The Natalie Blake collection from Ann Sacks

A little more than a week ago I reported on the tile mosaics of a ceramics artist named Natalie Blake. The offerings of Natalie Blake Studios are beautiful and original and I'm not the only one who noticed, believe me.

No less than Ann Sacks has picked up three of Natalie's designs and they are now available from Ann Sacks showrooms and authorized dealers nationwide. The series Dahlia and Nautilus can be used individually or as a vertical or horizontal mural. The third series, Botanical, is available in 20 colors and can be used individually or as a group.

Natalie's utilizes an old art form called S'graffato, that's Italian for scratched. She doesn't use molds or dies, rather each tile is sculpted and then the design is hand-impressed in the surface. Her offerings are beautiful and unique, almost like a three-dimensional wood cut.

Here's the Dahlia as a vertical mural.

Here are some details from the Dahlia.

And here's the Nautilus, also set as a vertical mural.

Here are some Naurilus detail photos.

Here are some of the individual tiles from the Botanical series.

Adobe

Yellow

Apricot

Honey

Ivy

Here's a great new series from Hakatai

My great pals at Hakatai are rolling out a new glass mosaic series called Bohemia. Bohemia features a semi-transparent glass tile mini brick set in a traditional offset pattern. The individual mosaic pieces are a half-inch thick and due to their near transparency, these mosaics will have a depth and sparkle that won't quit once they're installed.

In looking over these new patterns, they remind me of an old art class technique. Under the tutelage of the great man who taught me most of what I know about art, we used to mix oil- and water-based paints together on a heavy sheet of paper and let them interact. The result was a randomness that bordered on the impressionist and it was a terrific lesson in standing back and letting art happen.

Hakatai has captured that inadvertent, random impressionism and preserved it forever in glass. Beautiful!

Nutmeg

Chanterelle

Mallard

Mirage

Azul

Sargasso Sea

Loam

Repost: Friends, Romans, Countrymen; lend me a hand!

I notice that I'm getting a fair number of Italian readers and I'd like to extend a heartfelt benvenuto. I'd also like to ask a favor. I ran this piece in January and still haven't found any takers. If you find yourself in Rome, please consider my request. Molti grazie in anticipo!

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I bought a beautiful cashmere and silk men's pashmina in Rome last year and when I went to grab it the other morning I couldn't find it. I'm pretty sure that I left it somewhere the last time I had it on and I'm pretty sick about it.

Granted, it's just a thing so it shouldn't be a big deal. But sometimes, the loss of a thing can be a real kick to the gut. My beloved niece Sarah lived in Rome while she was in school and she gave me a great lead on a little shop that sold great scarves inexpensively.

I found the shop one day while I was walking around and it's run by an older woman and her daughter. It's a tiny storefront jammed to the rafters with nothing but scarves. The shop keepers were a delight. My Italian vocabulary increased tenfold that afternoon and between my survival Italian and their survival English we had a blast. In addition to all of that, they were selling men's pashminas for five euros a pop.

Now I love meeting new people but what I really like is meeting new people who sell one of the greatest bargains I've ever encountered. These scarves were an incredible cashmere and silk blend and I bought a bunch of them to give away as gifts. Five euros! No lie!

I saved but one for myself and now it's gone. So I'm throwing this out there: if anybody's heading to Rome let me know and I'll pay you for the trouble of buying me a replacement scarf. The store is on the Via Tomacelli, just a stone's throw from the River and the Tomb of Augustus. It's easy to miss but such a reward when you find it. Anybody?

Future Flora lights by Studio Toord Boontje

This Spring's edition of the New York Times Style magazine featured a light fixture that grabbed onto me and wouldn't let go. I followed their links back to the source and found out that there are three lights in this Future Flora collection. Hung together, Future Flora can turn any room into an installation.

The Future Flora series is the product of Studio Toorn Boontje for Artecnica. Artecnica is an LA-based design company that commissions pieces from industrial designers the world over. The Future Flora series consists of three models; the Laure, the Nadine and the Rugiada. All three are made from precision-etched metal sheets. I love seeing light and airy forms in metal and these babies are that in spades.

Well-designed originals needn't break the bank either. The Future Flora pendants are available from Unica Home for $99. Why not do something original and distinctive when it comes time to buy lighting?

I have to confess that I have a fondness for Toorn Boontje, they are the studio who brought the world the Icarus pendant shown here. I can't think of another light fixture that has ever fired me up with the kind of passionate admiration the Icarus did when I fist saw it. Amazing.

Mother of pearl wall tile

I've had a run on interest in mother of pearl wall tile in the last week and I have to say that the stuff's stunning, really stunning. Check out this wall tile installation from the great folks at Maya Romanoff.

I have some samples of it and even have a back splash done in it in the showroom. I swear, it can stop traffic it's so distinctive. But that's in a kitchen showroom, not in a real house. So I'm wondering if anyone out there has any first-hand experience with mother of pearl as a tile?

Mother of pearl is made from a material called nacre, and nacre is secreted in the shell linings of certain mollusks. Nacre is also the substance pearls are made from and like a pearl, mother of pearl has a colorful iridescence and a depth to it. Nacre has captivated human imaginations since the dawn of time.

Beautiful stuff but I wonder how it holds up as a building material. Nacre is an organic and inorganic compound. It's made from alternating layers of calcium carbonate and any one of a number of biopolymers. The precise biopolymer is a function of the organism secreting it. Still with me? Now this microscopic layering is where nacre gets its depth, iridescence and strength. The combination of calcium carbonate and a biopolymer serve an organism well while it's alive. However, calcium carbonate and biopolymers break down after the secreting organism dies. In a protected environment, nacre will remain beautiful for generations. What happens though ,when it's exposed to the wear and tear of daily life?

So, anyone? Anyone? Anyone have some first hand experience to share?