For creative people, inspiration can be found almost anywhere.
At the Rhode Island School of Design all students are required to look at nature, not just a passing glance but to REALLY LOOK, to understand what is at work on a structural level. This is encouraged in a magical place now called the Edna Lawrence Nature Lab. Edna Lawrence founded the Nature lab in 1937, and it has served as inspiration for many, many generations of art and design students at RISD.
In discussions I had with fellow RISD alumnus and lighting designer Lindsey Adelman while mocking-up an enormous custom chandelier in a Greenwich Village home project, her profound connection to the innate understanding of structure, learned in the Nature Lab, became very clear to me.
Lindsey’s lighting designs are a wonderful combination of fine engineering and hand-craftsmanship, culminating in fixtures that have the essential structural characteristics found in nature.
This week I learned that my good friend and colleague Carl Dellatore’s eagerly anticipated book, Interior Design Master Class, is officially finished and off to the printer. I’m both grateful and excited to have been part of Carl’s project from its inception, and to be included in the incredibly talented roster of designers who have contributed to the book.
In my capacity as the President elect of the ASID New York Metro Chapter, I have been working with the New York School of Interior Design on an event to celebrate the book. If you’d like to be kept abreast of the event – and of other events being scheduled around the country – you can join the book’s mailing list by following this link.
And the book is available for pre-order if you’d like to be one of the first to receive a copy.
(cover photography credits clockwise from upper left: James Merrell, Nelson Hancock, Christian Garibaldi, Pieter Estersohn, Eric Piasecki, Steve Freihon)
As some in the design community already know, I’ve been the President elect of the New York Metro Chapter of ASID since October of last year. I’ll become the President later this year in October.
But in the interest of raising the bar on activities within the organization I’ve been working with New York School of Interior Design (NYSID)President, David Sprouls, and his fantastic staff on a lecture series presented at the school. The latest event was held last Wednesday evening, and was titled ‘Creative Collaborations: Designing Signature Product Lines’.
The panel included 3 accomplished interior designers — Barry Goralnick, Alexa Hampton, and Laura Kirar — all of whom have been developing products for a variety of home ‘furnishing categories’ and a variety of manufacturers for years. Also on the panel was Kate Verner who is a creative strategist, brand manager and business expert in the luxury home industry.
I had the great pleasure of moderating the event. It was very fun and, at some moments, quite funny — and was very well attended both by students of the school as well as many members of the design community.
NYSID videotaped the event, so if you weren’t able to attend I’ve added the entire clip here for your consideration.
Hugo Crosthwaite, Mexico “Fire Cart” 2012 Pierogi, Brooklyn
Each year I allocate at least one entire day to immerse myself in the wonders at The Armory Show and VOLTA art fairs where historically I am looking for works for my clients – or myself – however, this year the experience was purely for pleasure.
I took photos of dozens of works that caught my eye for a variety of reasons. Reviewing the images I saw different ways to bring some order to the rich chaos; this post focuses on works that are Black & White both representation and abstract… (more…)
The Modern Pier at The Armory Show last week provided the opportunity to once again to see and experience a number of his paintings, many outstanding prints and his wonderfully abstract drawings at the Galleria d’Arte Maggiore booth.
And at another booth were some spectacular photographs of Morandi’s objects that gave insight his work.
In his lifetime Giorgio Morandi (1890–1964) created over 1,300 paintings, 133 etchings and countless drawings – the majority of which were still lifes using the same collection of objects in the same setting. His work is known and coveted for its meditative simplicity, masterly execution and quietude…
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Hugo Crosthwaite, Mexico “Fire Cart” 2012 Pierogi, Brooklyn
