World Cup Love - Vive l'Allemagne!

Yes, it has been a long time in the waiting, but Germany is due it's space in World Cup Love. Not only must I honor my strong German lineage (much love to Grandma Hazel Zoerner Baughman's sauerkraut and springerle anise cookies), but also my father's exceptional design taste in filling our house as children with wonderful functional, child-friendly architectural pieces, i.e., furniture.

These cantilevered chrome chairs by storied German architect and designer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe were first exhibited in 1927. They have been in our family since before I was born, and are now proudly sitting tall in my house. There was a playfulness to the bounce that the cantilever creates, and the woven cane made them alive to me as a child. Now, in profile, there is a certain perfection to the arc of their design. So simple, so fluid, a wonderful blend of the hard and soft, cool and warm. Vive l'Allemagne!!

The Wheel of Light

Obsessed...with...this chandelier! Ingenuity. Curiosity. Invention. Reinvention. The force behind these concepts drives (literally) our industries, technology and even our thirst for a new self. Take this beautiful, austere and exquisitely restrained wooden wheel, err, gear part, light, chandelier!?! The crafty and creative folks at Battersea Antiques in San Francisco have reclaimed and restored the function and posterity of this beautiful new marriage of the old--an antique wooden machine cog/gear part/wheel and electricity. Genius! Someone call Mensa. A clear glass lightbulb offers clarity on its simplicity. See the French Cast Zinc Horse Head below for my love affair with wood. And expect to see more amazing found objects and decorative arts from Battersea Antiques. I'm becoming a fanatic for their wares. http://battersea.1stdibs.com/

Zinc. Equine. Wood.

French cast zinc horse head mounted on old board.

Elemental style. What is it? How do you see it? Where is it found?

Zinc is a metallic chemical element, often used by alchemists. It is an essential mineral for plant, animal and human life and reproduction. The equine was thought to have been domesticated about 4,000 years BC. It has been an essential tool in the creation of cities, farming and warfare. Cast horse heads were often used as architectural ornaments. Wood...well, wood is perhaps one of our most natural best friends. It is the oldest building material in the world, aside from earth itself. It is beautiful, rustic or refined, veined and varied, weathers, maleable, and when living, feeds us and respires with us. It warms us, houses us, supports us, floats us, carries us to our next spiritual destination. I love wood. It is like a wonderful old grandfather.

This beautiful ditty of a pony is courtesy of Wilson Antiques, wilsonantiques.1stdibs.com