A Bonne Vivante

A Fantasy Garden Party & Modern Venetian Masquerade

2012-01-07T11:08:00.000-08:00

Bridal Fantasy recently released a sneak preview of two editorials for the 2012 issue, for which ID BOHEMIA created the set designs. Enjoy!

A Fantasy Garden Party (see our inspiration board Fantasy Garden Party on Pinterest)

A Modern Venetian Masquerade (see our inspiration board Venetian Modern on Pinterest)

Look for the 2012 issue of Bridal Fantasy Magazine on newsstands later this January! At that time, we'll post some behinds the scenes photos of the sets and a list of products, including Foo dogs from Peking Lounge in Vancouver, Palace Table Architecture and Midas Cutlery from 29 Armstrong, and diamonds and drapery from SITE 6 Event, Fabric and Visual Solutions. (The 2011 issue is available online - see our work in "Ode to Grace" starting on p. 118, and "Flaunt Your Feathers" starting on p. 130, with photography by Curtis Comeau and Grant Olson.)

In related news, ID BOHEMIA will be participating in the Bridal Fantasy bridal show, taking place on Sunday, January 22 at the Edmonton Expo Centre. Come by our booth and say hi!

Inspirations and Diversions: A TED Talk and A Short Film Worth Watching

2011-12-19T12:18:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday! Today is a good day for turning 30.

Fate, Christmas and The Cosmos

2011-11-18T16:10:00.000-08:00

Image sources, from top to bottom, left to right: model in blue make up via Kelly Jasmine, gold paillette cami via Splenderosa, gold paillette sequins via unknown source, blue and white urn via unknown source, Carina Nebula via The Hubble Space Telescope, , Raku Handprint Vase by Rebecca Anderson Pottery (aka newrelic) via Etsy, Buddha figure via unknown source, gold ornaments on stairs via Splenderosa, brass candleholder via eBay, black coque trim via unknown source.

In designing our latest Christmas window displays for YÜ Fashion, an upmarket women's clothing and accessories shop, I felt a bizarre restlessness. On one hand, as a businessperson, I knew that the current economic and political climate meant Christmas décor trends would be relatively conservative this year, but on the other hand, as an artist and a human being, I needed to convey a sense of celebration and appreciation for everything we all still have. Christmas is not a time to be dour (not for me, anyway), and since our client fell in love with ID BOHEMIA because of our theatrical set designs and displays, whatever was going to happen had to bridge the gaps between lean and luxurious, fashion and timelessness.

I'd started thinking about the windows back in early September, when Occupy Wall Street was but a twinkle in someone's revolutionary eye. My inclination was to do an all gold window, like a peek into King Midas' grandmother's attic, featuring gold, bronze and copper glass ornaments, gold sequins, polished brass candlesticks, antique doors, and ornate picture frames. It was beautiful in my mind's eye, but as time passed and I examined its details, it seemed like luxury prettiness purely for the sake of luxury prettiness, and not forward-thinking enough. After rolling ideas in my head for a couple weeks and not getting anywhere, I decided to make an inspiration board and see if anything coalesced.

At the same time, I'd been feeling (and am still feeling) even more introspective than usual. My 30th birthday is fast approaching, Christmas season is upon us, and an idbohemia.com relaunch is in the works (Spring 2012, I hope!), The passing of a decade always does strange, if predictable, things to one's perception of self. Couple that with daily reviews of a life's work and evaluations of what my business and art stand for, and you have the ingredients for an internal monologue of epic proportions. Who am I? Why am I here? Where do I come from? Where am I going? These are the questions I've been pondering. Me...and Gauguin.

I wanted the window to have a global feel to convey our human interconnectedness, and in putting together the inspiration board I found myself gravitating towards images of starry skies and nebulae for their expansive connotations (and I admit, some part of my internal monologue included the lyrics to Michael W. Smith's "Place In This World"). When I found the two images below, everything fell into place.

Of all the images included in the board, the one on the right (above) is the most faithful to my original idea. What drew me to the image on the left was the warm/cool contrast between the model's blue skin and her gold makeup and the brass zipper on her chest, but as I looked at the image, what I liked even more was how her blue skin reminded me of Krishna and Vishnu. I liked making a Hindu connection, however tenuous, to a traditionally Christian holiday, and later as I walked around IDB HQ looking for props to include in the window, the thread of world religions gave me permission to use two Buddhas in stone and gold in the windows. The underlying theme of the windows became a sense of place and history, with motifs built on celestial objects and the low-key use of religious iconography.

I don't have photos of the windows to include in this post yet, as I'm still looking for a photographer, but to help you imagine how we built the window, we began with a vibrant backdrop of blue-violet satin, and hung large cutouts of a moon and stars covered in fine silver glitter. From there, we added large gold-framed mirrors for reflective shine and to create a sense of architecture, and a large blue and white Chinese floor vase for another layer of colour and impression of history. We cherry-picked our favourite peacock blue and gold Christmas ornaments and gold and blue handthrown pottery from our collections and placed them around the displays, setting the pottery in clusters around the floor reminiscent of moon craters, and the ornaments either on the floor or in glass apothecaries. We then finished each display with a Buddha figure and tasteful placards with our company name and contact info. Once I have photos of the displays, I'll be sure to post them.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this video my friend Scott sent to me. Sometimes we need a reminder that even if we're standing still, the universe is moving around us.

The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Shop 'Til You Drop!

2011-11-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

Our friend Jenna at Flowers by Jenna is taking part in the Shop Till You Drop Expo, a pre-Christmas shopping event happening today at the Delta Edmonton South. You may remember Jenna as the designer who created the stunningly romantic floral arrangements for ID Bohemia's "Beauty & The Beast" editorial, seen on the WedLuxe Couture Chronicles. This post will talk about how we designed and put together her booth.

Jenna really wanted a warm and homey feel for her booth—classy and elegant, yet welcoming and a bit rustic. Though Jenna's personal style is somewhat minimal, she wanted something more lush and full for her booth to give her customers plenty of holiday decorating inspiration. She loves antiques, too, so we made sure to bring in some well-worn pieces, both antique and reproduction. For colour, she wanted her flowers to be the feature, so we grounded the booth in soothing tones of brown, grey and cream, letting the flowers act as pops of colour against this neutral backdrop. Our inspiration for her booth design came from the many amazing flower boutiques my partner Aaron and I visited during our honeymoon in Paris, as well as local design-savvy garden centres like Wellington and Greenland.

Since Jenna would be displaying and selling lots of flowers, greens and wreaths, we needed to unify all that texture, colour, and otherwise small stuff with some big gestures. ID Bohemia hung off-white curtains across the back of her space, creating a big block of colour (yes, white is a colour) to frame everything within the booth, and lightening the atmosphere considerably from the usual black trade show drapery. We advised Jenna to frame her banner prior to the show, to give her banner (i.e. her name and brand) a clean and polished look. We hung the framed banner across the back of the booth with wide grey ribbon tied in bows.

As another big gesture, we created a long counter, spanning the entire booth, by laying thick salvaged fir beams across two black wrought iron urns. On the counter, we arranged several antique wooden crates Jenna had found at country garage sales, and placed galvanized buckets inside for bunches of cedar and curly willow, and bouquets of hydrangea, lilies and cymbidium orchids. For greater texture and sparkle, we added rustic terracotta finials, and glass apothecaries filled with gold and silver ornaments. For height, Jenna created a simple arrangement of birch branches hung with ornaments. The informal symmetry of the cedar boughs and birch branches framed her booth nicely, lending the space greater presence without being overwhelming.

Jenna asked for a surface to write down contact info for her customers, where she could also keep her business cards and 4"x6" postcard coupons (10% off wedding packages over $1000). We placed a round, weathered wood table to one side of the booth, and then laid a lace tablecloth across the top for a casual French touch. A gourmet gift basket that Jenna had created took center stage on the table, and we then arranged her business cards and postcards around it in vintage ceramic and silver bowls.

To really give the booth a room-like feel, we laid a neutral-toned rug on the floor, knowing its hard-wearing material would stand up to lots of foot traffic. On top of the rug, we laid out vintage galvanized wash basins, lined them with heavy brown cotton cloth, and placed Jenna's fresh wreaths inside. To vary the height and texture, we then mixed in her fresh bouquets of lilies, roses, kale and tulips. Prices were handwritten on manila shipping tags and tied on with sisal twine, a sweet touch that emphasised the handmade nature of Jenna's work. The antique window frame and slipper chair (Jenna had reupholstered it herself!) were the perfect finishing elements to her inviting space, and as the doors opened and guests began streaming in, we were happy to hear several oohs and ahhs.

ID Bohemia has built its reputation on spectacular event design for weddings, social events and corporate celebrations, but did you know we also design trade show booths, window displays and other promotional settings? If you are looking for a distinctive environment for your next trade show or window display, we'd love to hear from you! What do you think of Jenna's booth?

Accolades for ID Bohemia

2011-09-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

We received a letter of gratitude in two parts from our our wonderful clients and friends Michael and Pragya. It made me us so happy that we wanted to share it with you.

Hello dear decorator and friend!! We are safely back from the tropics. I wanted to touch base with you earlier and thank you for such an amazing job you did with decorating and planning the wedding. I have heard nothing but positive comments, and at times, that it was the most beautiful wedding anyone had attended. Hearing what a great time everyone had was my greatest reward. It was also an opportunity for some significant reunion and healing within my immediate family, and I know that the beauty and the luxury of the wedding contributed immensely to setting the stage for this to happen. People felt so honoured to be a part of the day, and the space you and Aaron created was so appreciated by all who shared the day with us!! . ♥♥ Michael.

" Christina and Aaron are amazing at what they do. Their attention to detail, artistic vision and collaborative style surpassed all of my expectations. We loved getting to know them through the process and found that their presence was as interesting, deep, exciting, layered, warm and as beautiful as the wedding they had designed. They were able to capture the essence of both myself and my partner, and put a spin on it that was breathtaking and completely satisfying. They took care of the smallest details to the largest details with total confidence and competency, from interviewing DJs with us, to giving us interesting homework assignments to really let them know what we were about. Christina and Aaron made it happen! On the day, people were spellbound, at the beauty and intricacy of the ceremony and reception, and I heard several comments that this was the most beautiful wedding they had ever attended.Five words*****Integrity, Inspired, Committed, Competent, Brilliant*****"

Truly, Michael Lepard

"Pragya and Michael's Wedding"

For a sneak peek at their wedding, click here to see more gorgeous images by Elizabeth van der Bij at ENV Photography. If you'd like us to design a gorgeous environment like this one for your next wedding or special event, we'd love you hear from you!

Inspirations and Diversions: The Ice Book

2011-04-02T10:06:00.000-07:00

Find out more about The Icebook at theicebook.com.

Beauty & The Beast Vendor Highlight: EnPrivado

2011-02-25T22:17:00.000-08:00

A photo shoot like Beauty & The Beast could not have happened without the help and support of our crew and vendors. We choose our team with much consideration and we always aim to show off everyone's talents and offerings in an artful way, but unless we're willing to reduce the shoot into a series of product placements, sometimes we aren't able to do a vendor or product full justice. I'd like to dedicate this post to one of Beauty & The Beast's unsung heroes:

EnPrivado.

Located in downtown Edmonton, just south of the Legislature building, EnPrivado is a loft featuring designer shoes, handbags and fashion accessories. It's a place to linger and relax with a cup of tea, while perusing the shoes. During our visits to select shoes, Rosanne, one of the resident shoe-aholics, was an expert source of advice given their many tempting choices.

For each of the 3 looks, ID Bohemia featured a different style from EnPrivado's shoe closet:

Paco Gil Sequin Booties - the strong silhouette of these shoes was a perfect complement to ROOY Couture's architectural dress in gleaming white duchess silk satin. The sequin finish turns an otherwise deceptively simple design into something appropriate for your wedding day, and though not your usual bridal shoe, they'd be a chic choice for the fashion-forward bride. (After the wedding, they'd pair fantastically with dark denim or a little black dress.)

Pura Lopez Ivory Bow Shoes - these sweet and flirty heels were chosen for ROOY's flowing white silk charmeuse gown with hand-beaded black French lace overlay and satin sash—a playful choice for Beauty's love-driven transformation into a Bride. In ivory silk-satin, this shoe is the most typically bridal of the three styles we worked with, but the audacious proportions of the bow detail ensure a daring and sophisticated statement for any bride. For evenings out, EnPrivado also carries this shoe in racy red and understated black.

Paco Gil Black Strappy Wedges with Lacquered Heels - we paired this glittered wedge with ROOY Couture's hand-beaded and embroidered red Italian silk gown with lace-up corset bodice, for a look that is bold and romantic, yet distinctively modern.

The women at EnPrivado are supremely knowledgeable about their product and about a shoe's ability to contribute to the overall style of its wearer. Rosanne helped us beautifully translate abstract ideas like "we want the shoe to feel stark, even cold" into unexpected, yet entirely fitting shoes for each look. Checking out their website today, I'm feverish for these Pura Lopez Grey Booties.

Bravo EnPrivado!

(n.b: Though most of their lines are geared towards women, they have an equally stylish selection of mens shoes as well. After looking for Beauty's shoes with me, my partner Aaron said he'd be back to check out the mens shoes, and he usually hates shopping.)

Beauty & The Beast: The Art Director's Cut

2011-01-25T15:29:00.000-08:00

The Inspiration Board we put together - via WedLuxe.com

Well, my dears, the day has arrived! Beauty & The Beast - A Modern Interpretation of a Classic Fairy Tale is available for your viewing pleasure on the WedLuxe Couture Chronicles!

Putting together a photo shoot is a complicated undertaking, and you never know quite what it'll look like until it's published. We whittled down a selection of 32 images from the over two thousand shots taken that day in August, and of that selection, 15 made it to the blog. Interestingly, the lengthy (for a blog) text that I prepared (with some much appreciated assistance from Brenna, our caterer and food stylist, and a talented writer), was included exactly as we sent it. I love the stylized flourishes WedLuxe created to accompany the text.

Since I'm one of those people for whom "more is more", I'd like to share with you the rest of our selection. This post kicks off a series of posts that will include behind-the-scenes photos as well as vendor highlights. To read the complete blog copy and credits, click here.

Enjoy!

Our inspiration board (shown above) includes: depictions of "Beauty and The Beast", film stills from "Dracula" (based on Bram Stoker's Victorian Gothic novel), an image of the reception dinner for Dita von Teese's wedding to Marilyn Manson in an Irish castle, church and barn interiors, Victorian inspired fashion, a red silk wedding gown (that we'd seen and loved at a bridal show), Paco Gil sequin boots, and objects and design details that embrace the Gothic aesthetic, typified by deep, dark colours and ornate details.

The Groom and Bride: Our story begins with The Beast, a lonely wanderer lacking material wealth and a place to call home, yet possessing a quiet strength, stemming from his belief in love.

The Beast sheds his beastly trappings.

What awaits him?

He happens upon Beauty, a woman toiling alone on her prosperous farm. Though surrounded by an abundant harvest and beautiful things, she is unhappy. As Beauty and The Beast gaze upon one another, they share an intangible moment—they know. Two desolate hearts give way to love, and everything changes forever.

The Ceremony: Beauty and The Beast are in love, and transformed. Bride and Groom recline together, on layers of pale, creamy satin and faux-fur. The Groom presents his bride with rings enclosed in an antique jewellery box lined in purple silk. Through an open door, their future beckons.

The Reception: In the hay loft of an ancient barn, the couple and their guests gather for a richly-hued celebration. Glowing light from an overhead chandelier adds comforting warmth to a dramatic colour palette that includes red, violet and black, while touches of pewter and grey maintain a sense of weathered refinement. As The AwesomeHots perform music from their Parlour Folk repertoire, the couple and their guests take their seats at the table. The guests, all in French lace masks, form a Bohemian cast of characters, from a deposed Shah, to a flapper in pearls, to a Mafia kingpin.

The AwesomeHots - hearing their singing echoing through the rafters
was a transcendent experience

A Gothic confection in fondant and feathers

The Honeymoon: The lovely couple plays an impromptu game of bocce, before embarking on their honeymoon. The next generation waits to continue the story. It's a new day...and they all live happily ever after.

The child wears a vintage fisherman's cap, from John James. Vintage leather luggage and bocce, all from ID BOHEMIA.

Inspirations and Diversions: How the French Do It

2010-12-03T14:06:00.000-08:00

Jacques Pépin for a new generation: Epic Meal Time.

Apparently, these guys are from Montreal.

From sharpening knives, deboning, and trussing, to their use of sausage meat as a binder and mayonnaise made from bacon grease (instead of vegetable oil), their knowledge of classic techniques and of the science of cooking is quite breathtaking, really.

I don't know whether to cry, or take notes.

Design Lesson: Mood and ExperiencePart II - Cool and Hard

2010-11-24T10:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning, I met with Clayton Rodney, technical manager for the Edmonton Opera. Clayton graciously agreed to answer my questions and chat about lighting design and how light, texture and colour can be shaped to effect a particular mood. He was so sweet and engaging that our "quick coffee" turned into a 45-minute long conversation.

Besides enlightening me on how to use my Roscolux swatch book, and warning against using green to light people (in the language of light, green equals dead), Clayton did a quick and dirty tutorial on how to light people and backdrops, and we talked about focal areas given a limited budget, how silk and frost filters work, modifying light with a filter vs. in the fixture itself, the beauty of #99 chocolate, and hard vs. soft lighting, among other things. As we wrapped up the meeting, he also told an entirely my style joke that I very gullibly believed. It made me wonder if we might eventually be friends, and not just colleagues, some day.

I knew he wouldn't have a simple answer for my last question, as there are rarely simple answers to conceptual creative problems (everything gaining meaning by its relationship to many other things, like threads in a tapestry), but I asked him anyway: are there guidelines or rules for light and what it says, e.g. hard vs. soft or blue vs. gold? He said, of course, that there are no hard and fast rules, but if he was lighting a production that was very modern or contemporary, perhaps New City Suburbs-style Gothic or dark in mood, that he would likely think to use very high contrast light and dark lighting with a cold, hard edge, whereas, if he was doing a vintage-style production with antiques and lace, he would more likely use a warm colour palette with softer edged light.

So, while Part I brought you warm and soft, this collection brings you cool and hard. Enjoy!

Alexander McQueen's Fall/Winter 2006 runway show - A hologram of Kate Moss

KM3D-1

Created by AnOther Magazine with artist and filmmaker Baillie Walsh, KM3D-1 is an experimental, multi-dimensional image-movie, first seen at Alexander McQueen's autumn/winter 2006 fashion show.

Using state-of-the-art Phantom HD cameras, the film was an experiment in 3-D technology. Although you can't watch 3-D on You Tube (at least, not yet), the short back then was a remarkable achievement in filmmaking, way before Avatar hit the movie screens.

The film starred the beautiful supermodel Kate Moss, and was also groundbreaking for it's use of holographic technology, making Kate appear on stage almost from thin air and giving her a three dimensional appearance.

Here is the film as it looked on screen.

The Knife: Silent Shout: An Audio Visual Experience

My friend Scott is teaching me how to drum. After 8 years of classical piano training, adding in feet is quite the challenge! Una corda and damper pedalling just can't compare.

Design Lesson: Mood and ExperiencePart I - Soft and Warm

2010-11-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

I'm looking into making future event projects more interactive and, as part of my research, am investigating lighting technique, film and projection, and how they contribute to mood and atmosphere. For you: a collection of videos in two parts!

Patiences - A short film produced, directed and photographed by Peter Wunstorf

Eve has gone to the cottage where their rendezvous take place.

Days of Heaven - Terrence Malick

A euphemism, because it's not an hour but around 25 minutes at the most. It is the moment when the sun sets, and after the sun sets and before it is night. The sky has light, but there is no actual sun. The light is very soft, and there is something magic about it. It limited us to around twenty minutes a day, but it did pay on the screen. It gave some kind of magic look, a beauty and romanticism.
- Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography

Though the film was set in Texas, the exteriors were shot in Whiskey Gap on the prairie of Alberta, Canada and a final scene shot on the grounds of Heritage Park Historical Village in Calgary.
- Days of Heaven, Wikipedia

A Trip Down Market Street, 1906

La Femme D'Argent

It was taken by camera mounted on the front of a cable car. The number of automobiles is staggering for 1906. Absolutely amazing! The clock tower at the end of Market Street at the Embarcadero wharf is still there. How many "street cleaning" people were employed to pick up after the horses? Talk about going green!

Great historical film! Watch the scampering as Joe Public race away from autos, horses, cable cars and bicycles.

This film was originally thought to be from 1905 until David Kiehn with the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum figured out exactly when it was shot. From New York trade papers announcing the film showing to the wet streets from recent heavy rainfall, and shadows indicating time of year & actual weather and conditions on historical record, even when the cars were registered (he even knows who owned them and when the plates were issued!)...it was filmed only four days before the Great California Earthquake of April 18th 1906 and shipped by train to NY for processing. Amazing, but true!

Design Lesson: Anticipation

2010-11-19T12:47:00.000-08:00

Design Lesson: Make It Like You Mean It

2010-11-19T08:53:00.001-08:00

My friend Scott and I were having a conversation yesterday about Darren Aronofsky and how he made Pi. The aesthetic of Pi was a consequence of its low budget, but because the film was so successful¹, the style that might never have happened, had Aronofsky had "enough money", has since been recognised as a unique style worthy of merit and attention.

I thought of that conversation when I saw this video on The Year In Pictures blog.

I'm pretty sure that pyramid of white buckets is in fact a pyramid of Fniss waste baskets...followed by Lack coffee tables, Lack bookshelves on casters, Skruvsta swivel chairs in Idhult white, Henriksdal chairs, another Lack coffee table, a Lack side table, and more swivel chairs.

Remember this video?

A little ingenuity goes a long way. A lot of ingenuity, even more so.

So why am I bringing all this up? In anything—be it your life, work, a party, a house, whatever—where to focus your limited resources (and by limited, I mean not-infinite) is always a consideration. Our lives are bound by limitations of time, money, food, and a myriad other justifications. Preston Bailey, an internationally recognized event designer who has produced events for the Royal Family of Qatar, even says he has yet to have a client who lets him do whatever he wants and spend whatever he wants.

Last Friday, I met with a lovely lady named Tracy, who won the draw at Bridal Expo for a 2-hour consulation and two customised Moroccan lanterns from yours truly. Together, we looked through her ideas and I offered my suggestions, encouragement and answers to her questions. The last questions she asked were if I had any suggestions for hard-and-fast rules, how to make a wedding more fun and successful, and common mistakes to try and avoid, and this is what I said (more-or-less) to her:

The first thing to remember is that this event, your wedding, is for you and your fiancé (Hi Jerry!). More than anything, you want your event to be an expression of you, your future husband, your life together, and the love you have for each other. Your guests are coming to celebrate with you, and when they walk into your wedding, it should feel like they are walking around inside your life (rather than simply an impressively decorated room). It should feel like somehow they know you better for having come to be with you.

Beautifully coordinated colours are important, yes, but your wedding will ultimately be most successful and fun if you are having fun and enjoying yourself, which in turn, comes from being honest about yourself and sharing your life with your friends, family and colleagues. Feel free to pull ideas and details from your life, your fiancé's life, and your life together. If you like watching movies, maybe pull quotes from your favourite films and use them around the room. If you like to travel, maybe you can use your favourite travel destinations as table numbers. Do you like going out on a Saturday night or staying in? What do you do for fun? How can you incorporate that into your wedding?

Probably the most common mistake I've seen, and that I've made myself, is to try to do too much. It's better to have one spectacular display (think "room centerpiece") and simple, yet elegant, tables than to have all your tables look like you didn't have enough money to finish them the way you really wanted. If you have a really inventive and artistic escort card display at the entrance to your reception, people will remember it, talk about it, and admire it. If all your tables and decor are so-so, then few people will notice anything, if at all. In other words, however you decorate, simply or lavishly, make it look intentional.

Make it like you mean it.

¹ Made with $60,000, it grossed $3,221,152 in the U.S. alone, and continues to sell well on DVD.

Inspirations and Diversions: Come to Mama, Big Daddy

2010-11-09T11:44:00.000-08:00

I'm embarking on a quest to reduce refined sugar in my diet. But it'll have to wait a day or two...

My sister sent me and Aaron several boxes of chocolate from Theo in Seattle:

Coffee Salted Caramels
Grey Salted Vanilla Caramels
Pink Salted Vanilla Caramels
Marshmallow Big Daddies

and...*drum roll*

Peanut Butter Big Daddies

I realise you probably don't need to see an up-close sample of my bite pattern, but I wasn't about to sacrifice the pleasure of first bite for the sake of real or imagined sensitivities. Note the layers (from top to bottom) of peanut butter, caramel, and graham cracker, topped with roasted peanuts.

Theo chocolate is certified organic and fair trade. I'm in ideological and flavourological heaven.

Some Like It Ruff: Part II

2010-11-06T03:21:00.001-07:00

Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth in Elizabeth: The Golden Age

I like ruffs.

While preparing to shoot a Gothic editorial, I thought it would be interesting to make a ruff—a dramatic one, like Elizabeth!—but then decided to take the art direction in a more Victorian bent. Both are well-suited to the Gothic aesthetic, but decisions have to be made to keep things tight.

At some point, though, I'd like to revisit ruffs, and possibly use them in a shoot. It's amazing how much information is out there once you have an idea of what to look for. Ruff Sex, from Coilhouse Magazine, on ruffs in fashion and film, was a great primer for an arty dilettante like me. (Scroll to the bottom for links on how to make your own ruff!)

For the more involved, the lovely lady below, a brain-injury researcher by day, makes costumes (including Elizabethan ruffs) and documents them and her related research on Extreme Costuming. She made this Elizabethan embroidered jacket entirely by hand, including the orange embroidery! Each dot in each and every pea pod is a tiny stitch. (Love the set-in sleeves.)

"For the modern re-creator, the cost was not materials, but time. The jacket cost less than $100 total in materials, but took 1,947 hours over a year and four months to complete. I really did spend all my spare time on this, almost to distraction..."

And then there's this jacket, which took over 4000 hours and 250 people to make.

Click here for a story about it in the Boston Globe. If you have even more time, click here to read "The Embroiderer's Story", a day by day chronicle of its construction on on Plimoth Plantation (the non-profit museum that commissioned the jacket).

My research into Elizabethan costuming has birthed a yearn for a joust. Yes, a Renaissance Fair is now on the bucket list. All the feasting, and no small pox!

Ahh, history as it was supposed to be.

Some Like It Ruff: Part I

2010-11-06T02:00:00.000-07:00

Dominion by Natalie Shau via Wicked Halo

I like Natalie Shau. You can see some of her work on deviantART, in addition to her professional site. I ran into her while researching Elizabethan ruff construction for a photo editorial that we shot this summer.

When I was in art school, work like that featured on deviantART was aggressively frowned upon. Different schools and countries tend to get known for different styles of art, sure, but anything illustrative or fantasy was somehow less worthy than Monet, Manet, Matisse or Motherwell at the school-that-shall-remain-unnamed. I admit I debated posting her work here, in part because it's quite a bit darker than what I usually look at (and some of her images show boobies!), but more because of that school-instilled bias.

I guess, in posting it now, I wish to establish a line between the creative thinker then vs. now. A divide and a bridge. A signpost. Now that time has granted me sufficient intellectual and emotional distance from educational rhetoric, it's nice to (re)discover a love of illustrative art. I remember that sense of wonder I felt as a child, reading bedtime fairy tales, and I am glad of it.

Here's to freedom.

Inspirations and Diversions: A Bird & The Naturalist

2010-11-05T01:04:00.000-07:00

Oh Kanye. Is it ok to be a punk when you're that good?

And while I've got your creative attention, come see a fashion show at Strathcona Pool this Saturday. The inimitable John James will be showing her neckpieces (styled by me? we'll wait and see).

Off the Deep End from Parlour Magazine on Vimeo

Admission is free, but it's a fundraiser to save The Pool, so donations are welcome and encouraged.

Speaking of fashion shows, we went to a bridal fashion show tonight. Stay tuned.

Aesthetic Philosophy: Delfin-Postigo House and Why I Don't Read the Words

2010-05-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

I never read. I just look at pictures.
- Andy Warhol

I had a bit of a brain fugue just now. I knew I wanted to start with an Andy Warhol quote, but couldn't remember Andy Warhol's name. I could remember that Andy Warhol featured in the film Basquiat, played by David Bowie, and that Andy Warhol and Basquiat were friends, so I googled "Basquiat friends", and lo, there was Andy Warhol beckoning from line 8 of the Career section in Basquiat's Wikipedia entry. These sorts of things are endlessly interesting to me: how memory works, how the mind stores information, and how every mind functions entirely differently according to the person who needs it.

Today brings us to the home of David Delfin and Gorka Postigo, a fashion designer and a photographer respectively. I found these pictures somewhat laterally, via Door Sixteen via Apartment Therapy via Yatzer. All photos are by Manolo Yllera.

I love how they juxtapose dark and light, rectilinear shapes and organic surfaces, emptiness and density. The tension between these contrasts transforms the usual calming effect of an all-white interior into something more moody, raw, and sexy.

The pedigree of the art on the walls and the things furnishing the space is first class. David and Gorka's collection includes pieces by Wolfgang Tillmans, Diane Arbus, Louise Bourgeois, Charlotte Perriand, Maison Martin Margiela, Isamu Noguchi, and Jean Prouvé.

While I'm not sure how I feel about the art, expecially in the bedroom, I can see how their choice of graphic (sometimes obscene) works add a necessary layer of intimacy in what could easily become a showhouse. There is an overall in-your-face boldness, but I still feel that real people live here.

They even have Pez!

Love the rugs.

For the longest time I've looked only at pictures and avoided reading the accompanying words. In the last couple years, however, I'd started reading articles and captions again to find out specific facts about whatever was being depicted in the image (i.e. who was in it, what was in it, who made it, what was it made of, where was it, etc...). I almost forgot why I actively started the practice of not reading words until today.

Reporting in the truest sense strives to maintain some semblance of an objective view, though most recognize that this is practically impossible. There will always be a filter of experience tinting what people see, do, say, think, etc...and it can be difficult, when someone feels strongly about something—love it or hate it or love it—to not proclaim, "This is the best thing since sliced bread! Look at this, it's better than the rest!" Everyone makes judgements about everything, and likewise shares them, but reporting is already a primarily one-way communication, and where non-objective reporting tends to fall short is a failure to acknowledge differing points of view. It's one thing to read, "Fashion designer David Delfin and architect-turned-photographer Gorka Postigo have an amazing art-filled home in Madrid"; it's quite another to read, "The marriage of these two individuals under one roof is the epitome of sexual elegance" (emphasis in original article). Perhaps it is simply a difference in voice between sources (i.e. Apartment Therapy and Yatzer, respectively). I'll leave that call up to you.

The "best" people in any field walk a fine—and sometimes treacherous—line between working to the fullest of their ability and knowing their limitations. If they recognize there is a unique audience for each idea|project|task|situation, often where the line falls is determined not by ability, but rather by an asking of whether or not the idea|etc... contributes in a desirable way to the life of the person doing the asking. This is one reason why “curiosity” is often cited as a shared trait among best people. Even if they aren’t initially good at something, if they are curious or interested, they will learn and become good at it.

The line gets hazy when interest is confused with taste. I personally don't like the colour red. Of all the available colours of Le Creuset pots, red would be my last choice. But I love the red cookware Aaron and I have because of who gave it to us (our friends and family) and why (our wedding), and I'm currently working on a wedding featuring red as one of the focal colours. As much as I don't like red, I can appreciate that it has particular characteristics and connotations that lend particular desirable effects. If I was to make choices based simply on whether or not I liked something personally, my world would be appreciably smaller.

In reading the Yatzer piece, I found myself getting caught up in the meaning of the words. The article, even the order of the images, develops an overt heroicism that I find unattractive, however much I ~~like~~ love the interior. It's that kind of talk that led me to leave art school years ago—the kind of talk that haunts children, and continues to haunt them as they grow into adults.

Every idea, every thing, has a set of purposes and intentions, unique to a time and place. Recognizing that, ideas|things become tools—methods of communication—as opposed to edicts. Enjoy things for what they are, take everything you can, and appropriate what you can't by transforming it to suit your specific purpose.

So let it be written.

A Dream Home for Madley

2010-05-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

In the words of the Coryn Madley:

I have found a new home in the mountains of Topanga…. It’s up on a mountain, past a goat farm and a friendly horse who likes to stand by the road eating grass, thru an old oak grove that looks like the sherwood forrest of my imagination… I am so excited to make art and tea and all of it. Here are a few images taken by Jeffrey Tower, my partner in crime. More to come….. sometimes dreams do come true.

Can you imagine? If I wasn't so happy for her, I'd be jealous.

Click here to see the rest of the images.

Lament: A Sad Day

2010-05-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

Very wet snow today. Humpy (a.k.a. Stacy) collapsed.

Aaron found her crumpled over the back rail.

It's funny and ironic that she was built for Snowflake (Gala), and today, she died by snowflake(s). Hopefully she can be restored to her former glory.

Keep your fingers crossed.

This love is like...whoa.

2010-04-15T18:38:00.001-07:00

"SNOW" - Megan + Narbeh's Sweden Thriller Concept from PACIFIC PICTURES on Vimeo.

Narbeh and Megan commissioned this video for their wedding. The soldier in the beginning is Andreas Wilson. Read more about this video here. And while you're at it, check out the blog that led me there, here: Maharani Weddings.

Amazing.

Design Lesson: Inspiration Boards

2010-04-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

Aaron and I took a trip further northwise yesterday evening to deliver a décor package I prepared for Shaun Scade and Stephanie Emmerzael of Scade Photography, the winners of our Bridal Fantasy draw

TWO + 2 + 2 = WIN!

When asked,

If "fortune favours the bold",
HOW ARE YOU BOLD?

Stephanie answered, "I do things that scare me". For that, Stephanie and Shaun won a set of 2 apothecary jars and a 2-hour consultation with yours trulies (truly, times two), including a décor package prepared exclusively for them. What I want to share with you today are excerpts from that package, known as inspiration boards.

Sources from right to left, top to bottom: willow installation, David Stark Design; willow chandeliers, John N. Parra Photography, via The Knot; willow orb, David Stark Design; branch chandelier, Metropolitan Home; twig centerpiece with nest, Brides.com; spring branches on table, S.R. Gambrel, via Habitually Chic; curly willow centrepiece with orchids, Yifat Oren and Associates; bunched wheat centrepiece, Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine; 'LOVE' twig art, Laurent Bayard, Unknown book published by Ryland, Peters & Small; willow arrangements and picture frames, Sabine Scherrer Photography, via The Knot.

Inspiration or mood boards, as they are termed in the design industry (i.e. event, fashion, interior, garden, etc...also known as "vision boards" in personal development circles) are collections of images, words/quotes, and swatches (e.g. fabric, trim, paper), arranged on a board or page, that act as a go-to for the design of a project.

A mood board is a type of poster design that may consist of images, text, and samples of objects in a composition of the choice of the mood board creator. Designers and others use mood boards to develop their design concepts and to communicate to other members of the design team. The mood board may be used as a frame of reference during the design process in a variety of abstract disciplines...

Mood boards...are not limited to visual subjects, but serve as a visual tool to quickly inform others of the overall 'feel' (or 'flow') that a designer is trying to achieve.

Mood Board, Wikipedia

Inspiration boards are an excellent tool to help focus a design, as they allow designers to compare and contrast different colours, textures, projects and ideas and understand the relationships between them. Putting together an inspiration board can show a designer where they need to strengthen or play down an idea, introduce a new texture, or take a colour away. Think of inspiration boards as snapshots of an overall design.

The inspiration board above focuses on branches and grasses, as incorporating natural elements into their wedding's aesthetic is very important for both Shaun and Stephanie. In our interview, Stephanie brought some willow twigs taken from two arrangements in the entry of Shaun's dad Gordon's home, which is also where they all operate Scade Photography together. I'm glad I got to see inside, because it is set up very invitingly. They have a print set up on a dark-stained easel in the entry, flanked by willow branches in massive black pots—simple, dramatic, and beautifully effective. (If you ever see a similar composition in one of my events, you'll know where I got it from.)

The following boards center on the colour blue, particularly sapphire blue, the featured colour chosen by Stephanie and Shaun for their wedding. Stephanie's engagement ring originally belonged to Shaun's mom, and was part of a 4-piece set, once worn together, and now split between Shaun's sisters and Stephanie. Incorporating sapphire blue was a lovely way to honour his mom's memory, too, as she passed away last November. For their wedding, they plan to refit the ring into Stephanie's wedding band. (These boards also include touches of rusticity. Though Shaun and Stephanie plan to host their reception beneath the stars at a golf resort outside of Edmonton, there is an event space on site as a backup, and it is entirely wood panelled inside.)

Sources, clockwise from top left: blue-lit winter ceremony, The Knot, via tying the knot; blue aisle runner, Looking for the right wedding colour scheme?, My Wedding Planning Guide; blueberries, Blueberries For The Win, Gapers Block; blue bouquet, Tapestry Flowers; blue boutonniere, Jill & Pete in Muir Beach, The Knot; Smycka dried plants, IKEA; blue corsage, Real Oasis; calligraphed place cards with blue ribbon, WEDDING-CALLIGRAPHER.COM.

Sources, clockwise from top left: blue balloons, David Murray Weddings, from Style Me Pretty; Handfasting Ceremony, Style Me Pretty; turquoise and brown stationery, Style Me Pretty; paper wrapped hurricane candles, David Stark Design; turquoise chairs in barn, Style Me Pretty; engagement photo with blue piano, Hans and Catherine's Engagement Photos, Style Me Pretty; blue table runner, Crafts'n'Favors; cookie buffet, Martha Stewart, via no fuss Fabulous; "Two" letterpress letters, Style Me Pretty.

Sources, clockwise from top left: film negative seating board, FÊTE; photo frame wall, unknown source; house numbers, The Home Depot; floral design with blue water in vase, The Knot; lit haybales and trees, FÊTE; uplit trees, Flickr; floating candles in blue room, Preston Bailey; blue martini, Science of Drink.

After looking through the package, Stephanie messaged me to say, "Shaun and I were blown away with all of the work you and Aaron did. Thank you SO MUCH!! you are amazing." It's always nice to hear that our work is appreciated, and I'm sure our décor package for them will be very useful in the months before their wedding. I'm eager to see what they create from it.

Update: Here's a link to Stephanie's blog post on planning for her and Shaun's wedding, including photos of the design package we prepared for them - The Emmerzael-Scade Wedding update.

inspo (via Urban Dictionary)

Slang for Inspirational. The type of Music used at the end of a Romantic-Comedy film. Generally used to inspire good feelings.

Lament: What happens when you dump your favourite eyeshadow in the sink

2010-04-12T15:06:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Diva Down. Nothing compares to you.

Inspirations and Diversions: A Tribe Called Zulu or The Shaka and The Egg

2010-04-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

Werner Herzog's Shaka Zulu

I don't know how historically accurate this film is, but it is certainly beautiful.

And then there are these:

I like them two, too.

Out and About: Kidd Pivot, Dark Matters

2010-04-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

Aaron and I saw this in Banff. Beautifully stunning and darkly comic. If you get a chance, check it out.

Inspirations and Diversions: Pixel in Heaven, Have Mercy On Us

2010-04-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

Click me, please. (But turn your volume down first...)

If there truly is A Great Pixel In The Sky governing the letter and spirit of things, let us hope it.she.he is benevolent.

Out and About: Notes from TEDx Edmonton

2010-04-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Cameron Herold.

More words and pictures to come...

Aesthetic Philosophy: A Turquoise World Is Not Enough

2010-03-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

I love blue. It speaks to me. Like many artists and designers before and with me, I've learned to draw on all colours with equal dexterity, tailoring palettes to each client, purpose or project, but for myself and in my home, no other hue comes quiveringly close to big sky blues and watery turquoises. No colour holds sway over my consciousness like midnight blue and International Klein Blue, nor sings like the sapphire-domed mosques of Samarkand...or this blue mini-village (a house!) in Rotterdam!

Photos: Stijn & Marie (via The New York Times Magazine)

Stormy blues recall summers on the Pacific coast, foraging for shells in ever-fading light. A singular vibrant hue achieved by layering Mr. Sketch blue and turquoise, infused with some anonymous chemist's syrupy rendition of blueberry and mango, awakens ancient memories of art-making in the sun-dappled light of my parents' dining room floor. Blues are unbound oceans and thrown-open windows, densely alive with both past and future history.

I'm glad to see blue at the forefront of The Great Western Collective Consciousness (blue, or rather turquoise, so consumes Erin of House of Turquoise that she blogs about turquoise interiors all day, every day), but I've been observing trends long enough to know that for every in there's also an out. A proliferation of periwinkle pillows now inevitably leads to a box of blue tchotchkes destined for Goodwill later.

SO...nearly 719 words, 23 pictures, and 3 videos later, let me tell you how it really is:

I write about blue (and turquoise) because I love it (them), and I keep blue (and turquoise) because I love it (them). If yellow was my favourite colour, and yellow happened to be the Pantone Colour of the Year and yellow accessories started popping up everywhere, heck, you'd probably have just read...790 words dedicated to the jaunty wonder that is yellow.

Stephen Drucker, Editor-in-Chief of House Beautiful magazine, writes

I've been a decorating magazine editor for thirty years. I've patiently endured decades of the so-called "science of color."

I've been through "prisons should be painted pink because it calms down the inmates." OMG, love love love pink, let's not make shivs, let's compare tattoos.

I've read "studies" that show people who like purple are individualistic and people who like yellow are happy and people who like red are outgoing. No shit.

I've sat through endless color "forecasts" about how everybody's going to buy yellow towels for their bathrooms this year because it's the hot fashion color. Trust me, they won't.

Color is like sex. It's mysterious. It's unknowable. It never looks the same twice. No two people see the same thing. No two people feel the same thing. I once went to China on a cruise ship. Eight hundred of us got off the ship wearing white, because it feels festive and shippy and says "I'm on a cruise." In China white is the color of mourning. We looked insane.

Color is mostly unpredictable. Explain this: My biggest selling issue at House Beautiful in three years was a "color issue" about neutrals.

[...]

Why are we so determined to make color into a science? Why can't we just leave it alone and enjoy it?

(Read the complete article here on Huffington Post.)

Look to colour not as an answer, but rather as a starting point for a question. What colour(s) do you like? How do particular colours make you feel? Do you associate memories with colours? Only by asking questions, by searching yourself for the right questions, by experimenting, by simply being curious...can you truly create a colourful event, interior, outfit, et al. that resonates with your unique and inscrutable soul.

Let colour be a discovery! Go forth and multiply! Paint the town red, if it be red that sets your loins afire. Put on pink in Paris, and experience the romance of la vie en rose. Play mime for a day and (silently) ask yourself, "Does it matter if it's black or white?" Colour is fun! Have fun with it.

And with that, one for the lovers,

the leavers,

the libertines,

and the dreamers.

It is not the form that dictates the colour, but the COLOUR that brings out the form.

2010-03-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

After a several seasons in supporting roles to grey, yellow and violet, blue and turquoise are the stars of 2010, as evidenced by these recent magazine covers, and now I'm seeing blue everywhere. I caught myself in Anthropologie, drifting towards a knobbly turquoise mid-centuryesque vase, drawn by the depth of its colours—not unlike the mottled blues of these plaster walls in Morocco:

Pantone has named PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise as the Colour of the Year for 2010.

Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise inspires thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a comforting escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing.

Vipp, a Danish design company established in 1939, is featuring an entire range of limited edition accessories in a zippy shade of turquoise, aptly styled Mermaid Blues. (The colour for 2009 was Yellow Cab, and 2008 was Purple Cut.)

Apartment Therapy, a favourite shelter blog, is featuring articles such as Turquoise Touches In The Kitchen.

Blue has always been around in one tint or another, but whew, when it rains, it pours.

(Ah, vintage Madonna. I'd forgotten she had dark hair!)

P.S. The title of this post is taken from a quote by Hans Hofmann.

I got the Blues......Turquoises too

2010-03-05T13:22:00.000-08:00

Blue, aqua, azure, baby blue, beryl, blue-gray, blue-green, Capri, cerulean, cobalt, cornflower, cyan, denim, indigo, lapis, Majorelle, navy, opal, periwinkle, powder, Prussian blue, robin's egg, royal, sapphire, sky, teal, Tiffany, turquoise, ultramarine, Wedgewood...

In all its infinite forms, I love blue. Blue is the colour of summers in Santorini...

...and of my birthstones—all four:

Turquoise
Tanzanite

Zircon

and Topaz.

And though, just the other day, I sat in my light-filled living room concluding my home could use more blue, I now see blues and turquoises of all shades sprinkled throughout: in my favourite tea cups,

on our china cabinet (painted in Pooh's Favourite Things DC3A-80-2 in semi-gloss, from Behr and available at The Home Depot),

in the silk cushions on this now-departed sofa,

in the embroidery on our towels (received as a wedding present—love 'em!),

in my office (painted Pooh's Favourite Things in eggshell),

in our bathroom (ditto),

and even in places yet to be completed, like our kitchen countertops (Wilsonart Laminate Verdi Oxide 1786-60).

So while I'm not usually one to follow trends, I'm very happy to see that blue and turquoise are big this season. Stay tuned.

The Bigger Picture: Choice, Inscrutable Exhortations, and Our Heart of Hearts

2010-02-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

For those of us who have ever wondered why we have so much choice, those of us who know exactly what we want, and those of us who can't decide.

Tripping the Light Fantastic Mr. Farmhouse

2010-02-10T12:11:00.000-08:00

If we lived in the country, our house would probably look like this.

Stephen & Todd's Fantastic Mr. Farmhouse (House Tour via Apartment Therapy).

In the city, I suppose we'll have to settle for charming rusticity in the garden only. And maybe at our B&B...in twenty years.

The Bigger Picture: For the Common People

2010-02-09T23:35:00.000-08:00

Ah, to be plebeian. My friend Scott McPherson sent me an e-mail today, and I thought I'd share some of it with you.

I'm interning with Scott in Principle Awareness, teaching people how to grow happiness in their lives, and one story we've talked about in class is a social experiment conducted by the Washington Post involving Joshua Bell busking in L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C. the morning of Friday, January 12, 2007.

Joshua Bell is widely considered to be among the world's greatest violinists, if not the best; his playing has been described as doing "nothing less than tell human beings why they bother to live", and two days before his performance in the plaza, he played to a sold out audience in Boston, where even mediocre seats averaged $100. The Stradivarius violin he played that morning in Washington is the Gibson ex-Huberman, which he purchased in 2002 for just under $4 million (click here and scroll down to 'History of Joshua's violin - The Gibson Stradivarius: from Huberman to Bell' for the interesting, and lengthy, story of this violin). Of L'Enfant Plaza, there is little of note to say, other than that its acoustics proved surprisingly good and its position near a Metro station at the heart of Washington, D.C. means most passers-by were mid-level government employees. (Yes, they are the people running America, and no, this experiment was not meant as a critical analysis of the American government.) The morning's repertoire began with Bach's Chaconne, physically demanding at 14 minutes long, and technically one of the most difficult pieces ever written for violin. On it, Johannes Brahms wrote,

"On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind."

I'll share with you directly from Scott's summary of the article, first, because I like his writing, and second, because it's late and I'm tired. (Any emphasis is Scott's.)

PERCEPTION
. . . Something To Think About. . .

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in
2007.

The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.

During that time approximately 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes :

A middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing.
He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later :

The violinist received his first dollar :
a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, and continued to walk.

6 minutes :

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes :

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.
The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time.
This action was repeated by several other children.
Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes :

The musician played continuously.
Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.
About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.
The man collected a total of $32. (author's note: not including $20 given to him by a confused and delighted fan who'd seen him play a free concert at the Library of Congress three weeks earlier)

1 hour :

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed.
No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

This is a true story.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post, as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

The questions raised :
In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
Do we stop to appreciate it ?
Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this :

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made :

How many other things are we missing ?

I write this blog, not to goad you into wondering despondently how much beauty you've passed by absentmindedly over your day, week, year, or lifetime, but to urge you to open your senses fully to whatever beauty waits directly in front of you. Right now, and for as many moments as you can afterward.

Read the original Washington Post article 'Pearls Before Breakfast'
(where you can also view video of Joshua Bell's performance),
and the follow-up live discussion 'Too Busy to Stop and Hear the Music'.

And now, because I like connection:

...and because I like digressions:

Inspirations and Diversions: A dedication to McLovin'

2010-02-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

Read 'A Graceful Man, A Gentleman', by Scott Schuman of The Satorialist.

I think I'll pick up the first season of '30 Rock' at The Movie Studio.

Inspirations and Diversions: A Clean Well-Lighted Place

2010-02-03T02:55:00.000-08:00

Built in Northern Ontario by Suzanne Dimma and her then fiancé (and now husband) Arriz Hassam, it may not be Kokomo, but this island cottage is still a lovely place to get away from it all. Suzanne is the editor of Canadian House & Home, while Arriz is an architect and principal at 3rd UNCLE design inc—a design marriage made in heaven.

The wardrobe below is from IKEA's PAX series, custom painted in Benjamin Moore's Copley Gray (HC-104) and with horn handles from Ochre. (I love this photo especially because Suzanne and I share a weakness for woven baskets. These are from Bamboula.)

Their decisions to lift the wardrobe off the floor and finish it with posh, yet clean, handles lend more drama to the bedroom, and really (excuse the pun) elevate the piece from simple to sublime.

A rug in the loo. Nice touch. Thoughtfulness like this helps guests feel truly welcome.

Suzanne and Arriz purchased all the components for their kitchen from IKEA too, including the black 3/4" honed granite countertop on the left. In skilled hands, IKEA can look quite sophisticated. Here, as with the wardrobe, the cabinet fronts on the island (on the right) have been painted Copley Gray (HC-104) in a matte finish. It appears they also chose to wrap the island countertop around the cabinets and down to the floor—an effective way of adding more visual substance to the island without making it too heavy. It's also evocative of European cappuccino bars, though those are usually done in marble. Their choice of butcherblock for the island keeps the kitchen rustic and casual, while the visual continuity of lines, use of stainless steel, and the overall emphasis on the horizontal adds modernity.

Moving on to another familiar big box home retailer, Suzanne found this Martes sconce at RONA for $25(!),

using them to flank her beloved wall-mounted hutch. I love the combination of modern, with a bit of industrial, and rustic. It's so utilitarian, and I love utility.

Sigh. I love it all. You can read the entire series from the beginning here.

Inspirations and Diversions: I like this place

2010-02-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

Another House Tour (via Apartment Therapy).

Design Lessons: I could use a little more white in my life

2010-01-29T13:42:00.001-08:00

Schappacher White, that is. (via Apartment Therapy)
Genius. Notice how they warm up what could be a stark black and white palette with touches of gold (in the flowers on a table), brown and beige (through natural wood and fibre), and ivory (in the squash), and simultaneously cool it down with turquoise (bottles in the entry) and grey (squash again). These additions are significant enough to add a lot of tonal depth and richness, bringing out even further the more subtle variations in the different shades of white and black (i.e. warm vs. cool black, or creamy white vs. bright white), without being distracting. Their confident use of large scale pattern in the striped rug and quatrefoil-type throw pillows also helps keep the look graphic and clean.

Bravo.

Out and About: Winter light on the River Sheep

2010-01-12T23:52:00.000-08:00

Solitude, silence and hoar frost on the Sheep River, in southern Alberta. The ambient light as dusk approaches is fairly dim, though no less beautiful.

Below: naturally lit.

With flash.

. . .

Adieu.

Inspirations and Diversions: The Factory

2009-10-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

A former cement factory!

Click to see more photos via Loftlife or Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura in Barcelona.

The Bigger Picture: A Magic Position

2009-09-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

So let the people talk
It's Monday morning. Walk
Right past the fabulous mess we're in
It's gonna be a beautiful day
So do the bluebirds sing
As I take your hand
And you take my kiss
And I take the world
'Cause out of all the people I've known
The places I've been
The songs that I have sung
The wonders I've seen
Now that the dreams are all coming true
Who is the one that leads me on through

It's you
Who puts me in the magic position, darling now
You put me in the magic position
To live, to learn, to love in the major key

I started this blog to get comfortable with talking to people—whether friends, colleagues or clients—about my art and my creative process. And you know, writing these blogs, as long as they take, has been so helpful and so rewarding.

I'm not a superstar with a thousand page hits a day and I rarely get more than one or two comments (to those who leave them, I love you guys. I underestimated how much comments motivate me to keep writing.), but when I'm creating something—a painting, a display, a floral design, an interior, a garden, an event—it's easy to take for granted how sophisticated the process really is. I'm sure most artists|designers|writers|engineers|etc out there would agree: when your creative juices are really going, when you're in the zone, the flow, the moment, or whatever your idiom of choice happens to be, it doesn't really feel like it came from you, right? It just pops out, or happens, or feels like it came from God, the universe, the Great Pumpkin, or some other greater power outside of you. Like Archimedes in the bathtub, you just get|got it.

Yet, I’d start writing about a project, thinking, Let's bang this out and on to breakfast, I'm really busy today, and find myself, every time, hours later, in the midst of recalling the myriad necessary artistic decisions I’d been making from minute to minute, asking the same Universe that gave me this beautiful gift in the first place, “Does it matter? Does anyone really want to know?”

And then I go see Z-Trip at The Starlite and sweet and lovely Nina tells me how touched she was by my moose, and how reading that blog reminded her how much she loves interior design and inspired her to re-examine her own home with fresh eyes. And I’m having a conversation with Erin, who I love and adore, and whose work and work ethic, in rigor and originality, I’ve always thought far surpasses my own, and she tells my that my work on my blog (i.e. the writing and photographs) urges her to treat her own blog with a little more respect and effort. And I realise I’m just being unkind to myself, like many people are to themselves, and I stop that inner conversation and turn my thoughts to something that gives me joy: like being in my office and studio and working on our next project...

and Rama: the love of my life, the business behind my art, and the reason I can do what I do...

and building my business, ID Bohemia. (By the way, if you have a creative business, The Business of Being Creative, is an excellent blog to read.)

Thank you for reading.

Inspirations and Diversions: For all you wanderers-at-heart

2009-08-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Home is wherever (and whatever) you decide to make it. Click.

The Bigger Picture: Everyday Courage and Swooning Over style/SWOON

2009-08-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

I read a lot of blogs, and while I don't usually check the comments, sometimes it's worth it.

"It always occurs to me that some people can pull things off by being brave and cool about it. I mean, if I saw {insert random weird object here}, I would probably think it’s way too weird and people would freak out seeing it hanging in the middle of my living room. But then somebody else does that and it seems to everyone like it’s the most natural thing in the world…"
- Maja Pelc

I was getting dressed to go out for lunch today, and wondering if my chosen duo of prints, coupled with a peacock-feather trimmed bowler, would be too weird. And yet, as I was standing in front of the mirror, I couldn't help but smile and mouth to myself, "Yup. I like this."

I think of my sister who, after my asking her if my outfit was too much, once said, "Do you want to be afraid or do you want to be remembered?" And while I try to dress, first, for myself and I don't much care if other people remember me, it still feels nice to get a compliment (of which I got many that day) and I personally remember all the days I chose to be brave and bold and courageous—both in my dress and in my actions.

Have courage, my dears, in all that you do. Be the best and the boldest. You'll never regret it.
And while you're at it, check out two of a kind over at my new obsession: style/SWOON.

Inspirations and Diversions: I like looking at other people's houses

2009-07-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

Click here to see Mike's place on Apartment Therapy.

That'll do, ID Bohemia. That'll do.

2009-07-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our work for Snowflake Gala 2008, the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation's annual black-tie fundraiser. Our objective was to design and build sets that would entice guests into bidding on Feature Auction packages, donated to the Foundation by various companies from as near as downtown Edmonton, and as far as Orlando, Florida.

The theme colours for 2008 were bright red, yellow, blue and green, introduced by a charming invitation "storybook", featuring teddy bears (the SCH mascot is a teddy bear) doing snowy-related activities like tobogganing and ice skating. The Foundation wanted to return Snowflake Gala to it's kid-focused roots for 2008, as it was felt previous galas were moving too much towards the adult and sophisticated. At the same time, they wished to strike a balance between the children who are the focus of the Stollery Children's Hospital and the Foundation, and their parents whose ticket purchases and auction bids support the biggest fundraising event in Edmonton, also one of the largest of its kind in North America.

For the Feature Auction, ID Bohemia built on the storybook theme by creating a grown-up storybook. Each display included a custom-built or printed backdrop—framed in the year's theme colours—forming a "page". This page was then fleshed out with props begged, borrowed and donated from generous friends, family and businesses.

The final eight packages for the Feature Auction were:

1 - A Family Trip to Jasper National Park, with: accommodations at Tonquin Inn or Maligne Lodge, passes to the Miette Hot Springs, guided white water rafting, horseback riding, a trip to the Columbia Ice Fields, a round of golf at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, lift tickets on the Jasper Tramway, and lease of a Mercedes Benz (SLK 350).

Image courtesy of Klyment Tan
Image courtesy of Klyment Tan
We sought to capture the wilderness of the Canadian Rockies with vintage framed prints and paintings of lake and mountain scenes (regular readers of this blog may recognise the elk), including several paintings donated by Amanda Pura and Marlon Doidge, whose children have been patients of the Stollery Children's Hospital (a lovely example of how full-circle life can be).

2 - A Guided Salmon Fishing Trip, with: flights to Campbell River, BC, and accommodations and a salmon fishing trip for 2 at the Silver King Lodge.

Image courtesy of Klyment Tan
Image courtesy of Klyment Tan
Image courtesy of Klyment Tan
Image courtesy of Klyment Tan
One of our most successful displays, a large scale model of a de Havilland Beaver on floats, with an astonishing wingspan of 129" (over 10'!), floated over fifty watery-eyed Chinook salmon, themselves racing across the Pacific Ocean, as depicted in a massive treasure map complete with an "X" marking the location of the Silver King Lodge...and sea monsters! John James designed the map around an antique image we'd found of Vancouver Island (if you'd seen what we gave her originally...it was soup from a stone, I tell you). It was printed by Klyment Tan at PrintHuge.

The de Havilland Beaver is a bush plane developed by de Havilland Canada and known in flying circles as an extraordinarily dependable workhorse.

Despite the fact that production ceased in 1967, hundreds of Beavers are still flying—many of them heavily modified to adapt to changes in technology and needs.

(de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, Wikipedia)

Even today, demand for Beavers continues so strongly that companies have taken to fishing downed Beavers from lake beds and muskeg and rebuilding them!

3 - A Wine Tour with Private Jet, including tastings and tours at Kettle Valley Winery, Hillside Estate Winery, Lake Breeze Vineyards, Red Rooster Winery and Township 7 Vineyards and Winery.

Image courtesy of Klyment Tan
Considering how involved and well put-together this package was, admittedly, this display wasn't as strong as it could have been (the package wasn't confirmed until quite late in the design process). Still, thanks to a wealth of wine crates, a bit of creative finagling with grapes, and my crew's talented set-dressing skills, it worked out quite well.

Those guests paying careful attention would have noticed that the wines in the display came from two of the vineyards included in the trip. I always wonder if anyone notices these things besides the creator (in this case, us), and I always hope that small details like that work, at least, on a subconscious level towards the overall impact of a design/creation/whathaveyou. God is in the details, as they say.

4 - A Trip to Hawaii, including: flights to Oahu, Hawaii, and accommodations at Makaha Resort and Golf Club.

Image courtesy of Klyment Tan
Image courtesy of Klyment Tan
Image courtesy of Klyment Tan
Who better sing you to Hawaii than a ukelele cover band!

I first heard The Be Arthurs (now The B'Arthurs?) on CJSR several years ago, doing a cover of Justin Timberlake's Cry Me A River. (Click here to see more videos of them on their YouTube Channel.)

The Be Arthurs were set up on an artificial putting green lent to us by Evergreen Turf, and their performance, by the way, was superbly awesome.

The flowers in the background are known either as plumeria or frangipani, found on a stock photography site, and printed by PrintHuge. Though not native, plumeria grow abundantly in Hawaii and are often used in making leis.

5 - An Event Design Package, courtesy of ID Bohemia.

Goodkey Show Services provided us with red velvet stanchions and a red carpet, intended to convey an atmosphere of luxury. We kept noticing groups of people gathering on the carpet to chat. At the end of the carpet, we placed the image we used in our wedding invitation, an ambitious set design depicting a young writer obsessing over his muse, and a portfolio of our event work that I created especially for Snowflake Gala.

6 - A Trip for 4 to Orlando, Florida, including: flights, accommodations at the Marriott Orlando World Center Resort, passes to the Kennedy Space Centre, passes to Walt Disney World (3 days x 4 people), tickets to Skyventure Orlando Indoor Skydiving Experience (including Training, rental gear, 2 skydives, DVD Flight Recording and Photos), and park passes to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.

Image courtesy of Klyment Tan
Fifty pink flamingos (the original, and best, Don Featherstone design) lolled about a crisp, blue lagoon reminiscent of Florida's iconic Everglades National Park, sporting handmade flamingo-scaled Mickey Mouse hats. On the LCD flatscreen, they watched looped video of space shuttle launches from Cape Canaveral.

The vintage film reels, implying Universal Studios, were lent to us by our very good friend Scott McPherson, a writer, producer and Principles Trainer, with a long and successful career in television and film.

7 - An Evening in Bangkok for 6 couples, featuring: manicure and pedicure treatments at Pure Elements Hair and Body for the women, and Thai cooking lessons from Chef Elaine Wilson of Allium Foodworks for the men, after which the women return from their spa session to enjoy dinner and wine with their men.

The golden elephant probably gained us the most "cred" from our fellow set designers, themselves working in other areas of Snowflake Gala. Crafted from carefully crumped cardboard by Aaron and I over three full days, it measures 5' tall and 4' across from ear to ear. Lorn put together an appealing display using bamboo trunks imported from Thailand, and traditional Thai cooking ingredients like ginger, lime and chilies.

8 - An Escape to Bear Mountain, including: a stay at The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa, Victoria and 6-month lease of a 2009 Mercedes Benz SLK 350 Roadster.

I'm not normally a car person, but this Mercedes-Benz Roadster was pretty darned sexy. In the driver's seat sits the Stollery mascot surrounded by teddy-"chicks" from Bearyland, the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation toy and gift shop located on the main level of the University Hospital. For the background, I drew a Dr. Seuss-inspired windy mountain road on wood-patterned paper.

This was a very interesting project to work on, in part because the parameters of the project continued to change quite significantly (due to the size and nature of the donated auction items) right up until it's installation in Halls A, B and C of Edmonton's Shaw Conference Centre , and also because the contents of each package were so richly varied.

The displays were very well received by the guests of Snowflake Gala 2008, as well as the staff and volunteers. Everyone said they were incredibly creative and artistic—a huge step up from previous years—and very representative of the Feature Auction packages.

Thanks to Klyment Tan for printing the backdrops and taking a few photos of the event for us, Al Schmidt for lending us his de Havilland Beaver, the people at Sobeys Urban Fresh on Jasper and 104 for the grapes, Bin 104 for digging up all those wine crates, Angus at Polly Magoo's Ltée. for lending us exotic props, Scott McPherson for his film reels (and for not losing it when they were, um, temporarily misplaced by the tear-down crew), Aaron's co-worker at ServiceMaster, Rick, for his leather saddles, Suzanne Chivers and Amanda Pura and Marlon Doidge and their children Jessica Trathen, Cody Pura and Sarah Doidge for donating paintings, Gary Selanders of Evergreen Turf for lending us real artificial turf, Goodkey Show Services for the red carpet, stanchions and black curtain wall (and for correcting my set-up foibles), Showtech for lighting, and the Shaw Conference Centre for the use of their A/V equipment.

Thank you especially to Rob Stewart, Grant Miller, and ServiceMaster of Edmonton for so generously donating the funds to carry through this project for the Stollery, The Be Arthurs for performing that evening (I sincerely hope it leads to some gigs), Lorn Iseke, James Carignan, Jessica Palsitt and the many volunteers for your way too many hours in setting it all up, and the staff of the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation for staying at the Shaw Conference Centre until the wee morning hours so that Aaron and I didn't have to be there for tear down at 1am after several very long days and for your general cheerings-on.

Really, it's all the people who took the time and effort to donate supplies, money or their "off" hours for these displays, and indeed the entire gala production, that ensured that as much of the fund-raised money as possible went towards the Stollery Children's Hospital and its patients. Bravo!

Inspirations and Diversions: I can see, but for a moment, I understand

2009-07-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

Listen to BT's This Binary Universe...

1 - All That Makes Us Human Continues

2 - Dynamic Symmetry

3 - The Internal Locus

4 - 1.618

5 - See You On The Other Side

6 - The Antikythera Mechanism

7 - Good Morning Kaia

P.S. If you can find it, listen to Perfect Stranger - Ode ao sol (Eithan/Eitan Reiter remix). In the meantime, here's the original:

It's up to me, Part D-I-NY: New York (drinking and friendly)

2009-07-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

The following day, we rolled out of the hotel sometime around 2pm, headed down to Lexington and, not having a particular destination in mind, picked a direction and started walking.

Here is a grouped arrangement of lilies with Carex leaves wrapped around the vase, seen through the windows of the W New York – Union Square – I liked that the outside of the vase was utilised as effectively as the inside.

We walked by that hotel several times over the seven days we stayed in New York and it was lovely to see the character of the arrangements evolve as the lilies came into full bloom from these tight buds, changing from tone-on-tone greens to a vibrant contrast of green and orange-red.

After wandering around the East Village and a couple fantastic bowls of ramen (just like Tokyo!) at Rai Rai Ken, we found ourselves at Ryan’s Irish Pub, drawn in by Postal Service wafting out the door. A good choice for a chill evening on our second day in the Big Apple.

Our very charming Irish bartender (complete with an equally charming Irish accent) took this picture. I wish I could remember his name – he was so awesome – but I'd had too many pints of Guinness and chocolate martinis. Which brings me two another highlight of our trip: how friendly the people are in New York. Aaron and I were sitting at the bar, enjoying our pint and cocktail respectively, when a random guy walked in off the street and sat down next to us at the end of the bar. He ordered a drink, and then just-like-that POOF! started a conversation.

Arthur, with curly hair and glasses, talked about how he grew up in New York in a wealthy family—his dad had something to do with investing or banking or investment banking—and was working as a concierge in a hotel. We told him about Edmonton and how my sister gave us this trip as a gift. We showed him a vintage pillbox hat with french net that we’d bought for her at St. George’s Thrift Shop in Gramercy (she makes couture hats, and french net (i.e. net with large squares) is surprisingly hard to find), and we talked about our event design business.

I’d like to think it’s because we’re so cool that we settled into conversation with our bartender too, learning that he’d been in New York for two years or so, with an apartment in Manhattan his first year and over a thousand per month in rent, killing himself working to live, before finally conceding to the powers that be and moving to Queens. Or was it Brooklyn? ...I may have been three chocolate martinis in at this point. (Aaron told me later that our bartender liked us so much, he’d started comp-ing our drinks. And, oh, were those martinis tasty.)

A couple hours later, I leaned into Aaron and hissed that we had to go—I was worried I might be sick—but he was having such a good time that he tried to ignore me. I got brushed off by my bemused husband 3 or 4 times before I decided to take matters into my own hands, picking up our bag with the hat off the bar, and walking out the door. Once outside, though, I felt better and lit up a cigarette thinking I'd go back in after a moment, but then Aaron stumbled out about a minute later asking why I didn’t say goodbye. We wobbled our way back to the hotel, me in heels and hanging onto Aaron like the pope to a bible, laughing and shouting, “Whoo! I love New York! I’m in New York! Drunk! Whoo! New York! Drunk!” etc…the entire way.

The next morning, after many loving nuzzles over my Marge Simpson laugh, Aaron told me how he waved goodbye to Arthur and our bartender, running after me like a six-year-old called home to dinner, and everyone hopeful we'd be back.

It's up to me, Part D-I-NY: New York (the Metropolitan Opera)

2009-07-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

The Metropolitan Opera House
Photo: Caroline Digonis/Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera House is a stunning building within the larger complex of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (or simply Lincoln Center). Aaron and I would’ve taken a photo ourselves, but there must have been several perfomances happening in Lincoln Center that night because it was very crowded and impossible to get a good picture. Flanking the lobby are two massive paintings by Marc Chagall, titled The Triumph of Music and The Sources of music, commissioned for the Center when it was newly built, and each measuring 30’ x 36’.

A portion of the ceiling in the lobby is gold leafed, lending a very rich effect, further to the red velvet walls. I admit there was some wall rubbing, bordering on frottage, happening.

We would’ve liked to take a few pictures of the auditorium, but that was promptly forbidden by the ushers. You’ll just have to click here instead.

I brought the fiery crinoline I wore at our wedding, to wear with a purple and red silk scarf that I fashioned into a top with pins. Aaron’s loving comments on how beautiful I was, and that people were staring at me from all around the lobby deflected my attention from a rumbly stomach and the lone brownie I’d had during intermission. I love him. He always knows what to say.

“Cavalleria Rusticana” at the Metropolitan Opera, as seen in the New York Times.

In retrospect, Cav/Pag was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. Lush costumes and sets easily satisfied our voracious event designer eyes. I’d love to go back to New York in 2012 and see Lepage’s new production of Wagner’s Ring cycle.)

It's up to me, Part D-I-NY: New York

2009-07-16T16:48:00.001-07:00

I'd been putting this post off because after Aaron and I got back from New York so many people were asking us about New York that I didn't want to recap New York any more, much less write about New York (though I’m happy our friends and family are interested in the things I'm/we're up to). But I was looking through some of our travel photos yesterday and thought it would be nice to write about it now. See if you can infer the relationship between Renée Fleming singing with muppets and (what will be) this series of New York posts.

--

One thing I did before we even boarded the plane, and which I plan to do for every major trip we take from now on, was look up and purchase tickets for local events or shows. While I’d never thought to do that before, I really can't emphasise enough how satisfying it was to step off the plane and arrive at our hotel knowing our trip already had some structure – that we had something to do. Yes, you might say, "What?! It's New York! There are a bajillion things to do!" And you would be right. But at the same time, for me, arriving in any new city at all tends to bring on a wide-eyed, lost and confused feeling just like I get at Home Depot when I stop in quickly to get something specific, and immediately forget what I wanted upon entering the building because there's just so much damn stuff in there (somewhat similar to the feeling I get at the grocery store, when I run in to get the 3 things I knew I needed when I was at home and can no longer remember once I'm standing at the door). We were due to arrive in New York for Thursday, April 2nd at 11am, so I booked tickets to the double-bill Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci at the Metropolitan Opera for 8pm later that day, and then the Broadway musical South Pacific for the following Tuesday before we were to return home (or so I thought) the next Thursday.

Above is an arrangement of manzanita branches in a “boxer planter” by Westplant Green Facility. I think it was part of a green design display in Toronto’s Pearson airport. I use a camera as a visual notebook, so it tends to get filled up with pictures of random things that appeal to me for some reason or another. I think at the time I took this picture, I'd been considering using manzanita branches for a wedding I was doing.

I’d laid out all the places we wanted to visit in Google Maps to see where the best area for a hotel would be, and decided on the Hotel Deauville off Lexington, in Murray Hill. (Check out the reviews on Trip Advisor here.) The rooms were tiny and sometimes I’d catch a funny smell coming from the bathroom, but it was cheap and otherwise clean and very close to everything we knew we wanted to see and do. If we ever went to New York again, I’d probably stay there.

I want to say we hit the town right after dropping off our luggage at the hotel, but I’d be lying. We’d taken the near red-eye, with a two-hour layover in Toronto, so our heads were on the pillows once our bags hit the floor. Waking up just in time for dinner, we wandered around Gramercy looking for sustenance and ABC Carpet & Home (a New York must if you work in interiors and design) – it was too late to peruse the aisles or whatever-the-hey they had there, but at least we’d know where it was and could come back again later.

These are some of the window displays in ABC Carpet & Home, including displays for their Gary Graham in-store boutique (click News & Events on his page to see more pictures and read an article on the boutique).

I loved the ball-and claw foot mannequin so much, I bought similar legs on eBay and am making a mannequin of my own, except with a taxidermy pike head (similar to this one) and an Elizabethan ruff.

We didn’t have much time to look around that day, but we ended up returning three or four times over our seven days in New York to fully explore the six-floor, two-building, Chintz-on-steroids home extravaganza that is ABC. (Susan, the GM for Edmonton’s Chintz & Co., told me Chintz was modeled on ABC before Aaron and I left to come to New York, and I could see the resemblance. It's interesting to me that even a store like Chintz & Co., with four locations across western Canada has a role model.) At first, we didn’t realise how big the store was because we couldn’t find any elevators or escalators, just a mezzanine and a basement level, but we figured it out on subsequent visits.

I took a couple photos of antique zinc-topped tables from France, thinking I might make one out of the nasty faux-granite spray-painted round table (it came with the house) in our kitchen. I’d been thinking about how to attach sheet metal to a tabletop and keep it looking tidy, but seeing these tables being sold in an expensive retail store with the zinc just nailed down has given me the impetus to throw caution to the wind. I’ll likely use galvanized steel instead of zinc. It’s more readily available here. (I wonder why zinc is used so much for tabletops and counters in France, anyway…)

There was a bakery, Le Pain Quotidien (translation: Daily Bread), next door to ABC so Aaron and I sat down to have dinner. I regret not taking more pictures of its interior because it was so simply, yet elegantly, decorated – raw wood floors, rough brick or plaster walls, simple steel pendant lights, and minimal decoration (i.e. art or sculpture) save for a grouping of rusty tractor seats. Most of the seating was communal, with everyone at long, unfinished wood, harvest-style tables. The bread itself was the feature, beautifully presented behind a long counter, in baskets and on wooden racks. Even the drink menu was held in place on the table in a slot cut into a dry hunk of bread! Very nicely done.

Aaron had a smoked chicken and mozzarella sandwish and mint lemonade, and I had a grilled chicken cobb salad and apple juice. I’d never had a cobb salad until this trip, but I think it’s my new favourite salad. (Click here for a recipe (or 8).)

Here is Aaron talking to Visa about the problems we continue to have with our credit cards while travelling.

Isn’t he handsome in his tweed jacket? He got it in an Irish clothing shoppe in Niagara-on-the-Lake when we went to Toronto to visit the lovelies Erin, Daniel and Emily.

Ahh. Pleasantly sated, we were now ready to tackle all that New York had to offer.

Workin' it 9 to 5, Part III: The Blanket Truth

2009-06-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

I love hip hop. There are many genres of music out there that I like, but sometimes I just wanna bump up on my Rama, and only a hip hop beat will do it for me. Did you know that when lyrics are recorded backwards in a song there's have a name for it? It's called backmasking! Reminds of a passage I was reading just yesterday, in Anne Lamott's "Bird by Bird", on how the author finally came to know that the "wire thing" that covers all champagne corks is called the "wire hood". (Part Three: HELP ALONG THE WAY - Calling Around, p. 145)

On the process of writing and research, she wrote that part of being a writer is a willingness to go where that process wanders and flows, pushing or pulling you along with it all the while.

The truth is that there are simply going to be times when you can't go forward in your work until you find out something about the place you grew up, when it was still a railroad town, or what the early stages of shingles are like, or what your character would actually experience the first week of beauty school. So figure out who would have this information and give that person a call. It's best if you can think of someone who's witty and articulate, so you can steal all of his or her material. Also, of course, it's just more interesting to be on the phone with someone who's sort of keen. But these qualities are not absolutely necessary, because you may just be looking for one piece of information, or even just one word, and you do not need a whole lot of background or humor to go with it. And it may also turn out that in searching for this one bit of information, something else will turn up that you absolutely could not have know would be out there waiting for you.

For Anne, it's wine hoods. For me, it's backmasking. And, like Anne, I never might've thought I'd actually be able to use that little tidbit of information, until just now. Backmasking...ah.

The more permutations of the creative process I explore and encounter, whether design, writing, painting, drawing, photography, music, sewing, jewellery, gardening, et al, etc...the more I see they're all the same and my creative world grows ever wider and more expansive. It makes me wonder: is it like that in life too? Maybe this is what Scott is talking about when he says, "It's all the octopus." Maybe this is what Bernard meant when he said, "It's all the blanket."

In closing,

Good karma to you all.

Workin' it 9 to 5, Part II: My messy desk

2009-06-23T11:11:00.001-07:00

Above me, wind does its best
to blow leaves off
the aspen tree a month too soon.
No use wind. All you succeed
in doing is making music, the noise
of failure growing beautiful.

- Bill Holm, "August in Waterton, Alberta"

The client that I fired came over yesterday to pick up the materials I bought that she'd still like to use. It's nice to have closure to that project finally.

After I let her wedding go, I felt a profound sense of loss. Loss for all the time spent on a project that I wouldn't be seeing to fruition, and for all the time spent on that project that could've been spent in the studio, or writing, or on any other creative project significantly less stressful and infinitely more satisfying. Hundreds of hours, amounting to a lesson learned. And though I told myself that knowing when to quit is a valuable skill, I still found myself angry and frustrated in front of the paint cans at Home Depot and on the phone to my friend Scott (several times). Thanks, Rama and Scott, for being there.

I suppose there was something in me, that I've lived with for so long I couldn't have known I learned it somewhere, that equated giving up or letting go to failure. And who knows? Maybe that's true. And yet now, now that it's over and all the loose ends are tied up, I feel relieved and free. And at peace.

How things change.

Workin' it 9 to 5, Part I: OXO lessons

2009-06-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

I received my new peeler in the mail today! Everything was perfect, right down to the red felt in Rachel's note and the textured ink on the OXO stationery.

But I was already a fan of OXO before this all started, so while any gift is a wonderful thing to receive in the mail, what this little adventure has shown me is the importance of branding and the impact that the customer experience has on the success of a company.

The Rise, The Fall and The Neverending Story: A musical and philosophical exploration in three parts

2009-06-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

I wrote OXO last night, when the stifling air per a storm-that-never-came begat a thirst for nostalgia and cantaloupe.

Dear good people at Oxo,

I first fell in love with you over your Oxo Steel Swivel Peeler, which I bought over 5 years ago when I first moved out on my own and suddenly needed kitchen implements.
I admit, 5 years later, the blade isn't as sharp as it used to be and though I haven't had a lot of luck finding replacement blades up here in Canada, I can't bring myself to throw it away and buy a new one. Something about it's firm yet squishy utility begs me to hold onto it just a little longer.

I also own a Steel can opener, whisk, ice cream scoop and lemon zester. I love them all, though perhaps the lemon zester just a little less. My weak wrists necessitate me keeping a death grip on my lemon with my left hand, while my right hand forms a fist around the zester's handle, usually with my thumb up near the zesting part for guidance. Perhaps if you rotated the zesting part a quarter turn it would work better? Or maybe it would just work better for me.

The whisk is the best whisk I've ever used, bar none, and I've worked in several commercial kitchens. Holding it in my hand, I can't believe no one had thought of it's design before you geniuses (no exaggeration). And while its turgid profile does lend itself to many a dirty kitchen joke from my dinner guests, well, that just adds to the joy of using it.

Accolades aside, I'm writing this e-mail to you as a child of Filipino immigrant parents longing for a taste of the old country in a hot Canadian summer.

When I was child living with my parents, my mom would sometimes make me a drink with shredded cantaloupe, milk or water and a bit of sugar. Very simple and wonderfully refreshing. Mom used a tool she brought here from the Philippines and available at some Filipino markets, like the one on the left in the top picture of this page.

Melon shredder, Market Manila

While it worked well enough for it's purpose, I couldn't help noticing how she had to periodically adjust and readjust the loops, which would be pushed out of alignment by the force of drawing them against firm cantaloupe flesh. Now, thinking about your wonderful zester (and my mom's developing arthritis): would you consider making a bigger version? Perhaps with 3/8" sized holes?

Though I didn't think it possible, I just might love you even more than I did before.

My thanks,
Christina

They wrote me back! I got an e-mail from Rachel Cooper, a marketing assistant for OXO today.

Hi Christina,

Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback on all your OXO products! We design our products with the consumer’s needs in mind, and are always happy to hear when we have hit the mark. We are glad that you are enjoying all of our tools, and putting them to good use in the kitchen.

Understandably, the blades of your Peeler will dull over time and therefore will not work as well as when you first bought it. We’re sorry that you were unable to find a Replacement Blade, but have no fear- as all our products have a lifetime Satisfaction Guarantee. We would love to send you a new SteeL Swivel Peeler, free of charge. Just let me know if you would like me to use the address provided as the shipping address.

We always appreciate suggestions for products from consumers, and take all your comments into consideration. I am forwarding your email (and the link) to our Product Managers to take a look at and consider. Please let us know if you have any further questions or suggestions for our products. We appreciate all your positive feedback and support and are happy to be a part of your kitchen.

Thanks,
Rachel Cooper
Marketing Assistant

I send out these sorts of e-mails from time to time, but I never expect anyone to write me back. I tend to assume large corporations with worldwide distribution, like OXO, don't actually have time for that sort of thing. Well, Rachel, thanks for proving me wrong. And now I get a free swivel peeler! I'll add it to our collection.

(That's the swivel peeler in the middle. edit: Missing is the spatula, pardon...turner that I found hiding in the dish drainer later this evening.)

I had the biggest, silliest grin on my face and was looking for music to play as I wrote this blog when I glanced out the door to the balcony and noticed a police van pulling up to a house across the alley. We live very close to downtown, so I figured maybe someone had "fallen asleep" behind someone's garage. Instead, they walked over to a van that's been parked in one of the driveways, knocked on the windows and spoke at length with the woman who came out from inside.

(Cue Beethoven's 7th Symphony, 2nd Movement - allegretto.)

Trailer for The Fall.

For the last few months, a couple has been living out of a pale yellow van, parked in the driveway of a house across the alley. At times we wanted to call the police, but we figured everyone has to live somewhere, and as long as they weren't scattering our garbage everywhere, or drinking in our driveway (which is another story for another blog entry), well, who were we to judge them. Sometimes, when Aaron and I were gardening in the back yard late into the evening, we'd see the man and woman walking together through the alley and they'd say hello and we'd say hello and everyone would smile and it would be nice. We knew/know nothing about them or their lives or how they came to be in the place they were and, if anything, they probably needed our compassion. And a few cans.

But I can't quite express the relief I felt seeing that van pull out of the driveway this afternoon, and how different the alley feels not having a rusted old van, with bed sheets, clothes and towels lain atop its roof and across its hood, parked in one of the driveways. As much as my heart feels compassion for people in difficult circumstances, it also feels a nearly intolerable frustration at seeing the heaps of food containers, clothes, rags, and general near-domestic detritus that van barfed all over that driveway.

Wherever they are, I sincerely hope their circumstances work out for the better. Maybe someday, with a bit more life experience, I can offer them something more than a smile and hello.

Thankfully, Aaron and I had an excellent evening together. When he came home from work, we went out for a bike ride, and then we took care of some errands before an evening of snuggling and a few episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Overall, this day has been really quite wonderful.

Ah, the never ending human drama. I'll leave you with this video of Architecture in Helsinki's "Do the whirlwind".

Memoir: I think I'm in loveand it makes me kinda nervous to say so

2009-06-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

Rare Chicago skyscraper building facade industrial spotlight - Crouse-Hinds, Urban Remains Chicago.

I love utility. And I especially love the rusty and decrepit kind of utility in these old industrial objects at Urban Remains Chicago. My God, let me build a house with this stuff and I'll ascend to heaven the day after it's complete.

I think it has something to do with my Dad being a pipefitter, and later an electrician, as I was growing up. Periodically, we'd all go see him in his workshop and there was something so wonderful and mysterious about all the tools I couldn't figure out a use for, shiny metal screwnutbolt things, coloured wires, and well worn, if dusty, workbenches, stools and chairs.

He has an old oak office chair, very much like this one but with four legs, languishing in his garage, covered in paint spots and dirt, that he rescued from one of the places he worked for before it shut down. I lust for it. Years and years ago, when we had a garage sale, the first person to walk up the driveway poked around the garage for a few minutes and offered Dad $200 for the chair. And he said no (!), and that it wasn't for sale. Dad wasn't the happiest person, growing up, but he seemed to take a special joy in his work and in personal achievement. Perhaps that chair has meaning for him.

More than anyone I've ever known, Dad taught me to see beauty in the usefulness of something, which I suppose is why I'm so attracted to barns, workshops, warehouses, tools, metals, wood and glass. While Mom gave me an appreciation for style and flash, Dad made sure it was grounded in function and craftsmanship.

Aaron's respect for the balance between utility and aesthetics is one thing that really really really attracted me to him. And like me, he learned those concepts from his parents. Though, unlike me, he learned them on their land in the forest in Peace River.

I'm reminded of this quote from William Morris,

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

The more I think about these things the more I understand: all these objects I lust after...all these projects I do...they're always about creating my happy-er place.

What's your happy place?

Blue walls smiling at me. Nothing but blue walls do I see.

2009-06-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

Ah! I love my office. And now, after a long absence from writing, I have returned, stronger, faster, more comfortable and more beautiful than ever.

I fired a client for the first time last week. And you know, I am so happy to have gone through the experience. I know myself better, and I learned to say "no". It's an important skill to learn. Period.

So...a little catch-up.

I moved my "office" from my kitchen to a former bedroom, and now instead of hunching in a chair that's too tall over a keyboard that's too short, I have my very comfortable vintage black David Rowland 40/4 office chair (thanks Dad!), so named because you can stack 40 of them into 4 square feet of space, in which to lounge as I lay bare this lifestyle lexicon. Now, I have a balcony to retire to and a verdant back yard to look onto when the inspiration leaves me and I'm a little pile of tropical frustration. Now, I have more art on the walls. Ah!

The two paintings you see above were found at different times in different thrift stores. I bought the elk on the left, along with several other vintage landscape paintings, for a project Aaron and I did for the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation. I love how it manages to be so kitsch and majestic and Canadiana all at once. I was considering giving it away to a fellow artist who asked to have the landscape paintings once we were finished with them, but it's just so je ne sais quoi for me that I couldn't let it go. Maybe it has something to do with my Dad. He loves elk, and I like hearing him say "Elk". One of those "through leaves" experiences, I guess (see footnote).

When I saw the moose on the right and recognised the matching frame, I was on that thing like kittens to a yarn ball. I was telling Aaron last night, after hanging the two pictures, that the moose reminded me of him and I said something along the lines of "a big, strong animal alone in the Canadian wilderness". (Laugh if you must, but it came out much cuter and more romantic at the time.) It's interesting to me how I'd choose to hang it next to the elk that reminds me of my Dad. My two big, strong animals...

I almost regret we will not be showing pictures of our home until it is done, including the office, as we are hiring a professional photographer with the intention of publishing it in Canadian House and Home, Elle Decor, Style at Home, or some other decorating magazine, and perhaps also a blog like Apartment Therapy or Design Sponge (check out this gorgeous sneak peak). When that happens, I'll let you know. Within a year or two.

In the works right now are a website for ID Bohemia, a show and sale featuring curated art from my art school days and jewelry I've been making, and a wedding in September.

Not too much more to write today, as nearly everything is in transition. I just wanted to say I'm working, and I'm in love with life."

--
footnote:
In Easy Living, Terence Conran writes:

Vita Sackville-West, in a talk broadcast on BBC radio in 1950, identified a whole range of insignificant, essentially domestic pleasures that everyone has experienced from tie to time but hardly ever remarks upon. In the family shorthand, which gave the talk its title, these brief moments of satisfaction were collectively termed "through leaves", after the "small but intense pleasure of walking through dry leaves and kicking them up as you go." It was "through leaves" to run a stick along an iron railing or to crunch thin ice; to suddenly remember a word or name you thought you'd forgotten; or to write with the perfect pen nib. So was pulling curtains that ran freely on their rods, sliding out the drawer of a steel filing cabinet which opened "readily and silkily" on ball bearings, cutting pages of a book with a sharp paper cutter, or drawing a cork with a good corkscrew. Drinking when you're thirsty, feeling sand between your toes at the beach, reading in bed – that "perfect moment" that lasts only as long as you can stay awake – sinking into bouncy seats at the cinema...

New York ate my camera charger

2009-05-15T00:13:00.000-07:00

What does a chainsaw have to do with my camera? Nothing. The chainsaw is working and my camera is not. I, however, am a busy little tropical people, working working working away. Ai.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with:

1) A new addition to the blog roll?
Answer: Apartment Therapy. Quite possibly the best shelter blog ever. I have been known to wander its wending link paths for days. I force myself to stay away now, unless I've set a timer for random surfing. Time disappears on AT and I know not where it goes, except that I am often very hungry when Rama gets home, and too weak to cook my own dinner.

B) My reasoning for garden design being!
Answer: Bernard Trainor. In the name of all that is holy—whether of the donut, papal, or glory variety. (Ryan, James and Melissa, that last one was for you.) Perusing his site, for the first time, I finally believed that xeriscaping could be sexy, and not just the dry grass and fields of gravel I'd then far seen. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I wept...well, on the inside. To the casual companion, my inside weeping looked, or rather, sounded like multi-layered sighings and oohings and whimperings of ecstacy. If I could have a boner for a garden designer, Bernard would be him.

Enjoy, my darling blog readers. And stay tuned for pictures of what's been keeping me so busy for the last week.

For your eyes only VI: An Idea on Centerpieces and other Table Accoutrements

2009-05-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

For the tables, Aaron and I found these Moroccan-style lanterns. They will make beautiful centerpieces.

We would like to do something like this with the lanterns, covering the tops with lush green moss (alluding to the temperate rainforest outside the wedding venue)

but with this orchid stem.

We'll put a burlap/hessian runner or overlay on the tables. I did that once for a dinner party, and Ryan really dug it. “I dig the burlap!” he said.

The rough texture of burlap will be a pleasing counter point to to the lacquered shine of some chargers we’ve been saving that are very similar to these, but silvery champagne in colour. Wedding glamour, while still down to earth.

These leaves will make interesting placecards—each guest’s name will be written on them in gold paint marker.

We'll make table numbers from slate tiles written on with chalk.

That's everything we've come up with so far. What do you think?

For your eyes only V: An Idea on Flowers

2009-05-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

We have these vases. The tall one is 24” x 6” and the short one is 10” x 5”. Their simple shapes open them to a range of treatments with flowers or candles. Ryan asked for some sort of stair treatment, so we’d like to do a line of vases going up the stairs , with alternating arrangements of sarracenia, also known as pitcher plants,

and grasses (the same ones used in the martini), to accompany the paper mural we'll be creating.

After my conversation with Ryan about hot hot colour, I remembered some orchids I’d seen at Shangri-La here in Edmonton. We went to both locations to pick them up,

and while Aaron and I were there, these succulents caught my eye.

I’ll use them in Melissa’s bouquet to compliment this little guy

that Ryan really liked in the martini glass arrangement, and which I’ll be using for the mens’ boutonnieres along with the yellow and orange orchids. In addition to the orchid bloom and sedum, Ryan’s boutonniere will have a calla lily in it, to set it apart from the groomsmen's boutonnieres.

The women will carry a simple bouquet of two calla lilies, either these

or these,

with their stems bound in red or orange ribbon.

For Melissa’s bouquet, I'll do a cluster of roses (the same roses as the martini arrangement and another brighter red rose)

surrounded by a swirling cascade of red lilies,

a hot pink magnolia,

orange tulips,

and amaranthus, also known as “love lies bleeding”, (it’s probably my cameratic ineptitude, but for some reason, it rarely photographs well on its own),

and finished with a ruff of cycad leaves

and ferns (temperate rainforest chic).

It’ll be a comma or upside-down-paisley shape (but less Dr. Seuss), which will go well with Melissa’s dress (warning: if you are Ryan, or if you are not Ryan but don’t have the sense to keep a secret from him, do not click the dress link. Ryan doesn’t know what the dress looks like and Melissa would prefer to keep it that way until their wedding!).

To be continued...

For your eyes only IV: A Little Idea

2009-05-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

The paper mural is our Big Idea. Now for a Little Idea.

In thinking of other alludingtomeetinginschool-type supplies we could use, I found this picture

on the site for Fête, a New York-based event planning and design company: a blackboard seating display. The bridesmaids dresses are black and the invitations will have black paper in them! This is a lovely, yet understated way of adding black to our otherwise colourful event design for Ryan and Melissa's wedding.

For your eyes only III: Cinque Terre

2009-05-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

Cinque Terre. “The Five Lands”. The Man’s Park (we all had a laugh at that one, though Ryan is quite hopeful they meant “man” in the most expansive humanistic sense). The one place in the world where Ryan and Melissa would choose to live given all the time and money they could ever hope for. I found some photos on the interwebs of the five villages that make up Cinque Terre and suddenly everything came together.

Several, or all, of these images have been treated with HDRI techniques to bring out the colour contrasts—in effect, they capture not just what the place looks like, but what it feels like, and that is what Aaron and I are most interested in. (If you are the creator of any of these images and would like me to credit you, please send me an e-mail and I would fall all over myself to do that for you. Karma for inspiration from the internether.)

Our plan is to create an abstract mural, based on these photos, of Cinque Terre in paper and tape on the walls of Rainforest Beach Lodge’s great room. Aaron wants to add a few surprise details that I’m sure will delight the couple and their guests, and I don’t use that term…de-lightly. Ha ha. I like the idea of something simple, like paper and tape, reimagined into something sublime. I hope Ryan and Melissa like it too.

To be continued...

For your eyes only II: The Big Idea

2009-05-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

Ryan and Melissa are both energetic, creative, multi-faceted people. They met at the University of Alberta where they both went to grad school for Speech Pathology, the field in which they both work now. Ryan remembers being impressed on their first date when, after he scoffed that there was no way Melissa would finish her enormous Scottish meat pie, she replied that she could, and she did (following it with dessert). They find as much joy being out in the hills and mountains near their home in High River as they do on the myriad worn stone terraces dotting the Italian coast, where they went for Ryan’s brother’s wedding. Ryan writes and produces music, and Melissa is part of a scrapbooking group and is a founding member of The Unicorns, a club she started with several classmates back in school. They have a wide circle of close friends involved in activities ranging from mountaineering, to networking, and nightclub ownership to administration. On their first night at our house for dinner, they offered to wash the dishes and I got to see Melissa’s endearingly cute smile. They are equal parts geek chic and gregarious. They’re involved. They’re in there. They are wonderful.

When Aaron and I visited them in High River, they told us of their travels, together and apart, through Italy and Morocco, places they visited together (like Cinque Terre),

things they did besides each other, like stomping grapes,

things they saw

and things they brought back, like these Moroccan lanterns

and this goat skin lamp.

The reverence in their voices when talking about travelling was readily apparent, so it was to these faraway places that I nudged my thoughts in putting together our second proposal.

When Ryan and Melissa were last in Edmonton, he casually mentioned that they wanted suggestions on wall treatments for the reception venue to add more colour, namely fabric for draping. The venue is a rustic and beautiful lodge on Vancouver Island, with pale walls and taupe carpet.

Ryan's request presented a challenge. Checking my resources around the city, I wasn’t able to find fabric I could buy in large quantities while keeping within their budget and so I wandered the catacombs of memory in search of something else. And then it came to me: paper!

Aaron and I went to Staples to suss out prices for paper, and paper definitely fits within their budget.

We’d used paper for an installation in art school to great success (I got an A on the project), and, it so happened, in the colours Ryan wanted for their wedding,

so I knew the medium could work wonderfully for them. (And there are school and paperwork and scrapbooking connotations as well! How cool is that?) And so, armed with a new|old medium and source of inspiration, our thoughts turned to what to do with it.

We could crumple it,

cut it,

roll it,

sculpt and layer it,

hang it grid style,

even mold it into irresistibly delicious clouds of exhaust (these papers are cupcake wrappers).

(All photos are of Anthropologie store or window displays—I urge you click here for a Google Image Search. Their visual people are geniuses. They even managed to make me love marshmallows. Marshmallows, for Jeebus’ sake! But I digress.)

BUT

Our concept had to be relatively simple to execute, as we would be decorating with the help of Ryan and Melissa's friends and relatives, rather than our usual crew. We were also bound by the usual event decorating restrictions (i.e. no nails in the walls...luckily, we are at least allowed tape and candles). I returned my thoughts to Ryan and Melissa’s happy place and waited for something to come.

...to be continued...

For your eyes only (but especially for Ryan and Melissa)

2009-05-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

It’s a bit tricky starting out in this business, feeling out how to brand our company, refining what to tell prospective clients when I’m asked, “So what is it that you do?” Essentially, ID Bohemia is a full-service event design and planning company, but our specialty is art direction. What this means for our clients is that while our services range from advising them in all elements of their event—from creating the feel of their invitations and promotional material to choosing venues and vendors (i.e. graphic designers, printers, caterers, photographers, musicians, etc.)—to designing, building and installing custom décor, what we are truly about is distilling the minutiae of our clients’ lives, reinterpreting that vital essence, and realising it into something they can see, touch, taste, smell and hear at a fabulous party. Much more than picking out chair covers, theme colours and centrepieces, iD Bohemia’s raison d'être is to show our clients (and their guests) just what makes them so wonderful and amazing, via the experiential platform of event design and the visual language of art.

For Ryan and Melissa, the couple I first blogged about here, I was asked to do the bridal party flowers for their wedding by Ryan while on a camping trip after showing him some photos of my work

that I happened to have in my camera (my visual notebook). He was so excited I was compelled to accept.

Because of the challenges of finding a reliable supplier of fresh flowers near Ucluelet on Vancouver Island and then of storing them somewhere in the lodge where the wedding will be taking place, I wanted to do the flowers with the permanent botanicals available to me locally. This would also allow me to spend more time with the couple once everyone arrived in Ucluelet (they are my friends, after all) as I could do the arrangements ahead of time and bring them with me when Aaron and I drove to the island.

At first, Ryan and Melissa were reticent about silk floral for the arrangements. I don’t blame them—silk has gotten a bad rap from a lot of people, including from me until I actually saw the range of quality available on the market today. As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog, good permanent botanicals are so realistic as to have people sniffing the arrrangements and asking how often to water the plants. They were definitely good enough to catch Ryan’s discerning eye on that camping trip. I sent them the link to my blog so they could see more arrangements I’ve done, and planned to meet them in High River to talk further.

When they saw this arrangement, blogged about here,

it was love—hot pink floral love. They were inspired (yay!) and they wanted me to do more of the centrepieces and décor, as they were still thinking of real flowers for the wedding party. I encouraged them to have one person make the centrepieces and personal flowers (as they are called in the industry), whether me or someone else, to ensure the most cohesive visual impact from the ceremony to the reception. As our conversations progressed, we set up time to meet so they could hear my proposal and see my suggestions for flowers, and to get them familiar with the sheer breadth of floral stems available.

The initial proposal was based on what they told me they wanted (simple and elegant), what I'd seen in their home and what I felt would go well with the existing environment in the Rainforest Beach Lodge, the chosen venue for their wedding—rich, warm colour, antiques and touches of utility-cum-art. I imagined a balance of old-world colour, warm wood and galvanized metal, and looked to Thai-born designers Sakul Intakul and Ou Baholyhodin for inspiration with composition, specifically their work with chicken wire and stucco mesh in “Tropical Flowers”, like this

this

and this.

Of course, as with any initial proposal, there were elements they liked and elements they didn’t like. They both liked the more modern, edgy, sexy feel I was going for, and Melissa liked the painterly colour scheme I’d suggested. They’d mentioned to me that they wanted tropical flowers like orchids and lilies (“No flowers from Grandma’s garden!”), and liked the flowers I’d chosen. However, I underestimated what Ryan meant when he asked for colour. I took it to mean colours like they had in their home: dark and rich. Imagine my surprise when the only arrangement he gravitated towards in the books I showed them was a super-saturated hot pink cattleya orchid in a jet black vase,

and most of the florals he liked were vibrant oranges, yellows, greens and reds. “High contrast,” he said, “and bright bright colour.”

When we all went for ice cream later, I asked him why he wanted high-key, saturated colour when I’d only ever seen him wear earthy-neutral tones, like brown, dark green and black, and their home, while certainly colourful, was not the flashy colour he showed me in stores. He smiled. He explained to me that given limited resources, any money he spends tends to be spent on gear (for hiking, which favours those deep, rich, earthy tones), but that the colours he wears from day to day weren’t necessarily reflective of the mood he wanted for the wedding. Back to the designing board, I went.

I admit, somewhere in talking about colour relationships and budgets and flowers, I began to lose sight of why I got into event design in the first place. I remember noticing at a very young age how people at parties were always so happy. They ate the best food, looked their best and put their best selves forward. And it wasn’t that they didn’t have troubles—relatives were still sick, the car still needed fixing and bills still had to be paid—but it just seemed like for that evening, they allowed themselves the luxury of forgetting about their “real” world, focussing instead on enjoying themselves. Looking back now, how could they not have had a good time?

As Aaron and I planned our own wedding, I realised that a lot of what goes into a successful event is not flowers, or seating arrangements, or music or even food, but rather the joy that comes with knowing who we are, doing what we enjoy and being surrounded by the people we love. And it’s not that flowers and seating and music and food are not important (people still compliment us on our choice of peacock feathers for the arrangements), because they are, but more than anything else, we let our choices be an expression of the love we have for our life together, our careers, our family and friends. And, remembering this, I knew how to move forward.

To be continued...

{edit: This originally very long entry has since been split into smaller sections for digestive ease. :) }

If I had a mangle: A domestic lament

2009-04-28T01:07:00.000-07:00

I'd mangle in the moooooorning
I'd mangle in the evening
All over my kitchennnnn (or dining room, or studiooo, or bedroom)
I'd mangle out rumples
I'd mangle out creases
I'd mangle out wriiiiinkles between my steamy roller and my other steamy roooooller
All over my kitchen (or dining room, or studio, or bedroom)

Ah, the humble mangle, staple of many a North American grandma's laundry room. Had I a grandma of my very own in this country, perhaps she'd have a mangle such as to make my eyes a-mist with memories of morning sheet mangling, Werthers proffering, and under-chin chucking. But alas, I do not.

I first heard tale of the mangle's existence in a Martha Stewart Living magazine article discussing the finer points of clothkeeping in Martha's laundry room at Skylands (n.b.: this link will not lead you to the article of memory, but you'll get the idea). Still a teenager, with a head full of boys and high school tragedy, I had little need for obfuscatory housekeeping apparati, but me being Me, I filed "Mangle" away somewhere in the tidy corners of my mind, giving no more thought to the subject until now.

Now, I have a home. Now, I have an event design business. Now, I have sheets and tablecloths and curtains and reams

and reams

and still more reams (and swaths, even!)

of similarly long and large expanses of fabric to press. Now, though I have the much lusted after Rowenta iron that my beloved and I asked for and received as a wedding present, and pressing shirts and pillowcases is truly the impressive irrepressible inexpressible insuppressible steamy joy I always knew it could be, ironing the fabric for the curtain panels I sewed for our living room and dining room took hours and hours and hours. And hours. And, though those curtains are beautiful

and were worth the occasional steam singe and foggy lens, leave it to Martha to show me the better way of doing things. Leave it to Martha to foster mangle envy.

Still, I'm not alone. Pilar Viladas and Alex Kuczynski of the New York Times, too, had secret mangle desires, as did Meredith of Like Merchant Ships (in this latter case, perhaps not of the Martha-variety, but mangle-lust nonetheless). In Meredith's case, whatever pumpkin you believe in saw fit to rain mangle from heaven for a mere $24!

Twenty-four dollars!

Oh Blessed Exchequer, allow these words to open your ears and hear this plea from your most humble event designer and planner extraordinaire: Though my warps be wonky and my wefts fraught with wrinkles, grant my bohemian boat the skill and grace to navigate the Great Material Continuum successfully and, if my heart truly wants it (and I believe it does), towards a long and happy career complete with many time-saving and not too space-gobbling miracle devices like a mangle.

I trust. Let the river provide. So let it be written. So let it be done.

Inspirations and Diversions: It's where the blog writer learns to speak Finnish

2009-04-26T01:37:00.000-07:00

Though I don't often turn to other event professionals for inspiration, part of my job is keeping current with what's going on in the wider creative marketplace: like Saipua. (According to their website, the "Saipua" is derived from the Finnish word for soap.) They make flowers and soap and, oh my, their flowers are simply amazing. Jumbly and messy in the same wonderful way as Grandpa's attic and Grandma's steamer trunk! There is a masterful, and free-wheeling, compositional eye at work here.

You know that blank stare you get when you're really tired or really bored? Where you're not taking in anything in particular and looking at everything at the same time? That's how professional artists look at their own work (and others' work). Try it. See how it helps resolve colour, line and spatial relationships that are otherwise not apparent when you're looking at this particular line or that swath of colour. It took me three years of university before I figured out what my professors meant when they kept telling me to "really look" at my paintings, and I'm giving it to you here, in 250 words or less, for free! Lesson número uno in Bonne Vivante 101: The Unfocused Stare!

And now yet another diversion for you, my fellow visual jackdaws:

It's up to me, Part Ungh: High River

2009-04-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Meet Melissa and Ryan. You can tell they are outdoorsy because of the yellow backpack and Ryan's climbing pick.

This lovely lovely couple was introduced to me by James. James loves me and I love James and James thought I would also love Melissa and Ryan and he was right! (And it is said they love me (and Aaron) too.)

Here is James working his way up the mountain we climbed that weekend in High River.

It was slow going, what with Ryan being the only one among us in satisfactory shape. He'd be charging along, leading the herd, when he'd notice people falling behind, and, like a border collie, would fly back down the mountain and gather up the stragglers. It was actually quite amusing to watch when I wasn't gasping for my next breath. He looked Elven, hopping from craggy rock to craggy rock. But with a backpack and carbon fibre poles.

Here, he scans the horizon for predators and coming snowstorms (on an earlier night out we saw a cougar on the road) .

Here we are about three-quarters of the way up the mountain. The expression on my face isn't the usual casual insouciance. It's fatigue. There's James in the lower left. Soon hereafter, Ryan and Melissa nourished our weary bodies with chocolate and pecorino. A couple after my heart!

OH, but it was all worth it.

The view! From where we stood at the top of the minimountain, you could see almost 270 degrees around. (The other 90 degrees being a higher peak that we didn't have enough time to climb that day.) Ryan told us that on a sunnier day, we'd be able to see another mountain ridge instead of that cloud in the upper left.

And the fauna...you may have noticed I get weak in the knees for brightly coloured lichens and mosses. Aaron took these beautiful photos while I rested and ate chocolate.

What I loved most, though, was that other than the wind and the occasional (hopefully cute) animal, the only sounds we could hear were our own voices. The quiet makes a person hyper-aware of what their mind is doing and thinking. It's really centering.

I noticed, for example what a difference it made in how my body felt when I realised climbing the mountain wasn't pushing my body up against gravity, but more like my intention to reach the top drawing me up. It was as if the universe had connected a rope to my belly button and was pulling me up with each step. I felt lighter! And faster!

And the food! Melissa made some sort of English muffin, egg and bacon thing called Scott's sex for breakfast(?) that an unknown young man invented to help him get laid. Their cooking reminds me of how Aaron and I cook for ourselves: healthy, fairly light, fresh and delicious. With several of my friends (particularly the ones who cook and host dinners) moving to other cities, it's nice to meet another couple that enjoys cooking and having people over. The mittens too! They are also thoughtful hosts, continually making sure we were comfortable and, especially on the mountain, warm. "Nobody has to suffer on the mountain!" Ah, and Ryan's vented footed pyjamas!

Notice Ryan buttoning up the back flap. That, my dear readers, is the picture of inevitability.

Poor James. Somehow Ryan and James in the same room always equals Ryan's bare nether flesh in James' face. I have no pictures of the actual exposure. Ryan's glory flashed so blindingly, I had to turn both face and camera way for fear of irreparably burning my biological and technological light sensors.

Ryan and Melissa have a beautiful and inviting home, and in a very short time they have furnished and decorated it with things they enjoy or find beautiful, and that have meaning to them.

Like a cabinet from Ryan's grandmother, an old pink door they unwittingly stole from some Mennonites, and an antique chair (Ryan used to collect them)

Art and vintage wooden spools

A springy-grid they've turned into art (another Mennonite find)

Gathered stones and mementos from their travels

Books, plants and tiny obscenely-posed mannequins

And more art.

Here are Aaron and Melissa having a conversation in the living room.

Aaron and I look forward to attending their wedding on Vancouver Island in September, for which we will be designing the flowers and decor. You may notice I don't generally like to write or talk too much about projects in progress (it messes up my thought process), but I'll be writing about that eventually.

Until then, stay tuned for It's up to me, Part D-I-NY: New York.

Inspirations and Diversions: Come on, baby, do the slow motion

2009-03-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

I was reading a blog I check regularly, The Year in Pictures, when I came upon this pre-Valentine's day post, with this video. Immediately after watching, I was compelled to share it with you. The tension--how it builds! I can still feel the tightness in my chest. As The Year in Pictures writes, please enjoy, but not too much.

I was introduced to The Year in Pictures via another blog I read: The Sartorialist. Scott Schuman, the writer and photographer behind The Sartorialist, and James Danziger, the gallerist behind Danziger Projects and The Year in Pictures, gave impetus to my starting a blog.

It's easy to be critical in a judgmental way, and I understand that the training of an artist and creative person often leans in that direction as a means of developing the creative voice. (I'm guilty of that already! And I haven't even reached 10 posts!) But both Schuman and Danziger write in such a casual, warm and unassuming tone (especially remarkable since The Satorialist was named one of Time Magazine's Top 100 Design Influencers). And both blogs, to me, reveal a canny intelligence and sophistication with respect to their chosen topics, tempered by genuine curiosity and an appreciation of their subjects and themselves within the greater world. It's like learning to bake cookies with my Mom for the first time—to read their blogs is to believe, Hey, I can do that too, be it fashion, photography, writing or whatever, and that's a rare gift to be able to give.

I admit, it's something of a wet dream of mine to be photographed and blogged about by The Satorialist. Maybe Aaron and I will run into him when we visit New York.

Some like it hot. Pink.

2009-03-23T23:24:00.000-07:00

The colour saturation in the last post's tulips really stayed with me, inspiring me to dedicate this post to several pink arrangements I've done.

Above, is a deep, deep pink magnolia that recently came in. I love how the blush of the petals contrasts with the yellow and green of the stigma, the central part of the flower. It's not so evident in this picture, but that stigma has dark lavender shading to it that adds a lot of tonal depth, and the petals in have a really subtle deep tangerine flush towards the outer edges of the petals—it's really quite lovely.

Here is an arrangement I put together recently. The vase is a 10" tall martini glass. Simple and elegant, a vessel like this works with many compositions of floral arrangement, and is best suited to more contemporary or modern styles. For this composition, I chose magnolia, burgundy roses, calla lilies, spider orchids, a variety of grasses, curly willow, phalaenopsis leaves, agave cactus and sedum.

Sometimes when putting together an arrangement, I'll get asked, "Which flower/leaf/branch do you start with?" The short answer is: it depends. When I'm working on a floral, I like to focus my thoughts on what is most important to me, as the designer, for that particular floral. Maybe I've just discovered a seductive rose and I'd like to show it off. Or maybe I'd like to create a floral with a lot of movement. Perhaps I'd like to make something ikebana inspired, so the quality of line will be my focus. I go with my instinct and begin with what feels the coolest, most beautiful, most joyful to begin with. Sometimes the first flower I pick up is the one I start with. Other times, I'll hold a few different ones up to the vase to see which one speaks to me.

In this case, I wanted two things when I started:

To create a sexy arrangement with a lot of vibrancy and movement.
To show off a really beautiful magnolia flower that was, in fact, the genesis for the arrangement's colour scheme.

I began by placing the calla lilies and the spider orchids at angles, arching away from the central axis implied by the martini stem, to determine the lines of the arrangement and establish that sense of movement, like a burst of colour ready to explode. Then, I placed the magnolia (and on the other side, the agave) in a central position, but facing at an angle, so as not to feel "plopped" in the middle of the arrangement. The magnolia and agave also give the eye a place to rest as it travels across the arc of the spider orchids to the complementary arc of the calla lilies. The grasses and phalaenopsis leaves went in next, filling in the visual space between the two arcs with colour contrast and contributing to that sense of explosion. Then, the roses were placed amidst the grasses, magnolia and agave. They create a nice textural contrast to the spikiness of all the other floral elements in the arrangement, and add a sense of inner depth and even mystery. The curly willow was a last minute addition. The arrangement needed something more directly vertical to reestablish the line of the martini stem.

The hot pinks and deep burgundies contribute most explicitly to the sexy look I was after. But from the fine spikiness of the grasses to the heavier spikiness of the agave, and the velvety softness of the roses to the smooth curvature of the magnolia, the range of textural contrasts adds a very sensuous "touch me" aspect.

Here is a view from the rear, showing the agave cactus in the centre, the roses on the left and the spider orchids on the right.

And now, a few more pink arrangements to round out tonight's post:

This one, in a large glass hurricane, features peonies, tulips, heliconia, lilies, magnolia, roses, gladiola and a leaf branch whose name escapes me at this moment. To hide the stems, I placed a smaller cylindrical vase on a block of foam inside the hurricane and stuffed the space between the vase and the hurricane with sheet moss.

Ah, roses. I have a weakness for domes of roses. Such a simple design, and yet so stunning. It was surprisingly difficult to pack all those stems into the tall vase. I'd started it as a hand-tie, adding roses and resting the bouquet on my work table as I progressed, but it eventually got too big to hold in one hand, and I had to stick what I had into the vase and content myself with coaxing more roses into the gaps. Preston Bailey would've worked with a dome of foam (rhyme!) on a platform or dish resting on top of the vase, with some crytals dangling underneath. When doing temporary displays, however, it's just not feasible to cut the stems of all those flowers.

This is an arrangement I put together as a proposal for a wedding centrepiece. The couple was getting married in the winter and wanted lots of reds and browns in the colour scheme. I felt the Japanese maple branches added a delicate, even lyrical quality to the arrangement, and give it a sense of size without adding much cost, or potentially obstructing the views of the guests. The feathery stuff in the lower left is amaranthus, and in the centre is a pink peony.

Here is another view of the arrangement, showing a peach peony and some deep pink (almost red) ranunculi.

I got a call from my friend Ryan today. It's a singular pleasure talking to him. He works in speech pathology, but got an English degree in his undergrad and he employs a refreshing precision in his language that inspires me to read and express myself more eloquently! It's easy, designing alone in the studio, to fall out of practice at conversation. I find myself saying "thingy" and "stuff" a bit too much these days. Perhaps this blog will help change that.

Let's add another one to the blog roll and sign off. Who wouldn't want to be Habitually Chic?