Hi There . . .
It was back to business last week at the office, but in the midst of boring year end paperwork came the go ahead on two new jobs to brighten my day. I worked over the holidays designing two additional spaces for two of my favorite clients. I say "worked" but during my down time designing these two spaces wasn't exactly "work," in that I was more than excited to play with ideas for these rooms. I love both of their styles and what we created thus far turned out amazing. I have been working throughout their homes room by room, and now we are getting really creative with two fun areas, a landing lounge and a music room. Two spaces that were not high priority in the beginning, but now that the major living spaces have been finished, it was time to put the icing on the cake and that is what these two rooms will be.
I wanted to write about two artists -
Jen Garrido and
Windy O'Connor. Both of these artists were my inspiration for both of these installs! Finding inspiration can come from anywhere, but in both cases a piece of art gave me direction.
Jen Garrido is a San Francisco based artist whose work my eye a while back and I have always kept her in my mind. Take a look at a few of her pieces. .
In her Artist Statement she says . . .
I construct my paintings and drawings by using a delicate balance of choice and process.
In response to personal narrative and internal dialogue, to the push and pull of the compositions internal gravity, and to the medium of the paint or drawing materials, I project images and forms onto the surface. As I compose, I weave shapes through the picture plane, the gestures I record can read alternatively as flat or as dimensional and sculptural. I favor nature-based forms and rhythms and I am drawn to shapes that tangle, overlap, sit, lean and lay. In my most recent work, the compositions balance between architectural and organic, painted and drawn, collapsing and firmly rooted and formal and biomorphic.
As I work through the multiple stages and processes of each piece, by weighing ambiguity with representation, by adding and subtracting, abstracting and transforming, I gradually arrive at the final composition.
Now these pieces of art have always stayed with me and when Molly Mudd, my fabric guru introduced me to Pedroso & Osorio, I thought to myself . . Jen Garrido- ish, in a fabric, perfect. This one fabric inspired the room and tied back to the dining room we installed not to long ago.
We created a dining space of navy lacquer love and in the music room across the hall, I wanted to bring the feel of the dining room art in, but in a lighter version.
I created these boards to give her a visual. I chose to bring the grey on the walls in this amazing printed, graphic grass cloth, by my favorite Phillip Jeffries. The navy makes a return in the area rug by Stark. The navy version of one of my favorites Antilocarpa. This rug is so gorgeous ! The curtains, however, are the jewel in the room. With it's large repeat, we are creating wide panels extending out from the windows and hung high.
In this room, we are also incorporating a splash of coral in an occasional chair. This coral is the accent color in the nearby family room. The flow in this home is really coming together. Not overly matched, but relate to each other.
We started ordering all the goods last week and installation cannot come quick enough ! I was thrilled she loved the look at first sight, not changing a single thing. Full vision will come together !
Susan Brown and I met not too long ago at Hidell Brooks Gallery to look at art together. With all the amazing pieces it was a hard choice, but one piece in particular we found perfect. The size was right, and the colors were right. Windy O'Connor shows her work with Rebecca and Katherine at Hidell Brooks and she had recently brought over several new ones. After the purchase I got to work on the design. She has a landing area at the top of her stairs, large enough for a sitting area. Take a look at our purchase . . .
I love Windy's use of color and texture. All of her pieces have such amazing depth. Here are a few more . . .
Windy's Statement . . .
"Though I often work on large, non-representational abstracts, I always have a thought or feeling that I represent on the canvas. Many times it is a collection of visual memories or feelings. My goal is to convey a story through color, texture, marks, and movement. I will abstract many objects in a piece and convey emotions through the energy produced by my thick layers of paint and knife work. I love creating compositions with color blocking, lines, combinations and rhythm of color. The act of painting is where I find the greatest joy! Mostly, I am grateful to be able to practice the thing that I love until I am a very old lady."
This space is visible from the downstairs living area we finished last year. I wanted to create something cozy yet a little more saturated in color. The soothing strie paper I installed in the entire downstairs extends from the living room down stairs over the railing to the landing on one wall. On this wall, I wanted a console, I knew that, but with our art purchase, I filtered in a juju hat pulling the teal from both downstairs and Windy's art to add a little balance, color wise. I chose each piece carefully, each having a big artistic presence, each of a different material. We have a horn lamp, copper sculpture hide storage ottoman and metal back chair. The console is a combination of white lacquer, walnut stain and gray wash stain. Isn't it killer !
But the big focal wall includes her new art purchase as well as dark, teal grass cloth for a real pop. This paper is a F. Schumacher that Maggie found for me in just the perfect shade. We are adding a new sofa in a grey velvet, layering a rug over the carpet, and an occasional chair. The pair of thin black lamps create low lighting for warmth. All these colors compliment what we have going on over the railing downstairs yet are much richer. I can just see curling up an reading with a great view over the rail of the living space and back patio.
The view from over the railing.
Really excited to get these both installed, stay tuned . . .
