We've been away

I think I've finally adjusted to being in half the temperature I was ten days ago. Yes, old injuries are back in full swing after briefly disappearing in the desert. There are about 100 photos I have to go through and edit before I can get them up here. If you've been hanging around on Facebook you've seen some of them.

For now, here are a few pics from last weekend as well as the weekend before we left.

my current wallet

candy apple red Impala



over packed again

Mt. Rainier

Dansk silver plated hippo

Hominidae

Even though we were just across the border the food is quite different and I went through a little culture shock. First thing we did when we came back was grab some fresh BC spot prawns, halibut and aspargus (the nonFranken kind).

Then we went to a few yard sales and I picked up this kilm for $25. It took me exactly twenty years to find one - that I could afford.

and I finally got a chance to wash my car!

This Ad Makes Me Feel...

uncomfortable

From the Archives: Dan White West Vancouver

THIS HOUSE HAS NOW SOLD. Not sure how much it sold for, probably $3.3 million, as there are bidding wars in West Van. One woman bought six houses, initially published on June 5, 2010. Designed in 1967 by Canadian architect and contemporary to Arthur Erickson, Daniel White. Renovated in 1987 - can you tell? Currently for sale at $2.2 million FIRM.

The house - minus the addition - has a beautiful layout that I wouldn't mind having reproduced once I win the $20 million lottery so I can afford a house in Vancouver, of course. For a tongue-in-cheek look at Vancouver's ridiculous real estate prices, check out www.crackshackormansion.com.

Termites included. Yes, those are termites on the floor too.

The wallpaper was gold gilt. How about those towel holders/closet door handles?

 copyright Stacy Reynaud 

 A very Suzy Hoodless before Suzy Hoodless style bathroom!

The leaky roof included. Vines were growing up under the door, but I couldn't hold my breath any longer to take a pic.

Lovely clean walls and carpet. The mantle top was mirrored.

The yard is overgrown as the house has been vacant for years. It's basically a wild bird sanctuary and absolutely gorgeous.

 

The view of the South West

let me enfold you

Tim buckley - song to the siren subtitulos by musicaenvo
Long afloat on shipless oceans
I did all my best to smile
'til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving to your isle
And you sang
Sail to me
Sail to me
Let me enfold you
Here I am
Here I am
Waiting to hold you

Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you hare when I was fox?
Now my foolish boat is leaning
Broken lovelorn on your rocks,
For you sing, 'touch me not, touch me not, come back tomorrow:
O my heart, o my heart shies from the sorrow'

I am puzzled as the oyster
I am troubled at the tide:
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Should I lie with death my bride?
Hear me sing, 'swim to me, swim to me, let me enfold you:
Here I am, here I am, waiting to hold you'

Design Trend - The Marble Top Table

marble top tables

All photos, except for Tilley, from our recent trip to Palm Springs. For more pics check out the Bijou Living page on Facebook.

Vintage Valentino

1980

senses

On May 29th there were 60 mph winds in Palm Springs and I was lucky enough to be walking by a wind chime shop.

From the Archives - The Found Portrait

Originally published January 12, 2009

With the barrage of social networking, virtual communities and urban densification brought on by the latter 20th century, the comfort of anonymity is developing into a romantic ideology fit for the 21st century.

French artist, Magdalena Gerber, explores anonymity in her work Tellerstories, British creative consultant to Swarovski, Graham Hollick, exhibits his anonymous portraits in his home, American musicians Fleet Foxes, pen lyrics such as Tiger Mountain Peasant Song and New Yorker, Chris Gallagher, shares his collection of anonymous portraits with the world.

I discovered Gallagher's collection of anonymous portraits while reading the Brooklyn Flea blog.

Being a collector of anonymous pet portraits [and now all anonymous photos] I was inspired to track him down and explore the lure of anonymity further.

The interview that follows transpired over email the week of January 5th 2009. I began by asking Gallagher some background questions which developed into an exploration of stories, spirits and moods that will, no doubt, transcend time.

I sincerely thank Chris Gallagher for taking the time to explore the questions on the level that he did. Please lose yourself in a sampling of his collection.

When did you start collecting portraits?

I bought my first two in the nineties at the 26th Street Flea market in NY. It was two portraits by the same artist, a Winston Churchill and a Dwight Eisenhower. I was young and broke and probably couldn't afford them at the time but I bought them anyway.

How many do you have?

Probably around 100. In addition to the portraits I have other types of found paintings (landscapes, outsider type stuff).

Were they all acquired in the US?

All of the paintings so far were acquired in the US. I do look for them wherever I travel and have bought things in NY, Portland, LA, New Orleans etc. They make great souvenirs because they can really evoke the spirit of a place, more so than a t-shirt or coffee mug.

It was in Paris at the Cligancourt Flea Market though, that I first saw a grouping of them and it really inspired me to start a collection. I don't think I bought any there because they were out of my price range and the exchange rate wasn't great but the idea of them stayed with me. I would like to add some from outside the US in the future.

What motivates you to buy a portrait?

It's variable. Ideally I buy something because it's technically a good painting- it's just really well painted and captures a personality and mood. Sometimes I'll buy things that can be more technically crude but captures a spirit of some sort. I also have an interest in contemporary/modern art so sometimes I'll get a portrait that reminds me of another artist like Picabia or David Hockney or something like that. If a portrait can capture a past era really well but look contemporary at the same time- that will really motivate me to pursue it.

The Exploration:

The portraits capture an intimacy that provokes questions of the before and after, each with their own story. Have you become a story teller? Whose story is your favorite? Who provokes the most questions?

They can definitely tell a story and depending how you can group them, the story can change. If you group all "WWII people" together or the "robber barons" together or "the college students" together or the "families" together they tell one story but if you mix them all up the stories change. Individually, there is a portrait of a black woman that looks like it was painted in the 40s or 50s. The woman evokes a very jazz era feeling and there is a certain melancholy in the way she looks off. It's almost like listening to a Billie Holiday song (listen to Strange Fruit here)There is a painting of a not too attractive middle aged woman - she looks like a society matron from 1960's - which always elicits a comment. It kind of looks like if Goya did one of his royal portraits in the 1960's, this would would be it.

The portraits are considered anonymous, however, you've brought them together in a collection, a new family per se, giving them a new identity. Do you feel that your collection marks a single point in time or that it transcends time?

I hope it transcends time. I think that's what makes portraiture interesting- the fact that these faces endure long after their situations change or their lives end.

You're having a cocktail party and can invite only five of the anonymous sitters in your collection, who are they?

Chosen just because they all look like big personalities who've had some interesting life experiences (portraits of the invited below).

Related Posts:

Top 9 Interiors Trends 2009

Paul Evans 20th Century Alchemist

Yves Saint Laurent's Final Moment

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words

The Children of Marx and Coca-Cola

After watching Jean-Luc Godard's Masculin Féminin you will look back to a certain time in your youth and finally be able to appreciate it. Although the film may come across as painfully pretentious at first, you'll get used to it. I will admit, however, that every now and then Chantal Goya's indie pop goddessness sent me into a ptsd induced tirade.

Design Lover - Bisazza Bagno Hayon Collection

Art Deco inspiration ✔
Bisazza Bagno ✔
Nordic touch ✔
feminine feel ✔
Spanish superstar ✔
marble ✔
copper ✔
chrome ✔
more here

Did you know...

The imitation punchings that decorate today's brogues were once actual holes/slashings made to let the water drain out of these early Scotish shoes that were often worn while treading across marshy land.

Vintage Guy Laroche

1980

My Top Five Unfounded Fears

Goya - from Disasters of War

1. getting bed bugs from a movie theatre
2. dying from eating bad mayo
3. plague ridden bus hands
4. hantavirus
5. finding an eye in an egg yolk

I thought I'd let you know since apparently we're all supposed to die tomorrow. I guess 2012 will take care of those of us who don't kick the bucket Saturday.

Quote of the Week - Federico Fellini

Experience is what you get while looking for something else.

The Gift I Made My Mom - Easy and Inexpensive I love You Gift

I adapted this gift idea from a column by interior decorator Barb Lunter that was in the North Shore News a few weeks back.

What you need:

• 2 vases - this isn't as easy as you think. One vase must fit inside the other with enough room around it to put some goodies yet it has to be large enough to hold a few bunches of flowers. I found both of my vases at a local thrift shop.
• a couple bunches of flowers. I used five bunches of tulips.
• a whole lot of goodies. Be creative. I opted for chocolate loonies* over the simpler jelly beans. I bought these from the bulk section at our local grocer but you can also find some unique stuff at sweet shops like Sugar & Co.
• an elastic or string

Instructions:

1. place the small vase inside the large one
2. distribute your goodies around the inside of the large vase so you can no longer see the small one
3. put a little room temperature water in the small vase
4. hold the bunch of flowers in your right hand. With your left hand take one flower one at a time until you have formed a little bouquet of flowers. Tie the bouquet together with the string or elastic.
5. insert the bouquet into the small vase with the water
6. adjust the leaves and flowers accordingly

*a loonie is a Canadian dollar. plural form = loonies

Thanks for a Wonderful 3 Years!

From the bottom of my heart - I couldn't have done it without you. Who knows what will happen over the next three.

Here's Bijou Living's very first post, May 17, 2008.

'Raccoons and cats become a little bit boring...'

About a year ago I came across Grey Gardens. A beautiful film that gave me nightmares. The Cult's song Ciao Baby is about Edie Sedgwick not Little Edie. It would be nice if Little Edie had a song.

There's a great fan site dedicated to Grey Gardens and you can view it here.

Mens Sandals

The only way I can interpret men's sandals as being sexy is by imagining it's a hot August afternoon in the 70s and I'm on the beach at Osoyoos Lake spying on my older cousins as they hit on long haired, tanned, shirtless skinny rocker guys in tight worn out frayed Levi's and hurache sandals. Oh, and it smells like Hawaiian Tropic tanning oil.

These might work:

1. Ann Demeulemeester although these somewhat remind me of Tevas and I'm not a fan of any item of clothing or footwear that uses Velcro.
2. Lanvin a little dressier
3. Dolce & Gabbana second choice
4. Pachuco Huarache my favourite

The Scent of Spring

It would be wonderful if I could send this smell to you.

Design Lover - Torcan Fan

circa late 1960s