Pictures from the Chihuly Museum in Seattle.
November
Pieces that caught my eye around town this fall.
HP Oct. 2016
Pictures from a distance of things of interest from High Point Fall 2016.
Antique Weeklies
We went down to St. Augustine to a very small antique book/magazine store in what used to be the pool of a historic hotel. Above it is the Lightner Museum. No pictures of that but I did get some of the courtyard outside.
And some of the local wildlife.
The goal was to find some old Harper's Weeklys. We saw them two years ago when we were last in St. Augustine and were hoping there were still some there. Fortunately the shop still had a few. Picked up two along with a copy of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. The Frank Leslie is dated Sept. 26 1863. One Harper's is from June 14, 1962 and the other is from May 7, 1898. I found then to be full of interesting articles, ads and drawings including a nice Winslow Homer illustration of various aspects of the Civil War.
I found the advertising from the civil war era ones to be particularly intriguing. Some of the ads are the same sort of stuff you see in magazines today. Health cures, entertainment, clothing and household items. I took these pictures with the plastic cover on so they are a little shiny. Trying not to get them dirty.
Some others are for things you don't see much of nowadays. Several ads for agents to sell stuff. Farmland to be had just south of Philadelphia. Pianos and a portable copying press.
Also things to commemorate your time in the war that wasn't over yet. Pins and presentation swords. It seems anyone could send off for these which makes one wonder about fraud. The ad for artificial limbs is a somber reminder.
Just a note. It is not uncommon for these things to be reproduced so these may or may not be originals, but the content is interesting just the same.
Miami Pics
Pictures from our trip to Miami back at the end of July.
Textures and Finishes - Maine
Abandoned Ski Lift Equipment
Mt. Agamenticus, outside of Oaunquit, ME
Revamped Curb Finds
I found four plant stands on a neighbors curb a couple of weeks ago. Finally got around to redoing them last weekend.
This is how I found them. Rusty, bent and missing tops but otherwise sound.
Before
Before
We knocked off the biggest bits of rust with a variety of tools. I wasn't trying to get them super clean, just not too flaky.
Tools
After
After cleaning them up I spray painted them with flat white.
After spraying them white I thought they were a little too bright and shiny looking so I took some watercolor paints and 'aged' them a little bit.
Before
After
After
The large ones needed 12x12 tiles for the tops, the smaller ones took 8x8's which we cut down from the 12x12's. I got these nice honed travertine tiles from Eco Relics.
Now my plants are off the porch floor. I'm sure these will look even better with age.
Before
After
Saturday Scrounging
Went to the Ramona Flea Market today. Definitely had scrap iron. Other than that not a lot for me, my enthusiasm might have been hampered by the oppressive heat though. Here are a few possibly interesting things for future reference.
Also went to the San Jose Antique Market. Thankfully inside and air conditioned so I took a few more pictures here. Lots of square footage, mostly reasonable prices. Will probably be back.
Eco Relics
Visited Eco Relics yesterday. They are a building material salvage store similar to Habitat's Restores. They have a huge building as well as outdoor area so it took a while to get through.
Like all places that take stuff people are getting rid of, there is a lot of stuff that's just dated and/or broken. Mostly useful for small projects involving old wood or small batches of tiles.
However, there were a few things I haven't seen before and some good inspiration.
Yes, I took lots of pictures of light fixture inspirations.
Case Woodworking Supply
I stopped by Case Woodworking south of Savannah this weekend to take a break from packing. They have specialty woods and blanks for wood turning and other projects.
Always interesting to see different types of wood. I especially like live edge slabs for the bark texture, color variation and grain.
Pallet Coffee Table
My husband found a design to make a unique coffee table out of pallets online and decided I needed one so here is my new coffee table. The pallets were free so it cost us less the $40 after lacquer, screws and glue.
It started with four pallets like this. These are the pallets without the notched out sides so he could use all the parts.
He broke them down into the components. Then he planed down the slats to make them nice and smooth.
Before
After
Then he ripped and chopped them into a consistent size.
Ripped
Chopped
Then there was a lot of gluing and clamping to create this top with a unique offset design.
He doubled up the stickers to make the legs and attach them to the top. Five coats of lacquer brought out the natural variations in the wood and that was it.
Now I have a solid wood custom coffee table unlike anyone else. The wood definitely looks reclaimed but it's not nearly as rough as a lot of the pallet tables I've seen. It has a bit of a beach feel so it fits right in here.
Cummer Museum and Gardens
I visited the Cummer Museum in downtown Jacksonville today. Perfect weather to tour their gardens.
The gardens are right on the river so you also get nice views of the river and the bridge.
There are a few modern sculptures in addition to classical pieces in the gardens but the modern pieces are off to the side. The main focus is on the horticulture and classical garden structures and layouts.
There is an English Garden that is somewhat under construction. It had a wisteria covered walkway and a regular layout.
The Italian Garden was my favorite. I like the water features and cypress trees.
They are also well known for this large old live oak that is the center of the garden.
The last section is the Olmsted garden. This was the least interesting to me although it does have some great smelling plants. This is in the style of Frederick Olmsted who designed central park in New York as well as lots of other famous parks.
There is a variety of interesting seating throughout the gardens...
...a few interesting architectural elements...
...and of course the flowers.
The museum does have a nice little art collection inside is well. It's kind of a sampler with just a few pieces from different eras. Which is nice if you don't have a lot of time. The best collections seem to be of more recent American artists. Unfortunately half of the museum is closed for renovation so I think I missed quite a bit.
Whitefield Lovell
Andy Warhol
All in all the gardens were worth the price of admission. But for a repeat visit I'll probably go on one of the many free days.
Neptune Beach, FL
Monday Explorations
Collection of interesting items I saw today while browsing through Circa Lighting, One-Fish Two-Fish and Arcanum in downtown Savannah.
Yale Furniture Study
Yale is giving free tours of their furniture study every Friday through May so last week I decided to check it out. The tours meet in the Yale Art Gallery but the furniture study is in the basement of another building.
The American Decorative Arts Furniture Study is a working library of more than 1,000 examples of American furniture and wooden objects dating from the 17th to the 21st century. Our guide had picked out a few pieces to focus on based on a Valentines' holiday theme.
These pieces were made by a husband and wife team in 1999. Bob Stocksdale, a wood turner, and Kay Sekimachi, a fiber artist. The paper is made out of hornets nest material, which may or may not be a commentary on marriage.
These were very early examples of carved chests that were from the New England area. They have initials carved into them but they haven't been able to connect them with a particular individual. They were likely made for women upon their impending marriages as dowry chests.
Another example of a marriage chest but in a painted style instead of the earlier carved chests. This may be from the Pennsylvania region. Many of these designs featured birds and flowers as well as hearts. Symbols of fertility and successful marriage.
These were not part of the tour specifically. They just caught my eye because I liked their graceful curves. And as part of my own Valentine's theme, this last piece reminded me of my husband who loves all things baseball.
Rejects From the Bat Factory: The Organics! 2002 by Mark Sfirri
First Time to IKEA
Yes, I had never been to an IKEA store. I just never lived anywhere near one so now that I had the chance I thought I would see what all the fuss was about. I can see why they are so popular. Their products are clean, simple, neutral and priced right.
Everything about the store is well designed to sell. They draw you in with the smell of cinnamon rolls and offer free child care so you won't be distracted. The layout is designed to make sure you don't miss seeing anything you might want to purchase. Products are shown in ideal, aspirational settings. Even the shelf displays make the most basic of products look special.
The quality is not amazing but they have fun things that would be nice to try for awhile and I wouldn't feel bad about throwing out later. I particularly enjoyed their lighting and organizational systems.
Highline, NYC
Photographs courtesy of Matt Britton
SCAD Museum-Dakota Jackson
I went to the SCAD Museum's Friends and Family Day on Halloween and saw several interesting exhibits including this particularly relevant one, the work of furniture designer Dakota Jackson.
The exhibit covered his career from the 70s through today. While some pieces do seem a bit dated, I responded to his use of clean lines and classic curves. He also uses compelling mixtures of high quality materials and textures. It was very difficult not to touch anything in this exhibit.
2016 'Color of the Year'
White is the 2016 Color of the Year according to Benjamin Moore. Specifically Simply White OC-117. Ellen O'Neill, Benjamin Moore Creative Director says "White is not just a design trend, it is a design essential."
While this is true I do not personally like white walls, they feel like a cop out. As in, 'we couldn't decide what to do so we went with white'. Also they are impossible to maintain. However, the rest of the Benjamin Moore 2016 color palette has some very nice colors.
Trends and Influences
Mixed materials, an industrial feel that combines masculine and feminine characteristics, geometric shapes, jewelry influences, new technology integration and personalization are all current trends according to Ferguson's Product Trends and Influences Report from 2015. All of these are part of my design aesthetic to some degree, which makes me wonder if I'm very in tune with my environment or just part of the crowd. (Or if these reports are so general as to cover everything.) These were some of my favorite products from the report.
