Design Patois

Timorous Beasties

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 10:18:02 PDT

Indulge me. I know that this is at least the third time I've addressed the topic of toile (and insects for that matter) but I promise this will be different. In this morning's Financial Times there...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Gleena -- Wedding Season is Upon Us . . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:02:28 PDT

Recently I stumbled upon this delicate looking line of hand-made porcelain called Gleena. Gleena (which means clay in Russian) is the work of Asya Palatova a graphic designer turned ceramicist with...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

"The King's Speech" -- via The New Victorian Ruralist

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 11:24:02 PST

One blog I check at least once a week is The New Victorian Ruralist written by James Snowden of Lexington, KY. He recently wrote about a post about the movie "The King's Speech" and it expresses my...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Sol LeWitt still gives -- The Shul print

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 10:10:28 PST

December immediately brings to mind giving. The late Sol LeWitt was an active member of the Chester community. He was extremely generous to so many people. When I visited the Chester Gallery...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Dalton Ghetti -- Graphite Guy

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:15:07 PDT

On a recent visit to the New Britain Museum of American Art I came upon three framed pieces of Dalton Ghetti's amazing carved pencils. The focus of the visit was to see the Escher exhibit (which was...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Vittorio Constantini -- Glass Artista

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 11:59:26 PDT

Departures Magazine most recent issue is devoted to the city of Venice and gives a shout out to one of the most amazing glass artists, Vittorio Constantini. I visited his studio a few years ago....

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Paper Artist -- Anna-Wili Highfield

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 06:37:31 PDT

For the past few days I've been making repeat visits to the website of artist Anna-Wili Highfield. Anna is a young Australian artist who, while pregnant with her first child, took paper,...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Volkswagens new EBike -- Bik.e

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:17:15 PDT

This went right under my radar early in the spring when it was announced in China. VW's new electronic EBike or more properly the Bik.e. While only a concept now, it seems to me it would be a hit....

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Bad Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 07:23:11 PDT

My apologies for not showing up for a while. Bad blogger. I offer flowers to you and promise to be more diligent about posting.

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Topics One Would Never Suppose I'd Write about: Home Depot and Martha

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:58:38 PDT

Martha Stewart Living has hooked up with Home Depot. Actually she is cross-branding with them. This partnering is truly inspired. I must admit, I am not a Home Depot kind of person. It's big; I like...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

SHAME --There's an app for that

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 15:11:04 PDT

I have neglected my blog for many months. Why? I've been way too enamored with the apps on my latest Iphone. Bad Jil. An app a day is not a way to live. That said, I am addicted to some of them....

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Marthe Armitage Hand Printed Wallpapers

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:37:16 PST

A recent article in the BBC's Gardens Illustrated featured the work of Marthe Armitage. A British treasure, Armitage began making wallpaper after WWII and to this day, cuts the lino blocks and does...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

NOLA on my mind -- Zeitoun, Hazelnut and Robert Tannen

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:28:26 PST

Sometimes things just come at you all at once. I've been meaning to write about some very cool jewelry designed by New Orleans artist and planner Robert Tannen. I saw his work at the Lori Warner...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Rebuilding Rawand - Brick (Itafari) by Brick (Itafari)

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:37:40 PDT

Leave it to HARO founder Peter Shankman to be involved with a really wonderful foundation working to help Rawanda recover from years of genocide. There will be an online fundraiser September 25-27...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

September means Charity Water reminder

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:20:00 PDT

Last September I wrote about Charity Water here. This year Scott is 33 and he's asking his friends to make a donation of $33 in his honor. I continue to be amazed by the wonderful work of this...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Carrie Gustafson -- Glass Artist

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:57:29 PDT

I became acquainted (read: fell in love with) with the work of Carrie Gustafson at My friend Lori Warner's new Studio/Gallery in Chester, CT. This Boston artist makes by far the most beautiful glass...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

International Garden Photograper of the Year -- Rachel Warne

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:18:19 PDT

Well, not exactly. The latest issue of Gardens Illustrated has a short piece on Rachel Warne that caught my eye. Ms. Warne won the 2nd place in Best Garden Photographer's Association Portfolio Award...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

The Rambles -- Patrick Dougherty's Stick Art

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:25:26 PDT

I recently had the privilege of working on a Patrick Dougherty installation at the Florence Griswold Museum. "The Rambles" is site specific installation that was so much fun to participate in. There...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Urban River Arts -- Portraits of Obama Benefit

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:14:11 PDT

My friend DD is on the board of Urban River Arts, a cool organization in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. Tonight the 5 month old community art center is holding a benefit from 5-8 pm at...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Categorizing PIECES -- Atlanta

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:55:17 PDT

I was admiring a very cool chandelier in the "what's hot" section of Elle Decor recently. The store's url was listed and so I visited the Atlanta store Pieces. (Note: it is also a 1stdibs shop) Yes,...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Gotta Do This For Technorati

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:52:32 PDT

7zatu2ih4m That's it. We'll see what happens.

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

The High Line -- Things are Looking Up

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:39:55 PDT

The High Line, a new raised park in New York's Meatpacking District opened today. You know, meat, as in Diane von Furstenberg, Prada, Anya Hindmarch. Section 1 traverses 9 blocks. On the Fact...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Whimsical Textile Design -- Coral and Tusk

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:40:17 PDT

A friend told me about the wonderful textile designer Stephanie Housley of Coral and Tusk. Brooklyn-based Housley mostly confines herself to tee shirts and onesies for babies and little children,...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward -- culture, technology and the environment

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:58:50 PDT

May 15, a new exhibit Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward opens at the Guggenheim in New York. To celebrate it's 50th anniversary, the Guggenheim is hosting an exhibition co-organized by the...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.

Say it with Animoto

noreply@blogger.com (Jil Nelson) — Fri, 08 May 2009 11:29:27 PDT

Animoto is a new, totally affordable service that allows regular non-nerds make videos easily. Animoto, winner of a prestigious Webby Award this year, has zillions of applications. As the Guys at...

Sites, Shops and Books that inspire.