after working with a lot of showrooms @ the boston design center + even opening my own gallery in the bdc [2018], once I stumbled upon the seattle design center i just knew I had to somehow get back into designers world. as i sent my intern off to a few selected showrooms she instantly had a connection with sue, a seasoned sales rep at baker | mcguire. turns out said interns mom + sue both were in the same sorority! she shared my sustainable collection samples + discussed how it would work well with the aesthetic of their space. modern + textured, it was a match. excited to color match for them using a specific blue [baby blue eyes] + create new works that have been in my mind for a while. next step is getting the word out about sustainable art while still a relatively new concept here hopefully one that is appreciated among the naturesque evergreen state. thank you to baker | mcguire for this amazing opportunity.
whenever i am home (yes my parents still live in the house that I grew up in) i try to go through some memorabilia aka. crap. i swore I tossed this shadow box of sneakers i made from my sons collection as he grew. well it somehow ended up back in the basement. i suggest to mom to just bring it to savers. well, i get a call the other day about how she got ahold of david bieber after watching a tv program on david bieber archives. she tells me this museum collection is massive as they place the shadowbox in the room of shoes, we’re talking ceiling to floor filled. it really sounds quite impressive this collection which is rented out or sold to interested parties. rooms of tv, record, poster collections. david bieber collections has now adorned the rebuild of the verb hotel in fenway. if you haven’t stopped by this hotel you should! pretty cool stuff. oh and thanks mom!! my new agent ;)
** “don’t mistake my kindness for weakness” - Riri
as mentioned in my earlier posts, travel has been a highlight for us this year. most summers spent boating off boston harbor was a bittersweet goodbye upon our move out west and was traded in for passports. having lived in Italy for quatro medzi in 2004 I knew this trip would be much different than that. i booked a couple of eurorail trips within our weeks-long stay in paris. as we arrived the limestone surrounding the city was breathtaking, the Eiffel was way bigger than we imagined. the louve closed earlier than planned. d’orsay mesmerizing van gogh. tre manifique! cafes. who knew the arch was built for napoleon? london rain at parliament + abbey road. pleasant people. amsterdam canal ride. anne franks house. cafes + countryside. it all was smashing. standing where the most talented artists + poets roamed the streets, barefoot, carefree + uniquely mad in their own right, comforted my soul. thank you tu mi familia for dealing with my madness while en route.
when you get to go to an event with a friend it makes it way more fun. joining tailored home design (sara s) was just a pleasant surprise. she tells me she wants to attend the lecture by hgtv show personality candice olson + we have about twenty minutes before it starts so we casually stroll the halls of the sdc. unlike the boston design center that I was part of for about ten years the seattle design center is smaller but more intimate. this being my only second visit, we know the showrooms + what they offer. a new fun showroom is craftex, a custom cement artisan. candice olsen’s lecture is about to begin. we take seats. like most events you get asked to put our biz cards in the bowl. i have never won anything in my life + when candice calls shapirodesigns in front of her 100+ crowd I slowly stand up + wave for winning the grand prize from the shade store. during the talk candice describes her upholstery collaboration with kravet in detail down to the name. sensual boucle in dove is my favorite. super luxurious + ultra soft! post my win at the sdc event we casually shove cupcakes + cookies into our hungry faces each labeled by flavor: true sdc style. i get the chance to pitch my artwork to candice + give her my card. wow what a day! even when you might not feel too social + stuck it really does help to get out of your comfort zone: it truly is refreshing.
since moving to the pnw everyone i met has given ideas of places to visit + the possibilities of outdoor activity are endless. we are not extreme patagonia people, more city-centric but honestly going to check out these places almost every weekend really is something I look forward to. my teenager would disagree but there are worse things than forced family fun day + know one day he will be experiencing an adventure on his own + hopefully will think of these times with us!
hiking the cascades, snowboarding stevens pass or snoqualmie, snowmobiling leavenworth, strolling gasworks park, boating on lake union, lounging on greenlake, experiencing taylor oyster farm, visiting the observatory, checking out fisherman village, being part of the edmonds art walk, I mean we really have experienced so much since our 1.5 years here.
looking forward to visiting victoria after much chatter, i embark on a three-ferry tour via car from the Mukilteo ferry right outside my door. first stop a couple favorite places double bluff beach hones sand dollar pods, flower house cafe for brunch + bayview garden shop. we make the Coupeville ferry to port townsend [where I swear I saw a fin.] early phew! wally’s new Zealand ice cream will not disappoint while you wait for blackball ferry to victoria. adamantly looking over the starburn bow we wished for a whale sighting + might have seen some blowholes in the very far distance. arriving at the last port of the day victoria was a lot larger than i imagined. a sunset stroll through town, bnb at abigails + tea @ the empress, morning walk through beacon hill has exceeded my expectations. looking forward to another visit for sure!
stumbling upon an ad in a local magazine*, i reach out to an interior designer, sara of tailored home, who was from boston as well and relocated to the pnw. she was happy to join me in one of my first creative ventures in the pnw, + we quickly scheduled a road trip to the seattle design center.
An industrial area not too different from the Boston Design Center minus the bustling waterfront, the Seattle Design Center was a bit smaller than expected albeit just as filled with enticing showrooms. The inviting lobby is adorned with a large Hunt Slonum from his Blue Diamond Rhapsody, 2021 series.
The symmetry of the space + showrooms makes it easy to walk through. Well-known showroom Baker hones a grey glass modern pedestal that I covet. We spend much time in Resource Furniture, an innovative way to customize any space with a futuristic appeal.
After a satisfying lunch in their open + quiet courtyard, I contemplate how I see my work in this area. We discuss design and how my modern work remains ahead of its time + unique. It’s just the beginning of my life as an artist here in the PNW. So much to see so little time…
having lived in mukilteo for over a year and a half now, home improvement projects took over taking my soul with them (a first-world problem i know). interviewing artists fills the void for about six months. as the winter looms, i take pup down to the local beaches every chance I get. this winter from november to april seemed as if they were the longest rainiest months of my life. it has been dark + lonely in this city by the mountains. everything shuts down, even the people. as i struggle to stay focused on my next creative venture i go through my images. our long-awaited trip to israel in December seemed to give me hope. whether traveling locally or to a new place across the globe, i believe it gives renewal + a sense of belonging in this world. traveling is a luxury. traveling is the unknown. snowboarding in the mountains, joining the garden club, and a recent trip back home to the house I grew up in (and was a front runner for the movie american hustle) brush strokes of creativity into my mind that was once a blank canvas. a photograph there a vision of a very specific color here, i am excited as i have been searching for this image of simple texture for some time now. now to execute the vision. that’s the fun part…linger in this moment of possibility..to be continued…
CherryBlossom iii. will be up for one nite silent auction + proceeds go to fig. a. choice charity: Maddie’s Promise! Swing by and start bidding for a good cause.
On view in the fp3 gallery are uniquely textured acrylic paintings by boston artist, wendy shapiro. these eco-friendly works are layers of horizons, clouds and soft sea storms. being environmentally conscious has always been incorporated in wendy’s art. by using greenguard gold certified (for low chemical emissions UL 2818) acrylic paint in this series she continues this practice. wendy hopes the viewer takes a moment to imagine taking a step into each piece and visualize what the infinite horizon is today and will imminently be.
