Thursday, February 17, 2011

Why Should Kids Have All The Fun? My Painting Class.


Julie Murphy and Dre Towey






Tonight I attend my second "adult" painting class, taught by my very talented friend, Julie Murphy of Jack and Lulu at a really cool place here in South Norwalk, CT, called Jam Sono. It's an art and music studio started by the singer / songwriter / illustrator Dre Towey along with the design and music talents of Chris Tinnesz, Abbie Smith and many awesome visiting musicians. The studio opened up at the end of last summer and is situated along the water in an urban part of a Norwalk that has a SOHO kind of vibe. The studio is large and spacious with great cement floors, loads of murals, color, sculpture, paint, art and just pure, childlike happiness. Dre was able score a beautifully maintained VW bus on Ebay to represent her perfectly retro logo design.

The class, like most of Jam's classes are relaxing and easy going. Julie leads the class but encourages diving into your painting and seeing where you end up. Typically the end result is quite different than your initial plan. I studied art in high school and a little bit in college. I have not inherited the artistic talents of my Grandfather, Grandmother, Dad, Mother or Brother sadly but I do appreciate it. It is quite difficult for me to slow down and do something like this but I'm so glad I did, it is relaxing and inspiring! Just being present amount great people in a fun, artistic and lively environment is really all I need. Check out Jam if you live in the area. They have a great assortment of art and music classes for ages 3 and up and Chris Tinnesz teaches an art illustration and fashion design class for kids 9-12.


Dre painting


Julie and Chris Tinnesz





And you've got to see Dre's video, directed by Julie's very talented husband, Tom Murphy.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Storage!


photo from Lovell Designs

Just like I can spend hours looking at real estate websites, I can also spend hours thinking about how to organize my house! It must be a girl thing. I did read once that real estate websites are like porn for women. So true and really odd at the same time. Anyway, the start of a new year is always about purging (suggestion on where to send stuff can be found here) and reorganizing, right? So, I put together some of my favorite types of bins or things to put things in. I'm slightly obsessed. Go with color, print and pattern- there are so many options to keep it cheerful or go vintage and rustic. I love both.



1. "Venti" oval tub from the Macbeth Collection, $75
2. Serena and Lily desk caddy, $42
3. Lovell designs bin in blue dot
4. Serena and Lily Senegalese storage baskets, $68-$290


1. RP designs wood utility tray, $29.99
2. Ballard Designs double wire wall pocket, $49
3. Primitive wood tool tote, $65
4. Wire basket, Peddler's Design
5. Hovis English bread tin, $25
6. Serena and Lily rolling storage crates, $88-$118
7. RP Designs wood utility tray, $29.99

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

O and G Studio- meet the designers, see the process



I love finding cool new products made by talented artists- and that is what O & G Studio is all about.

O&G began when jewelry designer Jonathan Glatt, along with interior architect and theatrical set designer, Sara Ossana, met in a welding for furniture class at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2003. Fast forward to 2009, when, after many explorations, Sara and Jonathan returned to their common passion for furniture and housewares to launch O&G.

All O&G designs exhibit the quality and attention to detail one would expect from a jeweler, the whimsy and eclecticism of a set designer, as well as the shared vision and style Sara and Jonathan have honed in their respective design fields.

We have been searching for a really fabulous cheese knife set and we are convinced we found it with O and G studio. We offer 2 sets- a fish and a ram. The detail of the design and carving of these pieces are incredible. The quality is amazing and the set is both elegant and whimsical. It is also very unique. The set includes a spreader, a spade and a hook. They are hand carved and cast in 100% lead-free pewter in their Rhode Island studio. This set is truly a perfect gift for an extra special person on your list and makes a wonderful wedding gift!

Sara kindly put together an amazing description of the process- this always fascinates me. I think we are so used to mass produced products, express service, drive-thrus (should I go on?) that we forget that there are still amazing artists out their that create beautiful things with their craft. Yes, there are thousands of cheese knives out their at all different prices but these are just so special and so beautifully made. Check it out and enjoy! Click once to enlarge the page and then click again to make them large enough to read, click the back arrow to come back to the blog and read the second page.