Knoll: NeoCon 2008

Knoll's Chair at DWR, Houston.

View a great video with the design team from Knoll here. The video runs just under 15 minutes. You will get to see some of Joseph P. d'Urso's new designs for Knoll, as well as designs by Ross Lovegrove.

The first design I remember from Joe d'Urso was the apartment he did for Calvin Klein back in the mid seventies. That was when I fell in love with minimalism and gray; and I still can't get enough of black leather and the whole d'Urso industrial look. Who can forget that Ross Lovegrove, the British industrial designer, made our Sony Walkman look so chic? Wait till you see his new Knoll tables in this video.

An Autumn Gift

A gift of fresh flowers and fruit arranged by Felix Hernandez of Behind the Garden Gate is magical. Thank you Felix for the thoughtful gift. What a fantastic way to celebrate Autumn!

Red Gun

Red Gun, a photogravure by Dan Mitchell Allison

Tall Husband and I have collected Dan Mitchell Allison's art all during our marriage. In fact, my wedding gift to Tall Husband was a piece of Allison's work.

In the above triptych, from the top down are: Bit Part, Red Gun and Face the Music.

The hit of color that Dan Mitchell Allison's triptych gives the white, gray and black living room at My Ranchburger is invigorating. For this series, he used old movie stills of the film noir genre and added his own unique range of color. He placed the images on canvas and overlaid each with text, a mere story link that one must decipher in order to complete the story.

Click on each photo to enlarge.

Zappa

"Mr. Zappa Has Left the Building" is a silkscreen, raku fired ceramic piece by Hans Molzberger, German Sculptor/Artist.

It seemed appropriate to place a ceramic piece of art above another ceramic work. There is irony in this scene also. The artist's father and grandfather worked in industrial ceramics, a future Molzberger attempted to escape through distance and alcohol. Did Hans Molzberger escape or merely put an artistic twist on his destiny?

Zappa, I think, would approve of his portrait placement. He was, after all, anti-censorship and enviably irreverent.

Click on each photo to enlarge.

Domestic Excitement

It's finally here! The book I ordered long before its distribution date was determined, "Domestic Art, Curated Interiors" by Holly Moore, Rob Brinkley and Laurann Claridge; Principal Photography by Ka Yeung and Tria Giovan; Additional photography by Steve Wrubel, Stephen Karlisch, Guillaume Garrigue, Jack Thompson, Paul Hester, Hickey-Robertson and Mali Azima. The written commentary and photography are superb.

Sit right here with me on My Ranchburger rug (which is Menil gray) and devour each delicious morsel that these authors and photographers pulled from the pages of PaperCity.

Here's Aaron Rambo's home. It looks just like the vintage and antiques shop, Found, that he co-owns. Tall Husband buys vintage lab glass from Found.

I love Hiram Butler's place. Tall Husband and I enjoy the gallery in which Butler is a partner, Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery; the Gallery is a short walk, through a magical white Oleander alley, from his 1880's house. The story about Butler's having discovered that squirrels had insulated the walls of this house with pecans is charming. I remember having read it in PaperCity years ago and was delighted to read it again in Domestic Art.


Don't You just love the Menil gray of this wall in the living room of the de Menil house? There is a village of Menil gray bungalows that surrounds the de Menil Museum here in Houston. Dominique de Menil once rented them only to artists. (I had an eccentric friend, a famous photographer, who lived in one of her gray bungalows years ago. He never forgave me for running off to Paris with Tall Husband and he quit speaking to me when we returned from Paris to be married.)


I remember seeing this magical place in PaperCity. If I'm not mistaken, it's on Blossom Street, just east of Shepherd, just before you get to Hiram Butler's place. Wouldn't you love to sit down and have a drink with this lady, Salle Werner-Vaughn, in her fairytale aerie? I bet she has some great stories to tell.

Click on each photo to enlarge.

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Confessions of a Magazine Addict

Côté Paris n°2

Sortie le 4 octobre 2008

Côté Paris n°2, currently a semi-annual publication, was supposed to be on the newsstands yesterday; but apparently not in Houston. I've searched the City high and low. I previously attempted to get several bookshops to put this issue on hold for me but no dice! I have yet to find a way to subscribe to this magazine stateside. One periodicals dealer did say that he expects his French magazines to be delivered on Wednesday.

Most of the designers, whom I know, confessed that they have had 4 October on their day planners since they got their hands on Côté Paris n°1 last April. One well-known, Houston-based French minimalist designer had her sister fly from Paris to Houston with the first issue. I don't know what her strategy is for the second issue.

Meanwhile, my frantic search will continue; until I score, I'll have to settle for this teaser.

Foraging

Out front of My Ranchburger, remained a small pile of debris, remnants of Hurricane Ike. Taking a lesson from the local squirrels, I went foraging. There in the untidy pile of twigs and tree limbs, glowed white berries (seeds of the Chinese Tallow tree.) I recognized them as the same berries for which I had paid dearly at a flower boutique last winter.

The two rubber pots are from Ligne Roset in Houston and the vintage lab flask is from Found for the Home.

And voila! A small, minimalist bouquet, a feast for the eyes and the soul.