Sunday, May 31, 2009

A handcarved Paravent in the Entrance Hall...

In the case you own a house with lots of space you would have the wonderful opportunity to do something special for your entrance hall.
My suggestion is to place a paravent against the wall as in this example. The handcarved artwork would easily attract the visitor to look a little bit closer and prepare the viewer for more treasures?
A paravent has a big advantage - you could place it against a wall or you can separate a room in different segments or you could hide unattractive but necessary constructional elements. There are many different possibilities.

If you would like to know more about this artwork please see here and here. It is a 5-panel piece with extra foot pieces which serve as a kind of stabilizing pedestal, that can be separated completely.

original image source from http://www.getdecorating.com

"Bodhisattwa"
Indonesian style, polyptych, hand carved, 77" x 69" x 10", 30 kg
©Petra Voegtle



Thursday, May 28, 2009

More than just a Cover for your Bed...

I love this sweet little bedroom. It could be in the cottage of my dreams, somewhere on the coast of Cornwall or Dorset, white sand dunes not far away, listening to the sounds of soft waves washing little shells and other little treasures ashore. No-one around. This could be a place to hide from all the rushing and bustling a city would impose on one's life.

Sweet dreams, memories of foreign countries and cultures, nymphs of the forest floating through your dreams or are those the apsaras who danced and played the music for their devine masters of the universe? A place for a poet...

The art quilt on the wall is called Apsaras, a reminiscence of Cambodia's temple bas-reliefs in Angkor Wat of thousands of heavenly apsaras. It is made entirely from silk, has been hand quilted with silk and painted. And it was juried into the famous Quilt Festival in Houston.


original image source from http://www.getdecorating.com

"Apsaras"
52" x 69", silk art quilt
©Petra Voegtle

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

A little Colour for the Stairway...

No - not everything needs to be colour toned in the same range - sometimes you should have a little extra. So why not adding a little piece of interest and climbing up the staircase will be fun. You will have a reason for making a little pause - LOL.
I love homes where you can discover small interesting bits and pieces everywhere. It is like going on a little discovery tour. Even if you have been a thousand times in your friends' home - isn't it fun to notice things which you haven't found before and you ask yourself "how on earth could I have missed that"?

The acrylic painting on the wall is Red Door from the Reminiscences series, a series that tells the story of a whole village which you can read here and here


original image source from http://www.getdecorating.com

"Red Door"
(from the Reminiscences series)
26" x 18", acrylic
©Petra Voegtle

Monday, May 25, 2009

Prints - not only for your Wall...

There are prints and there are prints...
A small company in Paris, Téo Jasmin, creates prints which are not only for wall decoration or cushions but for furniture also. Déco designs for young people, affordable but definitely no cheapos, gift ideas which cannot be found at any giftshop - but see for yourself:



For those who love London above all cities and cannot forget about San Francisco...



And how about having your last holiday impressions always in the back of your mind and your favourite sofa? Certainly an idea that you could talk about - an intriguing mix of charming old baroque furniture style and modern chic...

all photos with courtesy of www.teojasmin.com

Friday, May 22, 2009

Find Magic from an ancient Place in your Living Room

This is a wonderful elegant room with its light and open space, uncluttered, a place to breathe and relax, to have family and/or friends in an atmosphere of spontaneity and freedom from social constraints.
I could imagine to have relaxed discussions there, laughter about the jokes someone makes and talking about holiday plans. This is no place for having problems. Yes, I would love to live in a house with a living room such as this one!

There was a lovely painting above the fireplace but I thought why not adding a whiff of ancient Asian magic to this room with this silk triptych of Ayutthaya - the ancient city of Siam (Thailand). The painting belongs to the Magic Landcsapes series.


original image source from http://www.getdecorating.com

"Ayutthaya"
(from the Magic Landscapes Series)
40" x 39", silk triptych
©Petra Voegtle

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Listen to the Sounds of the Ocean when you go to sleep...

What could be more relaxing than the sounds of the sea? Soft waves lapping against the sand of a lonesome beach, the sun going down and the rustling of palmleaves, softly swaying in the breeze...

The silk sculpture on the wall may be reminiscent of one of your most beautiful holidays on Hawai'i, or any other at the sea. Colours of dark blue to the light blue of the sky, the turquoise hues above white sand, the greenish shades where the seagrass is growing below the surface - all these colours are represented in this silk carving which is called Ho'okipa after the famous surfer beach on Maui. The silk carving belongs to the series of Hawaiian Symbols.


with courtesy of http://www.livingetc.com
click here for the original
image source

"Ho'okipa"
(from the Hawaiian Symbols series)
46" x 16", silk carving
©Petra Voegtle

Friday, May 15, 2009

LUXURY FANTASIES: Sitting on Illuminations...

~
"Thus first necessity invented stools, Convenience next suggested elbow-chairs, And luxury the accomplished sofa last."
a quote by William Cowper, 1731 – 1800 (poet)

I thought it might be a good idea to loosen up this blog a little bit and to add some of the finds from my researches through the Internet you might not have seen yet. Not to be taken too seriously I try to find the funny, breathtakingly beautiful or other items which are considered luxury objects or subjects (not necessarily by myself!).

What are your fantasies of luxury? Luxury is - having enough chairs so that you don't need this one for to really sit on - my addition to above quote...

More to read and see under Lighted Fantasies


Thursday, May 14, 2009

Cleopatra's Bathtub...

Who needs a whirlpool when you can have a bathtub such as this one? A classy scenario like this cannot be replaced by ultra-modern constructions with glass and steel, which never can provide that certain feeling of harmony and coziness. And certainly not if you wanna feel like Cleopatra taking a royal milk bath. Admittedly - for Cleo the bath tub would have been too small but we don't want to exaggerate here - do we?

This bathroom talks of luxury and certainly would fit in any old villa full of romantic decadence. Why do people surround themselves with accessories which try to retrieve ancient times and cultures? Furniture and other objects are aged artificially, wall painting techniques suggest worn surfaces. People are simply crazy for old things because they have an aura, character. And if you cannot lay hand on the original it "must" be reproduced.

Sometimes this even may lead to really crass situations where a rusty bedstead from the dump is revived again in an expensive antiques shop and sold for big money. Too many things are thrown away anyway that could still be in use after a little transformation...

In order to make this room even more luxurious a paravent such as this one would be gorgeous - right? Imagine the secrets you could hide behind it. And no-one ever would have a similar one! And the best - it is made from pine wood not from illegally cut tropical woods!

Details of this Indian style hand carved paravent can be found here.



original image source from http://www.getdecorating.com

"Krishna and Radha"
Indian style triptych, hand carved, massive wood, 85" x 93" x 7", 65 kg
©Petra Voegtle

Spark a little Fire in the Bedroom...

Maybe you know the sentence "sometimes less is more". Often people tend to overload their rooms with lots of "stuff" but in this case I thought that it could not be wrong to add a little extra to the wall in order to spark a little fire.

The artwork on the wall is a small silk caring from the Hawaiian Symbols series and is called Ahi ko A'a which means "fire of the lava". It is made from silk and has been painted.


with courtesy of http://www.livingetc.com
click here for the original image source

"Ahi ko A'a"
(from the Hawaiian Symbols series)
15" x 23", silk carving
©Petra Voegtle


Tuesday, May 12, 2009

A stylish Dining Room with a Silk Carving on the Wall...

This room has a great light - therefore the dark furniture and accessories do not diminish that feeling of a light room. I also like the open living character a lot - this gives air to breathe and makes the room larger than it actually is. This is very cleverly done!

So I thought that the facing wall would be the perfect place for this silk carving which is called The Longing. This silk carving has a long history and was started in 2004 already until it was changed lately into this final result, resembling a bas-relief in bronze now. But it is entirely made from one single piece of silk!


with courtesy of http://www.livingetc.com
click here for the original image source

"The Longing"
silk carving
©Petra Voegtle

Monday, May 11, 2009

A purple Bedroom

I am absolutely in love with this colour and I think quite a few people are. Here is a link to a website/blog which gives the colour purple a whole different meaning:
Chintz of Darkness The blog belongs to Seraph and Splendor from Seattle and their images about the colour purple reflect a whole new world in purple. Both say of themselves: We are
"two fallen angels that have landed in Seattle, Washington. Our days and nights are spent designing and collecting objects of beauty. Many of the masks, draperies and pillows featured in our photographs below have been created by us. Chintz of Darkness is celebration of dark decorating and other diversions, including our favorite books, artists and illustrators." (from their blog)
There is a lovely decadence in anything both are creating and very inspirational for people who look for something different.

Let's begin with a bathroom in my favourite colour for today:


Wouldn't this be the perfect complement for the following bedroom I found to be so wonderfully rich in purple colour.

Personally I would have added much more "chintz" to this one - I find it screams for more velvets, silks and brocades - doesn't it? But in order to keep it a bit more "subdued" I have just added those 2 silk carvings on the wall from the series Angkor's Faces. The two little sculptures are called Fragments of Angkor and refer to the magic apsara sculptures in Angkor Wat, Cambodia.


original image source from http://www.getdecorating.com


"Angkor's Fragments"
( from the Angkor's Faces series)
silk carving, 2 pieces
©Petra Voegtle

Please check out my blog In Terms of Colour for the articles I posted about the colour purple specifically - you might find a bunch of inspirational ideas and what the colour is all about...

Saturday, May 9, 2009

LUCKY HOUSE: Mother Nature's Art

When I cycled through Munich these days on the hunt for the most beautiful blossoms and blooms I passed this house and immediately stopped, looked at this lovely cherry tree and thought: what a lucky house this must be with a tree such as this one in front of it...

Houses can have the most impressive or most beautiful interior with lots of precious art and decorative elements but nothing compares with the decorative jewels of Mother Nature. Everything becomes irrelevant with a view such as this:






I take this as an opportunity to refer you to my Blooms and Blossoms blog, which is exclusively (almost) dedicated to - who would have guessed - blooms and blossoms photography.

What's so special about this you may ask. The peculiarity about this blog is that all photos shown here have been shot since early 2006, during many walks and cycling through the cities of Munich and my hometown Freiburg and countryside only. No exotic city involved, no parks, no botanical gardens, but only very "ordinary" neighbours' gardens or fields within a range of a few miles.

I must admit that I was amazed about the beauties you could find in those sometimes tiny gardens. This was only possible by walking or cycling through the narrow streets. It is not possible to discover all this by car. So if you are living in a residential area and you think there is nothing to discover you might be surprised. Just give it a try even if it does not look promising at first sight... And this applies not only to neighbours' gardens but to nearly anything.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Colours for the Stairway....

Who says that doorways have to be white? Colours can be so charming and exciting. Preferences for bold colours can be a passion and especially old houses can experience a revival if the owner is couragious enough to try something different than usual.

Folk art and modern art often have something in common: bold colours. Colours have so much impact on soul and emotion - so why not take advantage of a simple fact?

I thought that this acrylic painting Red Door would made a lovely addition to this wonderful stairway... From the Reminiscences series - please check out this link for details.

with courtesy of http://www.livingetc.com
click here for the original image source

"Red Door"
(from the Reminiscences series)
26" x 18", acrylic
©Petra Voegtle

Colour Spots on empty Walls...

These empty walls scream for some colour spots - don't you think? Starting a private little gallery, collecting art for your own enjoyment - wouldn't that be an idea?

I thought the cave paintings on silk would fit perfectly into a room that has a style reminiscent somehow of a modern villa that could easily be found in one of those terrific national parks of South Africa, ready to start a photography safari from.

The paintings belong to a series that is called Magic Symbols. The silk paintings themselves are Lascaux, Tassili I and Tassili II. Details can be found here.

original image source from http://www.getdecorating.com

From left to right:
Tassili II, Lascaux, Tassili I
(from the Magic Symbols series)
40" x 13" each, silk

©Petra Voegtle

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

A terrific Hallway with a Valley on the Wall...

Although these colours are a bit gloomy - I do not quite understand people's preferences for dark colours - I nevertheless like this composition. Maybe it's because I live in a country where half of the year bright light is rare due to bad weather and long winters which are mostly wet and dark.

The original painting on the wall was marvellous and I would not want to change this interior design image - I just added one of my landscape paintings which I believe would fit marvellously into this hallway too, even repeating the graphic design of the carpet accidently. This silk painting belongs to a whole series called - Magic Landscapes

This silk painting is called The Valley, inspired by the wonderful green valleys you can find on the Hawaiian Islands. Check out this link for more details...

original image source from http://www.getdecorating.com

"The Valley"
(from the Magic Landscapes Series)
silk, 21" x 40"
©Petra Voegtle

Monday, May 4, 2009

A Stairway all in white...

For small houses the colour white is mandatory in most cases as it opens rooms. Dark colours would be too narrowing.

An additional hint of colour could be added with this acrylic painting which is called Whitewall (who could have guessed - LOL), a painting from the Reminiscenses series.
If you would like to see more details or rather what it is all about please check this link.


with courtesy of http://www.livingetc.com
click here for the original image source

"Whitewall"
(from the Reminiscences series)
26" x 18", acrylic on cotton
©Petra Voegtle
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