Wednesday, January 26, 2011

DEE-LUX

This is A Little Find
Costa Mesa has one of the best resale shops in the area with Dee-Lux.
With all roads pointing to recycling, upcycling, repurposing, and finding ingredients for new creative endeavors, the resale shop wins on all counts.
I like this one in particular because it has an abundance of quirky.
And good selections.
This is a piece that Southern CA fiber artist, Joanell Connolly, created using recycled mens knitwear.  Love it.
And while you are shopping at Dee-Lux, run next door to Doria’s Original for a plate of spaghetti with her homemade marinara sauce and salad and bread – all for $5.50.  Voted Orange County’s #1 Hole-In-The-Wall Restaurant.  A treat.
Dee-Lux   1500 Adams Avenue, Costa Mesa
Doria’s Original   1500 Adams Avenue, Costa Mesa
Come back often…Bonnie
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The Welcome Post, January 7, 2011, shows a road map of what will be included in future  posts by way of The Arty Adventure Highway.  This is now part of Older Posts.


Sunday, January 23, 2011

GREEN CUBE

Rolling Down the Windows and Noticing the Good
in people and ideas and projects

This is a category on The Arty Adventure Highway  that I am most excited about discovering.
And the first one of its type in this blog is devoted to two women who had a vision and have cultivated it in the heart of Laguna Beach on beautiful Forest Avenue. 
Owners, Sejla (as in Shay-la) and Sanja have opened a store, Green Cube, to offer a very different type of retail experience.  They call it “Buying with Purpose.”  When you walk through the door, you are greeted with never-seen-before objects of art, home accessories, furniture pieces, clothing, and a space that is vibrant, colorful, and inviting.  They are showcasing local artisans who have designed pieces with a sustainable, repurposed core.  Wanting to offer natural fibers, clean processing techniques, a piece of a story belonging to each hand made item, and a place where artists can market their work in a very special setting – and where the owners can actively promote local creativity.
Tord Boontje creates magnificent chandeliers from Tyvec – a paper-like product.  They stopped me in my tracks.  You can place them over any hanging bulb to create this gorgeous effect.
I was mesmerized by the work of artist, Aaron Kramer, who uses the bristles from street sweepers to build this amazing sculpture.  The open weave globes are made with the bristles that become the centerpiece of his work.  Aaron believes that “trash is the failure of imagination.”  I think his work is brilliant and inspiring.
Barbara de Jounge is a Laguna Beach fiber artist that designs pieces for MOMA.  This necklace is a work of art.  Airy and truly beautiful.
Local artisan and owner of The Upcycled Word, is using reclaimed and repurposed vintage bottles and frames for personal statements.  Charming.  For the desk, or the tabletop, or as an individual gift for wedding place settings and special events.  This piece has found its home with me.  I could not leave without it.
On one of my earlier posts I featured Airstream trailers, and painter Christopher Schulz has created a remarkable series from these icons.  They can be clustered together for a great impact.  It makes me want to search out that Bambi Teardrop for a home office just outside my house.


This pink acrylic chair is one-of-a-kind and hand painted by Aaron Thomas.  It is such a wow piece when you see it in person.  Sixty to seventy per cent of the acrylic he uses is repurposed. 
Sanja, the owner, has designed many stunning furniture pieces throughout the store.  I wanted to showcase this green chair – you could design a whole room around it.

This store falls into all categories – A Little Find, a Field Trip, and Noticing the Good.  Well done.
Green Cube
264 Forest Avenue,  Laguna Beach
Come back often…Bonnie
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I welcome you as a Follower – a gmail account is needed to become one.
The Welcome Post, January 7, 2011, shows a road map of what will be included in future  posts by way of The Arty Adventure Highway.  This is now part of Older Posts.







Wednesday, January 19, 2011

PURL SOHO Orange County

This is A Little Find
PurlSoho is a landmark shop in New York City for specialty yarns and threads and fabrics  -including Liberty of London and hard to find Japanese fabrics -  along with findings, and books – lo and behold, their warehouse is in Tustin, CA and it is open to the public 4 days per week, during selected hours.
I found this charming book there, Little Birds, compiled by Susanne Woods, just after it was published.
The people working there are busy fulfilling orders to ship, but are kind and helpful and gracious in allowing browsing to take place right around them.  It is a real warehouse – no frills – but amazing products to see – a room devoted to yarns and books,

and another for findings and fabrics – including rolls of oilcloth. 
The special treat is a vast array of Liberty of London to choose from.  They will stop and cut yardage for you as well as answer your questions.

When you arrive at the address, you are still not sure that you are where you belong.  No sign.  No indication of what lies inside the door.  But once you step inside it is clearly a very special showcase of beautiful materials and extras.
Be sure to take the street address as well as suite number when you go.  You will enter the complex off of Valencia Street.
Closed to the public on Mondays.
PurlSoho
15431 Red Hill Avenue,  Suite D,  Tustin
Come back often…Bonnie
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I welcome you as a Follower – a gmail account is needed to become one.
The Welcome Post, January 7, 2011, shows a road map of what will be included in future  posts by way of The Arty Adventure Highway.




Monday, January 17, 2011

BeachFire San Clemente

This is a Grab Your Keys Field Trip
I am so grateful to the friend who invited me to this amazing place.  The owner is a plein air painter and supporter of artists and musicians - who opened a restaurant that would be a showcase for both excellent food and wonderful, local artisans.
When you first step in, you are walking on a long, vibrant, organic, meandering path of large and colorful mosaic tiles. 
As you continue inside, the tables each have a different color glass pendant light - just above the table top.  The walls are covered from top to bottom with original, framed, for-sale paintings.  Hundreds of them.  With approachable prices.  And a constantly changing collection as new ones replace sold ones.  As you continue through the restaurant, you find another room – a real gallery – for more art enjoyment.  The website has an opportunity for interested artists to showcase their work. 

The - food – is – wonderful.  A classic Seafood, Steak, and Chicken menu – but the one to order is the Pork Chop.  They are famous for this – and it is amazing.  

Each evening offers local musicians rounding out the entertainment experience for a very special occasion. 
I love this place.
BeachFire
204 Avenida del Mar,  San Clemente
Come back often…Bonnie
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I welcome you as a Follower – a gmail account is needed to become one.
The Welcome Post, January 7, 2011, shows a road map of what will be included in future  posts by way of The Arty Adventure Highway.


Saturday, January 15, 2011

Molly Hutchings

This is A Little Find

Molly Hutchings is a Southern CA watercolorist that I have been tracking each summer for many, many years.  For the past 2 decades Molly has been juried into the fine arts show at the Laguna Beach Festival of the Arts.  Last summer I made my first purchase, and since then, she and I have become friends.  This is a sliver of a showcase of her work and studio.  She creates watercolor paintings of quilts.  All done by brush and an incredibly steady hand – no pens involved and no straight edges. 
Her preferred paint is from Daniel Smith, where she mixes the fine pigment granules with water.  The detail is simply amazing, and her palette is beautiful. What is most interesting – she is not a quilter and never has been.  Her appreciation of fiber art and detail is her inspiration.  Her larger works will stop you in your tracks.  
I always enjoy seeing an artist’s working studio.  Molly has a beautiful room with skylights,  facing a private courtyard with tons of natural light and native plantings – outside the eight box turtles have nestled in for their winters’ nap.  It is really a spectacular setting for creativity and calm and inspiration.


Come back often…
Bonnie

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I welcome you as a Follower – a gmail account is needed to become one.
The Welcome Post, January 7, 2011, shows a road map of what will be included in future  posts by way of The Arty Adventure Highway.


Thursday, January 13, 2011

French Bull

I Am A Mid Century Design
This collection speaks to the 50’s/60’s design culture that I grew up in - the colors and swirls and graphic focus that was so much a part of that time. 
The paper is from French Bull by Jackie Shapiro.  I found this pattern of gift wrap and ordered many rolls to paper the inside of drawers and cupboards.  I have never tired of it, and it gives me a lift every time I see it.  This pattern is called barcelona.  After placing it, I took IKEA’s roll of clear plastic dimpled mat, Rationell,  to be a protector on top of the paper.  Easy to clean and you can see the design perfectly.
Then to my happy surprise I began seeing a companion pattern on notebooks and binders called delight, along with other prints and patterns that French Bull designs.  It lead me to the website, and to the blog, and I am a devoted follower now.
In addition to stationery and paper products, the main collection holds tabletop – in particular melamine dinnerware and housewares, handbags, linens, kids, and gift. 
Brentwood General Store and Ron Robinson/Fred Segal are two retailers in LA that carry French Bull.
Come back often…
Bonnie
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I welcome you as a Follower – a gmail account is needed to become one.
The Welcome Post, January 7, 2011, shows a road map of what will be included in future  posts by way of The Arty Adventure Highway.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The Shady Dell & Modern Optic

This is a Road Trip
I am hoping on my next landmark birthday – when you jump a decade and your new age ends in a zero – to gather up a group of my family and friends and caravan across the state border into Bisbee, AZ.  That is where The Shady Dell Airstream Motel is.  And all of the “rooms” are actually separate, vintage, aluminum travel trailers.  With their own little front yards and metal motel chairs.  They seem like the most perfect backdrop for a road trip with friends and kin.
The interiors are authentic with blonde wood or aluminum details. The radios play music from the 50’s with lots of the Rat Pack.  Dot’s Diner (a landmark in LA and then moved to Shady Dell after it closed in 1999) is the hub for visitors to enjoy fine diner-dining. You get a real percolator (remember how the little glass button on top would bubble with perking coffee? I can still remember the song that kept rhythm to the bubbling for Maxwell House Coffee’s TV jingle) in your kitsch-y kitchen. I have only read about it, but from other’s reviews – it does not disappoint in any way.
The Shady Dell
1 Douglas Road  Bisbee, AZ
This is A Little Find
On the topic of Airstreams… this artist, Leslie Ross-Robertson, has been on my favorites list for a very long time.  I discovered her work in LA at Hennessey + Ingall book store – a store specializing in architecture and design. Her company is called Modern Optic.  When I am near H + I, I make a point of getting a new stash of her greeting cards.  I send them often, people love them, and I have a personal collection that I keep and enjoy.  They are absolutely frame-able.   This image is called Mobile Highlife #164.
I hope to do some more Airstream research for Vacancy at the Design Motel.  It is an iconic design with fun written all over it. I have actually looked into getting a Bambi Teardrop and converting it to an office on the side of my front yard.  I would never want to leave.
Come back often…
Bonnie
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I welcome you as a Follower – a gmail account is needed to become one.
 The Welcome Post, January 7, 2011, shows a road map of what will be included in future  posts by way of The Arty Adventure Highway.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Nova Color Paint

This is A Little Find.

I have gone to this factory warehouse for many years, and each and every time I am as excited to go as the last time.  It is in Los Angeles – the Culver City area, not far from Santa Monica.  You drive to the address which feels like an alley instead of a real street.  You park, and you knock on the door.  You are welcomed in, and then it happens.  You are looking at what looks like a grocery store in the canned goods aisle – only instead of peas and beets, you are looking at this feast of gorgeous color.  Row upon row, top to bottom.  I like to just stand there and have a moment.  Drinking in all this wonderfulness.  I believe these to be some of the best pigments around.  The palette is fabulous. The prices are discounted.  And the containers hold ample amounts in their own little lidded cups.  They also have artist tools – brushes, Gesso, glazes, emulsions.  I believe you can call them and they will send you a hand made (like a glop of finger paint on a poster) sampler to see the real colors.  You could order on line, but you would be missing this delicious chance to be surrounded by this stuff. 

Nova Color Paint
5894 Blackwelder Street, Culver City

Come back often...
Bonnie

Friday, January 7, 2011

Cota Street Studios and El Andaluz

This is a Grab Your Keys field trip.

While in Santa Barbara, I took a field trip to Cota Street Studios and El Andaluz, both designed by architect, Jeff Shelton.
To see these housing communities in person makes you feel like you have walked straight into a real life Dr. Seuss book.

A wonderful enclave of meandering stairs and wonky hand rails, and wide, round entry doors, and turrets and windows that look like it would be impossible to have a crummy day while living there.

I am a big believer that our dwelling place can offer up fun and happiness if we create an environment that bouys us up. A real head start with this kind of architecture! Wonderful. Wonderful.

Cota Street Studios 225 E. Cota Street, Santa Barbara
El Andaluz 231 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara

Come back often...Bonnie

Welcome to the Design Motel

Greetings and Welcome to the first posting of
Vacancy at the Design Motel

THE ARTY ADVENTURE HIGHWAY
Grab Your Keys
(local to southern CA - aka - south of Santa Barbara and north of Mexico)
A Little Find
(arty objects and design)
Road Trip
(outside of southern CA)
I am a Mid Century Design
(growing up in the 50s/60’s design culture)
Rolling Down the Windows and Noticing the Good
(in people and ideas and projects)
These will be our markers along the journey.  I look forward to searching out some special "finds" to share...come back often!
Bonnie