So Sylvie

A Mythic Quest...Divine Interior Design

"Pay attention to your dreams, and indulge in the pleasure of wild fantasies, and see yourself as a mythic hero in life's divine drama. See yourself as being on a mythic quest to discover and fully express your soul's code. " Gemini ~ by Free Will Astrology

 

and I'm taking my bag of tricks with me!

and furthermore...

"To help take the edge off the darkness you have been wrestling with, I offer you these lines from a poem by Kay Ryan: 'The day misspent,/the love misplaced,/has inside it,/the seed of redemption,/nothing is exempt,/from resurrection.' In other words, Gemini, whatever has disappeared from your life, will return later in a new form. The wrong turns you made will lead you to a fresh possibility."

"I hope you will respond by embarking on a heroic effort to make life beautiful everywhere you go. Little by little, with your steady affection and relentless devotion, you can transform what's rigid and hard."

~ Gemini, Free Will Astrology

Speaking of "rigid and hard", the barn is finished ! and we'll soon be moving on. You will be dazzled with imagery from this grand experiment soon, je vous promets. It's been a blast transforming it into something beautiful. More to come. For now, here are some tiny peeks:

 

 

 

Barn Promises

I'm making a lot of progress on the barn conversion project. I promise! I've had a healthy creative outburst to start the year. Making lots of new musical friends has been a grand inspiration. I wish you could all live in the barn!

 

Marcel's Costume Designer...

That's my nom du jour. This is the fun part, getting to put together different looks for Marcel in his blossoming career. We had a magazine crew come by the other day (details to follow) and I did some test shots of Marcello in his outfit.

 

 

 

 

 He's wearing a vintage CBGB's t-shirt and a 1940s fedora that I've had for about 30 years. It's embellished with a black silk fragment from a 1920s gown. The pattern is leaves embroidered with silver and blue silk thread and flowers formed with teal and orange grosgrain ribbon. The skull wrist strap was custom made by a friend (details by request).

 

Because this is supposed to be an interior design blog also - ! - I'll throw in a photo from my barn kitchen shelves...

 

 

and a corner of the living room in progress...

 

The duality of life.

Music To Warm The Barn

My son Marcel receives press credentials to cover various music events in the Bay Area. One recent event was the C2SV Festival in San Jose. For one of the highlights click HERE. Another wondrous highlight was an impromptu private performance for Marcel by the group Onward, Etc. when they learned that he had missed their show. They're an incredibly endearing group of guys, and so truly talented.

 

 

As this wasn't planned, and I just happened to walk in the room the moment they began playing, I was lucky I got my camera out of the bag in time. Their new album is titled Old Soul. Indeed.

 

So, back to the barn conversion project. Here are some snippets of the progress...chugging to completion...soon! Here are some vignettes, still in process (click on photos for larger view):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So Shady

I've been saving a collection of handmade papers that my friend Scott Waterman gave me for my birthday about 4 years ago, waiting for them to speak to me, to tell me what they wanted to be used for. At last they said, "Light me up!" So I made a custom lampshade with them. I call it Judah Street:

 

 

Different from every angle:

 

I like seeing the wrinkles in the paper. Makes it feel singular:

 

 

 

 

 

A big merci to Scott and Brett!

 

Birthday At The Barn...

...means work. I thought there'd be some consolation by having a belated cannoli at my favorite bakery but the baker called in sick. Waaah! Some years are like this. The good news is that the barn is shaping up nicely. Some details of the dining hall, still in progress:

 

 

 

Wall and ceiling 'Downtown' (Ben. Moore, Color Stories series). I did a custom mix on it. Makes me think of whipped cream with some cocoa powder added to it:

 

This is a Hollywood Regency clock that I found at an abandoned orchard. It's a grand three feet across:

 

Found here:

 

Office space (kitchen beyond):

 (Click on any photo to enlarge)

 

 Still getting organized:

 

My desk:

 

Blue wall 'Cableknit Sweater' (Ben. Moore's Color Stories series). I'll get a  more accurate take on it for the final shoot. It's more teal, richer:

 

Birthday bouquet from a sweet neighbor:

 

Handmade leather bracelet from a dear one:

Adieu.

On The Subject Of Bliss

I need not sell my soul to buy bliss.

I have an inward treasure born with me,

which can keep me alive if all extraneous
delights should be withheld,
or offered only at a price
I cannot afford to give.

 - Charlotte Bronté (Jane Eyre)


Here's to inward treasures.

Manifesting Generator: I Need A Space To House My Collections

Or maybe I need to shrink my collections. Or maybe I just need a shrink! Here is my vision:

 

I am now ready to receive this space!

Also with some room to work on projects, if you don't mind. Every day I think of a new design I want to implement for a chandelier, a textile, furniture...

Waiting.

Barn Conversion Project

Since returning from life in Italy I have taken on a big project: convereting a barn to a house...while living in it! It didn't seem like such a bad idea when we moved in in the summertime, but now that the cold and damp is here (we're in the redwoods) I realize just how difficult it is to do simple things, like painting the rooms. The temperature is so low in this barn that the paint takes ages to dry. Just the same it's been a fun creative process, taking an empty shell and getting to decide which part will be the kitchen, which will be the bedrooms and so on. It reminds me so much of building forts in the yard when I was little, making something out of what's at hand: salvage, found objects and hand-me-downs.

 

 

My bedroom area was just sort of thrown together when we moved in and I put most of my effort into making the kitchen and office functional. Yesterday while I was having my morning coffee it occurred to me that part of the reason I was feeling so cold in here is that most of the walls are white. That can work in a space filled with sun and natural light. This place is not. I stared at the wall behind my bed trying to decide what color I'd like it to be. I decided that even though it's too cold to paint right now I desperately needed to warm-up that sleeping 'nook' temporarily.

 

Before:

 After:

 

Wooden boxes from Florence, India & Greece; 1940s handpainted silk lampshade:

 

On the bed: vintage India print spread & vintage chinoiserie pillow; on the wall: 1920s silk brocade spread & my original embroidery art:

I'll be documneting the process here: Barn Project

Now, when Marcel is an adult and someone asks him, "Were you raised in a barn?" He can say, "Yes!"

Craig's List in Sleepy Santa Cruz...

Why is it taking me forever to sell amazing things at amazing prices on Craig's List these days? Is it the economy or is it that Santa Cruz has never really embraced great design? My usual customers were 95% of the time from San Francisco but now that I live further afield things have stalled. How will I ever move with all of this stuff??? My mate Dave in London has one word for me: charity. "Ah Dave. Do I have to?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A signed Campuzano original (he's a turn-of the-to mid-century artist from Bilbao, Spain for goodness sake!!):

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, someone needs to come with a big truck and just back it up to my house. Preferrably someone who wants to open a shop! It's all here. Everything you need to go into business...except for the customers! Help!