February Workshops

This noon I finally got around to updating my workshops for February. I posted them in the Events & Workshops tab (above) and on my website if you are interested.

Last Saturday, I taught a furniture painting/3 technique workshop to Janice, a very lovely and very creative woman. She decided to paint a shelf in Provence with the Rustic Waxed technique. I love the way the color looks with a rustic finish and the dark wax. Beautiful!

Janice loved her results, and so did I! Around 4:00 pm, closing time, I was feeling very feverish and weak. Little did I know I was consumed with this awful, torturous flu. I have honestly never, ever had a flu that was unrelenting in its grip. I have been in bed all week, still am, and tonight I still am fighting a semi-high fever. I cannot get it to go away! Just when I think I might be getting better and I go downstairs "pretending" I am well, it is within a matter of minutes I am back in bed.

Some of you may know I have three cats. They all have loved having me home. For a person who never takes a nap, they all think this is such a marvelous change in their lives. No only am I home, I am in bed constantly! They are in for a jolt when I finally get back on my feet because I am never one to sit still unless I am sitting by the fire reading a book. And then they invariably find my lap a nice place to be cozy as long as I am residing there.

This is my man, Solon, the one who has greeted and helped anyone who walked in the door all week. He has the perfect Southern hospitable manner, bar none, and patience galore. I have to thank him here in this forum because many of my customers read this blog. I had originally hoped to get to my shop no later than Wednesday, but little did I realize the fierceness of this virus. Now I am shooting for Tuesday. I hope I make it. Solon needs a break too! Thank you for all your patience in my absence.

From San Francisco to The Lost Coast

We left LA on December 29th, and arrived in San Francisco on the 30th to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We had a drink at the bar in the Huntington Hotel, a classic and beautiful bar, and I loved the lamp that was there....the lights dim and the ambiance very special. We spent a lot of time visiting our favorite haunts, places we loved to visit when we lived there...

Our favorite bakery was at Pine and Fillmore, La Boulangerie.

And Nest, my favorite boutique for home decor and inspiration was on Fillmore Street and Washington. If you have a chance to visit the bay area don't miss the chance to visit this magical place.

On our anniversary, the 31st, we headed over to the SF Giants Ball Park to see the brick we had to commemorate our place of marriage in San Francisco and to memorialize our years there together.

We were given a small bowl of fruit from the hotel and I had to take a picture of it. The stem was so wonderful, such a statement. Grace Cathedral is in the background.

From the time we arrived until we left the weather was spectacular. This was a view from our room. The Flood Mansion is in the forefront, now the Pacific Union Club. On the way north we headed up through Mendocino and The Lost Coast, Humboldt County. We stayed at The Benbow Inn.

I could spend hours on their front porch even though the weather was very cold and foggy.

This inn was built around the 1930's and has the most amazing collection of antique furniture. I went around taking a few photos. This hall tree was on the second floor near our room.

This detail barely does it justice. I was so drawn in by the beauty of it every time we passed by.

This amazing statue was of an angel in flight holding a hot air balloon filled with people. Where in the world did they find these incredible pieces?

And what about this beautiful swan table with the intricate carving?

I think they had the most original and lovely light fixtures I have seen in some time.

This fixture was actually a standard one seen through out the hotel. We are back in Portland now and returning to The Purple Pear in the morning. I can't wait to re-do the store and update the look for 2013. Happy New Year!!

"Levitated Mass"

The day before we left LA, our daughter wanted us to see an outdoor exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She described it as a huge displaced mass of rock (boulder?) that was poised over a structure that one could walk under. It sounded strange and fascinating at the same time.

The grounds and buildings of this museum are energizing and contemporary, fitting and appropriate for a city that sets trends in fashion as well as design.

When I approached this "rock" I was astounded, not only about the size and mass, but the way it had been set above this passage. The dimension of it as well as the feeling that it conveyed was one of awe and reverence. How something so massive could seem so majestic and balanced.

My grandson and I are standing next to the mass that is set above the tunnel, so you can see how massive this structure is in comparison to our sizes.

As we walked up to the museum there was another outdoor display with strings of yellow tubing, a visceral and tactile change of experience.

Jeanette, my daughter is in the foreground with her youngest son, and I am in the background with her oldest son. It is funny how this kind of experience seems to create a feeling of inclusion and security.

What a memorable experience this was for us to have as individuals as well as a family. And it reminds me how important it is to support our museums whether they are local or distant. The art is there for us to experience and whether it is visual or interactive, it is a gift for us to embrace. It is a time to feel and reflect and memorialize the experience. And it is always within our reach. It is an opportunity to recall and remember this gift as we approach a new year knowing that art is the one constant in our lives in a world that is in constant flux.

Marion Davies and the Beach House

My daughter knows my love for museums and fascinating people highlighted through history and so one morning we loaded the car with the boys, the dog and headed off to the Santa Monica beach to a place called The Annenberg Community Beach House. Originally it had been owned by Marion Davies and had been a huge mansion with many columns, a large swimming pool and a smaller beach house for guests.

These chairs were outside the beach house and reminded me of the Chalk Paint™ color Paris Grey.

This was a photo that was inside Marion's beach guest house. This was the back of the mansion on the beach side showing the expanse of the estate and the surrounding buildings. The beach guest house, the only original remaining building is to the far left in this photograph and this is the house we were able to tour.

This was a close-up photo of the mansion from the front with the swimming pool and beach on the back side.

Marion Davies was the stage name of Marion Douras, a daughter of a New York magistrate. She was the chorus girl at the Ziegfeld Follies when Hearst noticed her late in 1915 or 1916. Hearst's infatuation with her was enduring and caused his estrangement from his wife and family. Marion was a comedienne and a movie producer as well as a shrewd business woman.

Davies was a fascinating and intelligent woman who loved staging elaborate parties at the mansion. She owned this property through the generous salary Hearst paid her, but also through her own wise real estate investments. The mansion was demolished sometime after her death by a developer who had other visions for the property.

Over the years the property changed hands several times, but the last contractor installed these large posts to commemorate the placement of the original pillars of the mansion.

This was the original swimming pool.

These were some of the tiles that were in a bathroom of the beach guest house, so one can only imagine the interior of the mansion as being magnificent and filled with beautiful paintings, furniture and other fine art as Hearst was a consummate and discerning collector throughout his life, and many of these collections were shared with Marion in this property.

It was such a lovely morning and enjoyed by all, including my grandson who loved watching the water feature outside the swimming pool.

LA Style

I have to say I have never been a fan of Southern California for a number of reasons and always avoided LA because of the traffic and freeway congestion. However, since my youngest daughter moved there with her husband and two little boys, I have gotten to know it a little better. I have to admit, I have enjoyed the experience, and each time I go I find something surprising and fun. Where else could you pose with Santa on a street corner and not feel the least bit self conscious?

Jeanette and Ben seem to have a knack for finding the best coffee shops in the area near where they live. The Sycamore Kitchen has the best pastries and coffee drinks, and I loved the decor.

What a great way to use color for an exterior wall to designate privacy and a special place to retreat from the life of the busy street of La Brea.

I find it quite amusing that they serve Portland's famous brand of coffee, Stumptown.

Our next visit along La Brea was to a contemporary design store featuring colorful and trendy accessories as well as some furniture. This rug was such a great splash of color and texture.

Jeanette loved the look of this clean, contemporary chair.

Across the street, we came upon a museum with a statue of Lenin at the entrance. Always expect the unexpected in this city.

A few blocks down from this museum we walked into the store American Rag. I had not been in one of these stores since I moved away from San Francisco. They had a section that housed the most beautiful collection of housewares as well as furniture.

I loved the way they displayed their glassware, really colorful and beautiful.

In this gorgeous display cabinet, which I will show you in the next photo, they displayed an arrangement of fun pink pottery. It reminded me of toile designs, very fresh and updated.

This was the detail on the cabinet. Beautiful piece. I keep studying it, wondering how I will find a way to duplicate the technique and tones.

As we headed back to Ben and Jeanette's home, we walked by the store that sells all manner of items from the movie industry. I think this pretty much sums up the diversity of LA. One can go from the truly kitschy to the sophisticated and sublime all within a few blocks.