011111 Inspiration....Bring it on!!!!!

Hurrah! 011111 We are perfectly aligned to move forward into the year with pluck and aplomb!
Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel

It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree you know how I feel

Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
That's what I mean

And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me

Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel

.......Nina Simone

New York Horticultural Society Gala 2010

The theme was "Fairy Tales, Legends and Myths". We decided to create a statue based on the Grecian myth of the god Apollo and his beloved nymph Daphne :
"where the god's infatuation was caused by an arrow from Eros, who wanted to make Apollo pay for making fun of his archery skills and to demonstrate the power of love's arrow. Ovid treats the encounter, Apollo's lapse of majesty, in the mode of elegiac lovers, and expands the pursuit into a series of speeches. According to the rendering Daphne prays for help either to the river god Peneus or to Gaia, and is transformed into a laurel (Laurus nobilis): "a heavy numbness seized her limbs, thin bark closed over her breast, her hair turned into leaves, her arms into branches, her feet so swift a moment ago stuck fast in slow-growing roots, her face was lost in the canopy. Only her shining beauty was left."
We based the sculpture on various renditions of the myth through the classical 15th century painting by Antonio Pollaiuolo to the baroque life size statue by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and reinterpreted it using materials such as bark nuggets for Daphne's body, covering her skin in flax seeds, attaching live phalenopsis roots to her feet and giving her the appropriate laurel branches with attached laurel leaves. Apollo also wore a laurel wreath as did each chair swag. We suspended a bevy of suspended votives to signify the presence of Eros(a primeval deity of sexual love and beauty who embodies not only the force of love but also the creative urge of ever-flowing nature, the firstborn Light for the coming into being and ordering of all things in the cosmos) All in all the final centerpiece was imbued with many literal references to the allegory of unrequited love.


A closer image of Apollo draped with a massive dried leaf and the detail of Daphne's foot sprouting roots into the mossy earth below.

NY Magazine Weddings Summer 2010 Bouquet Story

The Editor's at New York Magazine's Weddings called and asked for bouquets which prominently featured the foliage as a significant design component. This was very timely because low and behold, showy Camellias were in the market. I pampered them assiduously for a week until they reach the peak of their blossoming potential and paired them up with soft pink peonies. Here they are used as the opener to the bouquet story! Thanks NY Mag!!!!



Another bouquet which was presented and selected for the story was a collection of different varieties of ferns set against a luminously saturated nosegay of fuchsia peonies and mini phalaenopsis. Not a choice for the demure bride :)

NY Magazine Bouquet Story Spring Summer 2010

NY Magazine Cover- Winter 2010

Here are some highlights of current press which we have been remiss at posting. Above are three bouquets featured in NY Magazine Weddings Winter 2010 issue.

Tulips and Pansies Headdress Affair 2009

For this year's Village Cares of New York benefit "Tulip and Pansies a Headdress Affair" we decided to create a fiery reptilian queen goddess in saturated reds, oranges and fuchsias. We designed and styled all aspects of this look and our own gorgeous superstar Liza Bagerman modeled it down the runway. This is always an amazing happening to be a part of in NYC and a great way to say we care too VCNY!

Our Side of Paradise

This year the Horticultural Society of New York held their yearly fundraiser at 583 Park Avenue. The table top displays were translations on a theme: "This Side of Paradise", which ranged from underwater coral and shell fantasy motifs to the Garden of Eden. We chose to play on the earthly version - a drug induced paradise - and created giant fabric poppies dancing overhead in a floating airy revelry from the guests perspective. Smaller fabric flower lanterns illuminated the swirling tangles of stems which were planted in a giant glass flower pot exploding with fresh poppies and ranunculus. The table cloth and chair covers sang "orange electric" made of transparent hand died gauze. We titled our table "The Opiate Affair" and guests name cards included Jean Cocteau and Florence Nightingale, both opium addicts. The Opium translation may have been lost to some but most would agree that our fantasy paradise was one conceived and executed for only the greatest of flower lovers!!!!!!!!!

"Creme and Lilac Wedding" Elements and Storyboard

Woodsy Fantasy

Here is a woodsy inspiration board I pulled together with inspiration from a little vintage plate, an antique print of a fern leaf, old copper leaf pendants and a museum artifact of a gold and turquoise snake necklace. The Agate coasters would also make great pillar candle holders and the small votive(lower right) is wrapped in copper painted galax leaves. I think the arbor would make a great starting point for the design of a naturalistic chuppa with grapevines and the flower shown are a combination of Blue Thistle, Blush Ranunculus, Dinner Plate Dahlias and Helioborus.

Chanin for Changing Times

While working on the conception of an orphan quilt project (future post) with my lifetime friend Doris Athineos, editor of antiques for Traditional Home Magazine, she mentioned that I take a look at the original craft work of Natalie “Alabama” Chanin, of Florence, Alabama, whom I immediately fell in love with! She uses a combination of new, organic and recycled materials to create the most evocative textiles which whisper, "I have a secret story to tell". The work featured on her site is undisputedly gorgeous but what is even more inspirational are her methods of employing artisans who work and live in nearby communities and make everything by hand. Here is an image from her website of a dress any pixie would dream of running off in to exchange vows so tender with her soul mate that the moment would elicit compassion and true love for decades to come.