Modeled after the arched form of an aquatic wave, the above seat is called Chopu, after the Tahitian form that is a surfer’s dream.   It is one in a series of seats by Pennsylvania’s O’Hara Studio that is inspired by water and its elegant movements. The seat is assembled from multiple wooden elements which produce a radiating pattern designed to accentuate the fluid motion of the bench. For more information, please visit www.oharastudio.com.

I’m down and out with a bad headache today, so thought I’d just share my favorite YouTube video of the moment. Hope it will lift your spirits, as it did mine!

A few weeks ago I was delighted to be contacted by Stephania and Colleen at Thursday Night Dinner, a beautiful blog about “cooking, crafting and girl time.”  I’m not a very crafty person by nature… painting pumpkins for the autumn holidays is as close as I get.  Every week, the Thursday Girls feature original crafts and recipes worthy of a girls’ night in.

One of the many wonderful crafts featured on Thursday Night Dinner

Today I was honored to have been featured in a profile about how CamilleMaurice was started and what keeps me inspired.  Those of you who remember when I used to share recipes on Camille will see a familiar sight… a recipe at the end of the post! Head over to check it out, I hope you enjoy both the profile and the Champagne Chicken!

via kiptonart.com

It was only a couple of years ago that I discovered a deep appreciation for geometric art forms… an epiphany that I chronicled here on CamilleMaurice.  Today’s FBT leans toward that admiration of the calculatedly abstract.

This abstract, mixed media piece consists of found wood collected in Brooklyn and Vermont and measures 60 x 76 inches.  The artist, Stephan Fowlkes, is a graduate of Bennington College whose list of accomplishments is long.  Among them is his nomination to The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations’ Young Leaders Forum.  His role with the group was Fellow for the Arts, which took him to China on two occasions as an American representative. In addition to his productive studio time, Fowlkes works as arts editor for The New York Optimist.  View more of his work at kiptonart.com.

The Midwest in general is cold. The word “steely” comes to mind because the upper Midwest is so frigid that, if no longer accustomed to it, one’s body is always stiff.  The back is ramrod straight, the teeth and other body parts are clenched. After spending eight years in South Carolina, I returned to the region for college and spent the first semester wondering why I always felt as though I needed a massage or a hot tub.  I had arrived with a suitcase full of cute Cynthia Rowley and Todd Oldham ensembles and had to abandon them for the thickest sweaters available.

The cold effects interiors as much as it does the dress code. My childhood memories of large homes in Wisconsin are of heavy woods, heavy carpets, and thickness all around with the exception of the big picture windows that looked out upon the thicker snow. Midwestern practicality calls for materials that insulate well and can handle a bit of trampling, correct?

Enter Buckingham Interiors of Chicago.  Julia Buckingham Edelmann takes that necessary practicality and adds a little color to the lives of her clients.  Check out this Bucktown residence from her portfolio.

Bucktown is where I visited my first vintage clothing store at the tender age of 18, just before heading off to an Ani DiFranco concert in my Black Cherry lipstick. Perhaps it’s time to take a little trip back up to Illinois and Wisconsin to take a peek the design scene and visit some old stomping grounds.  But when those grounds thaw out, of course….

…has always been….

I thoroughly intend to get K.D. Lang’s iconic lyrics playing through your head today for two reasons:

a) there is just some sort of odd joy in needling one’s way into people’s heads via song

b) K.D. LANG WILL BE PLAYING AT SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA 2012 

And commence with your happy dance….. NOW.

Charleston’s Spoleto Festival is, put plainly, my favorite time of the year on the coast.  The two-week long arts extravaganza features some of the best performances, visual arts exhibitions, parties and people watching available on the eastern seaboard.  You never know what is going to happen. A party could spill out into the street, inviting passerby to join. The Market could swaying with Salsa dancers at 11:30pm. You might accidentally run smack into a secret service officer while hurrying into a restaurant (true story). You could suddenly discover the incredible range and emotion of a contemporary opera. You may encounter a dog wearing a tutu. You just never know!

The lineup for 2012 is enthralling.  Here are some events to consider (which you should do now, as tickets are already selling quickly):

Hay Fever

via SpoletoUSA.org

After the success of 2010′s Present Laughter at the newly renovated Dock Street Theater, Dublin’s legendary Gate Theatre is returning with another Noël Coward play. Hay Fever, originally performed in 1925 and now directed by Patrick Mason, follows the Bliss family through their bohemian whimsies during a weekend with guests. Their world revolves around their own theatrical tendencies and dreams, cueing hilarity as unsuspecting guests observe and try to interact.

Cécile McLorin Salvant

via cecilemclorincalvant.com

This young French-American jazz singer won the Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition in 2010, and has continued to become known for her soulful, saucy voice as she handles standards as if she lives their lyrics every day.  She is an incredibly fitting choice for the thick and deliciously juicy Charleston air that fills the Cistern Yard at the College of Charleston. As you listen and drink in the scene you will have a difficult time believing that this talent is only 22-years-old.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

via SpoletoUSA.org

Another returning act, this dance company retains the power to transfix an audience.  This year’s program is said to be filled with new pieces as well as classics such as Revelations (if you have never seen “Wade In The Water” from this collection, you are missing out on a piece of American history.  This is a piece of the Spoleto program that will sell out quickly, if you are interested, head to the website immediately.

The Radio Show

If you have a taste for something more urban and contemporary, check out Kyle Abraham’s The Radio Show and performed by the Abraham.In.Motion dance company. The performance has been called “an abstract narrative around the loss of communication” resulting from the shuttering of Pittsburgh’s only urban contemporary radio station. It also deals with the communicative losses that ensue as a family deals with the shadow of Alzheimer’s creeping across its dynamic. Classic soul and hip-hop are mixed with contemporary classical music to create a show that chronicles the changing emotions of current issues and predicaments.

K.D. Lang and the Siss Boom Bang

image via SpoletoUSA.org

The four-time Grammy Award winning vocalist will perform June 3.  Her latest musical productions have been an interesting mix of jazzy sultriness and an almost bluegrass-like twang.  Her voice is as pure and arresting as ever, and the crowd is sure to be wowed.

As I hinted before, now is the time to book your tickets.  I was on the website looking at the opening night for Kepler, the Philip Glass opera that begins on Memorial Day, and many of the orchestra seats were already gone.  Make your plans now and maybe I’ll see you there!

Papiro Bowl from the L'Objet-Fortuny Collection

 FBT is returning with something very special. January is the time to think about refreshing a home with small touches after having cleared out the holiday clutter.  L’Objet is known for unique accessories that owner and designer Elad Yifrach creates with an uncanny ability to endure each piece to it’s eventual home. Yifrach recently collaborated with the renowned fabric company Fortuny to create some of the most eye catching table pieces to grace the market in the past year.  The above Papiro bowl is just that. Made of earthenware and painted with 24-karat gold, the design will make you utter a refreshed sigh as you place it on a buffet and fill it with something fabulous.

Some of you may know that we spent the week after Christmas in Southern California.  Eight days. Across the country. With a 5-year-old and 10-month-old. It was quite an adventure that, oddly, has us all ready to travel again (for a shorter period of time).  Mr. M is leaning toward Pinehurst so that he can golf and I can spa, but I don’t think that would be very kid friendly, no matter how we spin it.

We have managed to produce at least one intellectually curious child (time will tell with number two). Of course, if you pump him full of sugary treats he goes completely berserk and will make you want to put him in a straitjacket with duct tape over his mouth (did I just say that?). However, even in that frenetic state, there are two things that will snap him to temporary attention. Live music or an art gallery.  I’m not making this up. It’s very odd, but true.

One day last week while we were at The Cheesecake Factory in Beverly Hills for lunch Mr. M had the brilliant idea (after both of us had ordered off of the reduced calorie menu) that we should all order chocolate cake.  Jr., who had behaved perfectly through our meal, looked at me with pleading eyes.  A few minutes before I had declared, “I’m on vacation! I’m having a glass of wine!” so it felt hypocritical to deny him this treat. Fifteen minutes later, we were walking out of the door, dragging a bouncy, wiggling boy behind us who was now sporting a brown goatee.  It was time to walk it off.

As we turned off of North Beverly onto Rodeo, Jr. made a request.

“CAN WE GO SEE THE NICE MAN IN THE UNIFORM BY THE STORE WITH THE GOLD JACKET!!!???”

He was referring to the security guard at North Rodeo with whom he’d had a five minute conversation about race cars the day before. They had giggled together outside of a menswear store that had a blazer in the window that Mr. M had been drooling over.  We headed that way to find a different security guard, and as we whisked Junior away before he audibly showed his disappointment, we happened upon Galerie Michael.

via galeriemichael.com; Flowering Almond, Alexandre RENOIR, 2011, Oil on canvas

We entered and suddenly Jr. was silent.  We went upstairs and were approached Director of International Affairs, Richard Rice, who immediately sent Jr. on a calm and wide-eyed scavenger hunt for paintings that contained animals.  I pushed the stroller through, admiring the Rembrandts and Dalis, enjoying listening to the delight of my now subdued preschooler.  We were introduced to senior art consultant Lynn Marks, who showed us the surprise of the day.

via galeriemichael.com; Harmony in Red , Alexandre RENOIR, 2009, oil on canvas

It turns out that Galerie Michael represents Alexandre Renoir, the great grandson of Pierre-Auguste Renoir. In case you didn’t know, the Renoirs have been quite busy over the past century or two.  Since Pierre-Auguste there have been two actors, a film photographer and two visual artists. Alexandre, born in 1974, resides in California where he produces paintings of brilliant vision and thought-provoking colors.  A person can stand in front of his works and lose themselves in his interpretation of impressionist painting. We lingered for quite a while taking it all in, and Jr. remained quiet and engaged until the second we walked out of the door (and the sugar monster returned). This may be cause for a scientific study. Does art appreciation in children counter the effects of sugar on the bloodstream?

In September Galerie Michael will be hosting an exhibition of Alexandre’s work. Visit their website often for details as they arise.

Today is the anniversary of the beginning of my life, which is often quite interesting, to me at least.  I’ve been blessed with wonderful family and friends. I have the chance to have amazing conversations with an extended circle of people who inexplicably seem to like what I have to say. I get to shoot emails off to creative people whom I admire and most of the time they will respond and give me an interview. Every day I am thrilled when I set down at my desk.  This is why I feel a tiny bit guilty about what I’m about to write.

The first half of 2011 was thrilling for anyone who enjoys design.  The Kips Bay Decorator Show House provided innovative and prolific inspiration from some of the nation’s top designers.  We also saw worldwide attention turned to brilliant talents such as 2Michaels and Jamie Herzlinger.  Experimentation with brighter, mood impacting color continued throughout the year as we enjoyed heady project from the likes of  Tobi Fairley and Tilton Fenwick.  The design world was positively electric.

Lately, however, I’ve been feeling a little bored.  Many of the blogs, online and print shelter magazines seem to be repeating themselves in their exaltation of bold colors, and Pantone’s announcement of Tangerine as the color of the year seemed to only illicit polite applause.  The designers who are getting published in print are deserving for their innovation, creativity and hard work, but it seems that they are being pulled from a small pool that lacks diversity in vision, race and lifestyle outlook.  I’d like to hear more from designers in Harlem (i.e. Elaine Griffin, Barbara Saskia), Portland (Home of Maison)  and even Columbia, South Carolina (Verve, LGB Interiors).  Tell us what Tangerine means for designers of the Midwest, where the jarring winters cause design sensibilities to lean more toward the practical. Who is helping those clients translate such trends to fit their regional and individual needs?

It feels as though the design industry is on the edge of something.  It’s either an explosion of new insight or a swing away from the surge in the mainstream media’s interest in the topic.  The online shelter pioneer Lonny Magazine is reported to be having trouble, but on the other hand Rue is making great leaps into new readership and advertising.  Some of the great annual design events are making major changes in staff and approach. The tectonic plates of this creative world are getting ready to do something… let’s hope it’s something good.

In the meantime, my boredom has been showing a bit by my lack of attention to my dear CamilleMaurice. So, design and publishing worlds, I’ll make a New Year’s deal with you. Start showing us more original ways that the design trends can be translated and the different manners in which they influence. Throw in some new blood that looks more like the mixture of people who may hire or be influenced by their services.  Show us a project that really goes out on a limb.  As for my end of the deal, I’ll be a better blogger and will also try to highlight these developments while opening the conversation up to the intelligent people who enjoy meaningful aesthetic discourse, who I’m blessed to have as readers.  I have a lot of 2012 projects pending, but I will not turn my attention away, especially if things become really interesting.  Do we have a deal? Because that would be the best birthday present I could ask for.