Wallpaper Obsession...

We just bought a house dating back to 1935. It is a beautiful house with healthy bones, in need of some tender loving care though, which we are more than happy to provide!

As we are just realizing what happened, we are getting house-ready. So now has officially started our quest for wallpaper inspiration, fixtures, door knobs and other good-to-start-with and affordable decorative adornments.

Here is a sample of what we stumbled upon:

* Last weekend, at the grand re-opening of the Spadina Museum, Historic House and Gardens

All photos by Christine Rochet-Jacob

* This weekend was dedicated to wallpaper ideas for the living room and/or the dining room...We therefore meticulously browsed through the internet and through our pile of World of Interiors magazines...Here are a few patterns that caught our attention.

Marlborough- Paris Grey,  by Little Greene

 Maharani collection, May 2009. By Henry Wilson for Osborne & Little

 Rose Chinoise, by Colefax and Fowler

 * We also got inspired along the way of our weekend trip that took us to a few shops on the Designers' Walk of Toronto. For your viewing pleasure, check: Cole & Son; Brunschwig & Fils

Dagobert Peche, Antinous Wallpaper; Designed 1922,  produced by Brunschwig and Fils. Neue Galerie exclusive.

* Not to forget the reference arts and crafts master, William Morris & co.

William Morris

May Morris

* And then we entered the world  of contemporary wallpaper designers like Georgia Horton, Timorous Beasties, and Neisha Crosland. Dazzling!

Oriental Orchid, by Timorous Beasties

McGegan Rose by Timorous Beasties

 

 Designs by Neisha Crosland : 

Et voilà! À suivre...

Step by step, we will build our nest!

Ryuichi Sakamoto's Out of Noise

 

Photo published in the Toronto Star on Mon Oct 25, 2010

Last Sunday, my husband and I paused the current hectic pace of our lives to immerse ourselves in a very inspiring performance by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who made a rare Toronto concert appearance at the Queen Elizabeth Centre.

He, like me, likes the music of the rain...“It was raining this morning in New York, and I was struck by the sound. So I recorded it with my little recorder because it was very beautiful. I don’t know where, but I’m sure I’ll use it in my music somehow.” (R.Sakamoto, in an interview to NOW magazine)

Read more about Sakamoto:
- in NOW magazine
- in the Toronto Star

A Saturday in Autumn

A few photos of our weekend escapade - Don Valley's Evergreen Brick Works, Toronto.

Sprezzatura at its best!

Errol Flynn

P.S: Thank you, Cédric, for sharing this great picture!

Friday's Eye Candies /Histoires sans Paroles

Photo by Cédric Roulliat

Provocative Visioning Launches Speaker Series at OCADU

 'Hylozoic ground' by Philip Beesley architects for the Canadian pavilion at la Biennale d'Architettura di Venezia 2010 ( Photo Marco Jacob)

"The Goethe-Institut Toronto, in cooperation with the Faculty of Design at OCAD University (OCADU) and the MaRS Centre, present a speaker series as part of Ecology.Design.Synergy: Green Architecture & New Ideas from Germany & Canada. The series will launch with Provocative Visioning: The Artist/Designer as Eco-Provocateur, bringing together the remarkable creative explorations of Berlin-based Friedrich von Borries and Canadian Philip Beesley, with presentation of their work and ensuing conversation, at OCADU on Thursday, October 7, 6 p.m."

Read more on OCAD's website.

See you there...

The World is Ready for Luis Jacob

FYI: The Toronto Star recently published a great article about Luis Jacob's work. 

Read the article.

France-Italy, Summer 2010: through the arcades of my memories!

Last summer, my husband and I travelled in France (Lyon-Paris) and Italy (Torino, Milano, Verona, Venezia) to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary.
For your viewing pleasure, here are a few vistas that we contemplated.
Do you recognize any of them?

L'été dernier, mon mari et moi avons voyagé en France ( Lyon-Paris) et en Italie (Turin, Milan, Vérone, Venise) pour y célébrer notre première anniversaire de mariage.
Voici un petit pêle-mêle de souvenirs en images.

Marco Jacob's Public Displays of Affection in Toronto

 Edmond Place side chair. CNC routered baltic birch plywood (clear varnished or laquered)

Last Thursday, September 23 was the Opening Reception for an exhibition of Public Displays of Affection  at Toronto's Gladstone Hotel. PDA for Edmond Place is an exploration in community-engaged design. Over 60 pieces of locally designed and built furniture were on display.

My husband, Marco Jacob, presented the design of a new chair.

Mad about Mad Men, Soundtrack Vol.1

Just bought the album yesterday! My husband and I listened to it with a big smile on our faces, singing along while sipping from a glass of "brut" Champagne to celebrate the sweetness of our 1st wedding anniversary. A certain idea of happiness.

Now, there are 2 other volumes, one for Season 2 and another for Season 3...We will most certainly indulge, and this very very soon.
We need more music from that era. Any recommendations?

PS: (a few weeks later....) We ended up buying Mad Men, Vol.2 (not as good, but still pleasant!), and more Julie London, Her Name is Julie - absolutely charming!

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Nous avons tout juste acheté l'album hier! Mon mari et moi-même l'avons écouté, le sourire aux lèvres, tout en sirotant un verre de champagne brut pour célébrer la douceur de notre premier anniversaire de mariage. Eh oui, une certaine idée du bonheur.
Maintenant, il y a 2 autres volumes, un pour la saison 2 et un autre pour la saison 3...Nous pensons sérieusement nous offrir le plaisir de plonger tête baissée dans ces deux autres albums, et ce au plus tôt!
Nous aimerions découvrir plus de musiques de cette période. Des idées?

Over your cities grass will grow

Last night I enjoyed the screening of a documentary film that my friend Emilie Blézat (Sciapode Prod.) just co-produced:  

Sophie Fiennes’
OVER YOUR CITIES GRASS WILL GROW
at the Toronto International Film Festival
AMC 4 September 14th, 8:45 pm

AMC 9 September 16th, 6.00 pm
AMC 2 September 18th, 9.00 am
in the Visions section.

OVER YOUR CITIES GRASS WILL GROW bears witness to German artist Anselm Kiefer’s alchemical creative processes and renders as a film journey the personal universe he has built at his hill studio estate in the South of France.

I was very much interested in discovering the process of Kiefer's work, which I must admit I really did not know before. Sophie Fiennes's choice of Ligeti's subtle musical pieces achieved a perfect dialogue with the images.

Go see it if you can, and let me know of your impressions!

Inspirational Holidays!

I am back to Toronto.

The least I can say is that I had a very refreshing and inspirational month and a half travelling in France and Italy. To share the joy, I will soon post a very strict selection of photos.
Every year, it is the same. After the big summer break I look forward to the back-to-school excitement that September brings. I like the idea of starting anew: I have reorganized the plants, scented candles, and framed pictures in our apartment, refilled the spice rack, weeded through my shelves and wardrobe, and I feel ready to let new ideas in.

I am in a very soft dusty pink mood for this September season...

Now just for your viewing pleasure, let me show you the trailer of a classic, The Thomas Crown Affair (by Norman Jewison, 1968) which my husband and I savoured a couple of nights ago. A lesson in style with the breathtaking Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen, and the most erotic scene over a chess board ever, well that is according to me...

Frankreich: Vacances à la Campagne!

Vue de ma chambre au réveil, ce matin 8h.

 En vacances en France pour un mois, je me repose à la campagne, chez mes parents.

Ce week-end, je vais aller passer une semaine dans les Hautes-Alpes, à la Joue du Loup, pour profiter du bon air de la montagne et faire de belles randonnées dans le Massif des Ecrins, et peut-être même aller faire un tour du côté de Grasse et de Nice...

Puis, lorsque mon cher et tendre époux m'aura rejointe, ce sera l'Italie pour une semaine!
A suivre...

Top of the morning to you!

These last few days, I've had to rest at home for health reasons (thank you very much, I am perfectly well now!;)).

The experience reminded me of my childhood's sick days when my mum would tuck me in bed and bring me a very comforting bowl of soup (little alphabet noodles were one of my faves) or a plate of ham and mash.

This time, my mum had been replaced by my loving and caring husband, but the scenario was quite similar: "Lie down and rest!" I have never felt bored when obliged to rest, it is just that now I feel more... restless, and it is more difficult to stay in just resting...So just like when I was a child, I took a good pile of books and magazines to go through, and asked my husband to pick up a short list of musical comedies to cheer me up. And it worked! 'S wonderful!

Here are 2 of them for your viewing pleasure:

Top Hat


An American in Paris

Friday's Eye Candies /Histoires sans Paroles

Photo by Shayne Gray