Some times you need a Big Ass Fan

I subscribe to a newsletter called TODL, that's the Trade Only Design Library. It's always chock full of interesting new stuff and one of the featured products today was this enormous fan.

They're meant for commercial spaces obviously but what cracked me up is that the company who makes them is the Big Ass Fan Company. Seriously. The Big Ass Fan Company makes fans that range from eight to 20 feet in diameter and oddly enough, they're well designed. Their Isis in particular borders on the beautiful. Who knew? Well it's nice to know that when you need a big ass fan, the Big Ass Fan Company is there to help.

Big Ass Fan's Isis model even won an award last year from Interior Design. Good job!

Simon Cowell on What is Art?

Kit Tosello is another kitchen designer/ blogger I've come to know through Twitter. She wrote one of the most poignant posts this blog has ever seen when she penned Dad's Dream: a Tale of Two Houses in December. In keeping with my goal of having this space be somewhere where a variety of opinions and stories can be heard, Kit penned another great post. My "What is art" posts from last week set her to thinking about art. I love where she goes with this. What do you guys think? Check out her regular posts on The High Desert Home Companion and get an Oregon perspective on design and life. Thanks Kit!

Where do you go for intrepid instruction on genuine artistry? American Idol's Simon Cowell obviously. Eh-hem. Indulge me for a second.

DrawMyFace.comhttp://www.drawmyface.co.uk/

Since Paul vexed me last week with his head-scratching blog post, What Is Art?, I jotted down some recent criticisms that Simon paid this season's batch of aspiring musical artists:

"You've just shown us that you're somebody who can sing someone else's song . . . and not as well."

"Most of all it's trying to do something that makes you original."

Conversely, here are some of the AI judges' affirmations:

"You picked the song because you genuinely liked the song and it portrayed you as an artist." -Simon

"You're believable." -Kara

"You don't care what everyone thinks or what's in . . . I love the honesty." -Randy

Great unpretentious singer-songwriters such as Jackson Browne come to mind.

I've been thinking that one requirement of great art is the transparency of the artist.

Mankind by nature is truth-seeking; it's what sets our species apart. On the other hand, we like pretty things. I have a lot of pretty doo-dads around my house that may not have anything to do with genuine art. We often enjoy art that panders and pleases.

Yet I think we innately recognize and appreciate truth in art. Whether in music, dance, literature or fine art, we can sense if the artist's mind, body and soul were completely present at a work's creation.

Such sincerety expresses the human desire to be known, unselfconsciously. It is not a guise. It might make a statement or pose a question. It might portray an honest response to the glory of the universe, or it might raise an altar to mark a point on the artist's personal journey.

Honesty is attractive. When one of my teenagers wants to pay the ultimate complement they will say something or someone is legit.

Can there be truth in commercial art?

DaVinci was commissioned to paint a portrait we've come to know as the Mona Lisa.

Heesyun Ruettgers, a friend and local photographer who specializes in bridal portraiture, says this about her stunning work: "It's what I see."

Ruettgers Photography

Ruettgers Photography

Here are some words of advice from writing professionals to the novice:

“Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer, you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act—truth is always subversive.”
- Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

"...write what you KNOW. Not what you think, or what you've heard. Write what your gut tells you is the truth."
- Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent

The intersection of truth, talent and technique.

Of course, honesty in artistic expression is lost without technique. Great artists have the talent and training to show us what they see.

If you handed me a tray of oil paints, I could try most sincerely to relay the tender message I see in my dog's eyes right now, but my amateur brushstrokes would only diminish the message. Or, as Simon said to one unpolished contestant this week:

"Brave . . . but you're gonna need a lot of work."

Great art magnifies the holy mystery.

You might find this a stretch. Whether or not an artist believes in God's existence, I believe that God is honored by honest expression. The searching of a soul is a holy expedition.

"The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul." -J.S. Bach

It's been twenty years since I took a course in Art Appreciation. In thinking about this topic, I purposely avoided looking up any formal definitions of art so that I could form my own conclusions. Art is a two-way street and we are free to respond individually. These are simply my honest responses, presented in as refined a way as I know how, based on my journey so far.

What do you think about the relationship between truth and art?

This looks uncomfortable

This is from a two-year-old back issue of Metropolitan Home. You can see where this place and who the perpetrators are by following the link.

I think the place is a nightmare. The only thing missing is a big sign that says "stay away." How do you make people comfortable in your home if they're afraid to wrinkle the upholstery?

Modern eclecticism, hold the camp

This is architect Curtis Popp's living room and kitchen in an apartment he designed for his dad. I think it's a well nigh perfect example of how to be warm yet modern and interesting without being cluttered.

These images are from a spread in Dwell. The living room I'm imagining for myself looks remarkably like this. I see Le Corbusier chairs, an Arco lamp and are they Philippe Starck barstools? Design classics yet this room looks nothing like a museum. Bravo.

Reader question: Is this a terrible, terrible mistake?

Help! We are updating our old kitchen by installing granite counter tops. We love Verde Butterfly, but on some other blogs I have read that this particular granite was '90s granite? I don't want to update to something that is already out of date!

Please pardon my leading headline and thank you for your question. The answer is yes, my bloggery brethren are correct. Updating to Verde Butterfly or any of its Brazilian kin is probably not the best idea.

This is what's called Verde Butterfly.

It's closely related to Verde Peacock.

And that old standby, Ubatuba.

Technically, all three of these stones are charnocktites. Charnocktite is a granite classification. All three of these stones (and a host of others) have a lot of hypersthene in them. Hypersthene is the mineral that gives them their metallic green color. The opaque, whitish blotches are feldspar. The distribution of the feldspar in the stone is what determines if a particular stone is going to be called Butterfly, Peacock, Labrador, Ubatuba or what ever else someone makes up.

There are no standards for granite's common names by the way. One yard's Peacock is another yard's Butterfly. For the most part that doesn't matter. However, I cannot stand not knowing what something is, so I pour over geology books and websites so I can say things like "Oh look! That's a charnocktite!" Indulge me.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Brazilian charnocktites. They do their job and they don't cost an arm and a leg. And therein lies the rub. In order for a particular granite to be inexpensive, there has to be a lot of it around. I say if you're going to get a granite counter, get one that nobody else has. In order to get a granite counter that nobody else has, you have to spend more money. Behold the tyranny of supply and demand.

These Brazilian charnocktites have been cut into kitchen counters in the US for the last 20 years; and they were some of the earliest, widely available stones out there. 20 years ago they were exotic. They're not any more.

If you want to be on the leading edge, see if you can't get a finish other than a high gloss on your counters. Honed, brushed, leathered, flamed or any other specialty finishes transform granite's appearance, even pedestrian granites. You might want to look at Caesarstone or any of the other quartz composite brands too.

No matter what you end up with, please be sure you are going to an independent counter fabricator to have this done. Make sure too that you are looking at slabs of stone instead of samples when you're making this choice. Finally, be sure that you're picking the slabs that'll be used for your counters. All stone is a product of nature and no two examples of it are alike. Don't take any chances and good luck!