Radio Silence

my computer is on the fritz :(  its working but the screen is not. Its gone off to see if it can be saved ~ 

fingers crossed that it will be ok. 

a day at the beach

 a day at the beach - point reyes national seashore 

a northern california wedding

 this weekend was spent creating flowers for the wedding in point reyes station. all of the flowers had to be brought up from san francisco and built on site. The view was incredible from the window while we worked. 

 the reception was held under to roof of a barn in town and so the colors of the flowers really had to pop- the bride wanted bright citrus colors with a garden feel. The the transitions between the seasons are much more palpable up north and the shift from summer to fall is at its peek, so i kept this in mind too. 

the simple ceremony was outside under the canopy of a great old tree. I made a few paper poms to add a pop of color during the main event. They were incredibly fun to make! 

 afterward cocktails were held overlooking the easy pace of main street. Herbs were used to compliment the bbq oysters appetizers. The barn builds custom chicken coops and their sample coop became the backdrop for the escort display. 

centerpieces were a collection of different sized mason jars and old bottles to further the feel of simple arrangements from a cutting garden. the bride is an artist and she hand drew all of the images for the tables, each a different native california plant or animal. it was in incredible personal touch. 

it was an incredible experience to design and build a wedding from start to finish. I loved seeing it all come together from just a kernel to the final production.  
I am looking forward to doing many more in the future. 


a huge thank you to my design partner in crime alexis!  rachael (we couldnt have done it without you)
& of course the beautiful couple chris & kate.

fallen

i have a deep seeded love of llbean and have worn their "bean boots" for decades at this point. its a company that has been around for many many years and are truly a staple of any new england house hold. Im coveting these rehashed "bean boots" - the ducktrap boot -  for fall and think they will fit very nicely into my san francisco wardrobe.  there are some other great things in their signature collection too! 

sylvie saint-andre perrin

i keep thinking about the work of ceramicist sylvie saint-andre perrin. her beautiful organic and moody clay mixes are captivating. im drawn into the free form swirls and color shifts as my eye moves around the piece of pottery. her process of hand mixing the clay ensures that design on each piece is slightly different. 

there is something of the provencal in her work too that im drawn in by- I would love to eat off of these individual works of art, as each bite would reveal more and more of this almost marble like plate or bowl. 

fall bounty

 fall in new england must be one of the most glorious times of the year anywhere. the days are warm and the light is bright but mellow. the air is lovely and carries a crispness on it... 
the back of my parents property is as wild as any tamed pasture can be and many concord grape vines ramble along its ancient stonewall and climb the skeletons of old trees. i spent the afternoon picking a bountiful harvest of these voluptuous wild fruit. 

 with a scent of heavy, almost intoxicating perfume filling the air, they are not hard to find. 
they taste of the condensed summer's sun and the dry grassiness of the field. its a bit hard to describe but the flavor brings me straight back to childhood. 
this big basket full will make a glorious batch of jelly and be very welcome in the dead of winter. 

a little observer was present. as tiny as the tip of your pinky finger but perfectly formed in miniature and a startling bright green color. 

flowers for a belated friday

it was a whirl over the weekend, a flight to the east coast on friday a wedding for dearest friends on saturday and a long car trip to my family home on sunday. it was lovely and im excited to be spending the next two days with family. I hope that you all are having happy starts to a new week.....

a few gorgeous flowers, they look as if they were gathered in a meadow even though they are farm raised...placed in a heavy clay pitcher (made by my brother) i love their casual look. 

impossible project

tucked in one of my draws at my parents house i always remember having this very good looking old camera. im not exactly sure where it came from, but was most likely a holdover from my grandfather's days at polaroid. he worked there for many years. lately i found myself thinking about it, it just sort of kept rubbing at me and so when my parents came for a visit a few weeks ago i asked them to bring it along. 

 a few years back while in graduate school i remember a buzz about a few individuals who were embarking on a mission, an impossible project. they were going to begin to try and reproduce a polaroid type film. as the stars aligned and this camera kept rubbing in my mind i tracked down this group of individuals, who are indeed producing a polaroid film for the exact camera that was (until 3 weeks ago) sitting in a draw at my parents house - the camera is the SX-70 and the film is produced by The Impossible Project.  --pretty sexy design on the camera, no?

 i am incredibly excited that this group has taken a risk and succeeded, thank you. These are my first three shots; at 3$ a shot and 8 sheets a pack selectivity is the name of the game, but this is a game im excited to delve further into. 

handcrafted modern

i have been spending the last few days with leslie williamson's book Handcrafted Modern. its is a beautiful collection of images that give us a quiet glimpse into the home of many of my/our most admired american artists. 

i have been waiting for a bit for this book on the list at the local library and i do think it well worth the wait. at first glance i loved the all-over look of this book, it is a perfect compliment to whats inside its pages, from the cover material to the font to the image. it looks gorgeous (library stickers & all) sitting on my coffee table

what is inside is just as wonderful. williamson shoots everything on film, on a larger format camera. This quality of the image becomes the unifying voice of the book. i appreciate her brief introductions at the beginning of each home - she does not try and give a history lesson or explain the importance of each artist to the american/global design world, she simply gives us a hint at what it was like to be standing in the living room of george nakashima or having lunch with jens risom. it is first and foremost a book of photography. 

for me this is a great part of its success the other is her ability to capture the broadness of each space. you feel like the inhabitant is standing just out of frame. 
i havent been able to stop looking through it or thinking about it when i have put it down..a good indication for me that i should go ahead and purchase a copy of my own. 

williamson also has a wonderful blog.......

sneak peek

a few of my favorite things coming soon to the shop! 

organic elegance. michael coffey

when i saw an image of michael coffey's satan's tongue table i was speechless - completly captivated by the fluidity, my eye enveloped in the curves. i can imagine this table in my house in an instant - im on a mission to see one in life. 

Coffey is a self-taught woodworker from ny who spent some time in the new hope, pennsylvania area. i can see so much influence from the 60's modernists like nakashima in the pieces but an independent perspective - i love the play of heaviness and lightness in his work. 

he began taking commissions in 1980 and each piece is handcrafted for the specific customer.