I can’t believe I don’t own any of Kiln Design Studio pieces. Just saw the White Collection and it’s stunning. So elegant and dainty and the copper trim is timeless. These pieces would look great in my all white boutique hotel!

I was going through a bunch of old magazines on my desk and came across a right up about Ian Davis in Elle Decor. His work has a curious illustrative quality that is almost cartoon-like. It’s clear his work is no joke, however. Driven by political innuendo, and topics like the destructiveness of our race, his topics are deep and often troubled. I couldn’t help but think he would be the perfect artist to illustrate the book “Momo” by Michael Ende, the story of a little orphan girl with the immense capacity to listen and understand the plight of people that visit her, who is threatened by the men in gray from the Time Savings Bank. I hope Ian has had a read. If not, I want to send him a copy. Anyone have his address?

I’ve recently become obsessed with organic shaped pottery; partially because I’ve seen a lot of great examples during my magazine devouring sessions, and also, one of my best friends, Kevin O’Shea, has recently stepped out on his own to do design of many things, one of which includes organic shaped pottery. I’ll have to post images of a gift he recently gave to me and my husband, which were nothing short of brilliant.  I digress, this Kiln Design votive holder is very sexy and rich. I would almost rather see it as a set of 5 for green tea service. I want one (or 5!). Available at kilnenamel.com ($200).  I guess I’ve had this pottery bug for a while now…when I moved from Tokyo to Denver in 2001 I carried 10 large plates and 10 salad plates (off white from Watashi no Heya) by hand, all of which I still use daily! No small feat considering my luggage ended up weighing 100 kilos and I carried it the whole way!!! Like a mule.

Contemporary architecture does not always equate to steel concrete and glass. It may include those things but it’s not the finish that defines the style. This barn happens to include the above mentioned finishes, but it is the form that defines it; rectilinear, clean, unembelished. It’s such a great design, and totally out of the box. We typically think of horse barns as red and white with a Gambrel roof, but not here! This example of work was done by Santa Fe architect Paul Richard, and I think it is extremely successful because he is so considerate of the vernacular of the region. I would love to see the surrounding buildings on this property~!

Margaret Kilgallen was such a brilliant artist whose life was simply too short. She died from complications from breast cancer at the age of 33 in 2001 but not without making an impact on the world of print art. She was quite prolific and many print art posthumous retrospectives are concerning her body of work. You can see the influences of folk art in her work despite being quite contemporary. She seemed to be able to capture the simple things in life through simplicity and elegance.