C'est Inspiré is simply that - what is inspiring. Where the words end, images continue to speak. Seeing all that is around us, we seek some aspect of something that is life enhancing... something that you would like to be reminded of - to revisit. Something to capture and bring into your world, not leave behind... . That is why I take a camera everywhere; have spent countless hours organizing images in scrapbooks and pouring over them later to revisit the place, the people, the memory.
So, C'est Inspiré may be a single photo - or it may be 50, it may mean one thing to me, another to you - the meaning isn't important. Did it inspire? Did it make you smile? Did it bring back a pleasant memory? One or all of the above will do.
During a brief period of his life, the legendary art historian Bernard Berenson kept diaries where he wrote about how to see - and what he saw. These diaries were published under the title The Passionate Sightseer and edited by Raymund Mortimer.
Anyone, anywhere, anytime can be a passionate sightseer - just look.
Timing is everything. My copy of Garden & Gun arrived in the mail this week just in time to head south to Alabama next week and New Orleans the week after to give lectures. Restaurant recommendations galore only means one thing – I have to return soon. Trips to Virginia and North Carolina will shortly follow so there will be plenty of opportunities to try more suggestions from Garden & Gun. Thank you. They are now a permanent part of my travel file.
Taking a look inside the issue… Who wouldn’t want to try the Trout Meuniere Amandine from Galatoire’s or the Hot and Hot Tomato Salad from Hot and Hot Fish Club. This issue even provides “must visit places” described by chefs in each state.
So pick up a copy of this month’s Garden & Gun. Better yet subscribe to the magazine and see what Garden & Gun, the “soul of the South” has to offer.
This month’s issue also includes a Southern Travel Album with 15 southern tunes “we can’t live without.” Check out the playlist, perfect for those long southern roadtrips.
Visit the Garden & Gun south album playlist at http://gardenandgun.com/tastes-and-tunes
September 29, 2011
At a market in Paris, I picked up these issues of the French Magazine
“Plaisir de France.”
What struck me were the graphics,
the color,
the combinations of color and
no photos.
Elegance in simplicity – once again.
Divine.
There has to be a color scheme here to inspire someone to do something.
And then, there was a magazine behind those covers.
No longer child ’s play, the outdoor tent can be re-imagined to provide the perfect touch to your outdoor space, not to mention creating that summer resort in your own back yard. The July ‘57 issue of House and Garden published drawings of that private getaway. From gazebos to pavilions and sundecks, here are some of our favorites. Well over 50 years later, we’re still going strong. And STILL kids at heart.
Moroccan Party Tents at www.e-mosaik.com
Handcrafted Patio Umbrellas at www.hedgerowstudio.com
Pup Tents from www.Coleman.com
And the chicest yurts on Earth at www.coloradoyurt.com
August 5, 2011
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
June 27, 2011
...Some More Ideas! : Taking Notes at Restoration Hardware
On June 18th, Restoration Hardware will officially throw open the doors to its new store at 69 Main Street in East Hampton, New York. Housed in an historic 1908 mercantile building, the store is aptly referred to as “The Gallery.” We’ll be there on the 18th to check out all the new gear!
Recently, on the California leg of my whirlwind book tour, I was able to visit the flagship Restoration Hardware store in San Francisco, which opened just seven months ago. As soon as you enter the walled courtyard, you are whisked away…the street ceases to exist, you are immediately engulfed by the eponymous ambiance that has become Restoration Hardware. A great location, the San Francisco store was once Ed Hardy’s antiques showroom, a favorite haunt of mine that I have visited many, many times. It is one of the best retail spaces I know, and the crew at Restoration Hardware did not disappoint. Great furniture, lighting and accessories are everywhere, but the reason you should make it your first stop: there are decorating ideas around every urn and pedestal.
I’ll do the talking, you take the notes….
NOTES:
1. Don’t wimp out on scale. When in doubt, go for gusto!
2. A reproduction canoe frame – I could not resist. It’s now in East Hampton, adding some interest to the back of my pool house.
3. Three strong messages here:
- Hospitality – always a place to sit in the garden.
- Objects decorate the outside the same as the inside, like this repurposed French clock face.
- A chandelier on a pulley for candlelight and romance in the garden…
4. A Garden gate mounted on the wall adds an unexpected graphic element, silhouetted against a plain wall.
5. SUCCULENTS – Your low-maintenance garden friend. The textures and colors are a wide range, and they can make even the blackest thumb look like a gardening success.
Below…
6. Two corbels make a console…and you can determine the size by the distance between them and what you put on top. They are just as effective in a foyer, a dining room, a long hall or even a single in the bathroom.
7. An old architectural fragment next to the bathtub – for all the necessities. If your are thinking about building, think of where to place that tub – near French doors or a window with a view.
CLASS: THE RESTORATION HARDWARE SCHOOL OF ACCESSORIZING – 101
1. It just takes a few. Well chosen and large scale.
2. Because…you found and you liked it – no other reason necessary.
3. Good arrangements take practice – start now.
4. A collection of anything on a stand looks museum-worthy.
5. Love the hat forms! (ditto #4)
6. Architectural fragments made into lamps – the chicest form of recycling.
June 17, 2011
Every year as a new gardening season approaches, a new ‘crop’ of books emerges to guide, inspire, amuse and enthrall us.
This season is no different and the range is vast. Some of my favorites include the exuberant picturesque and artistic gardens in Hamptons Gardens by Jack DeLashmet. A book worth the investment for many reasons, all proceeds will go to God’s Love We Deliver.
Page Dickey’s Embroidered Ground is a collection of personal essays on garden successes and failures, a garden’s evolution and of course, its many pleasures and delights.
The Book of Leaves by Allen Coombs.
Everything you want to know about 600 trees and their leaves. Remember the first time you climbed one? Or memorized Joyce Kilmers, “Trees”? Or planted your first one? This is your new tree bible, but I just find it fascinating reading.
Founding Gardeners by Andrea Wulf.
Andrea Wulf is a British design historian who embedded herself at the country homes of our first four presidents. She immersed herself in their correspondence to discover and reveal their personal botanical passions, concerns for agricultural self-sufficiency, shared interests in natural history of America and how they exchanged seeds with friends. Extraordinary really, running the country, cultivating the land and sending seeds abroad to friends with instructions on how to plant.
All books can be purchased through Archivia Books. Please call Archivia at (212) 570-9565 or visit www.archiviabooks.com
June 2, 2011
