New York Fairy Tale

My favorite line from Peter Pan...I believe..I believe..I love fairy tales, in my waking hours, I replay images of times gone by when my sons would sneak by the fireplace in hope to get a glimpse of Santa. At this hour, my house is filled with youth, my sons, their college friends, my french cousin and her girlfriend, every room slept in, every sofa slept in...all these years gone in a flash, wonderful years. I have an incredibly busy week ahead with job site visits, meetings and design presentation for a 7000 sq/ft loft on Christmas Eve!

I am stopping the clock just for a moment to live for a few minutes in a fairy tale world offered to us by Tiffany's. I live in a world of books, books everywhere..in the library, my bedroom, dining room, kitchen, living room, halls, family room. I treasure every book, every written page...thank you Tiffany for creating the most wonderful world of fairy tales in the land of the written page.

Angel On Rockefeller Center

The stories of Life are filled with fairy tales...please believe

Enjoy the Season, Francine

An Exhibition of Paper designs

Ever since my visit to japan, I have been fascinated by the art of origami and paper designs, so when I received an invitation to the opening of the Pratt's School of Art and Design  exhibition of paper design at the Ralph Pucci showroom, I braved the crowded subways, the freezing cold as this is the show I would not miss.

50 Pratt students from various disciplines, fashion design, fine arts, industrial design and interior design were competing  for the best garment designs and top sculpture design. Student spent a semester studying texture and form to dress Pucci's Spring 2011 mannequins.

Thanks to my I phone, I'll share my favorites creations (please forgive the mediocre images..). My very talented friend Antoine Bootz photographed the exhibition, can't wait to see the photos.

The winner! Just think the hours spent drawing and laser cutting the paper

 read the full story here

CROSS-POST: From Tish Jett's "A Femme d'un Certain Age"

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Tish Jett, a great American blogger who pulled up stakes here and moved to France (almost the mirror image of my life) very graciously asked me to contribute pictures and my thoughts on holiday decorating. I was very flattered by the compliment so, here is Tish's Post in full, or go here to see it natively

Deck the Halls, Tables, Doors. . . Part II

Bienvenue to the second day of exquisite holiday decorating. 

What I'm discovering with the remarkable and varied talents of the interior designers who so graciously agreed to participate in this week-long series, is that creating beauty -- even for ephemeral moments like a meal, a fireplace mantle, a Christmas tree -- brings such richness, pleasure and joy to life that every second of effort that goes into making a home sparkle in celebration of the season might very well be the true definition of magic. 

Today the tremendously talented, Francine Gardner (dash over to see her blog, Art de Vivre

-- it most definitely is the definition of l'art de vivre), lets us peek into her home to see how she sets her table, decorates her tree and welcomes her friends with the entry, pictured above.

THE  TREE

My decorating suggestions: Keep it simple, ethereal, scented, filled with memories or treasured moments and always, always a real tree.

THE DETAILS

I prefer monochromatic trees and especially white. This year my tree is sparkling. I always have white doves perched on branches, small mirrors to reflect the lights, cascading seeds and rhinestones.

I love a chaise by the tree with a cashmere blankets and pillows where I rest in the evening, reading or reflecting on the year that is about to end.

THE TABLES

I invite friends for Christmas lunch, usually for 16 to 20. My husband cooks and I set the table. We have a rich lunch of fois gras, duck a l'orange, a perfect Bordeaux, a buche de Noel and Armagnac -- I am, after all, from Gascogne.

THE DETAILS

I love formal table settings from bright reds and orange to pure white and silver. This year the table will be glittering white to end what has been a rather difficult year in shimmering style.

Finally, I dress my entry console with simple greenery.

 And, in my showroom, I just placed butterflies on moss covered branches in lieu of ornaments.

Portrait of an artist: Jason

My Interieurs showroom is really a curated collection of artists, artisans, bench made furniture intermixed with contemporary pieces which encapsulates the essence of Interieurs' principal theme: "Modern Soulful Living"

I would like to introduce "Jason" an artist at heart, with a vision. We both share the same passion for bringing back the objects of our industrial past, a bygone era, that was once the greatest strength of America. I love to learn the harsh lessons of the past and my visit to Cleveland was as if I stepped back in time.

Jason invited me to visit his studio where he hand blows the shades for our glass pendants, floor lamps and vases. I was fascinated to watch him work, and it gave me a real appreciation of the skill and arduous efforts that go into every one of his creations.

One of his amazing chandeliers

I love rummaging  through old warehouses, industrial junkyards and visiting Jason's warehouses filled with industrial machinery taken apart, backyard covered with discarded wheels, bases, got my creative mode going full force. From pieces of huge industrial machines, he would salvage various fittings and create pieces of furniture thought after by the most famous designers. Thom Filicia, Clodagh, Ralph Lauren, Jeffrey Bilhuber, Steven Gambrel... just to name a few of our customers who love to incorporate Jason's pieces in their design work.

 

Jason took me to an auction where he bids on this now obsolete equipment. He strips these machines apart, and would keep this wheel for instance which will become the base of a floor lamp, or wheels for a cocktail table. The remains of the machine itself - after Jason has stripped it of parts for his creations - will be sold by the pound to be turned into recycled steel.

Jason's Grate tables frame the Stephane Sofa

 All these beautiful pieces and many others are available at

Interieurs.com. His lighting collection can be found here.

Jason appears here in a video premier for this blog, blowing one of his signature glass lamp shades:

Elle Decor's November issue: See Interieurs

Yesterday, I had an "emergency" fabric situation for a client presentation and ran to the D & D building conveniently located near my showroom. I suddenly bumped into my friend Anita (design director of Elle Decor). It came to me that I rarely share when Interieurs is mentioned in national magazines.


So here it is, I just love these pieces, especially the Jose Esteves Mobile chandelier...as always, thank you Elle Decor for your continuing support of Interieurs.

Objets de curiosites, love theses installations under glass. They add so much character to a space, perfect for creating vignettes. Available through my showroom Interieur

I found this driftwood sculpture in thailand, it is now displayed on a console in a Hamptons house

My favorite chandelier by artist Jose Esteves whom we represent exclusively in the US

We received numerous calls from Elle Decor readers on this piece. 

To view Jose Esteves complete collection, check: 

www.interieurs.com/collections/jose_esteves

To see some of Jose's unique lighting art see my earlier post here

A Bientot, 

Francine

Bhutan:the land of gentle people

Young monks at play

From Connecticut, I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so many thanks to give and treasure every moment of this life, the good and sometimes not so good... In this last post on Bhutan, I tried to capture images of the simple happiness derived from love and nature.

This journey through Bhutan ends with portraits of its gentle and playful children.

In Bhutan, the GNP is not measured in financial terms but as the Gross National Happiness.

This concept was introduced by the King and has taken the Western world by storm, governments, economists and scholars have invited the young handsome King to speak about the 4 pillars of Gross National Happiness: Environment - Culture - Spirituality - Society.

Bhutan is determined to keep its independence by preserving its culture and its ecology.

Children in school uniform, these young kids walk up to 2 hours each way to go to school they are so engaging and joyful 

Girls dressed up for the religious festival

Little monks getting a break from their studies

Student preparing for his high school examination. From the youngest age, young boys and girls learn english. The brightest student are sent by the king to Colombia (where the king studied), Harvard, Cornell, Yale, UCLA, Stamford, Georgetown, Oxford and Cambridge, Mc Gill, depending on their field of study. No student sent abroad has failed and all graduated in the 10% of their class.

These children wake up before sunrise to walk to school, study for 6 hours, go home for a simple supper, study some more or help their parents with farming duties. The greatest gift is a pencil, they look happy, playful, and love learning.

The people, nature, colors of Bhutan will forever stay with me.

Until next time...there is that one challenging trek (reputed for being the most difficult trek in the world...) along the Himalayas...

Bhutan: A Buddhist Kingdom part II

Tantric Buddhism was introduced as early as the eight century and is based on the same beliefs as other forms of Buddhism:
" the consequences of actions in previous lives, or karma, forces all beings to reincarnate.All human efforts should aim towards enlightenment, which means release from the cycle of incarnations into the state of Nirvana, the annihilation of suffering which accompanies all existence" (Francoise Pommaret)

Punakha Dzong sits at the confluence of the Mo (female) and Po (male) rivers.

Holiest dzong in Bhutan

Religious festivals are celebrated for several days

These graphic penises adorn all Buthanese houses to welcome guests and protect the house and its family members. They are painted on walls, sculpted in wood, hanging from the roofs, to honor a religious holy man Drukpa Kunley a.k.a the Divine Mad Man

Quite an enjoyment for us ladies....

www.sabotagetimes.com/travel/the-boners-of-bhutan