a look back…

with the royal wedding still fresh in my mind, I couldn’t help but be reminded of my wedding day…thought you might enjoy seeing a few of my favorite photos…I can still remember every moment like it was yesterday…

photos by Marjorie Nichols

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congratulations william and kate!

Congratulations William and Kate! What a glorious morning filled with love, joy and beauty…sheer perfection!

photos from Daily Mirror

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july 29, 1981 ~ april 29, 2011

In less than 24 hours, Prince William, the first born son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, will marry the love of his life, Catherine Middleton…it’s estimated that more than 2 billion people will be watching the royal union, eager to experience this fairytale moment in time…I know I am waiting with bated breath to see what the bride will be wearing as she walks down the aisle to become the future Queen of England…

I couldn’t help but be reminded of Princess Diana and how beautiful she looked on her wedding day…I thought these stunning black and white photos would be a lovely amuse bouche to tomorrow’s festivities…please enjoy this look back at the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana…

photos from Life Magazine, Getty Images, Daily Mirror, and Harpers Bazaar

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philip treacy

With the royal wedding just two days away, I couldn’t resist a post about the fabulous Philip Treacy! Milliner to the royals and stars, his headpieces are breathtaking works of art…I can only imagine how busy he has been preparing for the big day! In an interview with Style.com, he would not reveal who will be wearing his creations but that clients coming to him are accessorizing Chanel Couture, Valentino Couture and Gaultier Couture…safe to say we will be seeing many of his gorgeous hats on Friday…I wonder if the bride herself will be seen in an original Philip Treacy masterpiece? I guess we will just have to wait and see! Enjoy!

photos from Philip Treacy

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color inspired ~ lichen

As I was contemplating today’s post, I realized that I have yet to write a color themed post…after pouring through my archives and photographs this morning I found my inspiration in this photo below, the lichen…I snapped this last summer on a morning walk along the shore path in Bar Harbor Maine…the unusual texture of the lichen growing on the weathered wood fence stopped me in my tracks…an ethereal color only nature could create…

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bold brush strokes

with easter still on my mind, I thought I would share with you two paintings I purchased last summer…they are oil on canvas paintings of brown and white eggs by provincetown artist jo hay…I immediately fell in love with her bold brush strokes and soothing sea glass palette…from the rhythm of the paint to the texture of the canvas, they never cease to amaze me…

above ~ a close up of “eggs, 3, 2009”

below ~ full frame of “eggs, 3, 2009″ by jo hay, 7″ x 5” oil on canvas

below ~ close ups of “eggs, 1, 2009”

below ~ full frame of “eggs, 1, 2009″ by jo hay, 7″ x 5” oil on canvas

photos by me, 4/25/11

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happy easter!

mimi and bella with their easter eggs (hard boiled of course!)

bella gave hers a gentle sniff while mimi tried to devour hers!

wishing you and yours a very happy easter!

photos by me, 4/23/11

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the beauty of true scale ~ bryant austin

above, Kingdom of Tonga, 2006
Dimensions: 24 X 31 inches
Edition of 20
$2500

A dear friend of mine sent me this story the other day…I was so blown away, I just had to share it with you…

Photographer Bryant Austin has dedicated his life to photographing whales…this may sound extraordinary in and of itself but what sets Austin’s work apart is the scale of his pieces…he has created 25 true-scale pictures, including two full portraits, each composed from dozens of photographs of different sections of the whale’s body…the largest is a 6 by 30 foot portrait of a dwarf Minke whale from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia…you may be wondering what inspired this idea…

“On a warm summer afternoon in 2005, Bryant Austin was snorkeling in the blue waters of the South Pacific by the islands of Tonga, looking through his camera at a humpback whale and her calf swimming less than 50 yards away. As he waited for the right moment, the playful calf swam right up to him, so close that he had to lower his camera. That’s when he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. Turning around, Mr. Austin found himself looking straight into the eye of the mother whale, her body bigger than a school bus. The tap had come from her pectoral fin, weighing more than a ton. To Mr. Austin, her gesture was an unmistakable warning that he had gotten too close to the calf. And yet, the mother whale had extended her fin with such precision and grace — to touch the photographer without hurting him — that Mr. Austin was in awe of her “delicate restraint.” Looking into the whale’s eye, lit by sunlight through the water, Austin felt he was getting a glimpse of calmness and intelligence, of the animal’s consciousness. The moment changed Mr. Austin’s life. It struck him that something was missing from four decades of whale photography: the beauty of true scale. Mr. Austin concluded that the only way to capture the magnificence of whales would be to create life-size pictures of them. “I wanted to recreate the feeling I had when I looked into the eye of the mother whale,” he said.” ~ NY Times

Bryant Austin’s breathtaking work is now on display at the Electric Works gallery in San Francisco…the show runs from April 1st – May 7th…I can only imagine how powerful this would be in person…a truly remarkable achievement

below, Humpback Whale Calf I, 2006
Dimensions: 43 X 75 inches
Edition of 20

below, Sperm Whale Calf Composite One 
West Indies, 2009
Dimensions Available:
64 X 240″ (1:1 Scale)
33 X 120″ (1:2 scale)
Edition of 5
$45,000.00

below, Dwarf Minke Whale Composite Portrait, 2009
Dimensions: 48 X 73 inches
Edition of 20

below, Humpback Whale Mother and Calf II, 2005
Dimensions: 24 X 42 inches
Edition of 20

below, Humpback Whale Calf II , 2006
Dimensions: 24 X 42 inches
Edition of 20

below, Dwarf Minke Whale Composite Portrait 1257
with Killer Whale Bite Scars, 2009
Dimensions: 64 X 139 inches
Edition of 5

below, Sperm Whale 142

below, Life-Size Minke Whale Portrait 1294: 48 x 64 inches

below, Bryant Austin in the waters of the South Pacific photographing a baby Humpback Whale, named Little Friday.

Bryant Austin is the founder of a nonprofit organization called Marine Mammal Conservation through the Arts…he hopes that his life-size portraits of these magnificent creatures will build support to end whaling…

photos and resources ~ MMCTA, Electric Works gallery and NY Times

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ruard veltman ~ yancey chapel

Today’s post is a very special look back at one of Ruard Veltman‘s first projects…

In 1995, three ambitious students from Auburn University’s Rural Studio designed and created The Yancey Chapel (the Rural Studio was established by Professor Samuel Mockbee as an experimental architecture clinic, building small, low budget structures for impoverished rural communities)…Ruard Veltman, Steve Durden, and Tom Tretheway created this artful retreat for less than $10,000 using 1000 donated tires, local slate from the Black Warrior River, timber and steel beams from old bridges and condemned houses and scraps of rusted tin from dilapidated barns…located in the small town of Greensboro in western Alabama, the Chapel is sited on a ridge overlooking a riverbed in a heavily wooded landscape…

“As an architect, I believe in the power of travel. I re-energize my creative thinking by returning to my homeland – Holland – or taking off on a new adventure. The exchange of new ideas with each new project also brings a certain passion. The most inspiring aspect of practicing architecture is being part of a team that works well together – a meeting of the minds with our clients, within our firm, or amongst everyone involved on a particular job. And the greatest joy is in watching people experience the spaces we’ve imagined. Whether at work or play, I am always attuned to the pleasing affects of design – from the thoughtfully planned parks of a city to the frame of a painting. And I often find intersections between the built world and the one thing I can’t live without, music.” ~ Ruard Veltman, 2011

photos and resources from Architectural Record March 1996 and The Architectural Review July 1997

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veltman, dupuy, and gibbens ~ artful restraint

I came across this remarkable interior yesterday while pouring through my archives…it is from the 2007 March-April issue of Southern Accents…I’m in love with the artful restraint of the interior design…it allows the exceptional beauty of architect Ruard Veltman‘s vision to take front and center…a few key examples of careful editing include leaving the space above the living room fireplace blank…trimmed in carved limestone, the huge mantel-less fireplace is the room’s sculptural focal point…adding a painting would have weakened its impact…in addition, there are no window treatments on the ground floor! Designers Dupuy and Gibbens realized they were unnecessary…the house is sheltered from view enabling the design duo to celebrate the striking texture of the walls and perfect geometry of the windows…please enjoy this masterclass in artful restraint! (p.s. ~ notice the graceful curve of the arm on the antique settee above…for me, this sculptural form is such an important piece of the puzzle…the golden fabric and aged wood work in perfect harmony with the rest of the space!)

photos and resources from Southern Accents, March-April 2007

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