Category Archives: Making Room for More

Super Cool People Week

Last week, my brother, Lane, and I had just one day to spend in San Francisco. I’ve mentioned our tradition of exploring a street whenever we visit each other. This time, I decided to hop around a bit hitting a smattering of  hot spots like super succulant shop Flora Grubb,

bold and old Big Daddy Antiques,

Lane and friend, Jeff, checking out this light up drafting table

No joke, Lane told me about meeting Harry Bertoia's granddaughter and the tour she led through his studio... of course, we were sitting in his diamond lounge and side chairs. I wanted to take the chairs AND the remarkable green table you see here. Being in Big Daddy's is like being in another world and time...

and the modern marvels of Erin Martin at Coup d’Etat.

Owner, Designer, Erin Martin has a remarkable sense of scale and drama I've never seen before. Her store, Coup d'Etat in SF AND Martin in St. Helena are must see shops if you love unexpected and wondrous things...

‘Course we also hit more pedestrian but no less enchanting Divisadero Street shops  The Other Shop and Cookin’ on Divisadero Street.

We got so distracted, but this shop that we forgot to take pictures! Here's a beautiful little montage of the magic from the folks at KKRB blog

Lane and I always have so much fun together. We laugh, create, play… he inspires me for sure, but he also motivates me. When we hang out the creative energy in me rises to the top and I just want to get to work. It got me thinking about all the ‘stuff’ that gets me going- that just calls to me, “do it, Shannon! Get to work!” So this week, I’m just going to show you people, projects, and all kinds of things that inspire me and hope they do the same for you.

Whether you’re inspired by music, literature, design, construction, craft (or my fabulous brother!) this is the week to let it all in, let everything motivate you to take any little step towards building your life, designing your space, making your dreams… this moment is for you.

One, Two, You Know What To Do

So, I’ve got the inspiration, the idea, the frame… It’s time to make my version of an inspiration board!

I headed to the hardware store for some wire. I’ve seen this done with chicken wire, but I was attracted to some wire with a grid pattern:

I stretched it across the back of the frame then drew some butterfly shapes on poster board and cut them out:

For efficiency sake, I cut out half shapes in the posterboard

Find an image that fits the butterfly shape and it tear out. Fold the page in half and trace the shape with a pen. Cut it out…

 

Play with the shapes, colors, sizes, patterns...

Then, using wire and straight pins (I used multi-color pins for fun) start arranging the butterflies let them cluster and stream in a fluid arrangement…

Et voila! My inspiration board full of butterflies like wishes for all the things I’m loving, appreciating, and working for. It’s not a “real” inspiration board, but the project made me feel open again to putting my dreams in the room so I can see them, and more, believe in them, again!

And my super cool business coach, Kim Kuhteubl, is pushing me to go for it again too- to create an inspiration project with defined goals and dreams. I promise, I’ll do it! And you’ll be the first to see it.

Now, stay tuned tomorrow for more work by the artists who inspired this project. You’ll be amazed by their work.

And Another Thing…

So, you saw my beautiful mirror frame that has hung in almost every room of my house (see yesterday’s post). We’re all caught up now, right?

Here’s the back story: About the time I found the mirror frame I was starting over in a new city, new home, new life… in other words, I was recently single. Being back on my own again was my choice, but I was still feeling a tad down about it all. I didn’t bring much with me (clothes, a few pieces of furniture, and my meager art collection) and was only half-heartedly decorating.

I was moping around one day when it hit me…

All of my artwork was sad- I even had a ‘sad angel’ collection! Yikes! What felt sort of comforting before suddenly seemed gloomy and oppressive. I took everything down immediately. I was done being a victim in my own life.

This is really where my Making Room for More journey began…

Over the next several years I did everything I could to improve my life, my outlook on my life, my faith in myself and others…

I made a big ‘inspiration board’ pinning up everything I wanted for my life. I had big visions!

I was so excited, I even had an Inspiration Board party with my friends!

The frames are from the Alameda Flea market. Cork tiles and everything else are from a craft store. We had a great day!

But as the next few years went by it seemed that rather than checking off my dreams as I achieved them, they were becoming further and further away- impossible even. I took it down feeling totally defeated. BUT, I continued taking classes, reading books, journaling, finding women’s business groups… in other words- I didn’t give up.

So, it’s no surprise that just as I was wrapping up decorative details on my house, that I met Bethany Nauert (thank you, Michael!) and was soon scheduling my Apartment Therapy photoshoot.

I was thinking about my inspiration board realizing that maybe my inspiration board had to be three-dimensional like my work. Isn’t that was Making Room for More is all about? duh!

I wanted to create an art piece for the photo-shoot- something special that spoke to my aesthetic and my new outlook. Immediately, I remembered this…

I saw Yoko Ono’s exhibit at SFMoma a few years ago- Most of the exhibit was white- white chess boards with a sign that said ‘play by trust’ and a white birch tree with a table full of white tags and an invitation to write a wish and add it to the tree- a wishing tree. It was chalk full of tags dancing in a soft breeze created by the people who walked by. Breathtaking! The wishing tree isn’t Yoko’s invention, but she certainly impacted thousands with her spin on the concept.

Perhaps, I could create something similar with my own wishes hanging from a chandelier… or floating on a wall… floating… flying… what shape would that take? how would I create it?…

Without knowing any of these thoughts, my friend, Krista showed me an installation she had just seen with paper butterflies. This isn’t the exact piece, but I’m pretty sure this is the artist Krista saw:

More about Su Blackwell coming...

Eureka! I’ve got it! I’ll cut butterflies from the pages of my favorite Interiors magazines! I’ll attach them to the wall and to my beautiful mirror frame! I’ll paint the wall deep purple so every colorful image jumps from the wall- like flying. Yes! Yes! Yes!

I went to the hardware store to get chicken wire for my frame and found this grid patterned fencing-

Even better!

Then I gathered some friends and cut out about a hundred butterflies- each one reminding me of the freedom to create, re-create, and totally design my life. No words, now specific images- just color, play, light and flight.

Now that's an Inspiration Board!

Tune in tomorrow for more specific instructions- we’re getting to the good part!

 

Getting Started… sort of…

The light blue frame you see here belonged to my grandfather who was an oil painter…

That's my grandfather, Rosel, sitting with my grandma. My dad is standing on the far left. He has two of his dad's paintings, but there are several more divided among the other seven- count 'em- seven siblings

For years I’d hang the frame on the wall then for fun tack a postcard or snapshot in the center or lean a few on the ridge of the woodwork.

Then, one day…

My friend, Dave Mendez, gave me a photo he took at Versailles. (Dave is one of those rare creative types who can manage a camera, marketing for a multi-million dollar start up, film development, and other creative and business endeavors- all with a smile on his face. He's my idol!)

I ran down to Aedicule Fine Framing (they’re the best in the city!) where they framed it for me with a scrap of silver raw silk they had lying around. Love it!

It happened again about six years ago… I was minding my own business at the Alameda Flea market…

…when I saw most perfectly delicate and wondrous mirror frame ever. Treasure! Without negotiating, I paid top dollar and took it home. I used the same method for displaying this open frame but upgraded to larger artwork hung in the center. Like this…

My super creative, talented, amazing brother, Lane, designed the poster years ago. He's amazing too...

It looks good but I was getting tired of the look. I needed a fresh way to display this gorgeous things.

One day, Bethany Nauert, photographer for Apartment Therapy (among other super cool sites and mags!), contacted me to photograph my home. Yikes! I had a wall in my dining room that needed serious punch and I had this frame and two weeks… hm… maybe something could be happening here…

Stay tuned for more of the story… see you tomorrow!

 

Beauty in the Break Down

Seems everything is broken down into snippets these days; tiny impressions of sound, time, image, explanation…  know what I mean? We buy music from random soundbites,

editorialize on quotes from politicians without the context,

(believe me, I'm not defending the politicians OR the people who slice and dice their words)

we order everything from clothing to personal services online from tiny pictures. And we think we know ‘reality’ stars from the story lines producers squeeze into a handful of shows meant specifically to get ratings (you knew that right? ;-) …

(wait, wait- did she just say, the Bachelor's 'intensely private' couple...? what???)

Don’t even get me started on how art and design trends are getting watered down (too late, I just started). We’ve become obsessed with asking Creatives “how’d you do that” expecting a 1 sentence answer, or better, an explanation for how ‘you too can copy it at home in 20 minutes or less!” We’ve got afternoon makeovers and weekend remodels, cheap and easy art projects…

Thanks, Bob- and uh, the work in this photo looks great. really. great.

That bothers me (can you tell?).

But, I find myself trying to squeeze my own projects and explanations into quick little vignettes of time and color. I get it, you can’t fight progress, things in motion tend to stay in motion…

And yet…

I can break down the snippets into the snippets that brought them to fruition… can’t I?

I can take a project and really break it down into how it came about and why I made certain choices, and where it’s going from there… right?

Let’s try it. I’ll break down one of my favorite and most commented on projects, and share more about the inspiration, story, process… It might inspire you to put your own twist on the idea or just bring you relief when your projects take more than 15 minutes to complete.  Heck, something about my project might just inspire you to do something completely different- something you’d forgotten about, or didn’t even think about… until now…

Let’s slow everything down this week for a little bit better look.

Ready?

Excellent- see you right here, tomorrow.


Let Go