Month: November 2010

Landscape & Gardening

The Perfect Chain-Link Fence

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Demakersvan’s Lace Fence. Someday in the future, my backyard will be regraded and landscaped into a sun garden. And at that time, I will have to decide on a fence type. I’ve ruled out the typical wood stockade, because it’s ugly, hostile, blocks breezes, and keeps my dogs from seeing out and my neighbors from seeing in. I would like to share my garden visually with those who walk or drive by. Decorative iron fencing is not an option, because of the expense and the lack of interesting design options. “Boring” is a good word for this type.

Contemporary Art

Peace Meals on Sunday

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At The Reading Room. There will be a reading and book signing for Peace Meals with author/journalist Anna Badkhen on Sunday, November 28 at 4 pm, 3715 Parry Avenue in Dallas.

As a journalist, Badkhen has covered wars in Afghanistan, Somalia, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Chechnya and Kashmir. Her trip to Afghanistan was made possible by a grant from the Center for Investigative Reporting. Peace Meals (Free Press, 2010) is a record of her experiences there, the people she met and the food she shared with them. Badkhen searches for the common denominator amongst peoples in war ravaged areas and focuses on the effects of war on civilians.

Badkhen grew up in Russia and did her first reporting for the St. Petersburg Times. From 2002 to 2004 she was the San Francisco Chronicle’s Moscow bureau chief. Her writing has appeared in The New Republic, Foreign Policy, Ms., Salon, The Boston Globe and The San Francisco Chronicle. Her e-book Waiting for the Taliban became available last month.

Film: Design & Architecture

Mon Oncle (1958)

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Mon Oncle is a 1958 film by French filmmaker Jacques Tati. The film centers on the awkward and lovable character, Monsieur Hulot, and his struggle with postwar France’s infatuation with modern architecture, mechanical efficiency, and American-style consumerism. Young Gérard, who lives with his materialistic parents in an ultra-modern house and garden (Villa Arpel) in a new suburb of Paris, relies on his adored uncle, M. Hulot, to provide random escapes from his sterile and monotonous life at home.

Just Because

Too Busy to Post

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something intelligent. This is just a quick fix for the moment, because my graphic design jobs have me overwhelmed. The creature you see in the above photo is the “Patsy Ann” doll my mom named me after. If it hadn’t been for eBay, I would never have known what she looked like. She was the tallest in Effanbee’s “Patsy” group and was popular from 1928 through the 1950s. About ten years ago, I did a series of promotional pieces using her. From time to time I will be reusing some of the images for my posts. She is also used in my logo/mark/brand that is in a bad need of an update which I plan to do in the near future.

Just Because

Third Annual Jingle Bash

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Handmade and deliciously tactile. It’s funny how small this world is, but I wouldn’t have known about this group, etsy Dallas, if it hadn’t been for a collaboration between my client, Katy Trail Animal Hospital, and Rhonda Warren, who specializes in custom design and letterpress paper goods. Without this coincidence, I wonder how long it would have been before I finally discovered this little pocket of wonders in my own backyard.

About the Jingle Bash. For the third year in a row, the Jingle Bash, Etsy Dallas’ handmade holiday shopping event, will offer up the very best in handmade apparel, bags, jewelry, home décor, accessories, art, pottery and more from over 50 hand-picked artists, crafters and designers. This year, the Jingle Bash will be held at The Palladium’s Lone Star Room (within the Gilley’s event complex just south of downtown Dallas at 1135 S. Lamar), a larger and more spacious venue than the former and beloved Sons of Hermann Hall. For more detailed information visit their website.

Contemporary Art

Erick Swenson

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(above) 'Muncie Head,' 2001, plastic resin, edition of 7, 14 x 10.5 x 10 inches
(above) ‘Muncie Head,’ 2001, plastic resin, edition of 7, 14 x 10.5 x 10 inches

At Dunn and Brown Contemporary. While visiting Trenton Doyle Hancock’s solo exhibit, I noticed this piece mounted on the wall of a small room outside the gallery’s nucleus (aka the office) and snapped this photo. It was mesmerizing and so haunting to see it in person. I haven’t been able to find a biography for Erick Swenson, but from the little information I could glean from the internet, I discovered he lives and works here in Dallas and was part of Dunn and Brown’s summer group show, Floor Plan. I am envious of the individual who will eventually own this piece of beauty.

Contemporary Art

Joseph Havel

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(above left) 'nothing.,' 2007; (above center) 'forget.,' 2007; (above right) nothing.,' 2007(shirt labels and plexiglas, each measures 24.5 x 24.5 x 2 inches)
(above left) ‘nothing.,’ 2007; (above center) ‘forget.,’ 2007; (above right) nothing.,’ 2007
(shirt labels and plexiglas, each measures 24.5 x 24.5 x 2 inches)

Dunn and Brown Contemporary. During my last visit, these three works of art were on the floor leaning against the office partition wall, and it would have been a shame to leave the gallery without having tried to photograph them. They were begging for it. Even though they are individually priced, in my opinion, they should be sold as a set. Follow the below link to see an up-close detailed view of the labels. Joseph Havel’s art is usually very sculptural and uses common everyday materials such as white dress shirts, curtains, tablecloths, and collars. Through his work with shirts, Havel found that the labels offered another avenue of artistic investigation.

Interior Design

Decorative Wire Grille

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Used instead of glass. I have a large collection of books that don’t happen to be fancy sets of gilded leather bindings that would provide a uniform and elegant look on open shelving. My dining room is a small space and could easily feel cluttered and claustrophobic with all the mishmash of various book covers. I have seen decorative wire grille used in the libraries of many historic stately homes and thought that by using a grille with elegant silk café-like curtains lining the inside of each cabinet door, I could trick the space into feeling unfettered and more spacious.

Contemporary Art

Introducing Pip & Pop

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'Under the Crystal Sky,' 2009
‘Under the Crystal Sky,’ 2009

Happy capitalism as excessive sweetness. Pip and Pop (aka Tanya Schultz and Nicole Andrijevic) work together as a collaborative duo. Their art practice encompasses installation, painting, photography and wall drawings. Their abundantly detailed and seductively colorful works are made from an eclectic mix of materials such as confectionary, plastic objects and plants, origami, vinyl, paint, and magazine cut-outs. With child-like optimism and playful working methods, they construct and transform everyday objects into elaborate and joyfully excessive artworks that explore notions of desire, abundance and blissful states of being.

Their fascination with kawaii (cute) aesthetics of Japanese pop culture is their main inspiration and celebrates the culture of mass consumption and joyfully embraces the after-effects that flow from the encompassing ecstasy of excessiveness. They term it “happy capitalism”. To see more of their work visit their website Pip & Pop. This has been your sugar fix for the day.