Iconic French designer Pierre Paulin died June 13 in Montpellier, France at the age of 81. Although he began his career designing for Thonet-France, he is most famous for his abstract and sculptural fabric covered foam on metal frame furniture that was produced by Dutch firm Artifort in the 1960s:
Ribbon Chair
Mushroom Chair
Little Tulip
Orange Slice
Tongue Chair
In the 1970s and 80s, two French Presidents, Georges Pompidou and Francois Mitterrand, invited him to furnish rooms in the Élysée Palace, and President Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute to Paulin declaring "he made design into an art form". Last year a retrospective of his work "Pierre Paulin, le design au pouvoir" was held at the at La Manufacture des Gobelins - Le mobilier national in Paris. His designs are in the permanent collections of museums worldwide including MoMA in NY and were used in the futuristic Elrod House setting of the 1971 James Bond film “Diamonds are Forever”.
His last design, the Flower Chair for Magis debuted at the ICFF May 2009.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Pierre Paulin Dies
Moss
I don't know why I bothered to plant moss when I could have waited a couple of weeks and just transplanted it...
Except that things never grow naturally just where you want them...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
So far not summer
You may have heard that it's been a tad wet in New York. In fact it's rained most days for the past month or more. 
It's been so humid the past week that I have moss growing everywhere - the Irish moss I planted is doing very well
some moss appeared on the path
and on my patio umbrella.
The visitors who came to hang out by the pool will leave disappointed. The only creatures to have dipped a toe in there are the frogs... So far no sign of summer.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Geometry, Botany and Design
Pink and Yellow Peony. Beautiful, no? Here's something I bet you didn't know about pink and yellow: they do not "go together". This is a fact handed to me in primary school by, no not the art teacher, the maths teacher who gave me a really bad score in Tessellation because I coloured the triangles in my hexagon pink and yellow. Every mathematician apparently knows pink and yellow do not go together. Pink and blue? Fine. Blue and yellow? A+. Pink and yellow? C. What did I learn about geometry that day? Nothing, in fact my dislike of mathematics was born that day and lasted until I stumbled across the beauty of fractal geometry 25 years later. I did, however, discover I knew more about design than math teachers. And my love of pink and yellow remained, to be irrefutably justified by this photo.
Click photo to embiggen.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
A Day at the Museum
We're doing touristy things this week, like hanging out with this guy at The American Museum of Natural History
exploring Indonesia at the Margaret Mead exhibition
and of course, meeting "Dim Dum"
Off to New England for a few days of lobstah and sundownahs so posting will be light non-existant. Byeeee
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Dusk on the Dock
a little fishing
one last pass before night rolled in
the intense pink and deep navy sunset
Click to embiggen!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Uninteresting? Happy? Moi?
I've been tagged by the stylish From the Right Bank to the Left Coast to come up with six uninteresting things that make me happy - all those who think they already know too much about me and none of it could be called interesting, can just be quiet and those who say I'm rarely happy can move along. I'm in no mood for sarcasm today, I'm going to be positively full of joy!
In no particular order:
The water - coastline, lakes, bays, the ocean - it doesn't matter, to see the water every day makes me calm and happy
Snow - the first fat flakes falling out of the night sky and the crisp crunch of the icy crystals the following day.
Expressive flowers: blooms that beckon and sensual blossoms 
The smell of old books: cloth covered or leather-bound and the age-stained pages of old encyclopedias
Seasonal food: A plate of fresh red cherries... or heirloom tomatoes ripened in the sun... or a simple salad
The clink of glasses, that happy sound that signals the start of a celebration, or a simple meal shared with friends. Cheers!
Now I'm tagging six inspiring people to do the same:
Nadine at Bouler Design Group
Another New Yorker Just Off the Taconic
Heidi at faboolosity
Jenni at ThirteenEleven
Kathleen from House Things I Like
and The House on Red Hill
All you have to do (but only if it makes you happy) is to find uninteresting things that make you happy, choose 6 people to tag and link your post back to me...
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Objets d'Art et du Désir
Some objects just speak to me:
Yes!
Definitely.
Maybe.
No!
Oh, please...
Now you're just toying with me, aren't you?.
Obviously your style and taste may vary! All collectible objects, desirable or not, and many others available on the Vintage and Modern website.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Osprey in Flight
Sometimes you happen to be in the right place - the deck of the Beach Association, for example
on the right evening - calm, sunny, with a bizillion tiny fish in the bay that attract the Bluefish
and the right lens on your camera
Egret on a Rock
Not much of a sunset last night at the beach but there were compensations... more bird photos to follow...
Monday, June 08, 2009
If only it had rained today...
I wouldn't have popped out to the nursery to get a basil plant to replace the purple basil that disappeared over the weekend and been seduced by
the sign that read "20% off Hostas",
the smell of catmint in the air
and the florescent green Irish moss.
I came home with a summer planter full of annuals, 12 pots of moss, three hostas, I catmint, 3 liquorice plants, and a large pot of basil. It's official, I have absolutely no will power.
In the yard
The last blooms on the azaleas and rhododendrons have faded and fallen and although the peonies and the late dogwood are out there's little color in the yard by the second week in June. That means, of course, less admiring the garden and more chores.
So yes, there was a FOURTH attempt at setting the stone on the steps to the front door - this time scraping it right back to the foundation. (Probably should have done that first time). No one is allowed to look at it, much less step on it, so it could be a while before we know if we are successfully cemented in. Last time it seemed ok - until the torrential rain loosened the side mortar. I have fingers, toes and eyes crossed for this one.
There was the horrible moment when I put the gardening gear in the garage and I heard chewing coming form the overhang - which meant we hadn't killed all the bees last session. I stuck a kid's paintbrush in the poison dust and poked it into one of FOUR new holes - and touched a bee. That surprised both of us! It stopped chewing but turned it into a coughing, buzzing, shiny black mass of madness. It flew out and landed dizzily on the path whereupon I put it out of its misery. Next month there will be the ritual filling of the holes, followed by the staining of the siding, This never gets old. Not.
The Guy lovingly painted several new examples of poison ivy with the most effective of herbicides - taking great care not to drip it on the pachysandra or rhododendrons. (I'm a super swelling, steroid needing, extra-specially sensitive soul that gets a full body rash from touching the dog who brushed against it hours earlier so I leave this to the so-far immune member of the family). I feel this is going to be an on-going chore this season.
All the windows were washed - outside and in. We carried the outdoor pool furniture up from the basement, set it out and cleaned that, too. (The pool is actually colder then when we opened it, 66F. No one will be dipping in there this week).
The lilac bush at the back of the pool that was toppling over and threatening to decapitate anyone going back there was pruned back - hopefully we'll get more growth from the base and many more blossoms next Spring.
A gorgeous new yellow Hosta generously donated by the Awesome Designer was planted, but will be replanted this week in a more commodious spot. White Impatiens lovingly planted by neighbor Barbara the entrance to the cul-de-sac were rescued from under the fringes of the day lilies and given some more light at the edges of the bed.
Weeds were pulled and death was removed from the lawn, the flower beds and the pool skimmers.
Of course it wasn't all work: dinner was eaten al fresco, steak grilled by the Loyal Blog Reader for the Awesome Designer's family from New Mexico, The Guy and I. Later, specimen maple seedlings were dug and bagged ready for a trip to the southwest, where we hope they will find some hospitable soil amongst all the sand... (and fewer weeds as well).
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