Here’s a pretty dress, in a delightful shade of pink, that begs to be worn this Spring. In fact, I like so many of the frocks in this latest No. 6 collection. Like this floral number with its balloon sleeves. Pink crushed velvet reminds me of my teen years, and I love the colour of this silk trapeze dress. Take a look at the jumpsuits, too. This black and white check is dizzyingly good.
“Galaxies” is how some people have described the patterns that sand bubbler crabs create when they’re scavenging the sand for food. It’s transient art, because they only last as long as the tide is low. The more elaborate the pattern, the longer the tide has been out. It’s amazing to think that something so beautiful is the byproduct of basic survival. And that it washes away, just like that, until the next time. Nature really is extraordinary. Watch this video of the tiny artists hard at work on a beach in Koh Lanta, Thailand. It’s really quite incredible.
There is a corner of London that I love, where the Fulham Road and Old Church Street meet, and where de Gournay sits opposite a charming Chelsea flower stand. Two of my favourite things –– flowers and wallpaper. It is a little bit of a dream of mine to cover a wall in de Gournay flowers. I’d walk in de Gournay shoes, but really, it’s a powder room of peonies that I want. Or wisteria, yes, wisteria would be wonderful.
I was looking at the work of the late, great painter, sculptor, architect, writer and stage designer, Salvatore Fiume and I was drawn to this image of Fiume painting frescoes on the walls of a collapsed castle in the little town of Fiumefreddo Bruzio in Southern Italy. I love how many local kids have come to watch him paint, and I’d love to one day visit the town and stay at Borgodifiume. In the meantime, I’m totally inspired by the motifs on these tiles, designed by Fiume’s daughter, Laura Fiume. In some shape or form, they’ll make their way into a plate or bowl of mine.
What a lovely idea, a marshmallow pink bedroom is. This one here, in the Château de la Goujeonnerie in the Vendée, is a delight, with its embroidered silks from Lelièvre, 18th-century Delft vases and a palm tree chandelier by Josef Hoffman. Have a walk through the rest of the house –– designed by the trio behind L3G Designs –– it’s vraiment fancy.
A while ago, I worked on a series for Toronto Life, where I visited people’s homes and asked them questions about their collections. What inspired the collection? What does the collection reveal about them? Where do they keep their one hundred panamas? Which was the first Victorian cameo they ever purchased? How many mid century salad tongs do they own? I found the topic fascinating. So when I happened upon painter, Greg Irvine’s South Melbourne home, I was kind of gobsmacked. From tortoiseshell combs to celluloid bangles to bamboo furnishings, every room is adorned with some whimsical collection. Watch this video –– it’s quite a delight to see how artfully, meticulously Irvine curates his collections.
I went to a workshop yesterday hosted by artist and florist, Lauren Wilson. We learned about tulipieres –– a 17th century vessel with multiple spouts –– and we got to design our own arrangements using peonies, roses, miniature anemones, narcissus and parrot tulips. To play with bunches and bunches of fresh blooms is my idea of heaven, although a tulipiere is a little more challenging than a standard vase. While I appreciate restrained, simple arrangements, with so many flowers in front of me, I couldn’t resist wild and whimsical. I stuffed each spout with as many flowers as would fit, without cutting off their water supply! It was exciting to see how each of us approached the vessel and choice of flowers. Seven women, seven interpretations of the tulipiere.
I love to see lots of natural wood in an interior, the more varieties the better. The beautiful Malibu home of Aaron Bruno, lead singer of the band Awolnation, stopped me in my tracks. It’s warm, light, airy and simple. With its farmhouse sink, open shelves and retro fridge, the kitchen is a bit of a dream, as are the spartan, sun-drenched bedrooms. Most of the furnishings are one-of-a-kind. California, dreamy.
My favourite Peony moment is a day or two before it loses its petals, when its wide open, and truly glorious. These ones here look like big, beautiful fried eggs. I’m not sure what these marigold pompoms are, but I love them. This is just the sort of wild and whimsical arrangement that I get excited about.
I’ve been flattened by flu twice this month, so I need to beef up my immune system. I’m starting with liver. It’s packed with nutritional gold, and I don’t mind the taste. At least I didn’t as a child which is the last time I ate liver. My Mum used to make it for us with a heap of wilted of spinach once a week. I looked up some recipes, but I think plain and pan fried is how I’m going to do it. Oh go then, add a few rashers of bacon if you must.
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