Architectural Gem Series 2
Strait Is the Gate…near Miracle Mile, Los Angeles
Tracking Texture and Giving Thanks
Tracking Texture and Giving Thanks
The palette of warm gray/green, with terracotta/brick hues…translates from architecture,
to walkways,
to utilities,
and back to architecture again…
sometimes combining materials and textures in new and unexpected ways.
The type of material, and its texture, offer us a myriad of ‘takes”, on the colors, and how they play together.
Stone,
the glory of weathered wood, artfully used,
even concrete…reveal their charms, as the value, intensity and emotional impact of their colors shifts through their textures.
Nature’s palette too, plays out differently through texture….elegant branches punctuated by new green leaves against smooth ivory walls,
and new life pushing its way indomitably through rock…
Let Us Enjoy These Gifts!
Giving Thanks this Season, for the never-Ending Wonders of our World, and the Power of our Imaginations to Create With Them Continually.
Peace and Blessing to All this Thanksgiving Holiday
Decorative Painting: Leaving Our Mark
Decorative Painting; Leaving Our Mark
Encompassing a seemingly unlimited pantheon of forms, functions, mediums and media, the discipline of decorative painting goes everywhere.
A chosen vase provides colorways, pattern, and a touch of whimsy to the wall detailing over a living room fireplace for a creative client’s new home.
Custom stenciled butterflies flutter over the curved wall of the Dress for Success boutique. Architect: Justin Martinkovic of Martinkovic Milford.
Move over Nike “swoosh”, Top 1 Oil‘s in town…and it’s all painted. Interior designer: Kelly Berg of Arte Styling.
Ceilings beg a variety of adornments…painted beams being one of them. Woodworker: Larry McCanse, Palmer Creek Hand-Hewn Wood Products.
Softly blended glaze colors tease out architectural nuances. Interior Designer: Anne Norton-Dingwall: AND Interior Design Studio.
It takes a brave and bold client to live with strong color…a real treat to create with custom tinted, blended glazes.
Glazed stripes layered over a glazed wall create depth and character in The Polished Lounge nail salon.
The high ceiling and walls of a narrow powder room are dramatized by layers of glaze creating visual texture.
Glaze and paint create the effect of marble and stone on a living room fireplace.
Once white latex, these tub cabinets have been transformed into wood…known in the business as “faux bois“, literally “fake wood”.
In the same bathroom, the closet door and cabinetry are also faux bois…inspired by the door to the room, which is “real” wood.
This cabinet sits at the top of a staircase, and serves as a focal point when ascending the stairs, or just passing by and looking up. It’s faux bois application matches that of the staircase banisters.
The wonder of decorative painting, and its myriad of applications is that it is are never-ending. Continually changing and evolving, and showing up in any and every nook and cranny, or open interior or exterior space, the glorious enhancement, beautification, communication and transformation of the built environment continues, and will continue, as long as humankind is willing and able to leave its mark.
Straight is the Gate: NOT!
Straight is the Gate: NOT!
The Venice Canals are a fantasy-land of visual whimsey. Art and architecture, design and details, color, form, texture and landscaping intersect with the natural world of earth and water, mingling in a magical way. Here, the lines between privacy and the public are both diffused and defined. Visitors stroll past homes that buttress right up to the sidewalk, but often are shaded by trees, and hidden behind hedges, walls and gates, or a combination of all three.
Metal, wood, and foliage flow together to create both art and utility. We are are so caught up in observing the material mix, we forget to peer beyond the gate. Mission accomplished.
Creative cutouts provide contrast to the wood and metal geometry below, and make of this gate a work of art, both two and three dimensional.
No-one is getting past this gate, unless the owner wants you to. So arrested by its beauty, we forget how formidable it is. Flanked by bamboo, the strength of its materials, shape and detailing stops us in our tracks.
The simplicity of repeated squares which form a pattern is further softened by curving grasses, and enlivened by the use of stones on the ground in front.
A similar repeated shape creates a grid, reflecting the larger tile-like stones before it, creating a starker, and more stream-lined feeling.
What magnificent and magical gates have been in YOUR purview lately?
If you feel so inclined, please share about them with us here.
We love to hear from you.
Remember, we are all traversing this thing we call Life, together.
Cheers!
Gamble Amble: The “Deets”
Gamble Amble: The “Deets”
The architectural brethren team of Greene and Greene, created (with the expertise of many) The Gamble House, a magnificent Arts and Crafts masterpiece in Pasadena, Ca, It is also a National Historic Landmark and museum. The Greenes designed the house in 1908, for the Gamble family, of Proctor and Gamble fame.
Let’s amble by some of the Gamble’s captivating details.
Hang the verdigris lantern…hows this for a house number?
More lantern: repetition of forms creates integration and harmony.
One of my favorite “deets”…. coppery patina against weathered wood.
A window on, and of, wood…
Or, two. Resonant shapes, frames and symmetry.
These doors give context to the lantern, and are beautifully balanced compositions unto themselves.
And…these! Showing off the Greenes’ use of articulated joinery, and iridescent glass which changes color throughout the day.
Sheltering eaves, metal patina, lantern, exposed timbers, articulated joinery, shingles…a marvelous makers’ tableau.
Variegated Verdigris…the age of patina on a drain pipe, against the eaves.
On the Ground: pavers tile to brick to wood. They all work together, providing interest, harmony and texture, a melodious materials medley.
Up above: a celebration of wood and exposed structural timbers in a range of hues that work together, and blend with the surrounding landscape.
Do you love the above? Watch this! http://www.finewoodworking.com/PlansAndProjects/PlansAndProjectsArticle.aspx?id=27096 and, this! http://www.youtube.com/user/WNEDTV#p/c/4/Un1derJy54U
What captivates YOU about The Gamble House, or other Arts and Crafts architecture You have seen?
If you so choose, please share about it with us here. We love to hear from You.
Remember, we are all ambling and gambling our way through this thing called Life, together. Happy Trails!
An Amble Around the Gamble
An Amble Around the Gamble
The architectural brethren team of Greene and Greene, created (with the expertise of many) The Gamble House, a magnificent Arts and Crafts masterpiece in Pasadena, Ca, It is also a National Historic Landmark and museum. The Greenes designed the house in 1908, for the Gamble family, of Proctor and Gamble fame.
Hallmarks of the Arts and Crafts Movement in American Craftsman style architecture include the use of natural materials, attention to detail, aesthetics, and craftsmanship.
The Greenes, brothers Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, were influenced by traditional Japanese aesthetics, though they never, as we were told, visited Japan. Outdoor and indoor space were considered of equal importance in the design, as the Greenes used nature as a guide.
Relief and shelter from the hot sun of Southern California climes were created through wide, overhanging eaves.
The use of wood seems to be celebrated through the design, as well as the juxtaposition of textures, earthy, natural colors, and the finishes and hues of stone, metals, glass and patina, all reflecting the expression and experience of nature, the passing of time, and even planned imperfections, which were part of the architectural and design philosophy.
Exterior porches such as the one below are found off three of the second-floor bedrooms and were used for sleeping or entertaining. This one was used by the sons of David and Mary Gamble, as told to us by our amiable and hardworking guide, who was entrusted with taking us through the entire first floor, and front exterior of the house in 20 minutes! I think she stretched it to 1/2 hour, but she did it!
We will continue our “Amble Around the Gamble” series in the next post, with a focus on some of the wondrous exterior details of The Gamble House. Hopefully, with a longer time next in Pasadena, I will be able to celebrate the interior of the house, right here on “Artissima, blog of ArtiFactory Studio“. Ciao for now!
Have You ever visited The Gamble House, seen the work of Greene and Greene, or other Arts and Crafts buildings?
If so, please share about it with us here. We love to hear from You.
Remember, we are all ambling and gambling our way through this thing called Life, together. Happy Trails!
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