Loving the Art of Ian Berry

When British graphic designer, Ian Berry, lost his job a few years ago, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Instead of looking for another full-time job, he decided to take his part-time hobby of denim art to a new level and work at it full time. 

The hobby began when Ian was about to leave home after university and his mother showed him a stack of his old jeans she was clearing out......it was then that the idea of working with denim struck him - so many shades of denim, textures and weights - the ideas began to percolate and before long, Ian was producing portraits, streetscapes, still lifes, animal art and more.

His canvases begin with a base of denim and then the images grow layer by layer.  Amazing work!  And, as someone once described him, a "jeanius"!

Ian was named one of the Top 30 young artists in the world a few years ago and I can see why........his work is original, unique and with such unparalleled detail you might, at first glance, mistake them for paintings.

Check out more of his fabulous canvases at IanBerry.org

Georgio Armani

Georgio Armani up close

Georgio Armani detail

Diner

Newstand

Record Store

Still Life

A Room of Her Own - Lee Ann Thornton

Love the idea of hiding all the technical stuff in a beautiful armoire.

Close the door and you have a clean, soft, pretty atmosphere for relaxing and focusing on creative ideas!

Lee Ann Thornton

Blue and White Coastal Living in the Muskokas

Hello there!

I have one more fabulous cottage from the Muskokas - this one is also on Lake Rosseau and when you look at the first photo, it appears to be a 1 1/2 storey, but when you look at the second photo with a view of the front of the cottage, you will see that it's actually three storeys and 7,000 sq. ft.

The interiors are just beautiful and consistent with shades of blue and white throughout.  The house was built and designed by Cory DeFrancisco of Muskoka Living.  The homeowners gave him carte blanche to design and decorate their home after having collaborated with him on their Toronto home.  What fun for a designer and decorator!

Enjoy!

This house is deceiving from the back view - the front shows 3 storeys..  The Muskoka room is on the right.

The foyer stairway has two Windsor benches on each side of it.

Love this indigo blue living room with the vintage bathing suits wall art.

The tv is hidden behind the doors above the fireplace.

(I would have put 2 of the bathing suits on each side of the fireplace for balance and symmetry rather than four to the left - but that's just my opinion - it all depends on whether you like symmetry or asymmetry).

Just beautiful!

The window mullions were painted a soft black to make them stand out in the dining room.

An antique oak island and pantry offer a nice contrast to the all-white kitchen and accents the ceiling beams.

This is the loft at the top of the stairway with it's million dollar view.

The blue slipper chairs are the only spot of color in this all-white room.

A beautiful, clean look.

The Muskoka room with white wicker furniture and coastal style toss cushions.

My favorite room!

Love the ship lap walls, beadboard ceilings and the fresh look in this laundry room - makes doing laundry more of a pleasure than a chore with such a fresh and light-filled room.

The only thing I would change here are the overhead lighting pendants - overhead light in front of a mirror is very unflattering to the skin - side lighting on each side of the mirrors is so much softer and eliminates the shadows an overhead light would cause.  A much more flattering light source.

Otherwise, a beautiful bathroom.

Style at Home

Gerber Point Lodge

Good morning,

The sun is shining here today and things are looking up after a couple of days of snow and winter weather.

Mentally, I'm still in the Muskokas!  This time, we're visiting the cabin of Cindy Crawford and husband Randy Gerber.

Situated on their own 7 acre private island, their cabin is a respite from their busy lives for about a month every summer - a total escape and privacy for the family that can only be accessed by boat or seaplane.

Looks like a fun month for the family!

A games table for enjoying puzzles and I see a pool table to the side.

A nice sized dining table for the family and guests.

Kaia's Room

Nothing like lounging in a hammock on a sunny day!

Love that quilt!

Or how about diving into a cool lake on a hot day!

A leisurely boat ride sounds pretty nice, too!

Nice life!!

Vogue

Boathouse Cottage

Hi again!

I'm back with another boathouse cottage! 

This Muskoka Victorian on Lake Rosseau is delightful with it's wraparound verandas and bay windows.

This is definitely the way to go if you're a boater (or not!!)

Gorgeous!

 

Canadian House and Home

Windover 1 & Windover II

Good morning!

Here I am in Nova Scotia again........came over last week to stay with our grandchildren while their parents are enjoying a little getaway.

It's really, really cold here this week with a bit of snow yesterday, but I still have cottages on my mind.

The cottages I'm sharing today are really unique in that there's a main house and then a cottage/guesthouse/boathouse.  How would you like that?!

They're located in Muskoka, Ontario.........an area well known for it's posh weekend living with over 100,000 summer residents who live in mega mansions.  (Year round residents number about 60,000.)

According to Wikipedia, "many of the seasonal properties are large mansion-like summer estates, some of which have been passed down through families from generation to generation. Most of these expensive properties can be found along the shores of Muskoka's three major lakes: Lake Muskoka, Lake Rosseau, and Lake Joseph. In recent years, various Hollywood and sports stars have built retreats in Muskoka, including Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Mike Weir,^[2] Martin Short, Harry Hamlin, Cindy Crawford, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell."

That gives you an idea of summer living in Muskoka!

Enjoy!

Windover I

The main house.

Windover II

Guesthouse/Boathouse

Just park your boat next to the living room!

Love this living room in the boathouse.

The family room.

Muskoka Living