Angie Hranowsky

Today I was going through some old House Beautiful magazines for a project and I rediscovered Charleston designer Angie Hranowsky. I originally had taken notice of Angie because of her graphic design work, specifically the letterpress invitations and stationary. I've always been interested in letterpress, it's so classic, and takes practice and talent. The amazing part of Angie's work is that she is EQUALLY as talented in interior design. Angie shows that if you have more than one passion, you don't necessarily have to choose.

This is the image from House Beautiful that caught my eye. I have some friends decorating a new apartment in NYC and Angie's work made me think of them. Her work is so chic, but also so do-able. It's not too pretentious, but incredibly stylish. She is has great work from which to take inspiration.



I spy a David Hicks pattern on the curtains. It works here, but could be too busy in other settings.

Here is another good look for my NYC friends to take inspiration. It's easily recreated with flea market finds.


I THINK that fabric on the chairs is Ashley Hicks for David Hicks, again. Not sure though. Looks great.

Can definitely see her graphic designer side take over here.



How great is the large scale of that lamp! Looks like the faux zebra rug I mentioned a while back.

I love the combination of cobalt blue and light pink.


Now for the ADORABLE letterpress items. More designs are available here.

Bee

I'm going to go ahead and say that bees are going to be the next big thing in jewelry. Here are my favorite apiology (study of bees) finds so far.

Bee necklace from Erica Weiner.

Bee earrings from Katinka Pinka on Etsy.com.

These are always cute gifts. This is the queen bee gold dipped make a wish necklace on gold silk thread. From Dogeared.

Bee Charmer Earrings from The Noisy Plume on Etsy.com. "When I walk past the yellow blom of palo verde trees in the spring I am warmly wrapped in the happy song of bees. How I wish I could charm them with my presence and reach a hand into the hollow where they store their honey. How I wish I could simply charm them into sharing some of the amber-sage-flavored-goodness with me." Jewelry + Literature for $39... WOW!

I'm not sure if these kind of places are just a Southern thing, or if it's all over. But while Im on the subject of bees... I LOVE HONEY on everything from biscuits to chicken. Go here to buy some of this roadside honey.

Mystery Blog

Sometimes I like to press "next blog" at the top of the blog page to look at other randomly generated blogs. It's neat to see all the strange and interesting topics that people blog about. I found this design blog, called "A Yellow House by the Sea." It's all in another language, not sure what. But it's fun to look at the pictures and imagine what she is saying about everything.

Slim Aarons

Coolest book I've seen in a while is Poolside with Slim Aarons.   It's $75 in stores, but $47.25 on Amazon.  I wish I lived in the 70's when Lilly Pulitzer was cool and pool parties were glamorous.  

Atlanta Homes

I have a truly love-hate relationship with Atlanta. I hate the traffic, and the suburbs, but I love the city and its Southern roots. When I go running around my house in Buckhead, I see the most beautiful old Southern homes, mostly on West Paces Ferry and surrounding roads like Tuxedo. I've also noticed that alot are for sale right now. It's ALMOST enough to distract me from the 99.5% humidity.

Although not for sale, it's worth nothing that my run starts at the Swan House, which is owned by the Atlanta History Center. It is beautiful, and so are those Belinda roses.

This is the "Pink Palace," a famous Atlanta home that once was, in fact, pink. It's at the intersection of Tuxedo Road and West Paces Ferry. It also has a really beautiful yard, that isn't show here.



I'm so surprised to see this is for sale. It now is the Southern Center for International Studies, but you really wouldn't know it unless you see the small sign at the gate. This one is right across the street from the Governor's mansion.




This one is on Tuxedo. It's beautiful. Alot of these old Buckhead homes are unique because of the huge yards, which is very rare in even the largest homes in other cities. I love passing this house on my run, because it's the old home of the Woodruff's and Robert Woodruff was president of Coca Cola at one point, as well as namesake for Atlanta's wonderful Woodruff Arts Center (a love in my love-hate relationship).




I wish I had a better picture of this one, but my significant other and I absolutely love this one. It was built in 1922 by the famous Neil Reed, an architect who did alot of homes in Atlanta.








This one is right across the street from the Woodruff home and also for sale, and most noteable for the beautiful gardens.






I absolutely LOVE this one. It's not on my running route, but I pass it alot in the car. It's off W. Wesley off Peachtree. I always complain that I can never get any peace and quiet in Atlanta (hate), but I know I could if I lived here.





This one is prettier in person, but this gives an idea. It also has a great yard and it gets tons of sun because it's right on top of a little hill on Tuxedo Road.

Very cool

Found Revival Home and Garden randomly at work today. A lot of Hollywood Regency items. It's great! Love the logo, too. They don't have a website with the items on it, it looks like they use the blog to do this.

FYI

Last night I went to dinner with my boyfriend's boss and wife. Inevitably, the conversation turned to what kind of art I like. This happens alot since I'm in grad. school for Arts Administration, which is a somewhat vague term and most of the time people just ask what I like about art. Anyway, I like to try to categorize why I love art and what art exactly, otherwise I feel overwhelmed. Although I know more about early modern art (from undergraduate and graduate studies) which is Kandinsky, Miro, Leger, etc., I LOVE LOVE LOVE American Paintings from the 1800's. I am so interested in this type of painting, and it's works like these that make me realize that I'm finally on my way to having a career in something I'm passionate about. This is why:



This is Fur Traders Descending the Missouri by George Caleb Bingham. It's about life in the Midwest and it is literally at "masterpiece" in every since of the word. I can see it wonderfully displayed in a chic home today, but equally I can see the museum quality in such a work (it's at the Met). This work is so quietly dramatic.



This is Martin Johnson Heade's The Coming Storm (part of the Luminist movement... which makes sense when looking at how he plays with light here).


Also at the Met, this is Winslow Homer's Northeaster. Homer is a really famous American painter, most famous for his paintings of the sea. This is beautiful.


This is Thomas Eakins Max Schmitt in a Single Scull from 1871. It's a river in Philadelphia. Supposedly Eakins is in the distance and his friend Max is in the closest boat.

I'm pretty sure I was born in the wrong century. Everything in these paintings is so beautiful and majestic. There are so many examples like these, and most of them are at the Met. I guess the point here is that I have to get to NYC ASAP (and to see my wonderful friends.)