visually less crowded than pulling chairs in from adjacent rooms.

With regard to seating, do you have pets, kids? Are you hard on your upholstery? This might determine what fabrics you select, if you are considering new pieces or re-upholstery of existing pieces, in your home.

I write often about color. There are so many paint choices that is impossible not to find the right color combinations for your spaces. Consider the purpose. Remember that different rooms can have different color schemes, if that serves your purpose. If you want a space to be restful, select soothing colors and if your want to express a more vibrant spirited feeling, choose colors that are more bright, bold and intense. Consider the purpose of the space and its color scheme regarding how you want it to make you feel.

It all boils down to observing your rooms and their details, letting go of things that no longer serve a purpose. If they do not function well or make you smile – let go. Rearrange your things. This is a neat trick to re-purposing your possessions and giving rooms a new look. Move things from one room to another or just within the same room. You will feel refreshed merely by making these simple changes.

As is true with all good New Year’s resolutions…don’t put off tomorrow, what you can do today! So get started and see how you can make your home the place where you gain strength and rejuvenation, achieve happiness and surround yourself with the things that bring you joy.

Christmas Centerpiece – Gilding the Lily of Locust Pods, Evergreen, Silver & Gold!

The return of the pods with a twist! Those gorgeously twisted mahogany colored Locust pods that fall every autumn and beg to be re-purposed, if not for their procreating seeds, as table dressings!!! Yes, I have embraced their raw, organic beauty for quite some time. Look back to my introduction to these handsome hulls and the first fabulous table-scape that resulted.  https://patriciandesign.com/resourceful-creative-festive-fun/

The original autumnal centerpiece using the Locust pods a couple of years ago…

There have been many bouquets since. Then yesterday, as I walked my 10,000 step trek around a nearby park, I pondered the theme for this Christmas blog and another pod piece came to mind.  One lone Locust tree there in the park had produced a blanket of pods that have been weathering these last couple of months – fortunately, not weathered too badly. I gathered 2 dozen of them and marched home with a purpose! Fists full and looking a bit curious, I passed several strollers wondering about my two unusual bouquets.

My idea was to tweak them from their natural autumnal brown to a gilded glory!

Spray painting on brown craft paper – both sides – instant transformation!

Yes, gilding the lily of lovely rich, natural pods to become wildly twisted golden spires flanking the traditional poinsettia of our Christmas table.

Building the scene as I go…

Last minute gold glass balls ringing the red poinsettia centerpiece,

Spruce sprigs from the yard.

a pair of silver reindeer, silver snowflake napkin rings, blue spruce cuttings from the backyard, scattered votive holders, crystal and china for the touch of formality and we’re ready for our silver and gold, red and green, festive feast!

Mexican pewter chargers, with fine gold trimmed Limoge china, Grand Baroque sterling and aluminum snowflake napkin rings – mixes metals to the max!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

DETAILS Found at Hillwood Estate This Christmas

The world is full of detail. From the wonders of nature and the perfection of a flower, to the man-made creations that come from inspiration of all sorts. The combined influences that result, in interesting and good design, are limitless and we now have layers of platforms upon which ideas are presented. The access to creativity is staggering.

Take Etsy and Pinterest. There the ideas abound. Everyone has access to creative ideas unlike ever before in our world. In the past, a keen eye observed and discerned. The clever managed to find inspiration in the most obscure places, analyze observations and interpret them for their own purposes. Creativity was spawned from observation paired with original thought. Yet, that observation was generally first-hand. Therefore, those that got about more, saw more and had greater exposure to more (and there you have it) were creatively stimulated more!

We (perhaps I should say I since it is from my own vantage point and experiences, from whence I speak/write), often are so busy observing that we don’t take the time to dissect and catalog the information we discover. I am so very guilty of that as I am so captivated by design and creativity that I forget to  remember!!! Ha – yes – forget to remember or record!!!!

I constantly find myself regretting to have taken a photo of something (some who know how many photos I take might want to take exception with this point), but it’s true. I regret not taking a photo or studying something which, retrospectively, I recognize as something quite special. In the rush to experience the entire scene, I fail to notice or retain the details. Have you ever felt that you were so caught-up in a new experience that afterward you feel you should have paid closer attention? I forget to remember to store the observations or I forget to take a photo – regretting it afterward.

The breakfast room aat Hillwood Mansion where Marjorie Post rarely entertained, but was always set to do so. Pink poinsettias are the seasonal choice.

This can be from a class lecture to a theatrical production. I wish I had focused more closely rather than getting distracted by my own imagination which  often runs rampant with the encounter. However, the stimulation can be so great that the imagination kicks in and causes diversions, in the attention, resulting in a deficit of detail gathering. Hence a clear case of un-diagnosed ADD!!!

With all of this having been the prelude to my thoughts for the day, I have elected to pick out a few details from a recent tour of the Hillwood Estate and Gardens nestled on magnificent wooded grounds in the heart of northeast Washington, DC. And how wonderful to have had the opportunity this week to stroll through the mansion, now museum, of the late Marjorie Merriweather Post during the Christmas season.

As previously mentioned, I would have, could have, should have taken more photos, but was so enchanted at every turn by the beauty and gracious luxury that unfolded, I was too busy darting from one magnificent scene to the next to capture more than I share here. I apologize.

Her favorite color was pink and this tree greeting visitors upon arrival is a precious jewel among many beautiful Christmas trees and decorations displayed in the mansion.

 

From the reflection on the polished floors of the little white lights to the shimmering crystal punctuated with pink blossoms bedecking the tree was undeniably elegant.

The railings ascending the staircase at the reception desk were draped with garland and strung with simple gold painted discs which were repeated in the coordinating tree which also featured a collection of blue reproduction Faberge eggs.

 

Marjorie Post was a discerning collector of all manner of artistic beauty including exceptional Russian decorative art. The actual exhibit of Faberge currently available for view on the property is nearing its end. Many dazzlingly detailed pieces from her own collection and others on loan for the exhibit are being shown.

If you are in Washington this month, please treat yourself. This exhibit of Faberge pieces is outstanding.

The gold leaves on this magnificent tree in the dining room would be fun to replicate. Could have easily been dipped in gold leaf. Like lime leaves – or from your garden perhaps photinia or laurel even rhododendron – maybe go faux with silk from the craft store – spray ’em gold!!! Paint magic!

And if you have ever installed a dangle of mistletoe…check this out! This elegant bundle suspended, from the towering heights of the entry hall, puts all other sprigs to shame!!! In the opulent foyer, this grand ball of gilded ribbon-clad mistletoe invites those to tempt the fates of love and superstition, with but a kiss!

Whether it is a theme of gold or a snowy season of white, find details and enjoy the creative opportunities that present themselves to you in passing or from the depths of your imagination and create your own holiday magic!!!

Creating fantasy, festivity or seasonal celebration, gather the details every day from observing all the particulars around you.  It is amazing from where you can collect ideas and be inspired to create your own festive fantasy!!!!!! Then be sure to take some photos!!!!!!!

 

Kicking Off Glitz and Blitzen Merchandising

Some retailers put Christmas merchandise out with Halloween and squeeze Thanksgiving autumnal themes in between. But for sure, by Black Friday its all about Christmas merchandising and SHOPPING! The season is in full swing! After salivating over the finely “curated” collections at Sundance, peeking through the dazzling embroidery at Johnny Was, had a taste of Margaritaville at Tommy Bahama’s and elbowed through the throngs at Anthropolgie…among the myriad stores I visited – well, raced through – this weekend, Crate and Barrel is the one where I focused my camera and paused to ponder as they are one of the most prominent trend setters in world of home decor.

Upon arrival, front and center in the very first display, I was particularly drawn to this embroidered pillow announcing South for the Winter!

 

It caught my eye as it stated my very thoughts on the subject – although I prefer to stick around for a wintry Christmas and then head south as January sets in…it nevertheless spoke to me. But the combined selection of plaid fabric tree skirt and the cotton pillow had me puzzled. I picture the pillow being in that southerly destination expressing the sentiment but paired with the plaid, like a fish out of water. Plaid in a warm winter getaway didn’t seem to fit. Perhaps it is a pillow that you leave in your chilly, empty, abandoned house with your woolen plaid blankets and afghans as you snow-bird it south?  In which case the woolly plaid works, albeit nobody is there to get the drift – snow drift! Or a third scenario that I imagined is when you dream of going south, but are stuck in the northern climes and the pillow states your thoughts in a “wouldn’t it be nice” wishful thinking scenario??!! Three stories for this little pillow…which do you think is the best story?

There on the Christmas display is an intriguing statement of home decor. There it sits, this smart little pillow, all dressed up with the coordinating holiday plaid and exclaiming a statement that might have many connotations…

It’s nice to establish traditions for Christmas and other major holidays throughout the year. Yet like home decor in general, some people are more sentimental than others. While some treasure each year’s addition to a collection or contribution to the spirit of the season, others trade the look with each new trend.

This year an all gold tree…next year it might be jewel tones of amethyst purple, aquamarine teal and ruby accents…and of course the ever popular white on white on white!

Like personal interior design, some switch it out often, with changing fashions, while others nestle in and call it home for the duration. The compromise here is that there might be a family room tree that displays all the traditional ornaments while a more focal tree in an entry or living room makes the trending design statement.

As interior designers we wouldn’t be very busy if everyone nestled in without change for decades, however, even in this staid scenario there is the need for sprucing up the tired, updating certain elements, replacing damaged or broken items…Therefore, reupholstering, replacing of worn flooring, introducing fresh paint colors, improving lighting, opening spaces, face-lifting kitchens and bathrooms…there are many things that we as designers can do to update while not changing the essence of the place called home. Just in time for the holidays and the refresh-during-winter design blitz!!

Back to Crate and Barrel’s merchandising…

The bling that sparkles in the long dark nights of winter is a recurring and uplifting theme.

Red and green are inescapable for traditional Christmas color schemes.

Holly leaves and berries, evergreen needles, brilliant red bows and ribbony garlands.

Having previously stated my love of the traditional blue and white color schemes in so many applications and blogs I have written, Hanukah’s blue and white colors are perfect to crisply punctuate the doldrums of defoliated trees and dormant, bare bones deciduous landscapes of winter.  The cool yet refreshing theme is a perfect winter color scheme.

With their modern/retro style melding with a bit of industrial, Crate and Barrel’s stylized wing chairs with their updated lines sport a fresh take on a paisley motif cotton print.

Naughty or nice, reindeer, fir trees, twinkling lights, scented candles, silver and gold,  movies and music all stir the senses rejoicing in a healthy economy of vibrant shops, eager shoppers, anxious bargain-hunters, BOGOs and door busters, full of fresh new ideas, products, design trends, toys, gadgets and nearly anything you can imagine!

So get out there and strengthen the fiber of your community, support local artists and fabricators when you can,  shop where your neighbors work and where your local entrepreneurs invest their dollars and dreams. Try not to  overdose on all the glitz and blitzen of the merchandizing madness!!

 

 

 

Southwest Style – What is it?

Arriving for the first time in our American Southwest, one might feel like they have entered a different country, if not a different world!! To fly from anywhere else where there are rolling green hills, or green fields or dense green wooded landscapes, not to mention tropical environs and cruise over America’s Southwest, it looks like the moon – or some barren planet. Everyone remembers their first impression. Whether exotic or scary, lonely or seemingly uninhabitable, once you get on the ground and explore the beauty and variety of what’s here, you’re bitten – even smitten.

In all fairness, this is a completely defoliated winter shot!! Many now know how lush this magnificent Sandia Mountain can be at the top, in the summer. Yes, I said lush.

No other region has the distinct architecture and tri-cultural identity of what has become the elemental design style and flavor of this magical place. From “sea to shining sea” New England to Southern California you will find nuances of regional distinction – but not to the degree that the American southwest is set apart. Architectural influences from colonization have been the standard guiding style nationwide. Yet the ancient, practical elements, of civilization that long preceded the Europeans discovering the New World, is at the roots of this enchanting design style.

Tri-cultural architecture and interior design results from the remarkable history combining Native Americans carving out of stone walls, building with mud (adobe) bricks, devising simple, practical designs to capture heat and insulate in cold while minimizing solar gain in the warm weather months, with the conquering Spaniards and their colonial influences, and finally the pioneers from the east with their colonial English influences.  Now more often replicated, with frame construction and stucco facades, this unique melding is the core of Southwestern architectural design.

When one hears the term “earth tones” setting a design trend in the 70s, it suggests the brown, tan, orange palette that was terribly limiting. Certainly to label it earth tones, it became a curse of a color scheme. Sadly to link it to a representation of southwestern design was misplaced and unfortunate. And how sad to think that it was so broadly accepted – like lemmings following blindly – everyone adopted this as a truism. So often the case with trends.   The 70’s also spawned a diametrically opposite color scheme of blues and greens to refresh that which had been so mired in the “earth-tone” movement.

However, real earth tones are limitless. Earth tones are all colors…look down…look around. Even if you confine your interpretation to the dirt beneath your feet – the colors are vastly more than the brown, tan, rust, orange that became the rage. Soft pinks and grays, pale blue and whites…look at dirt. It might be more clay, might be more peat – from soft terracotta to dark espresso – dirt is earth and the colors and tones are limitless.

Tom Glover captured the beauty of the natural landscape through his artistic photographic medium that Georgia O’Keeffe and others have depicted through their artistic media.

 

Georgia O’Keeffe saw it and captured it in her own enduring style.

Nature offers color. Natural dyes have riddled that art world through time. Synthetic dyes took it a level further. But nature is at the core of all we have in this world.

http://www.quilthistory.com/dye.htm

Turquoise being a natural mineral in the American Southwest became a signature accent color punctuating the soft earthen tones of the adobe design palette.

Artist Victoria Martinez Rodgers paints a valley apple orchard and the turquoise wall is the perfect backdrop.

Color was always there for those who cared to notice. The great painters of this region presented it well. Their recordings of everything from the many colors of the rugged windswept landscapes to lush green mountain forests with shimmering golden aspen groves – and bosque cottonwoods screaming with yellow brilliance capture and convey so much more.

In autumn, bosque cottonwoods explode with color sending a streak of brilliant yellow all along the Rio Grande. Federico Leon de la Vega create this commissioned oil painting from a photo provided by his clients.

There are the natural and also synthetic dyes that were woven through the magnificent textiles of the Native Americans – blankets and articles of clothing were not limited to buckskin animal hides.

Ernest Blumenschein was the founder of the Taos Society of Artists capturing the color and textures of the realities that he encountered in this Land of Enchantment.

Sunsets everywhere play a part in the imagery of the landscape – here we see vast landscapes with brilliant fiery skies and those exciting corals and lavenders, soft pink and blue wisps provide inspiration for wall colors and backdrops to our richly embellished interior designs.

Yet spare, understated neutral interpretations also offer elegant representations of southwestern style.

So what do you visualize when you think of Southwestern Design? Please don’t say a turquoise wooden cutout of a howling coyote! Death by Southwestern Style – the overdose resulting from overdone clichés and trends that have spoiled the real art and beauty.

It doesn’t have to be all about cow skulls and pelts…but these cow hide butterfly chairs are pretty  cool!!!

Perhaps you see a Mexican influence which is also part of the melding of the regional style – like food, we have a fine line sometimes with certain traditional dishes that when adopted and adapted by American Southwest kitchens took on a unique identity all its own – differing between Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. We all enjoy bringing art and craft from our southern neighbors into our designs.

Borrowing, sharing, combining so many design elements such as adobe architecture, colonial wood trim detailing, fired brick technology, Mexican Talavera tile and pottery,

Native American textiles and so many other handcrafts

The owners of this interior have an intimate relationship with each of the artists that they have collected down to this magnificent mount of a buffalo. They knew him and his name and why he was put down.

from punched and tooled tin, paintings and pottery – southwestern interior design is rich with color, texture, artistic detailing and true soul. The connection to the earth is undeniable and nature always plays a key role.

So how might you introduce southwestern influences into YOUR design scheme? You could tile the wall(s) of a powder room in Talavera Tile. Maybe just a mirror surround?

You might paint an accent wall – or all walls in a room or some other bold color inspired by a regional image

Mango watercolor by Susan Weeks splashes coral against the golden yellow wall with a lime green lighted cabinet showcasing old, traditional, low-fire Talavera tableware. classic Talavera blue and white tile frame the bar opening and on through out the kitchen.

and collect art pieces such a punched tin crosses, wood and straw,

landscape or still life painting, hang a blanket or drape a bed with a beautiful woven textile…introducing different styles speaks to last week’s story about eclecticism. Don’t be afraid to mix things that you like. What brings you joy?

 

 

 

Bring Elegant Functional Pottery into Your Daily Life

Powerfully, pretty, porcelain, pottery graces the urban storefront window this month, of the east gallery of PATRICIAN DESIGN, with elegant, functional inspiration.

The opening of this the second  installation of the Resilience exhibit features a collection of porcelain pieces that is intended to be an entirely functional  ensemble of art.

It’s been refreshing to have these well established artists paired with exciting emerging artists presenting their expressive talents, in the form of something that you can use and enjoy, to enhance the aesthetic connections in your daily life.

Resilience, conceived by Helen Atkins, an exciting emerging artist herself, is the manager of consignment art at PATRICIAN DESIGN.

Her concept was to “explore the experience of local female artists at various junctures if their careers.”

As a recipient of the Makeshift Grant Project, “Resilience” is funded by the downtown Albuquerque Arts & Cultural District and the Albuquerque Community Foundation. The name of this project suggests that the strength and flexibility of clay as it is formed is an analogy to similar characteristics in the course of a woman’s life. Strength and flexibility – resiliency and tenacious fortitude are the features the two share  and which are celebrated with this show.

In addition to this relevant topic of women, the functionality of this collection is what is even more expansive. No gender specific appeal to this wonderful work, the idea that pulling in from the disposable practices of everyday life, strikes a universal chord.

To pull in and focus on what  you have and use in your daily life is the beginning. Evaluating between pure function and added beauty being introduced as an enhancing element is the trick. Then discovering individual pieces that bring enjoyment  while contributing to the function as well as the aesthetic of the scene,  from an interior design standpoint, is wonderful.

Your “scene” should be exclusively personal to you and your life experiences.  It is personal and wonderful to incorporate handmade artwork in all aspects of a design project. To appreciate the detail and have the opportunity of taking that artwork all the way to daily tableware is pure joy. These and other potters that we feature at PATRICIAN DESIGN offer just that – the opportunity to incorporate art into the simple functions of eating and drinking.

Artist  Kathryne Cyman is a master of the 400 year-old Japanese process of Arita pottery.  Please read more about Kathryne’s journey at http://art.unm.edu/kathryne-cyman/   Showing alongside her capable student Jordyn Bernicke, the two present simple, elegant, affordable pottery pieces for you to bring into your  daily life.

Imagine the soft, delicate yet durable cup in your hand from which to sip and relax. Even to toss o.j. on the run – the basic action of drinking from a handmade vessel, in a color and finish that makes you smile, is an enhancement to the day.

Sensory perceptions ignited by the feel and the look of a beautiful piece of pottery is restorative.

We are privileged to have this exhibit and to meet these fine artists. We are privileged as a community to have this program at UNM.  It appears that the natural beauty of New Mexico, life lived close to the earth and celebrated by Native Americans for generations is a parallel practice to the Arita process by the artisans in Japan.

This exhibit proves that to admire the techniques that produce beauty is to acknowledge the importance and value of including these elements in our daily lives.