Man i love sofa

by Jonathan Adler

LOVE the juicy colour, vintage design + high back.

One of my all time fave interiors designers Ilse Crawford believes all couches should have high sides + backs. She says they're like "a room within a room where we can feel protected + safe". Agreed.

ps. When did Jonathan Adler start designing furniture?

A visit to Kim's house

A visit to my friend Kim's house is always inspirational.
She's one of the savviest decorators I know - cuz she knows where to save (she found those great chairs out on the curb on garbage day!) and where to invest - for eg in that fabulous George Nelson light!
She also knows how to mix old + new and high + low with aplomb!

Here is her kitchen with my Empty Belly print framed in white.
(Lovely framing done by Telegramme prints FYI!))
I love how she painted the top + bottom cupboards different colours and added groovy vintage looking glass knobs from home depot! Saavy!

A visit to Penguin Canada

Today on a very rainy Tuesday I headed to Penguin Canada to drop off my prints.

The entrance way of Penguin is lined with enlarged versions of several beautifully illustrated penguin book covers.
Two of my favourites: Glen Gould by Joe Morse and Emily Carr by Jody Hewgill. Apologies for the lousy photo - they are great covers.

Here are my 3 prints waiting to be hung in the boardroom.

Thanks so much to President Mike Bryan + his assistant Claire Holmes. xo

Warning: Design Blogs may be hazardous to your health!

Ever notice how you can feel saturated and paralyzed after reading too many designy type blogs? Sarah over at Apt therapy wrote a great post today on how to combat this overwhelming feeling (also known at Pinterest fatigue!) and love the space you're in! Tips include decluttering + rearranging furniture + art. You can read all the tips here.

Chicago!

I am off to Chicago in a few weeks.
If you're from the Windy City and have some suggestions for my trip don't hold back!
Thanks.

Very inky over here on the weekend

On the weekend in prep for my holiday sale next Saturday I printed a new edition of my big brogue shoe print.
I printed a varied edition with ochre, teal + blue versions.
Below are some pics of the process.

After the first pass with ochre ink the prints dry in my map drawers.


Here are the blue ones.

The very important pizza dinner break with my assistant.

Next day pass 2 with black ink.

Finished prints drying.

Press: National Post

My Island of Dr. Moreau Penguin Print was featured in the Homes section of the National Post on Saturday in an article on what to buy for the literary lover on your list. Thanks to writer Iris Benaroia.

Creative Morning 1 was Fantastic

Helen Kerr and Nigel Smith of Kerr Smith Design.

The Design Exchange setting was A+, the Helen Kerr/ Nigel Smith talk was fantastic,
and the danishes + coffee delish!
Congrats to Behrouz Hariri for organizing all.
Added bonus: The 2011 Design Exchange Awards Exhibit was up and was quite great.
Much to write about - but am dashing out! For now see some pics at the CM blog here.
Will write a longer post about it tomorrow.

This is tomorrow!

I am very much not a morning person -- I'm glad there'll be coffee + hot pastries waiting....

My favourite apt from a movie ever

Meg Ryan's Manhattan apt in Kate + Leopold. SIGH.
Love the messy mix of vintage + modern.
Love the bench by the door, the rounded mirror + very cozy lighting.

I own this movie and every year or so I watch it so I can melt into Meg Ryan's wonderful apt.
It's an amazingly warm space full of a great furniture, rugs, mirrors, and art work.
(Stuart's apt upstairs is also fab with great vintage storage!!)
Watching the movie is the equivalent of wrapping myself up in a warm blankie.
I watched it again last night and it did not fail to inspire.
If you like these kind of interiors I can't recommend it enough.

Images from Weekend

Gallery night at Clint Roenisch and mocca.

Albert Zuger Jewelry Trunk show.

Cozy Parkdale home.

Albert Zuger.

Sasha modelling her partner's wares!

Close up of necklace. Beautiful.

Dinner in.
(Sooo much nicer than being out at a gallery I must say)

A visit with Colleen.

My Empty belly Print in Colleen's great space.
(from Colleen's Instagram)

A beautiful bottle used for dish soap. What great solution for a normally rather unsightly item!
Yes I get excited over this type of thing.

In a Gertrude Stein state o' mind

Last weekend I went to see Midnight in Paris with my dear friend Eric. I thought some of the dialogue + acting was appalling bad! (This was written by the same man who wrote Annie Hall?!)


However I loved the middle section where the Owen Wilson character is transported back to early 20th century Paris and hangs out with all the famous expats of the time.
Above Zelda + F.S Fitzgerald.


The Art director did a great job of recreating the look + feel Gertrude Stein's salon.

I'm very familiar with this group of artists + writers because several years ago I illustrated a book about Gertrude Stein + her famous circle called "Charmed Circle". (Below) The art director was Raquel Jaramillo and it was published by Henry Holt.


From left to right:
Matisse, Picasso, Getrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Zelda + F. Scott Fitzgerald, + Hemingway

Below are a few drawings from the sketch phase of the assignment.




If you're interested in this period I highly recommend the book.

Great booth design and How I love Pinterest

Jennifer Kreyssig of The IDS show sent me this photo of a great booth design today. (She is tracking down the source... she knows the company is French!)

I love the scaled up fabric and etched looking door with the "Alice in Wonderland' vibe. Also love those pendant lights. The photo went straight onto my Pinterest Board of murals + window display.
I am continuing to find Pinterest a great (and very speedy!) way to neatly organize one's inspiration + all the visual goodness one finds on the web. Highly recommended!
ps. Anybody have a great source for these kind of pendant lamps? :-)

A triptych for Penguin Canada

President of Penguin Books Canada Mike Bryan has just purchased three of my prints for the Canadian head office. The triptych contains the very last Blue penguin I had for sale! I can't think of a more worthy recipient.

The photo is from the weekend as I put the finishing touches on the tea stains and coffee rings.(Yes i paint in the livingroom sometimes... I know outrageous)

ps. I will be doing some new book titles in the new year. Please write in with your suggestions for what book title you'd love to see hanging on your wall. Thanks!

Comfort

"You caught me on a funny day... I'm not feeling very confidant today."
- Chris Martin on Q this morning

New Print No. 2 for Bata shoe museum: Librarian shoe

Here is the matching sister shoe to the t strap shoe which I screened last week.
It also measures 5" X 7".
It is signed and numbered from an edition of 60 and is 60.00.

Below as always a peek behind the process.

Mixing the ochre ink = yellow + brown + titch of red


After pass 1

Applying the black ink

Completed print.

Sunburst mirror

Love this sunburst mirror from Chair Table Lamp. These mirrors always remind me of Tommy Smythe. That's a very good thing. Unfortunately by the time I spotted it - it was sold. Hopefully Kevin will find another!

Ian + Carl Beam

On Sunday I visited Telegramme prints and owner Ian showed me some new stuff which he just bought at auction. Here he is holding up an amazing new Carl Beam print.

Bella Foster's Central Park

Bella Foster's Central Park. Gorgeous.
Sold through Wayne Pate's shop. Check out the shop - his work is also great.
Love the complete monochromatic palette and looseness of her work.

The Arthur

On Saturday I visited The Arthur: a new vintage decor shop run by Liz Ikiriko. I'd been meaning to visit the shop ever since seeing the pics and reading about it on Emma's blog.

The Arthur is named after Liz's grandfather who was a collector of many wonderous things. The shop began as an online venture before finding it's bricks and mortar home at College + Euclid.


Loved this giant A.
Liz said they actually had to chop off a foot to get it in the door!

Wonderful display.

The shop is crammed with great items sourced from estate sales + auctions and is beautifully displayed on wonderful shelving made by her talented + handy partner Clay. Lucky Liz!!

This Junghans Bedside Clock is from their online shop and I think I need it now.
Love that red second hand.

I bought a great hat form with lots of patina which will be a perfect new holder for my bike helmet. Will be back for Christmas shopping...

The Arthur, 550A College St., 416-972-0725. Highly recommended.

Creative Morning Toronto 1

Here's the details:

When: November 25th 8:30am

Where: The beautiful Design Exchange.

Speakers: Helen Kerr + Nigel Smith, of KerrSmith Design

New Print " T strap shoe" for Bata shoe museum

I have a new print "T strap shoe".
It measures 5" X 7" and is 60.00. It is from an edition of 60.
Here is a bit of the process behind the print.

This print was commissioned by the Bata Shoe museum to coincide with their Roaring Twenties exhibit.

So.. Naturally Step 1 was to visit the exhibit!

Our Beautiful Bata Shoe museum designed by Raymond Moriyama.

This is an amazing show -- and it runs till June 2012 -- so still plenty of time to see it!

Some great boots.

Groovy t straps very popular in the 1920s. (I wish they made shoes like this now!)

Check out these floral beauties. Gorge!

Many shoes in the exhibit were created by Andre Perugia a French designer discovered by French fashion designer Paul Poiret. (who I find very fascinating)


Here are some incredible gold shoes designed by Andre Perugia in the 1920s. The roses show the influence of Paul Poiret.

And... here is Andy Warhol's interpretation of the Perugia shoes above created in the 1950s. (Neat eh?)

Step 2: Filled with visions of shoes in my head I begin doing sketches.

Step 3: I decide on the t strap and librarian shoe and get a screen made.

Here is the screen.

Step 4: I cover over + tape the portion of the screen that I'm not using.

Step 5: Mix the pink ink.
Formula = white + magenta + red + retarder (which slows down the drying process)

Step 6: Apply the pink ink with spatula and pull with squeegee.

Ta da. First pass.

Step 7: Apply black ink for layer 2 and pull with squeegee.

Whoosh.

Completed print.

ps! This week I am working on a 2nd print "Librarian shoe" to match this one. It will be same size + price and methinks they would work nicely as a set.
Did I mention Christmas is coming?