zola collection

i recently released a new collection: the zola collection. its full of texture, patterns hints of spice and the exotic but i wanted to share some of my inspiration behind this collection. 


"Zola" is for emile zola the author of the Ladies Paradise: its really a wonderful novel about the opening of the first department store in paris -


- the fabric that i used to upholster this chair  - the choice seemed to expose me to an entirely new perspective one filled with the possibility of pattern and the interplay it could have not only with basics like whites and linen but with other patterns too - and i began to see it everywhere - patterns that you would not normally expect to see  together suddenly seemed to make sense and create deep layers one upon the other. the fabric can be seen in the photo below - 

i also began to notice beautiful baskets on many of my thrifting trips. lovely organic shapes, textures and all with different patterns

the final inspiration came when i revisited a project i has started a while ago and never quite finished. with the addition of some other lovely textured heavy tapestry type fabric i finally finished my project 

a mystery in the making -

every time i have walked past this house way up at the very top of one of the pacific heights hills i wonder - why was this huge and probably once very beautiful house built and then abandoned. i always find it so interesting and extremely peculiar that a house should stand abandoned in the middle of a city - some how it seems less curious in a rural setting - but this house is of particular interest. its grand, ornate, has stunning views and is falling apart. and so i wonder -


in a quick search here is what i found out about this beautiful place - it is called the bourn mansion and was built by (at that time) the richest man in california - william bowers bourn II - he was among other things the head of what would become Pacific Gas and Electric - the mansion is a four-story victorian with 30 rooms and three queen anne towers and is made from brick, wood and red sandstone. of note also - the mansion was designed by the famous san francsico architect Willis Polk -


here is what i don't know - why it is falling down on the top of this magnificent hill in the middle of san francisco - of course i have started to make up all kinds of stories - like a once beautiful and stately female relation to mr. bourn is still living in this house (hummm perhaps i have read jane eyre too many times) - in the windows that remain intact there are delicate now yellowing lace curtains - of course i pretend that the material once came in on a ship straight from paris wrapped up in beautiful packaging from the finest haberdashery in the city (ok maybe now i have read ladies paradise too many times)- and i can see a few empty wire hangers hanging if i peer in to the bottom window through the gate - regardless, the fact remains that this once symbol of the grandiosity of america and the promise of the west stands, a crumbling guard, atop the highest point in the city -

so i have created a lovely little mystery for myself - does someone still live in this lonely house or is it abandoned all together - imagine the beautiful parties and clothing that would have been a part of the comings and goings of this place in its prime - it is the stuff of fairy tales - i am hoping that i will be able to find out some more information at the historical society and a few other places i am going to inquire.