The Bubble!

I don't know. It might be too intricately conceptual to inspire me.

C'est la St Valentin!

by Kate Spade, New York.

À quoi ça sert l'amour ?

Pour y répondre, voici une chanson d'Edith Piaf *, sur une merveilleuse animation de Louis de Clichy.

 

* une chanson de Michel Emer (paroles et musique), interprétée par Édith Piaf et Théo Sarapo pour la première fois en 1962.

Paroles:

À quoi ça sert l'amour ?
On raconte toujours
Des histoires insensées.
À quoi ça sert d'aimer ?

L'amour ne s'explique pas !
C'est une chose comme ça,
Qui vient on ne sait d'où
Et vous prend tout à coup.

Moi, j'ai entendu dire
Que l'amour fait souffrir,
Que l'amour fait pleurer.
À quoi ça sert d'aimer ?

L'amour ça sert à quoi ?
À nous donner d' la joie
Avec des larmes aux yeux...
C'est triste et merveilleux !

Pourtant on dit souvent
Que l'amour est décevant,
Qu'il y en a un sur deux
Qui n'est jamais heureux...

Même quand on l'a perdu,
L'amour qu'on a connu
Vous laisse un goùt de miel.
L'amour c'est éternel !

Tout ça, c'est très joli,
Mais quand tout est fini,
Il ne vous reste rien
Qu'un immense chagrin...

Tout ce qui maintenant
Te semble déchirant,
Demain, sera pour toi
Un souvenir de joie !

En somme, si j'ai compris,
Sans amour dans la vie,
Sans ses joies, ses chagrins,
On a vécu pour rien ?

Mais oui ! Regarde-moi !
A chaque fois j'y crois
Et j'y croirai toujours...
Ça sert à ça, l'amour !
Mais toi, t'es le dernier,
Mais toi, t'es le premier !
Avant toi, 'y avait rien,
Avec toi je suis bien !
C'est toi que je voulais,
C'est toi qu'il me fallait !
Toi qui j'aimerai toujours...
Ça sert à ça, l'amour !...

IDS13

 

Attended Trade Day at the IDS. It was Lola's first immersion in the world of Design Shows at age 18 months an our little trio had a very good time.

This year what caught my eye, besides the sexy Italian kitchens of Scavolini and the light fixtures by Fontana Arte, was the booth of landscape designers and architects firm Earth Inc. Three very friendly men with a clear vision, not to mention the fact that they love France and The International Garden Festival in Chaumont ...

On my wall...

Inspiration for Vertical Garden Design

Wulingyuan is located in the Hunan Province in southern China

Saxifraga stolonifera on a shady and moist rock.

Double Chalice, Kendall Buster.

 

Pharmacienne de Cédric Roulliat

Merci Cédric Roulliat & Co.!

Une petite vidéo pour faire passer la pilule en douceur.

Comme Mary Poppins le dit si bien: 'Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!'

La Route des Fantômes à l'AfT

Pourquoi ces croix qui longent la route ?
Qui sont les Colocolo et que nous veulent-ils ?
Sommes-nous au paradis – ou en enfer ?

Le photographe Brian Damude vous donne rendez-vous mercredi prochain pour le vernissage d'une exposition photo incroyable, vous conduisant à travers l'Amérique du Sud, du Salar d'Uyuni en Bolivie en passant par le Chili. 

VERNISSAGE

 mercredi 23 janvier

 à 18h30 

à l'Alliance française de Toronto

24 Spadina Rd

Toronto

New Year's Resolutions

Be bold + decisive!

Rethink Pink...

On my wall of inspiration:

Design by Piet Oudolf

Céline- Collection: Fall 2012

Villa Planchart. Caracas, Venezuela, 1956. Designed by Gio Ponti.

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2003 by Oscar Niemeyer
© Sylvain Deleu

My morning with Jimmy Smith

This morning I woke up to the organ music of Jimmy Smith, an inspirational choice of my dear Marco, of course.
Instantaneous Happy Mood guaranteed!

Une pastorale pour Noël avec Shayne Gray & Co.

Un premier cadeau :
une très, très charmante pastorale pour célébrer l'approche de Noël!

I would like to share with you a charming, charming lyrical ballad that Shayne Gray directed for our greatest pleasure.

The song 'La Rouille' (the rust) is by ARLT (in French).

Enjoy!

My weekend with Marco, Lola and...Sophie.

Marco and I just discovered the delicious side of Miss Sophie Dahl last weekend! What a bliss!
You probably already know her or have already seen her beautiful face in fashion magazines as she was a big super model back in the days.

In this BBC cooking show, she truly is delightful. And her recipes are knock-outs!
Thanks to Sophie, I have found what to bake for my upcoming Xmas tea time parties, I will make her scrumptious flourless chocolate cake with cream and fresh fruit. Check it out!



And then on Christmas Day, Marco and I have decided on our brunch menu: Cheese souffle buckwheat blinis+scrambled eggs+salmon.



We are definitely looking forward to the Holiday Celebratory Season!

Happy preparations to you too for your Holiday festivities! EN-JOY!

Nouvelle Vague au Harbourfront Centre!

Nouvelle Vague: The New French Domestic Landscape

A+A Cooren, Pierre Favresse, Studio NOCC, POOL, Ionna Vautrin

September 29 - December 23, 2012

Curated by Cédric Morisset

It’s difficult to believe that in such a sluggish economic climate, France has never known such a creative and entrepreneurial frenzy in the design world.
In a matter of three years, the design industry has seen more designers, independent labels and design galleries emerge than over the past 10 years.
In this short time their pioneering studio work, production, and promotion of new objects and furniture collections has allowed a new generation of designers to stand out. This exhibition recognizes the designers who are an integral part of the community’s recent success. Among the numerous new faces, five had presented for the first time new work in prototype editions and small production during the Milan Furniture Fair in 2011. Radically different from each other, but united in the spirit of collaboration and solidarity, these designers are risk-takers in the new French domestic landscape.

– Cédric Morisset

This Exhibition is presented by Harbourfront Centre in partnership with the Consulate General of France in Toronto, and with support from the Institut français.

 

One of...My Secret Gardens in Toronto

Here is the series of snapshots I took during a late September visit at my good gardener friends' enclosed secret repose.
Their garden offers a great sense of harmony and inspires beauty. They work with meticulous care on the selection of their species, and never compromise on their good sense of balance and proportions. I like this garden because it clearly offers repetition, and variety of form, while showing interesting texture and a cohesive colour scheme, which successfully was inspired by Vita Sackville West's Sissinghurst 'white garden'.

 Mille mercis à C. & A. pour ce délicieux moment passé dans votre jardin!

Luis Jacob: Show your Wound

Birch Libralato is pleased to present the solo exhibition
Luis Jacob: Show Your Wound

 The exhibition runs from September 13 to October 13


Birch Libralato
129 Tecumseth  Toronto, Canada M6J 2H2
(416) 365-3003
gallery hours Wednesday to Saturday 11-5 or by appointment

Andrew Putter: still lifes - photographs

A couple of weeks ago, Marco and I enjoyed a wonderful weekend in Montreal and Ottawa.  

In Ottawa, we visited one of the current exhibits at the National Gallery, 'Flora and Fauna: 400 Years of Artists Inspired by Nature'. I was not blown away by the whole exhibit but it was well worth it as I discovered the work of South African photographer, Andrew Putter with his series Hottentots Holland: Flora Capensis

Hottentots Holland: Flora Capensis 1, 2008

 

Marco Jacob's latest design: Airy Granite!

Brass and granite coffee table - Design by Marco Jacob, 2012.

Marco designed this coffee table for his twin brother, Miguel Jacob, the fashion photographer.
*******
La dernière création en date de Marco Jacob. Une table basse circulaire, plateau en granit et pieds en cuivre poli (H:30cm / L: 90cm).

Picasso's Private Collection at the AGO: Go!

Picasso's Picasso.
Not to be missed.
May 1- August 26, 2012.

For more info about the artist, the exhibition and other related programs, visit: www.ago.net/picasso
NB: And if you are a BMO customer, you can get 30% discount. Offer ends Aug. 12. Info: http://t.co/Fcb60a36

That was good!

Faye Toogood for Studio Toogood - Townhouse Interior- Casa da Abitare - April 2012

Contact at the Alliance Française Gallery

 

Far Between
Elisa Julia Gilmour / Gemma Warren

May 1–June 1

Alliance Française Gallery
24 Spadina Rd
Toronto M5R 2S7

Mon–Thu, 9:30–6:30pm
Fri, 9:30–4pm

Simultaneously form and space, water is a tangible element that—through light, time, and motion—is subject to temporal and spatial transformation. The human body can displace water but is also vulnerable to its force. This slow and meditative installation creates a space in which both co-exist, one continually disrupting the other, each equally malleable and fragile in its own way.

Visually enveloping, the installation removes the viewer's awareness of the outside world by transforming the white cube into a swimming tank. Five projections play simultaneously as a figure moves through the water, never appearing in more than one location at the same time. The submerged form—an extension of the viewer—symbolizes the unpredictability of human experience. The artists make compelling use of the grainy and unrefined aesthetic of 16mm film to create a dark, cyclical, and immersive viewing experience.

This exhibition is the result of an award program presented in partnership with Ryerson University, Alliance Française and CONTACT. Far Between was selected by a jury from proposals by third and fourth year Ryerson University Image Art students. Gilmour and Warren were subsequently mentored by CONTACT’s Artistic Project Manager, Persilia Caton.

All the Photography Festival here !

Luis Jacob's Spirits of the Grotto

You are invited to attend the ribbon-cutting event of Luis Jacob's new installation for the Dufferin Underpass!

 

Here are the details:

Luis Jacob - Spirits of the Grotto
Dufferin Underpass Public Art Installation
City of Toronto Dedication Event

Date:               Friday, May 18
Time:              5:00 - 5:30 pm
Place:              Dufferin Amphitheatre (parkette), 1266 Queen Street West

City of Toronto Councillors Ana Bailão (Ward 18) and Gord Perks (Ward 14) join internationally renowned Toronto artist Luis Jacob for a dedication of his new Dufferin Underpass public art project, Spirits of the Grotto. The public is also invited to this event.

Part of Toronto's Public Art program, the work consists of 34 perforated-metal panels bearing colourful mosaic designs in the shape of eyes gazing down on passing cars, cyclists and pedestrians. For more information on this project please visit:
http://www.livewithculture.ca/art/dufferin-underpass-becomes-a-grotto/

Friday's eye candies / Histoires sans paroles

Photo by Cédric Roulliat