Happy Holiday Season with Julie Andrews in Antwerp!

May all be moved
May all be loved
May all be dancing out of joy well into the new year ;O)

P.S: Long live Belgium!
------
En cette fin d'année, je vous souhaite d'être ému et d'être aimé.
Que la joie vous emporte dans un tourbillon étourdissant pour allègrement célébrer 2011 ;O)

PS: Vive la Belgique!

So moved!

Totem#7

Totem #9                                                              Totem #3

Totem #8
Photos by Alain Delorme (thank you for the link on your blog, Lauren!)

... that we have moved. Et voilà!

We did it in two stages. We first moved out of our rented apartment on Dec.1 to move in a house that we had just bought. But as we first wanted to get the floors sanded and waxed, we could not settle down the very first days. We thus shoved all our furniture (not much really) in the kitchen, pantry and sunroom to let the floor sanding workers perform their art freely, i.e without sanding our belongings at the same time. And after 4 days, the two storeys were finished, pampered and rejuvenated- they looked totally different. It is beautiful to see what expertise and a lot of TLC can do to a place!

Now, we moved in for good last Sunday, Dec. 5! Today, Saturday December 11, we are enjoying our first real weekend in our new abode. The excitement is climactic! I can feel a new source of energy flowing in every single vein of my body.

On the menu today, unpacking more boxes, getting organized with our clothes (at long last I am going to unpack my traveller's suitcase that I've been living out of for the last week!) and a few errands to run like get gorgeous but very affordable chandeliers that Marco spotted at a vintage store, AND to buy a Christmas tree! The house won't be fully furnished for Christmas, but believe me it will be cosy with a big Fraser fir Xmas tree ;O) We'll just need our friends and families to help us complete the picture, and warm up the place for good.

Acne Paper: my favourite!

I hereby officially declare the Acne Paper the best magazine I have ever read - both regarding content and design, that is.

"Each issue is created around one key idea – a timeless theme that in various ways touches all those working in the creative fields regardless of age, cultural background or social status. In an eclectic yet coherent mix portrait, fashion and art photography as well as interviews, memoirs and prose the editorial narrative aims to unite artistic minds of all generations. It pays tribute to past luminaries whilst still keeping a firm grip on the present, evoking something timeless, something nostalgic yet refreshingly modern." (David Carlson for David Report)

I can do that!

The kind of translator every international firm should go for...

PS: Bonus. One last for the road! Because French is an important language...
"Oui, Lauren, il faut que vous parlez (*parliez) en français!"

Thank you, Mel Dark, for introducing us to Catherine Tate last night! 

The Red Shoes of Despair...

Bryce Dallas Howard in "Despair"
Photographer Alex Prager turns director with this 50s chiller.

I am in awe!

Always on Camera...

ALWAYS ON CAMERA: MIGUEL JACOB
Opening Reception: Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010, 7pm - 10pm
Exhibition Dates: Nov.10 - Dec. 12, 2010
Gallery Hours: Saturdays & Sundays 12pm - 6pm, or Weekdays By Appointment

Alison Milne Gallery
49 Ossington Ave.
Second Floor
Toronto, ON
M6J 2Y9
416.203.6266

ALWAYS ON CAMERA, the first solo show of 37-year old Miguel Jacob, features a selection of black-and-white portraits photographed from December 2009 to May 2010. During this six-month period, the photographer set up six Saturday "sittings" in which he would invite several subjects to perform in front of the camera, scheduling them sequentially one after another in 40-minute time slots. The subjects, who were mainly unknown to the photographer and were often contacted through Facebook, include artists, musicians, drag queens, eccentrics, dancers, models, designers and activists.
Rather than attempting to capture the "personality" or "soul" of the sitter, Jacob is much more interested in the performance, geometry and the way in which the body and the chosen costume and/or accessories interact with minimal props (such as a stool, a chair or cube) in a vacuous studio space creating unique, graphic and arresting images.

Hope to see you there on Wednesday for the opening reception!

A Nowhere Boy who ended up being Here, There and Everywhere...

We saw the film last night and enjoyed it tremendously! It managed to make me feel the wind of musical revolution that was ablowing in the UK in the late 50s.
Nowhere Boy is the well-wrought tale of an angry Liverpool kid, namely John Lennon. I felt thankful to the the director, Sam Taylor-Wood, for not falling into the pitfalls of Beatles nostalgia. The casting is impeccable, and so is the art direction.
If you haven't seen it yet, I warmly recommend it to you!
For more, go to the official website.

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.