Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts

Spring



For some, this has been a very dark winter. Celebrate the coming of spring and the arrival of hope with these delicate and charmingly innocent illustrations. They will make your heart sing! They are the work of our lovely and creative niece, Lina Safar, who recently lost her dear father. Lina illustrates children's books and is a talented artist and linguist. We are very lucky to have her in our family!











Hold your little ones close to you!




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thanks for visiting...  Kit


A Deep South Home Tour & Pickled Shrimp


Well, hi y'all!

Purely by chance, last week I found myself in Augusta, Georgia on the very same day as the spectacular Summerville 34th Annual Tour of Homes. When my uncle said he needed to do a little work at the piano that Saturday afternoon, I leapt at the chance to wander through some of the most beautiful, original, hospitable, and eminently livable homes that ever graced this weary old world.

Here is a twin-gabled Dutch Colonial from 1911. Renovated over the years and now filled with an eclectic mix of contemporary art and antiques, the home resonates with a bold, fresh elegance inside, while the manicured grounds and the staid, traditional exterior of the home exude the old Southern order a la early 20th C. I was not prepared for the joy of discovering the lightness of mood and the treasures found as I wandered from room to room. A delightful home.


in the barrel-vaulted foyer looking left into the dining room; the
art on the right is Australian Aboriginal and the left is Miro

the traditional twin gabled exterior belies the eclectic and
energetic mix of furnishings and colors inside

a stroll around the backyard, anyone?

the living room features a Nordic farm chair circa 1800s, artwork by
Ricardo Azziz, David Silva, Salvador Dali, Roberto Matta and the
gorgeous circa 1700 Chinese carved cabinet

I love this painting; the artist I believe is Ricardo Azziz

beautiful marble fireplace flanked by brilliant blue wing chairs
creates a very welcoming scene in the library

artwork by Miro

a closer view of the pretty sofa in the living room

a Calder hangs happily over 18c English antique sideboard
in the dining room

the spectacular solarium features Aboriginal Australian art with
rattan furnishings and stunning tile floor overlooking the
back patio and gardens

the tile pattern on the front patio at the
entrance to the house; beautiful in its simplicity

the rear of the house seen from about halfway back in the gardens!

love love love the mossy old bricks of
this garden pathway!


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And now for a truly delightful authentically Southern
recipe for your next party:


Gigi's Pickled Shrimp Recipe*

*(does not taste like pickles!!)


2lb Shrimp

Sauce:

2/3 cup Oil
1/3 cup Vinegar
21/2 T Catsup
1 T Mustard
2 T Heinz 57 sauce
2 t Tabasco sauce
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
2 cloves Garlic
1 small Onion, chopped
2 T Pickling Spice

Boil and Peel Shrimp
Place Shrimp into sauce and let stand in fridge for 2-3 days
in a large ziplock bag

Remove from sauce and serve

You can stick each shrimp onto a cabbage with a toothpick!

Old fashioned, Southern, and VERY delicious, we have been
serving this dish for many years in our family!

Champagne is good with this!


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Thanks for stopping by! Kit


The Breezy Chic Art of Regina Saura











She's from Spain, and grew up with a photographer father. Her art really thrills me. I love the brilliant use of color, composition and perspective. I always love to see written words incorporated into works of art.

These large format (some are over 60" x 48") works would be brilliant in many settings: starkly sleek and modern, of course, but also in rooms of all natural materials such as stone, tile and wood.

What do you think?


Regina Saura
@
1328 Main St.
St. Helena, CA 94574


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merci pour la visite!... Kit




And Do You Lilith?


If you are in Provence, and drive southwest you will pass through the Carcassone and arrive in Spain. There, just over the border from France in the small town of Girona you will find this very chic atelier and gallery. Palau de Casavells sent me their opening notice, and I immediately fell for their beautifully austere space, with its spare antiques and fresh modern art collection.


one of the artists featured at Palau de Casavalls:
Bernat Daviu Quera

love the vintage finds: long bench, the Gustavian clock, and
this sassy little chair at Palau de Casavells


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chic outdoor designed by Palau de Casavells


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opened in March 2010, Palau de Casavells is housed
in a 19th C. building, but their aesthetic is
firmly rooted in the 21st C.


artist: Ramon Enrich


artist: Mirco Marchelli


artist: Ramon Enrich

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And if you do drive south into Spain to see this stunning atelier, would you wear something oh so chic from Lilith? For women who love to be different, who love to be comfortable and wear beautiful clothes...and are not slaves to fashion...the French designer's "collection d'ete" is inspired by the jazz era in the 20's, a la Josephine Baker. I love these images of a breezy vacation somewhere in the south of France that Lilith is showing on their website.




Lilith collaborated with Camper to
design these delightful shoes!

this image strongly evokes the long, lazy days of
a summer in the South of France

adorable little outfits for l'ete 2011


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And if you do get to drive south into Spain, that means you probably flew into Nice or Marseilles? I haven't read this yet, but am captivated by the sheer escapism it promises...a delicious tale of getting over a broken heart in Provence. Looks like a bit of fun fluff for a long flight, non?


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thanks for visiting! ... Kit




Jugendstil & Poached Pears Wrapped in Chocolate Mousse :)


In truth, a little Art Nouveau goes a long way. Characterized by organic shapes, curvilinear, sinuous lines and stylized, flowing elegance, the Art Nouveau movement in interior decorating, jewelry, tableware and architecture started in Paris and swept through the world in the late 19th century. Breathing new life into the art world and rejecting the prevailing academic approaches, the movement was dubbed Jungendstil, for "young style" in German.

Today interiors are are simpler, cleaner, perhaps more rustic, sometimes elegant, to say nothing of eclectic. We have moved away from decorative embellishment. The visual shock of an Art Nouveau element might be just what is in order to kick a little life into some of our more predictable rooms. Think of a small wall area covered in a beautiful William Morris wallpaper in an entryway, or an incredible Art Nouveau gilt mirror over an austere concrete or rustic limestone fireplace mantel surround.

I have seen the incredible Art Nouveau architecture all over Paris, and would love to see the Secessionist Building in Vienna. It was built to house the stunning works by the young group of artists who broke ranks with tradition in the 1890's: Gustav Klimt, Josef Hoffman, Joseph Maria Olbrich and others. Their beautiful mantra "To every age its art and to art its freedom" is inscribed in stone over the entrance of the Secessionist Building.




Metro gate in Paris, circa 1903, one of hundreds installed
in Paris in the early 20th century, showcases the organic,
curvy, stylized flowing curvilinear lines of Art Nouveau



silver coffee service Vienna fin de siecle, Art Nouveau style



cover of first edition of magazine
of the Jugendstil ("youth-style") period when
Secessionist artists broke away
from traditional academic art and
started the bridge to modernism, 1898



stylized ornamentation found on the side of
the Successionist Building designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich
and built in 1897 for exhibitions of Secessionist art



lettering for "Ver Sacrum" appears on the front of
the Secessionist Building



a sinuous Otto Wagner staircase,
Stiegenhaus, Vienna, 1898



the fanciful "tattoo style" Majolikahaus, designed by
Otto Wagner, Vienna, 1898



a Metro station in Paris today



William Morris Ianthe wallpaper



Poires Pochées (poached pears) au Chocolat Noir

this dessert is elegantly Art Nouveau, non?
the recipe can be found at Les Recettes de Markus Neff blog
(in French... get your French friends involved here!)


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a fin de siecle fish with bubbles drawing
by Koloman Moser 1898


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