My Halloween is on TV

Remember this post from way back when in August?   I had found an old shipping crate cage.  Well this is the project it got used for.  It airs today (sorry for the late notice) on HGTV.  I was called in as the "Ghost" designer for one of the on air designers.  It was a lot of work but a lot of fun.  And I got an interesting look at the inner workings of "reality" television (more to come on that topic at a later date)

Enjoy your halloween.

Bet you wish you had an amazing rat cake to help celebrate the holiday like the one my friend Karen, from Katana cakes, made for the show. (It's chocolate!)

4 on Friday: Cat Mobiles

Because it's nearly Halloween.  And because I like cats!

1. Flensted Kitty Mobile 

2. Coy Kitty Mobile 

3. Another Flensted Mobile

4. Here Kitty Kitty Mobile

High Design or Frivolity?

          It has recently occurred to this Recent Paterfamilias that, after last week’s column (see: tirade), it might possibly be construed by some wretched breeders of twisted slanders that the R.P. suffers from an inability to appreciate the design aspects inherent in a pair of red-soled ladies’ shoes and $4,000 kids fur coat. This is not the way the Recent Paterfamilias wishes to be viewed. And it is patently untrue.

         The Recent Paterfamilias appreciates design (and at almost any price, too, he might add). A good-looking chaise lounge by someone with the ostensibly ridiculous name of Le Corbursier for lots of money? Sure. An expensive elephant-shaped metal kid’s seat by some person (or persons) going by the name of Eames? Sure. A molded plywood chair by this same person (or persons) called Eames? Sure. (I like the cowhide-covered one nearly enough to get it as a tattoo, if such a tattoo wasn’t a tremendous cliché amongst design devotees). Egg-shaped sitting pods made by Dutchmen? Strangely shaped homes designed by Americans and Japanese? Patterned fabrics by firms in Finland? The Recent Paterfamilias can appreciate all these things (or pieces, or objects, or designs, or whatever you wish to call them).

An arc floor lamp for $2,500? Absolutely. It’s great. It’s design. A fabric lighting pendant for three grand? Absolutely. It’s great. It’s design. A German-manufactured internal combustion engine-propelled personal transportation driving device? Absolutely. It’s great. It’s design. (Or is that engineering?)

But still, a child’s coat crafted out of bunny skin or Bambi’s hair for four grand seems a little bit steep.

Maybe it’s just the stuff for kids. The Eames elephant chair for kids is great (and expensive), but it can also serve a second purpose: a fixture in a sculpture garden after its stint in the nursery. That’s something, I suppose.

Does the R.P. think that a pig-shaped piggy bank in a tacky metallic pink is worth three figures? No. Does he think a simplistic black bird by those mysterious Eames people is worth an equivalent amount? Yes.

And why is this?

Honestly?

Well…honestly, the Recent Paterfamilias can’t say.

As a Master of Opinion, the coin of the so-called realm is just that, opinion, and the opinion of the Recent Paterfamilias is presently stating these following things are, if not self-evident, at least “true”: red-soled ladies’ shoes = good; red-soled ladies’ shoes encrusted in ersatz crystals with an inflated price tag = bad; a molded plywood chair = good; a handmade molded particle board P.O.S. = bad; an Eames elephant = good; a real elephant = better.

And the R.P.’s newest opinion is consequently thus: this R.P. column = opinionated; this R.P. column = finished.

Skårt Spotting in a Lowe's Commercial

Have you seen the newest Lowe's commercial directed by Dave Meyers?  It is super fun and quirky with amazingly fun transitions from scene to scene. But you know what really makes it outstanding? They rented some Skårt pieces to use as background set dressing.  See if you can spot it:

Yes, if you blink you miss it and it's not even hung on the wall, plus it's actually UPSIDE DOWN!!!  But I found it and now you see it too -- right?    And although I wish I could have done the production design for the whole ad, I'm still honored that there is a hint of my design included in such a fun commercial. 

Making Color Samples

3 robots - 5 colors - 4 ways

all combinations and more available on Etsy

Skårt at Mindfulnest in Santa Monica

You can now find a small selection of Skårt pieces for sale at the adorable store/gallery on Main Street in Santa Monica.  And if you live in the LA area, the store is having a one year anniversary party this Saturday.  Come by, meet the artist and have some snacks.  3- 7pm.