A corner of Murano in Sonoma - Friday October 07, 2011I was born in San Dona' di Piave, a mere 25 minutes by train from Venice. Since I was a child, I have been fascinated by the mystical and mysterious nature of this city with her narrow passages, byzantine and Moorish architecture, dead ends, infinite bridges, beautiful designs and most of all, incredible art and history. Not once I visited Venice without discovering new places and hearing new stories. It is a city full of tales and traditions and either you embrace it or she may even scare you away.. One of my favorite activities was that of visiting the islands around Venice. With my family, we had a small motor boat and we would venture through the laguna to Burano, Murano and Torcello. As you all know, Murano is where the most incredible and refined glass blown pieces are made. From as long ago as the 13th Century, Murano has ranked as the finest art centre for glassblowing in the world. The creativity, quality and design of the real Murano VETRERIE is unique and inimitable. I am myself a collector of Murano glass and I think my passion for it will be always the strongest between my collectible desires. I can't say no to a beautiful glass blown Murano piece. I strongly suggest to all of you to purchase Murano glass decorative objects, chandeliers, lighting fixtures, vases and glasses if you really want to bring some beauty into your home. Well, to my very surprise, here in Sonoma I found a corner of Murano. There is glass shop called Off Square Glass Studio where not only I met the experienced and talented glass blower, but I also witnessed him at work using his tools directly imported from Murano. It was a fabulous feeling that of standing in front of the furnaces and seeing the glass melt and being shaped with such artistry. He specializes in custom commissioned work, so let me design the items and have him make them! See some images of that day:
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Anthropologie Store Front in SF - Saturday July 16, 2011I was walking in Market street and passed by the Anthropolgie store. I knew that they were collecting corks to create decorative features in their stores nationwide. I would have never imagined the extent they would have pushed themselves to come up with these beautiful installations. It was very well exectued and beautiful. Here are the images of this sculptural floor-to-ceiling Anthropologie cork tree.
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100% CORK - Tuesday May 17, 2011I do deeply care about our Earth and I am strongly against plastics. I try and try not to use them, despite sometimes you get no other options. One thing I can definitely choose, though, is not to consume wine with plastic corks or screw tops. They say screw tops are even more evil than plastics, because they are made of aluminum, which means mined out of our dear Earth belly. In any case, cork is good. Cork trees are an extensive part of the forests in Sardinia (Italy), Portugal and also certain regions of North Africa. Keeping the cork industry alive means maintaining those forests intact. Cork is sustainable. It is in fact the bark that gets harvested every ten years or so, not the tree itself. The tree grows stronger and stronger. Cork is recyclable. There are tons of uses for cork, from furniture, to flooring and construction materials and even fashion accessories. There is a campaign out there called 100% cork. Check it out. http://www.100percentcork.org/
You can sign the petition.
This is one of their ads in you tube:
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Milan Design Week 2011 - Thursday May 12, 2011In April 2011 I was in Milan, Italy. I stayed for a full week attending the Salone del Mobile, which is the most important furniture tradeshow in the world. The fair location is called Rho. This little town outside Milan witnessed a giant change when in 2005 the new Milan fair was inaugurated. This new location is huge. There are 345,000 squared meters of exhibiting space, for a total of 20 buildings. The design was by architect Massimiliano Fuksas. Here are some images of the development: I was always very busy working, not to mention the physical stress and fatigue of walking and standing all day, but I had the good will of taking of few shots here and there.
There were so many new products and interesting design, I was too focused in collecting information more than taking pictures. These are the only pictures I managed to take, mostly because it was two products that I liked personally a lot.
Milan is a tough city, very industrial looking, most of time under grey skies and you don't always find the friendliest of people. Nonetheless, it has its vibe and it feels energetic and vibrant. Scattered all over the city there were art installations specifically made for the Design Week. All the major Italian companies, magazines and design institutions organized parties and events every day, every night, for seven days. The atmosphere was exciting and you felt you were part of something special. During the design week, Milan is "invaded" by more than 300,000 visitors. Just imagine how easy it is to find hotels and restaurants availability! You generally have to book a year in advance. These are some views of a weekday night in downtown Milan:
And we couldn't miss the Ferrari, Lamborghini exhibit:
Overall, the Milan experience is always challenging in terms of endurance but extremely rewarding in terms of design inspiration!
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Cody Rasmussen. My photographer. - Thursday April 21, 2011Cody Rasmussen. Like me, an Academy of Art laureate. An incredible mind and artist, a genius photographer. It is three years now that I have been working with him and his art doesn't cease to amaze me. He is always travelling, getting inspirations from all around the world. He comes back with treasures in his camera.
Cody is MY photographer. He has accompanied me in travels from Europe to Russia and here in the US photographing my interior design projects. Cody Rasmussen website is www.rasimage.com
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Fun portraits of the Italian spirit by Marco Kooiman - Saturday April 02, 2011I found Marco Kooiman's website while looking for a truly Italian painting that would reflect the spirit of all of us born in Italy. I wanted something iconic, ironic and fun. That is why when I was researching, I was typing words such as Fiat, Vespa, Campari, etc..Yes, you may think a bit nostalgic, but in reality, even the youngest Italian has these names branded on the skin. Little I knew that Marco was just the painter I was looking for. His paintings recall somehow the pop art vivid colors, yet they represent a sight of Italy that is rather traditional, in a sense. Beautiful women, Vespas, Alfa Romeo cars, trattorie, cafes', squares, beaches and flirtatious settings. When I saw the paintings, I was catapulted back to Italy and I felt home. I bought two originals for my client's office; of course, she is Italian too. We may be the only two really getting them around here, but that is ok, if you went to Italy, you would get them too. www.marcokooiman.com
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