Thursday, 30 June 2011
SERPENTINE GALLERY SUMMER PARTY
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
John Stefanidis Fabric Bokhara - available in 2 colours
John Stefanidis Bokhara
 |
| Bokhara Red on White |
 |
| Bokhara Red on Cream |
Available from:
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7352 9977
Email: tissusdhelene@mac.com
Website:
tissusdhelene.co.uk
Phone: + 1 305-576-6222
Email:
sales@monicajames.com
Website:
monicajames.com
Phone: +1 310 858 6884
Email: Info@HarbingerLA.com
Website: harbingerla.com
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
FLAUBERT'S ‘Salammbô’
BOOKS - FOR THOSE WHO READ PAPERBACK, HARDBACK OR KINDLE:
AT THE START OF FLAUBERT'S ‘Salammbô’ I thought his spectacular descriptions bordered on the grandiloquent – was it possible there were quite so many different races amongst the mercenaries atCarthage
On arrival in Patmos, in the remote Eastern Aegean,
the Goddess Amazon.com bequeathed me ‘The
Great Sea – A Human History of the Mediterranean’ by David Abulafia, Flaubert was fully
vindicated….in 1000BC, Libyans, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Philistines,
Ethiopians, Cananites, Hittites conquer, enslave, trade or enrol as mercenaries
in each others armies….what a contrast to the provincial France of poor Madame
Bovary!
AT THE START OF FLAUBERT'S ‘Salammbô’ I thought his spectacular descriptions bordered on the grandiloquent – was it possible there were quite so many different races amongst the mercenaries at
Monday, 27 June 2011
Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore at Glyndebourne
An annual treat is being invited to Glyndebourne by George and Mary Christie whom I admire immensely
and whose forbearance and initiative have set the highest of musical standards at
that phenomena in the East Sussex countryside.
This year it was Donizetti’s
L’Elisir d’Amore – Enrique Mazzola conducted like a
master, Danielle de Niese as Adina did her husband Gus Christie proud [he is
now Glyndebourne’s Executive Chairman]. Michael Wade Lee, the understudy,
played a touching and believable Nemorino.
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
PEOPLE - Patrick Leigh Fermor
Patrick Leigh Fermor, died last week aged 96 – the end of an era – an ebullient
life-giving force, a man who bore his erudition lightly and made Greece
Travel writers emulate him and cannot – is it the age of
communication which makes their craft more difficult? – who agrees with this
point?
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
PROJECT OCEAN AT SELFRIDGES
Thunderous applause for Alannah Weston - for PROJECT OCEAN at Selfridges - the windows, the cut-out fish, giant anemones...all splendid and all over the store. A booklet at every cash desk is given free that shows endangered species - which fish are farmed...an excellent guide..every household should have one.
Project Ocean [in partnership with the Zoological Society] of London highlights the results of over fishing and encourages people to to buy and eat fish from sustainable sources and is keen to conserve marine life.
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Blues in Art and in John Stefanidis Fabrics
"As in all things aesthetic, it is best to keep an open mind with regard to the decorative arts." John Stefanidis
Barbers's shop in Maroussi - Yannis Tsarouchis
El Quitasol by Francisco de Goya
Basilica di S. Maria Sopra Minerva - Rome - Filippino Lippi
John Stefanidis Gonfaloniere - Grey Blue/Red on Natural
A gonfaloniere in Renaissance Italy wore an elaborate costume to identify his position.
This design was inspired by the embroidery on his coat.
This design was inspired by the embroidery on his coat.
Barbers's shop in Maroussi - Yannis Tsarouchis
John Stefanidis Floral - Hazel
El Quitasol by Francisco de Goya
John Stefanidis Abigail - Indigo/Rose
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
John Stefanidis visits Beijing, China
A painter mixing colours for me in a house on a Beijing park lake.
Affectionately, known as 'The Egg' - the stunning National Centre for the Performing Arts designed by the French architect Paul Andreu.
 |
Paving
in a
Beijing
park
A Chinese-themed bedroom I designed for an American client.
Thursday, 9 June 2011
John Stefanidis Paulina
John Stefanidis Paulina
Colourways: Buttercup Charcoal, Biscuit Marine, Pink Navy & Stone Ink
Available from:
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7352 9977
Email: tissusdhelene@mac.com
Website:
tissusdhelene.co.uk
Phone: + 1 305-576-6222
Email:
sales@monicajames.com
Website:
monicajames.com
Phone: +1 310 858 6884
Email: Info@HarbingerLA.com
Website: harbingerla.com
Friday, 3 June 2011
Tuscan Interlude Part II
Linen shops are plentiful in Tuscany. They will embroider a name or a message in under five minutes. Left - monogrammed hand towels, and aprons for Paul - an incommensurable butler and chef supremo.
Antico Setificio, founded in 1786, the best hand-loom weavers - possibly in Europe - run by Sabine, once belonged to the Pucci family and has recently been bought by fashion giant Stefano Ricci.
Woven silks [Ermisino], brocades, linen and silk and hemp and other marvellous combinations of fibres and colours. The factory has for decades woven on my behalf the grandest Florentine fabrics specifically to my designs - a treasure trove and a precious survivor of craft and excellence.
Antico Setificio Fiorentino
Via L. Bartolini, 4 50124 Firenze
 |
| A dining room I created in the American Midwest, the chairs covered in a woven silk and linen brocade from Antico Setificio. |
I COLAZZI - After years of receiving invitations from Grazia Gazzoni to visit her family at this fabulous villa [designed by Michelangelo himself, or at least one of his pupils] I went to lunch.
Grazia met me at San Casciano and we rolled off into the Florentine hills. A total surprise - she had asked twenty four people in my honour, of which ten were old friends, one being Beatrice Monte della Corti, whose avant-garde gallery showing Rauschenberg, Twombly and Jasper John was in the courtyard of the palazzo where I lived in Milan for five years in my twenties. She subsequently married [Grisha] Gregory von Rezzori, the utterly charming epitome of ‘middle europa’. In his memory, Beatrice has a foundation at Santa Maddalena in Tuscany, a writers’ retreat, which yearly becomes more renowned for nurturing writers, each more famous than the other.
 |
| View from Villa I Colazzi |
Abbadia San Salvatore
The historic medieval streets are intact at the centre of this small, industrial town near the summit of Monte Amiata. The Abbey was founded in 743AD and is to this day a monastery.
John Stefanidis "Shades" features in House & Garden July 2011
John Stefanidis 'Shades' in Charcoal
Features in House & Garden July 2011 (page 21)
"Black in Action"
"Black in Action"
Colourways: Indigo, Soft Pink & Charcoal
Available from:
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7352 9977
Email: tissusdhelene@mac.com
Website:
tissusdhelene.co.uk
Phone: + 1 305-576-6222
Email:
sales@monicajames.com
Website:
monicajames.com
Phone: +1 310 858 6884
Email: Info@HarbingerLA.com
Website: harbingerla.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
Stratis Thalassinos Among the Agapanthi There are no asphodels, violets, or hyacinths; how then can you talk with the dead? The dead know ... -
Ramsès dans son Harem ( Ramses in his Harem ) · by Jean Lecomte du Nouÿ, 1881 Egyptomania has been part of cultural European his...