Bringing Nature Inside the Home : Part 2

December 27, 2015 • Kristin at Interior Nature

One of the elements of bringing nature inside the home is our individual emotional connections with nature. On the one hand, nature in all of its complexity, invokes us to wander. Walks in nature are not naturally straight. Our senses are activated, often subliminally, and our multi-sensory perceptions of nature invoke a restfulness that enable us to wander and welcome unexpected delights.

For Gaby D'Alessandro, a Dominican artist who was asked by Audubon Magazine to re-imagine one of John James Audubon's paintings, she said the elements she uses to evoke a feeling - "they're often nature-related."

Ruby-throated Hummingbird © Gaby D'Alessandro

Pajaro © Gaby D'Alessandro

 Her re-imagination of Botanical Illustration into a more complex expression of human feelings with nature is fascinating to me, especially considering the popularity of botanical prints in interior design today.

The American Society of Botanical Artists states that part of its mission is to acknowledge the power of botanical art to communicate the importance of plants to our world whether through conservation, science, horticulture or agriculture. They have an excellent Gallery promoting contemporary illustrators of which there are many. Whatever the wildness of nature invokes in you emotionally or spiritually, botanical illustration of a single bird species or plant species is an intimate experience of the complexity of one piece of nature.  

Millennials and Gen-Xers have made framed botanical print walls a popular home decor pursuit. A quick search for "botanical print wall"  on Pinterest will bring up a number of links to sites proclaiming free downloadable botanical prints for producing your own wall set. Home Decor businesses like Ballard Designs have jumped on board by celebrating particular botanical artists and selling sets of framed reproductions. Famous Interior Designers, like Bunny Williams and Suzanne Kasler, have even put their names on sets of pre-packaged botanical reproductions. Bunny's are "inspired" by traditional tropicals from the 1800's, and Suzanne's are sepia reproductions of her French flea market finds. 

1622 French Renaissance painter and botanist, Daniel Rabel reprints by Ballard Designs

Interior Design tries to organize this area of artistic expertise into structure and color categories that simplify the integration of these prints into Interior Design. 

Geraldine James, author of Creative Walls, challenges people "to celebrate their uniqueness and your creativity" through such collecting.

I suspect that the degree to which you are welcoming of the unboundedness of nature indoors correlates with one's gardening style. Some love structure. Some love wildness. Some can't handle either extreme. Accepting utter humility, the rest of us muddle through. The internet today tries to convince the individual home decor enthusiast that she or he can express individuality through botanical print collections.

I love the pursuit of the idea, but I for one cannot build one to my personal satisfaction. Each drawing is very intimate. Is it my emotional connection to nature or to myself? I am not an artist, but when I look at botanical artists unbounded by the single object, I so admire their ability to wrestle with their emotional connections with nature and their skill to pull it off on the canvas. It is clearly not easy for them.

Claire Basler Murals (c) Claire Basler

I would love for people to share botanical artists they admire. There is a lot of passion out there.

Interior Nature, Interior Design

Interior Nature to Interior Design

June 16, 2014 • Kristin at Interior Nature

Designer pillows were not a calling. About eight months ago, I perched on an outcrop longing to see the luminescence of the monarchs as they gathered on the purple asters before taking flight en masse for the winter. What a honor to witness. Such brilliance is unusual in design. Sometimes we capture it in glassware. Shiny metals may capture it, like mirrored cabinets refracting bright fabrics or wallpapers. Silk velvets, lights and lamp fabrics, and yes, plastics of various kinds, can produce that feeling of happy internal light.

Photo © Interior Nature

In the Fall of 2013, there were no butterflies in Maine. I took the above photo in the Fall of 2012. They never arrived during the past summer, let alone gathered to head South in the Fall. I missed staring at their delicate movements and wing dancing. The luminescent orange and purple were an annual rhythm. How many vivid light and color experiences can we count on, especially in an expected rhythm? Art and Design can try to emulate these experiences.

A friend of ours, Salley Knight, has spent decades trying to express luminescence in silk using traditional Japanese dye techniques. Curing the fabric with homemade soymilk is a lengthy process. Her love for both light and dark is expressed through the medium of silk.

Photo © Salley Knight Studios

She miraculously manipulates the refraction of light, playing and designing with often unpredictable flows of ink among the fibers. It is a fine art that has taken years of practice and refinement. The glow is so complex, it is even flattened by photography.

The 2014 Kips Bay Decorator Showcase is a great example of fine designers at work managing light and refraction in design. Some people may find the results agitating and too noisy; others find the results grounding. Great interior designers try to master it in every project, and recognize the personal needs of the individual.

I used to work in the reclaimed wood business. I have worked with many designers, furniture makers, and decorators. Some love to communicate about details, and can manage imperfection and uncertainty that is inherent to adapting to an individual. As one happy customer said of their experience, “this place is so NOT internet!” What did she mean?

Well, the opposite feeling is "I want this exact thing I saw on Pinterest"! Educating the consumer about what it would take to replicate a unique piece of wood with a unique personal history can sag the "I want it now at my fingertips" heart. But taking a worn piece of one person's trash with a unique history into an object of beauty is not easily repeated from piece to piece.

Photo © Interior Nature

Getting back to Interior Nature: Peter and I have embarked on a journey to bring past fabrics back to life. There is so much genius and craftsmanship in the history of design. Even genius mid-century modern designers that embraced smooth lines brought imperfection into the home via stone, wood, and fabrics. They were personal, natural spaces. Minimally, vintage and antique fabrics deserve a happy new home. And maybe, our products will enable you to add that touch of the personal to your home.