Chinese Deco-dence
I have a passion for Art Deco and also for Asian designs and motifs. Chinese Art Deco was a movement that centered around the city of Shanghai in the 1930′s and ushered in the modern era in China. Shanghai in the 1930′s was a hedonistic and culturally diverse Capitalist city that was controlled by England, France, and the United States. At that time, Shanghai was referred to as the “Paris of the East.” The Chinese brilliantly incorporated their unique and prolific design style into the streamline forms of Moderne. Pagoda Red is one of the largest purveyors of Chinese...
Read MoreIt’s a Mod, Mod, Mod World!
On the way to our friend Annie’s birthday party the other night, my friends, Oscar and David, and I stopped by Kari French’s house for a pre-party cocktail. Mrs. French (pictured above) has been a colorful figure in the Los Angeles Retro, go-go, burlesque and performance art scene for many years. She is an authority on all things Mod, Pop, and groovy. Aside from being a hip girl on the go, Kari also loves to decorate in the style that most inspires her. Her home and handy work has been published and celebrated in such books as “Pad: The Guide to Ultra Living”. Kari...
Read MoreHis and Hers
Stan Williams featured our former house in his terrific book, “The Find”. The book was so successful that it has gone into a second printing. In it, he referred to the segregated displays of our personal collections as a “his and hers” style of decorating. This could also be “his and his” or “hers and hers”. When a couple begins to merge their styles, some things need to stand out that suggests each others individuality. Collections of personally collected objects can define a space and also represent an intimate glimpse of a partner’s...
Read MoreVictorian Pop
The Italian Lobeco bottles pictured above are the perfect example of a marriage between Victorian and Mod style. The modern style became more curvaceous and ornamental in the 1960′s. Fashion and Interior Design began to take a cue from the more ornate periods in our past such as Rococo, Art Nouveau, and of course, Victorian. When the hippies moved to San Francisco and set up their psychedelic homesteads in the land of brightly painted ginger breads, a new style fusion was born. Florals and damask patterns were back on top, and they were infused acid colors and a sense of fun. The...
Read MoreGothic Rebirth
The magnificent Mallorcan Cathedral was a Gothic building which was built between 1230 and 1601. This building has had quite a metamorphosis since then. An earthquake in 1851 started an ongoing restoration project that was picked up by Antoni Gaudí in 1901. He worked on the project for 13 years until he quit after a falling out with the contractor. Gaudi’s sensual and brutal forms worked beautifully in the cathedral and he also created a new stained glass technique for the project. It is fitting that almost a century later, Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo was hired to create a ceramic...
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