More Women in Power

My mom suggested I post a few more pieces from my Women in Power series, so here goes. This is Elsie de Wolfe, quite possibly the first interior designer.

From a Canadian website dedicated to Interior Design -

“I was an ugly child and I lived in an ugly age,” wrote Elsie De Wolfe in her memoirs. “From the moment I was conscious of ugliness and it’s relation to myself and my surroundings, my one preoccupation was to find my way out of it. In my escape, I came to the meaning of beauty.” Elsie De Wolfe has been described as the first lady of interior decoration. She was without question the first woman to create an occupation as designer where none had existed before, and in her quest to be admitted to the highest ranks of society she introduced some of the most stylish and tasteful ideas into the American home than had ever been seen.

The Women in Power series celebrates women who influenced radical changes in fashion and design, took bold stands on politics, journalism and society. I'll publish more in this series as the whim suits me!

technorati tags: elsiedewolfe, womeninpower, interiordesign, art

Marie Antoinette

Tongue in Cheek gives us a heads up on this new movie by Sophia Coppola. Too bad we in the US have to wait until October to see it!!

Here is my homage to the late queen, from my Women in Power Series...

technorati tags: marieantoinette, tongueincheek, sophiacoppola

Last ICFF entry

My last stop was at the Wallpaper booth, where these two very clever girls (sorry, women!) talked me into a one year subscription. I look forward to getting the mag...

technorati tags: icff, wallpaper

Mad's curated ICFF wander...

J. Prichard is an artist who has found making wall installations a possible way to make a living as an artist. You go girl! Beautiful, custom and she is a mom!



I like this because it looks like dots, and I am particularly into dots. These are small logs, cut and connected into flat topped furniture. This is some sort of coffee table. Check him out here-



Wall Candy Arts has dots, too! Remember, connect the dots..we're all connected!



These little lovelies were part of the Danish Craft Council exhibit, by Anna-Carin Dahl.

Wonder why the Dane's had the only craft council at the show? Would love to see the design world, art world and all the makers of these things get together...Crafts! Making stuff! Skill!

technorati tags: icff, design, craft, ceramics, furniture

Small Pond at ICFF

I met Paul Valentine at the ICFF yesterday. Lovely guy who reps a group of mostly British designers. He's British but lives in San Francisco. I particularly liked these 2 pieces, for their nod to surrealism and Duchamp. Design with roots in 20th century art; my cup of tea! ;-)

technorati tags: icff, smallpond, design, surrealism

Fun Quilts at ICFF

Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle are 2 of my favorite quilters, with their company "Fun Quilts".

I met them the first time I went to the ICFF, in 1999. They continue to make colorful and engaging quilts, busting the boundaries of tradition while being true to their passion. Generous folks, these. Weeks writes a column for Whip Up, the Australian craft blog I try to keep up with. Her latest entry for Whip Up is of Laura Foster, a weaver I went to school with. The world is an ever smaller place! Be nice...

technorati tags: icff, quilts, whipup, funquilts

More ICFF

Jeff Jenkins has some very cool furniture, including this clever piece, called "Euclidean Punk". I admired the "laminate" top, which he corrected me on, saying it is linoleum, (Forbo), not formica, from the Netherlands. As he stroked it, he looked me in the eye and said, "feels like leather". Gotta love the materials!

He is also using industrial felt in a very straight forward way, that I appreciated, being a fan of felt.

technorati tags: atmosphere5, forbo, linoleum, design, icff

ICFF - the MAD way

I visited the ICFF yesterday and took a few shots of what struck my fancy. Grace, at design*sponge, has a much more comprehensive overview, but these are my faves...

Melissa Gamwell is a recent grad from Pratt, with a focus on industrial design and ceramics. These are some of her things, which I found well done and delightful. She has a new website here.

technorati tags: icff, design, ceramics

3 Blue Eggs

Had to post this picture Susan, from Art Esprit, took this morning in New Hampshire. After last week's flooding up there, it is so cool to see life persist. Spring has sprung and life is taking over, again.

Mind bending

In Euan Semple's blog, The Obvious, he points to this very cool website, where he credits James with the heads up. I went to James's blog, didn't find the link to this on his opening couple of entries, but found this. If you are a breadcrumb follower, check out these 2 links, and welcome to my world!

Blogging is an opportunity for disruption. Chosen disruption. By looking around the blogsphere, often in random ways, much can be glimpsed that just might improve your day!

technorati tags: theobvious, dance, disruption

davistudio on Everyday Italian

The Food Network approached me a couple of years ago and bought a bunch of stuff for Giada De Laurentiis's cooking show, Everyday Italian. There has been a recent spate of interest on message boards, so I am posting an image here of the pitcher she uses which has become suddenly popular! Drop me an e-mail if you are interested. It is 4" high and $46. The larger one is $86. and 9" high. Each one is handmade, one at a time, by me, here in Columbia County.

technorati tags: davistudio, everydayitalian, pitcher

Karin Eriksson - Swedish Potter

Karin Eriksson is a Swedish potter, one of 3 blogging potters (that I know of). If you know of any other other potters blogging, let me know!

I like Karin's work because of her simple, elegant forms and her use of decals with an elegant line.

I am posting about her here today because she is participating in an interesting selling venture in Brighton, England. A bit far for me to travel, but I love the idea. Brighton has an annual arts month in May, part of England's biggest arts festival, The Brighton Festival. Karin's work can be seen in the Yellow House.

I love this idea, because it's all about art, dedicates the entire month of May to art and engages a huge community in strolling around Brighton, looking at and buying art. Artists are invited to bring their work into hundreds of homes and it is left there for the month. Open on weekends, artists are present to talk about their work and engage with visitors.

So, if your going to Brighton in the next 2 weeks, check it out. Or, maybe, plan an arts festival in your region and gather all the artists up to open their doors to visitors!

technorati tags: karineriksson, pottery, brighton, art, artsfestival

Mad on Rocket Boom

Amanda Congdon does this fab vlog, (video blog) daily, called Rocket Boom. She has over 100,000 viewers a day. The new news? Pretty cool for her to put my cup on there. Thanks, Amanda! (If you link to the picture to see it, gave it a few minutes to load).

technorati tags: rocketboom, amandacongdon, davistudio, coffeecup

Modern Table from France

Corey Amano at Tongue in Cheek Antiques posted this lovely last week. I felt it was "modern" because the fork is upside down...Check out her blog...pure balm.

technorati tags: tongueincheek, france

Trunk Show Debrief

Whew! back from 3 days in New York City where I took a hotel room in mid-town and displayed my wares for show and tell. I had some wonderful visitors. Toshie Otsuka is pictured here helping me set up. Check out her amazing pottery here.
This approach to selling pottery is a bit out of the box. Jewlery and fashion have long been associated with trunk shows. For some reason, potters have not pursued this avenue of selling. If you know anyone who has, let me know! It was easy- a comfortable room, people through the entire time and easy access for New Yorkers. Setting up was a breeze. The bellman unloaded my van and delivered my boxes to the room.
Break down was just a easy. I packed up Sunday night, while watching a movie and finished up Monday morning. I was able to spend some quality time with my favorite retailer, Amy Shaw from Greenjeans. Other friends and clients had a much more relaxing experience than the high anxiety of a show.
I recommend this approach to any artisan. It might be an interesting idea to group artisans in a block of rooms and share mailing lists to get more traffic. That has been done in the past with some success also. Glad to have done it. I will definately do it again!

technorati tags: davistudio, pottery, porcelain, trunkshow, , handmade