Interior Design
La Casa di Villa – Dwelling under the Tent of Heaven
The precise location of heaven on earth has never really been established, but it could very well be a villa designed to cultivate the head heart body and soul
What is a Mirror, more than just Glass?
The mirror, more than just glass, has occupied a unique place in his imagination as a site of the divine or demonic, of lucidity or madness. It is the ‘matrix of the symbolic’ and accompanies the human quest to know and understand our identity.
All That Glistens is Glass – Phoenecia and The Portland Vase
No one really knows when, or where glass was first made but since antiquity, as a material, it has had an important place and impact on many different cultures. It has also been utilized in many different forms. From exotic Egyptian jewellery to a product for vanity at Venice or for toasting exalted beauties and life in eighteenth century England. More lately in our own time in industry its properties and uses in medical science and space research are extending its properties, which only adds to the mystique surrounding it.
Postmodern – Pursuing the Past to Attain the Peak of Chic
Postmodernism (1970-1990) ranged from fashion to folly, from the luxurious to the ludicrous, from theory to theatre as it spawned out of control consumerism. It also grew a corporate design culture, which became encircled by money, wealth and power. Stylistically and realistically it all had to come to an end. Finally it collapsed under the weight of its own success.
Adam in Georgian London, investing in the future of style
18th century Scottish architect Robert Adam was ambitious and planned to perfect his knowledge of architecture on his Grand Tour by examining outstanding monuments from antiquity. He also wanted to refine his social graces so that he would be able to move in the highest possible elevations of society, conversing easily with any member of the aristocracy that had formed and refined their taste in Italy.
Downton Abbey & Castle – Stylish Dramas Capturing our HeArts
Art, the skill and technique involved in producing visual representations… or the creation of beautiful or thought provoking works, is very evident in two very stylish television dramas currently being created on each side of the Atlantic – Downton Abbey in England and Castle in America. Their characters are capturing our heArts.
Antique & Art Dealers Association Show at Sydney in Spring
The Australian Antique & Art Dealers Association (AA&ADA) Show is on at Royal Randwick Racecourse at Sydney from the 7 – 11th September. It is the leading industry body representing antique and art dealers in Australia today. Their Code of Practice is surety that your investment in the past is also an investment in your future.
Pavlovsk – A quest for beauty in a forever disordered world
The Palace of Pavlovsk was built on the hilly banks of the Slavianka within the environs of Tsarskoe Selo. It became well known originally because of the splendour of its neo-classical architecture, incredible interiors, great art collections, and the beauty of its spacious park, which covered around 1500 acres. However it is the story of its destruction and incredible resurrection twice that is at the heart of its fame today.
Civilised: At the Beginnings of Art – Threads of Destiny
Textiles are a transmitter of both wealth and status and a measure for the development of a society from its primitive or early beginnings in ancient societies. By the second half of the fourteenth century weaving textiles and producing needlework had both become a highly important aspect of England and Europe’s societies and economies.
Antiques – Enjoy a Holiday Hunt and Recycle Grandly
Holiday periods and long weekends give everyone opportunities to catch up on jobs left undone, or pleasures denied. A favourite pastime in our family is hunting for that special piece of furniture waiting to be recycled grandly
Romantics and Revolutionaries, Red the colour of Passion
The era of romantics and revolutionaries is also about the continuing themes from ancient Greece and Rome for that of liberty, religion and justice. It must have been wonderful to be there when, on June 19th 1764 the remarkable child prodigy from Austria 8 year old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart gave a concert in London playing his own compositions on the harpsichord and organ.
The Power of Art and Design in the Modern Age at Vienna
In 1898 The Vienna Secession with youthful idealism, spirit of sacrifice and willingness to work hard siezed the day leading Vienna into the age of modernism
English Country Style – Understated Georgian Grace
After World War II English Interior Designer John Fowler extracted the very essence of elegance out of eighteenth century interior style, added nineteenth century concepts of comfort, convenience and associations with home, hearth and family, to create an all new ‘eclectic’ English Country Style. It found favour the world over because of its comfortable connotations and understated Georgian grace.
WHAT IS: Art Deco
Art Deco was the perfect expression of the salons at Paris during the 20’s to the 30’s. It embraced every area of design and the decorative arts including architecture, interiors, furniture, jewellery, painting and graphics, bookbinding, costume, glass and ceramics. Art Deco was about integrating contemporary living with art, and turning life into art, against those consciously working for the undoing of art and its purpose was enjoyment.
Colour Considerations – Tradition, Legend, Myth and Magic
All cultures on earth have particular perceptions of and about colour, which in its evolution has come to symbolize many things collectively and individually. It also has many variants so we could say it is neither black or white and has many shades of grey in between. In that respect one could say colour is a metaphor for life.
The Block, a Renovating Nightmare or, a Restoration Delight
Do the protagonists on television’s real estate renovating reality show, The Block at Melbourne in 2011 face a renovating nightmare, or a restoration delight?
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