I'm not that innocent

This is the Innocenza, also by Andre de Benedetto for Desart. I have to say that innocent is about the last thing that comes to mind after looking at this thing.

Here's the gobbledygook description from the catalog:

Innocenza is a chair that with its harmonious and welcoming form, is a warm lap to curl up in, a soutane you can hide under for a while.

Its lines are similar to the Luigi Filippo furniture of the late 1800s, but the iconographic reference that immediately comes to mind is without a doubt the bohemian atmosphere of a joyous Moulin Rouge.

Innocenza, in fact, is immediately female. A joyous and liberal ballerina in her pirouettes, who does not hide a resolutely intriguing soul.

The lace is provocative. A sensual guêpière beautifies it, so that it’s almost as though you can see a slender bust below the neck that flows down to the concave and fluid back.

Here's the "fluid" back it references.

Look, I'm no prude but really?

Ummmm. A sea urchin? Really?

This chair by Andrea de Benedetto for Desart is supposed to be inspired by a sea urchin.

Maybe it's just me but it looks more like a gunshot wound. Several gunshot wounds.

Congratulations Yulia and Julie: results from Mosaic Art International

Yulia Hanansen and Julie Richey are accomplished mosaic artists, great friends of this blog and recently-announced prizewinners at this year's Mosaic Art International juried show.

Yulia was awarded best in show by the three-person, international jury. She won for Jupiter: Great Red Spot, her interpretation of the Great Red Spot visible on the surface of Jupiter.

"Jupiter: Great Red Spot," c. 2010.
Materials: Layered stained glass.
Size: 36" x 56"
Price: upon request

From the artist: "Jupiter has always fascinated me as unrealized star- a planetary body that is too small for a nuclear fusion action. It is a giant planet that we can never land on. And it is in charge of one of the greatest hurricanes that we can observe- the Great Red Spot."

Artist statement continued: "Because of a layered layout, this mosaic required some research on structure of the GRS. I had to contact a NASA scientist who was very generous and sent me a couple of papers that she has written on cloud deck observations of Great Red Spot."

I've long appreciated Yulia's ability to make art and science co-exist in her work and it's a thrill to see her recognized with Mosaic Art International's Best in Show.

Another artist whose work I revere and whose friendship I treasure is Julie Richey. Julie won Mosaic Art International's Best 3-D Mosaic for her figurative dress sculpture, La Corrente.

"La Corrente," c. 2010
Materials:Marble, smalti, seashells and 24k gold
Size: 29” h x 22” w x 22” d
Private Commission

From the artist: "La Corrente is about beauty amidst destruction."

Artist statement continued: “It was created during the Gulf oil spill and it alludes to the many destructive forces, both man-made and natural, that creep in with the current.” Richey describes her work as “utilizing the innate opulence of mosaic materials – 24k gold smalti, marble, semi-precious stones, iridescent glass and minerals – to embellish sculptural forms in unexpected ways.”

Both women have fantastic websites that showcase more of their work and both women have work available for immediate sale and are open to private commissions. I invite you to explore both of their sites to gain some insight into how this most ancient of art forms is expressed in its highest forms today.

Julie's site is called Julie Richey Mosaics and you can find Yulia Hanansen's site is called Mosaic Sphere. Drop in, say hello and tell them I sent you.

Congratulations once again Yulia and Julie!

Tile style from Spain

When The Spainish Tile Manufacturer's Association (ASCER) had me in Spain last month to see their products and meet their people in person, I had a awareness of a number of Spanish tile brands already. ASCER markets itself in North America as Tile of Spain and I've seen Tile of Spain at Coverings for as long as I've been going to that show. It was at Coverings that I first learned about Spanish tile and that awareness just fed into an interest in tile that I've had for as long as I can remember.

Two brands whose work I've always admired are Keraben and Peronda. One of the highlights of my time in Spain was the chance to tour Keraben's factory in Castellón. My friend Bob Borson was on the Spain trip too and he wrote what I say is the definitive post on that factory tour on his site, Life of an Architect. Bob's report from the factory floor is chock-full of pointers about what makes good tile good and is well worth the read. Tile expert Ryan Fasan provided the technical details in Bob's article and it's a definite keeper.

Keraben is breaking new ground when it comes to high-resolution printing on tile. Their products do such a good job of imitating natural stone and wood that I have a hard time telling the difference between tile and the real stuff. Here's an overview of their new releases for 2011.

Peronda tends to push the aesthetic envelope a bit more than Keraben does and it's great to see ceramic tile enjoying such a renaissance with their help.

If you're interested in finding any of these tile styles for yourself, you can find a lot of information about where to buy these products on Tile of Spain's website.

What is legacy? A Blog Off Post

Every two weeks, the blogosphere comes alive with something called a Blog Off. A Blog Off is an event where bloggers of every stripe weigh in on the same topic on the same day. The topic for this round of the Blog Off is "What is legacy?"

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These two women were my grandmothers.

That's Marjorie Belle Pfahl-Anater on the left and Guellma Gevene Flowers-Smith-Stewart on the right. I knew them as Gram A and Gram S, although we usually called Gram S by her middle name, Gevene. When I was young I loved Gram A for her intellect and musical talent. I loved Gevene for her scrappy common sense and good humor.

Both of my grandmothers were widowed before I came along and I never knew my grandfathers.

But I knew these two and the older I get the more of them I see in me. My love of classical music is pure Marjorie and my inability to suffer fools is pure Gevene. That's legacy. A legacy of a sort.

For me, the legacy a person leaves is the story of their lives. My grandmothers led lives of high highs and low lows, just like everybody else does. Both of these women dealt with adversity, survived the deaths of children and husbands, and witnessed the enormous, tumultuous changes that defined the 20th Century.

I grew up hearing a lot of their stories and to me, those stories are their greatest legacy. Those women weren't just static characters in a photo album, they were real people. I look at that photo above and I can hear Gevene's laugh and Marjorie's "Good glory!"

I think that people live on when their descendants tell their stories and pass along their legacy. My nieces and nephews, who number in the dozens, never knew those women as the forces of nature they were. But I did. I knew them and I feel like it's my job, my obligation, to those two great women to tell their stories to their great-grandchildren.

In telling those stories, in passing along those legacies, I keep my grandmothers alive for just a little while longer. And not only that, I reinforce (at least I hope I do) that my nieces and nephews belong. In the act of telling, I get to remind myself the same thing.

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As the day goes on, the rest of the participants in today's Blog Off will appear miraculously at the end of this post. Keep checking back and check out everybody's postss. You can follow along in Twitter as well, just look for the hashtag #LetsBlogOff. If you'd like more information about about the Blog Off or if you'd like to see the results of previous Blog Offs, you can find the main website here.