FEATHER YOUR NEST

Feathers can add an interesting textural element to your decor. A feather chandelier can be the statement conversation piece in your dining room, or for the less daring, a bouquet of peacock feathers in a metallic vase can add glamour to your tabletop. Peacock feathers are beautiful when paired with rich emeralds, deep teals and velvety blacks. Crisp white feathers are ethereal and can give a room a light, floaty feel.

A collection of feathers in glass bubbles becomes an interesting art installation.

Dror: Peacock chair for Capellini

Dror: Peacock chair for Capellini

Acid green ostrich feather pillow.

Fiela Feather Arc Light by Haldane Martin.

Fiela Feather Arc Light by Haldane Martin.

Fiela Feather Chandelier by Haldane Martin.

Visual confusion: this table seems very contradictory. Henny Penny breakfast tray by Deger Cengiz.

Schumacher's new collection of feather wallcoverings: Nest Wallcoverings, are crafted entirely by hand from natural feathers. A feathered wall will create a highly luxurious and opulent backdrop for your furnishings. Above: Cascadia.

London-based artist Kate MccGwire creates unconventional art pieces from molted feathers of pigeons. Her work demands an immediate response, perhaps often a combination of repulsion and awe. "She is intrigued by the possibility of envisaging beauty as something more complex than merely what delights the senses: beauty can be about a problem; it can be something that repels you or makes you question the status quo."

http://www.katemccgwire.com/

Urge, 2009.

Sluice, 2009.

Heave, 2008.

Rebecca Horn, Large Feather Wheel, 1997.

Rebecca Horn, Cockatoo Mask, 1973. Tate Collection.

FALLING GARDEN

This magical art installation, titled Falling Garden was created for the 50th Venice Biennial in 2003. Housed in the Church of San Stae on the Grand Canal, it was conceived and executed by Swiss artists Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger.  

Steiner and Lenzlinger create site-specific fantasias and interactive wonderlands which are an adaptation of nature.  The interplay of the natural with the synthetic creates an interesting allegory. The fusion of discarded objects, plant materials and plastics take on a magical and playful character when combined in what could be described as an interactive web. Almost like a living organism, modern-day objects (such as nylon blossoms from the dollar store) come alive, resembling living, breathing organisms! Housed in a church, we think the juxtaposition of modern-day consumer waste and tradition, religion and ritual is beautiful; a marriage of old and new that is accessible.

Falling Garden consists of these components: Plastic berries (India), cow pads (Jura), waste paper (Venice), baobab seeds (Australia), beech, elder and magnolia branches (Uster), thorns (Almeria), nylon blossoms (one-dollar-shop), pigs’ teeth (Indonesia), seaweed (Seoul), orange peel (Migros shop), fertilizer crystals (home grown), pigeons’ bones (San Staë), silk buds (Stockholm), cattail (Ettiswil), cats’ tails (China), celery roots (Montreal), virility rind (Caribbean), wild bore quills (zoo), banana leaves (Murten) and rubber snakes (Cincinnati).

The following is a description of the work by the artists themselves (http://www.steinerlenzlinger.ch/index.html):

"The Doge (Mocenigo) needed a church so as to be able to have a monumental tomb built for himself, the church (San Staë) needed a saint so as to be able to be built, the saint (San Eustachio) needed a miracle so as to be pronounced a saint, the miracle needed a stag in order to be seen, and we built the garden for the reindeer. The visitors lie on the bed above the doge’s gravestone, and the garden thinks for them." 

THE AROMA OF SUMMER

Summer is the season of color when everything comes to life. We think of balmy evenings on ocean-front terraces, sun kissed skin, fruity cocktails, getaways to exotic locations and of course the vibrant hues and fragrant perfume of flowers in full bloom.
Color is a very important factor in our environments, affecting our mood, general well-being and daily life. Color can energize, calm, agitate or stimulate our senses. There is great diversity in the use of colors and their associations between cultures and even within the same culture in different time periods. For example, in Western culture the color red signifies danger,excitement, love and passion, while in India it symbolizes purity and in South Africa it is the color of mourning. 


Color evokes an emotional response and creates a mood and energy in a room. We have selected brilliant interiors and inspirations that are sure to enliven and energize: Summer has a sweet aroma of candy apple greens, lemon yellows, cotton candy pinks, lavender violets and tangerine oranges!

A home library with books sorted by color gives the room order in a surprising way.

Roche Bobois Mah Jong sectional.

Roche Bobois Mah Jong sectional.

Andy Warhol

Frida Kahlo's style and work: rich in vibrant color.

Frida Kahlo's Viva La Vida.

Tricia Guild

Marc Chagall

Manuel Canovas Collection.

Manuel Canovas Misia.

Scalamandre's Zanzibar Gold.

Stray Dog Designs Artichoke Lamps

Kelly Wearstler

Designer's Guild.

The Festival of Colors in India, a welcoming of Spring and a celebration of the triumph of good over evil. The main day, Holi, also known as Dhuli Vandana in Sanskrit, is celebrated by people throwing colored powder and colored water at each other. 

Tricia Guild is known for her use of bold, intense color.

http://www.amazon.com/Tricia-Guild-Pattern-Sophisticated-Show-stopping/dp/0847828921/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278856542&sr=1-1