Following the Herd

Color
February 17, 2015

Good Morning Lacquered Lifers. Hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine’s Day and their long weekend. Unfortunately for me, I have been a tad under the weather the past few days. Nothing a little shock of pattern won’t fix! Woke up this morning dreaming of warmer weather, warm weather colors, and warm weather patterns. One of the first that always comes to mind is zebra. It is one of my absolute favorites. Despite my love of leopard, I will always overrule leopard in favor of zebra. Below, a small zebra inspiration board. Brunschwig & Fils “Le Zebre” // Lilly Pulitzer “I Herd You” // Milly Zebra King Swimsuit // Elle Decor // Scalamandre “Zebras” // China Seas “Nairobi” // I Married Adventure

Throwback Thursday: Studio Daze

Architecture
January 22, 2015

Good Morning Lacquered Lifers. Today I thought I would embrace the concept of Throwback Thursday and share some photos of my Philadelphia studio apartment that I lived in from 2009-2011 while I attended graduate school. The studio was 12′ x 24′, and while that may seem small, it fit me just perfectly. Sure I was hanging clothes in a closet in the tiny kitchen that only had a half fridge and two burner stove (no oven), but there was room for my bed, my desk, some great ikea club chairs, and I even through four person dinner parties in that apartment with a little drop leaf table I would pull off the wall and open up in the middle of the room. And the location? Perfect. I was one block from Rittenhouse Square. Built at the turn of the 20th century as a single family home, this Philadelphia row house between 20th and 21st Streets was once quite grand. However, by the time I got there, the home was broken up into small studio and one bedroom apartments that weren’t in the best shape … Here is a photo of the building from the exterior. See the dormer windows on the fourth floor? That’s my apartment. Even though the building no longer looked the way it had 100 years prior, there was still evidence of its past in some of the architectural details on the facade. Everything in that apartment was bought on a shoestring budget and became a DIY project, or was something I inherited, or was a gift from my parents. And some of these pieces are still a part of my life here in Charleston. Those silver tables are now coral and live on the piazza. My teeny tiny kitchen. And to think that I made dinner parties worth of dinners in that space! All on the stovetop b/c I had no oven. I painted the walls Benjamin Moore Caribbean Blue Water in high gloss which made a teeny space feel more like a jewel box than a closet. And the walls of the main room were Benjamin Moore Bird’s Egg. I loved that little studio. With all the studying and work I was doing, I probably spent more time in that apartment in Philadelphia than both of my NYC apartments combined. It seems like only yesterday, but I took these photos six years ago. Whoa. Happy Throwback Thursday.

The Art of the Neighborhood with George, Elliot, and Brian

Architecture
October 10, 2014

Good Morning Lacquered Lifers! This week I had the opportunity to go to The George Gallery for a preview of artist Brian Coleman’s new show, which opens tonight. As a preservationist and a lover of neighborhoods, I cannot do a post on art at The George Gallery without talking about the gallery first. The beautiful sun-lit gallery space is located at 50 Bogard Street, in Elliotborough, in a nineteenth century building that at one time housed a grocery store. The high ceilings, white walls (Benjamin Moore Decorator’s White), and large storefront windows combine to create a brightness in the space that can only be described as perfect for viewing art. And in this case, Brian Coleman’s art, an artist whose pieces truly shine in a space where the light is constantly changing and allows you to appreciate the nuances of color and texture that appear in his work. It was hard to pick a favorite. For a moment I would think I had found one, and then something in the adjacent piece would catch my eye and my fancy for a while, until another piece would beckon me for a closer look. I must have done at least five laps around the space. Another wonderful thing about The George Gallery is its owner, Anne, who is so much fun to be around and enjoy art with. Despite the fact that she is in the business of art, her enthusiasm and excitement over the pieces is contagious, and you feel her learning from and appreciating the pieces alongside you. What a treat. I think my favorite is the one on the right in this picture, titled, “Everything We Had and Did.” Anne was convinced it was because I love and respond to architecture, and this piece probably has more boxes and straight lines than any other in the show. I tend to agree with her. Plus, it is very blue – and we know how I feel about blue … And then there was this piece, “Anywhere But In Between.” The green and the blue, the straight lines, I don’t know but this might be the one too … So come to The George Gallery, TONIGHT, from 5:00-8:00 for the opening of artist Brian Coleman’s new show, “It’s All in the Wander.” What a great title for what promises to be a great show.

Perhaps after you feast your eyes on Coleman’s art, you can feast at another Bogard Street hotspot, Trattoria Lucca. And take a tip from artist Brian Coleman, who believes “It’s All in the Wander,” and stroll around Elliotborough – it’s a pretty special neighborhood.