Showing posts with label ivory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ivory. Show all posts

Friday, October 1, 2010

Adult Content in the Living Room

I love this room for its simplicity. I absolutely love the floor and that it was not destroyed through paint whether it might be trendy or not. Wood can be so beautiful especially when it is old and talks of many years of usage. It can be even more beautiful when it is cared for as in this room. I also love high ceilings in old houses and I love old houses because they have character and personality. You probably have guessed so...

I also love the simplicity of the furniture that gives this room  its personal character - so if this were mine I would not have changed a single thing besides... Well, I must admit I have  certain weakness for little extras, which are not common, which can be a bit provocative so I would have chosen a different wall piece than the original one, such as this...

 original image source and with courtesy of 

The mural is a heavy, hand carved, sculptured wall piece, named Mithunas, which means "lovers" and which took me more than 6 months to finish (inspired by India's temple ornamentations in Kajuraho. This mural is however my own original design).
If you would like to see more details please check this link on my website or click on the photo below.
The mural has been treated with a varnish that is my own recipe so that it looks like old ivory. This increases the preciousness of this art piece and makes it look like an ancient carving. Finally it has been polished with beeswax that makes the wood smooth and shiny.


 "Mithunas" 
55" x 46" x 7", 70 kg
hand carved, pine
©Petra Voegtle
 ~

Friday, August 27, 2010

The Elegance of an Entry Hall...

Now look closely at the picture below and see what is wrong?
This is truly a wonderful and very elegant entry hall. I love the colour scheme here, the light and airiness of this entrance, the filigree door, everything composed with great care besides the mirror above the table. How could this have been overlooked that a mirror was placed into the alcove that does not fit at all? In my opinion this does not look good. No doubt that mirror is beautiful and would have looked wonderful on the side table but not in the alcove.


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

I had a different idea for decoration: a delicate and realistic painting in a nicely carved frame, matching colour and style of the side table: Contemplation on a Predator from the Pigeon series.


To make this part of the wall even more interesting and in order to give it a bit of a mysterious (you know I like mystery) touch I would even place a beautiful skull on the table, something similar to the painted one. "Ebony and ivory" would make a perfect match. I am sure any guest would be intrigued...

"Contemplation on a Predator"
(from the Pigeons series)
 

18" x 26" (without frame) acrylic
©Petra Voegtle

The painting itself is acrylic on cotton. You can read more about it here if you like. Inspiration comes from the feral pigeon family that lives on my balcony and whose lives I am documenting in another blog since nearly 3 years now. Read the Pigeon Tales with lots of stories and photos.
~

Sunday, July 18, 2010

My favourite Bathroom and what I would do with it...

I am not an official interior designer and would not dare to call me so without the correct licenses but I love to look at all kinds of interior design and I love to help with advice. I am an artist and designer for all sorts of objects. So if you have a problem with placing a piece of art into an appropriate environment you can send me a photo or two. We could work this out together and I'd love to help.

I love to see what people like to surround themselves with, their different styles and tastes, their preferences for certain colours and forms. It tells you a lot about a person even if s/he did not create her/his own environment but had it designed by a professional. But I don't want to go into psychological details.

I even love to look at freaky designs and often ask myself what kind of "geek" may live in that kind of environemt. But this would be an injust and ignorant judgement. The world would be dull without these "individual" tastes. I only ask my self sometimes where does it come from, this judgement about something being freaky and outside the common rules? And who makes these rules? Is it that dreaded peer pressure (front garden syndrome), that tells you what you can do or not? Not always but often...

In many cases it is part of a certain social class that requires the individual to obey a certain kind of style, even trends no matter whether you like it or not. Sometimes people even stop asking themselves what they like or not, it becomes more important to be part of the establishment, living in the orbit of important names and becoming an important name themselves, surrounding themselves with important objects. What a shame. But I am rambling...

But despite all social dependencies there is also that special sense for harmony and beauty, the magical Golden Ratio (sectio aureo). The Golden Ratio seems to be something that is firmly fixed in our brain. That decides which face or figure is beautiful (at least the analytic psychology tells us so), automatically indicates where we feel comfortable or not.

The Golden Ratio is an important element of the Arts and Architecture and describes the perfect proportions of all elements which lead to harmony and esthetics. The Golden Ratio can be found in ubiquitous examples of nature, especially in plants.

So what has this all to do with "my" bathroom? I think it is a subliminal affinity we ( me ) have towards classical architecture of earlier epochs, where the rules of the Golden Ratio and the esthetics were pre-requisitional for any building and smaller elements.

This bathroom reminds me of smaller ancient Italian villas you can find all around the Mediterranean coast. It may be a bit farfetched but this implies for me living and enjoying life in all its facettes. It contains the smell of rosemary and lavender, cypress and pines.

This would be "my" bathroom with exactly these colours. And dreaming of a bathroom such as this one, living in the "right" environment near the sea,  I added a little sketch that might complete this room such as this with my favourite sculpture Putri Dedes, the goddess of transcendental wisdom...

click on images to enlarge
original image source "left" House Beautiful
image "right"  ©Petra Voegtle

 "Putri Dedes"
Goddess of Transcendental Wisdom
(from the Asian Wood Carving Series)
 

43" x 28" x 19" - hand carved
©Petra Voegtle
(private collection)








The sculpture has been hand carved in pine - no tropical wood. The completion took about 25 weeks and weighs 70 kg. It has been treated with an ebony-like varnish and polished with beeswax.


~

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

An opulent Lady's Boudoir

This could be the lady's bedroom but it also could be a very generous guestroom for very special guests in a home where hospitality is considered an important virtue.

I love the colours and the aura of this boudoir and the original very decorative paravent that was placed in the same position of this room. But if this were my room I would add just a tiny bit more contrast and drama, a bit more material for your imagination. And what could be more appropriate than an interpretation of one of the most famous loving couple: Krishna and Radha from the Indian epic Mahabharata.

This precious paravent has been hand carved in many hours. It consists of 3 panels. It has been glazed with an ivory colour, patinated and waxed so that it looks like old ivory.

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





Intrigued to see more details then please check this link

Saturday, June 27, 2009

A Bedroom to love...

This is one of the sweetest bedrooms I have ever seen and I wished it were mine!
The colours, the light, the lovely stencil painting on the wall, the bed itself - I personally don't like the pillows though with these ribbons - that's just a tiny bit too much - everthing is so romantic and inviting to spend a good time in this room:



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

And if this room were mine I just would have added my dearest sculpture Putri Dedes, the model for the goddess of Transcendental Wisdom, Prajnaparamita.
The original statue, by which this sculpture has been inspired, probably is the most beautiful and exquisite Ancient Indonesian statue, to be found in the National Museum at Jakarta.

The Javanese called this statue Princess Putri Dedes. She was the first queen of Singasari, from whom all kings of Singasari and Majapahit descended. One of the ruined temples in the south of Candi Singasari was called the Temple of the Princess, and it is thought that this statue may once have been enshrined there. Putri Dedes was the daughter of a Buddhist priest and an identification with the goddess Prajnaparamita would be highly appropriate. But there is no proof for this. Nevertheless - for me she is the goddess.

So in my fantasy I added a little cast iron table with a glass plate on which the goddess rests. This would make the room for me complete - just as below:



This sculpture literally carries my heart blood because carving this piece was quite an endeavour and took about 6 months - it was a full time job. Carving chisels need to be extremely sharp and more than once a little blood drippd from my fingers into this wood. Also the figure is terribly heavy - it's massive wood.

To give you an impression about the details of this figure I have added a few photos. I especially love her face for its expression of total harmony and peace. The voluptuous form of this sculpture is a tribute to Indian temple ornamentations and figurines.







"Putri Dedes"
Goddess of Transcendental Wisdom
(from the Asian Wood Carving Series)
43" x 28" x 19" - hand carved
©Petra Voegtle



You can see here that the figure's back has been fully sculptured as well by showing her full hairdress as well as her jewellery and dress.


Her throne has been carved separately. This way the whole weight was devided up and it was easier to carve the intricate pattern. The basis of this throne are stylized lotus petals.



.

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

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...

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Apsara in the Bathroom...

A bathroom such as this talks of elegance and certain expectations. So why not placing art into such a beautiful environment while taking a cleopatra's bath?
The silk carving on the wall is part of the Angkor's Faces and Figures series and belongs to a diptych called Fragments of Angkor.
Details about this silk carving - it is really made from silk - you can see here


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


"Angkor's Fragments"
( from the Angkor's Faces series)
silk carving, 11 1/2" x 9"
©Petra Voegtle



Tuesday, March 24, 2009

An austere Room with a Secret...

Things are not always what they seem to be - right? This room seems to be austere, without any ornateness and gadgets but there seems to be a secret here also. Could it be that there is happening more than it appears at first sight? The hand carved wall relief tells a different story but is this reality or another trick to lure the viewer into phantasies which should not leave the doors...

See more of this hand carved wall piece, named Mithunas, which means "lovers" and which took more than 6 months to finish (inspired by India's temple ornamentation, however my own original design).

If you would like to see more detail please check this link on my website or click on the photo below.

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

"Mithunas"
wood carving, 55" x 46" x 7", 70 kg
©Petra Voegtle


Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The Secrets of your Bedroom...

The most private room in the house is your bedroom. It is the place that is all yours, where there is no entry for any intruder, the place of your secret dreams, the place of your inner self, the place that is hidden before the public - that place that no foreigner will ever get to see, just like in a serail.
I brought India's exotic into this room - for no-one to see but just yourself...

A heavy, hand-carved, sculptured wall piece, named Mithunas, which means "lovers" and which took me more than 6 months to finish (inspired by India's temple ornamentation, however my own original design).
If you would like to see more detail please check this link on my website or click on the photo below.


original image source http://www.homesolute.com

"Mithunas"
wood carving, 55" x 46" x 7", 70 kg
©Petra Voegtle

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

How to turn a simple Living Room into something extravagant

I like the colours of this room and its simple classical style. This is a wonderful prerequisite for doing something out of the norm: giving this illustrious paravent the right stage to be admired. Could you agree?
Would you like to see more details of his handcarved triptych which is called Krishna and Radha then please check this link.

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

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

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Moroccan Interior and an Indian Paravent?

I love to play with images and ideas. So what do you think of this combination? Yes - it's opulent but what else would you expect in a luxury home, an old Moroccan palazzo with exquisite interior? An intimate chamber not for the visitor to be seen but only for the home owner to enjoy. And behind that paravent? Secrets - only secrets... and stories from Arabian nights...

If you want to see more details check this link or click on the photo below...

Original image source from "Moroccan Interiors", Taschen Verlag 1995


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

Monday, December 22, 2008

In the Sunroom - a handcarved Triptych

This is one of my most beautiful wood carving pieces: Krishna and Radha, an Indian inspired triptych. I placed it in several environments - just in order to test how it would look like. Now judge for yourself....
If you want to see more details check this link

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

Friday, December 19, 2008

An opulent silk Art Quilt in a Designer's Living Room

There are a lot of people who do prefer the minimalist interior of their home. Whether it's an overall aversion against all kinds of ornamentation, a longing for being trendy (whatever that might mean) or simply someone with a love for straight "things" without any curlicues - there is a demand out there for the pure. The problem is that these kinds of rooms often appear cold, repellent and even hostile. The solution for this is to offer at least one counterpiece.
What I mean with this, is this example. A room furnished with only the basics and then a piece of art on the wall that seems to be quite the contrary: opulent and decorative. But in this context it does not change the demand for a reduced interieur at all but it offers a place for the eyes to rest on and feel comfortable.

For details of the art quilt Golden Nymph click here


original image source from http://www.modernes-interieur.de

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