Summer Brights

Bright and happy for these summer days!

This is the work of Jen Ramos, of the Made By Girl blog. Her original art work is featured at Cocoa & Hearts.

Dog & Shadow       acrylic on canvas

Rosado    acrylic on canvas

Lipstick Dots 2    acrylic on canvas 

 Lipstick Dots 1   acrylic on canvas

Camellia    acrylic on canvas

Screening It

Love the trompe l'oeil stage draping on this painted screen. It commands to be the center of attention.

In this room, the screen needs to be discovered after taking in the visual tabletop feast for the eyes.

This funky, modern screen's lighthearted attempt at privacy makes me smile. 

Which style are you?

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Art in Stone: Jeffrey Bale

A few months ago, I was introduced to the beautiful mosaics of Jeffrey Bale. I don't remember the referral source, but I do remember the awe I felt when I saw his work. 

Inspired by his extensive travels, Jeffrey creates spaces, paths and outdoor rooms, as well as entire gardens.

An outdoor rug with such intricacy...

His mosaics have a meditative quality about them, like a ripple in a pond. Can't you just imagine how smooth the round stones must feel to your feet?

As you can see, the stones are inserted, if you will, on their sides, so that most of the stone is deep within, assuring its permanence in the earth. The stones are inserted into mortar and need to be placed within the relatively short time it takes for the mortar to set up.

I see bits of Morocco and Africa and the Middle East.

Even native American and Mayan...

Each unique and fascinating...

Visit Jeffrey Bale's website here to enjoy more! 

And his blog is also an inspiring must read.

His book, The Gardens of Jeffrey Bale, can be purchased here.

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Garden Glimpses

This year we decided to go with a slightly different color palette in the garden, focusing on a color I don't use very often, yellow, and its cousins. To complement the soft yellow of the striped petunia, we combined it with Black Beauty (and velvety) petunias and also coleus and lime sweet potato vines.

This pink Oriental lily is just beginning its show in the back.

As part of our eat-from-the-garden strategy, we are harvesting nasturtium flowers daily for the salad.

Is this not the most wonderful clump of rose blooms? It smells delicious, too.

And our variegated hypericum is just beginning to bloom. If you need a good ground cover that will hold the soil in place, try hypericum. 

As I sit and write this at the kitchen table, I am also catching the soft lemony scent of the magnolia . Mmmm...

Behind The Scenes of Zuber

While preparing for an upcoming post, I ran across the website of the famed French wallpaper manufacturer, Zuber. Talk about inspirational! 

Their video (thankfully not a Hollywood production, but a real representation) gives one a taste of the lengthy process that it takes to produce even one roll of their gorgeous wallpapers.

From the background painting...

to the pigmenting of the various colors needed...

to locating the numerous wood pattern blocks in their subterranean storage archives...

to the actual pattern stamping, which requires the ultimate precision.

I wonder how many hours went into this small rack of papers?

To enjoy the show, visit Zuber's video here.

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Plum Terrace Rose

Much as I love the color plum, I never imagined encountering a plum terrace. It works beautifully, though!

On the other hand, if you want to see a lovely plum rose, look for the Ebb Tide rose.

Ebb Tide is a floribunda with a clove scent. It looks great in the garden, but is not a long lasting cut flower. Sometimes that makes it even more special!

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Garden Art

Fun and funky chairs as works of art for the Friday garden!

The bronze Pansy Chair is a creation of Joy de Rohan Chabot.

Joy also features cool table bases and accessories, all based on her love of nature and her garden. I can identify with that!

The Coquille St. Jacques chair with coral, a painted metal chair:

Claude Lalanne created this patinated bronze gingko chair, which was exhibited in the 2010 Parisian Pavillon Des Arts et du Design.

I would love to include a special art piece in my garden. 

Have you?

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Gathering Places

Aren't these the coolest table and chairs? 

I wonder how it would feel to sit on these chairs in shorts?

The lovely metallic pattern on the wall adds a sharp contrast to this sturdy table. Complete with the chairs, it offers a study of textures.

Loving the clean lines and graceful curves of these tables.

Road trip today to help move my son! Here we go!

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Old Masters Revisited

Studio Aandacht, the uber creative graphic and styling agency from the Netherlands, teamed up with Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf to come up with an Old Masters series for modern times: 

Are you a Delft lover as I am?

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Paper Walls

I am intrigued by this wall of books in David Bouley's new Japanese brushstroke restaurant in Tribeca. Created with 12,000 discarded books, it sure makes for a funky design element in the bar lounge.

I suspect that some of us may almost be able to replicate this wall from our own book collections!

The restaurant's design was created by the Japanese firm, Super Potato, and incorporates salvaged timber, stone and steel.

brushstroke

30 Hudson St. 

New York, NY

212-791-3771

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