New York: Winter Windows

christmas on mars: extravagant macy's window

mixing business and pleasure, last week i made a short trip to new york, to work on a gilt ceiling with my friend bruce thalman.
my first night there i had a veritable holly golightly moment when bruce and john took me to herald square, to macy's at a somewhat late hour so we could get that midnight shopping experience. the windows currently have a splendid santa-in-space theme.

the following day, while waiting for some surface to cure, bruce and i spent an incredible afternoon at one of my favorite places - abc carpet and home.


their windows, as most of the inside of the store, are of an indian/world beat theme. thousands of crystals, and i mean the vingettes are packed with them, act as a snowy landscape.


i didn't have my camera on me for the fantastic tony duquette-inspired bergdorf windows, but fortunately racked.com posted some shots.

want to see more lovely window displays? check out the amazing vitrines of paris and london as reported at tara bradford's paris parfait.

Chinoiserie in Red

The Chinoiserie Powder Room I designed for the 2002 San Francisco Decorator Showcase House - David Papas Photography

Here's one of my favorite historic decorating trends: Chinoiserie.
For a number of years now I've been known for painting a certain style of flowering trees Chinoiserie mural using my own spin on the look that was all the rage in late 17th and 18th century French décor.
I adore the wallcoverings of deGournay and Gracie, which are still being produced today in much the same way as the hand-painted wallpapers found in the Royal Pavillion at Brighton, or Lustschloss Hellbrunn, Salzburg. These papers are lush, labor intensive, delicate, and worth every dime they cost.

For this room mural, rather than paint densely covered wallpaper-style panels, I used a light hand, and a more naturalistic approach, to keep this intimate-scaled space airy and uncluttered. Carnelian Red walls help make the room look larger as well as rich and fabulous. And we included California natives such as poppies and monarch butterflies, alongside the lilies, pomegranates, and peonies.

some mentions for this room:
Kafka blog
sfgate

Lynne Rutter Murals & Decorative Painting

new lace doily pattern from Flor

photo courtesy flor.com

I've been thinking about using some of those super cool Flor carpet tiles in my tiny "chill room" for a while but could not settle on a pattern.
Until today, when Marcia sent me a link to their new Amazing Lace design, and I think the deal is done now.
This is playing into a recently revived lace obsession.

note to Flor photo-stylist, how about a little cord management?

Trend ho! check out the doily bonanza posted at Decor8!

SALI conventioneers invade local studios

Last week the Stencil Artisan's League held its annual convention in the San Francisco Airport Hyatt. I'd never attended such a convention before, and as it was local to me, I signed up for some classes being taught by Lucretia Moroni and Tania Seabock, and dragged my arse to Burlingame at 8 am every morning. I had a lot of fun, met a number of nice painters from all over the world, and got no sleep for 6 days straight.

Lisa Làzàr and I planned a progressive studio tour for some of the visitors for Friday night. Around 7 PM a boisterous group of artists showed up at my hastily cleaned up Dogpatch studio, where Vera greeted them with Salvadoran food and tequila.
Among the artists in attendance: Sheri Hoeger, Ryan Hoeger, Jeff Raum, Pat Ganino, Mike and Matt from Creative Evolution, Tom McPherson, Ian and Tania Seabock, Lis Wolfin, Cleta Grant, Kathy vanGogh, Arlene Mcloughlin, Mimi, Margo, Sass Lassley, Bruce Thalman, Pamela Hernandez, Anne Halaby, Elena Ortega, Heather, Stacy Carney, Pat Strong, Kristen Lerner, Kristin McNeill...

We then carpooled over to West Oakland where Lisa runs the scenic studio for the Berkeley Repertory Theater : her amazing shop is housed in a 25 gazillion square foot zeppelin hangar, clean, well organized, stocked with every tool you could imagine.

Afterwards part of the group wound up at the DNA lounge for some after hours dancing. whew!

Vera- Blogdom's popular party girl

Of course you notice her, the luscious dark-haired girl in the jazz club, cooling her brow with a martini glass and giving the guy right behind you a cold come-hither stare.

Yes, I mean you, bloggers, taking Vera's picture, and using your story to tell her story. Go ahead and project onto her all your bitterness, desires and dreams.

"Vera has a Martini" was commissioned as part of a group of paintings for the (gone but not forgotten) Cobalt Tavern in San Francisco's North Beach. Since then, she's been inspiring musings all over the internet with her icy mixed message, and, she has become something of an alter-ego for me as well, since I use her as my avatar in some places.
I've found her in many blogs and websites over the years. Vera sure gets around.
here are some of the more interesting entries:

"Stirred, Not Shaken" Mantis in a Teacup, February 2007
The Perfect Friday Night Pegasus News, January 2007
Cleopa is Here! Cleopa - Pensieri Disordinati, Christmas, 2005
John Gilbert's Home Page