I have a friend named Rob. I don’t see him very often, but when I do it is always a real pleasure.
He is a very upbeat person with a seemingly insatiable curiosity for delight in many of its guises – flavorful cheeses, distinctive food preparations, beverages of all sorts to accompany food, or to drink alone; especially wine. And it doesn’t stop there – he has accumulated many treasures over an extended period of time: paintings, drawings, prints, maps, photographs, furniture, books, objects – and the list goes on.
Rob and his remarkable wife Shelley have had a rich life raising their four daughters in a grand-scaled Queen Anne home (including a carriage house) in an early Boston suburb, while leading rich professional careers.
While the children (and now grandchildren) live on their own, Rob and Shelley’s ‘nest’ is hardly empty.
Rob has an intellectual, historical or aesthetic connection – and is passionate about – nearly every ‘thing’ in his home. He is a cultural adventurer; some time ago we enjoyed an afternoon looking at antique furniture, paintings and decorative arts in a museum, followed by an exhibition of adventuresome new art, we had a lovely meal with a great accompanying beverage, and went to a enormous outlet bookstore.
And what’s particularly refreshing about Rob is that unlike so many men, he speaks of his professional life only when prodded – there is too much still to see, do, experience, taste, share, etc. to converse about work!
Now you’re wondering what Rob has to do with Pinterest?
A chance meeting of like-minds at the NYC Freize Art Fair in 2012 was the moment of inspiration for an idea that resulted in an extraordinary exhibition which opened last week at the RISD Museum – ‘Arlene Shechet : Meissen Recast’.
The director of the RISD Museum and 2 of its curators ran into sculptor Arlene Shechet at the 2012 fair, and Arlene shared that she was currently the Artist-in-Residence at Meissen (the renown German porcelain manufacturer.) Director John W. Smith enthusiastically shared “We have the Monkey Band!”
Although my love affair with New York City started much earlier, I moved to NYC full-time in 1984. The city has changed a lot in those 30 years – some for the better and some, well, not for the better. That is the way of this city: always in motion and always changing.
The stream of double-decked tour buses in New York City indicates the incredible appeal that it has for tourists from around the world. And certainly there are the ‘must see’ sights and destinations so many of these visitors come to see.
I hope that they have life-altering experiences (like I did), spend a lot of money (great for the city revenue) and come back again. I will not however be reporting on the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building or the Magnolia Bakery – that I will leave to others.
Thankfully, there are still very special places, often hiding in plain view, that have not succumbed to the pressures exerted by the powerful real estate forces here. I am going to share some of my favorite places in a series of posts, starting today with two amazing spaces in Soho.
When I was young Christmas was a very magical time!
Even to gullible children, the idea of Santa Claus was kind of freaky, but hey, the guy brought gifts – a lot of gifts! What’s not to like?! And then overlay the birth of the baby Jesus, born to the Virgin Mary (what is a virgin anyway?!), the Three Kings, the shining North Star; all put together it was pretty confusing – but then there were the lights, the decorations, Christmas cookies, time off from school and presents! It was wonderful!
Christmas takes on a very different meaning, and becomes a very different experience as an adult. We have figured out who Santa is, and are likely still confounded by the Virgin Mary.
Then there are obligations, expenses, incredible expectations, and unfulfilled hopes, wishes and desires. Being around children with their unabashed exuberance is one joyful way to re-experience the magic of Christmas, but there is another way; witness the wonder and unbridled fantasy of the season’s Fifth Avenue windows at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. The theme this year?, ‘Holidays On Ice’ – a curiously surreal mash-up of some of the years red-letter-days, as seen though the lens of a winter-wonderland. Fantastic!
Some media forecasters predict that in the ‘future’, while we will still have printed matter, it will increasingly be seen as luxury goods – especially books.
For me, large format picture books have always been a luxury, a luxury that endures time.
I purchased a lot of books in 2013, and since the gift giving season is upon us, I wanted to share the one book that I would recommend as the perfect gift for yourself, or others who enjoy visual culture and armchair travels – Before They Pass Away.
My internal gyroscope was working overtime from start to finish during the Design Leadership Summit in New York City, and for days after!
The DLN met for their 8th annual Summit this year. It was an ambitious and densely filled two day agenda that left the 150+ attendees enriched, inspired, and with their heads spinning!
The Directors of the DLN – Kate Kelly Smith (SVP and Publishing Director Hearst Design Group), John Edelman (CEO – Design Within Reach) and Peter Sallick (CEO Waterworks) looked to highlight some of the powerful forces in the world of design today – technology, art, fashion, branding and marketing, and real estate development. I will some of the highlights here.
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