I should have posted this earlier so you can 'see' the entire chandelier in all its magnificent glory. Looking forward to taking a night shot; as it creates an amazing and romantic glow.
13 September 2007
PALETTE
11 September 2007
PALETTE
Photo by Royce Addington
I am behind schedule on an assignment (can anyone else relate to this?) and found myself becoming fairly ‘stressed’. So, what do I do but click on the IMT site this morning to see how I might procrastinate myself away from the inner critics parading around in my head. BUT…I recognized what I was doing (patting myself on the back for that) and decided to try a new antidote…to step away from my normal frittering (on great and challenging stuff but NOT what I should be doing) and try an experiment; one that brings the FUN FACTOR into play! I am going to weave the IMT theme of palette with my assignment.
I have the privilege and good fortune to be working on a writing and photographic gig for submission to a design magazine. Before reading the next sentence, start humming in your mind that old famous tune…House of the Rising Sun. Ok…now go on.
There is a house in old Key West.
They call it the FolliMar.
It’s been in ruins for too many years.
But now, it’s a shining star!
The above photo was taken in the upstairs gallery of FolliMar. You are looking at the bottom of a nine foot chandelier which has been custom made from a collection of antique chandeliers salvaged from places, literally, scattered across the globe...from New Orleans to Paris to Belgium and back. This extraordinary fixture works on an automatic crank and can be lowered to the first floor living and dining room. It is not an understatement to say that this electrical creation is an amazing and ingenious design element because it works within the scale of the house…without pretense, ostentation or conceit. This magnificent chandelier is, in fact, the new heart for the 118 year old notorious Grande Dame.
What is a crystal chandelier if not an elegant, beautiful and inherently magical instrument that solidifies light and refracts into colour. Add to that deep yellow walls, a large gorgeous mirror and expanses of window; it feels as though you have stepped through an iridescent looking glass, glistening with the energy of a sunny bright morning or the candlelit glow of a golden magical evening.
When we study this palette and go a bit deeper, we realize that in addition to yellow, there are shimmers and glimpses of white, gold, orange, brown, bronze and yes, green, red and blue. So there it is again. Yellow, Red and Blue…a limited palette yet the holy trinity of all colour!
Palette: a perfectly mysterious word which represents that magic place where colours meet and alchemize into other colours and tonalities; true shape-shifters in every sense of the concept. The thought comes to mind that palette just may be the heartbeat of all artistic expressions. Colour affects our emotions, our moods, our spiritual awareness, our eating habits, our work habits, our sleep habits, our romance, our attention span, our grief and, joy of joys, our happiness and contentment. We are truly creatures of the light and the shadows and every shade in between.
Even after many years in the design biz (too many to quantify- lol), I still remain in awe of the power and energetic life force of a palette. If I’ve learned anything at all about the power of palette…like energy and light… it is alive, fickle, and can be maddeningly unpredictable or breathtakingly gorgeous.
To realize how much a palette really does affect what we do and how we live can be somewhat daunting! Artists, designers, psychologists and other professionals are really still ‘babes in the woods’; only scratching the surface of this vast artistic/scientific realm….kinda’ like quantum physics in a Crayola box!
Well…I’ve certainly wandered ‘off point’ of my assignment but that’s OK with me. Now, I’m ready to write the article! May we all live happily ever after in the palette of our dreams!
I have the privilege and good fortune to be working on a writing and photographic gig for submission to a design magazine. Before reading the next sentence, start humming in your mind that old famous tune…House of the Rising Sun. Ok…now go on.
There is a house in old Key West.
They call it the FolliMar.
It’s been in ruins for too many years.
But now, it’s a shining star!
The above photo was taken in the upstairs gallery of FolliMar. You are looking at the bottom of a nine foot chandelier which has been custom made from a collection of antique chandeliers salvaged from places, literally, scattered across the globe...from New Orleans to Paris to Belgium and back. This extraordinary fixture works on an automatic crank and can be lowered to the first floor living and dining room. It is not an understatement to say that this electrical creation is an amazing and ingenious design element because it works within the scale of the house…without pretense, ostentation or conceit. This magnificent chandelier is, in fact, the new heart for the 118 year old notorious Grande Dame.
What is a crystal chandelier if not an elegant, beautiful and inherently magical instrument that solidifies light and refracts into colour. Add to that deep yellow walls, a large gorgeous mirror and expanses of window; it feels as though you have stepped through an iridescent looking glass, glistening with the energy of a sunny bright morning or the candlelit glow of a golden magical evening.
When we study this palette and go a bit deeper, we realize that in addition to yellow, there are shimmers and glimpses of white, gold, orange, brown, bronze and yes, green, red and blue. So there it is again. Yellow, Red and Blue…a limited palette yet the holy trinity of all colour!
Palette: a perfectly mysterious word which represents that magic place where colours meet and alchemize into other colours and tonalities; true shape-shifters in every sense of the concept. The thought comes to mind that palette just may be the heartbeat of all artistic expressions. Colour affects our emotions, our moods, our spiritual awareness, our eating habits, our work habits, our sleep habits, our romance, our attention span, our grief and, joy of joys, our happiness and contentment. We are truly creatures of the light and the shadows and every shade in between.
Even after many years in the design biz (too many to quantify- lol), I still remain in awe of the power and energetic life force of a palette. If I’ve learned anything at all about the power of palette…like energy and light… it is alive, fickle, and can be maddeningly unpredictable or breathtakingly gorgeous.
To realize how much a palette really does affect what we do and how we live can be somewhat daunting! Artists, designers, psychologists and other professionals are really still ‘babes in the woods’; only scratching the surface of this vast artistic/scientific realm….kinda’ like quantum physics in a Crayola box!
Well…I’ve certainly wandered ‘off point’ of my assignment but that’s OK with me. Now, I’m ready to write the article! May we all live happily ever after in the palette of our dreams!
03 September 2007
FUN & GAMES
Once upon every Halloween Eve, on an enchanted tropical island far, far to the south; there is a magical event where adults are no longer adults but return to their wild child selves and participate with a happy and free heart in the great celebration known as Fantasy Fest!Think Cinderella, almost naked and air-brushed in amazing red roses; her carriage turns into a winged dolphin at midnight so she can take Peter Pan and Tinkerbelle for a ride as they return to Neverland!
This is what it feels like to participate in Fantasy Fest. Picture mature and serious ‘adults’ shedding their everyday ‘responsible’ personas (and often times their clothes). Like Superman stepping from his telephone booth; they are transformed from accountants, doctors, lawyers, business executives, parents, bankers, graphic artists, police officers, physical therapists, restaurant owners, teachers and any number of other respected occupations into…
(Please Note:
Keep scrolling down through multiple posts of Fun & Games.)
FUN & GAMES
Is this clothing optional Friday?
Nope...these are The Banker Fairy God Babes!
(Alias: The Staff of a local bank)
(Alias: The Staff of a local bank)
FUN & GAMES
The sixth grade teacher from the midwest takes off her shirt to experience a professionally air-brushed make-over into the butterfly that she is! What happens in Key West, stays in Key West.FUN & GAMES
This beautiful woman knows that in her heart of hearts she’s really a romantic pirate who should be sailing off into the sunset on the Black Pearl with Captain Jack Sparrow.FUN & GAMES
From all across the world (literally), over 100,000+ people remember their child within. For one alluring weekend, they come to Key West and celebrate their child’s heart and soul with enthusiasm and abandon. It is the party of parties! All are welcome. At no time is the Key West motto more truly exemplified as ONE HUMAN FAMILY. You might think that a gathering of this size would create a certain amount of chaos and problem. Remarkably, disruptions (usually due to excessive drinking) that sometimes result in arguments/fighting, crime or ugly prejudice are so minimal it’s not even worth mentioning. It’s almost as though everyone knows this place and time and experience is sacred; born from a deeper, energetic level where people of all races, religions, political views, sexual orientation and economic levels are just that… children of the universe that still believe in sharing love, laughter and joy.
"You can understand and relate to most people better if you look at them - no matter how old or impressive they may be - as if they are children. For most of us never really grow up or mature all that much - we simply grow taller. O, to be sure, we laugh less and play less and wear uncomfortable disguises like adults, but beneath the costume is the child we always are, whose needs are simple, whose daily life is still best described by fairy tales." From the American Educator Leo Rosten.
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