Eye on Fornasetti

The very popular graphics of Italian artist, Piero Fornasetti, is now appearing on ceramic tiles produced by Hastings Tile & Bath.  Despite his death in 1988, Fornasetti's tongue-in-cheek designs remain highly sought after.

Fornasetti illustrated designs for tableware, scarves, ties, and furniture.  His favorite muse was a nineteenth century opera singer, Lina Cavalieri.  Her face and parts of her face appear on many of his designs. Other common motifs were the sun, moon, and classical architectural details.

Hastings Tile & Bath reproduced some of his designs - included are the "Eye" and "Lips" of the opera soprano.  For more information, go to Hastings web site.

Fornasetti from Hastings Tile

Summer in San Francisco

This summer the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design is hosting a transformational exhibit, in which four California artists will be creating installations that are "intended as encompassing experiences." It's a large-scale exhibit and, the museum promises, will bring a visual transformation to the museum.

You can see the artists at work creating their installations through June 8, and then the exhibit will remain up until September 18.

For more, visit http://www.sfmcd.org/exhibt_current.htm

Parrot Talk

Parrot collaborated with uber-designer, Philippe Starck, to create sleek wireless speakers for the ultra modern home called the Zikmu Parrot.  Philippe Starck, better known as a furniture designer, applied his design flair and transformed the old speaker box into a sculptural sound system.  And at 100 watts power, the sound delivers too!

The Zikmu comes in four delicious colors - pictured is the Sorbet Lime.  You can plug your Ipod directly into the top of the speaker or connect wirelessly with the music on your computer.  Your television or cd players can also be connected to the Zikmu speakers.  For more information, go to Parrot's site.

"Gorgeous Toilet"--an oxymoron no longer

I admit it: I never, ever, thought I would use the phrase "gorgeous toilet." But when I visited a friend recently and ducked into the bathroom, I nearly shouted "I LOVE THIS TOILET!" It was sleek, elegant, and there was just a certain something about it...

I discussed it with the owner, who pointed out the toilet is a nearly-perfect pyramid shape. We know the power of this shape from all those mystical books about the pyramids in the ancient  world.

Whether this pyramid power will bring luck to your home I can't say, but it will really make your bathroom look, well, gorgeous.

Entertaining Baby

The mobile is so ubiquitous it's hard to imagine someone inventing it, and yet Alexander Calder is credited with coming up with the idea of having a moving sculpture hanging from a ceiling---and a generation of happy babies was born. The mobile transitioned quickly from being a creative moment of modernism to being a must-have over Baby's crib.

We like the simple cheeriness of these butterflies from Warm Biscuit

http://warmbiscuit.com/fligoffanmob.html

But if you want to try out your own artistic impulses, here's a kit ---you provide cards, or photos, or pictures you draw on cardstock, and clip them into  the mobile.http://www.weegallery.com/mobile.html