Thomas Jayne, author, historian, preservationist, decorator and friend, has written a remarkable new book, AMERICAN DECORATION, A SENSE OF PLACE published by The Monacelli Press. Thomas’ interest in architecture and decoration started with his family’s legacy of houses that ranged from the Plymouth colony to a Vermont tavern, an Italianate Villa in Iowa and a California Craftsman style bungalow amongst others. Even the re-decoration of his boyhood room by painting the walls White House red. His family’s migration across a broad swath of the country and his own sense of history have informed Thomas’s’ body of work.

  /     /     /     /     /     /  
0

Hidden in plain sight, just a short distance from a major highway, is the remarkable Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, NY. This outdoor sculpture park is situated on 500  pristine acres of gently rolling hills, grassy knolls and flat meadows. Within this incredible setting is an extraordinarily distinguished collection of more that 100 carefully sited sculptures. The emphasis is on large scale works that change the visible landscape from any  direction and distance.

  /     /     /  
0

Several weeks ago I took the time while in New York to go to the Museum of Art and Design (MAD) to see the CRAFTING MODERNISM exhibit. The museum, formerly the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (MCC) and later the American Craft Museum (ACM) still retains its original vision by creating exhibits to examine and celebrate American craft in the 20th century. It charts the bold new direction in craft media from the postwar period through the mid 60′s, showing a range of works from the strictly functional but studio made, to beautiful objects integrated into the factory with the designer-craftsman serving as the bridge between hand and machine.

  /     /     /  
0

My dear friend, Carole Glaser, the shopping bag collector, accumulator of hats, pictures, pins and other original vintage shop finds has a delightful collection of candlesticks that I could not resist photographing. Each stick has a story or two. And, her personal vision for their display is to place them all together at one end of her dining table. They make quite a statement.

  /     /     /     /  
0