Stylish Living in a Brooklyn Brownstone

Martha Stewart Living editor, Pilar Guzman, her husband and their boys reside in this stylish Brooklyn brownstone.
The family gather in the kitchen which opens to the living and dining area.

This is one stylish and very liveable Brooklyn brownstone belonging to Martha Stewart Living editor, Pilar Guzman and her family. The original character details of the building are beautifully highlighted and the modern/vintage feel of this home is so well composed - it's hard not be impressed! Check out the vintage Arne Jacobsen Swan chair and Finn Juhl Model 45 chair (top right) as well as the vintage Spanish chairs by Borge Morgensen (third from top right). I really like this place...
Photographs by Matthew Hranek via Martha Stewart.

Mathias Dahlgren by The Selby

Entrance hall

Fast food bar

Slow food restaurant

When I came across The Selby's latest posting, I instantly recognised the work of Ilse Crawford of Studio Ilse. This is Mathias Dahlgren restaurant at the Grand Hotel Stockholm, Sweden and while you must look at the rest of The Selby's profile here to see the whole experience, I'm appreciating getting up close to Crawford's design and details. On Studio Ilse website, it explains that the 'restaurant design expresses chef Mathias Dahlgren's gastronomic philosophy in 3D'.
I like the contrast between the fast food bar and slow food restaurant as well as the amazing collection of furnishings and lighting used. And how about that patterned tile floor? Awesome.
Photographs via The Selby.

Little Paris Paintings by Paul Ferney

Paris Cafe in the 7th

Cafe Grenelle

Favourite Paris Restaurant

Les Fleurs on Rue Cler

Cafe on Rue Cler

Parisian Flower Shop

Corner Flower Shop

At the beginning of 2011, Paul Ferney put his belongings in storage and moved to Paris for a year. The result? His Little Paris Paintings of shops and buildings that he walked by daily. Lovely. See more of his work here.
Photographs via Paul Ferney.

Inspiration Profile - Neil Pardington

Welcome to this week's Inspiration Profile. He is a man of many talents - just recently he became the 2011 recipient of the Marti Friedlander Photographic Award, New Zealand's most prestigious award for photographers. His name is Neil Pardington and here is what inspires him right now.

Neil Pardington

Name: Neil Pardington 

What do you do: Artist and Creative Director at Base Two.

Where do you live: Wellington, New Zealand

What are you working on:

• ART - I’ve just completed a new project – Behind Closed Doors – a photographic portfolio and publication about art collecting – a collaboration with curator Christina Barton and writer Lara Strongman. My next major work is titled The Silent Sea and involves photographing the Dr Harvey Cushing Collection of medical specimens at the Yale School of Medicine. It will be a very large single work comprising of up to 600 images. I’m collaborating with Art Historian Dr Kriselle Baker on that. Our aim is to tour the work internationally as part of a larger exhibition including other photographic artists looking at the relationship between art, medicine and photography.

• DESIGN -The 2012 Smoking Not Our Future Campaign that has just been launched; the design of Tangata Whenua – an illustrated Maori History with Bridget Williams Books – and a raft of other projects, as is the case with a busy design studio.

Ralph Hotere, White Drip, 1982
2011from the series Behind Closed Doors Pigment Print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta
280 x 400 mmedition of 15

All Blacks Piri Weepu in the 'Smoking Not Our Future' Campaign

Who/what inspires me: Inspiring and surprising work by others – in any medium. Living in the information age, this changes on a daily basis – but here are some of my all-time classics:

• ART: Hild and Bernd Becher, Walker Evans, Eugéne Atjet, Alexander Rodchenko, William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Candida Höfer, Andeas Gursky, Ed Ruscha, Bill Viola and Len Lye.
• DESIGN: Alexander Rodchenko, Saul & Elaine Bass, Charles & Ray Eames and Hoefler & Frere Jones.
• FILM: Sergei Eisenstein, Andrei Tarkovsky, Stanley Kubric, Martin Scorcese, Bernardo Bertolucci, Jane Campion, Francis Ford Coppola and Krzysztof Kieslowski.
• WRITERS: Francois Foucault, Albert Camus, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Michael Ondaatje, Cormac McCarthy and Italo Calvino.
• MUSIC: Bob Dylan, James Brown, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Nick Cave, Talking Heads, Brian Eno, Goldfrapp and Kruder & Dorfmeister.

I work best: In the morning after a 40k bike ride.

What I do when I’m stuck for inspiration: Hang out with my daughter Billie or go for a long bike ride – basically do something all consuming that takes my mind off the problem, then come back to it refreshed.

The best advice I have been given is: Treat your creative work like any other job. Get up, go to work at a regular time and keep regular hours. Apply yourself and the inspiration will come. Both Woody Allen and David Mamet subscribe to this approach.

My latest discovery is: Pigment prints on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta – I’ve just switched from C-type prints which I’ve been using for the past 20 years. Quite a significant move for me.

Tunnel #5
2011Pigment Print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta
from the series The Abyss / En Abyme
dimensions variable
edition of 10

Wet Room #1, Otago Museum

2008

from the series The Vault
Digital print
dimensions variable
edition of 15

Books that I get inspiration from: Foucault’s The Birth of The Clinic is the text that has been most inspirational. Also Claude Lévi-Strauss’ Triste Tropiques. New Zealand history – most recently Anne Salmond’s Two Worlds and The Trial of the Cannibal Dog.

Magazines that inspire me: I’m more of a book reader than a magazine reader to be honest. Eye is my favourite design magazine. ArtNews is my favourite NZ art mag.

Blogs that I enjoy: Art, Life ,TV, Etc. , eyeCONTACT, Peter Peryer, Over the Net and on the Table,  Mrs Deane and If We Don't, Remember Me.

My favourite room at home is: Our open plan living, dining kitchen. It’s a beautiful and functional space designed by my wife Amelia Minty – and where Amelia, Billie and I spend most of our time together.

My office is: ART: at home, a small photographic studio known as ‘the man cave’, but also anywhere I’m taking photographs. DESIGN: The Base Two studio, Willis St, Wellington. Both studios were also designed by Amelia.

What am I looking forward to:
The birth of our second child in June this year.
Watching our daughter Billie growing up day by day.
My next big photo shoot – The Dr Harvey Cushing Archive at Yale.
The Tour de France.

Want to see more of Neil's work? Check out his website here. All photographs displayed are used with permission from Neil Pardington.

Abattoir #4
2010from the series The Abattior
Digital Print
Pigment Print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta
edition of 10

Doggie World

Mungo and Maud's classic exterior - black and white checked tiles and grey windows.

The simple and stylish store interior of Mungo and Maud.

A Jack Russell models a collar.

Well, today's posting has literally gone to the dogs. Firstly, check out this stylish boutique (above) in London called Mungo and Maud. It is a dog and cat outfitters and their concept store is located on Elizabeth Street, near Sloane Square. So cool to see the merchandise and boutique kept so stylish and simple.

To continue the theme, I came across this great 'Canine Portfolio' by Vanity Fair. It is a collection of fabulous photographs of his dogs by photographer Bruce Weber. You can find out more about Weber's dog gang here.

Photographs: Mungo and Maud via Remodelista, Bruce Weber's dogs via Vanity Fair.

Georgia O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

Ghost Ranch, once the home of artist Georgia O'Keefe, is located behind the pinon trees.

O'Keefe would climb the ladder to sleep on the roof.

The kitchen and breakfast room at Ghost Ranch

Rocks, bones and shells collectd by the artist lines the surrounding shelves.

The breakfast room and the its stunning surroundings

Bones and other objects found and displayed by the artist

The studio at Ghost Ranch

A Le Corbusier-style lounge chair in the studio

The simple adobe style building

Georgia O'Keeffe is an artist who has been much admired by my family over the years. We became aware of her simple and striking work through my uncle who resides in New Mexico, USA.
Sixty miles northwest of Santa Fe is a simple adobe structure called 'Ghost Ranch' , which was O'Keeffe first home in New Mexico. She lived and worked here every summer and fall for the last 40 years of her life. O'Keeffe continued her strong minimalist aesthetic in Ghost Ranch with austere rooms, functional furniture and careful arrangements of found objects. Read more about this intriguing woman and Ghost Ranch here.
Photographs by Robert Reck via Architectural Digest.

Gorgeous Turquoise

I'm loving the gorgeous turquoise walls in this vibrant and eclectic home. It works especially well with the ruby and hot pink accents. See the rest of this home and read the article here.
Photographs by Jason Schmidt via T Magazine.