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It’s not borrowed. It’s multicolored, and it’s sometimes blue.

Not talking about “June weddings.” In this case, it’s the ICFF show (International Contemporary Furniture Fair). A great place to see international contemporary culture expressed in design. Sometimes reflective of something old, and in many cases something new, and always interesting.

In any case, I always find this show enjoyable on many levels. Seeing many of the latest new products, color trends and design trends from international designers, and talking with some of them in person, is an experience I find fun and inspiring.

Hand blown glass fixtures - glowing frosty finish

So, to share just a few of the items that piqued my interest for a number of reasons…
I enjoyed a brief conversation with Jamie Harris, the artist who created these beautiful hand blown glass light fixtures

Hand blown glass fixtures - metallic shimmer

Sheer color in gorgeous hand blown lighting

Still on the subject of light, check out these amazing solid acrylic tubes. Colors infuse the entire material throughout, and the colors change as you move around the piece according to viewing angles. Even the edges are luminously multicolored

Walk around and see how the color changes. View 1 of 4

.

View 4

Imagine the setting for these beautifully sculptural light fixtures.

Moving along to see some furniture, something I always enjoy.

Fantasy cabinets - one of a few from Boca Do Lobo

The upper section, and the surface shown below, is beaded by indigenous Huichol people in Mexico. From Espacio Sami Hayek. How do you like the wood?

Note: the picture on their web site is Not of their ICFF booth…at least not the one I saw there.

Closeup of the artistic detail on this credenza by the same company, Espacio Sami Hayek.

Closeup of a metal wall of a display "booth"

Something Blue! So very beautiful, and "Wabi-Sabi." Amazing textiles from Kyoto Rakushian

I could not resist sharing a closer view.

And last, but not least, for now…

Just so we don't get too serious..simple, funky, and having a sense of humor.

So much to see and enjoy in one day, these are just a few of my favorites.

Do you have a favorite? If so, which piece–and where would you use it?

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We’re always so busy in our daily lives — both personally and professionally–that we don’t often pause to really think about what was happening in the very, very early times of human development and how it might relate to us today.

I remember when, as a child, one of my favorite subjects was “cave men” and how they lived. Those early cultures held a mysterious fascination for me. OK, so I’m actually a frustrated archaeologist!

The paintings of Charles R. Knight, (1874-1953), influenced our impressions of the prehistoric world.

When the recent New York Times article on the amazing discovery of a  “100,000-year old paint workshop” came to my attention, I not only enjoyed reading it but was compelled to emerge from a sort of “Blog-out” of being absent from posting for quite a while.

This is what it made me think about, to start with:

• Symbolic use of color in many cultures
• Who made the color decisions “way back then?”
• What was the “psychology” of those early people and how did the arrive at their discoveries and uses of color?
• How did they continue, over time, to make new pigment discoveries and record them?
• How were the colors communicated from one group to another, and
• Did they have what we call “personal preferences?”

I’m sure the answers to these questions are elementary to the people who make this study their life’s work.

But this discovery feels like a jolt to the modern world of design, fashion, color trends, and modern paint techniques. If we are open to it, we’ll appreciate new dimensions in our current way of thinking about color, pigment, and paint mixing. Organic color sources of many types are at the foundation of  modern paint colors that we use most often in our own home decorating.

Another way of looking at it is as another example of the connection between art and science and, in this case, history—literally!

Image from the New York Times article.

Image source: New York Times
Grethe Moell Pedersen

But what do you think?
And, what do you know, for a “fact”?

If you do read the article, be sure to go to the readers’ comments there, which are fascinating and informative as well!

I”ll certainly be interested your thoughts, too.

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How to relate? In this case, it’s about Antiques, Color, Contemporary Life…connecting the colorful dots!

Do you love antiques? Even if you are partial to Contemporary design, you have to check out this web site that is an excellent resource for all types of antiques, from lighting to furniture to architectural elements.

They have a unique—and fun—feature on the DesignerDiggs.com site: you can select a color from a rainbow band of color options and you’ll be able to see how any of those colors will look when used with the antique piece you’re looking at on their site.

How did I find out about this? Even though I’m a designer of contemporary rugs, they asked me to write a section about using antique textiles in a contemporary environment. As a color consultant, I wanted to make the connection using color as the bridge and a trip to San Francisco provided the backdrop.

Together we selected a group of four pieces, to start with: two antique rugs, and two other antique textiles.

Antique Ningxia Runner from DesignerDiggs.com

I really enjoyed creating color palettes especially for these fine antique pieces, all from two noteworthy showrooms in San Francisco. I was fortunate to be able to personally visit the Sandra Whitman Gallery and Kathleen Taylor: The Lotus Collection during a recent trip to the Bay Area. It was a great opportunity to see some of these fine antiques in a real-life setting, and the showroom owners were so generous in sharing photos and information about their collections of exquisite textiles.

When you visit DesignerDiggs.com, you’ll also see posts by other designers featured on the web site.  The palettes I created for this project are all referring to Ellen Kennon Full-Spectrum Paints but you can use any brand, including my own line “EcoHues” which is made through Ellen Kennon but which I had not yet created when I wrote the palette article for Designer Diggs.

Check out DesignerDiggs.com to read all the articles and enjoy discovering some new color combinations. And of course, using “antiques” is just another very beautiful way to implement Green design!

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