SOWA Holiday Vintage and Antiques Market

design dolce partner, Stephanie needed an image for the SoWa online ad, so we put on our styling-graphic-photo person hat and came up with a chartreuse ribbon-coral red-Castaing blue-earthy and industrial photo. Came out great.

Another great event I'm checking out this weekend:

SOWA Antiques and Vintage Holiday Marketplace

460 C Harrison Avenue. (Albany St. end of bldg.)

Free parking at the Albany St. lot
(main entrance to market)

Friday: 4 - 9 PM
Saturday: 10 - 5
Sunday: 11 - 4

Light refreshments and cheer Friday evening while you shop for cool, one of a kind holiday surprises.

GREAT FINDS for so many on your list!

Check out my friends Stephanie and John in the vintagesteph booth (room to the left upon entering).

Lantern Parade

The Jamaica Pond Lantern Parade is a charming tradition is as lovely as it can be. The parade proceeded around the the pond, bringing a trail of bouncing lights into the darkness that can be seen from all directions. What a lovely walk! Home made lanterns, kids, community, candles, twilight and the smell of Autumn. It doesnt get much better.

Retail Therapy

My buddy/colleague Peter Levis' Beyond Gorgeosity is a spectacular source. The shop was in need of some retail therapy of its own and after several days, here is is.
Check it out at the link below.

BG BEFORE

BG AFTER

Gloveboxboston.

Welcome Gloveboxboston's innovative online photo show.
Check out my photo entry at Jodie's fascinating site.
This is a fantastic organization which keeps all artists on their toes. I love it.

Eclecticism.

Generally I cringe when someone says to me, "My taste is very eclectic.". Usually, it means a conglomeration of objects with sentimental attachment and some other objects which no real point of view. Ugh!

Mixing it up is a benchmark of my design philosophy. Although certain styles continually capture my attention, never would I call myself a strict mid-century modernist, classicist or country designer.

BG Pete, Bonsai and I found ourselves raising our bidding numbers (well not Bonsai) as we continued to discover the meaning of eclecticism. I say, YAY!

Recently we acquired pieces from the Harvey Probber Inc attorneys estate. The first is a sweeping sectional in embroidered turquoise silk, a dramatically comfortable statement in a loft or penthouse. The second is a set of marvelous Probber dining chairs remarkable in their contrast of caned and upholstered backs.







I can see it all with the Aesthetic movement firescreen with the sculpted turkey work of the white American hawk and various flowers. Hollywood modern meets East Coast Mid-Century chic. Now, there is eclectic!

A few well chosen pieces with great lines, bountiful drama and color are making the statement. There is no better way to show your personal eclectic elan.

Coy Koi!

red M studio exclusively carries a line of wallpaper called Palacepapers by Casey Gunschel. Casey is a a multi talented artist who almost secretly designs the most wonderfully quirky papers rooted in a glorious traditional sensibility. She is so Coy about her Koi!

Design Royalty

Sunday, at the AD 20/21 show at Boston's Cyclorama, I had a marvelous conversation with design Royalty charmers, husband and wife Vladimir Kagan and Erica Wilson. She was delighted I recalled her fascinating needlework show on WGBH. We talked about her books, videos and kits. We petted and posed with Bonsai, my buddy/colleague, Peter Levis' (Beyond Gorgeosity's) dachschund. Mr Kagan, vibrant and tanned, graciously dispensed business and design advice as he autographed his catalogue. An inspiring half hour!

The show itself had great exhibitors, including Greg Nanamura, Cara Antiques and Christopher Anthony soon to be relocating to Palm Springs.

Great design is alive and well in spite of this economy and it was great to see such a turn out.

MV

Scenting the through History

The toilette tray in someones home is often a great revelation. I peruse fragrances on TOP their vanity but certainly no further than the shelves above the toilet hoping for "scent evidence" into the individual.

Are they stocked up on Brut, Chantilly or English Leather? Hmm, I won't go there.

Justly said, I prefer super classic scents, and one day on a particular sniffing excursion my nose and brain were mesmerized by the contents of a nondescript, old fashioned bottle. The initial spray hit me as super-sweet but quickly turned into the most intoxicating, transporting scent. It was the perfectly powdery Melograno
(Pomegranate) from the venerable Italian Pharmacia, Santa Maria Novella.

Pomegranates, originally from Persia have been depicted in Egyptian tombs and in many of the greatest works of art, symbolizing wealth, fertility and abundance. How perfect for me! It is delicious.

Immediately, I researched and found this ancient Florentine company completely fascinating which of course appealed to my sense of time and history. While in New York this past weekend I treated myself to a bottle of this spectacular liquor and am sharing my secret. It was a great lift.

So, finding something that works with your sense of adventure, history or beauty as opposed to something packaged for the mass market by some ad-crazy mega corp

A good Parfumeria will have coffee beans to help your nose differentiate one new scent after another. So enjoy and experiment.

A scent is a simple way to transport one's self in these solemn days.

Happy sniffing!

MV

Positive Space

Last night I watched Independent Lens documentarty called Helvetica which focused on the extraordinary font designed in the late 1950's. It got me thinking about negative and positive space and the importance of its equality in composition.

In interiors, whether the experience is horror vacui or ultra minimal, it is the yin yan of positve and negative space which triggers our emotianal comfort level. My fascination is how each of us react so differently to what occupies space. Accumulation is as as comforting to some as object absence is to others. What is the personal trigger? Who knows? I must say that for the most part I would prefer a rather empty room with comfy chair and firelplace to one filled to the ceiling. I suppose its the same reason why some of us may eat snails and others oysters.

HIgh Drama in a low drama town

Last month I got a call from a man named Peter who was referred by a client named Jeff who said, "I think you two might get along," meaning he saw our collections of antiques and my design as being what he termed in conservative New England speak, "different".

Check out Beyond Gorgeosity. Peter arrived with an amazing collection of mid century furniture great accessories as well as a plethora of knowlege and affinity for the designs of the great artisans and designers of the Twentieth Century.