FINDS: an incredible Chandelier by Sander Mulder

A short while ago I stumbled upon a designer in The Netherlands via the De Liever Koffietafelblog in my blogroll. They featured an incredible design of a modern chandelier which I do not want to withhold - I think you might be equally fascinated:

original image source:  www.sandermulder.com

This model Therese is " made from 16 transparent contours illuminated by a fluorescent bulb, this chandelier provides a modern reincarnation of the traditional chandelier."
(read more:  http://www.sandermulder.com/therese.html)

Another incredible design is this floor lamp Josephine, "made from 16 transparent contours illuminated by a dimmable fluorescent bulb".

original image source:  www.sandermulder.com

Check out their website for more exciting designs.

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OFF-TOPIC: Climate Change - nothing is static

These days subject #1 is Climate Change. But the explanations of science and rainbow press are equally ridiculous. As if mankind could influence any global changes - ha.
Changes on this planet occur continuously - it is necessary for the universal balance, to keep the planet living. Nothing on earth is static. Climate changes are a necessary element of these changes.

While man certainly has an influence on his nearer environment, pollution of air, land and sea, on the animals and their wellbeing, on plants etc. and while this certainly has an impact on micro climates of cities and adjacent country he has no influence on global climate changes. I do not want to go into details though. It is a matter of common sense.

The melting of the ice caps in the artic region will have some major impact on the whole planet but can we do anything about it? I don't think so. The outcry about this is as ridiculous as about many other issues. This has occured several times in the history of our earth, long before man started to change his environment.

Has anyone ever thought about this being necessary and that if we try to intervene in nature's laws and actions - which we btw mostly still do not understand - we might end up in a chaos? Plants and animals and even man will disappear eventually from certain areas but there will be new ones, new land, new species - continuously. Evolution will never stop.This can be painful but we cannot and should not intervene. What sense does it make to save certain species artificially when the habitat has been lost? Shall we keep animals in zoos only after we have "civilized" all wild land, plastered it with cities? This cannot be the meaning of life and I definitely don't want to live in a world such as that.

We should enjoy the beauties of this world, protect it from greed and overpopulation which is the real scourge of humanity as long as we are here. The secrets of mother nature will never be revealed - we can only comprehend little bits and pieces but never the whole.

This is the reason why I am creating art, beautiful objects which only show a fraction of what exists.This silk scroll has been inspired by the fantastic landscapes you can still find in arctic regions where the ice is carved by mother nature...

"Iceworld"
79" x 25", silk scroll

©Petra Voegtle

If you would like to know more about the "making of" of this silk scroll, please check this link.

And if you would like to see the impact of this scroll on the wall, here are some examples:

interior1, interior2, interior3

This wallhanging was juried into the members show of the Woman Made Gallery in Chicago in 2006.

Follwoing image is and example how this very large scroll could look in a frame:

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Interior Design on Ranches and their Signatures

The interior design of a ranch would certainly include the appropriate symbols and signatures of a life on the country and living with its animals. But sometimes you can do a little too much I find as in this case.

The entry hall is quite dark and makes you well aware where you are and including a new object of interest like this silk painting adds even more focus to the land instead of a photo or painting with another "ranching" motif such as a typical "cowboy" motif. See original below. Or what is your take on this

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

 

"Dry Land"
(from the Magic Landscapes series)
40" x 21", silk
©Petra Voegtle

Other vignettes with this painting can be found here and here.

Celts - a Silk Painting of a Magical Place

There are thousands of magical places on this world and only very few I have seen myself. Stonehenge was one of them at a time - some decades ago - where tourism did not overflow the whole area yet and where they did not request yet astronomical entry fees and where the stones were not fenced from any touch yet. But times change...

Stonehenge has always been a fascinating motif for painters and poets and will remain so as long as it exists. I could not withdraw from its spell myself and so this painting on silk Celts became part of the Magic Symbols series. If you would like to know more about the painting please read here.

"Celts"
(from the Magic Symbols Series)
silk, 40" x 13"
©Petra Voegtle

(sold)

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Please check the following links if you would like to see the impact in a room with a painting such as this:  interior1, interior2, interior3, interior4

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.

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