PRIMARY COLORS

Skip to main content

Jeffrey Harris Design

Search This Blog

The Shop at Old Austerlitz

on July 09, 2018

It has been a while since I've posted, and it has been a very busy summer so far. One of the projects I have been working on is The Shop at Old Austerlitz for the Austerlitz Historical Society . The Society operates a beautiful property in Columbia County, New York and this is the first actual shop they have opened on the property. So I thought I'd give you a tour, and an example of what can be done with very little money, some good volunteers, and a bit of creativity.

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

PRIMARY COLORS

on January 16, 2014

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

noun

: one of the three colors red, yellow, or blue which can be mixed together to make other colors

Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

The Best Handmade Christmas Ornaments of 2017

Yes, you can go to Macy's or Neiman Marcus for some beautiful Christmas ornaments, but in my view nothing beats a handmade Christmas. Think Laura Ingalls stuck in that little house on the prairie with nothing but a few sticks and some twine (I don't think she even had tinfoil!). Handmade ornaments are just special and there are some amazing people out there, creating some spectacular ornaments. All of our picks come from individual shops at Etsy.com, just click on the shop name to see what they have to offer. Here are some of the best: Paper ornaments, $8 from LeniAndCo

Those Utensil-Crazy Victorians!

Have you ever wondered how all of those wonderful, and beautifully designed, Victorian silver utensils were used? The Victorians were full of adventure and with their rapidly expanding wealth they loved to display their sophistication with ever more elaborate dining rituals. Silver manufacturers were more than happy to meet the desires of their clients, offering a wide variety of utensils often designed for very specific foods.

David Rockefeller and The Beetle Room

When David Rockefeller was in the fifth grade he discovered the world of insects, specifically he found himself fascinated with the beetle . Other bugs were interesting, but the beetles were so large and colorful, he couldn't resist. He learned how to collect them, kill them gently, and preserve them as specimens. For a long period of his life he never travelled without a bottle of alcohol (a swab of cotton, soaked in alcohol and placed in a closed jar of beetles, would do the trick). Pun intended, this seems to be the genesis of how David caught the collecting bug. He would go on to amass one of the worlds great modern art collections. (He also ended up with an estimated 157,000 beetle specimens.) David died last year at the age 101 (his wife Peggy died in 1996). The children have sold off three of his homes (we'll take a look at two), and this May, Christies will sell an astonishing 1,600 lots of the items he collected, including much of his art collection. The sale ...

The Inimitable Marie-Paule Pelle

French stylist, interior designer, journalist, editor, and book author, Marie-Paule Pelle has lived an incredible life. The daughter of a journalist, she set out to do the same back in the 1960's. Among her first assignments was the task of meeting movie stars as they stepped off their planes at Orly; this is how she first met Sophia Loren, William Holden, and Elsa Martinelli. Soon she was working at Elle, Marie Claire Maison, Decoration Internationale, among others. By the late 1980's Conde Nast made her an offer she couldn't refuse, and off to New York she went.

Chic Things: VITRINE TABLES

This Dutch museum vitrine table/cabinet is the largest I've ever seen. I suspect that everything I own could fit under that glass! Now that most people prefer a cleaner (meaning less cluttered) look in their homes, what does one do with all the little treasures collected over the years? The French had this problem solved centuries ago--the vitrine table (also called bijouterie, curio or collector's table). I don't know whether the French invented the concept, but they certainly excelled at all things vitrine .

Josef Frank, Estrid Ericson, & SVENSKT TENN

The story of the Swedish design shop SVENSKT TENN in Stockholm is truly a remarkable tale. In 1924, a 30 year old art teacher and pewter artist, Estrid Ericson came into a small inheritance from her father and decided to open a shop featuring her own work and that of other artists. Her shop, which she named Svenskt Tenn (meaning Swedish Pewter) was a success--even the Swedish Crown Prince Gustav Adolf took notice and became a patron. Just four years later, in 1928, she was able to move the shop to it's current location on the prestigious boulevard Strandvaegen .

The Fantasyland of Nathalie Lété

French artist and designer, Nathalie Lété, has become a success. She started as an artist, painting what came into her head and what pleased her. Her art has been described as both naive and sophisticated, and really it is both. Her exuberant flora and fauna images, along with themes from fairytales suggest a world that really isn't, but should be. The business came slowly, her art just naturally lent itself to objects and eventually she found herself producing ceramics, fabric, wallpaper, coasters, trays, pillows, rugs, clothing, and on and on. Some items are still handmade, while others are mass produced.

The Remarkable Art Furniture of Wendell Castle

Wendell Castle produced a truly amazing body of work; his sculptures are coveted by collectors all over the world. The sculptures almost always referenced furniture and most, though not all, were quite functional. But, it was the bit of "madness" that truly made the pieces remarkable. Born in Emporia, Kansas, he attended the University of Kansas and received degrees in fine art and sculpture. His early work was often described as "bone like" or "branchy." The ethereal nature of the pieces were unlike anything seen before and slowly people began to take notice. In 1966 he and several of his sculptures even made a guest appearance on the television game show "To Tell The Truth."

Powered by Blogger