Rethinking lavender

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I have a strong aversion to purple. It's a joke in my family that when there is a choice of colors someone invariably jokingly asks if I would like the purple one.

 No, I would not.

 Lavender gets a suspicious side-eye from me for associating so closely with the purple but I recently found a color that has me rethink the whole lavender thing.

It's called Provence blue but it more closely resembles lavender. Not just any lavender but a divine grayish, pale blue lavender. Nevertheless it is very lavender and in possession of some kind of pixie magic that makes me like it and also hard to photograph.  I tried to find a Ben Moore or Sherwin-Williams color that matched but nothing was close. If I had to choose SW 6815 Awesome Violet is the closest but its still far too muddy and gray. It was not big deal deal to me until I began to notice that it looked great no matter what I put it next to, in fact other colors improved it every time according to my eye at first. The more I used it the more I noticed that the adjacent color not only improved the lavender but the lavender improved all of the other colors. I tried it with a different lavender of my own creation and the effect was not the same.

This got me thinking that this particular shade could find a spot in my house after some deep breathing exercises and plenty of reassurance that it isn't purple. Purple is still right out (I am talking to you, Mom) so don't get any ideas.

New paper pieces for Spring

I took most of the paper pieces out of my Etsy shop last week for the trunk show at The Blue Octagon and needed some new things to replace them. I have 11 new paintings on paper listed and will add more but not one by one, rather in groupings.

Most of the pieces I painted in pairs but they can be bought singly.

Swing by and see them all HERE

To paint or not to paint

The entryhall , with it's 18 foot ceiling, is now painted. Thanks to Mr. Designdumonde and his ladder bravery. As I put it back together I see flaws.

Those orange floors will just have to have another Oriental rug on them so that they are less, well, there and that fugly orange banister has a date with some white paint but it is my little desk that I wonder about.

I like painted furniture in small doses. I feel like they are fun accents but plan for the look to become dated so my favorite things likely won't ever be painted. I like this desk but its not a family heirloom.I am leaning towards painting it a glossy color. My first go-to is black but I have a bamboo chest painted black just steps away from this. There is always gray but I don't want to max out the gray in my house, if that is even possible. I really would only consider those two colors. Yes, me the color lover doesn't want a color on this. I just don't want to hate a year from now and I don't want it to be a problem in the new house.

So, help! What color do I paint it? Or do I paint it at all?

Those bits that look like inlay are what drew me to the piece but they are just applied either paint or stain.

P.S. We painted the walls SW Repose Gray at 50% and love it! The hallway, family room and kitchen are all getting painted the same color too.

R.I.P. Mr. Graves

Like his designs or not, Michael Graves was an architect that changed design. He died of natural cause at his home in Princeton, NJ yesterday.

My first encounters with this post modern hero of mine was when I was still in high school with visions of becoming a famous postmodern architect. The "Memphis" style as it was known in the '80s, took the spare lines of the standard mid-century design ideals and added whimsical sometimes silly decoration.

His furniture design speaks to my 18 year-old self, but I am sorry to say that it leaves my, ahem, mature self a little uninspired. I do, however, fondly remember the excitement over his designs in my youth. He made things that made me say, "Yes, just like that! I want to make that!"

I did love my original Alessi teapot (pictured above) I bought it in 1986 for $110 and that, my friends, was a crap load of cash for a young thing like me to fork out for something I would not let anyone use. I sold it and now have regrets.

Farewell Mr. Graves.

Philadelphia's Main Line art show

March appears to be my traveling month. First Charleston, then Charlotte this week and Malvern, in the Philadelphia area on the 19th.

I am having a trunk show with over 30 pieces of art at The Blue Octagon

If you are not familiar, I urge you to take a look at the website.  

Krissa, the designer behind The Blue Octagon, has stocked this shop with all of the "to die for" pieces on my list.

Her shop is worth a follow on Facebook or Instagram just for the eye candy.

Off to Charlotte--new artwork

"Winter nights 7"

I am on the road today headed to Charlotte, North Carolina. I am dropping off new pieces at Anne  

Neilson fine art and attending a workshop. I plan to drop in on Lisa Mende and Traci Zeller at Studio 202 also. It has the makings of a fun day!

"Winter nights 4"

I was asked to bring more pieces to add to my minimalist "Winter nights" series. 

"Winter nights 1"

I am throwing in a few other pieces on paper too.

"Mother and I"

"Through the window"

untitled oil on paper

All of these and others are available through Anne Neilson fine art

When the cork hits the fan-or our trip to Charleston

The crap view on 17 in Mount Pleasant last weekend...

OK so the weekend was not total crap and I will explain the cork and fan part in a bit.

Charleston was nice although the weather took a serious bite out of our plans. I have no gorgeous photos of Rainbow row or the beach outside of our Isle of Palms hotel.
 The photo above is the best photo I have of downtown Charleston and its clearly through a rainy windshield. We only ended up in the historic district at night and it rained the whole time!
The first night I visited Redux studios while the family shopped. I felt wrong taking photos but I did go into the studios of Teil Duncan, Kate Long Stevenson, Raven Roxanne, Alex Waggoner and more. It was delightful!
Next we met up with a childhood friend who lives in the area at Rarebit. I have nothing nice to say about the food but I ordered a champagne cocktail that so lip-smackingly delicious that I had to try to make it at home. Receipe to follow.

 I should mention that our trip was a scouting trip to be sure we want to make a new home there. We do.

On Sunday we drove around West Ashley that is just across the Ashley river from the peninsula. I had read good things about Ms. Rose's and we stopped in for brunch. I ordered fried chicken that was seriously mediocre but my husband's shrimp and grits was so spectacular that we will go back.

If  you are in the area, I also highly recommend Coleman's Public Hose in Mount Pleasant. Don't let the non-descript exterior fool you. It was exceptional.

Now back to the cork.

I knew that delicious champagne cocktail had elderflower liqueur in it so I grabbed a bottle as soon as we returned and bottle of inexpensive sparkling wine. The bottle had a strange safety cork. Being unfamiliar with it my husband popped it like any other cork and it released with such violence that it hit a 10 ft. high ceiling fan blade and splattered a bit of the on the fan making a "tink"sound and shaking the fixture. Had it not hit the fan I am quite sure it would have hit the 18 foot ceiling. We laughed.

Here is the recipe should you wish to partake.
I used a vintage  8 oz. pilsner glass instead of a champagne flute.
1 oz. St. Germain liqueur
3 oz. Champagne or dry sparkling wine
3 oz. lemon lime soda
Twist of lemon zest (do not skip this)
Enjoy but watch out for the cork!