Love :: One Card, Three Ways

Talk about the things that make life great!* This holiday, my dad handed each of us -- my brother, his wife, and me -- an identical red envelope. But no, no -- not identical cards! My dad being my dad (and a designer by profession), we opened our envelopes to find customized versions of the same card!

As much as we're into finding and haunting wonderful things At The Meadows, we're even more so into making them.


My card (Chicago skyline, haunted loot and all):




My sister-in-law's card (with the kids -- and a husband):




And my brother's card (he's the ceramist):




And, God is in the details, right?

Check out the pocketbook and those pointy shoes on yours truly --




He knows where I'm headed --




And get a load of the haul! Modernist furniture, red foam roller (gotta roll those hip flexors!), art and he said the green thing is a candelabra -- no doubt!




Such a delightful and thoughtful handmade treat is the ultimate in gift-giving. We were all so delighted by these cards -- best ever!


*What's going on here At The Meadows :: We're talking about everything that makes life great (art, type, design, fashion, entertaining, history), and the places you find everything (the haunts).

Moon Glitter

This is one of the most beautiful things that I own. It's a photographic postcard, postmarked November 1907, and printed in England. You can make out the flags on the tugboat as they flutter. The moonlight does really seem to glitter across its surface -- the person who named this was a genius.



The handwriting is a little difficult to read, but here goes:

A Happy Thanksgiving!

Can you make me two more chairs, our green & white dud the other blue. ??

They are for Christmas.

Xxxxxxx?,

H.L. Pouke

:::::

If you can read it, please let me know what you think it says!

Hallejulah It's Five O'Clock

There is major music going to start when you push play -- in case you're at work.

Love this rendition of Hallejulah. Let's just make it a type thing, okay? Enjoy!

Haunted :: Columbus Day!

It's Columbus Day -- and who would have thought that this guy could be scored today of all days. It was just too perfect, I had to get it.



The illustrations are wonderful, created by the author Ms Genevieve Foster. Ms Foster authored other books in addition to The World of Columbus and His Sons, including George Washington's World, Abraham Lincoln's World, Augustus Caesar's World, and The World of Captain John Smith (Jamestown shout-out!).



The book is filled with charming line drawings of locations across the globe.



Unfortunately, there isn't a colophon, but it looks like a Garamond type, with inline initial capitals -- easy on the eyes.

And the lady herself --



I will now be haunting for the series -- APB out on Genevieve Foster!

Haunting :: Ms Wearstler Eat Your Heart Out

This ceramic number is from my recent visit to the haunts with Kitty. It's about eight or ten inches square, and about two and a half inches tall (elevation view) with highly reflective silver and gold glazes. This is the kind of thing that when it catches my eye, I immediately buggy it to inspect and assess. I walk around with it to "live" with it. When I saw this piece, I grabbed it and carried it around with me. Its only marking is a label with the words "Jaru" on it. The circle with radiating dots in the center is raised inside a sunken area, so the gold surface is at the same elevation as the silver surface.



The label is just like the one on this objet from Modern Cactus:



I'd never heard of Jaru, but after a couple of tries researching the name, I have finally found a confirmation of what it is -- what "family" it belongs to, so to speak. Finding that Modern Cactus image was the clencher, because though I'd seen things like this, nothing really matched up -- though those have similar glazes, which was encouraging.

This objet is the type that seems a little weird at first, but I had such a visceral response to it -- it feels good. In the shop I said to Kitty, "Kelly Wearstler would kill for this!"

Ever find something you thought was iffy but turned out to be a showstopper?

Ospedale degli Innocenti :: Festa della Rificolona

And this is the other side of the card mentioned in the previous post. Executed at dinner with a BIC pen and a highlighter purchased at the local farmacia that day.

Wish List :: Stanley Ford's Bachelor Pad

Last night I was surfing through my digital converter box offering (no cable here), and came across this embarrassment of riches. I missed the very beginning of the opening credits, so not until today when I was researching for this post did I find out that the flick is called "How to Murder Your Wife". (gulp!) Jack Lemmon's character, Stanley Ford, is a cartoonist ("Bash Brannigan" is the name of the strip) -- and he is the ultimate bachelor until he impulsively and drunkenly marries a beautiful Italian bombshell who jumped out of a cake at another gentleman's bachelor dinner.

Stanley lives in a townhouse in Manhattan with all the good stuff: a study, a terrace, a bar, incredible cabinetry in the kitchen and his dressing room. And the type in the opening credits ain't too shabby either. All this with a cuter-than-all-get-out Jack Lemmon.



These are my kind of digs. I love this 1960s eclecticism -- great art, great objets and fantastic furniture.





And check out the studio!



Love the way he's making hand gestures as he speaks, and the woman in the painting in the background has her hand to her mouth. It's as if they're the ones having a conversation.

Is it weird that I want this bachelor pad?

PS :: Going haunting with K tomorrow -- crossing fingers that we'll score some good stuff!

A Low Country Treasure

Charleston has quite a few historic plantation houses, but after pouring over the details of the lot, we settled on Drayton Hall on the Ashley River for a visit. Drayton Hall is the house of an old indigo and rice plantation. It is spectacular in its state of preservation. The paint is peeling, the floors creak, and you can still see where the family marked children's heights on the door frame.





This house has been preserved, not restored -- meaning that since it was acquired by the National Trust from the Drayton family in 1974, it has been kept as-is. The wonderful part is that not many changes had been made since the mid-eighteenth century (it was built in 1742). Shutters were added in the nineteenth century, and repairs made with contemporary materials as needed, but on the whole, it's very similar to how it would have been back "in the day".



There is no furniture or artwork inside the house, since there is no air conditioning to protect it. Windows are wide-open as you pass through the rooms. Window views of languid spanish moss and lush grass are the art. The ultra-verdant landscape contrasts sharply with the dull green-gray of the walls with bits of red wood underneath, and striking greek key on the mantels and star motifs on the molded plaster ceiling. This place is a feast for the eyes.



Find out more about Drayton Hall here.

Young Modern :: Art Institute Chicago

The Young Modern event on Friday night was one of the big kick-off parties celebrating the opening of the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago. There have been parties all week kicking off the official opening today. C, S and I attended the Young Modern event -- from 10pm to 2am we toured the galleries and sipped champagne.



The galleries that usually house the Art Institute's big special exhibits were transformed into a series of lounges filled with light and music. These are the same galleries that just housed the Edvard Munch exhibit -- what a change!



The atrium hall of the Modern wing was so open -- I can't wait to experience this architecture during the daytime. The light should be spectacular.



There was a ton of great fashion. Attire was "modern", and the crowd was turned-out in a big way. Fab.



The largest exhibit in the Modern wing was Cy Twombly. I was surprised to learn that he is from Lexington, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley. The work was great. The brown pieces (right in the image above) were the only ones that I didn't really embrace. The others had great color. Some reference handwriting on a blackboard, and others reference landscapes and floral motifs.

This party was a blast. Believe it or not, there was an afterparty at Chicago's Le Passage, and we high-tailed it to Lincoln Park for breakfast. Only to wake up and head to the DAR Spring Luncheon! No complaining!

Wish List :: Fornasetti

Fornasetti plates have been on my wish list for years. They play like the porcelain love child between the Dadaists and Fellini -- like something out of "Blow Up" if it had been filmed in 1921. The discipline of the format -- always black printing on a white porcelain plate -- brings order to the overall scheme and allows for so many variations of the subject, making them ideal for mixing and matching. The lady in the plate can be beautiful, sexual, referential or ridiculous, and that discipline elevates the pieces, but her looks are also tongue-in-cheek.

These Fornasetti plates are part of the series "Theme and Variation" and are exclusive to MossOnline.

Images above: MossOnline

Clayspace Co-op :: The haunt for NC pottery

Top, pot with brushwork, Kyle Carpenter. Above, pots drying in the Clayspace studio.

My brother has been a member of this group for about two and a half years, and I have to say that I love this place.

North Carolina's pottery heritage lives at Clayspace Co-op in Asheville. From Matt Jacob's house jars to Eric Knoche's sculptural pieces to the traditional forms and painted designs of Kyle Carpenter (my brother), I think that this place is a pottery paradise. Craftsmanship is king. Form is paramount. And making with clay is a way of life.


Clayspace Co-op gallery, Asheville River Arts District.

North Carolina has an long heritage of ceramic arts. Since colonial days, North Carolina potters have been creating functional and decorative works from the clay soil found in the state. Six potters work out of the Clayspace studio in Asheville's River Arts District, and their work is as diverse and appealing as the state itself. And as a working studio and gallery space, you can see the work from start to finish, and talk with the artists one-on-one. Have a question? Don't be shy -- these folks love to talk pots.



Pot in progress, Eric Knoche.


Heather Tinnaro works at the wheel.

This is one great Asheville haunt.


North Carolina pot detail, Kyle Carpenter.

I am very happy to report that I went home with this great little "N.C." pot of Kyle's. I am big into North Carolina -- it's my home state -- and I was so enamored with this piece commemorating the Old North State. And the hand lettering!