There is a venerable factory in France that produces, to my taste, the perfect white ceramic plate, bowl, pitcher, vase. The glaze is imperfect, the lines simple or fanciful. To borrow the Japanese concept, Astier de Villatte reflects the philosophy of wabi sabi. If my life could reflect Astier’s ceramics in all of its aspects, I think it would be simpler, more pleasing, better balanced.
And yet there are those who begin to yearn for a bit of color, a little fantasy. Perhaps John Derrian, whose two shops in New York are among my favorites, felt this way; or perhaps he was urged on by his passion for collaboration, by his innate creativity which had found its perfect canvas.
Voila!
Astier de Villatte and John Derrian have created a collection of charming plates, cups and platters that perfectly marry the shape and glaze that make Astier so collectible and the flower, animal and bug designs that we adore in Derrian’s world.
They are charming, all of them. I love his ladybug, in particular, for, like his flowers,its little red body is startlingly rich and satisfying.
And just plain sweet.
http://www.johnderian.com/index_home.html
Cape Town is one of the world's great cities. The setting alone is worthy of top billing. And then you have a vibrant culinary scene, a fascinating flora and fauna representative of its microclimate, a diverse population and the logistical advantage that makes it a gateway for visits to the wine lands, to the garden route and north into the bush. In spite of the aforementioned, what makes me vibrate with anticipation in Cape Town is its flourishing art and design scene, its world class museums and galleries, its artisans, many of them passionately committed to ensuring that hand and design skills endure. The person who knows as much about this sector of the Capetonian landscape is Marion Ellis whose company, Cape Insights, designs whole or partial itineraries that feature - among other subject matter - the flourishing arts of the city. Marion's knowledge has both the breadth and depth to take you on a meandering journey across the media - from paintings and ceramics to photography and art installations - and behind the scenes to meet with collectors and artists, teachers and innovators."
["post_title"]=>
string(37) "Art & Design Flourishing in Cape Town"
["post_excerpt"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_status"]=>
string(7) "publish"
["comment_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["ping_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["post_password"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_name"]=>
string(35) "art-design-flourishing-in-cape-town"
["to_ping"]=>
string(0) ""
["pinged"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_modified"]=>
string(19) "2018-10-29 11:18:44"
["post_modified_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2018-10-29 15:18:44"
["post_content_filtered"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_parent"]=>
int(0)
["guid"]=>
string(31) "http://lisalindblad.com/?p=8743"
["menu_order"]=>
int(0)
["post_type"]=>
string(4) "post"
["post_mime_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["comment_count"]=>
string(1) "0"
["filter"]=>
string(3) "raw"
}
}