With joy, Felix Doolittle

Felix Fu, a Hong Kong-born artist now living in Newton, Massachusetts, creates what might be some of the dearest stationary I've ever seen. Each design is a beautifully rendered watercolor, sometimes of a particular ornament, animal or detail, but what speak to me most, and most naturally, are ones that include elements of home.

A collection of bookplate designs include a tabletop with a whisky glass and cigar, a peacock on the terrace of a country house, a comfy chair and nearby cat. Their usefulness, never mind their wide array of images suited to every personality I know, makes them likely candidates for this year's stocking stuffers.











5 lables, 2 3/4 x 4 inches, $10.00
www.felixdoolittle.com

Winds of Change

Slowly its been coming over me... an ever increasing need for ocean, fresh air and trees. Maybe its the middle of a long summer in a gray city. Maybe its the way my office neighbor repeatedly slams her desk drawers shut, rattling our shared wall... and my nerves. Maybe its aging and feeling the need for a quiet, contemplative spot in which to review decisions made over the last ten years; a soft place to sit and make new plans, new lists.











www.paolalenti.it

Mannerism of a Different Sort

Boucher and Chardin: Masters of Modern Manners is a new exhibition developed by the Hunterian in conjunction with The Wallace Collection, London.

Opening at the Hunterian Art Gallery in September 2008, this ground-breaking show focuses on two of the greatest French paintings of the eighteenth century: the iconic ‘Lady Taking Tea’ by Jean-Siméon Chardin (above) and François Boucher’s ‘Woman on a Daybed’.

Chardin’s ‘Lady Taking Tea’ comes from the Hunterian collection and was recently voted one of Scotland’s most popular paintings by readers of The Herald newspaper. On display in Britain for the first time in 70 years, Boucher’s ‘Woman on a Daybed’ is on loan from the renowned Frick collection in New York (below).






Through approximately 30 exhibits which include paintings, drawings, prints and decorative art objects, the background to the two works will be examined from a number of perspectives beyond traditional art history. Both paintings prominently allude to the new interest in eighteenth-century for scenes from everyday life ultimately inspired by the growing taste for Dutch and Flemish cabinet pictures, and to fashions comparatively new to Europe; the drinking of tea and the taste for chinoiserie.


These themes recur in several of Boucher and Chardin’s depictions of women in their private worlds and become the dominant thread weaving through the second part of the exhibition. The inclusion of works by British artists and decorative art objects, some from the Hunterian’s own collection, will provide an opportunity to address underlying social history themes, such as the artists’ attitudes towards the consumption of tea and the contemporary fashion for the Far East in both France and Britain.


Boucher and Chardin: Masters of Modern Manners
12 June until 7 September
The Wallace Collection, London
www.wallacecollection.org

Boucher and Chardin: Masters of Modern Manners
24 September - 13 December 2008
Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow
82 Hillhead Street
Glasgow G12 8QQ
www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk
Open Monday - Saturday, 9.30am - 5.00pm, admission free

Knot Your Average Door Stop

Right in line with my new fascination for all things beachy, a rope doorstop from Plumo, made of knotted fishing rope.

Size H26cm
£29.00


www.plumo.com

Pass the Gerber, Please

A tiny turtle with articulated limbs climbs up and down the twig-like stem of a sterling silver-baby spoon by Tamar Kern, $155



My mother recently gave me my sweet little set of American Colonial-style baby silver.

Her wildly blatant hint aside, I'm absolutely thrilled to have the pieces in my cupboard. But having stumbled upon metalsmith Tamar Kern's designs, I'm inclined to round out the set with a new addition. (Should there be an addition of another sort.)

Kern's beautifully crafted, 5 1/2-inch long spoons come in several styles: the turtle, a butterfly and a snail. Each possess a clever mechanism that allows the little critter to slide up and down the spoon, making each bite of mushed veggies a terrific delight.






Kern's spoons can be ordered through her website, tamarkern.com, or through risdworks.com, her Alma Mater's online store for it's graduates' designs.