This summer I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting the owners of my painting, The Road. Their gorgeous new home is featured in Modern Home, here. I like how well she looks with the slick furniture and those delicious textures. I’m swooning over that weaving studio and all that stunning natural light. My lucky girl has a lovely new home.
There she is in her light-filled home
This is the apartment of a friend who lives in Vancouver’s West End. I’ve always enjoyed how she inserts her sense of humour into her home. It’s a daily reminder to look on the lighter side of things, and have a laugh at yourself. I find inspiration everywhere I look, and there’s something about her place that gets me every time.
This is a woman who knows her way around a thrift shop, and fills her home with a well-edited collection of fun things that are bright, cheerful and cheeky—just like her.
A print of one of my favourite Rembrandt paintings gets a makeover courtesy of a silver Sharpie and a bottle of wine!
A wayward roadside torso shares an Ikea pot with a large aloe vera.
That’s one of my sepia paintings in the background, based on a birthday card she once sent me.
One of her prized possessions passed down from her Mum, this flamingo mirror reflects the gorgeous view across English Bay.
So it’s been more than a month since my last post, and I am a neglectful blogger. For good reason, my friends–I’ve been painting up a storm, though not on canvases. My hubs, my very obliging mum and I have emptied almost a dozen cans of paint onto the walls of my soon-to-be-new house. I’m very excited. Just the bathroom and the trim to go, and it’s all done.
January 3rd was a sad day, as I was required to vacate my lovely downtown studio to make way for the wrecking ball. The leak in the roof was enough to convince the building owners to push forward their plans to convert our lovely space into several condos. Sigh.
However, I have a new space to work in. And it’s warm and sunny, so to be honest, I’m much happier. Painting in gloves and a down vest (with a hot water bottle shoved in it) was far from ideal!
Inspiring books I’ll be leafing through:
Lisa Yuskavage: Small Paintings
I can’t wait to get started in my new space. I hope 2010 is a productive, inspiring year for everyone.
I was messing about on a new favourite blog, The Red Thread, when I saw her post about Shane Waltener‘s beautiful crocheted webs. My husband and I painted our front steps the other day (pink, no less!) and the front part took especially long, as one of us had to hold the end of a very elaborate spiderweb while the other painted around it. We managed to preserve it fairly well, I hope Charlotte approved when she returned.
A side note: She’s approved. The web appears to have been repaired (much like the steps) and she’s happily out in the middle again.
More gorgeous images of the crocheted ones, here.
I’m not trying to jump on Holly‘s bandwagon about this. But when I flew to Brisbane last March, I was stuck at the Sydney airport for 2 hours (after a 15 hour flight from Vancouver) and I don’t sleep on flights, even 15 hour ones. I’m cursed that way. So, I gawked at the design magazine racks in the departure lounge, and after being in the country for 30 minutes I managed to add 5 pounds of magazines to my luggage. Real Living and Inside Out are my favourites. Here are some snippets from Inside Out: (the photos are so small, sorry, just click twice and you get to see them extra big!)
The above photos are from an article about Sibella Court, Sydney/NYC stylist who recently moved back to her native Australia. There’s a great interview with Sibella Court on The Design Files, here. Her seashell and butterfly collections remind me of this beautiful and ubiquitous book, Albertus Seba’s Cabinet of Curiosities. I love the botanical drawings that fill this book. I’ve noticed a lot of design stylists sneak it into photo shoots because of the punchy graphic spine and cover.
Summer used to be my favourite season, and now I’m realising my heart lies with Spring. I’m a new gardener, so this year I’m even more amazed that the scrubby, squitty little trees of last month are bursting with eager little buds and laden with fluffy pink blossoms. It’s all so girly and pretty and great. I was meaning to take out my camera and record this explosion of happiness, and then I found this photographer on Etsy, MK McKenna. Her images capture this time of year so beautifully, I thought they should take centre stage.
Brooding on the loss of my favourite decorating magazine, Domino, puts me in mind of the also-defunct Budget Living. This was a great resource for cheap design ideas until it disappeared on Valentine’s Day about 5 years ago. I managed to find one at my local library and was particularly taken with this NYC loft. I especially fancied the leopard print carpet. If I recall, the owner found a remnant in a warehouse and had it cut and bound into this organic ‘pond’ shape. The sunglasses image (at right) is a poster she pulled out of a magazine. Cheap is good, free is better!
The book, Home Cheap Home, covers a few other great spaces, like this one below. I love the pops of orange and that stunning Murano chandelier.
This toile sofa (below) is sweet without being precious. The artwork on the fireplace is a layering of a thrift shop floral still life, and a drawing done by the owner’s toddler.
C & his mum planted Nasturtium seeds on our dining table. These little babies came up overnight and each morning we check on them. I can’t wait to plant them in the garden! Sigh, it really is the little things in life.
Vintage mugs + antique shakers Kate found = 70s Swan Lake
These are two little moments in my kitchen & bedroom that make me happy. Two or three of the vintage Hornsea dishes are relics from my honey’s childhood. Over the last 3 years we’ve collected dribs & drabs whenever we happen upon a thrift shop, and a few pieces we found in a junk shop in Brisbane, Australia. My friend Kate found the little swans in an antique store in Vancouver. I painted the insides of the cabinets ICI’s Dusty Millar to compliment the lovely rusty 70s orange.
Venus + my old piggy + Sofia Loren = Ancient Hollywood Glamour
My delicate necklaces hang on a slightly ill-proportioned Venus de Milo (with head!) porcelain knicknack I found at Value Village. I like that her head is too small for her buxom body, and she’s got a certain swagger, especially draped in jewels. I think she’s trying to show up the gorgeous & always glamourous Sofia Loren next to her. Tough competition, I’d say. The woman’s waist was barely bigger than her neck.
