So Drew told me about this outsider art festival in Alabama called Do0-Nanny. Has anyone ever been? It sounds like a blast. It also says it’s 2.5 hours from Atlanta, but barring any sort of NASCAR related traffic or something horrible like that, I betcha I can make it in two. Anyway, I don’t understand exactly what it is, and I’m not a huge fan of camping, but it sounds fun and I collect outsider art. It’s March 27-28, and here’s the description from their website:

A truly unique experience!….a casserole of southern folk art, home cookin, homemade movies, camping, foot-stompin music, experimental architecture, guessing, oddities, unusual characters, a movie festival, surprises, cracker ingenuity, experiential transomism, and much more!… Folks coming in from NY, TX, CA, and beyond beyond…

Begun as a roadside folk art show in 1996, the Doo-Nanny is now located on a beautiful 80 acre farm in Seale, AL, near Columbus, Ga, and includes a wacky “lo-fi” film festival, fun food, and and eclectic assortment of music and activities.

We dropped in on the always delightful DwellStudio booth at the New York Gift Show yesterday. Here’s a preview from their soon-to-be-available Spring 2010 collection. More to come!

DwellStudio Peacock Bedding at the NY Gift Show:

Thanks to our friend John Trosko of Organizing L.A. for letting us know about the 2010 Los Angeles Organizing Awards! Categories will include:

-   Best Product Retailer
-   Best Closet Design Firm
-   Best Garage Design Firm
-   Best Office Organizing Product
-   Best Time Management Expert
-   Best Organizing Technology
-   Best Organizing Book
-   Best Organizing Website or Blog
-   Best National Makeover Reality Television Program
-   Best Publication Featuring Organizational Information
-   The Green Award for Most Eco-Friendly Organizing Service/Product

The festivities will take place at the historic Raleigh Studios on January 30. Click here for more information.

Thanks John!

Photo by: Saxon Holt/PhotoBotanic

I was flipping through the latest issue of Garden Design the other day and The Late Show Gardens jumped off the page at me. It’s a garden show in Sonoma that starts with sustainable design as a no-brainer base and creates art from it. For example, plants that cleanse contaminated water and soil help shape thoughtful spaces. Peruse the whole shebang over at gardendesign.com, if you are not convinced, here’s a little teaser!

Photo by Mitch Maher

all photos via gardendesign.com

If you are in the metro Boston area in the next month or so, try to catch a book talk for New Classic American Houses: The Work of Albert, Righter & Tittmann. For the rest of us, we’ll just have to settle for the book. In a time where Nantucket has been overtaken by gaudy McMansions that are trying to pretend that they are shingle style, and hot messes of massing on new houses that are trying to look classic, Albert, Righter & Tittman just gets it. I don’t really know how else to say it. They are respectful of tradition while pushing the envelope with postmodern moves. They understand scale, history, context, massing, and site planning.Here are a few teasers:

Top image from amazon.com. All other photos from Albert, Righter & Tittmann

I have a former classmate who would probably flip over this project, but I don’t have her email anymore. Maybe she’ll see this post. Yesterday I was checking out Variegated’s website and it led me over to artist friend links and on to Andy Brayman and Ayumi Horie’s collaboration. Unfortunately, the exhibit ended earlier this fall, but you can still visit it online.

The project combines the ecological history, urban grid, and interconnectedness of all species to inform a beautiful, 86-piece ceramic tile installation. Each tile represents a block of Greenwich village. The installation explores the ecosystems of where Greenwich village now sits back in 1609 when Henry Hudson arrived. It also celebrates the 100th anniversary of Greenwich House Pottery by layering a house map from 1909 into the design. Animals who lived in the area in 1609 are layered into the design as well To learn more about the project and to see more of the pieces, click here.

all images from ayumihorie.com

Blu Dot always catches my attention by doing something creative. Starting on Wednesday, they will begin The Real Good Chair Experiment, tracking Real Good Chairs on a journey through N.Y.C. You will be able to follow the chairs in real time here.

This just in from the fabulous Vanessa de Vargas of TurquoiseLA. If you are in L.A. this weekend, be sure to catch this sale!

We are delighted to invite you to our premier designer tag sale, a HIGH-END DESIGNER SHOPPING EVENT!! Please feel free to forward this to your friends and contacts!!

The Designer Tag Sale is an interior designer yard sale/tag sale organized by interior designer Vanessa De Vargas and design editor Vanessa Kogevinas. Hosted by entrepreneur Amy Swift (SMARTY.), the sale will feature over ten top Los Angeles designers selling items from their personal inventories including small furniture such as side-tables, lamps, rugs, pillows, art, accessories and more at incredibly low prices! Nothing will be over $200 and prices will run as low as $5.

Designers include Molly Luetkemeyer, Ron Woodson, Jamie Rummerfield, Lindsey Dann Miller, Vanessa De Vargas, Paula Smail, Carla Lane, Jennifer Culp, Michelle Workman, Krista Ewart, Kelly Van Patter, Erica Islas, Jonamor Décor, Stephanie Visser and Cory Pernicano.

Confirmed vendors are Sobe, Elixir G, New Editions, and Yelp who will be participating as a media sponsor.

Free gift bags will be offered to the first thirty attendees and will include items from Henry Road, Bueller Designs, Blue Pool Road, Yelp, Fauna Pet and C Magazine’s newest issue!

There will also be a raffle with gifts from Apartment Therapy, Kreme wallpaper and Anney Friday Jewelry. Complimentary entertainment will include Elixir G Margaritas, Yvonne’s Gluten-Free Cookies, light passed appetizers and beauty treatments. DJ New Berlin will be spinning.

Any non-purchased/left-over designer inventory will be donated to Biet T’Shuvah, a local Venice residential treatment, spiritual and education center.

The Designer Tag Sale will also feature free mini-consultations and appraisals by designers so we ask that you bring pictures of your home and furniture items if you wish to participate.

Entry fee is $10. Cash only please.

We look forward to your participation and support, and thank all of our participants, without whom this event would not be possible!

Check out our blog for websites and more info!!

 

Designer Tag Sale logo and invitation designed by Tatiana Kogevinas.
All rights reserved.

Thanks to Maya over at Visualingual, for letting me know about the Charley Harper exhibit at Fabulous Frames in Cincinnati (10817 Montgomery Road location). Here’s the story, from Fabulous Frames’ blog:

Included in the exhibit will be approximately 50 original paintings created by Charley for Ford Times and Lincoln Mercury Times magazines between 1948 and 1982. The illustrations were reproduced in the magazines, but the originals were thought to have been lost until they were discovered in a Ford Motor Company vault earlier this year.

With the permission of Edsel Ford II, the entire collection was returned to the Harper family, which organized this exhibit with Fabulous Frames & Art, an art gallery and custom-framing shop that has had a relationship with the Harpers for over 30 years. Charley’s son Brett Harper will be on hand during the opening reception to introduce this important body of work.

The exhibit opens this weekend and runs through August 8. Also, Fabulous Frames has some wonderful Harper prints for sale online here. Some may surprise you; Maya got me giggling over this one:

I love this Blenko-looking bottle one as well:

all images from fabframes.com

One really cool thing that happened in Maine last week was the lighting of Robert Indiana’s EAT sign atop the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland Maine. Best known for its incredible Wyeth exhibits,  the Farnsworth does a great job of keeping up with the art world, and is finally honoring one of the area’s adopted sons. Indiana has been living on Vinalhaven Island for decades, just a quick ferry ride from Rockland Harbor.

The most extraordinary thing about this event was that it was the first time Indiana had ever seen his EAT sign lit. The sign was commissioned for the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and was taken down after a day because hungry and confused people kept looking for a restaurant nearby. Apparently, the sign has been stored in a former 8-seat outhouse behind Indiana’s home on Vinalhaven for decades. The EAT sign is not the only exclusive the Farnsworth has snagged; this exhibit is full of never before seen work. The Robert Indiana and the Star of Hope exhibit, where he has replaced his iconic “LOVE” with “HOPE” as part of the Obama campaign is full of unseen work. I highly recommend a stop in Rockland for anyone in the area. The exhibit is running now through October 25th.