Going Dark: Black & Luxe

It might be that my mood has grown a little darker.  I had planned to paint the walls of the gallery a traditional white for the opening of Woman. Hair. Power.  Then somehow, I was struck by the awe and wonder of blackness.  It could be the constant loop of Kathleen Cleaver in my ear chanting, "Black is beautiful!"  Whatever the reason, I've fallen head over heels in love with the look of lacquered black.  

We begin revamping this weekend in preparation for The Ground Floor Gallery's inaugural exhibit.  You may find yourself staring at art on some very subversive wall space.  This is a good thing.  In opening a residential gallery,  I wanted to challenge the assumptions we make about art experiences.  Assumption number one - art needs white walls. No it does not!  

Just take a peek...

See you at the art show!

A Tiny Place Called Home

My soul is drawn to cabins.  Cabins in the woods.  I often wonder about those seemingly abandoned little huts along the trails of the Santa Monica mountains.  Why are they empty?  Who lived there?  Star-crossed lovers?  A compact family? Escaped convicts?

Maybe it's the teeny writer inside that wants an unassuming place.  Or maybe it's the chaos of the city that propels me toward a world that's more quiet and quaint.  

I could also just be tired of cleaning my house.  When you're the primary picker upper, less feels like more.

I thought you might appreciate a tiny glimpse of three dream spaces.  When you click on an image, you'll be transported to the story behind the home.  Enjoy!

The Sauvie Island Home

The Beach Home

The Chico Home

What's your dream space?  Add photographs in the comments.

Happy Tears on Hump Day

Stella Jean

I'm growing weepier day by day.  What part of my psyche gave birth to the emotional me, I don't know, but I'll embrace her for the moment.  

When I read the following news, I did the teary eyed thing again:

The most successful modern designer to emerge from Italy, Giorgio Armani, hand selected Haitian-Italian couturier Stella Jean to runway her spring/summer 2014 collection inside his show space. 

"The new generation of Italian designers needs our support."

                                                                               - Armani

Damn right they do!  And so do the next generation of filmmakers and poets and painters and architects and so forth and so on.  How wonderful the world feels when established creatives reach back and give a hand to those climbing up underneath them.  Now do you understand why I cried?  No?  Neither do I.  I just accept it as the sensitive side of me and move on.

Stella Jean paid her good fortune forward by partnering with the Ethical Fashion Initiative and sourcing many of her spring/summer fabrics from Burkina Faso in West Africa.  

Jean is noted for mixing cultural influences to produce styles that tell a highly imaginative story of east meeting west.

You can watch the designer in West Africa by clicking her dress below:

When hard work, a unique perspective, and good 'ole fashioned giving back meet - it's worth a few good tears!

Here are some of my favorites from collections past:

I'm saving up for my very own Stella Jean piece.  When it arrives, I promise no more tears!