Art & Jewellery

In January 2010 at the Vancouver Art Gallery there will be a new exhibition and the artist will be

Michael Lin.

"Michael Lin is highly regarded for his monumental painted installations that reconfigure and redesign public spaces. Using patterns based on traditional Taiwanese textiles, his work has been integrated into museum cafés, lobbies, galleries and façades in many countries, dynamically transforming their architecture and the way they are perceived by the public. For his solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Michael Lin has created an enormous hand-painted mural that will cover the Gallery’s Georgia Street façade, bringing his artwork outside the traditional confines of the Gallery space. Expanding on his interest in veiling the institution, he has also conceived a book-wrapping project for the Gallery Store, which will cover Gallery publications in a wrapping paper of his own design. Raised in Taiwan, Lin lives between Brussels, Shanghai and Taipei. His work reflects the influence of these diverse sites of cultural production and his movement between them". (from VAG web site)

This was the art section... Now...Jewellery you will ask? Here it comes:

In Milan there is a gorgeous showroom of my favorite Jeweller: Pomellato... with walls hand painted by Michael Lin.

I fell in love with Pomellato when I was young (they started in 1967) and I always walked in via San Pietro all'Orto to admire the windows display even when I could not afford to buy anything. Several years passed by and when my beautiful, sweet, talented niece Valentina, an architect, was hired by the firm, we were all excited in the family and she is still so happy to be there even if at times tired of so much traveling around the world!
I am so glad that Pomellato has reached a well deserved international fame and has now flagship stores everywhere, from Russia to Singapore to Kuwait.
There is a video on YouTube I could not embed in this post so if you want to see it please go to YouTube and search for Pomellato in Milan (or if you are lucky just clicking on YouTube link may bring you the videos!).

Rings from NUDO collection.

Rings from the latest collection "M'ama, non m'ama" (He loves me, he loves me not)

From "Victoria" collection

From "Tango" collection

From "Capri" collection

Also part of Pomellato company is the Dodo brand, another big trend for younger (and older too I would say) jewellery lovers.

I am sure you'll smile when you'll enter the Dodo site.

Precious in any sense of the word!

If you want to see Milan with me...click on "The event is back"

Continue Reading... Label: Antiques and Art, Brillante Interiors, Lifestyle, Vancouver

More on Milan Design Week

 During the Milan Furniture Fair (also called Salone del Mobile, trade only event April 14-19, 2010) there are always many other design events, open to the public, which are organized under the umbrella name of "Fuori Salone". 
The whole city is transformed and in several areas there are performances, installations, interviews with top designers, shows, music, social events, drinks and food, all of these happening most of the day and until late at night, the whole week.

This is the first of a few posts related to "The event is back" to show what was going on in Milan this past April and it may give you an idea of what will happen at the next edition, April 2010.

Palazzo Visconti, in the center of Milan was home to an installation by Patricia Urquiola.

Urquiola, during the Fuori Salone 2009 presented a NEW bathroom concept for the Axor brand of Hansgrohe. A "gorgeous coulisse provided the baroque Palazzo Visconti in the heart of Milan with a successful staging of the new bathroom collection Axor Urquiola." Says Philippe Grohe, “The visitors were throughout thrilled, from both, the staging and the bathroom collection itself. Both, journalists and the architects among the visitors found it very exciting that Patricia Urquiola, for sure one of the most wanted designers of the 2009 Milan Furniture Fair, many times personally answered their questions."

Lombard baroque and contemporary design!

To be able to participate to Salone del Mobile 2010 click on The event is back.

Images from Flickr

Continue Reading... Label: Brillante Interiors, I Saloni, Milan

The event is back

Would you like to spend a week with me in Milan for the 2010 International Furniture Fair?
(to know more about the Fair please go to I Saloni)
I will be leading a selected group of Designers or store owners of high-end furniture, with a maximum of 10 people, April 12 to 19, 2010.
It will be the most exciting week to discover new trends and a unique opportunity to be fully immersed in Interior design in the very capital of Design with the most amazing display of modern and contemporary creations.

A must for any Interior designer or high-end furniture store owner.

The city during the week will be transformed: a kaleidoscope of events, a visual and cultural stimulation that will give you inspiration for the year ahead and beyond.

Everyone in the Interior design business travel to Milan from around the world for that week, great surprises will be at every corner and it will be a tremendous opportunity to learn more about design, participate in a myriad of events all over the city, socialize and most possibly meet top international designers.
To diversify the itinerary visits to Mid-century historical houses, museums and other points of interest will also be part of the tour.

A night al La Scala can also be arranged for opera "Simon Boccanegra" by Giuseppe Verdi with

Placido Domingo.

The land portion will be CAD 4,480.00 per person (7 nights double occupancy in a 4 star hotel).

The whole experience for a designer will be priceless and it will help your business for years to come!
To learn more please contact: albarosa@brillantehomedecor.com


You may also like to read:

"Fuori Salone" Britishness
"Fuori Salone" Karim Rashid
Oh, Man, it's a Ray" at "I Saloni"
" I Saloni" Recession Style
"I Saloni" directly from Milan
"I Saloni" (The Satellite Salone)
Salone del Mobile 2009, Milano

Continue Reading... Label: Brillante Interiors, Events, I Saloni, Interior design

A gift

Sorry...I just wanted to catch your attention! the gift was for me...

I just discovered that I won another giveaway, this time from James at Garvinweasel, a blog I discovered by chance, while I was judging, with other designers, the interiors sent to Brooke at Velvet & Linen for the "giveaway of the year" and I was so attracted by the image he sent.
The blogosphere is becoming more and more interesting every day, discovering and connecting with new people, helping each other, learning from everyone, receiving and giving gifts...what a marvelous way to start my day! I will just have to wake up earlier and earlier every morning to keep up with all these amazing blogs.

Continue Reading... Label: Blogging, Books, Brillante Interiors, Give-away, Thanks to

Magic lights in Milano

The above image is "Luce sacra" a project by Jacopo Tiscar: the Milanese cathedral (Duomo) will become a source of light itself, creating fascinating effects on its stained-glass windows. Tomorrow Milan will be magically transformed by light. Not just by the traditional Christmas ones but by the first edition of the International Festival of Lights.
Once again Design will reign in the city because from December 6 to January 10 about forty LED installations by Italian and international designers will be adorning several areas of Milan.
LED this time is also an appropriate acronym for:
Light Exhibition Design
"Kiss" installation by Paul Cocksedge will consist in a gigantic dome of LED lights and a metallic mistletoe...every time a couple will go to the podium, kiss and touch the mistletoe the light will become more intense and will change color. At the same time 1 Euro will be donated to charity. The power of love!

Central Station facade, so rich in statues and decorations will be adorned by the lights of Alain Guillhote.

 

"Satelliti" by Paolo Rizzatto are lights suspended in the sky around Piazza della Scala, creating reflections on the buildings of the area, pictured here is Palazzo degli Omenoni (built in 1565) with its "big men".

"Spiro Gira" is the installation by Patricia Urquiola in Corso Vittorio Emanuele made of lights and shadows, full and empty shapes.

 

By Mario Nanni is "La luce della musica" or the light of the music. On Teatro alla Scala facade he will recreate part of the interior, breaking barriers between inside and out. December 7th, also the day of Saint Ambrogio, Sant'Ambroeus in Milanese dialect, patron of the city, is always the inaugural night of the season at Teatro alla Scala, this year the opera will be Carmen, by Bizet.

La Triennale will have on the roof lights recalling the gothic Duomo's spires, by Michele De Lucchi.

"Make it new" by M. Nicoletti will color in different hues one of the historic gates to the city, Porta Ticinese.

A path of LED lights creating a different vision of the city. Architects and designers are already in love with the new source of light, small, efficient, environmentally friendly, colorful and versatile like no other.
LED is here to stay.
But I also invite you to read Ingo Maurer Manifesto: "Statement concerning the light bulb" (click on Press on his website) with his dispute of the latest rules against the old incandescent lights, quite interesting and revealing.

Don't forget my "100th post giveaway"... to read the rules click here.

Continue Reading... Label: Brillante Interiors, Designers, Events, Lighting, Milan

The importance of lights and shadows

Do you ever pay attention to the shadows in your house?

People fall in love with a lamp and don't realize that it is very important to evaluate a house not only starting from light but also from the shadows created by it. Without shadows everything appears artificial and shallow.
Imagine stairs totally white and a light strong and diffuse from above, almost no shadows. It could be hard to descend those steps but if it was lit creating shadows at each step it would be easier to manage. Solution: wall light with precise shadows at the end of each step or different color of woods or carpet on steps (best solution will be to hire a designer who will help to establish the best way of lighting a space).

The image below represents an extreme example, which can be terrific or...tragic!

a better example

In a bedroom instead we need less shadows, they need to be soft and imperceptible, a strong ceiling light will create too harsh shadows and take away feeling of relaxation and coziness, but an halogen lamp directed to the ceiling will lit it indirectly and it will reflect soft shadows, and of course table lamps (or wall mounted ones) will always create atmosphere.

Many mistakes are made in the use of lights, especially when we don't pay attention to the shadows they create, just think for a moment about a beautiful painting with a shadow projected on it by a nearby piece of furniture, we'll always see only half of the painting. Pity!

Another aspect of lighting is that sometimes when you cannot find a solution in furniture placement the problem can be solved giving each area a specific source of lighting, which can help in reorganizing the space based on functionality. The cone of light will help to concentrate our attention without our eyes looking all over to find a reference point.
On the contrary in a passage area it is best to have many lights of the same lower intensity distributed along the path.

Everyone knows this but I want to say it anyway:

Direct light: think about a sunny day

Diffuse light: think of sun filtered through clouds

We often need direct light on a table

and always direct light where we work

but we always need diffused light near a TV.

He will agree...!

Naturally rules can be broken and personal preference is also to be taken in consideration, but the right source of light will create a better space, not to mention atmosphere or the chance...to relax and take a nap!

Don't forget my "100th post giveaway"... to read the rules click here.

Images from Canadian House and Home and from House Beautiful, last image from Stock.

Continue Reading... Label: Brillante Interiors, How to, Interior design, Lighting