Friday, May 28, 2010

The 2 Louis’, Frank & US Art Nouveau



Louis Tiffany

Probably the most famous person associated with the Art Nouveau style in the US is Louis Tiffany. He was born and studied art in New York before moving to Paris for further study.




He was to become famous for his Art Nouveau style glass art in particular his lamps. But he also created some outstanding paintings the ‘Snake Charmer of Tangiers’ created in 1915 considered one of his best.



On returning to New York he established a glass making factory. He invented a process for making opalescent glass known as ‘Tiffany favrile glass’. Louis created colourful windows, vases, lamps and other decorative art pieces. One of his most famous windows is the ‘Glass Curtain’ in the National Theater Mexico City.



He also designed jewelry, rugs, tiles and textiles. A window of landscaped glass panels for each season called the ‘Four Seasons’ (see below) was exhibited in Paris in 1892. This work established his international reputation.


His work included ornamental bowls, paperweights other objects. Colourful floral, abstracted floral or abstracted patterns and textures were used to create iridescent effects. His lamps had metal bases with one piece shades in stained glass.



Louis Sullivan

Sullivan was a Chicago architect who added ornament in a highly personalised style of natural organic forms to many of his buildings. The interior spaces of the ‘Chicago Auditorium Building’ were designed by Louis. The great arches studded with electric light bulbs with florid gilded ornamental relief in the Art Nouveau style are examples of his work.



Louis’ interest in creating tall buildings led him to a simple, modern style on the exteriors of his buildings in his later works. However in many of the interiors of the building he still used decorative ornament.



Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank first worked as a draftsman for Sullivan. Sullivan went on to be his mentor. They worked together on a number of projects of which Charnley House built in Chicago 1892 is an example. The windows below were created for the Chicago Auditorium window and are thought to have been designed by Frank Lloyd Wright who was a draughtsman on the project.




Sullivan is famous for building the first skyscraper and his still very much used statement ‘form follows function’. He was one of the main pioneers of modernism. Due to this Louis Sullivan’s work in the Art Nouveau style is often forgotten or overlooked.


Frank went on the clarify Sullivan's statement saying


‘Form follows function -

that has been misunderstood.

Form and function should be one,

joined in a spiritual union’




You may be interested in the video on YouTube of the Tiffany Exhibition at The Morse Museum of American Art just click on the link below

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Winning Placements: How 2 arrange your furniture like a professional interior decorator


For those of you who have followed the link from the article I have placed some illustrations as promised in this blog




The most common mistakes made when arranging furniture


  • Placing all the furniture against the wall


  • Placing a large piece of furniture diagonally across a corner of the room


  • Placing large pieces of furniture in a small room


  • Placing too many pieces of furniture in a room







Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Stile Liberty, Turin, Milan and Gesamtkunstwerk

In Italy, the Art Nouveau style was known as Stile Liberty. The style was influenced by the English fabric design of Arthur Liberty . His work was instrumental in disseminating the style on the continent.

Turin was the capital of the ‘Stile Liberty’ movement also known as stile floreade meaning curving floral design. In 1902 the ‘Prima Esposizone Internazionale d’Arte Decorative Moderna’ said to be the most ambitious display of international decorative art ever was hosted in Turin.

The furniture designs of Vittorio Valabrega and Agostino Lauro and designer Carlo Bugoitti were on display at the exhibition. Lauro’s work combined architecture, furnishings and decoration a theme know as Gesamtkunstwerk. The furniture designs he presented were from a room in a Villa he designed in Sordevolo


There are many Art Nouveau style buildings in Milan; the Palazzo Castiglioui designed in 1901-1904 by Giuseppe Sommaruga is well known for its metal work. Some streets in the city have a number of Art Nouveau buildings; the Via Piscane and Malpighi. The Casa Cambiaghi has peacock motifs as a feature.  



The style of the Casa Battaini building on Via Piscana was influenced by Victor Horta. The Art Nouveau style is also evident in building in the towns of Verbania, Stresa, Bellagio and Campode Fiori near Varese


On the street Via Malphighi the ‘Mucha House’ and the cinema ‘Dumont’ built in 1909 are housed. The Stile Liberty style is characterised by abstract flora wood work, stained glass and semi transparent glass. The trends toward geometric forms are evident in the Emporium Corso Venszia.


How you can save on the cost of printing

Some recent research has revealed a way of reducing the cost of printing. Apparently the type of font used for letters, quotes, reports and notices can reduce the cost of printing. It is estimated 31 % of an ink cartridge can be saved by using the right font.

Printer.com tested how to cut costs using two computers the Canon Pixa MP210 and the Brother HL-2140. They found money could be saved by changing the font. Between $20 and $80 per year could be saved.

Ten fonts were tested. Arial one of the most popular fonts was used as a zero measurement. And the winner is Century Gothic. 31% savings was found to be possible using Century Gothic on both printers.


For organizations who use numerous printers this could add up to hundreds of dollars saved per year. The Century Gothic font won over the Ecofont. This is amazing as the Ecofont was especially designed to reduce cost.

You can find details on this research @ http://tinyurl.com/c2znc2

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Quick Mini Quiz: Interior Design with Your Personality in Mind


Over the years I have developed a theory about the impact of interior design and colour selections on different personalities. It all started in the 1980’s. In the early 1980’s I studied art but soon realised I liked working with people as much as going art work. I then did a couple of interior design and decorating courses because we had bought our first house and I wanted to decorate our home to a high standard. 

This eventually led to a offer of a job as a kitchen designer. But I wanted to be involved with all aspects of design and applied and was accepted into the interior design course at the Queensland College of Art. I was delighted to find I could combine my artistic flare and my love of people with a career in interior design.

During the 1980’s I also became involved with success motivation and personality profiling. So began my interest in personality. Over the years I have studied psychology and counselling. I was and continue to be fascinated and study people and interior design.

I have written a series of four articles called ‘Interior Design with Your Personality in Mind’ if you would like to read the articles please follow the links:

Part 2:

Part 4:                                                                                                                             

http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/interior-design-with-your-personality-in-mind-part-4-2403355.html


In the articles I provided a link to this blog. If you have read the articles and followed the link to the ‘Quick Personality Quiz’ here it is.



If you would like to do a full personality test go to http://www.discinsights.com/cyber/Scripts/disc.asp


If you want some fun go to http://www.gotoquiz.com/personality_plus_1 you will find a quiz on the subject connected to dating  
Plato
“People are like dirt. 
They can either nourish you 
and help you grow as a person 
or they can stunt your growth 
and make you wilt and die.”

The Interior Design with Your Personality in Mind Quick Mini Quiz


Over the years I have developed a theory about the impact of interior design and colour selections on different personalities. It all started in the 1980’s. In the early 1980’s I studied art but soon realised I liked working with people as much as going art work.
We bought our first house and I wanted to decorate our home to a high standard. So I did a couple of interior design and decorating courses. This eventually lead a offer of a job as a kitchen designer. But I wanted to be involved with all aspects of design and applied and was accepted into the interior design course at the Queensland College of Art. I was delighted to find I could combine my artistic flare and my love of people with a career in interior design.
During the 1980’s I also became involved with success motivation and personality profiling. So began my interest in personality. Over the years I have studied psychology and counselling. I was and continue to be fascinated and study people and interior design.
I have written a series of four articles called ‘Interior Design with Your Personality in Mind’ if you would like to read the articles please follow this links below:
Part 1:
 
Part 2:
Part 3:
 
Part 4: 
http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/interior-design-with-your-personality-in-mind-part-4-2403355.html                                                                                                                          
In the articles I provided a link to this blog. If you have read the articles and followed the link to the ‘Quick Personality Quiz’ here it is.




If you would like to do a full personality test go to http://www.discinsights.com/cyber/Scripts/disc.asp
If you want some fun go to http://www.gotoquiz.com/personality_plus_1 you will find a quiz on the subject connected to dating  
On reading this back I have noticed a few errors. The personality style most likely to have noticed and been annoyed with the errors would be the melancholy. Most of us do notice errors but the melancholy person likes perfect and therefore is most likely to be upset by the mistakes.
As designers we do need to be detailed people. For this reason I would usually go back and check for mistakes and the correct them. But for this blog I have noted the mistakes and left them. I have noticed it is very easy to make mistakes while blogging. I do try to double check but I am sure I miss a few so I hope you will forgive me.
Frank Lloyd Wright stated  
A doctor can bury his mistakes 
but an architect can only advise 
his client to plant vines’