Pantone has just announced their projected “color of the year for 2012.”
Tangerine Tango. Hmmmm– seems a little 2011 or maybe even 2010.
http://www.pantone.com

My fashionista friend Sherri reports the Turquoise will be most popular this spring and summer.

Anthropologie http://www.anthropologie.com


Heath Ceramics heathceramics.com

Roger Vivier rogervivier.com

Heath Ceramics heathceramics.com

Scalamandre Fabrics scalamandre.com

Me? I’m forecasting a sunny lemon Yellow!

C Wonder cwonder.com

Raoul Textiles http://www.raoultextiles.com

Fendi at Neiman Marcus http://www.fendi.com/
neimanmarcus.com

Raoul Textiles raoultextiles.com

Anthropologie http://www.anthropologie.com

What color are you leaning towards? Send your thoughts my way!

Sorry for my absence Dear Readers. I seemed to have gotten side tracked somewhere, but have no clear explanation– day to day life I guess (insert yawn here).

Being a designer and artist– I’m always looking for new and creative ways to bring unique art and a “freshness” to the area. Enter Adam Frank’s projected lighting products.

“Reveal is a new type of ambient interior lighting.
This product creates the impression of sunlight streaming through a window and onto an interior wall.
A light breeze appears to move through trees in the cast image. The first edition, limited at 1000, are available now.
$380.00 USD plus shipping and handling. Please allow two weeks for delivery due to high demand.”

Select from window images and then from the tree type sillouetts???– I like the Palm fronds just about now, but that’s just my current frame of mind.

“Where as the Lumen is a series of acid-etched, stainless steel, oil lamp shadow projectors.
Each Lumen is sold on adamfrank.com for $48.00 plus shipping and handling.
Please allow up to 8 days for delivery due to high demand.”

Both luminaries are available on his website adamfrank.com or at the Museum of Modern Art / MoMA store: http://www.momastore.org

See more of Adam Frank’s installations on his website as well.

Here’s something worth buzzing about!
Praise the gawds– Raoul Textiles has opened a shop!
http://www.raoultextiles.com/

It is one of my all time favorite fabric lines. I’ve used it for years for many many clients– their bright, fresh, clean aesthetic is always appealing. I love the handprinted Belgian linens as draperies or the woven chenilles, velvets, tweeds and herringbones on upholstery.
Or just wonderful throw pillows.

“Part workshop, part showroom, the Raoul store is an elegant and evolving presentation of our aesthetic. In addition to our handprinted textiles, the store features a thoughtfully curated selection of English bespoke furniture, historic lighting, African art and locally sourced accessories for garden and home.”

I’ve got to plan a visit as I’ve been California dreaming a lot lately and everyone-in-the-know knows how Miss Lola is missing the beach this winter…..heading West?

Raoul Textiles
136 State Street
Santa Barbara, CA
+1(805) 800.4947
raoultextiles.com

Love is in the air.
Really?
Yes– I’m in love with Ippolita jewelry. And being stuck in NoHu for a couple of months this mild winter I have actually found it at our local Nordstroms.
http://www.ippolita.com

It’s wonderfully witty, unique and every handmade piece is one of a kind and I find myself almost obsessing over which piece to select.

Lollipop Collection

Read more about this Florence born creative brunette (see my past post as well): http://www.ippolita.com/timeline

Starry Night Collection

And you-in-the-know know how I love to stack my bracelets….hmmmm isn’t Valentines Day just around the corner? Hint hint –….and isn’t that Peridot– my birthstone? Wink wink.

Desert Sky Collection

Rock Candy Collection
Shout out to good-friend-&-fashionista-Sherri– she reports that turquoise is the hot new color trend for spring / summer!

See full collection of earrings, bracelets, necklaces and rings: http://www.ippolita.com

Another ho hum Monday here in NoHu. But I’m keeping busy by focusing on happy things– like what sunny shade of yellow to paint my Master Bedroom and how I love love love throw pillows and cannot seem to have enough of them.

Madeline Weinrib (see previous posts) has these varying vintage Suzani and Ottoman embroidered pillows.
http://madelineweinrib.com/

Please make note of the different shapes and sizes– all are limited edition and one of a kind.

Throw pillows are easy– but the right shade of yellow can range from too wheat-like to too lemon and gawd awful too weak and light– too Post It Note……I could go on and on…..I’ll update you soon.

In the meantime– please see Valspar Paint’s fun website and do feel free to play around with color today.

http://www.valsparpaint.com/en/explore-colors/color-selector/index.html

Today is Go Red For Women day to generate heart disease awareness. Heart disease is the number one killer of all women. One in four women will die of heart disease. A staggering statistic per the American Heart Association.
http://goredforwomen.org/wearredday/

Whitney Chen’s Clam Chowder
http://www.gilttaste.com/stories/4296-the-chowderbowl-making-new-england-or-manhattan-clam-chowder

My thanks to Heather Clawson for many of her great photos.
Habituallychic.com

Enough about winter dinner dishes.
Let’s move on to the much anticipated spring and all the yummy vibrant colors it bringing this year.

Could the 2012 spring looks possibly be more fresh and inviting?

Nanette Lepore

Watch the 2012 spring runway show: http://www.neimanmarcus.com/category.jsp?masterId=cat000059&itemId=cat41710756&parentId=cat1740734


J. Crew

http://www.jcrew.com/womens_category/shoes.jsp?iNextCategory=1


J. Crew

Roger Vivier

PLEASE check out this iconic French designer’s website– so fun to navigate:
http://www.rogervivier.com/en/#/index

J. Crew

And of course with all this color– you cannot go wrong with black and white combo snakeskin basic ballet flats. Lovely!

Just a quick follow up to the Lentil de Puy recipe that I previously posted.
I made it and did not care for it. I would make it again but tweak it a bit.

I’d forget the pork and add roasted chicken or fish– or serve without a protein content.
I’d add raw or sauteed shredded carrots to give it some color and crunch and / or maybe baby portabella mushrooms to add to the earthiness.

I will try it again and report back.

Photo: David Lebovitz

But in the meantime I stumbled upon a great simple recipe by David Lebovitz.
Mr. Lebovitz who now resides in Paris, is a former award winning chef — fairing from iconic Chez Panisse, as well as a noted author.
So when he speaks of Lentils de Puy– one must sit up and take notice. Oui?

Here’s his take on the classic French salad:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2006/11/cheap-caviar-1/

Try his recipe or one of his useful variations and let me know how it turns out.
Cheers!

I was reading about whole grains, legumes and more importantly– lentils this week. One recipe really stood out– a warm French Lentil and Smoked Pork Belly Salad.

Savory, creamy and healthy goodness or as David Tanis titled his article in the New York Times:
“A Lentil, That Object of Desire” –and then goes on to write:

“if you really want heightened pleasure, serve your lentil salad warm, with a garlicky mustard vinaigrette, adding thick slices of cured pork belly or smoked bacon, boiled fingerling potatoes and lots of chopped scallions and parsley. It makes a magnificent meal.”

Lentils de Puy to be exactement.

Perfect for a light Monday night dinner — even when it’s snowing multiple inches out here in NoHu today and an earthy risotto or robust chili would be more de rigueur.

To read the whole article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/dining/a-lentil-that-object-of-desire-city-kitchen.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=a%20lentil,%20that%20object%20of%20desire&st=cse

And here’s the complete recipe: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/dining/warm-lentil-and-smoked-pork-belly-salad-recipe.html?ref=dining

“Art Star” Damian Hirst’s Spot Series takes me back to the 70′s board game Twister to the 80′s art school Color Theory 101 class, so it was interesting to hear his vision via this interview / short film by Matt Black from NOWNESS: http://www.nowness.com/day/2012/1/18?ecid=ema1629&CID=

I was also just reading in the NY Times that presently the Gagosian Galleries worldwide are hosting The Complete Spot Painting 1986-2011 series.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/arts/design/damien-hirsts-spot-paintings-at-gagosian-in-eight-cities.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=gagosian%20gallery&st=cse

Definitely check out the fantastic Gagosian website:
http://www.gagosian.com/

This series which consists of 331 canvas has taken the artist 24 years to complete. Although the more I researched this, I found rumblings that he actually grew bored of the works years ago resulting in the remainder to be created and finished by his assistants.

Thoughts?

“A rhinestone-wearing Damien Hirst explains the theory and thought behind his infamous spot paintings in the latest short from filmmaker Matt Black. The legendary British artist, made famous by submerging mammals in formaldehyde and creating jaw-droppingly expensive jewel-encrusted skulls, has become one of the most prolific and lucrative names in contemporary art. The Complete Spot Paintings, 1986-2011, his series of 331 white canvasses imbued with rows of multicolored dots, are currently on display at all 11 of mega-gallerist Larry Gagosian’s sites around the globe. Manufactured largely by Hirst’s army of assistants, the paintings range in size and detail, with the most recent, completed in 2011, containing some 25,781 spots each 1mm in diameter; no single color is ever repeated on a canvas. Black first encountered Hirst’s hyper-symmetrical series in the mid 1990s, and found that his opinion on the works slowly developed from ambivalence to fascination. “When you are in a room full of them, they are overwhelming and disturbing; these dots staring at you creates a real sense of anxiety,” says Black. “His work always has an aggressiveness, and these are no exception.”
NOWNESS.com