Soodie Beasley

Lecture: Das Deutsche Aktwerk

2011-12-29T14:10:00.000-06:00

Designer of the Day: Emma Bridgewater

2011-10-18T11:15:00.013-05:00

I was in Edinburgh recently and one early morning, I received a special treat to visit one of the shops of Emma Bridgewater before it opened. I am embarrassed to say, I was not aware of her. Functioning only on a few hours of sleep, my initial reaction that her designs were sweet, even fun. But then as the caffeine I slammed 20 minutes prior was beginning to pump through my veins, I began to gain a much, much greater appreciation for her work. I needed to dig deeper to understand what she was all about.

Emma Bridgewater is the eldest child of a large family. She grew up in Oxford and was enormously inspired by her mother’s colorful, mismatched china. With a degree in English Literature, Emma graduated from London University. Her first job was working for knitwear designers Muir & Osborne. There she became involved in every aspect of this small fashion company but she wanted to do something for herself. She had no formal training in design or even business management, but she wanted to make pottery using traditional methods rather than machinery.

In 1985, Emma established her company and began decorating vessels on her kitchen table with the sponge technique popular from the late 18th to the early 20th century. She recognized that the market was lacking fresh, contemporary designs. So she created and array of different patterns on traditional English shapes favoring Josiah Wedgwood's creamware of the early 1800s.

Figs (1987) also the year she married Matthew Rice, who joined her company

Emma believed to be a good designer, one needed to have control over pattern and shapes. She also keenly recognized that this was a time when women were working in increasing numbers and formal dining was quickly fading into the past. She smartly concentrated on providing forms needed for less ceremonious dining.

Emma Bridgewater opened her first shop in 1990 and within six years her wares were in high demand. Each year she creates a new pattern -- some more popular than others -- with Polka Dot launched in 2002 still being the most popular pattern today.
Her company is currently the sixth biggest employer of potters in Staffordshire.

Hellebore

Her company is the only English factory today producing the traditional underglaze sponged pottery.

Dogs

Birds (I bought this french bowl while I was there)
lithographed birds designed by her insanely talented husband Matthew Rice who is an incredible watercolorist. He now has rendered over 60 birds.

Toast and Marmalade
My most favorite pattern, introduced in 1992 with lettering designed by Matthew Rice. The typography is applied to the glazeware and then refired. I am determined to trade in my plane jane white dinnerware for this series.

Starry Skies (2010)

Union Jack

She offers tea towels and wrapping paper and cutlery and advent calendars too....

(all images from Emma Bridgewater)

I Scream You Scream We All Scream for Ice Cream !

2011-06-07T23:58:00.002-05:00

There are a number of great things about my home state of Missouri. And a number of not so great things. But cicada ice cream?

These crunchy, creepy insects with their haunting screech apparently are quite flavorful.

Employees of an ice cream store in the college town of Columbia plucked these prehistoric looking creatures from the trunks of trees, riped off their wings, boiled them, ground them up, then coated them with brown sugar and added this crackly crunch mixture into a base of buttery-flavored ice cream. The first batch made sold out within an hour.

Would anyone try this ?!?

I've had a fear of these things ever since I was a kid. When the sun begins to set in the hot, steamy months of late summer they start up in chorus from the branches of trees -- a mournful mating-call howl. The family dog would always catch one of these dumb, fumbling things when it fell on the ground and bring it inside. The bug flying and flailing about letting off a screeching, piercing, unsettling sound. My mother would chase it with a broom trying to sweep it through the back door.

These chitinous insects climb out of their skin and leave the outer shell perched on the side of a tree. In my youth, my brother would always pry the skin carcass off and try to scratch my arm with their prickly, gross legs.

(images from: How Stuff Works, Cletus Lee's Flicker Acct, and What's That Bug.)

The Sky Over Downtown Kansas City Today

2011-05-25T22:34:00.002-05:00

Photo taken by Gary Lezak, (television meteorologist).

Item of the Day: Boyd Reath Wallcovering

2011-05-19T20:57:00.010-05:00

I canNOT get enough of this wallcovering designed by James Boyd of Boyd Reath. Colonial Revival -- an American favorite -- has been revived and revived and revived. But regurgitated and never reinterpreted in a new an unexpected way. Boyd has taken it and put a new twist. Not only has he made it whimsical but featured in his silhouettes such figures as as Nefertiti and Charles de Gaulle, (though my favorite is the dog).

Mint

Vermilion

Ecru

Azure

Maize

Rose

Which one is your favorite?

(see Studio Print Works HERE and Boyd Reath) HERE

Designer of the Day: Sophie de Vocht

2011-05-10T10:50:00.011-05:00

Sophie de Vocht is a young Dutch designer.

She has designed a number of different creations from clocks to furniture to plastic frogs. (I'm crazy for her frog.)

For the Italian furniture company Casamania she designed this lounge chair.

The Loop Chaise Lounge features a metal frame constructed with gigantic woven yarn.

She was inspired by the technique of tufting.

The seat and back are tightly woven, the weave gradually becomes looser spilling out on the floor.

The concept is an object that works as both carpet and furniture.

What triggers your thoughts?

Crochet pot holder from the 70s?

Beautiful 18th-century dress with a fitted bodice that explodes into a skirt?

Or disemboweled intestines?*

do not google
image these words. i anticipated to see woodcuts from the middle ages,
but this horrendous practice apparently still continues in some parts
of the world.

Images from Sophie de Vocht, Casamania and designboom

Design Idea of the Day

2011-04-20T10:44:00.006-05:00

LOVE this fabric by Michael Miller Fabrics. It is called Dressform.

For down pillows. An upholstered shaped and sculpted headboard. Something to dress up windows.

Or, upholster walls of a small room. You can also buy from here.

Item of the Day:: Planter Table by Emily Wettstein

2011-04-15T19:31:00.011-05:00

I'm not getting any exercise. After the terribly long and cold winter, I made myself promise to run several miles a day. Now that spring has arrived, I still haven't upheld this declaration. I've been walking. Slowly. There are too many glorious tulips to see. Cut tulips don't seem to last that long and there isn't enough impact when potted for the indoors. And then I came across this:

Emily Wettstein's Table.

The 25-year old Brooklyn resident created this reclaimed timber and metal dining table she designed for her graduate school application.

A pair of reclaimed walnut planks raised in 1/4" sheets of steel. The sinuous, elliptical shaped opening between the planks reveals a Lucite planter underneath -- very unexpected. (And very feminine.) I love the rough rigid rusted steel sheets (very masculine) juxtaposed by the warm patina of the curving wood, and then finished off with the textural lushness of the grass. This is where I'd plant my tulips. See more of her stuff HERE ; (all images from her site). Down, down kitty!

Why Not Reuse?

2011-04-08T15:46:00.011-05:00

Many economists say that -- technically -- the recession has ended, but unemployment remains high, more foreclosures are expected this year and people are still not spending much on buying new items for their homes. But we all still enjoy buying. And with so many rip-off designs flooding the market these days, why not take the time to find something unique. Something from the past? Something of quality and to call your own? And at a much lower price tag. Reuse and repurpose. Here are a few things: Don't want to use your Hipstamatic app on your iPhone and long for the real thing. An original polaroid.

Tory Burch? Want the look but not her prices? High-quality, vintage wool. Unused, unworn and made of a quality we no longer have today on the market.

Books and seventeenth-century Italian maps too.

Books, books and more books. Publications span centuries - from poetry to fashion design.

Religious reliquaries and religious icons? Start a new trend.

Cordial glasses? Use them as portion control for shots of whiskey. Adds an elegant touch.

Go HERE

Estate Sale !

2011-04-05T10:50:00.003-05:00

and not for the faint at heart.

unusual stuff.

Continental and Ecclesiastical Antiques, Mexican, Native
American and other Silver Jewelry, Vintage Purses and Scarves!!!
Sterling and Silver Plate, Bone China, Quimper, Crystal, Vintage
Glassware, Venetian Framed Pictures, Early 20th Century Period
Lighting, Leather Books, Boulle-style and Charles II-style and
Adam-Revival Furniture, outdoor furniture and metal urns.
No MCM stuff :-[

April 7, 8, and 9 and then again April 15 and 16. begins at
9 am until 3 pm.
A Family Residence of 70 Years, complete time warp, held in a historic
stone Rockhill 'Worker's Cottage' at 711 East Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd,
just east of the Plaza., KCMO 64110.

click here for a small preview: HERE

The Driskill Hotel

2011-03-27T14:30:00.004-05:00

Driskill Hotel NW Corner of East 6th and Brazos Streets

In the Southwest, there are many under appreciated and nearly forgotten architectural structures from the last quarter of the nineteenth century. We move in and out of their walls never really wondering what the original intent was or caring to know who walked their floors. Dry goods stores, cattle feeds and brothels repurposed today as quaint restaurants, bars and boutique shops. Someone might remind us. We need to be reminded to wonder what it was like back then to stand in a building or who we might have talked to. But one building which has remained, hanging on to its original intent, is The Driskill Hotel. There is a familiarity I can't define. It isn’t the furnishings, the marble columns or the stained glass domes. The walls almost breathe the same air.

In the bar where I began to imbibe several pints of Guinness

In 1884, a wealthy cattle baron named Jesse Driskill purchased a plot of land for $7,500 in Austin, Texas. He was successful before, an honorary Confederate Colonel during the Civil War now rich from trading livestock, he tried his luck as a hotelier. He hired the architect Jasper Preston to build a high-style Richard Romanesque hotel. Many people thought he was mad. His plans were lavish and extravagant. But no one could deter him. The hotel on Sixth Street opened to the public on December 20, 1886. The structure cost Driskill $400,000, an enormous sum in those days. Christened The Driskill Hotel, it was called one of the finest hotels in the country. Merely a year later, Colonel Driskill began to have trouble. His livelihood was threatened by a nation-wide drought. At the turn of 1888, an exceptionally cold winter settled in and killed over 3,000 of his cattle. Driskill watched his fortune disappear. Desperate, he played his hand at a high-stakes poker game and placed the hotel on the table.

Driskill lost.

Three years later, he passed away.

It is said that since he was not able to enjoy his hotel in life, he does so in death. He makes his presence known. Cigar smoke fills guests’ rooms and bathroom lights flicker. The doors to the elevators open and no one steps out.

Colonel Driskill isn’t the only one to roam within the walls of the hotel. There have been several suicide deaths in the rooms by jilted brides. One can be seen wandering the halls in her wedding gown. A four-year old girl who tragically died skips down the steps bouncing her ball, and a resident of the hotel from 1886-1916 checks his pocket watch.

Though I didn’t see anything the night I was there, I couldn’t help but think of Jesse Driskill. The concierge told me that some guests have called the front desk to say they awoke in the middle of the night. Something was trying to push them out of bed.

Top image from Austin's Public Library; the remainder from my phone using the Hipstamatic app. I was certain I was consciously standing to get dead-on center shots. It was either the Guinnesses or Colonel Driskill who leaned me sideways.

Yeeeeee-Haaaaawwwwwwwwwww..........

Darren Hoff & The Hard Times playing in the background

Architect Barbie:: helpful or harmful?

2011-03-04T18:59:00.002-06:00

About a foot high and made of synthetic materials that smelled like expensive plastic, Barbie made her debut on March 9, 1959. Back then, Barbie was a teenage fashion model. But over the decades, she quickly climbed the corporate ladder. Her résumé includes stints as an astronaut, ballerina, babysitter, surgeon and doctor. She then decided to become an aerobics instructor, art teacher, race car driver, paleontologist, firefighter, the guest editor of a fashion magazine, and, yes, a cashier at McDonald's.

But this time, Barbie somehow squeezed in five years of architecture school, took an internship and passed her ARE (Architectural Registration Exam), and made her debut as an architect. She wears a hard hat now and carries a set of construction documents. But she is also wearing a sporty cropped black jacket, a trendy dress, hipster glasses and unflattering ankle boots.

Heels may be fine for the office, but not on the job site. It’s a little tricky traipsing through mud and concrete or balancing on steel beams. Mattel seemed to forget to show her with a rounded back from 80 hours a week hunched over a drafting table and a claw for a hand gripping the mouse doing endless CAD edits. And really, her belly should be pouched and flabby from hours of sitting and eating a bad diet; her face pale and corpse-like from lack of exercise; her lips chewed to a frazzle from the pressures of deadlines. Her hair should show two months of root growth. She’s so busy she couldn’t get to the salon. Her accessories need include a Starbucks grande latte with a double shot of espresso, chased by a few slugs of Pepto-Bismol, and a prescription of anti-anxiety pills in her desk drawer.

Jean-Michel Frank, Hermès and New York

2011-02-20T15:00:00.001-06:00

"OHMYGAWD!", I hit a high note. "What now?" my grumpy husband complained.

"I have goose bumps. Furniture items by the legendary designer Jean Michel-Frank are being reissued here in the United States."

My husband shoots me an incredulous look momentarily pulling his head away from a basketball game on tv. clickety-clack went the heels of my little shoes across the stained Brazilian wood plank floors. I leaned my head against the window and stared out into the empty street.

Frank's harmonious forms, simple lines, exotic veneers and soft palette embody great design. His works have been widely copied but rarely matched. Each item he created is understated, but resonates immense power and depth.

In 1924 Frank collaborated with Hermès on a collection of furniture. His restrained club chairs and sofas have been endlessly copied since that time -- they are stark, exquisitely proportioned forms wrapped in the most luxurious finishes.

The short, slight, nervous, and intense, self-taught designer who walked on the balls of his feet spouting bits of poetry, and known to dress in drag to formal occasions was THE designer and decorator of the Parisian haute-monde of the 1930s and 40s.

In spite of his immense talent and success, his life was tragic and full of heart break. He died at the young age of 46; what other miracles would we have had from him had he lived longer?

On March 8, 1941 Frank’s body was found lifeless on the sidewalk at Third Avenue and 63rd Street. A cousin had to identify him. The New York Times found fit to only run a 100-word obituary about the greatest furniture designer of his generation. His name from then on was consigned to oblivion.

The design cognoscenti in the 1970s quietly appreciated "le style Frank" and thankfully, many of us will too. Those distinctive cubic designs with leather and wood veneers have been re-issued and will soon again be available in the New York Hermès store in April.

Vivre Jean-Michel Frank!

(top image from T Magazine, photo of JMF scanned from Pierre-Emmanuel Martin-Vivier's Jean-Michel Frank: The Strange and Subtle Luxury of the Parisian Haute-Monde in the Art Deco Period, and remaining two images from Luxist.)

Esther Howland, Valentine's Day and the Birth of the Card

2011-02-14T12:47:00.008-06:00

I’m not a big fan of Valentine’s Day. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it as a kid. Eagerly awaiting the holiday, my classmates and I would each spend the weekend before the magical day carefully crafting and decorating shoe boxes as a receptacle to hold all of our cards. My mom would cut a slit in the top of the lid and then help me wrap the box in thick colored paper. I would cut out paper hearts in red and pink and affix them on top of white paper doilies I had carefully attached to the box with my glue stick. Sometimes I would further decorate by making a heart-shaped stamp out of a starchy Idaho potato dipping the form over and over in thick, messy paint. Then I set out to do my favorite part: make individual cards for all of my friends, and the teacher too.

As time passed on, the meaning of the holiday changed. The target of my affections went from friends and family to boys. So I stopped making cards and never made one again. Even today, I miss the process of creating a hand-made card.

In 1847 a teenager named Esther Howland became memorized when she received her first V-day card from England. It had an elaborate border of lace and decorated with ornate flowers that had been cut-out of paper, colored and pasted on. In the center was a small, pale green envelope containing Valentine's Day sentiments. She showed it to all of her friends and asked her father who owned a book and stationary store in Worcester, Massachusetts to import and sell ones like it in his store.

Then Esther tried making one. She liked it and made more creating nearly a dozen different designs. She sent these prototypes with her brother who a salesman for their father’s company. He made his rounds and returned with over $5000 orders.

From England and New York she ordered colored pictures, lace, silk, satin and ribbon. Then she set up her business in her parents’ home hiring several of her friends. Two years later, Esther Howland was firmly launched in the valentine business. By 1879, The New England Valentine Company was established and eventually grossed $100,000 annually.

Esther never married. Joan P. Kerr wrote in her book The Amorous Art of Esther Howland, that she was remembered as a “woman with high color and glossy chestnut hair”. She drove “high-stepping horses and looked like an aristocrat.” She was good looking and “dressed in fashion and had facials,” Esther understood the importance of sending a Valentine’s Day card to friends so she published a book of verse for her customers who could select one and include it in their card. One example: “May friendship’s constant kiss be thine/From this sweet day of valentine.”

She retired in 1881 to take care off her father and sold the business to George C. Whitney Company who turned the designs out by machines. With the machine age came a decline of quality. By the early 20th century, most valentines were just a folded sheet. And with that, the intricate handmade designs of Esther Howland became a thing of the past.

Images from Worcester Historical Museum.

Designer of the Day: Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (b. 1935)

2011-02-08T14:17:00.004-06:00

Porsche, yes as in the car, is the grandson of the founder and the first son of the sports car founder Ferry Porsche. Known to his family as “Butzi” as a kid, FA Porsche never considered himself and artist, but rather a craftsman. He studied engineering before he became head of the design division at the car company. He was involved in creating many of the body designs we know so well: 904 Carrera (1963) and of course, Porsche 911 (1964).

“Design must be functional and functionality must be translated into visual aesthetics, without any reliance on gimmicks that have to be explained,” FA Porsche said.

In 1972 he established the Porsche Design Studio, where he designed numerous products including quite stylish men’s accessories (such as watches, sunglasses, and writing implements), utilitarian wares and household appliances. He designed bathrooms and kitchens and the items that go into these rooms. And, apparently, even furniture::

Love this lounge chair’s restrained line which is technically perfected. It is classical and functional, and evokes a similar feeling of tension as Carlo Mollino's chairs (but not quite… ).

Love, love, love.

This chair, Model: IP 84 S, is in a white lacquered metal and upholstered in white leather. Produced by Interprofil.

(images from Porsche.com and for sale at Room of Art.)

Some Things Never Change: HR3 and the History of Art

2011-02-03T13:14:00.012-06:00

I would love to write posts about butterflies and tulips, I really would, especially during these bitterly freezing temperatures. But good god, I cannot remain silent on this one.

Many of you have heard about the proposed HR3 bill.

The GOP wants to limit federal funding for abortions. The bill provides an exemption from the abortion ban "if the pregnancy occurred because the pregnant female was the subject of an act of forcible rape".

This post is not about abortion. Nor is it questioning where you want or do not want your tax dollars to go. I am simply wondering: who the hell gets to sit and judge what rape is?

'No', apparently, does not mean 'No'. I guess this bill is to say congress doesn’t think we know what rape is. Drugged, underage or mentally challenged women are not included. Inebriated women or those who wore a skirt 2” above their knees, were at their own peril. There were no busies on her face. A gun wasn't used. He didn't really hold her shoulders down; a nail in the floorboard must have caught the back of her sweater. Slipped a roofy? She wasn't awake for it anyway.

Really? Have we not come very far? Let's take a very brief trip through history:

During the middle ages, it was believed a woman could only get pregnant if she had an orgasm. In the case of rape, if she did conceive, then she must have enjoyed it.

The history of art has shown us that rapists were heroic, their female victims eroticized.

Jacopo Tintoretto’s Rape of Helen (1578/79), at the Prado, Madrid.

Helen is knocked over like a candlestick in the midst of chaos, yet she gratuitously gives us a booby shot.

Giovanni da Bologna's Rape of a Sabine (1581/83) in the Loggia dei Lanzi on Florence's Piazza della Signoria. Theatrical, as if we are watching dancers on stage dressed in our finest.

Peter Paul Rubens's Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus (1615 to 1618) Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Very dramatic, twisting contorted naked women, you can almost hear the opera music turned up full blast in the background.

And... I can go on and on, really I can, but I am running late for work... my favorite: Susanna and the Elders.

Few artistic themes have offered such an opportunity to blur the lines of rape. Much like this bill. While Susanna is bathing, two old judges spy on her. They approach her with blackmail and when she declines accuse her of adultery.

Some artists put their own spin on the subject. Tintoretto (good lord, examples of this subject matter he depicted are endless) perhaps seems to blame Susanna (1555/56) with her vanity? After all, she was naked and admiring her own beauty in the mirror?

again by Tintoretto (1552?) Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Susanna gives the old man a break and leans in.

Alessandro Allori (1535–1607) version at the Musée Magnin

Note the affectionate touch Susanna gives to the man above and the freak-leech below whose hand disappears between her legs. We, the viewer, shouldn't worry, her little toy dog isn't too concerned.

Even Rembrandt's Susanna (1647) looks to us to keep quiet as she makes sure the coast is clear. Staatliche Museum in Berlin.

Hide/Seek: the silencing still prevails...

2011-01-31T06:34:00.006-06:00

Two days ago, I viewed the exhibition “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture” at the National Portrait Gallery.

The exhibition explores such questions as gender, sexual identity, and the AIDS epidemic. 105 works were selected by artists with varying perspectives; how same-sex love has been portrayed in art for the past 120 years or so, beginning with a photograph of Walt Whitman, to oils by Thomas Eakins and John Singer Sargent, works by Georgia O'Keffe, Marsden Hartley, to breeders like George Bellows and Andrew Wyeth, to Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol; and photographers such as Robert Mapplethorpe and Annie Leibovitz. It ended with "Felix" by A.A. Bronson.

Communicating same-sex attraction is nothing new in the history of art. Seventeenth-century Dutch genre painters used symbiosis in their works. Barely a hundred years before in Italy, Caravaggio painted titillating images of partially-clad, dewy, taut muscular young boys commissioned by the Pope that would stir a certain somethin' somethin' among even the most rigid heterosexual woman. Before that, artists used special codes when referring to same sex interests. Before Christ even, images of daily life and the relationship between men were graphically depicted on ancient Greek vase painting.

I fail to understand the outrage the media has created around this exhibition. It depicts life -- a life that has always been in plain sight; a life which has been a part of us.

One work was pulled from the exhibition. The Smithsonian removed a video by David Wojnarowicz (1954-1992) which was completed in 1987 and entitled "A Fire in My Belly". (The original 30 minute video was edited down to four minutes to make it more 'suitable' for the majority of museum visitors.) Still, pressure from certain Congressmen, the new Speaker of the House and the president of the Catholic League proved too much for the museum to withstand.

I cannot understand why.

I viewed this work which was available in Museum of Censored Art -- a makeshift cold trailer stretching across two parking spaces on the street in front of the museum. As I stood there watching the video, I felt all kinds of different emotions. Above all, I remained perplexed.

The video represents the artist’s anger; Wojnarowicz not only lost his friend, mentor and partner, but also faced death from AIDS. When the work was first included in the exhibition, the public got most upset over eleven seconds of four minute footage depicting ants crawling over the body of a small Mexican crucifix. Most of the people speaking out had never set foot in the exhibition to view the works and read the text panels in the manner in which they were designed to be viewed. Many critics, as I understand, were sent links from Youtube which took the work out of context and made it difficult to understand the message of both the artist and the curator.

Regardless of what religion anyone may or may not embrace, Jesus Christ was a figure in history who was betrayed into the hands of his enemies by one of his own apostles. A person whom he trusted. He was mocked, scourged, spit on, a crown of thorns was pressed into his skull, his hands and feet nailed to wooden posts and then sentenced to death by crucifixion, because he was seen as different, as an outsider.

Surely people -- homosexual or not, god-fearing or not -- have questioned the mercy of Jesus Christ when they have witnessed the death of a loved one or faced the prospect of their own. Haven’t we all asked why? Why her? Why him? Why me?

Does it really matter who we sleep with at night, to whom we pray, who we turn our backs on and who we welcome, inevitably our stories still end the same way: with death.

The image of the artist in the video piercing his lips with a needle and sewing them shut is powerful and shocking -- reason enough not to sensor the work but to lay it out so we can each make our own decisions about the silencing of one another as we continue to live our lives surrounded by hatred, fear and segregation.

above image: We Two Boys Together Clinging (1961) by David Hockney

Stylish Blogger Award

2011-01-25T19:13:00.001-06:00

Thank you pgt of Little Augury who gave me the honor of the Stylish Blogger Award. I disappeared a bit, then quietly reappeared and she graciously noticed. I humbly accept from a most talented, unique blogger. My gratitude to you.

Luxury Item of the Week

2011-01-17T12:05:00.004-06:00

Tired at the end of the day and want to make your bathing time a bit more special?

Nothing screams decadence more than a bath tub that costs as much as a V8 sports car, or a plot of land on the Ecuador's central coast, or tuition for one year at a private college, or adoption fees for a three and a half-year old Russian orphan in Siberia....

It took three years for Lori Gardner to painstakingly affix each and every one of the 44,928 small pink-colored Swarovski crystals by hand to the exterior of a nineteenth-century style cast iron, claw foot tub.

Does soap scum and gummy hair spray residue coat your bathroom frequently? Gardner has hidden one real diamond among all the crystals. You can search for it while cleaning the tub. Rather your cleaning lady can. With a price tag of $39,000 for the tub, who would be cleaning their own bathroom?

A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go toward Breast Cancer Research. Or another charity of your choice.

Still think it is too expensive? The bathtub features another secret: when you're crawling around on the floor to swifter up those tumble weeds of long hair that always seem to collect, you can place a mirror underneath the tub and see a surprise.

If pink doesn't match your current tile color, you can custom-order another color.

The Diamond Bathtub is on display at Fleur de Lys, 369 E. 17th Street in Costa Mesa, CA. For more info visit: The Diamond Bathtub.

2011-01-12T20:54:00.000-06:00

Auction Results: Morbid? Wrong? Ka-Ching!

2010-12-20T13:45:00.007-06:00

On November 25, 1963 in Washington DC representatives from more than 90 countries came to President John F. Kennedy's funeral. Millions watched it on tv.

In Forth Worth, Texas Lee Harvey Oswald's body was laid in a simple, pine coffin.

A fierce legal battle erupted between Marina, Oswald's wife, and Robert, his brother. People didn't believe Oswald was really the one who was buried in that pine coffin.

On a crisp autumn day in October 1981, the coffin was dug up and Oswald's body pulled from it. Tests were run to determine if it was, indeed, really Oswald's.

Water had seemed into the burial vault and damaged the coffin. Oswald's body was reported to be covered in a "most of mold". (Note: I urge others not to read the medical autopsy report as I mistakenly did out of curiosity while eating lunch.)

One of the funeral directors who participated in the autopsy swapped the old coffin for a new one and kept it in storage. Then he decided to put it up for auction in December 2010.

Bidding opened at $1,000 at an auction house in Santa Monica, California. And soon escalated. It finally closed two hours after deadline to an anonymous bidder for over $87,000.

The coffin originally cost $300.

Oswald's brother tried to stop the auction. He wasn't aware of the auction and felt the coffin should have been destroyed in 1981. He was the one who originally paid for the coffin.

Image from Nate D. Sanders, Inc. Auction.

April Food Day

2010-04-01T23:56:00.002-05:00

Most of us view hunger as a condition that has changed over time. We perceive our society as better prepared today. After all, most of us don't think twice when we drive to the grocery store to get what we need, but there are many others who can't.

America is the land of the plenty, isn't it?

History has told us that the first settlers in this country were subject to disease, raids and poor crop outcome. Population rapidly declined. That was 400 years ago. Conditions are much improved today.

In the eighteenth century, having overcome disease, hunger and wars, the colonists were gaining strength. They possessed the space, better resources and organization. But there was still hunger. Conditions are much improved today.

In the nineteenth century, hunger was perceived by some theorists as the result of a flawed individual. In reality, hunger was an unavoidable situation. There was mass starvation, illness, crowded living conditions, horrendous working environments and lots of child labor. Conditions are much improved today.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, hunger began to gain a new understanding. Humanitarian groups, social reformers, political activists and scientists all saw that hunger was a political and economic force out of their control.

During the Depression, there was tremendous hardship, hemorrhaging unemployment and millions of Americans starved. Many of us heard stories told by our grandparents as we watched them keep their pantries full of canned foods. Just incase, my grandmother always told me. That was then, I would tell my grandmother, "Oh no Grammy, conditions are much improved today".

We've learned from the Depression, didn’t we?

Hunger is invisible to most of us, but today people young and old are lining up at food banks in this land of plenty. It is a reality and it isn’t going away. Supplies are dwindling and pantries worry they might not be able to help provide what so many of us take for granted: food. Please consider contributing: HERE

Thank you Meg for making many of us more aware.

Yes, No, Maybe So? Josef Hoffmann's Flatware

2010-03-15T11:41:00.004-05:00

Often times I look at various designs and try to place myself back in time when these object were first created. I wonder if I would have found them too different or utterly fantastic. I also try to look at them today with fresh eyes and wonder if (of course with an enormous pretend disposable income) I would want them.

I find this set of flatware eye catching. However, being practical, I wonder if the proportions of the fork (the handles being as thick as the tines) might cause me to poke myself in the mouth. I have this thing about flatware -- being a Libra and all -- I have to have balance in my hand. I don’t like for the bowl of a spoon or the tines of a fork to be too heavy in relation to the handle. And vice versa.

So what do you all think? Yes, No, Maybe So -- would you like a set?

Hoffmann's sketch

Josef Hoffmann designed this set of flatware for the Wiener Werkstätte in 1903-1904. All three founding members -- Hoffman, Koloman Moser and Fritz Wämdorfer -- ordered a set for their own.

Hoffmann made available three versions: silver plate, sterling silver and gilded silver. It was first publicly displayed at an exhibition in Vienna in 1906. Critics felt the smooth geometric shapes and broad surfaces not very practical. They didn’t like how stark and austere the design was devoid of any ornamentation except for the row of beads at the end.

crab fork and butter knife

A German newspaper described the service as “uncomfortable” and the shape suggestive of doctors’ tools. Another newspaper stated that Hoffmann made “geometry, not art” and his flatware was doomed to catch on with the public.

This line called Flaches Modell (Flat Model) included thirty-three in the set, and had a limited production from 1904-1908. Hoffmann went on to create other versions similar in style.

(Top image from Hiesinger and Marcus, Landmarks of Twentieth-Century Design; last two available from Bel Etage, Vienna)

2010-03-03T21:37:00.002-06:00

Be back soon. In meantime, please feel free to catch up on the adventures of Soodie & Scout. Next week they are sure to get a phone call...

Nice!

2010-02-26T15:42:00.005-06:00

$47.00 maple dresser at a junk shop +

overly expensive crystal knobs +

the help of one very talented painter named Kevin

=

Women in Design: Gertraud von Schnellenbühel (b. ? – d. ?)

2010-02-24T14:08:00.006-06:00

Scores and scores of books have been written and exhibits have been presented featuring many well-known designers of the Art Nouveau style. But one designer, in particular, has been forgotten. Her output was not great, but one of her creations...

A masterpiece: 19” high silver-plated brass 24-light candelabrum created in 1913. This is the only work by Gertraud von Schnellenbühel known to survive. A profusion of swirled spirals organized in a rational manner -- it is rhythmic, mesmerizing and creates a sort of restrained freedom. The metal branches seem buoyant which defies the weight of the material.

Her creation was dubbed: The Flowering Tree.

So what happened to Gertraud von Schnellenbühel? How can one designer create something so brilliant, so striking yet there is barely any information about her?

This work was shown in 1914 at the Cologne Werkbund exhibition and received very positive reviews. Most Jugendstil designers harmoniously married elements of both Arts + Crafts with Art Nouveau styles. They merged whiplash lines and organic forms with medieval motifs or geometric silhouettes. Although Gertraud’s work follows the style, it is a creation indomitably its own.

The painter Wilhelm von Debschitz and the sculptor Hermann Obrist opened a private school in Munich’s Bohemian area on January 3, 1902 and called it The Debschitz School. It offered to artists and amateurs foundation courses combined with hands-on workshops. The school was a fertile seed for the emerging industrial design boom to come forth in Germany. It served as an important model for the Bauhaus – well known for integrating art and design education. The school was sold in 1914.

By 1913, The Desbchitz School had grown into the largest institution of its kind. By this time, 240 students were enrolled -- the majority women – and among them Gretraud. Students who attended this school thirsted for something new. They wanted to learn under different teaching methods and to actually make the creations they drafted on paper come to life.

What of Gertraud? One hit wonder? Married and became a haus frau?

It is interesting to note that the candelabrum ended up in the possession of Hermann Obrist, the schools co-founder and Gertraud’s teacher…

(images from Hiesinger and Marcus, Landmarks of Twentieth-Century Design; Beate Ziegert, "The Debschitz School, Munich: 1902-1914", Design Issues :The MIT Press, 1986 .)

Designer: Johan Carpner

2010-02-20T12:07:00.011-06:00

Johan Carpner is a Swedish designer who created a light fixture. And I think I am in love.

The lighting fixture, dubbed Glänta, is available in two different sizes, both as a suspension and ceiling mounted fixture, and in three different colors: black, gray and white.

Made from sheet metal and acrylic he designed for Blond a couple years ago.

I'm starry-eyed for this light and can clearly see the suspended version in black hanging in my white subway tiled kitchen in a herringbone pattern over my breakfast nook with a built-in banquette softened with bright cushions... all of which I don't have.

Carpner received his degree from Konstfack in Stockholm. He has produced textile patterns and carpets inspired by nature for Swedish companies such as H&M, Åhléns and Svenskt Tenn and Kasthall.

This pattern is called Vinterek. And I love it too. It is haunting, yet serene.

Carpner also designs book covers the major Swedish publishing houses. You can clearly see how he carried this creativity over to different applications and materials.

He is most known for is his outdoor trellis called Tin Tree Spaljé which trains plants to grow upwards in a pleasing shape, but also brings beauty to the garden in the Winter when everything is dormant and brown.

This winter seems like a long one.

Amazing how your mood can lift when your eye falls upon great design.

(All images from Johan Carpner’s site and Scandinavian Design.)

Inga Sempé (b.1968)

2010-02-10T00:31:00.007-06:00

A French furniture designer who created a small, compact sofa to work in proportion with smaller apartments. This design caught my eye when I was craning my neck to read the Financial Times House & Home Section over the shoulder of someone sitting on a plane. The sofa is light and airy. Made from a beechwood frame, it is upholstered in a sort of quilted duvet with cross-hatching of interrupted seams. She named her work: Ruché.

Although it looks as if a comforter cover was simply thrown over a stiff frame, the construction of the sofa is much more complex. It similar to a mattress and has a combination of layers of memory foam for comfort and sprung steel grill for stability. Sempé wanted her sofa to appear uncomplicated -- raised from the ground by a simple structure supporting a comfortable seat. The legs terminate in beveled feet which lends to more of a refined shape.
The height of the armrests is the same as the back. And if the thought of nestling yourself in a duvet cover while watching your favorite BravoTV show wasn’t enough, the armrests are mounted on elastic webbing which allows you to lean back comfortably while you sip on some wine and munch on white cheddar cheese flavored popcorn.

Ruché also is available in a one-arm settee version with an integral table surface at the end so you can conveniently place your bottle of wine without having to wait to get up during the commercials to pour yourself another glass.

This is a great idea for a narrow room or a small space -- a sofa and table all in one. Made for Ligne Roset, Ruché marries the unusual and the traditional; comfortable and practical. You can choose from a few velvety colors and stained or natural wood finish.

Her former employer? The design doyenne Andrée Putman.

Sempé pictured above (love her tights). See Sempé's site with many more great designs: HERE.

(images from DesignBoom and Sempé's site)

Time for a Little Bubbly?

2010-02-07T14:31:00.006-06:00

Last weekend in a hotel room in downtown Washington DC, we were toasting to Andrea's birthday -- a friend, colleague and dedicated, hard worker. Her favorite drink of choice: champagne. The hotel did not have any champagne glasses; instead they brought wine glasses to the room. We made toasts and sipped from the glasses frequently pouring the bubbly contents from the thick green bottles again, and again, and again. I dare say… these wine glasses were much easier to drink from.

Flutes are awkward. When you raise a flute to sip, you need to turn your head away so as not to hit the face of another person. And although I love the look, ease and versatility of the coupe.... well, after drinking a few glasses of the bubbly libation, the mouth of the glass seems to somehow widen -- the contents sloshing about and spilling on the floor.

Little did I know (little do I really know as I prefer to sip my red wine from a small juice glass after all) that wine glasses are a perfect receptacle from which to drink champagne.

Stacy Downs has written yet another fantastic article in today's Kansas City Star on the subject of champagne glasses. read HERE

Though I probably will not be sipping champagne for this Valentines Day, (more likely a hearty pint of Guinness), I have always loved the ringing sound a crystal glass resonates when lightly touched with another. In the late 17th century, when lead was added to glass it not only increased brightness, clarity and the light-reflecting quality, but it also gave that ring sound. The tradition of clicking glasses after a toast developed during this time in England -- it was believed the bell-like ring sound had the power to send the devil away.

However, the problem is after one too many glasses of champagne -- regardless of the type of glass -- I tend to want to do exactly as the image above illustrates the following morning to the empty bottle of champagne ...

(images from Casablanca (1942), Notorious (1946), and Casino Royale (1967); to read more about the types of champagne glasses click: HERE)

Sophia Hayden Bennett

2010-02-05T00:02:00.001-06:00

The Board of Lady Managers ended up awarding Sophia a gold medal "for delicacy of style, artistic taste, and geniality and elegance of the interior hall." There was a dedication ceremony for the buildings, but Sophia wasn’t there. Rumors began to spread that she suffered a mental breakdown, which plainly indicated why women should stay at home and not wander into the realm of men.

Critics dealt her another blow when they insisted the building was too feminine. One said regardless of her technical knowledge, the structure with its “graceful timidity or gentleness” was clearly designed by a woman.

The Women's Building was torn down after the Exposition ended. Sophia, frustrated with the way she had been treated, retired from architecture. She later married William Blackstone Bennett, an artist. Sophia never designed another building after the 1893 fair, and lived a quiet life in Massachusetts until her death in 1953.

(first image: Exterior of The Women's Building, period photograph, Boston College Digital Archive; second image: MIT)

Women in Design: Sophia Hayden (1868 - 1953)

2010-02-03T21:59:00.011-06:00

Born in Santiago, Chile. Her father was an American from New England and her mother was South American. When Sophia was six, she was sent to Boston, Massachusetts to live with her paternal grandparents. She became interested in architecture in high school. In 1886 she was the first woman to be accepted to the architecture program at MIT; she graduated with honors in 1890.

Front elevation of Hayden’s thesis project: A Fine Arts Museum, 1890. (from MIT)

Floor Plan and Section, 1890. (from MIT)

After graduating, Sophia could not find employment as an architect; she accepted a position teaching drawing at a Boston high school. The following year, she entered a design competition for the World’s Colombian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. Her design was for the Woman's Building -- a structure given to various social causes such as church groups, temperance societies, a model hospital ward and kindergarten, a sanitary kitchen and a library. It was also to house exhibitions of embroidery, knitting, lace, fans and crockery. Sophia won the competition with her design of a three-story, white building in the Italian Renaissance-Revival style with arches and columned terraces. For this she was paid a modest sum of $1,000 for her design, while men who one competitions for the fair were paid 10 times as much.

Exterior of The Women's Building, period photograph (1894?) Boston College Digital Archive

Sophia traveled to Chicago to produce the final drawings, leaving the execution to Daniel Burnham. Burnham was very pleased with her work describing her as having great adaptability and being a hard worker. She returned six months later to direct the interior and exterior designs of the buildings. At that same time, she discovered another woman was involved in the project. Her name was Bertha Palmer, and she had other ideas.

Bertha Honoré Palmer (1849-1918) Chicago History Museum

A statuesque socialite with well-coiffured wavy hair, Bertha Palmer was a power to be reckoned with. She was not easy to approach. She demanded calling cards be passed scrutinized and screened by several of her servants before any visitor could speak with her. Being of Huguenot descent, no one ever contradicted her. But that was to change once she met the twenty-one year old Sophia.

Officers of Board of Lady Managers, portraits of 10 women. Key: 1. President Mrs. Potter Palmer 2. Mrs. Ralph Trautman 3. Mrs. Edwin C. Burleigh 4. Mrs. Charles Price 5. Mrs. Katherline L. Minor 6. Mrs. Beriah Wilkins 7. Mrs. Flora Beall Ginty 8.Mrs. Russell B. Harrison 9. Mrs. V.C. Merideth. 10.Susan Gale Cooke. 1896. (image via the Field Museum's flicker account.)

Mrs. Palmer was elected President of The Board of Lady Managers for the 1893 Fair. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Mrs. Palmer (née Honoré) met her husband, a wealthy dry goods owner, while she was shopping in Chicago with her mother. Potter Palmer was 23 years her senior. He moved into real estate and became immensely wealthy. Mrs. Palmer enjoyed their North Side mansion with a roof-top ballroom and picture gallery filled with Impressionist paintings she brought back from Paris. She also loved diamond jewelry.

Paul V Galvin Library: The book of the Fair

For Sophia’s building, Mrs. Palmer had invited prominent women to donate architectural elements to adorn the building. Mrs. Palmer believed the building would be better with these donations. Sophia disagreed. A mishmash of elements would dilute her vision, her concept and overall design aesthetic. As the doors, window grilles, columns, wood paneling, balustrades, slabs of onyx and black marble, granite steps, sculpted figures, and tapestries came pouring in, Sophia turned each one down. This hurt the feelings of the high-society donors, which didn’t sit very well with Mrs. Palmer. Sophia explained to Mrs. Palmer her schematic program for the structure -- the exterior and interior -- and why these random donated elements would not work. But Mrs. Palmer wouldn’t hear of it. She fired Sophia from the project and reassigned the final decoration to Candace Wheeler.

Paul V Galvin Library: The book of the Fair

Sophia walked into Burnham’s office, described what happened and from exhaustion began to cry. Burnham quickly called a doctor. Sophia was placed in an ambulance and driven away with the rubber wheels quietly crunching along the gravel road towards the sanitarium. Sophia was said to have a “… violent attack of high nervous excitement of the brain.”

(top image from Penn Libraries.)

Women in Design: Nancy Vincent McClelland (1877-1959)

2010-02-01T20:27:00.011-06:00

Series: Women in Design

2010-01-25T00:53:00.005-06:00

In 1988 ASID reported that 72% of women were interior designers. By 1998, the number increased to 81%. Yet at that same time, 70% of the 120 designers admitted to Interior Design's Hall of Fame were men. The number of women attending design school has gradually increased over the decade (I’m trying to find statistics for 2008/2009), however, estimating the number of women currently practicing in the field is difficult to find. Estimating the number of who are industrial designers is even more difficult.

One explanation for this is that many women are in and out of the workforce turning their attention to their families. Another reason, I was told, was that women lacked self-promotional, business and management skills to raise their profiles.

Oh really?

Or has the media let them down.

Why is this?

Women have been crucial to the development of interior design as a discipline and profession. The active participation of women in the history of interior design has yet to be seriously treated by scholars and historians (with the exception of Penny Sparke, Pat Kirkham, Beatriz Colomina and others who have made extraordinary contributions.)

After all, what is a well-decorated room compared to an acknowledged work of art? Or the architectural design of a building? The interior design of a room is fleeting, composed of everyday objects -- paint, fabric, ornaments, furniture and knickknacks. They can change as quickly in color and detail as the leaves on a tree. While the initial visual impact may be memorable, its longevity is limited and subject to the whims of popular taste. The study of the history of interior design is only recently being taken seriously.

A second reason women have been largely ignored is that, unfortunately, the attitude towards women having an innate knack for "decorating" has not seemed to change much over the centuries. Women were recognized as having a natural instinct for the placement of color and objects; the activity was also deemed suitable for them. And so it began, slowly at first, but steadily thereafter -- women as the arbiters of taste in their fine new houses that sprang up everywhere in America.

I propose to post a series of posts with your help -- dear readers -- about women interior and furniture designers, some names we have heard of, but others who have been forgotten by time. I would like to uncover these women, dust off their names and give them the attention they deserve. Some of this information is difficult to find, but I think as a collaborative effort we can... and, therefore, begin to rewrite history.

To Mrs. & Mr. EEE

2010-01-19T09:51:00.006-06:00

A very merry and hearty congratulations! Although marriage is about respect, partnership, friendship, compromise, ((certainly attraction)), and memories of times you spend together… I give to you your own room, Mrs. EEE.

Design it as you please – with a large window to let streams of sunshine in, or French doors leading out to a balcony filled with blooming flowers in springtime. A fireplace inside for cold winters, high ceilings so as not to constrict your thoughts, and a warm and worn floor from many brilliant thinkers of the past who have paced about in the same room.

Decorate it as you may with a Linke desk,

François Linke Louis XVI style gilt-bronze Desk, Sotheby’s New York, April 20, 2009

or one designed by Carlo Mollino,
Oak Writing Desk from the Casa Editrice Lattes, Christie's: New York, September 26, 2007

or even a simple one from Ikea. Add pooling silk drapes on the windows or tidy pinch-pleat tartan ones. Built-in bookshelves galore! And a window seat with a cushion for the cats. Paint your room white, paint it black, paint it whatever color you desire.

Mica Ertegun (MACII) for Barbara Goldsmith NYC apartment. Source architechturaldigest.com

But know that this room is yours and you are to do with it what you like. I do believe in marriage, there is a time for love and partnership, but also a time for you. So this room is a place for you to think and write and create. Because when you give time to yourself you will always be enthusiastic to give time to Mr. EEE and that way you will continue to build a very lovely and significant future together….

Yes, No, Maybe So? Skull & Bones

2010-01-18T09:59:00.004-06:00

We’ve aired our differences on blogs about mounting Elk heads on walls or using cow rugs to cover our floors. Many tend to be in favor of using these items to decorate a room, however, not without a little *twinge* -- some of us pausing for a quick moment, pondering about the once live animal.

But what about something that is human?

Remember the plastic glow-in-the-dark skulls growing up that we bought at the five and dime store? Or those out there who have bought them for your kids. They were cool, but also creepy. But if we had to handle a real human skill (excluding med students) how many of us would get squeamish? And feel, well... weird.

Christie’s (New York) just pulled a lot from the January 22nd upcoming sale. It was a real human skull from the nineteenth century that had been used as a ballot box by Yale’s elite and old Skull and Bones society (est. 1832). The skull was given an estimate of $10,000 to $20,000.

The skull has a hinged flap on the top of the head and believed to have been used as a ballot box to collect votes during the cryptic society’s meetings.

Who was the one who sawed through the skull to make the lid -- bits of bone dust flying around in their eyes, nose and mouth?

top image from Haunt Your Home; second image from Huffingtom Post.

To Haiti

2010-01-15T22:49:00.011-06:00

A tiny little country with a wreath of clouds around its mountains and a long coastline has been plagued by revolutions, corrupt political leaders, poverty and now a devastating earthquake.

Jasmin Joseph (b. 1923) Caribbean Village, 1983
Christie’s, New York: September 3, 2008

Haiti was once a rich and flourishing country. It is now the poorest country in the Western world.

Wilson Bigaud (b. 1931), La Ronde, 1953
Christie's East: May 19, 1992

They have an old religion, an old oral history, and an old mythology woven into a complex cultural foundation.

Hector Hyppolite, (1894-1948), La Dauration l’amour (The Adoration of Love), 1946-48 Milwaukee Art Museum

Haiti has one of the richest visual spirits. Sparkling with vitality, Haitian art has an unprecedented openness and honesty.

Wilson Bigaud, Haitian Market Scene (date unknown) ; Sloans & Kenyon: Chevy Chase, MD; February 11, 2007

Haitians are not ordinary people, they are visionaries.

Salnave Philippe-Auguste (b. 1908), Flamingoes, c. 1962-1964

Wishes to them that their courage and strength will point the way toward a hopeful future. I hope their spirit will rise once more.

Rigaud Benoit (b. 1911), The Healing of the Sick, c.1964

Top image: Hector Hyppolite (1894-1948), St Francis and the Christ Child, 1946-1948 ; Last two images from the book Haitain Art by Ute Stebich, 1978. Erzulie, the Voodoo goddess of love, is known for her love of flamingoes.

Yes No Maybe So? Maarten Baas' Ice Bucket from his Melting Collection

2010-01-10T16:45:00.009-06:00

La Maison Ruinart, the oldest established Champagne house in the world, was founded in 1729. The first release of the Dom Ruinart prestige cuvée was in 1959. To celebrate the 50th anniversary last year, the house commissioned Dutch designer Maarten Baas to create something for the table to commemorate it. The result : The Melting Collection Ice Bucket.

Any of us in favor of this design?

It is offered in a limited edition of 50 signed and numbered pieces. And comes in a felt-lined leather and wood presentation box and a "display" Dom Ruinart bottle. The display as the bottle is filled with water, not champagne.

The price: $8,800.00. You can buy it HERE.

The glasses are not a limited edition run and available in a gift box which contain two glasses and a bottle of cuvée. click HERE for more images from designboom.

Does anyone remember in the 1980s those plastic kitchy pop art-ish items people would display in their homes such as a glass raised in the air spilling out plastic milk, or a Hershey bar melting? My friend's mom had a lot in her house.

That is what this ice bucket reminds me of.

While I'm a fan of Maarten Baas furniture creations, I'm not so crazy about this. It reminds me of the gag joke of plastic vomit. Sorry Maarten.

(vomit image from retrojunk.com)

Why Women Like ‘Em Big

2010-01-08T17:21:00.013-06:00

We say size doesn’t matter. But yet we like them big. We marvel at the curves, the slope of the shoulders, the taughtness of form. We salivate and fantasize, even fetishize. A good one can stop us in our tracks; we bat our eyelashes, blush and say to ourselves: I must have it.

But why? Why do we seem to prefer them so big?

The humble table lamp -- the bigger, the better. For all the preening we do in our homes, we have come to love big lamps. Take a look around, I bet there are a few in your home. These days lamps are as important in making an impact as a sofa or a table. But this hasn’t always been so.

Although electricity arrived in the suburbs by 1905, it wasn’t until the 1920s that electrical lamps became popular in the home. With the arrival of the Art Deco style, lighting designers explored new designs. Many of us can remember one of the first lamps we owned -- the spring form adjustable lamp we bought our freshman year in college and set in our cramped dorm rooms to study. Initially created in 1932 George Carwardine, an engineer, was inspired by the form of the human arm. He experimented with different springs creating a light that was very functional and stylish. The “Anglepoise 1209” he named it. Two years later Herbert Terry & Sons manufactured Carwardine's improved design dubbed the “1227”. The design has changed little since then.

1959 Cadillac Cyclone

The trend in interior decorating toward tall, large-scale table lamps in preference to floor lamps blossomed during the 1950s. I’m not sure why. I can certainly speculate… Cars were big back then and punctuated by big fins. The 50s was a decade of optimism. Gender roles were divided and defined. Women were encouraged to stay at home, beautify themselves as well as their homes, while men were out in the workforce. Bigness embodied a feeling of prosperity and excitement.

You can see a lot of big lamps used in set design of movies from the 50s.

Pillow Talk (1959) is one example. Doris Day’s character, Jan Morrow, is an interior decorator. In her own apartment in NYC she’s got a pair of big lamps in her bedroom. She has a telephone line that she has to share with Brad Allen, a composer and womanizer played by Rock Hudson, who is always on the phone sweet talking a female or two. Hudson gets a glimpse at Day and decides she will be the next object of his affection. In order to get close to her, he plays a gay man.

Rock Hudson has a few of his own big lamps too.

There are a variety of big vintage lamps on the market today: murano glass... (Swank Lighting)

ceramic (also from Swank Lighting)

But a leader in big lamp making, I think, was Sascha Brastoff. Brastoff worked in Los Angeles from 1953 until about 1973 creating decorative accessories, ceramics, enamels on copper, and resins of his own design.

I have three of his lamps. Kitchy, I know but I love them. I had a date one time who exclaimed that he hated my foo dog lamp (above). I am certain that was the last time we went out.

I got this lamp for my husband for a birthday. (don't look at the cords, I'm 'rearranging'.) He wasn't terribly excited. I have a third Brastoff big lamp in storage. It is of a blue, gold and white abstract stripe design. My husband doesn’t like it. He says it is much too big.

There’s no need to pay for the work of famous names to get great big lamps (at auction Brastoff’s lamps are quite affordable). You can get something big and stylish for less. Head down to your local flea market, estate sale or auction house. Who knows what you might find to light up?

(Top lamp was a find at Rivermarket Antiques in KC. I had the wallpaper roller converted, of course, into a lamp.)

We Are Our Own Heroes

2009-12-31T15:05:00.006-06:00

The usual resolutions and goals set for the start of a new year are falling a bit flat for me this time around. Each year I make them -- some are met, others forgotten and a few adjusted -- and the following year I make them again. I had reasonable hopes for 2009, but the year ended with a loud, crashing thud. This New Year's Eve, I'm tip-toeing cautiously into 2010 carrying with me no resolutions, no goals, and no expectations.

I think many of us are hesitantly optimistic as we peer into a new decade still treading in thick, murky waters of economic uncertainty and personal wonder. Some of us, perhaps, are feeling a little rundown and tattered. One thing, as a few fellow bloggers have addressed, is we have a blogging community. An amazing thing, really. A platform where we can exchange ideas and knowledge, it gives us a place to grow and get to know one another. People who we otherwise would never have known. This, I believe, is quite a boon. It can shake us from the feelings of isolation when we've encountered an upset or disappointment sitting quietly behind our computer screens. While we mull over when that pendulum will begin to swing the other way bracing ourselves for yet another hard knock, we have this blogging community to believe in and nurture. As hokey as it sounds, our blogging community -- in many ways -- is like the racehorse, Seabiscuit.

A hopeless long shot, Seabiscuit was small with awkward crooked legs and a sad tail. He wasn't an aristocrat. He was a proletarian, a plain regular working horse. He came along in a time when America was desperate for hope. So many people cast doubts about Seabiscuit, but one person believed in him. And that is all it took. Seabiscuit became a hero. A hero that looked like America. He was once nobody and became something to many people.

So many millions of people have talent and beauty, but have not drifted into an area to be appreciated. Blogging allows talent to be read and beauty to be felt. No one really knows when all this economic hullabaloo will calm down. We are an angst ridden, somewhat depressed nation, with many of us grinding our teeth wondering when that next big project will come in, and how far that last pay check will stretch. But one thing for sure is when I read many posts and comments from other readers; I see that we again can believe in triumph over hardship. Many of us are simply true honest voices who believe in the power of beauty -- and that is the dream this country was built upon.

Paint It White

2009-12-29T20:20:00.014-06:00

“I opened the doors and windows of America and let the air and sunshine in,” Elsie de Wolf exclaimed. The early twentieth-century interior decorator is often credited for being the first to toss out the dark and heavy gloomy Victorian palette to make way for a lighter and brighter scheme.

But was she really the first to brighten the Victorian interior?

Philip Connard (1875-1958), May Morning, late 19th century, Musee d'Orsay

The mid-nineteenth century saw an increase in concern about health and hygiene. Most middle class homes included a ‘sick room’ for use when members of the household were ill. The decoration of these rooms, suggested by household manuals, was for the wall paper to be subdued (preferably the walls to be white washed), the textiles simple and the crockery bland. Air and circulation were mandatory. Nothing in the room was to excite or disturb a feverish patient.

Félix Vallotton, The Sick Girl, 1892 (Private collection)

Dust retaining surfaces and heavy draperies were being eased out towards the end of the century, while beds made of polished oak, brass or cast iron were being brought in. They did not harbor dust or mites and could easily be cleaned. After all, de Wolfe suggested the use of white painted brass beds in one’s home, as hospitals did. All this, she argued, helped to allow for more air, light and space.

Catherine Beecher, an important advocate of the systematization of housework and the education of women, suggested the need for light and bright kitchens, and whenever possible to wash the walls with white paint.

By the turn of the twentieth century, the attraction and influence of the Arts and Crafts movement was powerful. The British influence reached almost every Western nation, especially in America. The Arts and Crafts movement wasn’t all about handiwork, the use of oak wood with exposed mortise and tenon joints, and a dusky color palette. There were architects and designers who, long before de Wolfe began to practice, believed in her value of “light, air and comfort” as they opened up space and painted walls white.

William Morris’ summer home in Kelmscott Manor.

Though Elsie de Wolfe detested her dark childhood bedroom with walls clad in a William Morris design, I wonder if she would have disapproved of the Kelmscott Manor drawing room Morris redecorated with his wife, Jane, in 1871. They painted the walls white and chose simple white wool drapes. They also upholstered the furniture with a pattern on a calm blue ground he created for Morris & Company.

First floor drawing room, Red House

Prior to designing the interiors of their country get-a-way, Morris commissioned friend and architect Philip Webb to design their first home when he was newly married. Red House was completed in 1860. Although the style of Red House was based on a medieval theme and wrought with subtle medieval details, it is comparatively light and airy with an open floor plan and many white painted walls.

Drawing room in Standen. (image from The National Trust.)

Billiard room in Standen. (image from The National Trust.)

Philip Webb designed a number of English country houses. Many of his interiors had simple white-painted paneling -- much in contrast to the Victorian obsession of dark color palettes and rooms filled with clutter. A Wilshire house, Clouds (1881-1891), also designed by Webb included white walls and white painted plaster and woodwork with just a simple fireplace.

English architect CFA Voysey designed his own living room in The Orchard (1900) completely clutter-free. The interior space is very simple: he covered the walls with a violet fabric just to eye level then painted everything above white. The tiles around the fireplace hearth are a pale green. Though he did not align himself with modernists of his time, to our eyes this room is fresh, light and very modern.

Arguably, two designers who really let the air and sunshine in are Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh.

The Mackintoshes married in 1900 and moved into a flat in Glasgow decorating it in their own very unique language. Above is their studio drawing room – clear, calm and bright – this room is certainly the opposite of most dark, cluttered interiors so prevalent of the time.

The Mackintosh’s bedroom: walls, ceiling and furniture were all painted white with white drapes surrounding the white bed – designs stenciled on the frieze of the bed were repeated in embroidery on the bedcover and the valance (not shown). This all-white room was a radical departure of the time not only in color, but form and style.

The bedroom of The Hill House.

Designed in 1902 and completed in 1904, The Hill House was designed for the family of Glasgow publisher Walter Blackie in Helensburgh, Scotland.

The Mackintoshes understanding of spatial relationships, ability to deliver a clearly defined program, as well as create a unique repertoire of forms, colors, and exquisite details were truly a groundbreaking vision of the time. Their rooms were bright, airy and spacious and their furniture creations light and finely crafted. Their spaces weren’t simply decorated, they were designed.

The bedroom of The Hill House, expanded view.

Margaret was an incredibly talented artist and had great influence on her husband’s work. Exactly how closely the two collaborated on the interiors is unclear, but often her initials were added to his drawings and renderings. Particularly notable are her gesso murals and embroidered panels she alone created. One wonders if she lived in a country where her vision was more acceptable, wasn’t hampered by her disagreeable husband who lost clients, had the important social connections and the ability to self-promote what work we would be seeing?

Top image: Elsie de Wolfe's dining room on Irving Place second remodel c. 1900; Last five images: CFA Voysey from John Pile’s History of Interior Design, Mackintoshes Blake, Essential Charles Renie Mackintosh and Swinglehurst, CRM.

Christmas in Kansas City...

2009-12-26T17:43:00.011-06:00

On the late, late evening of Christmas Eve, after much to eat and much more to drink, my husband and I were traveling home in the midst of one of Kansas City’s worst blizzards since (1979? or 1826? I'm not sure). There were a few stranded travelers along the roads, and we needed to help. After all, moments before my husband was proudly chirping about his “animal” of a car. How his American made car trumped my “fancy” German type that I’m so fond of. Cars were abandoned as we loaded passengers up in his Jeep and safely drove them home.

The wind was violent. It pelted snow into our eyes and forced icy snow crystals down our throats as we got out pushing cars to the side of the roads and escorting our fellow travelers into the car. I was without a hat and my hair was coated with bricks of snowy ice. I didn’t notice at the time -- my stomach full, my veins pumping warm red wine and we were doing a good deed.

Earlier in the evening as I kissed Billy good-bye and darted out the door, I paused for a moment to glance over at my hat and mittens. I left them on the chair. I was going to a Christmas Eve dinner, there was no reason I needed to dress appropriately for a winter blizzard -- my skirt, tights, high-heeled boots and Christmas brooch neatly pinned to my sweater would do me just fine.

Today, I can barely sit erect as my head splits in two, my body aches, my sinus passages throb, my eyeballs heavy as lead cannon balls, and my lungs burn like a raging inferno... I dream of a warm place in the French West Indies.

I vow in my next Midwestern home to create it as a Martinique retreat.

So the next time I have to look outside at this:

I will be inside seeing this:

and this:

and this:

Three images above from French Island Elegance by Michael Connors.
Living room of unidentified French Plantation home; Dining area of La Réunion, Grand Case, Martinique; Maison du Mauduit, a nineteenth-century home, in Guadeloupe.

Princess with the Tiny Feet: The Duchess of York

2009-12-18T22:18:00.011-06:00

Frederica Charlotte of Prussia (1767-1820) -- wife of George III's second son Prince Frederick Augustus -- was said to have very, very small feet. It was also said that she was short in height, not very pretty and had bad teeth. However, she was lively and sensible and expected to make Frederick very happy.

Frederica Charlotte Ulrica Catherina, Duchess of York by Marie Anne Bourlier after Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun, published by Edward Harding.

Frederick, the Duke of York, was eager to marry. He was the first royal marriage of all George III's fifteen children and everyone was excited. After all, if he did, he would receive a handsome increase in funds. One thing Frederick wanted to do for his bride was provide her with shoes. His older brother George, the Prince of Wales, consulted the royal shoe maker. The duke sent the prince a pair of Frederica's wee shoes to make six new pairs. The delicacy of Frederica's tiny feet became the object of great curiosity. Although newspapers were scarcely able to mention the princess’s beauty, they praised her for her charm and "neatness". Copies of her shoes were sold in the hundreds -- purple leather shoes studded with diamonds, finished with a high heel and only... 5-1/2 inches long.

'The York-minuet' (Frederica Charlotte Ulrica Catherina, Duchess of York; Frederick, Duke of York and Albany) by James Gillray (1791) National Portrait Gallery

Soon it became fashionable for every stylish woman to squeeze her feet into tiny shoes. The rage for the princess’s shoes became over the top. James Gillray summed up the whole frenzied madness in one cartoon caricature titled "Fashionable Contrasts" showing Duchess teeny feet dwarfed by the Duke's.

'Fashionable Contrasts' by James Gillray (1792) National Portrait Gallery.

Unfortunately, as the marriage progressed, it was not as agreeable for both parties.

The Duchess, called "Freddie" by her friends, became a bit more eccentric as the years went by keeping to herself and doting on her 18 dogs in their large estate. Life at the estate provided the privacy the Duchess wanted. She was known to stay up until dawn reading books, sleep until 3 in the afternoon, get up and play with her dogs, then read until dawn again. Her mad, controlling, but sometimes very wise father-in-law, George III, was sympathetic and felt without children she needed to rest her affection on her dogs.

top image from LACMA: a pair of English shoes, though not the Princess's, is made from satin, leather, linen (1790-1795) and the size... 9-1/2 inches.

Kitchens: What Do They Say About Us

2009-12-15T11:33:00.013-06:00

I, unfortunately, have a small kitchen. Though the design is filled with fancy stainless upgrades and sparkling granite slabs, it is STILL small and I can’t seem to manage to prepare more than one thing at a time. However, I must make do.

The height of the kitchen counter is too tall. I don't like this new standard of raising the heights of kitchen and bathroom counter tops -- I'm too short and you can't get a good grip when stirring a mixing bowl when the bowl hits your belly and not your hip. Counter tops, cabinets, work space, accessibility, visibility and storage are primary considerations in the design of cooking spaces and they all must be responsive to human dimension and body size. Fine… although I'm shorter than most, I still need space to work.

Second, it is a narrow galley kitchen. I feel like a pin ball bouncing back and forth in a corridor moving from stove to sink back to stove to counter space to refrigerator to oven and back counter space. Furthermore, I can only exit on either end to, say, hand someone a glass of wine. Better yet, retrieve one for myself. The addition of a husband shuffling around sneaking bites of food in the midst of preparation while a ruthless, determined little white dog begs for bites blinking his wet brown eyes makes the space seem awfully, awfully crowded.

Pic of my cousin’s daughter holding Billy. She tried her mood ring on his paw and it read ‘romantic’. An ex-stud dog (he was forced into sexual slave labor prior to being rescued) and is truly a Romeo with all the lady dogs on the block – he gently nuzzles his nose in their ear yet respects their boundaries.

So I have wondered what other people have done with small kitchens. I mean real kitchens that people have actually used. Kitchen filled with necessary cooking utensils, pots, pans, measuring cups and cutting boards.

Miles Redd, of course, configured a U-shaped plan which is most efficient. His kitchen provides enough space for several simultaneous activities and less claustrophobia.

Although the kitchen is now considered the most important room in a home, it still must be efficient and functional. The kitchen is the domicile center. It is where all social activity takes place despite efforts to shoo guests (and little white dogs) out. Although I have designed my one-day-in-the-very-distant-future ideal kitchen -- an enormous space with a two-story window, a blazing hearth and gleaming utensils -- in reality, the space plan must work.

Dream Kitchen: Steven Gambrel

Dream Kitchen: Nate Berkus

Dream Kitchen: George Terbovich

(I’ve been in this space and I am certain I would cook, feel and look better if I had this kitchen. However, I would need to upgrade my tattered, stained apron in this place.)

Dream Kitchen: Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

I like to check out homes – especially open houses – and comb over the kitchen with a careful eye. I honestly wonder who configured some of these spaces, including the one I have lived in for the past few years. Clearly not by a kitchen designer and nor a cook.

Catherine Beecher had it right when she first published A Treatise on Domestic Economy in 1841. She discussed in detail the needs of a kitchen user, the relationship with items needed to cook, and the need for greater efficiency and organization of space. She addressed the three main functions in a kitchen: storage, preparation, and cooking. And she was also a proponent of open shelving for easy and quick access.

American Woman’s Home published in 1869 by Beecher and her sister Harriet Beecher Stowe.

I was recently in a situation where I thought (hoped) to move. The kitchen floor plan and configuration was all wrong. But on a very limited budget (thank you recession), I configured a new plan using hearty materials from modest means. Open shelving was one solution. It would provide quick and easy access. And as long as I kept items on the shelves tidy and of the same color, I don’t think it would look chaotic. Many people are opposed to open shelving, especially realtors, but I want a room to bear evidence of its function. A kitchen is a space for work and not toiling around.

Steven Gambrel did it.

During the twentieth century, psychological, hygienic and technological concerns changed the attitude of the kitchen. Adjusting to the peace after WWI, designers with social concerns began to re-evaluate the space. Just because a home was not fitted with servants and domestic help, did not mean that users of the kitchen could not function efficiently.

Original photo of The Frankfurt Kitchen (1926) designed by Bauhaus architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (1897 – 2000)

"How can household chores be facilitated for women by appropriate house building" was the title of an article written in 1921 but the Bauhaus architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky who is said to have invented the ‘modern’ kitchen. The Frankfurt Kitchen was modeled on a train railway car and regarded as a "housewife's laboratory". It used minimum space but efficiently for the working woman.

Kitchen restored today. Makes me rethink my desire for an all-white kitchen to polo-blue enameled cabinets and non-staining leather pulls. Peach tiles most certainly to be replaced.

After all, despite working several jobs, I’m still the Heimkulter -- a modest (working) housewife who chose and placed the furnishings, lamps and accessorized in every room. I decided upon the color scheme and painted the walls, upgraded lampshades, chose the bedding and the towels. I’ve been accused of taking over, however, I’m the heimkulter – who else scrubs the toilets and gets everyone fed.

History, no doubt, has moved many women forward, but women have always rearranged things within their house. We’ve let the light in. We largely make all the choices on dishes, bed covers and furnishings in all the rooms. We’ve enhanced the dignity of domestic work. But what remains is what a kitchen symbolizes – it is a repository for all sorts of values, attitudes and judgments. The kitchen is particularly revealing about what it says about the homeowner. It is a microcosm of the larger house. And I for one do not like what mine says about me: small, sleek and inefficient.

What does your kitchen say about you?

Photographer: Diego Lama (Peruvian, b. 1980)

2009-12-03T14:18:00.005-06:00

Diego Lama is a video-artist. Two years ago, he decided to do something different and take large-format, glossy wide screen pictures of interior spaces of cultural institutions in Lima. The environments seem reminiscent of movies and exude a surreal quality. Each setting depicts a Baroque-revival space full of details that could be from the most elaborate movie sets featuring Vincent Pryce.

Biblioteca Municipal shows a nude male figure within a carefully arranged dark and heavy Baroque-revival space. The figure breaks the feel of the grand space. The man is stripped of everything, and then we notice he is only wearing shoes.

But Diego takes this idea one step further and places a naked human figure in each setting. Figures we wouldn’t expect. Figures seemingly out of place, imperfect and alone situated in a quiet, dramatic space. He contradicts our assumption of what types of bodies would be in the stylized spaces portrayed. It is a bit arresting at first, and beguiling, and then intriguing. His photographs reveal the fragility of the human compared to the designed spaces that encloses them. It leaves us to create our own narrative.

Casa Goyeneche depicts all the splendor of a Baroque mansion holding a vast collection of 17th and 18th-century paintings and mirrors. Within the ostentatious space with carefully placed furnishings, tapestries and objects of art stands a woman.

BOLD, is the title of the exhibition and currently at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center. These teeny jpegs do not do justice to Lama’s work. Standing in front of the large images in a quiet little museum makes one realize the strangeness of life. For more info see the exhibition -- it is comprised of a series of six panoramic photographs.

Happy Thanksgiving: A Weed Bit of History

2009-11-26T18:31:00.008-06:00

Here is a little story that is not well known about the pilgrims and their first Thanksgiving and the new world.

How many of you have heard of a plant called ‘Datura’? It grows all over North America. In the east, it’s known as jimson weed. Out west, especially in the southwest, it is known as the sacred datura, the moon lily, moon flower, the dream weed or the devil’s trumpet.

Now they didn’t have this plant in merry ole England. The Pilgrim Fathers didn’t discover it until they came to the new World. Most likely it was one of the indigenous Americans who turned and pointed out the plant and suggested that if the immigrants wanted to really give thanks, and at the same time do themselves a big favor, they should nibble a bit of this plant. Any part of it – petals, stems, leaves – taken internally launched the person into a world they had never known before.

Not only was datura a guaranteed hallucinogenic, it had curative powers as well. For example, when consumed in a fire and the fumes inhaled, it aided respiration. The plant was also used as a poultice to salve burns and sores. Merely rubbing the eyes after pulling the leaves off the stem could cause the pupils to dilate.

This is a plant that could both heal you and kill you.

In India, for example, assassins used it to dispatch their victims. The priests of Apollo at Delphi ate datura to assist them in making prophecies.

Now let’s be realistic, how many of you have sat at a groaning Thanksgiving day table, bored out of your skull, stuffed to the gills with sodium-loaded turkeys, seated next to some long-lost cousin who can only talk about all the money he is spending, and wishing you could be anywhere else than where you are.

Well, thing about those first pilgrims who, before they sat down to enjoy their first major repast in the New World gobbled down a handful of petals from the ubiquitous moon lily. There are reports of pious Christian elders getting to their feet midway through the sumptuous feast and dancing on the table, singing at the tops of their lungs, and attempting to remove critical articles of clothing. Others, it is reported, were found hanging from tress, giggling maniacally.

Think about it. Is this not a good way to celebrate the arrival of the Europeans into this brave New World? This we do have to be thankful for.

(Jimson weed = James Town + weed)

Top and last (1932) paintings by Georgia O`Keeffe, second and third images from desertusa.com, and fourth homegrown from Missouri Plants.

Object: Posset Pots

2009-11-18T13:37:00.009-06:00

When I hear of a combination of milk and beer or wine, I have to tell you, I think of a hangover remedy -- something to soothe the stomach with a little dash of hair of the dog to ease a pounding head.

Posset pots were drinking vessels usually made from tin-glazed earthenware, sometimes made from silver or glass, to drink the milk and alcohol mixture from. They had two handles and a spout and were very popular in England and Holland from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries.

Bristol Delftware Posset Pot, circa 1690; Sotheby’s NYC January 20, 2006; Realized Price: $12,000

Sometimes an egg and spices like cinnamon were added. Sometimes a sweet sherry was used instead of ale or wine. The alcohol would cause the mixture to curdle and separate and the drinker would sip the concoction through the spout.

Dutch Delft Polychrome Posset Pot 18th Century (painted in imitation of Batavian ware); Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, Netherlands, December 4, 2006; Estimate : €800 - €1,200

A little protein post a bout of too much drinking the night before is always recommended. However, I would opt out of drinking this recipe. I am covering my lips with one finger right now as my stomach turns a bit.

George II Delftware Posset Pot circa 1730-40; Christies’ London January 20, 2009; Realized: £1,625

Posset was a popular drink at celebrations such as weddings or Christmas feasts and the posset pot was passed from guest to guest each one sipping from the spout. I wouldn’t have liked to be the last one to sip this mixture. Some people tend to leave a bit of warm, thick backwash.

Posset Pot, ca. 1710 Bristol, England, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in KC.

A really good posset was said to have three different layers: the upper having foam; the middle a smooth custard; and the bottom the alcohol. The custard portion was eaten with a spoon and the leftover liquid mixture sipped through the spout. At weddings a wedding ring was sometimes thrown into the posset pot. It was thought that the person who fished it out would be the next to get married.

It was also commonly used for those in bed sick to slowly sip this milk and alcohol mixture from one of these pots. In some rural portions of England, this was practiced even up until the mid twentieth century.

English Delftware White Posset Pot, curca 1700; Sotheby’s NYC, October 20, 2003; Estimated Price: $6,000 - $8,000; failed to sell.

Some seventeenth-century recipes called for bread crumbs, eighteen yokes and three-quarters pound of sugar. (My bottom is spreading from just reading about it.) This recipe sounds similar to a bread pudding I make -- but it has a whiskey sauce mixed with butter and sugar on top. There is no curdling. There is no communal sipping sludge from the bottom. And everyone has their own portion from their own plate nibbling from their own fork.

I must not judge. Times have changed. And I am sure an eighteenth-century English woman would have thought eating a rice cake that tastes similar to Styrofoam was unappealing.

English Delftware Polychrome Posset Pot and cover, Circa 1770; Sotheby’s NYC; October 6, 2006; Estimated Price: $18,000 - $22,000; Realized Price: $66,000 !

Something about these spouts makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Anyone else?

Top image: Posset pot, Netherlands, Late 17th or early 18th century ; Victoria and Albert Museum .

Artist: Lizzie Siddal (1829-1862)

2009-11-15T21:00:00.005-06:00

… All changes pass me like a dream,
I neither sing nor pray;
And thou art like the poisonous tree
That stole my life away.

- Elizabeth Siddal from “Love and Hate”

Many of us have succumbed to the powers of attraction.

Our bodies ruling over our heads. Our emotions soon to follow.

A spell is cast and no matter hard we fight to break it, we just can’t seem to get away.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was one of those… a sorcerer of sorts, and not the good kind. Lizzie Siddal, an artist in her own right, fell under his spell. Today, she is known more as a model or a muse, for the drama with Rossetti and not her work.

Beatrix by DGR

At the age of twenty, Elizabeth Eleanor Siddall was working as a milliner. She was unusual in appearance than most of the girls her age. Tall and lean with a mass of glorious red hair, she had agate-colored eyes and alabaster skin. Her voice soft and scant. She caught the attention of many men. She was introduced to Dante Gabriel Rossetti and soon, at his demand, she became his exclusive model.

Lizzie showed promise as an artist, and Rossetti took her on as a student. He had her live with him. He dropped the remaining ‘L’ from her last name. And then he promised to marry her.

Self-Portrait 1853-54

By 1854, several of Lizzie’s paintings and illustrations appeared in the Pre-Raphaelite Exhibition. Lizzie was the only female artist. The following year, John Ruskin saw her work and purchased everything. Ruskin even gave her an allowance to continue her work.

Years passed and Rossetti ’s promises to marry her went unrealized. He began to entertain other artists’ models. Their relationship became tumultuous. Several times she tried to leave but was always worried Rossetti would replace her with a younger, prettier muse. Grief stricken, Lizzie would often fall ill taking laudanum for relief.

In May of 1860, Rossetti and Lizzie finally married. The following May, she gave birth to a stillborn daughter. By the end of the year, Lizzie was pregnant again. In February, she went out to dinner with Rossetti and a friend. She returned home and he went out again. At 11:30 he came home to a dark room. He called to her and received no reply. In bed he found her with an empty vile of laudanum next to the bed.

The grieving husband threw a manuscript of poems he had written into her casket. he began to drink. And take chloral.

Seven years went by and then Rossetti persuaded his friends to exhume Lizzie's body. He wanted to publish the poems he had thrown into her coffin. Late one night, they dug up her grave and pried open the coffin. The poems were retrieved and drenched in disinfectant. His friends told him, not to worry…. Lizzie looked remarkably well.

Georgiana, the wife of the painter Edward Burne-Jones, said of Rossetti: “no one could produce the peculiar charm of his voice with its sonorous roll and beautiful cadences.” No one really knows why or how another person can cast such a powerful spell onto another. No one really knows why people cannot break away from others. But you wonder if Lizzie was able to break from his spell and finally leave him not having to carry the label of a divorced or 'fallen' woman, how good her work could have become.

Respectable B

2009-10-30T12:39:00.008-05:00

There are two styles of champagne glasses: one is a flute which features a deep, narrow mouthed bowl which helps to retain the bubbles.

And the second: a saucer with a wide, shallow bowl.

The latter supposedly modeled from the bosom of Mme. de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV.

To those Americans who prefer basketball-sized silicone, I would personally rather liken a perfectly good B cup to a crystal champagne glass...

For more (and always good) info see Emily Evans Eerdmans post.

and for more on the quiet, shy but very active Louis XV see here...

Both images from Dawson and Nye: Morris Plains, NJ, USA. Top - by Baccarat, sold September 23, 2009; and second Lalique coupe glasses sold December 6, 2007.

Some Things Never Change

2009-10-28T17:40:00.002-05:00

I remember this phone always being a challenge in my youth. We had one when I was growing up. It came from my Grandfather’s house. He always had the coolest, but not the most practical, things. This phone was not designed with a growing teenager in mind. My conversations on the phone when I was 15 or 16 consisted of me sitting on the floor frantically sewing the legs of my Levis so tight I could barely squeeze my foot through with the phone resting on my shoulder as I repeated the words ‘ohmygawd no way” to a friend on the other line. Because of its sleek Calatrava-esque form, it was impossible for me to comfortably hold the phone between my shoulder and ear as I sewed or singed my hair with a curling iron. It was heavy and it would often slip down to the floor hanging up on my friends.

There was a big red button on the bottom. With a gentle touch, it would immediately disconnect the line.

The design also caused additional problems, it was bottom heavy and like a weeble-wobble, it liked to sit upright. If a caller was inquiring to speak with my mom, often times I would say “one moment please” then set it straight down accidentally hanging up. Irritated, the caller always called back.

Now that I am much older and spend less and less time on the telephone, I have new respect and admiration for its elegant design aesthetic. But for the record when I am talking to my friends all these years later, I still say “ohmygawd no way”.

Phone by Ericsson, a Swedish telephone manufacturer (est. 1876); phone designed in 1954 by Hugo Blomberg and Ralph Lysell and put into production by 1957. Image from MoMA.

Designer: Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932)

2009-10-22T19:04:00.009-05:00

Glass has been made in a variety of shapes and styles for more than 5,000 years -- the styles reflecting the trends of the time. When we look at the glass vase above, our thoughts probably drift to a similar vase we have seen today.

But place this vase in the context of its time. It was created during Victorian England when the reigning taste was all about clutter, bric-a-brac and passementeries.

Gertrude Jekyll designed this vase. I was unaware of it until a friend, Paul Shutler, from across the pond educated me. He has one. An unusual one.

A garden designer and writer, Jekyll designed her gardens very carefully, demonstrating a sensitive and sympathetic relationship between a house and its surroundings. She believed each plant should be studied for habit, foliage and color to achieve a practical, harmonious effect that was most appropriate for its area.

She demonstrated the same theory in this vase.

Gertrude Jekyll was asked by the London retailer James Green to design a series of flower vases. The result: “Munstead Range” after her own cottage Munstead Wood which was designed by the young architect Sir Edwin Lutyens.

The vases are the only objects designed by Jekyll. Neither an architect nor an industrial designer, she designed an object intended for the general public – so people could enjoy a bit of nature when they didn’t have the acreage. Jeckyll’s vision and theories were well ahead of her time.

The vase’s form is functional and the lines are essential. She wanted to create something appropriate for cut flowers and foliage. She didn’t want something unnecessary or overwhelming or overly designed. It was different from the usual Victorian vases painted with unsettling colors, or cut with heavy patterning. It wasn’t a clunky form, but perfectly fit for its purpose.

During her career, she carried out over 400 commissions for clients in the UK, Europe and even America. She ran a prosperous nursery garden business at her home well into her eighties. And she was a prolific writer publishing 13 books -- starting after her 55th birthday!

A picture of Gertrude Jekyll sketched by Lutyens c.1896 (from the Museum of Garden History)

Munstead Woods images from garvenvisit.com and the Astoft collection of buildings in England; Vase image and tear sheet courtesy of Paul A. Shutler)

Kreative Blogger

2009-10-17T22:29:00.011-05:00

With humble thanks to Little Augury and Art By Karena for passing the Kreativ Blogger award to me. As I will pass it on. The conditions are: list 7 things about yourself that readers might not know, and then nominate 7 other bloggers.

Me:
1. I become paralyzed by the smallest decisions, but when I finally make one I do NOT want to hear: "are you sure?"

2. My favorite color since I was three has been navy. It was my favorite one in the crayon box. My parents moved to a new house when I was four, and my mom asked me what color room I wanted. I said navy. Instead I got baby blue and my brother got navy. To this day baby blue makes me mad.

3. When I was a kid I wanted to be an animator. I used to carefully study the Looney-Tunes cartoons on Saturday morning TV. My drawing skills peaked when I was 12 and I have never been able to surpass that point. As an adult, I wanted to be a furniture designer. I worked towards that goal for years; my life took a series of sudden and sharp turns taking me away from this path.

4. I truly do not understand why some people present themselves as something they are not. Be true. Be yourself. Even if it is painful. Reality is much more complex, rich and interesting.

5. Sometimes I wish I could believe in God.

6. I love to sip a thick, chocolaty cold pint of Guinness. I have difficulties seeing my westie, Billy, as a dog rather than a little person. I still horribly miss my other westie, Tula. Somehow these three loves go together. Each, without fail, makes me feel warm and happy.

Thomas Hart Benton, Homeward Bound (1944)

7. I was born and raised in the Midwest. I first left the area when I was 17 and swore I would never return. I came back. I left three more times and even to another country. Some major incident in life always brought me back. Each time I returned, I said it would only be temporary. No matter where I have lived or different and strange places I have seen, I realized that nothing is as promising and full of possibilities as a brilliant pink Midwestern sky.

Of course as a Libra, I deliberated and wanted to be fair in passing this torch onto 7 others. I chose each one for very, very different reasons:

P i g t o w n * D e s i g n

Midwestern Malaise

So Lovely

Comfort & Luxury

i heart strangers

The Adventures of Tartan Scot

Sweet Sunday Mornings

* Image of me, in fact, after 4 pints of Guinness.

Designer: Christopher Dresser (1834-1904)

2009-10-15T19:07:00.008-05:00

"Maximum effect with minimum means" is a saying Christopher Dresser used to repeat to his students. A saying many of us during this recession can relate to. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Dresser believed in good, quality design for all.

Think of today's designers for Target: Martha Stewart, Michael Graves and Karim Rashid …
Christopher Dresser was the first to self-brand products offering quality at an affordable price.

"Fitness for purpose", Dresser also used to say, was the basis of good design. Bauhaus designers championed this principle which is also something we desperately are in need of today.

Dresser was enthusiastic about scientific progress and the machine-age which contrasted sharply with the pessimism of John Ruskin and William Morris. He believed existing scientific laws were destined to become outdated only to be replaced by newer, simpler laws. This belief led him to the theory that design should be simple.

In his lifetime, Dresser received quite a bit of recognition. Design firms carrying Dresser creations were cream of the crop. It is strange that this leading Victorian designer doesn't share the same acclaim as other designers such as Morris today.

Manufactured by Chubb & Co. for the Art Furnishers' Alliance, (1880-83);Ebonized & gilded mahogany --Victoria & Albert Museum

For whatever reason I've always skipped over the part about Christopher Dresser’s personal life. I made the erroneous assumption that he was not married. Surely someone so prolific couldn't possibly have time for a wife, or even a family. I was wrong. At the young age of 20 he married an "older" woman (points for him) named Thirza Perry, though she was only 24. Together they had thirteen -- 13 -- children.

I love his work. Something about every single piece I see time and time again sings. I wonder if 130 years from now, people will feel the same about Karim Rashid’s designs. Somehow I don’t think so. Take one moment and place Dresser’s theories and work within the context of his time. His designs and ideas stood apart from his contemporaries and were advanced for the time.

Born in Glasgow to non-conformist English parents, Dresser was a very talented child. His father was a tax collector moving his family frequently over the years. When Dresser was 13, he won a scholarship Government School of Design. This new art school was set up to improve the standard of British design by joining the disciplines of art and science.

During his attendance, Dresser met many of the most important design reformers of the day including his mentor: the utterly fantastic Owen Jones.

Dresser studied botany, specializing in the field. At the early age of 20, he began to lecture at the School of Design and wrote several articles for the Art Journal. He illustrated ten plates of plants to Owen Jones' Grammar of Ornament (1856) and received an honorary doctorate in botany in 1859. By 1860, working as a professor for the University of London, his application for Chair of Botany at was rejected. He was determined to forge a career as a designer and set up shop that same year. His fascination with the inherent symmetry and regularity of nature merged with the natural laws in his designs.

Blue Floral Urn (1875); Cloisonné frieze inspired by Iznik (Turkish) designs available at Jason Jacques Inc.. Image from ArtNet.

In the 1860s and 1870s, he worked as a freelance designer for Mintons Ltd. and J. Wedgwood and Sons. Many designs were inspired by ‘oriental’ cloisonné wares.

An unconventional thinker, Dresser broke new ground in design. A trip to Japan in 1876 strengthened his preference for form over ornament. He also procured items for Tiffany & Co. in New York.

Electroplate teapot (1878-1879) made by James Dixon and Sons. Collection of The British Museum.

He designed forms intended for mass production and ensured high-quality. Most of his metal work he designed for James Dixson and Sons Elkington & Co.

He designed textiles, wallpaper, silver hollowware, brassware, glass, pottery and furniture.

In 1880, he established The Art Furnishers' Alliance, which sold furniture, metalwork, ceramics, glass, fabrics and other items of his design -- some executed under his supervision. Unfortunately, by 1883, the firm went bankrupt and everything liquidated. Dresser had to move to the suburbs.

Tongue Vase, Christopher Dresser, c.1893. From “Design in the age of Darwin: From William Morris to Frank Lloyd Wright" exhibition.

There was no one to continue his work after his death. In part, perhaps, because no one was as brilliant. The other part, perhaps, because he was alone in his mission to address design for all.

Dresser's designs reissued and currently available at Alessi.

To see more good stuff and read about his market click HERE.

Photographer: Irving Penn (1917-2009)

2009-10-07T23:09:00.006-05:00

Irving Penn died today. He was 92.

When he was young, he wanted to become a painter and in 1938 graduated from the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art (now the University of the Arts). He wasn't very good though. However, in the 1930s he began creating personal photographs. And by 1943, he was hired as an assistant photographer at Vogue moving his way up and shooting over 150 covers for the magazine. He became one of the first photographers to marry commercial photography with art. No matter what subject he photographed -- from a model to a cigarette butt -- he isolated it with close-up graphic precision. The result icons, not just images.

Although he was known to mistrust perfect beauty, somehow he created it casting all things he photographed with a beautifully soft, even light. His subjects... casual and fluid and comfortable.

Met Museum

Dynamic yet restrained. Quiet and serene.

Veiled Face (Evelyn Tripp), 1949

He discarded all of the narrative trappings. He created an expressive visual vocabulary so unique. And when we, the viewer, gaze upon his images, they seem all our own.

My Brain

2009-10-07T19:55:00.003-05:00

My brain in the past several days... (and NOT on drugs...) the result of too much work, a deadlined moved up, another next week and these days in 2009 flying by too quickly. A number of half written posts paitently waiting in the folders of my computer need to be completed and posted. Many thanks for those stopping by and especially to those who really do return. Hopefully, I'll be back up and running soon...

Pink

2009-10-01T00:32:00.003-05:00

Breast Cancer.

My Grandmother died from it. She had a double mastectomy, but she still died. My Grandmother is my name sake. My given name. I never knew her. I listen closely to all the stories I hear about her. Advances in technology weren't as sophisticated back then. I wonder if she had a chance, how much I could have learned from her. I could have known her. Can one miss someone without even knowing them?

My doctor told me I needed to have a screening done. With a lot of cancer in my family, and arriving at that "age", it just is a wise thing to do. I still haven't made an appointment. I have some fears.

Test and misfortune that comes our way is not beyond the course of what others have had to face. Many of us have been let down in life and seen loved ones suffer without reason. We've been pushed to our limit and when we think we cannot take one more thing, that one more thing still comes. But we will always regret if we hadn't done something early. Because you won't wonder if it is too late. October is the month to make an appointment if anyone already hasn't. We need to promise ourselves. Because "The best protection is early detection".

National Cancer Institute

Susan G. Komen Foundation

Blog B-Day

2009-09-23T06:03:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday little Blog. You are one year old today.

and Happy Birthday to me. I better be one year wiser.

(top image French Vanilla Ooh Lah Lah cupcake from Cupcake à la Mode...)

Designer: Johnny Swing

2009-09-21T15:10:00.009-05:00

Johnny Swing is a pseudonym for a furniture designer who has created a series of chairs using ordinary items as material for his work. He is a trained sculptor and licensed welder, and not a porn star as his name might suggest. (Did anyone else think that?)

Born in Salisbury, Connecticut in 1961, he studied at Skidmore College (I almost went there) and then the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He has been working as a professional artist for the past two decades: first in NYC’s Greenwich Village and now on his farm in Vermont. His past experience includes creating furniture and interiors for corporate clients, as well as appearing on the Discovery Channel show, "Junkyard Wars” (2001-2003 seasons). His works can be found in the Robert Crowell Museum in Newfane, Vermont and the Storm King Arts Center, Mountainville, New York.

His interest in coins isn’t anything new. When he was five, he set up a toll both during his parent’s parties where guests would have to buy one of his drawings before they were allowed to pass through the hallway.

Johnny Swing has created his Obsessive Furniture Line which makes use of common, everyday materials like glass jars, nickels and coins repurposing them to give new life to ordinary objects.

He has also created a series of chairs created from coins -- functional furniture creations which also serve as unique pieces of sculpture.

QUARTER SIDE CHAIR (2002)
This is the fourth in his coin series, but my favorite. The coins are not welded together which lends to a clean, floating appearance. Instead, they are held together with a U-shaped metal wire which is welded at the back side edges of the coins. The legs are stainless steel.

Some critics have said he defacing money by using it in this manner. But there is something so slick, cool and shimmery about his chairs -- like a bonefish quietly swimming in shallow, brilliant tropical waters before it darts away. At first, they seem unyielding and cold, but there is something so tactile and intriguing. I’ve been reading that one of these chairs will set you back anywhere from $10,000 each to $25,000.

NICKEL COUCH (2001)

This sofa is the second in a series of furniture made from coins. Created from 7,000 nickels, it is fixed together with 35,000 welds and rests on a substructure of stainless truss work. It weighs about 125-lbs. Johnny Swing spends about 300 hours sculpting one of these. I read it retailed for $51,000 a few years back.

Above is the artist in his creation. However, there is something about this arm I find a little… threatening. Anyone see this too?

BUTTERFLY CHAIR (2002)
This is the third in the series: each chair uses 1500 half dollars and is created with 7000 welds. It looks comfortable, no doubt. I’d put a pillow behind my head, curl up sideways and flip on Bravo TV. (A bit reminiscent of Eero Saarinen’s Womb Chair.)

You can purchase this one on Vivre for a small $59,000 – yes, the amount of 0s I typed are correct.

See more on his Johnny Swing site HERE ; And on Design Boom ; Top image from Metropolis Magazine click HERE to read an interview

Anyone? Thoughts?

More "Falling" Women

2009-09-17T13:36:00.010-05:00

William Holman Hunt shocked his female viewers when he painted “The Awakening Conscience” in 1853. This melodrama of sin and recognition was meant to teach women a vital lesson about her role in society. Surely this gave cause for some women to be upset?

A new ideal of womanhood was developing in the nineteenth-century. Spurred on by the anxiety created by the Industrial Revolution, the expanding mercantile-industrial middle class needed to establish a new identity and self-justification. The world of commerce was becoming increasingly the play ground of corporations rather than individual entrepreneurs. (Does this sound familiar today?)

The Industrial Revolution promised material and cultural success. And it was delivered with the abuse of laborers, absence of personal tax and the marginalization of women. With the increase of money came vice and debauchery -- something the revolutionaries fought so hard against to win their independence from Britain -- which began to creep in and contaminate the new world. “Luxury,” one American writer urged Thomas Jefferson in 1782 “consisted of a dull, animal enjoyment which left minds stupefied and bodies enervated by wallowing forever in one continual puddle of voluptuousness.”

Women were advised to cover up their arms and legs. And after age 16, the wrists and ankles. This image dates from 1868. (I have no idea where I got this image, have had it for years, my apologies for lack of credit.)

Something had to change. Reform was needed. Instead of reorganizing and recognizing the greed of emerging capitalistic society, reform was controlled in the home. With economic changes came a new family dynamic. Men left the home to work while women stayed behind to care for the house and children. This is nothing new, this structure has worked in the past and it works for many today. However, back then a heavy burden was placed upon women to be moral guiders. This “new ideal of womanhood” created very particular attitudes about work and family. It was clearly defined and drilled into girls at a very young age. It essentially had four characteristics that any good and proper young woman should cultivate: piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness.

Religion or piety was considered the core of woman’s virtue. It was to be the source of her strength. Young men looking for a wife were cautioned to first look for piety; if that was there, everything else would follow. Religion was considered the divine right of women. It was a gift of god. Her piousness gave her the strength to control the naughty and vulgar world of men. Women were warned not to let their literary or intellectual pursuits take them away from religion. If so, she could risk being barren.

From Godey's Lady's Book March 1850, Philadelphia. Quiet moment between friends before THE wedding night.

Purity was the essential piety to a young woman. Without it she was considered unnatural, unfeminine or worse no woman at all. She was considered a ‘fallen woman’. The marriage night was to be the single greatest event of a woman’s life. It was then when she “bestowed her greatest ‘treasure’ upon her husband”.

Mrs. John Farrar (Eliza was her name) wrote in a manual The Young Lady’s Friend lending advice how to avoid trouble: “Sit not with another in a place that is too narrow; read not out of the same book; let your eagerness to see anything induce you to place your head close to another person’s.” It was a huge success in America with reprints well into the 1890s.

Were women really buying into this?

“The Old, Old Story Was Told again at 3 O’Clock in the Morning” chromolithograph (although this version in b/w) unknown printer, c. 1870.

I was walking Billy one warm summer night. A cab came to a screeching halt and out poured three young girls from the car door, falling over one another into the street. They were also falling out of their dresses and shrieking in drunken obnoxious laughter. One girl couldn’t find her 4” high-heel shoe and another was uncertain if this was even the street where she lived. In the darkness, a sneer of disapproval came over my face followed by a cold shudder. I thought – wow - my friends and I certainly dressed differently at that age. And then a cold clammy sweat began to seep from my pores in horror knowing years ago I had untamed nights like that. I felt a little ill, but why? Would I have not blinked an eye if this was a taxi full of three young males? What if these were older men? Would that be any less appropriate? Was I judging these girls because they were girls? Haven’t we come a long way?

One girl could not get her key into the door and began doubting that she lived in the house. So she decided to take a nap in the front yard. The other two girls were laughing and dancing in the street. The cab driver, concerned, got out of his car and came up to me. He said: “Is this how young girls behave in your country?”

Smart or safe are not two words that came to my mind to describe this behavior. But I am certainly glad to be a woman living in this country. Although his comment did make me wonder: has conventional gendering behavior not changed that much? Today, how many husbands sit at home anxiously taping their foot as they await their drunken wives to teeter-totter home giggling at 3 O’clock in the morning? Women seem to just get annoyed when husbands come home from a late night out drinking -- they hog the bed, they smell and they miss the toilet. But men seem to fear when women behave this way. As if they will sully their reputation or run off you a much younger man... Double standard still prevails.

Guess the Date: Shoes

2009-09-14T09:54:00.003-05:00

My mom was flipping through a box of old photographs the other day and found an article she had forgotten she tucked away. Any guesses as to the year it was written? (Click on image to read the article...)

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up: Rockingham Ware

2009-09-03T23:42:00.010-05:00

For the women out there… Think about this: when was the last time you pulled out a household object such as a tea pot, water pitcher, baking dish, pie plate, or even a soap dish, and had to look at a pictorial image which reminded you to strive to be an “ideal” woman.

Today we have magazines pages to thumb through and commercial advertisements to watch on tv. Many of us pooh-pooh them as the messages are so trivial. We can close a magazine and turn off the tv. How many of us truly aspire to the media’s fabricated ‘idealized’ woman. Sure we buy the face creams, go to yoga to minimize the fatty texture on our bottoms, color the gray, and put on our spanx before a night out, but trying to look better doesn’t truly make us better women. We know this.

During Victorian America, women were bombarded with images of the ‘ideal’ woman. Problem was these images targeted core beliefs. Not superficial ones like today. They sent messages to women reminding them what a good woman was.

Pie Plate: Skinner, February 23, 2003

Rockingham pottery did just that. It was an inexpensive nineteenth-century ceramic widely used in America – an ordinary good. It performed a variety of tasks and played a variety of different roles in everyday life. But what is interesting is that much of Rockingham ware is pictorially embossed with an array of Victorian themes. The themes spoke of urbanization, nostalgia for country life and visually communicated hard messages. They depicted stories of men’s role in the world of hunting and woman’s role at home. How many men out there would like to have in their possession reinforcing pictorial images on every day wares such as a beer pitcher or a shaving mug of graphic hunting scenes?

10-paneled bulbous "manly" probably beer pitcher depicting a boar and stag hunt with hound handle. Awful to see those pronounced ribs -- feed the dog. Cowan’s, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 18, 2008.

Another pitcher of the same subject showing the other side. This one is attributed to E. & W. Bennett, Baltimore, Maryland, circa 1850. Cowan’s, June 21, 2008.

And how pleasant, hanging game... Garth’s Auctions, May 4, 2007
(Bummed the photo has been truncated.)

The embossed patterns on them maintained a cultural identity and the enactment of social roles. Although the ceramic was used at all social-class levels and in all types of communities from urban to rural, the images reinforced heavy expectations. Victorians were deeply concerned and conflicted about gender roles. And they were intensely materialistic people. For women, the theme of Rebekah at the Well was common. It reminded women to behave, serve and obey.

Garth's Auctions, Delaware, Ohio January 6, 2005.

D Marie's South Portland, Maine

Culture is a complex package of beliefs and behaviors. They are expressed through goods. Some of it we shape through our own preferences, and others forced upon us telling us what we need to choose and how we need to be.

These messages were seen over and over again every single day as the wares were used again and again. E. & W. Bennett pottery of Baltimore, Maryland is said to have first introduced Rebekah at the Well in the mid-nineteenth century and nearly all the potteries copied the pattern. In fact, by 1897 it was advertised in four sizes in the Sears Roebuck catalogue becoming the best and longest selling pattern in Rockingham history. The Rebekah at the Well theme embodied the Cult of True Womanhood which flourished during the mid-nineteenth century. (more of that in a post to come… as well as more Rockingham ware... for the darker, less mottled tortoise shell like glaze... Scatter ware, a colleague of mine likes to call it.)

Top image: Augustus Egg, Past and Present (1858)

Marie Antoinette, Big Hair and moi (Part III)

2009-08-31T22:28:00.010-05:00

These poufs, no doubt, were impossible to wash and provided a bit of a breeding ground for bugs. Special head-scratchers called grattoirs were made from ivory, silver and gold. Women gracefully slid the flattened, slightly curved end of the stick up into their do for a graceful, discrete scratch.

Christie’s, Paris, April 2006

from Les Arts Décoratifs

The reign of the three Louis Louis Louis is synonymous with everything elaborate, dramatic and no doubt dazzling. Not one object – even utilitarian – seems to have escaped the court unadorned or under embellished. Shopkeepers, hairstylists and menuisiers benefited from this extravagance (while peasants paid the price). So why would a hair dressing chair be ignored? A variety was created, in different forms and from different materials. Fauteuils à coiffer, as they were called, were comfortable. They had to be, women had to sit in them for long hours. Cushioned during the winter months and caned for the summer, they were indented back to facilitate the fixing of a lady's do.

Christie’s, London, April 10, 2002

Sotheby's, Paris, France, June 14, 2006

Christie's, London, United Kingdom, December 14, 2005,
by Antoine Nicolas Delaporte, circa 1775

Not Much

2009-08-19T11:28:00.006-05:00

My apologies, the school semester has begun (I teach) and seems like everything is due right now. I do have a Marie Antoinette part III post to present, which will be short, but I must carve out some time for it. However, in the meantime, if you are interested in reading a little about the modern American furniture design market here is something. CLICK

As the end of the month is closing in, I hope everyone is having a tolerable August!

Thoughts on the Passing of John Hughes

2009-08-14T20:52:00.007-05:00

Though he has been gone a week, I would like to say: Thank You John Hughes.

Many of us have not forgotten you.

For those teens and young adults who struggled to understand life during the 80s, the writer and director broke everything down, categorized and explained the vunerable and impressionable dynamics of those angst-filled teenage years. He captured high school, the dress, the hair, underage drinking parties and personal emotional situations… perfectly. It was real. He didn’t sit in judgment. He didn’t make you feel alone.

The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off were the ones I remember most. And also my favorites of the time.

I had a bit of a thing for 'Bender' in The Breakfast Club. His dirty, disheveled bad boyness intrigued me. I attended an all-girls 'Claire' kind of school and proper parents didn’t like for us to associate ourselves with the broken type. Donning our monogrammed sweaters, kilt skirts and tasseled loafers, we were groomed to marry the Emilio Estevez popular athlete who made good grades, the right choices and called his father ‘sir’.

Or worse, James Spader's character in Pretty in Pink, with his upturned collar, cigarette dangling from his lips and reeking of Polo cologne in the classic green bottle.

But John Hughes safely exposed me to the outcast creative angry type. And there was no turning back.

In high school, I was looking for the 'Bender', but instead dated a football player from another school. He wasn’t dirty or disheveled, he just got into a lot of trouble, chain smoked and dressed weird, and I liked that. I moved on and dated the various types John Hughes had characterized up on the screen, and then some in between. Regardless of which character each resembled (it's sounding as if there were many, not the case), and how diverse I thought my range to be, they all had something in common. It is interesting how there is a certain something -- a type, a look, a mind -- that embeds in our heads at a young age which we can never seem to shake. It took me a long time to realize the 'Bender' type I was looking for didn’t have to be the brooding outcast. And more importantly, he didn’t have to have an arrest record in his repertoire.

So thank you John Hughes for broadening my horizons of male suitors, I wouldn’t have explored the variety of types and made so many horrendous (and expensive) mistakes if it wasn’t for your films. I finally ended up with one who is just right. I probably wouldn't have gotten here unless I explored these other very, very bumpy roads. Though annoying and painful, I salute you for what you did to make me who I am.

8.8

2009-08-08T20:02:00.005-05:00

To my husband who surprised me this morning with a cupcake and flowers for our anniversary. Although I know you will never be reading this, (which will also spare me from you realizing just how corny I can be), you mean the world to me.

And to my first little Westie in heaven. Happy Birthday Tulla! I miss you so much each and every day. You taught me how to be kind and patient no matter what. When you died, I felt for a long, long while as if someone had taken a metal ice cream scoop and cut out a jagged hole where my heart once beat. You waited, I am sure, to go when you knew I was safe. That gives me comfort. But still after these years, I have such sadness, my breaths are short and tight when I think of you.

(Top image from Cupcake a la Mode; Bottom image: Tulla's last birthday with her Uncle Tony)

Marie Antoinette, Big Hair and moi (Part II)

2009-08-03T12:42:00.015-05:00

By 1769, shortly after Marie Antoinette arrived to the French court, there were no less than 1200 hairdressers in Paris. Over time, Marie Antoinette began wearing larger and more ornate bouffants. The collaboration between her famous milliner, Rose Bertin, and her hairdresser, Léonard, proved to be quite a creative one and the vogue for these hairstyles lasted for ten years. Marie Antoinette began to don more and more outrageous hairstyles. She didn't invent fashions -- she promoted radical new ones – and set the trend. These hairstyles became all the rage among the aristocracy. Women began to do more than decorate their big coifs with ribbons, feathers, flowers, beads and jewelry. They crowned it with silk or lace. But after some time, that just wasn’t enough.

Marie Antoinette by Jacques-Fabien Gautier D'Agoty (1775) Musee Antoine-Lecuyer, Saint-Quentin France

In the court of Louis XVI, members competed for attention and tried to outdo each other with witty remarks and the latest novelty fashions. The most unusual hairdo would soon have to be outdone by another -- something more ingenious and over the top.

Image from La Mesure de l'Excellence.

A beehive form made from wire was created stuffed with wool or horse hair, and then it was mounted on top of the head. Hair was wrapped around these frames – and when women didn’t have enough (or it was too fine or thin) false hair was added -- building it up to soar up to three feet high. The do was powered with flour which helped to set the creation and absorb natural oils from the head. But it was this same flour that so many starving peasants desperately needed to have to bake bread.

Image from La Mesure de l'Excellence.

Women placed in their hair little figurines made from fabric and small objects made from papier maché. Their hairdresser arranged them as sceneries or landscapes. Sometimes, they used their hair as a stage to replicate historical scenes or sometimes to communicate an emotion -- sentimental pouf -- this type of do was called.

Image from La Mesure de l'Excellence.

Themes began to develop. Marie Antoinette wore a pouf à la jardinière which included such garden vegetables as carrots, radishes, an artichoke and a head of cabbage. Another woman exclaimed in glee after seeing the pouf do that she would never again wear anything but vegetables in her hair. “Vegetables were so much more natural than flowers,” she said. Women were not to be involved in politics. It wasn’t a ladylike thing to do. But it didn’t mean they couldn’t participate in their own way. Marie Antoinette wore her pouf a’ la inoculation in support of the small pox vaccination which showed Aesculapius’s serpent wrapped around an olive tree.

She wore these hairstyles at court and in town, and this had a swift and contagious effect. Rose Bertin, a mere plebeian, was now known as the Minister of Fashion.

"Everybody was talking of the poufs created by the firm of Bertin . . . one famous pouf was that of the Duchesse de Lauzun. She appeared at a reception wearing a most delicious pouf. It contained a stormy sea, ducks swimming near the shore, someone on the point of shooting one of them; on the top of the head there was a mill, the miller’s wife being made love to by an abbe, whilst near the ear the miller could be seen leading a donkey."

excerpt from Rose Bertin -- The Creator of Fashion at the Court of Marie Antoinette. By Émile Langlade. Published in 1913. I so want to find this book....

“The Preposterous Head Dress, or the Featherd Lady", London: Published by M. Darly, March 20, 1776. Yale Library.

The Duchesse de Chartres was one of the biggest big pouf wearers. She wore in her pouf small figures of her five children. Another time she appeared at the opera with her hair dressed in a sentimental pouf – nestled in it she had a little figure of her eldest son in his nurse's arms, a parrot pecking at a cherry, a little black boy, and the initials of her son and husband.

This trend spread England and to Sweden, one woman was report to have even created a replica of her dead husband’s tombstone.

“Miss Juniper Fox”, London. Published by M. Darly, March 2, 1777. Yale Library.

One of the most fashionable hairstyles of the eighteenth century was called: À la Belle Poule, which commemorated the victory of a French ship over an English ship in 1778.

In 1776 the Duchess of Devonshire was said to have made the addition of ostrich feathers, beads and flowers fashionable in le pouf. “Lady All-Top", London: Published by J. Lockington, May 15, 1776. Yale Library.

These big hairstyles created problems though. Hairstyles would obstruct other patron’s views at the theatre. It was difficult to move through doorways or in and out of carriages without knocking it over. Women would stick their head out of a moving carriage – the roof was simply not high enough. Some women kneeled on the floor for the extra room. Rumor says that many slept upright for weeks as not to muss their do. And many others would get their hair caught on fire from candlelit sconces. Lice, mice and other such things were said to have made these pouf their home.

This one is my favorite: "Miss Shuttle-Cock", London, Published by M. Darly, December 6, 1776. Yale Library.

Queens were always expected to look like the king’s dutiful subject – necessary only to produce heirs. It was the king’s expensive, flashy favorite mistresses for whom ultra-chic fashion was appropriate -- not his wife. But Louis XVI was faithful to Marie Antoinette and instead of providing excitement in the bedroom, he allowed her to spend spend and spend some more. Marie Antoinette’s end was tragic, no doubt. She lived a life of furbelows, flounces, and fandangle, (I don’t think I’ve used that word since 1982!); extravagance and excessive spending. And then she paid for it -- her pouf permanently separated from her shoulders.

(Top image from Boston Museum of Fine Art: Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français. 2e. Cahier des Nouveaux Costumes Français pour les Coeffures B.12 (duplicate) "Pouf d'un gout nouveau..."French, 1778)

Marie Antoinette, Big Hair and moi (Part I)

2009-07-28T15:23:00.010-05:00

I’ve never particularly liked my hair. It is fine and of a dark reddish-brassy color. I can fix the color (as I do often) but I can only do so much with the lack of thickness. Root boost, thickening spray, Velcro rollers and backcombing helps, but only for a few hours. It ultimately grows weary and limp. The only lift I have is an enormous cowlick on the right side of my forehead. That area sticks straight up with no help at all. And it won’t lie down either – despite wind, rain, snow, humidity or even a bucket of water dumped on my head.

In grade school my mom would often put my long hair in two braids. Because my hair was so fine, I would always lose one of my ponytail holders by the end of the day. Somewhere on the play ground, or on the floor of a classroom or in the gymnasium was one of my lone plastic and elastic hair bobbles. It would just slip out and fall away. I would ask the teacher for some scotch-tape to hold my loose braid together.

After the original Star Wars movie came out in 1977, I desperately wanted to go as Princess Leia for Halloween. I wore my Dad’s white dress shirt which fell past my knees and tied a thick rope around my waist. I had my mom do my usual two braids, but then wrap each one around and around pinning them to the sides of my head. But my braids weren’t anything like the big, fat cinnamon buns like Princess Leia had. I had two dinky little nuts on either side of my head. I was embarrassed for myself and mad at my Mom for not making them look thick like Carrie Fisher’s. No one knew who I was that night as I rang doorbells for candy.

I’ve always wanted thick hair. I’ve mixed packages of gelatin with water and slurped it down, washed my hair with horse shampoo, and coated my thin, straight strands with all sorts of thickening sprays and creams. The only thing I have not tried is crimping it with an iron. A crimping iron makes me think back to 1989, torn Levi’s, Woo Woo shots and a particular ‘Guns ‘n Roses’ song... all with quite a bit of distaste. It also makes me think of more recent times wondering if Kelly Wearstler was trying to bring it back when she appeared on Top Design. I couldn’t crimp then and I still can’t now. So when I’ve read stories about characters -- real people or in fables -- with thick, glorious hair I’ve gotten… a little envious.

Most of us know about Queen Marie Antoinette (1755-1793). And we’ve heard about her penchant for big hairdos. Many of us can’t understand why she went to such measures to create tall and enormous dos. Though we may desire to have big bouncin’ and behavin’ hair, to go to the great lengths as the women of the court in the eighteenth century did is hard to understand. But we need to put this in historical context. Marie Antoinette's came to the spectacular and glitzy court created by the "Sun King" Louis XIV who had rebuilt Paris and Versailles as THE style centers earlier in the century. Under his reign, "couturière" was born. Women seamstresses were taken seriously and under the protection of a guild, they were allowed to create their own dreamiest of gowns. Some of these women were specifically sought out and recognized in Paris and became the first celebrity designers. Hairdressers as well. The Sun King encouraged luxury goods, fancy furnishings and the latest fashions, and this was to entrance Marie Antoinette.

Court of Versailles was always crowded with hairdressers, dressmakers, and milliners (much like stylists today), who exercised more influence than the King's Councilors. Big hair wasn’t anything new before Marie Antoinette discovered it. Although the Sun King was only about 5’-7” tall, he towered over six feet tall sporting with his high 6” heels and his tall coiffeur. Hairstyles in the early eighteenth century were big and high, so much so that Duc de Saint-Simon who resided for many years at Versailles complained that women's faces were now "in the middle of their bodies."

From very humble beginnings, came a dress designer and stylist named Rose Bertin. According to legend, when Rose was a small girl she would sneak food to a woman in prison who was a fortune teller. She told Rose that one day she would be very successful in life. After apprenticing as a milliner in Paris to Mademoiselle Pagelle, things quickly moved ahead for her, and she eventually became Pagelle's partner. In 1770, Rose opened a shop in Paris called The Grand Mogol filling it with all sorts of grand and gilded displays. Customers walked through the door and felt they were in a jewelry box. She quickly had customers, many among them were influential noble women at Versailles, who included many ladies in waiting to the new Dauphine, Marie Antoinette.

Rose’s style wasn’t limited to clothing; she worked with the court’s leading hairdresser, Monsieur Leonard, developing le pouf – the latest hairstyle. In 1774, when Rose Bertin was presented to Marie Antoinette by the Duchesse of Chartres, that is when the vogue for the big hair began.

(Top image from The Brat Pack Blog...)

I Think I Am That Bored

2009-07-25T12:12:00.005-05:00

I woke up this morning anxious. As a gigantic pot of coffee was brewing, I peered out the window onto the balcony and into my flower box where two little baby birds were still snuggled alone. Early yesterday afternoon, as I typing away with a furrowed brow to finish a deadline, I glanced out the window and noticed the mother bird had left. (I also noticed that my flowers are dying since I haven't watered them in three weeks so as not to disturb the nest.) Hours passed and she still had not returned. We had new neighbors move in yesterday -- making quite a bit of noise. Could the mother have left out of irritation? Was she sick of her kids? Had she had enough of her life and left everything in search of greener pastures?

I stayed home last night, compulsively peeking through the wooden blinds to watch over the little babies. What could be so important to take a mother away from the nest with two little ones at home alone? Where was the father? There were no other mourning doves around to check on them. Years ago, when I first moved to Los Angeles, I stayed a couple months with my brother until I found a place of my own. There, on his balcony, a mourning dove had laid one egg. It hatched one day and the mother bird flew away never to return. It was excruciating to watch. I feared a similar situation.

It is amazing the thoughts we think and the feelings we feel through the skewed lenses of our personal experiences. We are sometimes quick to cast judgment and think we know what is best. This morning as I leashed Billy to go for our walk, I was doing just that. I was getting really perturbed. I wish there was a number for child protective services for mourning doves I could call, I told my husband. He sat quietly on the sofa blocking my view of his rolling eyes with a coffee cup. He didn’t read “Are You My Mother” as a little kid. That book is brutal.

I am relieved to report that nearly 24 hours later, the father has returned to the nest to care for the baby birds. The mother is still no where to be found. I cannot believe how attached I am to them -- little birds that, honestly, look similar to two hairballs some cat coughed up. I am really not that bored with my life -- just concerned with something I cannot control and avoiding a bunch of work I have to do all weekend. I am really overdue to have some fun...

Designer: Piet Boon

2009-07-20T13:08:00.014-05:00

“Don’t build anything that you cannot design brilliantly; don’t design anything you can’t build. Believe in your own handwriting.” -- Piet Boon

Dutch furniture and interior designer, Piet Boon, is involved in every aspect of the design process. This is his design philosophy which functions as the catalyst and infiltrates all of his creations. He believes design must be well thought out. This is one reason why I love his work. As a trained designer, I have worked for a few designers who didn’t think the process through from concept to completion, and thereafter: What is the intension? What is the problem to be solved? Will the object work within the space? Will the materials hold up to the purpose?

Design does not simply mean “fashionable”, “chic” or “up-to-date”. Design is to be utilized. It is about the study of people and their environments. We exist in our environments; we need and use the objects within them. Design is about the relationship between people, their objects, and the space in which exist.

Piet Boon began his career as a building contractor and in 1982 established Piet Boon Studio just outside of Amsterdam. He teams with his wife, Karin, to run a design studio -- they have a team of architects and designers. Some of his latest projects include Delano Hotel in Las Vegas, and a hotel on St Barth.

He uses natural materials, sturdy design and durable products. He believes design must be timeless and last. I have a tendency to study designer’s furniture creations. Closely. Some of my favorites:

'Heit' Swivel Chair

'Kaat' Tables

But one design that has really caught my eye is his 'Hot Kroon' chandelier.

Creepy and unsettling.

But utterly fantastic!

Available in a 5-arm or 18-arm chandelier, black or white, the fixtures are covered with polyurethane. Each one is hand created and each one is different.

An action or a movement caught in a moment and suspended in time.

Rendering of Hof Van Saksen Restaurant

Hof Van Saksen Restaurant with the 'Hot Kroon' chandeliers.

Visit his site HERE. If you are drawn to his work, you will be memorized.

Top image title page of his most recent book from Amazon, the art work, I believe is by Rachel Lee Hovnanian, portrait photo from Nilson Beds, all remaining photos from his website, (two interiors of a NYC residence on 5th Ave).

Death of the Dumbwaiter

2009-07-15T23:14:00.009-05:00

So it was called, and not insultingly either. In the early eighteenth century, came a piece of furniture that began as a luxury and then turned into a necessity. Dining was a more informal affair back then. People wanted to talk to each other while they were eating. Small rooms were designed for dining, followed by a vogue for little suppers with friends. Gone were the days of formal, rigid etiquette and ceremony. Ingenious little devices were invented to help promote this more intimate manner of feeding.

The dumbwaiter was invented sometime during the first quarter of the eighteenth century. They were so efficient and utilitarian that they played a major role in making dining a more friendly and simple affair.

Garth’s Auctions August 2007 offered up this mahogany dumbwaiter, circa 1760-1780. It has three graduated circular shelves, the lower two rotate; raised on tapered ring turned supports, tripod base with cabriole legs and pad feet.

The dumbwaiter has a central shaft that supported graduating circular trays; often these trays revolved. They were raised on a tripod base. Thomas Sheraton, one of the legendary English furniture designers, proclaimed the dumbwaiter to be, "A useful piece of furniture, to serve in some respects the place of a waiter, whence it [was] so named." The absence of a real servant was conducive to a more intimate dining. The dumbwaiter was usually placed at the corner of a dining table to store additional plates and cutlery. Maybe even a little pudding and cheese. After-dinner glasses and other dining accoutrements were placed on the stand.

Their popularity quickly spread to France. Louis XV adored his intimate dining affairs, because they enabled him to rub knees with the beautiful damsels he insisted to accompany him to dine.

Brunk Auctions, October 2002: An 18th century English mahogany dumbwaiter. Three tiers with molded edges, tripod base, original iron spider.

Thomas Jefferson was fond of them. He lived in France from 1784 to 1789 succeeding Benjamin Franklin as minister. Before returning to America, he packed up several dumbwaiters and transported them to his famous Monticello home in Virginia.

He preferred the dumbwaiters to be raised on small casters which could be wheeled about allowing his servants to swiftly and quietly bring food into the dining room without disturbing his conversations. The dumbwaiter would be placed (by one of his slaves) next to the edge of the table, where Jefferson and his fellow diners could serve themselves. So fond was Jefferson of the dumbwaiters that he had Philadelphia cabinet makers -- Joseph and Henry Ingle -- create even more in the 1790s.

Available at Florian Papp.

By that time, the dumbwaiter had become very popular in America. Woodworkers began to make more elaborate versions of the simple design that Jefferson had embraced. Gothic fretwork, leaf molding and curves of all kinds were used to decorate a piece. Early in the nineteenth century, marble was utilized for the trays. The marble kept bottles of wine deliciously cool, which diners appreciated. Sometimes the shelves were used as knife trays; sometimes holes were cut in the shelves which proved very handy for holding the bottles in place.

Wheathills in Derbyshire offers this George III mahogany folding top, two-tier dumb waiter with graduated swivel tiers on an urn-shaped column. Note the brass castors.

Circular trays were cut along a flat line to show off the fine quality of mahogany, usually imported from the Caribbean. The slightest of rims kept the wine bottles and glasses from tipping onto the floor. By Victorian era, the designs of dumbwaiters had become eclectic and idiosyncratic. Some had holes lined with tin to hold bottles and decanters.

Pook & Pook in January 2007 sold this Regency mahogany dumbwaiter with two dished tiers joined by brass columns, nice rope carved standard, raised on acanthus downward sloping legs terminating in brass casters.

The dumb waiter flourished and then it died off. It served its purpose and then for what ever reason it vanished. I remembered seeing a few here and there as a kid, tucked in a corner of a room kept for sentimental reasons. But no one seemed to ever use them. Do we ever see them today?

The Blue-Footed Booby and me

2009-07-08T00:29:00.008-05:00

There was a time in my youth when I was a recent college graduate and moved to New York City. I barely made enough money to pay the rent on an extremely small apartment I shared with a friend. I worked for a few dollars a day as an assistant fact-checker for an art magazine. But I had a lot of friends there, many of whom I knew from college. Despite the high price of drinks in the bars (there were no quarter pitcher nights like I was used to at school), I had a very active and fun social life. For whatever reason, I was never short on male attention, until I moved there. And then I had quite a dry spell. I could not figure out why. Surely, I had done something wrong. Were my clothes not right? Was I not tall enough? Did I let my Midwestern drawl slip out too many times, I wondered. My confidence was low.

My father came back from the Galápagos some time when I was living in New York. He told me about the Blue-Footed Booby, a type of bird which is native to the area. The male boobies have a peculiar mating dance when they wished to catch the eye of a female. I was intrigued and needed to hear more. Perhaps, there was something I could glean from this. The males are very proud of their blue feet, my dad told me, which range in blue hues from pale turquoise to bright cobalt. Females tend to be attracted to the males with the brightest, bluest feet. Although, the females’ feet are also blue, they are not nearly as attractive as the males. This is very different than humans; usually we don’t want to look at men’s feet. We spend money paying others to scrub, rub, primp and polish ours.

But in order to catch a mate, male boobies flaunt their feet. When they find one of particular linking, they start out slowly lifting one foot and then the other. They move into a slow dance, of sorts, trying to capture the eye of their chosen affection. When they think they’ve almost sealed the deal, they will stamp their feet on the ground, flap their wings, throw back their heads and let out a whistling sound. This behavior, I thought at the time, was not very different than some loud drunken 22 year-old males I know. And that display, would surely send most sensible girls right out the door. One thing I liked about the boobies was that the males will bring females gifts -- housing materials to build a nest. These male boobies think ahead. They are not a seasonal reproducing species either, nor mate out of boredom or inebriation. They seize an opportunity when they see a female for whom they’ve taken a fancy. Surely attracted to her mind, male boobies were selective and indiscrete; I liked to think that too.

I needed to resort to a different tactic in my own personal life since I hadn’t been asked on a date months after moving to the city. I would try something similar as these booby birds. In those days, young women didn’t regularly go out to their local nail shop to get their toes painted like we religiously do today. But many of these places existed and I got mine all spruced up. Bright blue polish wasn’t an option, so I went for a bright hibiscus pink instead. That Friday night with my hair in a perfect flip (much like Kierin Kirby of Deee-Lite – think of the Groove is in the Heart video), I crossed town and met up with my friends for a little cheap bourbon and raspberry soda before we ventured out to plop down half a weeks earnings on alcohol at one of the latest and trendiest bars on the upper east side (look… I was young, it was the early 90s and this is what we did). It was late spring, I wore multi-colored strappy sandals with a reasonable heel, as we did in those days … 20-somethings wore reasonable heels. I would catch the eye of another young man here and there, and then I would gaze my eyes downwards as I fanned out my newly painted toes. If I sat, I would cross and uncross my ankles surely this would capture someone’s attention. This tactic simply did not work.

I certainly didn’t want an egg, I wasn’t looking for a mate, I didn’t even want a boyfriend. I was young, egotistical and believed everything my college commencement speech said: the world was my oyster. I was living in New York City a placed I had planned on since visiting early in my teen years, I was working for one of the best art magazines even though the staff there yelled all the time and I was starving and could barely afford peanut butter for dinner. I got to see my best friends from college regularly, but I was suffering from insufficient male attention. And this, I thought in my young, naïve and dramatic way, was devastating.

When I look back all these years later, I realize that year I spent in New York was pivotal. I had a fantastic opportunity that I alone created, but I ultimately couldn’t maintain. Though I was knocked down numerous times, it was a gamble I chose and it pointed me in the right direction. I didn’t understand the world at the time -- if you work hard, you will be rewarded -- were the words I was raised on. But I realized then this notion doesn’t hold true to for everyone. I wonder if I was wise enough at the age of 22 to set aside my petty pain and understand how life really worked, would I have had to take such a rough and long detour marred with bigger issues ahead.

Images from: Wikipedia; North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences; Natural Wildlife Federation; Anderson Free Press; The Travel Blog; Big Country Audubon;

AGAIN??? !

2009-07-06T16:03:00.005-05:00

Just when we have a break in the weather, just when my flowers begin to burst, just when I got the balcony all gussied up, I return home to make cheese and green chili pepper stuffed top sirloin burgers on the grill, and look at what I find:

The mourning dove sitting on two more little eggs...

No grilling, no loud noises or sudden movements, and no swearing for the next three weeks as I watch my flowers wilt in this heavy Midwestern heat and hold my breath desperately hoping the two little eggs will hatch and the baby birds grow up healthy and well-adjusted and fly away...