Castles in the Air

My adventure in Seattle with Rick Shepherd's Prius happened a few weeks ago.  I used my Iphone for navigating my way to 4 destinations. 

Nook is wedged in the University of Washington District between fast food, vintage dress shops,  and charming 19th century housing.  It was too bad the vintage dress shop was closed while I had to wait 15 minutes in the freezing cold for this biscuit haven to open.  This place just closes down after they run out of fresh steaming hot sconies.  I actually had the biscuits and sausage gravy.  I knew I needed fuel for my full day.

Fuel, a hip little coffee house in the Montlake District was next on my list.  Jan Shepherd, writer and publisher of  New England Crafts Connoisseur recommended that I check this place out since it was one of the many places that were hosting 2012 NCECA Ceramics Conference. I bought the cream mug with the high tiny handle. It has an image of a kid in a Spider man costume with a set of moose headed parents.  It is cool as yellow highlighting. 

Seattle Public Library, Architect of Record, Rem Koolhaas

After chatting with Hollis L. Engley, and his friendly family I polished off my iced cafe Americano.  I sped from my most perfect parallel parking job and drove to the Seattle Public Library.  This was a tip from my dear friend Khanh Le.  This building that replaced the original 18th century public library sits proudly in the center of the downtown core.  It is hands down, COOL!  It is a beautiful structural sculpture really. It is so different from the straight up and down buildings it has for neighbors. It commands your attention. 

The inside does seem a bit tortured when it comes to finding your way around.  I spent an hour armed with my Iphone and ear buds to find my way to the single dead end catwalk at the highest point.  The security guards were curious indeed.  For a sunny day in Seattle, there were quite a few people reading books under a powder blue steel and glass canopy.

Circulation paths were delineated in red for stairs and chartreuse for escalators.  By the end of the tour I was a bit disappointed with the disconnected circulation system. It looks cool but if there was a fire I wouldn't want to be on the 6th floor looking for the wayfinding arrows so I could find the next flight of stairs.  The buildings circulation system should be intuitive not dependent on signage for finding the exit stairs.

This is the floor to really get cozy and read some Little Women that has 1200 some odd pages. I will never be one to read a book on an electronic device.  Wow. That is so not true. I am actually reading Little Women on my Ipad to Eva every night.  We started about two years ago. 

Gold and purple clouds lay on the hilltops, and rising high into the ruddy light were silvery white peaks that shone like the airy spires of some Celestial City.  Chapter Thirteen, Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

Choice building materials. 

The couchy thing is located in the stacks on the side lines.  Mrs. Who and Mrs. Whatsit are sitting there.  Can you see them?

  

Chartreuse is so yesterday?

   My final stop was the Fairmont Hotel which serves high tea in the afternoon.  I thought the finger sandwhiches passed up the ones at The Ritz Carlton in Phoenix.  No offense Jeffrey Hattrick! 

Any trip worth going on begins and ends with biscuits.  

Sunlight

Rubber bands are cool.

Yes, I am going to have the scupper painted. Now stop it!

Standing on top of the North Addition roof top you can get a great view.

The Dream Team: Ying Xiong, Tom Byrne, Stephen Bunyard , Ran Ethington and Willey Wipff

  

The City of Phoenix Center for the Arts project is looking miniature to me now.  Drywall is the skin that is now covering most of the interior structure. Wearing a hard hat is still the protocol with construction crews banging away on top of high scaffolding.      

Center for the Arts Interior Finish Palette Sample Board, Serbin Studio

The interior finishes have evolved with the input from Joseph Benesh, director for the Center for the Arts.  Benesh has pushed for the fun in this project.  He asked for more accent colors so I delivered.   The palette was previously ruled by purple, gray and terra cotta.  I interjected two crossover colors Beaujolais Pantone 18-2027 and Sunlight Pantone 13-0822. 

Sunlight is a yellow that is the perfect background for any color.  Sunlight is also a complimentary color to purple. Sunlight wakes this whole color board up with happiness!  The Beaujolais is the burgundy color that interjects a bit of richness.  

Crossovers, Nature's Most Versatile Colors, Leatrice Eiseman

Crossover is a term that is used in one of my favorite reads of all time, More Alive with Color by Leatrice Eiseman. If you want to find out what colors make you look incredible read this book. You could also ask me over for tea and I can help you out too.

 

DeGrazia Tour

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, Tucson, Arizona

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, Tucson, Arizona

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, Tucson, Arizona

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, Tucson, Arizona

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, Tucson, Arizona

I visited DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun this week in Tucson, Arizona. I wanted to go to see what his studio would look like.  Art studios are on my mind.     Ed DuBrow my father in-law, gave Jeffrey and me five Degrazia lithographs when we initially moved out to Goodyear, Arizona.  I have always wanted to learn more about the inspiration behind these sun baked Mexican children selling birds and riding horses.

  I would have become fast friends with this guy Ted.  He didn't just cut down his century plant stalks, no, he made an outdoor courtyard with an eclectic mix of mummified desert trees.  He could have just cut a lot of things up and thrown them away but he didn't.  His  hands touched everything on these grounds in some way.  He probably had terrible nails I am sure of it.

  An abobe shed with a patch work of stained glass, corrugated fiberglass panels and burnt boards with back bends to the sun was padlocked.  A bench was turned upside down I peeked through a hole that must have been painted by Ted.  I am sure during the 1960's this shed wasn't locked up.  He might have done some of his best work in this shed.  DeGrazia seems to be the kind of guy who would have a tube of oil paint by this tube of toothpaste. 

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, Tucson, Arizona

DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, Tucson, Arizona

Now when I look at my DeGrazia lithographs I can see Ted standing there in front of his easel with a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth.  I can see his large knarly hands gently laying on dark burnt paint with a tiny horse hair brush to get the ends of the children's bangs just right.  He kills me with the bangs all coming to a point.

It's a Nancy Drew Thing

Now I am into Delibes Lakme', Sutherland Vanzo Baxquier, Orchestre National de l'Opera de Monte-Carlo by Richard Bonynge that was composed in the late 17th century.  Yes, I bought the whole score of 17 pieces.  I don't know what the hell they are singing about but it relaxes me.  I really bought it for #5 Dome Epais (Flower Duet) but I am seeing there is a bit of flower in all the compositions.  This is not a singing in the shower soundtrack. It sounds like what you would hear if the stars could sing.

What was I most proud of last week?  

  Ideas are the best when they are created by a group.  This is a sketch scribbled in my Nancy Drew pocket notepad that I bought from the The Writers' Workshoppe  in Port Townsend.  If you are a regular on this blog you know what I am talking about.  I knew this notepad would attract great ideas.  At first I was afraid to use a small, lined, rounded cornered paper with Nancy Drew climbing on a tile roof. 

I was measuring this crumbly window in the West Building of the Center for the Arts Building taking some measurements.  Ran, the Superintendant with Brycon Construction busted through the swinging doors and caught me in the act.  He thought my idea of hanging fused glass with big clunky steel eyes was just cheesy.  "What about using a zig zag crimped metal like on the edge of trampolines?" Ran said with a twinkle in his eye.   Then I thought of my days of beading when you secure the end of a neckace with a metal crimp.  Ran added springs on the ends.   We had one of those ahah moments. 

Couldn't you just see some coffee mugs suspended by wire cable. I mean WHOAH!  Artists who have taken pottery, glass and metals classes can change out the art in the opening with pottery pieces, fused glass or small furry animals.   The natural light will create nice patterns in the stair well.  People will start passing notes in class. 

City of Phoenix, Center for the Arts West Building Addition

It is pretty raw right now but you get the idea.  The zig zag wire will be welded to each side of the opening.  It is actually getting built! Wonderland! Chutes and Ladders! Yahtzee!  Bingo! Woohoo!  Kitten heels on sale!

Every Little Thing

This is Jeanne Collins home and ceramic studio.  This is just one of the 13 studios on Ceramics Research Center ASU Art Museum Ceramic Studio Tour.  Ying, a City of Phoenix intern who sits at our Wednesday morning meetings and I wanted to see Stephen Bunyard's work since we all work together on the City of Phoenix Center for the Arts Building Addition.  I could have hooked up a trailer to my car and bought so much more. 

Extra large Sculptural Vessels, Paulette Galop, paulettegalopceramics@yahoo.com

Jeanne's property is quite wonderful with ceramic desert garden follies peeking around every cactus and boulder.

I invited Ying to tennis at 8:00am this Saturday morning.  We followed it with a Windsor  breakfast just north of Camelback on Central Avenue.    After we couldn't eat anymore pancakes and huevos rancheros we headed to Jeanne Collins Studio for a ceramic tour.  The Ceramic Studio Tour is hosted by ASU Art Museum and runs Saturday and Sunday, Feb 25 and 26 9am-5pm.

Extra large Sculptural Vessels, Paulette Galop, paulettegalopceramics@yahoo.com

I could see this piece inside the entry of the Center for the Arts along the concrete steps. It could be mounted to a masonry wall vertically. Awesome!  Could you see tea light candles inside this thing at night? OH MAMACITA!

Double Walled Bowls, Tom Kerrigan, mottom38@yahoo.com

The vessels by Kerrigan had these whimsical dancing figures painted in silver.  I think I started a buzz when I bought the vertical vessel because his pieces started to fly off the table.  I am biased since he is from Tucson.  His work screams Barbara Kingsolver, cupie doll, and 4th Avenue weirdness. 

Extra large Sculptural Vessels, Paulette Galop, paulettegalopceramics@yahoo.com

These plant vessels are stunning.  I would love to have about 15 of these slowly eroding in my landscape. 

Double Walled Bowls, Tom Kerrigan, mottom38@yahoo.com

This is a treasure that I brought back home today.  It is a complete representation of harsh desert plant life and soft clouds of the Arizona sky.  

 Creamy sculpted scales with threatening prickly metal spines.  I am so happy he embedded those metal things into the clay.  I love that the shape doesn't remind me of anything really.  I tend to like more abstract art.

Sculptural Vessels, Stephen Bunyard, s_bunyard@cox.net

This original piece was made by Stephen Bunyard who is also one of the Project Managers for the Center for the Arts.  I love this piece!  I encourage Steve to do more of this.  I bought this piece back in December at the Tree House studio in Phoenix.  Since then my daughter has nicknamed it "Lippy".  I had it on my makeup counter but it has graduated to the front entry niche.  

Sculptural Vessels, Stephen Bunyard, s_bunyard@cox.net

The power of three.  The two on the right are Bunyards work.  The piece on the left is from Sedona by an unknown artist.  It doesn't fill the niche vertically like I wish it would. I cropped off the empty top half of the niche.  Let's see if Bunyard will make a taller lip vessel and that could all change! 

Center for the Arts Rising

It amazes me how many things there are to learn about how buildings go together. I know I will never know it all.  I stand in amazement over the Center for the Arts ADA Additions for the City of Phoenix.  I mean it was always exciting to stand on the dirt and see the footings and electrical panels going in.   One day this week I managed to be alone in the new two story space and was able to shoot some photos of the new concrete masonry walls.  I love the way it is looking right now without finishes and floor slabs.  The "fuego" red block plays against the gray interior masonry walls.  I don't want to get all poetic or anything but the way it looks right now is sublime and delightful.  It was a similar feeling to the time I experienced a cathedral for the first time in Paris.  It looks even better than what was in my head.

STUDIO SPACE

I need to go to London to see oma-progress-exhibition-now-open-in-london for myself. STUDIO SPACE. 

Gawd save the Queen.

No, that is not remotely me.  I am the one wearing Prada.

Comme des Garcons Spring Ready to Wear 2012

Comme des Garcons Spring Ready to Wear 2012 - Oh the layers.

Teknion WorkplaceOne: The New Norm

A question hit me like a laser beam this week.  Do you want to know what it was?  This really big shot successful business owner asked me "Why do you want to have a studio outside your home?".  The long sleeve shirt was crisp and deep blue so I did take him seriously.  It is hard to take anyone seriously when there shirt is not crisp.  I mean did you just pick that up from the bottom of your car?

Serbin STUDIO SPACE feels a lot like Architecture college days at the University of Arizona.  Burn out colors of avocado green, exposed brick walls and mat finish bronze metal hand rails that take you to this concrete roof deck.   STUDIO desks are high and joined together like rafts floating along an open sea.   The expansive open trussed space is permeated with burning foam, dried hay, fresh cut wood, Pepsi, preztles and old timey bike smell.   

There are little bits of sea life that make their way to the mass of work desks.  Chip board, foam core, metal ends, dried up glue in wrinkled clumps, exacto blades safely stuck sharp side down into tiny dense foam cubes and cats.   Card board study models adorn the endlessly tall walls.   A cheese burger nestled inside layers of scribbled on buff paper entombed in silver glitter paint.    

 Metal silver stick pins hang inspirational bits like slot canyons, Out of Africa book covers, Owl Sprit in Port Townsend, Jacqueline Kennedy wearing Chanel, French Press Coffee, Eastman Cotton Gin, autographed cards, Comme des Garcons, Go Go's Our Lips are Sealed 45 cover and smiling cupie dolls.  

Drone of activity comes and goes like currents.  Rogers and Hammerstein *spelled it right the first time* show tunes in the morning and Nirvana late into the night.  There is a group of kids playing hacky sack in the corridor and time stands still for a while.  Someone is using the spray booth painting their model base hot pink. 

Sewing machines running in front of a wall of smartly arranged fabric bolts.  Metallic vinyls are being cut into shapes by a laser cutter so loud that it nearly cancels out Nirvana Plateau unplugged.    Sam Harvey bags assembled with acute attention on a huge table sheltered with a thick leather.  Hardware samples, straps, colorful spools of thread cover the walls.  

Barn in Buckeye, Arizona. STUDIO SPACE.

STUDIO SPACE.

Prada Spring 2012

STUDIO SPACE is a card board model ripped apart and re-glued countless times.