This year's design conference was a feast for design lovers of varying genres.
SCREENPLAY Oyler Wu Collaborative
"A play on visual perception." (These are ropes folks.) Beautifully intriguing.
VILLA HILLCREST by
Kenneth Parel-Sewell
Super fab Lego home anyone?
Complete with a globe of the world.
Reclaimed wood by Stikwood
There were a lot of innovated designs at Dwell on Design, this intrigued me the most... Flexible stone.
Lulan Artisans
These designs are helping to make the world a better place.
Delicately decadent hardware by Bronzes De France
To wrap up the day I attended a talk with the very talented Bryan Cranston of the hit series 'Breaking Bad'.
Bryan is working on the '3 Palms' project which is a sustainable, passive home. For those of you who are new to the term, a passive home is an ultra low energy building. In fact once complete '3 Palms' will be giving energy back to the grid!
Yours truly with Mr. Bad himself :o)
"Dwell on Design" was a successful testimony to our human nature as true creatives and when confronted with a challenge such as our changing climate, we have the inherent ability to find the source. I hope to see you next year at Dwell on Design.
My latest discovery in the world of wine is the Everson Royce. This is a great little spot to grab a glass and meet some new friends. I really enjoy Ana Henton's design. She incorporated warm, hard materials in a way that feels very inviting. ...But hey when there is wine involved life is inviting!
Photo provided by Bigstock
A question most of us rarely think about.... I'm not just talking pen and paper moving from one point to the next. Lines come in many shapes for various applications. Consider the line of an arm chair or the sway of the chair back. How does the line reflect aesthetic and comfort? Personally I'd rather sit in a chair with curves designed to complement the lines of the human body. Consider the lines of a structure... Lets looks at the Victorian Style Homes (because I love them), they are remarkably beautiful structures, I love the visual feast Victorian's offer. Consider that there are different lines of this style home depending on the era it was built in. A Victorian from the Second Empire might have more rounded line on the roof, where a home built in the Queen Anne era would have steep angular lines. In the fashion world lines can make or break the success of a garment. Though not always flattering an A-Line dress or skirt appeals to most body types and the lines of a Sheath are typically good for a specific female form.
Lines are extremely important in design.
So... What's in a line and what is the story behind them?
Thomas F. Barber is the architect of this amazing piece of art history. I love the stone and Gothic feel.
The encyclopedia Britannica defines art as the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experience that can be shared with others.
hum... she contemplates...
...the use of skill... does art really require skill? If skill is required in order to be an artist then it could be fair to say that a child's drawing is not art because they are too young to have acquired any skill.
(I personally don't believe this to be true)
When I think about it art is such a vague word and the concept is completely up to interpretation. I'm not questioning the idea of art as being good or bad, that dilemma is left to the individual experiencing the "art".
If we all have the inherent ability of being creative doesn't that automatically make us skilled?
(Side note - I do believe we are all creative beings and when not in use our creativity lies dormant in the depth of are soul, which may trick some of us into thinking we have no talents.)
In my search for the definition of art several sources describe the origins being from the Latin word "Ars" which means skill method or technique, but doesn't this definition confine the word and expression of what art is?
In the movie American Beauty the character Ricky films the wind dancing in a circular motion as a few leaves and a plastic bag are intertwined in the breeze. He describes this as the most beautiful thing he has ever filmed. We can say that film is art but if art is skill then this clip of a plastic bag (essentially trash) blowing in the wind is not art by definition. There was no skill in filming trash blowing in the wind...there was no editing evolved by Ricky.
I personally agree with the character of Ricky, this moment in American Beauty is so touching and real. It is by far some of the best writing in film and American Beauty is one of the most brilliant piece of art I have seen in my life time.
So,... what are your thoughts? ...What is art?
I met some really great folks tonight at the Visual Artist's Meet Up group... Looking forward to introducing some talented artist!
This past weekend was a blast at the 7th annual LA Wine Festival! I was introduce to some great new wines and met some fantastic wine lovers and foodies!
Me and my Gal Pal Luci at the starting gate...
1st stop Fray!
The friendly guys from Frey Vineyards were more than happy to pose for me... :o)
The Levendi winery from Napa cranks out some brilliantly silky Cabernets...
Almost empty ;o(
You have to love the names of these blends... First Crush wines in San Miguel, Ca offers up some unique experiences, if your ever in their neck of the woods stop by and check out their harvest crush experience!
...ha ha double fisting...
Smell...
Taste...
Some good food was had... Soft shell crab anyone...
...and oysters on the side, my kind of snack!
In the end...
A good time was had by all....
And some new friends were made!
Oh yeah and my favorite wine of the day, hands down...... drum roll please.....
Santa Ema 2011 Sauvignon Blanc! Perfectly refreshing!
In honor of my beautiful friends Peter and Axia I will dedicate some time contemplating the expression of Chianti wines...
Chianti is a red wine produced in Tuscany and for my first sampling I chose a 2008 Riserva Grifone. From the smell of the cork I got an deep oakiness (which I love), the color is a rich, deep ruby.... the fragrance of ripe raspberry and cherry. This wine has a bold flavor... perfume with an after thought of tobacco... Its a good wine for the price!
