Maybe it's because it's raining and cooling off after that long hot summer. The scarves, stockings and trench coats remind me of a Catherine Denuve film. All covered up, but no less seductive. Or maybe it's because I've been reading too much Shakespeare and Neruda and am on the verge of writing a sonnet myself. To seduce with words and prose, touching little, revealing less. Waiting until the very last moment to succumb to temptation. Whatever it may be, I'm taken by the privacy screen lately. It's implied modesty and secrecy. Soothing sharp corners of a room, providing a continued arc of movement for the eye. I particularly love these two screens.

I found this lovely gold screen at Baker the other day with my dear friend Alecia. I am normally not the Baker type, but I was converted for a moment when I saw this screen by Tony Duquette for Baker Furniture.

It has a flirty effect of surprising you with a coral red edging inside the cutouts. So very nice.






This second screen is by Maarten Bass for Moss NY. He carefully set fire to this mid century modern classic screen by Eames turning it into a gracefully eerie creation. Fittingly, it was only done once and is now sold. Never to be recreated. A moment in time; a charred memory of a classic.

Nesting

I'm about to move into my very own apartment here in the city. It's been lovely living with my sister. I am grateful that we had the year together, but now she is off, with chocolate lab Sophie in tow to live upstate. I am moving just a few blocks away to an adorable studio apartment on a tree-lined, cobblestone street. I spent the last week in Minnesota, packing up some of my things. In the kitchen back on the farm, my mom and I chatted late into the night as I sifted through my collections of photographs, miscellaneous silver pieces, old wooden salad bowls and freshly laundered antique linens all across the dining table.

This past year in New York has been wonderful, but I couldn't shake that feeling like I had left something behind or that I was just on an extended visit. I came to the city last September with a few suitcases of clothes, but nothing more. I had put most of my things in storage or had left them for the couple that is renting my house. As I waded through my belongings, I become more aware of the life I had curated over the years. These simple things, the old worn objects, the treasured textiles, the beat up books, they have anchored me. I wonder if my attachment to this stuff is healthy. I decide not to worry about that, so I pack up this "stuff" that gives me so much pleasure and set off for the city.

School's Out

I graduated from my program at Christie's last week. I've seen so much and learned so much and now I'm feeling the need to document it all before it becomes one general memory. I'm need to start playing a little "catch-up" with my design diary. Starting with a little snippet of a project I was working on researching the lovely emerging artist Jessica Dickinson. This instillation shot of one of Dickinson's past shows reminds me of how I feel right now. Quiet, fresh and open.

Robert Polidori

Amman, Jordan #1

St Alexander's RoomView through the door into St andrew's Room Kremlin, Moscow, Russia

Havana from the Castillo del Morro, Limited Edition Fujicolour crystal archive print

Salle de Bain, Marie-Antoinette, R.D.C. Cord Central, Versailles 2006

Sala Alejo Carpentier, Gran Teatro de la Habana, Havana

Robert Polidori is most famous for his architectural photographs.  He finds a formal beauty that radiates stillness.  These large scale photographs demand to be seen in person.  They absolutely make me weak.

The Bag

It has a spell over me. I love the size, the shape, the color. Everything about it. The Proenza Schouler Large Poncho Bag. Available at Barneys.

My First New York Easter

Springtime in Noisy Village

A Little Shop in the Village

Occasionally, on days that I'm not in school I work at Elizabeth Charles, a sweet little multi-line boutique in the Village. It's named after the lovely Australian woman who owns it.

I like to think of it as part of my ongoing design education. Its filled with beautiful pieces; mostly Australian designers that are known for their unique details and high quality craftsmanship.

Good design is good design is good design. Right?

Cassoulet

My friend Nancy got me started on Cassoulet a few years ago. She made the more traditional version; using duck meat and making her own pork sausages. It was a memorable meal.

The Cassoulet I make is much more simple and pared down, but still a pretty satisfying winter meal. It's even better a couple days later, which is why I make it the day before and insist my friends take some home as well.

Chopping fresh rosemary in our tiny New York kitchen.

2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup olive oil
3 pounds assorted fully cooked smoked sausages (such as kielbasa and andouille)
4 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced
6 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 medium apple, peeled, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
1/2 cup brandy
2 14 1/2-ounce cans diced tomatoes with roasted garlic in juice
3 15-ounce cans Great Northern beans, drained, liquid reserved
1 10-ounce package frozen baby lima beans, thawed
1 cup (or more) canned chicken broth
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
4 cups diced country-style bread
1 pound tomatoes, seeded, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large ovenproof pot over medium heat. Add sausages; sauté until brown, about 25 minutes. Transfer to plate and cut into 1/2-inch rounds.

Add leeks and garlic to same pot. Sauté until beginning to soften, about 8 minutes. Mix in apple, rosemary and sage. Add brandy and simmer until almost evaporated, about 5 minutes. Mix in canned tomatoes with juices, canned beans with 1/2 cup reserved liquid, lima beans, 1 cup broth, tomato paste and cloves. Add sausages. Season with pepper.

Bring cassoulet to boil. Cover pot and transfer to preheated oven; bake 30 minutes. (Can be made up to 2 days ahead. Uncover; cool 1 hour. Refrigerate until cold; cover and keep refrigerated. Before continuing, rewarm in covered pot in 350°F. oven 40 minutes, adding more broth if dry.)

Heat remaining 1/4 cup oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add bread and sauté until golden brown, stirring often, about 25 minutes. Combine fresh tomatoes and parsley in large bowl; mix in bread. Season topping with salt and pepper. Spoon onto warm cassoulet. Bake uncovered 15 minutes longer.

Paper

Jennifer Krauss
Untitled, 2000, 2000
abaca paper, Slinkys, rust
20 x 16 inches
collaborator: Paul Wong

I recently went to the Dieu Donné paper mill and artist workspace with my Christie's class. We viewed several works by artists that create works made both with and on handmade paper produced in the studio.

Paper is such a wonderfully tactile medium. I wanted to touch and nuzzle the sometimes gloriously thick and meaty and sometimes veil-like and gracefully thin sheets of handmade paper.

After the tour, we had a chance to create our own paper to take home. Dipping screens into soupy troughs of snowy cotton pulp, we pulled thick paper sheets out of the water. I could totally get into this.

Keeping with the paper-theme of the day, I arrived home to a package of custom letterpress stationary that I had ordered a few weeks back from Lunalux in Minneapolis. They do such a lovely job. Nice thick paper. So simple and such high quality.

Just in time for Valentines day.

Brassy.

I really love this pair of 1950's brass steamer trunks. I found them on the antique website, 1stdibs. I would use them as lovely little bedside tables. They have a nice "Out of Africa" feel to them.
I would put them on either side of the Ghost slipcovered bed by Paola Navone, available at The Conran Shop.

Nice.

Agnes Gund is too cool for school.

This fall, I moved to New York to study with Christie's. Their certificate program, Modern Art, Connoisseurship and the History of the Art Market, has taken me all over the city. We tour museums, galleries, artist's studios and my favorite; Agnes Gund's home on Park Avenue.

Agnes Gund is president emerita of the Museum of Modern Art and chairman of its International Council.

This notable philanthropist and collector of post-war art an impressive home and an even more impressive art collection: Mark Rothko in her living room, Jasper Johns above her Sofa and countless others tucked away in hallways and as quiet little shrines in offices and guest bedrooms. These are pieces that draw immense crowds at historically important museum shows. These very artworks are loaned out for exhibition all over the world.

This woman literally lives with some of the most important post-war contemporary works of art. She eats her cereal by a Lichtenstein, brushes her teeth near a Rauschenberg and shoos her pups away from the Wolfgang Laib work consisting of slabbed marble and graceful white rice piles in the front hallway.

This was one of those experiences that changes you. This woman has some serious art all wrapped up in a seriously spectacular apartment.

It felt spiritual.

Silly as it may be, with all that amazing art and exceptional design I felt really proud of humans. Even in the unnatural world, the man-made world, we are participating in the creation of beauty.

Mother Nature does not have a monopoly on beautiful design.

I realize this isn't news to most people, especially artists and designers, but it was a "moment" for me. A happy epiphany. Art is not just stuff. It's really, really beautiful stuff.



Read more about Gund's home here.

For the End of the Bed

Throw by Susan Shalom for Holly Hunt

I'm not one for a million boudoir pillows on a bed, but I do adore something at the foot.

It's been done a million times before, but for very good reason. An Hermes blanket at the foot of a bed looks so attractive.

There is also more affordable, but no less desirable, Hudson Bay Blanket. So cozy.

Small Packages

I have fallen in love with the MINOX DCC Leica M3 5MP Digital Camera.

It is tiny and beautiful. It is like a high quality European toy.

Just the thing for taking pictures in an inconspicuous manner. But on the other hand, I wouldn't mind getting caught with it. It's just so very handsome.

The Life of a Chair

"The wonderful distress on the thick saddle leather seat and armrests suggest an active life during the great age of exploration."

Chair from Modest Designs in Brooklyn

A sweet quality of light.

Campari Pendant Light by Ingo Maurer

So very nice.

www.ingo-maurer.com