SERENDIPITY RISING

ONE NIGHT STANDS

2012-01-16T14:59:00.000-08:00

Have not had so much opportunity to spend time in the studio lately. I sometimes miss the immediacy and gratification that it provides. These night stands have been floating around in my head for a while now and squeezed in the chance to pull them together this week. Bringing something from whim to finish without any complication/sidetracks is restorative and invigorating, clean and simple.

And how about that Rough Linen?

Check out roughlinen.com

HOUSEKEEPING

2012-01-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

I am putting together a catalog of design works.

Have a gander.

projectdesignfiles.blogspot.com

Call or email with any questions.

Check back by clicking on the image/follow the link at the top right of this blog:

STARTING THE NEW YEAR WITH A BANG.....AND A JACK HAMMER

2011-12-30T13:46:00.000-08:00

Peeling back years of alterations and reconfigures and now nearly down to its essence and ready to begin anew; this house project in Saint Helena is well underway. It is interesting to see the process in reverse, removing the skin and getting back down to the structure and then rebuilding the program and relationships of spaces. Views and volumes are opening up. Stay tuned.....

and best wishes for a healthy, happy, and very creative NEW YEAR!

WHY I DO WHAT I DO

2011-12-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

It is the thrill of the hunt. The realization/materialization of ideas stirred up in your head and then formed with hands with care. It is proportion, scale, material and texture and craftsmanship coming together to make something that was not there before and something that in some way sings. I believe that architecture is a language that speaks to you as you make it and also as you later experience it. Firmness, commodity and delight? Seems simple enough.

TRIPPING THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

2011-10-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

Momentum.....It is funny sometimes how a job delayed can wallow in some purgatory. And then the time comes to finish what you started and the energy that was denied re-ignites and is made whole. Had made this light fixture some time ago and had planned the bulb scheme but in the rush to get it hung had bypassed/put off some of the details. Now wired per intent it does the job and the light does shine brightly!

AND SO IT BEGINS.....

2011-09-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

SITE PLAN

EAST ELEVATION

SOUTH ELEVATION

WEST ELEVATION

NORTH ELEVATION

SOUTH ELEVATION

WEST ELEVATION

The large strokes of the design are complete. The permit is in hand. Starting to rise in the hills above Napa is this family home. The site and the view are inspirations. The client and builder trainorbuilders.com are determined and inspired. Pieces and material from the old house will be re-used and find a new purpose.

CONCRETE SLAB FLOOR WITH HYDRONIC HEATING

THE BOARD FORMED CONCRETE COLUMNS LOOKING WEST

SLAB AND COLUMNS

LOOKING WEST

DETAIL OF BOARD FORMED CONCRETE COLUMNS

VIEW TO HOUSE FROM SITE OF POOL

DETAIL OF COLUMN FORMS

FUTURE CEMENT WASHED BBQ/OUTDOOR KITCHEN DOORS?

SOUTH WALL

FORMS ON COLUMNS

BEGINNING OF VIEW FROM OUTDOOR KITCHEN/DINING

VIEW OF ADJACENT VINEYARD JUST BEING PLANTED

SERENDIPITY RISES AGAIN

2011-09-04T23:19:00.000-07:00

They agonized about if they should bring her from the East coast. After all they remembered the story about how she came to be theirs. They saw her advertised in the paper once and were intrigued. Really? A 1959 Chris Craft Cavalier and she runs? Really? He took a drive over to see her. He saw her sitting in the driveway and he was sure that she winked at him. He did his best to look her over and kicked her tires ever so skeptically (but inside ever so gently), she already had him. He asked the price and was a bit crestfallen, but still he was smiling inside. She lingered in his mind and he kept checking the paper and thinking. One day he looked and she was gone. He took a drive by the house just to check on her. She was gone. He figured well maybe she was not meant to be. Oh well. He moped a bit but figured, well she was more expensive than they really could afford. A few weeks later she told him to look at this ad in the paper. Isn't that the same kind of boat that you saw? Wow, that is so weird. What are the chances of another 1959 CC showing up? Ah, but the tele number is different (thats an Eastern Shore number isn't it?)
You know we are going to be driving past there when we go to the beach aren't we? Short cut. She came home with them and became part of the family. She became a Round Bay regular. The sailboaters dutifully sneered a little at her but I know that inside they smiled too. Tubing, skiing, going to Annapolis for an ice cream cone with the black lab (Corbu RIP); she became dear. Fast forward, the family moved to California and brought her with them. She missed the river. They missed the river. She sat under a tarp, went into storage and she felt so dry. Years later she found a nook under the house that they had built. She was not in the water but she was finally close to them again. The son remembered the times on the river. He had the skills somehow, he had the will, he made it his summer project when he was not working to bring her back. He cleaned her. He repainted her bottom. He replaced her wiring. He convinced her engine that she could still run like the wind. He gave her the love that she always knew was there just waiting.

They drove out to the lake and lowered her down the ramp and into the water. They piled in like the old days. They waited and watched as the son turned the key. She let out a roar, a deep throaty roar. The water gurgled and sputtered. The little thumb throttle turned up and she slowly, beautifully moved forward in the water, and then not so slowly. The family smiled, the water caressed her, she winked again.....

NAPA VALLEY BARN TOUR

2011-08-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

THE RED POLE BARN AT ROUND POND

I am happy to be participating in the annual Napa Valley Barn Tour this weekend. It is hosted by Preservation Napa Valley www.preservationnapavalley.org/upcomingevents/2011barntour.html. The barn tour highlights a variety of Napa Barns and sites of interest. The Hub barn this year is Round Pond's www.roundpond.com Beautiful pole barn. The barn is a spectacular, large and very linear space; architectural clarity and simplicity at its finest. The hub barn hosts speakers, a brunch, and entertainment and is the jumping off point for the tour. I have put together an "Art Lounge". I used some of the agricultural posts that were stacked in the barn as a backdrop. A barn inspired white on white panel constructed of perforated and sculpted wood strips. A large zinc and mesh clad light fixture hangs from the rafters above. The large low slab table is made from used French Oak dominoes (used to flavor wine). A crate chair and route blanc sling back chair anchor the two ends and a long dark bench curbs the other. A pair of hefty white bowls from Pope Valley artist Richard Carter www.richardcarterstudio.com rests on the table. I hope you can make it. If not be sure to get on the mailing list for next years event.

THE ART LOUNGE

WHITE PANEL, MESH AND ZINC, FRENCH OAK, RICHAR CARTER BOWLS

CRATE CHAIR

WHAT A SPACE!

DETAIL OF WHITE PANEL

OUTSIDE IN

GROOVY?

2011-08-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

A good friend who happens to make some very nice wine advivumcellars.com/ad_vivum_wine dropped of a stack of used French Oak the other day. I am grateful to have friends that look after me in that way/participate in my obsession to turn one thing into another. Pieces like I had not seen before. They were long square profile block like beads strung on heavy fishing line. They are used when fermenting wine in stainless tanks to impart some oak flavor. Immediately I had found the material I had been seeking for a door screen/filter that I had envisioned for the door from our bath onto the front loggia/poolside. I rounded up some antique african trade beads and some other beads made from recycled cut and sandblasted plate glass and voila the screen was made. The rubber barrel bungs and steel weights hang at the base, the wood oak blocks still with residue/patina and accumulation due to use in the process of winemaking are interspersed with the random glass chunks. It filters the light, gives some privacy and adds to the the ceremony of going through a door.

I still remember moving into a house bought by my parents as a child that had a very old set of strung shell curtains hung between a doorway. I remember the sound and sensation of passing through that opening. I also come back to memories of living in Provence and passing old farmhouses with the "chenille" hanging in the front doorways. There it was a way of keeping what flying critters there were out of the doorway while still allowing some light and airflow. It is a very simple thing but I am reminded that as a person who makes things and designs things I/we have the opportunity to impart simple pleasures that effect the process of our everyday lives and enrich that encounter. It is clear to me that impression can be meaningful and lasting.

Thanks Chris

COLOR ME HAPPY

2011-07-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

Found an interesting app that has been a fun way to keep a pic/diary of work and small views. Can insert pics, choose different filters, for an auto effect=instant altered point of view. Try it. Free and fun. instagram.com And thanks Leslie for the intro.

HAPPY 4TH

2011-07-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

COOL POOL HOUSE

2011-06-08T23:33:00.000-07:00

I am just finishing a project that I would like to share with you. There are two buildings on the property. One is called the pool house and the other a guest house. The guest house I will get to in a later post. The pool house is a small hollow brick building built in the 1920's. It has great old steel windows and sits in the middle of a vineyard. This is what she looked like when I first saw it.....

the front

the back

yes that is a moon gate (there were two)

the pantry

the pizza oven

It has come together, it has been transformed. A shade structure and firepit were built. Some walls lost some walls gained. New paint, new kitchen, new bath. It is a mix of pieces found and pieces made. It reflects the owners passions and warmth. To cut to the chase.....

this is what she looks like now.....

the refurbished front door with inscribed lead trim (the client is an avid cyclist)

wine domino table

crate chair

old galvanized wash pan

view from the dining side

black beauty bench

old galvanized wash pan

linen quilted back pad on bench

route blanc table

Italian mountain passes hammered into steel at edge

old tobacco barn oak from Blacks Farmwood

blacksfarmwood.com

detail of working women painting on board found at Obsolete in Venice CA

obsoleteinc.com

steel windows were stripped and then raw steel was waxed

the new powder room

bluestone floor from Bay Area Bluestone

bayareabluestone.com

mirror made from 1930 SF Chronicle blotter paper

bowl carved from boulder

office magnet wall and beater lamp

old milk can

view from new kitchen

new kitchen

tile from Mosaic House

mosaichse.com

1920's green lunch box

new pantry

stair to cellar

truck ice sign and soapstone counter/hemp sacking curtain

newly made in the shade

Passo Gavia bench

zinc back

time to party

next time, guest house.....

FOR MOTHERS

2011-05-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

My wife received this card today; made and sent by our eldest daughter Lauren who is away at college. These pictures do not do it any justice but I am in awe. As a father, I am in debt to all the mothers that made that possible. To all the mothers out there, thank you for all that you do.....

TAH-DAH

2011-02-12T16:08:00.000-08:00

Breadmakers Klismos chair 1

redwood slab seat, bone inlay, handrail legs, 1/2 an antique wooden dough bowl as the back

The work is finished. The show is hung. I hope you enjoy it. The exhibit runs through April 30, 2011 at the Napa Valley Museum. Thanks Jennifer for all your hard work!

www.napavalleymuseum.org

Garden Variety Nest

old split rail redwood fencing and various farm discards

Top view of Klismos chair

Bloom Cabinet

cabinet clad in discarded flower box tin, old rivet strike handle

Nuts, Trading Places, Brush Work, and La Bella Figura

acorns, antique glass trade beads, much loved brushes

fence posts, ebony/ivory piano keys, old fence wire and mesh, garden stakes, trash can bodice

Broad Side and La Bella Figura

old plywood, barn siding. gunshot barn cladding, a barrel bung and used oak flooring

view from the back

Liar/Lair painting, No Time Like the Present Sun Dial, and Sunlight

Lead roofing an old Walnut root, window sash weight, old water pipes, tin and an old steel blade

Close up

Spare Room painting,Nail fetish Box, Dark horse Desk

Route Blanc Chair and Piege
redwood slabs, bone inlay, old hemp sacking, old strap style barbed wire, shovel handle

view toward La Bella Figura and Broad Side

Confundus detail

SAVE THE DATE!

2011-01-17T19:00:00.000-08:00

I am in the final fury, preparing for a show at the Napa Valley Museum. Saturday 12 February at 5:30 pm is the opening reception. Please join me and four other Northern California artists for a show themed around found materials "Art from recycled elements". The exhibit runs through April 30th. Hope you can come and see.

www.napavalleymuseum.org

BENCH SCRAPS

MORE SCRAP

OLD WALNUT ROUNDS FROM KLEO'S TREE, BRUSHES, DOG BONE

ONCE DEAD PIANO KEYS

LATHE-BOAT-LIGHT

TRADING PLACES

RED

TIME TO MOVE ON.....

2011-01-11T10:39:00.000-08:00

It has always been a rejuvenating act to me to pack away the last of the old year and I am energized to embark on this new year. I have been lucky to be able to meet some of you that I have been introduced to via this blog and others. I hope to meet more in the coming year. I wish you all a very inspiring year!

HOLIDAY HOME TOUR

2010-12-03T23:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all who came to the Holiday Home tour. The rain held off just long enough and the crowds came. It was fun to meet some new friends and catch up with some old. Hardly had a chance to take any pics the day of, so these will have to do. Enjoy and have a happy holiday and best of luck in the new year!

Now that is a yule log!

Persimmons, mossy Oak branches, seville orange branches and old hotel silver

Rosemary and burlap from used coffee sacks

Lucca guarding the yule

New Route Blanc chair

Tablescape, cranberries, moss, olives asparagus and old gilt

Lemons and clementines in the bedroom

Stockings at the ready

An ode to our loved old dog Corbu (always seemed more seal than dog) RIP

Very thin Santa

More of St. Nick

Pommegranates and a very red ladder

New round table edged in Edna Saint Vincent Millay

Old Earthen Santons from Provence

Route Blanc chair from the back.....saw blades at the edge

old sacking

Bone inlay

Route Blanc..... the road less travelled

Star of old paint brushes

The home fires burning

Persimmon harvest

Entry and stairs to guest room aglow

Boys night out

The entry gauntlet

The boys are still out

Tree made of cut-offs and discards from the years projects

Old feed tub, now la Source

Garden gate with seville orange and persimmon

Cedar walk

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2010-11-25T09:59:00.000-08:00

All the kids are home from school, my parents are in town and it is a spectacular fall day. Started the morning with a run and rounded the corner to catch this light blasting through the small oval in the entry. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. The family, the friends , the food, mostly just the time to sit back and be a little thankful for the things that go right, and being able to do something that I love and have people actually appreciate it.

Happy Thanksgiving.

HOME TOUR ANYONE?

2010-11-15T17:24:00.000-08:00

This December we are participating in the St. Helena Schools Holiday Home Tour. This annual event features homes in the Napa Valley decorated for the holidays. This is a fundraiser for the St. Helena Primary and Elementary School Parent Group- a worthy cause! With 6 homes on the tour you are bound to find some great inspiration! For information, please see www.sthelenaholidayhometour.org. Hope to see you.

NAPA VALLEY MUSEUM SHOW

2010-11-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

What to do? I am planning a show of my work at the Napa Valley Museum to open in Feb 2011. It is starting to come together. Maybe a nest at the entrance to draw you in? A show makes me ask myself again what it is that I am trying to do? It is an opportunity to take a snapshot of the current evolution of my work, it is an experiment in a different kind of space. I have had meetings with the museums director and exhibit committees, measured the space and it has been an education to talk about my work from the exhibit point of view and to hear about how other people view it and envision an exhibit of it. Choosing what pieces to include or to make for the show; how to lay them out in the space, how I would like them to be viewed, how the show should unfold; it is an opportunity for me to view my work from a different angle, to stand back and re-examine its purpose. Function and Art, Art and its function, function is art? Art is its function? To be continued.....

GAME ON

2010-10-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

Just finished this wall sculpture:

They showed up just at the right time. They were regular guys. Some were a little "rough" around the edges. They were discards, used.....but not used up. There was not a superstar among them. Not one of them "too" fond of the limelight. But like those in the past have shown, it does not take a "superstar" , what it takes is a team. A team that can count on one of its guys filling the slot that needs to be filled, and getting the job done that needs to be done. Misfits.....I don't see it that way. Maybe, they are just the team for the times. Good luck guys. Make it a good series. Fight hard and entertain us all.....and.......GO GIANTS!

FOLLY

2010-10-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I return to my roots. I still feel the tug of those Italian renaissance architectural models. In the spirit of those is this sideboard. It is the color of liquid honey, rubbed and burnished. The top is dark waxed steel. The drawers are mounted at the sides and the pull is articulated as a window opening. The doors are concealed in the architecture, there are small strips of bone inlay at the base of the arch at the center and atop the keystone is a small gilt pot-au-feu (pot of fire) anchoring the center.

RACK IT UP

2010-10-11T21:40:00.000-07:00

Just finished a large wall hung plate rack. Headed to Bennett Galleries. www.bennettgalleries.com Destined to anchor a good wall and frame a bevy of dishes. Very graphic, inlaid with bone discs and bands, carved oddities all-over, small wrought steel pulls on thin cabinets at the base.

WALKABOUT

2010-09-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

It was brought to my attention that while I have focused on many parts of this project in Saint Helena I have not given a very good overview. What is the sum of all those parts? This post is an attempt to give a more complete view. I live in a state of comfortable upheaval. Change is the constant. This project is my experiment, my laboratory, my sketchbook. This is a bit of a walk through. I will follow with a view from the outside looking in.

THE ROOST

2010-09-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

When we lived in Provence a favorite pastime of mine was to mentally collect images of pigeonniers. A pigeonnier is a coop for pigeons often in the form of a tower. They have characteristics typical to the region you find them. It was an early predecessor to todays email. (If only today's email would leave behind such a mark). The house we rented had one atop of the rock outcropping. Next to it was a small 16th century watch tower. As someone was spotted coming along the road by the watchman a pigeon was loosed and sent to the neighboring chateau with the particulars of who was coming/crossing the domain. The forms were simple and the interiors were riddled with roosts for incoming or outgoing pigeons.

The area and the country is dotted with these vestiges of an ancient form of communication. They are signal towers. Some spare and utilitarian others more celebrated.

The Style Saloniste has an interesting post highlighting San Francisco photographer Vicki Topaz's work capturing some of these structures, albeit from a different region. www.thestylesaloniste.com/2010/08/photographer-i-admire-vicki-topaz.html? or www.vickitopaz.com

As part of our building project I built a rendering/homage to these structures. It's shape is typical of those found in Provence; square and tall and lean. It sits off to the side of the main rear porch. It is a small eddy of calm. Exiting the end of the porch onto a small catwalk you turn left and pierce the back wall of the pigeonnier. The inside is walled with small open faced compartments/niches that in our case usually hold candles or objects, and otherwise just make a strangely enveloping graphic. We suspended a large bed. One side is opened to the view of the neighboring vineyard. From here the landscape is all that can be seen. It is remarkably quiet and "away" from all the rest. At night it is like walking into a lantern floating above the olive grove. It is a place to rest, to sketch /or contemplate new ideas, to read, to cuddle, gather and lounge, or an alternative place to sleep and recharge, and dream.....

BLACK BEAUTY

2010-08-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

A bench is not just a bench. It can be an envelope, a scenic overlook, a shelter, a dias, a cocoon, a place to hang your hat, rest your head and prop your feet. Something to hold on to, something that holds on to you; a bench to be sure, with no excuses, and no pretense, but not under any circumstance just a bench.

STATE OF GREY

2010-08-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

Come in in.....

Hanging around

Crevasse

Not just for Holy water any more

Like an aviary/roost the pediment nods

The side dutifully hangs

A stair model that never was to be more than just a model.....well, maybe not just yet

Her inseam is very sharp

Just finished

OLD BLUE / NEW BLUE

2010-08-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

Something found and something blue, or at least just a hint of blue. Lots of work done by all these things; each with a story to tell. Most of these pieces have been sitting in the studio after being "found" someplace, or came with the house, or were buried in the yard. Tool heads, some old barrel base oak, the old barrier boards to the crawl space, part of our old stove, and a great flywheel from ??? No shortage of metal bits around here. A leftover piece of angel wing and an exotic bell. There is something that both stirs and soothes/reassures my creativity in making these "found" objects. It has all come together and is now ready to roll into its next incarnation.....BLUE.

CORNER OFFICE

2010-08-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

A tongue,a fig, a tripod and a REAL corner

The way in

Sample trove

Saw blade, hemp, music sheets and Un Hui carving

The reds

The black and whites

The drafting corner Great grandpa Rafaello's red stool from the Bella Vista

My big cup, Wiz's wayward post-it, clay marbles and Chinese feet

Linen and Hemp and African glass

Sample trove behind the curtain

Light at night

Same Rafaello's builders bible, from when there was one.....

Sample trove cabinet

Strays

Madonna gone, Favorite kid pic, my tete a tete bench in St. Remy, confirmed luddite tools of the trade, chain saw Doris

An Oursin (urchin) basket from Cassis, some pipe, a flower frog, and a gear, now a light

Strays up close

At long last? After spending 50 years as a kitchen the last of the cabinets have either been taken to the dump or re-hung in the paint area of the studio. The walls have been patched and painted and the coolest steel windows have been stripped down and cleaned up. The new travertine has replaced the worn linoleum and before I knew it the drafting table and sample trove have found a home. It is a merging of pieces orphaned in too long temporary quarters. All with a view of the young olive grove. A corner office, REALLY?

TICKLE

2010-07-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

She was used up. She had laid dormant and still for thirty years, no tune, no touch. She was stationed in the "winery," rumor has it at one time the "casbah." The place she sat was sold and the "winery" became the "studio." She remained and was unperturbed. The artist worked alongside her for three years. Sure, he stacked things upon her. She seemed invisible. He even stripped some of the ivory from her fingers. He did not see her insides. Until one day it was time.....Too much debris, all those pieces and scraps that he would someday use had instead become an obstacle to progress. She got caught up in the storm. He actually took a sledge hammer to her. She wailed in deep vibrating tones. Not so much protest, but a release of stored passion. Then she showed him her insides and he was thrilled, he had rediscovered her. Each finger a work in and of itself. Some ivory left, her small lead counterweights could still swing. Her fierce red felt lining still seared. He made a light of her. Her soundboard still intact, he chopped that free with his hatchet and he hung it on the wall. She beamed.......and so did he.

2010-07-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

Featured on Remodelista

remodelista.com/posts/architect-visit-daniel-hale-saint-helena

Have a gander.

Architect Visit: Daniel Hale in Saint Helena

From Sarah

Daniel Hale studied architecture on the East Coast, lived and worked in St. Remy de Provence, France, for two years, and in 2002 moved to the Napa Valley, where he's worked on projects with notable designers such as Erin Martin, Mariette Himes-Gomez, and Stephen Shubel.

His own house in St. Helena is a work in progress, featuring an organic use of repurposed materials and layered with texure and handcrafted detail. Every piece and surface tells a story: "My inspiration comes from a variety of sources, including ancient art and architecture and modern works—a synthesis of old and new. I like the idea of taking objects and letting the materials shine for what they are, so that the end result is something greater than the sum of its parts."

Above: The travertine floor features pits and natural variation.

Above: Traditional stucco concrete walls and a chair made by Hale.

Above: The sofa is made from the wood crates (which contained the kitchen tiles).

Above: The kitchen cupboard on the right is made from salvaged window panes.

Above: Four poster bed made by Hale with candle holders atop each post.

Above: The light fixture, cupboard, and sliding window panels are all by Hale.

Above: View onto neighboring vineyards from the pigonnier.

Pictures taken by Douglas Sterling

www.DouglasSterling.com

BORN ON THE 4th OF JULY

2010-07-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

The most amazing experiment, that was born on the fourth of July 1776, is still a work in progress as it was intended to be. Thank you to those brave and strong and clever men that had laid such fertile ground for us all, and let us not forget those that have suffered to maintain that shining idea.

INCOG-NEATO

2010-06-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

Maybe I should not post after a couple of glasses of wine but here goes: I have come into posession of a very cool, very sexy "appliance" that i feel i should share with you all. (all of you that there are). I have struggled between feeling conspicuous carrying this around and worrying about dropping it or smooshing it under something in the studio. So here I have found a solution that both makes it mine, protects it from my hazardous lifestyle, and somehow juxtaposes its "apple magic" with just enough for me, luddite chic. It is an IPAD bound in a (set into) a wooden binding (think sketchbook). The cover is combed black over brown over wood (has a parchment panel) and was then waxed. The binding has a zinc plate with my initials and then a parchment tab with my lucky 13 homage to dewey. The inside surrounds flush to the IPAD and has a small thumb access to slip it out to recharge. The gilt lining flashes; winks at you. The inside cover is sheathed in an ancient music sheet, complete with musicians pencil scribble/notes. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have. I won't make you sit through one of the very cool slide shows of my pictures......Thanks again Glenn and Linda.

WALK THE LINE

2010-06-04T08:19:00.000-07:00

Just finished the surfacing of the stair to the guest area. I layered black over brown and ran a strip of lead sheeting up the middle. An ode to Johnny Cash and a built in sobriety test in the same stroke.

walk the line

At the base, two clones and a very large bung.

view back down

lead strip

cabinet at the top of the stair

attic hatch

top of stair

view at mid landing

oval window

Detail of light box with old art slides mounted inside.

same

view up

READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP

2010-05-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

A chest with some heft. Bone inlay, stamped lead frame at top of back, and a very special piece of green German glass laid over mirror, looking back at you. Saw tooth cut on top drawer; gilt and washed, and then waxed and rubbed warm. Articulated corners. Layers of paint worn through; rubbed on, and off, and clawed with fingers when wet.

DRAWING A BATH

2010-05-19T14:21:00.001-07:00

The way in.....the handle is a hand wrought rivet strike found at the Alameda flea market. The perforations in the door give just a hint..................

The shower is lined in bejmat tiles from morocco and the doorway surround is wrapped in zinc.

The ceiling is a flattened barrel vault made of reclaimed French oak. The crystal formations like salt rubbed into the grain.

A trove of linens take residence in a cabinet made of an old window sash. The sculpture on top was on our wedding cake (21 years ago)

The vanity and soapstone sink

The mirror frame is made of parchment (goatskin), the sconces are old mud shoes mounted on a steel plate. The mud shoes are wood, silver, and mother of pearl.

mud shoe sconce detail

The pivoting door

view from closet towards tub and perforated sliding privacy/light screen/shutter

linen case

Zinc clad tub surround and light/privacy screen

with one screen rolled over window

door to loggia and pool

view from shower toward the throne with limed poplar surround/cabinet

zinc top on limed cabinet and a thick waxed rubbed wooden frame

detail of limed poplar cabinet with waxed steel pulls and concealed flush?

high oval window and parchment mirror frame and barrel vault

vanity

detail, Moroccan tile, parchment frame, bird in hand

back of door and linen cabinet

view towards loggia and pool

RAW STEEL AND A BIT OF SUNSHINE

2010-03-29T15:41:00.001-07:00

Putting some of the finishing touches on the front porch. Finally getting to the cladding on the pocket door housing. Decided to stretch some of the reclaimed redwood as trim only and inset panels of raw steel. I have stove blacked them and will give a coat of wax too. Love the color. After we temporarily placed the black roofing felt over the plywood sheathing it was hard to not stick with black.

WINE WALL

2010-03-04T15:29:00.000-08:00

Just installed this cabinet in a very beautiful house that Nicole Hollis interiors www.nicolehollis.com has pulled together with the help of an inspired client. Happy birthday HM. It is combed, rubbed and waxed black, on a wood frame with an inlay of lead and bone. I grooved in roman numerals I through XXXII, in the bone, at the center of each door horizontal. The entire house is a beautiful material mix of old stone reclaimed french oak floors limed fir and sandblasted pine. Hair on Hyde on the walls, great soft leathers, and hand troweled smooth colored plaster. Radiant floors, all run by a mile of geo-thermal tubing. Very green, very natural, and not a bit too crunchy. Very beautiful all around.

2010-03-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

Trish at www.trouvais.com passed on to me the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thanks Trish. I have really enjoyed pouring through her blog and always find her collection of images inspiring. She has a great aesthetic. Blogs like hers are what make scanning blogs worth doing for me. I would highly recommend stopping by her site. I am not really sure what to say about me getting a blogger award. Still consider myself a neophyte blogger. Still learning the ins and outs. I have found it to be a very useful outlet and creative diary and place to collect and objectify some of my thoughts. If it is a road that leads someplace I could not really say. Maybe thats not the point. So, evidently I am supposed to tell seven things about myself that people do not know. Not convinced that anyone wants to know these and I suspect that there are many more than just seven but here is a shot.

1. I went to the United States Naval Academy.

2. I have one filling.

3. I love to swim in very cold water.

4. The high Sierras are a piece of heaven to me.

5. So is Lucca.

6. I don't like cats, the exception being Antigone.

7. When I grow up I want to live on the Mediterranean.

Seven Blogs that I enjoy, obviously the too short list:

www.tradarchitecture.blogspot.com , an amazing eye

www.elizabethavedon.blogspot.com , pushes my outlook

www.spinthebottleny.com, good, plucky and intelligent gal, kind of my sister in law

www.dennyhollandstudio.blogspot.com , artful, inspiring, insightful

www.indecouroustaste.com , savage beauty

www.moroccanmaryam.typepad.com , great images, thoughtful, inspiring

www.kiva.org , what an idea, yeah I know its not a blog but watch the video

GOT PANTRY?

2010-02-23T20:46:00.000-08:00

finally a place for that

petanque?

the soapstone zinc on the zinc (ode to Baltimore)

from the loggia

closer

thats what happens when you lay an old boxspring in the yard and years later a tree grows through it (close in on the stump)

lead faced cabinet for the micro

Recently finished the pantry. It had been the last hold out in the "new" part of the house and the catch-all for stray construction odds and ends. Finally have some shelves for all the big stuff that we like so much. Had a great New Years bash and set up the drinks in there. I was happy to see people hang out in there, became part of the living space.

RISING IN PARALLEL

2010-02-03T20:30:00.000-08:00

At the same time that our home project in California was issuing forth, back in Maryland another project was rising from the foundation (and then some) of a previous home that sat on a beautiful hill in what was once a portion of the park of the old Wroxeter mansion that sits on a bluff above the Severn river. The clients for this project had purchased a home that we had forged back in 1994 when we lived in Round Bay on the same Severn river. They had decided that they wanted to move to a more spacious and private setting. We were engaged to do the design of this new project for them. As it turned out we also furnished many of the pieces and some of the details built in to the home. It was a collaboration between designer, client, and builder that I have truly come to appreciate and one that I will treasure. The clients and builder were an inspiration to work with. Finishes were deliberated upon, samples ordered, shipments delayed but finally sent. A great deal of the work was accomplished from afar via email, culminating in a month-plus long visit and fabrication/immersion. It has gladly been christened in its new incarnation. I wish it and it's new family the most sincere happiness. And I thank them and the entire team that worked to build it.

kitchen

rear facade

front

kitchen

the crew?

boat lamp

front double bay/window seat

upstairs window seat

kitchen

pool

mudroom bench

sunroom

front

entry

kitchen

bathroom tile

upstairs hall

lead clad bay

side view

front

carved casing

mudroom

E-room

kitchen

entry

kitchen

HOT SEAT

2010-01-27T12:42:00.000-08:00

Just finishing the final rub down of this piece. It will soon be on it's way to sunny Florida via the uber destination Bennett Galleries in Knoxville Tennessee. www.bennettgalleries.com There are few galleries in this country with such an arsenal of resources.

SWEET DREAMS

2010-01-19T08:55:00.000-08:00

There is a beautiful new house coming together with the help of an inspired and determined owner and a team of makers. Nicole Hollis interiors is spearheading the design work. www.nicolehollis.com We just installed this bed in the master bedroom. There will be better pictures of it to follow but you can begin to get the idea.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE STUDIO

2010-01-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

The elephant in the studio at the moment is a large and beautiful four poster bed. It is set to be installed in the next week and I will post some pics once it is in place. More later...........

HAPPILY BLUE!

2010-01-07T19:12:00.000-08:00

A couple of posts ago a large blue piece made her debut. I am happy to say that she beat the latest dose of snow on the East Coast and is happily ensconced in her new home.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-12-31T23:28:00.001-08:00

To start the new year we are resurrecting an old tradition of having a new year brunch. It has been on hiatus for more than a few years now but Excuses about having a house under construction are wearing pretty thin. One of the best things about this time of year is having the opportunity to gather our friends and family around us and take the time to not take them for granted. I often say that I have got to be one of the luckiest men alive to be able to do what I do and actually have people appreciate it but that can hardly compare to that rare and special combo that is my family. Chris, Lauren, Owen, and Tilly, you inspire me. Happy New Year! Love, D

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

2009-12-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

We have reached that time of year when you have done just about all you can do. It is a time to retreat into the cocoon of family and friends. Celebrate the triumphs and reflect upon the failures and know that it can be new again. I look forward to just sitting in front of a roaring fire and watching it's movement, letting its warmth wash over me. Shake off all that high design angst and go sledding and build a snowman! I wish you all a very happy holiday and an exuberant start to the new year. Thanks for having a look and see you next year!

Daniel

ALLEZ LES BLEUS

2009-12-17T09:31:00.000-08:00

Ready to pick up today and heading back East to one of my favorite clients and friends is this biblio cabinet. It was conceived as a fresh upstart cousin to a piece that I made almost twenty years ago. They will join ranks in a house that I designed that is just being finished (hopefully a post for another day). Inlaid with bone, ebony and lead, and gilt French oak, with waxed steel pulls. Thank you Glenn and Linda for your patronage and friendship.

JUST IN TIME TO COOK

2009-11-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

At long last the details are coming together in the kitchen. Not that we had not been using it, but countertops and drawer fronts are a plus, not to mention doors on the cabinets. I guess it is one of the hazards of doing this for a living. Kind of like the cobbler who's family has no shoes. Our home has always been part showroom, part experiment, and another part open ended mystery. I like to call it comfortable upheaval. I am sure it has been referred to using other words too. Thanksgiving is just around the bend. It is my favorite holiday. Just family and friends and food without the angst of gift getting. I am very happy with the way it has turned out. Turned out so far that is........Thank you Glenn and Linda and Morocco for the tile, Waleed for the small sculpture, Chris for your patience. Happy Thanksgiving!

BRUSSELS SPROUTS ANYONE?

2009-11-09T10:01:00.000-08:00

LIGHT MY FIRE

2009-11-04T14:05:00.000-08:00

Just in time for what the locals call winter here the fireplace mantles are finished. The power of a fire is hard to explain but suddenly it feels a lot more like home now. Scrubbed pine, waxed steel, zinc sheeting with small brass pins and stone all came together. The bedroom version is gas and frames only the flame and its reflection through a bronze screen.

BOO

2009-11-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

She was a little bit empty headed but she had such a great set of horns. Happy Halloween.

READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP

2009-10-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

WHO SAID GOD IS IN THE DETAILS?

2009-09-24T09:10:00.000-07:00

Most of these shots were taken by my daughter Lauren who is a sophomore architecture major at UCLA. Sometimes a different point of view makes me see my work in new ways. Thanks, Lauren

SKETCH

2009-09-19T08:53:00.000-07:00

This is about how it goes........ These are a few sketches of some varied work. I sometimes struggle to capture and express for a client what I have in mind. It is a great tool for me prior to actually putting something together. By getting some of the kinks out ahead of time it allows me some of the immediacy that I prefer when making the piece.

RE-PURPOSING/GOING GREENER ?

2009-09-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

More and more I am using recycled materials. I have always considered myself pretty green friendly. Though honestly
it is as much, if not more, the nature of some of these materials that draws me. A painted surface that has oxidized, wood that has silvered under the weather. Galvanized metal that has started to rust. Old wire that has rusted and been burnished with use. It is hard to compete with time. A good friend Denise has not exactly fallen for the sofa made from our stone crates from Turkey but I am sure that it is growing on her.

Re-purposing also has its rewards. I have been stockpiling bits of "found objects" that eventually will find their place in some sculpture. I found some old growth redwood railroad ties that had been re-purposed in the 40's as fence posts in Los Banos on a cattle operation. Over time the weather and cows had worn them into beautiful totems. Not sure what my use will be but I think they are too good to pass on.

The barrel vault on the ceiling of the bathroom is sheathed in wine stained oak. The crystallized deposits almost like salt rubbed into the grain.

Scaffold boards have been beaten into a finish like driftwood. Makes a great base for a large low- slung zinc topped coffee table.

Have you ever seen a mud shoe? I am not really sure of the era but they are wood inlaid with silver and mother of pearl. We found them at a flea market a few years ago. They are now sconces in the bathroom. The shades are made from spools of rebar tie wire.

My front doors material had been hidden under the old stucco for 60 years. It was the old barn siding from the house's original purpose. I would never have chosen the color but its perfect. Back doors, too, are cousins from an old drying shed. The pattern of the slats, worn over time.

I found some great old corrugated that came from an old barn and used them as part of the fence around the pool.

The kids call it the cereal cabinet. The center of it is an old dutch dough bowl. I had to plane the surround of it flat. then set it into a cabinet made of grey/white waxed poplar. I would love to see an entire wall made of these bowls, some of which can get large.

On the hall ceiling are a pair of lights made from old glass art slides. The light projects on to the ceiling and walls.

Reclaimed redwood planks are now my garden gate. Strips of galvanized steel as battens.

If you ever get to Petaluma there is a treasure trove of materials salvaged from near and far. http://heritagesalvage.com/buildingmaterials.html Peruse their website and you will get the idea. As I write this I am realizing just how far into this I have gotten. I didn't even tell you about the lichen covered fir 2x8's that I am having re-sawn to cover the pocket door housing.

GETTING THERE

2009-08-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I am reminded of just how lucky I am to do what I do. Granted, I am still figuring out myself what it is that I do. For those of you who know me, you will know that I am nearing what I will call the first stage of completion of another house project. This one has taken more than its usual share of twists and turns but like most things once you forget the pain it is very gratifying. The pool was just filled and finally the grand pit that was a front yard is now starting to feel like it wants to be there. The inside is getting coaxed along too. The way it works for me tends to be fitful and sometimes furious.

2009-08-08T07:30:00.000-07:00

new front porch

dining porch

entry doors

guest wing

under

the before

As the dust is beginning to settle my latest endeavor is starting to take shape. The details are coming together. Colors and finishes,tile on the slow boat from Morocco finally arrived and is more perfect than I imagined. The travertine from Turkey Has beautiful color and variation. The Zollo family of stucco and plaster genius has given me walls to love. And yes even the pool will soon be wet. Kleo's house and parcel still holds me under it's spell. I wake up with the new light warming the post of the back porch. As I write this I realize how much there is, or could be, to post here. It may take me some time to get into the swing of this Blog thing.