Artisan and Craftsman

Antique Accents – Inspirations Spring 2013

May 202013

Using antiques is a green activity in my book. Finding treasures and using them as is or refinishing, giving them new life.

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I love beautiful boxes. This is a lovely collection. My everyday cosmetics would fit beautifully in the large one.

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Carrie Hayden design photo John Granen5

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This inspires me to get out my son’s uniform and see if I would want it displayed. It is quite wonderful in this room.

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Lots of white. Loving the white spaces that people are creating.

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If you want to see more white interiors, check out my other blog post on White Interiors – Clean-Perfect-Neutral.

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May 20, 2013 Posted by Melanie at 4:28 pm Antiques and Collectibles, Artisan and Craftsman, Furnishings, Inspirations and How To Get The Look, Interior Design No Responses »

Inspiration Headboard and How To Get The Look

Apr 292013

Fabulous isn’t it!!

I love the use of damask on the headboard surrounded by beautiful gold ornamentation. If it is upholstered it does not look padded. You could purchase damask yardage and stretch it to your pre-cut template, or do the entire wall in a stenciled or fabric damask and then attach the composition ornament directly to the wall or just add the ornament to the template you have prepared. I used our hand painted damask canvas we offer for our wall panels. It is $185 for a custom 2-color application 32″ x 60″. The color is Gold Stone. A gold background with biege pattern which coordinates with our Gold Stone Finish. Painting the damask on canvas you can get canvas large enough to cover the headboard without any seams. Excuse my seams from my stock size of that canvas panel.

Decorators Supply List of ornament

#9864 54″ x 11″ $237.02

I rearranged the ornament to create the shape of our inspiration piece.

#9583 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ right and left pair $69.97

#5390 8-1/2″ x 4-1/4″ right and left pair $50.53

This is one of my choices for the floral swag beneath the centerpiece.

#1751F 9-3/4″ x 6-3/4″ $29.14

This design can be refined. If you purchased two additional C curves the shape could resemble the inspiration more closely and there are other options for the center feature. It’s a good start though on this great look.

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April 29, 2013 Posted by Melanie at 4:51 pm Art, Artisan and Craftsman, Furnishings, Inspirations and How To Get The Look, Interior Design No Responses »

Sculpture – An Enduring Classic

Mar 282013

Sculpture has been an important part of our culture since ancient times. It endures through the ages and gives us a direct communication from the culture that created it.

Three dimensional art offers different angles, views and the play of light giving more emotive power to the piece.

Sculpture interacts with nature and the environment where it is placed.

Art helps us define who we are and what we find beautiful. It can be used to enhance an otherwise uninteresting niche in our home or be a constant source of encouragement or comfort to us.

“A sculptor is a person obsessed with the form and shape of things, and it’s not just the shape of one thing, but the shape of anything and everything; the hard, tense strength, although delicate form of a bone; the strong, solid fleshiness of a beech tree trunk.” Henry Moore

Sculpture is on my dream list. A white marble female body and a bronze male by Richard MacDonald.

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March 28, 2013 Posted by Melanie at 3:21 pm Art, Artisan and Craftsman, Beauty Cult, Gardens, Fountains, Sculpture No Responses »

Great Art and Architecture- The Holy City

Mar 152013

Vatican Hill is a hill located across the Tiber river from the traditional seven hills of Rome.

It is the location of St. Peter’s Basilica. The masterpiece designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. St Peter’s is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and remains one of the largest churches in the world. Because of its location in the Vatican, the Pope presides at a number of services throughout the year, drawing audiences of 15,000 to over 80,000 people, either within the Vatican Basilica, or in St Peter’s Square.

Treasures of St. Peter’s

Michelangelo’s Pieta

Bronze of St. Peter attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio

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March 15, 2013 Posted by Melanie at 4:23 pm Architecture, Art, Artisan and Craftsman, Best Dressed Walls, Ceilings No Responses »

Objects of Beauty

Feb 282013

Nature provides us with the most beautiful creations. I don’t know why the Mineral Kingdom is not present in all our homes. Mineral specimens are valuable investments. I have used them in commercial projects as well, placing large specimens on pedestals. They move beyond personal taste therefore appealing to everyone. This beauty is gold and quartz from Arkenstone Fine Minerals.

Quartz is an excellent choice to begin with.

These specimens are amazing and so is the price tag. This one is beryl, emerald and calcite.

How about this for aquamarine.

From my collection a quartz sphere.

Nature is a source of inspiration to create objects of beauty. Furniture makers incorporating the beauty of wood, bone and mother-of-pearl into intricate inlays are one of my absolute favorites. They deserve a place of honor to be appreciated for their artistry, craftsmanship and materials. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has a new furniture gallery where the focus is on materials and techniques used by furnituremakers from the 15th century to the present. This eye-popping Mexican bureau veneered with mother-of-pearl required an artisan to saw shells for 5,000 hours.

Just received a catalogue from Wisteria with this Moorish chest with bone inlays for $2,999.

Wunderley offers the most beautiful selection of Middle Eastern inlaid furniture. This mother-of-pearl chest is $10,500.

Mexican furniture maker Alfonso Marina’s beautiful craftmanship.

A magnificent stone tub from Elegant Additions.

A Marble sculpture from Marble Statues.

What are your objects of beauty?

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February 28, 2013 Posted by Melanie at 4:05 pm Art, Artisan and Craftsman, Beauty Cult, Furnishings, Gardens, Fountains, Sculpture No Responses »

Iconic Architectural Models by Timothy Richards

Feb 152013

English artisan Timothy Richards is based in Bath, England and has spent the past 25 years perfecting the art of creating detailed architectural models in plaster or bronze. At one point in my artistic explorations I sculpted miniatures and found it so much more difficult. His work is truly amazing. He was chosen by The Royal Institute of British Architects to create a series of replicas for a traveling exhibition on the influence of 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio which was shown at New York’s Morgan Library and Museum in 2010.

Every surface of his miniatures have been meticulously reconstructed in Lilliputian form, the dome curving at exactly the right angle, even the minuscule bricks worn away in just the right spots.

Richards and his team of ten construct a master model from styrene sheets, resin, and wood. ”We work from photographs and from plans, if they exist,” he says. They then make silicone-rubber molds from the master and use them to cast the plaster for the finished model, which is generally lift unpainted to expose the “raw beauty of the material,” says Richards. He also does private commissions for clients. I love this model the Howard’s commissioned of Temple of the Winds at Castle Howard.

Some of my favorite iconic architectural buildings.

I love sculpture and plan to own one of his pieces. Prices range from $600-$7,000 for the iconic models. He also offers a large selection of doors and gates. Here are some of my favorites. They range in price from $150-$500.

Kensington Palace

Harvard University Gate

Wouldn’t one of these look great on a book shelf.

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February 15, 2013 Posted by Melanie at 1:15 pm Art, Artisan and Craftsman 1 Response »

Inspiration From the Hermitage And How To Get The Look By Beaux-Artes

Feb 132013

Inspiration From The Hermitage

This room in The Hermitage is our inspiration for the foyer we are designing. Panels of gold leaf and the ornamentation in porcelain. Anyone know the name for this room. My pictures were from a friend. It was actually quite a coincidence that my client had a trip planned to Russia prior to seeing this inspiration room. She took a lot of closeups of the ornamentation to assist us in our design process.

The foyer adjoins this outrageous living room or salon as my client has named the space. The coffered ceiling and crown molding was in the room and Beaux-Artes designed the wall panels, pilasters, capitals and empire frieze. We installed all the ornamentation and executed the finishes. The powerful presence of this room was a major factor in our design decisions for the foyer. It is a lot of ornamentation and gold which we wanted to soothe with an elegant and complementary ornamentation design and color palette.

Before Pictures

The foyer is small, unlike the grand space of The Hermitage. Part of the inspiration is to use molding to frame all the walls. This increases the amount of space for our panels and will make the lack of symmetry less apparent.

Right Salon Wall Facing Front Door

Left Library Wall Facing Front Door

Stair Bulkhead over Entrance to Middle Foyer

Note the existing molding and the space between the salon entrance and the stairway bulkhead.

The second floor wall space and dome.

Actually our first inspiration came from this fabulous porcelain from Historic Houses of Paris, one of my absolute favorite books. We would use gold leaf for the walls and the ornamentation would be a porcelain finish. Perfect! Just like the look and feel of the grand room in The Hermitage. Reverses the color palette of the Salon.

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February 13, 2013 Posted by Melanie at 4:39 pm Art, Artisan and Craftsman, Best Dressed Walls, Inspirations and How To Get The Look, Interior Design, Wall Treatments 1 Response »

Stone – A Classic

Nov 062012

Stone is indeed a classic. For my next home I will choose limestone for my exterior. This is limestone cladding from Stone Work Construction. It looks so elegant. I would choose this over brick any day.

Exterior cladding is the process where stone is applied to walls to augment the exterior of the wall. Using quality stones for exterior cladding will add value and an earthlike feel to a property.

Stone cladding is installed by arranging identical cuts of similar colored natural stone tiles in either a vertical or horizontal manner. The relative low cost maintenance of stone cladding also appeals to the urban customer.
My entrance foyer would continue the limestone feel. This interior is quite similar to my floor plan with an arcade of columns surrounding an open center. Stone work by Haifa Limestone

Mine will have rectangular niches not circular as shown in this foyer with my paintings of Hubble Space Images as the background for physics and symbolic images.

I like this design as well.

An iron front door is a great choice for a limestone interior.

And my hallways will be vaulted. This is my dream house so I am dreaming.

This is Blanco Paloma Limestone. It would be a good choice because it is appropriate for cladding, living rooms, stairs, counters, fireplaces and more. It is available in slabs and custom sizes and lots of finish choices: brushed, honed, polished, patina, antiqued, tumbled, hammered, filled, unfilled, cut, split, sealed, rustic, carved and cisled.

Love this carved stone tub.

Getting back to the foyer, some stairways.

The sculpture and lines on the walls don’t appeal, but the stairway is fabulous.

Stone is a Classic.

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November 6, 2012 Posted by Melanie at 4:58 pm Architecture, Artisan and Craftsman, Interior Design 1 Response »

Classicist Trailblazers – Studio Peregalli

Oct 312012

Milanese architects and decorators Roberto Peregalli and Laura Sartori Rimini of Studio Peregalli create breathtaking environments that capture the classic elegance of the past. They work in every historical style from Renaissance to Victorian to create interiors that are atmospheric and magical, conjuring up a real or imagined past. Both were proteges of legendary decorator Renzo Mongiardino.

Patinated finishes, salvaged materials, and accidental imperfections are their touchstones. Key to their work is the imprint of the artisan. Which is why I love classical design. “You can immediately feel the difference between something that’s industrial and something that’s handmade. We want our spaces to have a soul,” says Rimini.

“With the right elements, you only need a few ingredients to emphasize the volume of a room,” says Rimini. “It’s about the quality of the things. We strive for the atmosphere of a Vermeer painting.”

Continue reading »

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October 31, 2012 Posted by Melanie at 2:14 pm Art, Artisan and Craftsman, Beauty Cult, Interior Design No Responses »

The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens

Sep 172012

While you are in New York for the Traditional Home Holiday Show (see our blog) another great Exhibit to see is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, “Extravagant Inventions: The Princely Furniture of the Roentgens” from October 30 through January 27th.

David Roentgen, was Germany’s greatest cabinetmaker. He catered to an influential crowd; Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, Pope Pius VI and Catherine the Great.