Monthly Archives: August 2009

August 28, 2009 · 5:23 pm

Get the Look: Modern Clocks

From digital to analog, with numbers or just a dot, these modern, contemporary and retro clocks are sure to make you tick. Tock.

Shopping Guide

Riki Desk Clock, $99.95 at MOMA Store.
Jonas Damon Twice Twice Clock, $150 at Design Public.
Round LED Clock, $35 at MOMA Store.
KVAETA Clock, $5.99 at IKEA.
Jonas Damon Number Clock, $100 at Design Public.
Font Clock, $1,150 at Moss.
Cube Clock, $50 at Moss.
Angelo Mangiarotti Space Maritime Table Clock, $262 at Nova68.
Bonox Clock, $18 at Urban Outfitters.
Dot Matrix Digital Alarm Clock by Kikkerland, $80 at Fitzsu.
Floz Design Modern LCD Clock, $40.95 at Nova68.
80’s Cube Clock, $22 at Fred Flare.
Queen Clock, $49.95 at The Well Dressed Home.
Sunflower Clock by George Nelson, $1085 at DWR.
Audrey Wall Clock, $49.99 at Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Metal Wall Clock by Glenna Jean, $75.38 at AllModern
Nelson Ball Clock, $335 at DWR.
Petal Clock by George Nelson, $325 at Design Public.
Orange Retro Wall Clock, $29.99 at Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Focus Wall Clock, $25.95 at Burke Decor.
Katia Clock, $34 at The Well Dressed Home
Wood Wall Clock, $77.95 at Burke Decor.
Plywood Clock, $70 at MOMA Store.
Color Blocks Clock, $88 at Chiasso.
Galaxy Wall Clock, $78 at Chiasso.
Time Zone Clock, $69.95 at CB2.
Red Arrow Wall Clock, $47.95 at Burke Decor.
Testpage Wall Clock, $57.95 at Burke Decor.
Arne Jacobsen Romer Clock, $342 at Nova68.
Flight Clock, $58 at Chiasso.
Nava Wall Clock Time Bodoni, $170 at Fitzu
Alessi Blow Up Wall Clock, $240 at Fitzsu.
Postal Box Table and Wall Clock, $219 at Italian Design Gifts.
TAJMA Clock, $9.99 at IKEA.
Albero (Cucuruku) Cuckoo Clock, $350 at Italian Design Gifts
What Time Modern Wall Clock, $199 at Italian Design Gifts.

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Filed under . REGULAR FEATURES, Get The Look, Home Accessories, Shopping

Tagged as alarm clocks, alessi clock, audrey hepburn clock, ball clock, clocks, color block clock, desk clock, fitzsu, floz clock, george nelson, italian design gifts, mod clock, modern clock, modern clocks, nelson clock, nova68, retro clocks, shopping for clocks, sunflower clock, tajma clock, time zone clock, vitra clocks, wall clock, wood frame clock, wood panel clock

August 27, 2009 · 4:59 pm

I like to know what time it is. That will come as no surprise to those of you who know me, since it goes along with my über organized mindset. (Though, my husband will surely point out that I’m not actually ever on time.)

In any case, the clock has always been a feature of my well-ordered life. When I was in junior high, I used my holiday money from Nana to buy a clock radio. (Yes, I realize I am dating myself.) I really, really wanted a Sony Dream Machine, a compact, glossy white cube with a pretty blue LED readout. Alas, I could only afford a slightly downscale model, an odd-shaped polygon with teal numbers. It has the loudest siren-like alarm you ever did hear. I still have it. My husband hates it. It’s alarming enough to cause heart failure. But it gets me up in a jiffy.

This post focuses on wall clocks. Like most, I adore George Nelson’s. I also like a simple, crisp school clock design. I’m not a fan of the Roman numeral up on the wall, though my Cartier watch is among my prized possessions. Here’s an array of clocks in rooms by designers and those found on Flickr from regular folks.

Flickr Finds

Photos: Floroom B&B via Remodelista; White Webb; Apartment Therapy Los Angeles; Light Locations; Beth Evans via Desire to Inspire; Kelly McGuill; L’Internaute; Apartment Therapy NYC; Apartment Therapy; Living Etc.; Living Etc.; Domino; photographer Jean-Pierre Lemoine; SR Gambrel; Design Sponge; Lori Graham; Real Simple; Ken Fulk; Stylehome via Desire to Inspire; photographer Lisa Cohen; Larson + Shores; photographer Julien Lanoo; photographer Graham Atkins-Hughes. FLICKR FINDS: Moakidi; Twittering Bird; suzy8track; Moakidi; Moakidi; eternity eyes 2009; mondolind; Gene Fama; irksomecushion; juliannlaw; paperNstitch; joe-pirela; m.bibelot.

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Filed under . REGULAR FEATURES, Home Accessories, Montage, Rooms

Tagged as Beth Evans, clocks, george nelson, Graham Atkins-Hughes, Jean-Pierre Lemoine, Julien Lanoo, Kelly McGuill, Ken Fulk, L'Internaute, Lisa Cohen Larson + Shores, mid-century modern clocks, Steven Gambrel, wall clocks, White Webb

August 25, 2009 · 7:42 pm

Design Diary: Frank Roop’s Studio

Photo courtesy of Stuff Magazine

Last year, interior designer Frank Roop purchased a 725-square-foot condo on Newbury Street to serve as his studio and office. I popped in last spring to go over the details on the gorgeous Nantucket house that I wrote about for the Boston Globe Magazine (and this blog). While I was there, I also got the lowdown on how he transformed it into a perfect workspace; one that showcases his signature style without overwhelming the designs he puts forth for his clients. I wrote it up as a Q&A for Stuff Magazine called “Interior designer Frank Roop’s functional and fashionable studio”. And, I took extra notes and pictures to share here.

“I definitely went all out. My studio is simple and clean, with notes of exotica, pops of color, and a lot of texture. It communicates my aesthetic, but is neutral enough so that the design doesn’t overshadow my presentations to clients.”

The space originally housed three separate offices. Roop kept a plan with three distinct spaces, but opened up the wall between two of them, adding large custom metal-and-glass doors. That’s where his desk and computer are. He presents design concepts and swatch boards in the adjoining room with the fireplace. The third room is a work area for making models, with doors he can shut if it gets messy.

Roop’s desk is vintage Danish from a dealer in Paris. The wall behind the desk is a high-gloss lacquer with “a million coats of paint” that were sanded between coats and then sprayed with a high-gloss finish. Roop adds, “It took about a week to do that one wall.” The stripey painting is by local artist David Moore, represented by the Kidder Smith Gallery.
Left: Roop often uses vintage Curtis Jere wall sculptures. An array of sea anemones hang behind his desk. (He used similar sculptures above the desk in the Nantucket family room.)

Right: Detail of the overhead light fixture that he designed. About it Roop says, “It is essentially a light box made of silk with top-stitched suede tape.”

Left: These open rectangular bookshelves hang on the wall to the left of Roop’s desk. He used similar shelves in his home too.

Right: Roop favors fancy minerals as objets d’art. The hunks here are actually slag glass. (I scoured ebay for a hunk (of glass) of my own as soon as I got back to my computer.)

Right: The main room adjoins Roop’s office. The walls are covered with a superfine hemp cloth in a neutral color, which is important because he displays the design boards on the ledges here. The wall behind the fireplace is a micro-mosaic tile in a polished white Carrara marble that’s sort of sparkly. The Plexiglass globe chandelier is from an antique dealer in San Francisco.

Top right: A mesmerizing slab of rock with clear crystal formations, from China, sits on the mantle. Bottom right: Another painting by David Moore hangs above a decorative screen with nail head detailing.

Left: “My super-duper high-end treasure is this ’60s-era George Nakashima coffee table.”

Right: Roop designs most of the upholstered pieces in his projects. This chair is one of his early prototypes. He also designed the star side table with a shimmery veneer that’s made from paua shell imported from Hawaii. When the Nantucket client saw it, she insisted on having one too. The star table in Nantucket has more of a bluish tinge.

The presentation ledges. These boards are for an over-the-top condo in Miami. I got a sneak peek of the photos, but sorry, can’t share them yet! They’ll be published in a national glossy soon.

Details from the inspiration boards. Shiny, velvety, nubby, geometric, metallic. Delicious. The colors and textures are pure Roop, but revved up to stand out in South Beach.

“I love light fixtures – I think of them as sculpture.”

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Filed under . REGULAR FEATURES, Design Diary, Rooms

Tagged as Boston interior designer, Frank Roop

August 24, 2009 · 6:24 pm

Designer Spotlight: Seema Krish

A few months ago I interviewed Boston-based textile designer Seema Krish for “Designing Women” in Stuff Magazine. Seema has worked in the textile industry for 15 years in various roles, from swatch cutter to design director. She recently launched Seema Krish Collection. All the photos shown here are examples from her current collection.

[ WORLI a multi-textural graphic pattnern that combes block print, embroidery and silk appliqué. • CHOWPATTY a modern herringbone pattern that combines block print and embroidery. ]

Seema grew up in Bombay, and studied textiles at F.I.T., before taking a job with a mill designing commercial grade fabrics. After seeing a textile exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, she was inspired to take a position as a swatch cutter for NUNO, a high end Japanese textile firm with offices at the D&D Building. The firm’s clients included Bill Gates and Yoko Ono, as well as fashion houses Issey Miyake and Comme des Garçons.

[ MAHALAXMI a geometric flower pattern that combines block print, embroidery and mirrors. MALABAR HILL a simple flowing pattern that combines block print and embroidery. ] WORLI

After five years there, Krish returned to India, this time to Bangalore, where she founded a design and weave studio called Azure. She worked with local craftspeople, creating fabrics for a roster of well-known companies, including Calvin Klein Home and Donghia. After meeting her husband,they moved to Boston where she was design director for Robert Allen, and learned a lot about the business side of things. Seema says, “I got to know mills in Turkey, China, Italy, and France. It was a more realistic approach to textile making.”

WORLI

Seena’s since had a child and done some consulting, but as she approaches 40, she’s become interested in doing something new, and something creative again. Launching her own line seemed the logical next step. Seema’s motivation came from a desire to revive the textile arts found in villages in India, where such crafts are becoming extinct in favor of more lucrative jobs in technology-driven fields. Her first collection of fabrics, all of which are handmade using natural fibers and low-impact dyes, combines hand-blocked prints with embroidery. The designs are inspired by childhood memories of Bombay. She says, “They reflect the energetic potpourri of cultures in Bombay and are named after streets there.”

[ BREACH CANDY a contemporary interpretation of suzanis that combines
block print and embroidery. ]

Seema uses a specific craft as starting point, in this case hand-blocking and embroidery, and then dreams up patterns that can be created with those methods. Future collections will build on another technique, perhaps incorporating a different type of weaving or embroidery that hails from another region of India. As for how she will market them, by the yard to the design trade or as a line of products for retail sale, that’s still a work in progress. Though she has created an array of gorgeous pillows .

For more on Seema and her world of textiles,

check out her blog, Textile Swatches.

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Filed under . REGULAR FEATURES, Designer Spotlight, Home Accessories

Tagged as Boston textiles, eco-conscious fabric, eco-conscious textiles, fabric designers in Boston, hand-blocked prints, Indian textiles, Nuno, Seema Krish, South Asian textiles, Stuff Magazine

August 24, 2009 · 1:07 am

ARTmonday: Tabitha Vevers

I first became acquainted with the artwork of Tabitha Vevers through my mother-in-law, who gave me a series of three small works – birds eggs in architectural frames. Later I saw one of her gilded shell pieces at their home in Cape Cod – a disturbing but compelling image painstakingly painted on the interior of a seashell. That summer I had the pleasure of dining with Tabitha, along with a number of other Provincetown artists, including her husband, photographer Daniel Ranalli, and her mother, artist Elspeth Halvorsen, who constructs dioramas. Tabitha’s dad, the late Tony Vevers, is a well-known painter. It was a fun evening, and ever since, I’ve followed her work.

I missed Tabitha’s spring show at the De Cordova, but I plan to pop into the DNA Gallery in Provincetown this week, where a group show with her work just opened. Her depictions are not only incredibly skilled and fantastically creative, but often cerebral. (Not surprising, since she graduated from Yale.) The scale of her work is small, but the pieces are not the least bit precious. I find the gold leaf adds to their surreal appeal. Tabitha creates works in series. I included a bit about each below, along with images.

Eden Series

The impetus for this series came from the confrontation over teaching the Theory of Evolution in schools.

Expulsion

Eveandadam

Dehibernation

Trouble in Paradise

* * *

Shell Series

Tabitha describes this series as both a nod to her Cape Cod childhood and a challenge to see if she could paint shells as an adult without creating kitsch. She’s often chosen to paint on unusual materials if they resonate with her ideas, but with the Shell Series it’s the other way around—the imagery has grown out of the medium itself. These works draw on mythology and folklore.

Reunion

The Seaweed Collector

* * *

Lover’s Eyes Series

This series plays on the convention of eye portraiture during the Georgian period of the late 18th century. Such paintings were commissioned as secret gifts for illicit lovers. These excerpt images of women’s eyes from well-known paintings, but give primacy to the gaze of the model looking out, rather than the male gaze of the original artist’s eye.

La Magdalena (after Titian)

Young Woman (after Girolamo de Benvenuto)

Inka (after Chuck Close)

* * *

Flying Dreams Series

Tabitha interviewed over two hundred people about their flying dreams to create this series. The paintings are painted on metal in the style of Mexican devotional paintings (ex-votos), and include a description of the dreams in the dreamers’ own words. The scenes are depicted as described, not as interpretations.