My thoughts on ART

I used to think... What are these galleries thinking? This stuff is crap! It's like the artist has to come up with some sappy story to sell this junk.
Then I realized... It's not always about the pretty thing on paper... sometimes the real art is what's inside the artist, being conveyed in the best way the artist can... so listen to what is beneath the piece of paper and you just might fall in love with what's on it.

Only the best, because I'm rich.

You see it in movies all the time: "Only the best for my...," says the handsome wealthy man. I smiled.
A long time ago I used to think that this and many other Hollywood ideas were true, and perhaps some of the time they really are, but after working as a high-end custom metalwork and lighting designer for the past seven years I have learned something to the contrary. Most of the time it's not the money which drives people to get the best, it's actually education. I have noticed that the clients who have traveled around the world and chose to learn about their surroundings and the people around them are much more likely to appreciate the fine things in life, even when they are much less wealthy. Interesting indeed.

Bad Metalwork

I was just taking a virtual tour of the best homes in Dallas. It still amazes me that a lot of HP (Highland Park) and UP (University Park) residents who live in extremely expensive homes (multi-million) have the cheapest looking stair railings and gas lanterns. I assuming this is because they just don't realize what they were being sold.   It drives me absolutely crazy every time I see this.

I decided to take a few snapshots of what I would never install in a multi-million dollar home.  Now, don't get me wrong, it's perfectly acceptable for a regular home like mine, but then again, I don't have an Aston Martin parked in my drive.  I hope you see my point.

We'll take it slow and start with metalwork... I'll save the lighting for another day.

Lets talk scrolls first.  None of the following have any business what so ever in a multi-million dollar home.  Why?

Bad shaping, bad forging. Sloppy, and the welds are very sloppy too.  See how any scroll coming out of a larger scroll looks as if it's just slapped onto the larger one?  That is a very big no-no.

This one is simply laser cut, and you'd think that they'd at least come up with a good design, but no.

Slightly better then the top two, but still, the forging is not so great, and the design is also lacking.  Looks cheap!

Almost not bad at all, except for all the really cheap standard components.  When you add it all up, it's a n undersized no-no for a large home.

Also, almost not so bad if it wasn't such a flat design with standard, off the shelf components.

And now for actual railings:

Looks fancy enough, doesn't it?  All that scrolly stuff and all that bling?  Well, at least they made the effort to make standard, not proportionately put together railing look a bit less standard.  Hurts my eyes nevertheless; it almost looks as if it was made of wire.

Again, standard components spliced together.

"Bird cages"... what can I say about "bird cages".  They used to be cool way back when they were hand forged and rare, but now they are so standard that it hurts me every time I see them.  To make matters worse, like most of the railings on this page, they are glued into the wood and after a while will start coming loose.

Again, "bird cages" and standard, pre-made scrolls.  Everything is purchased off the shelf and spliced together.  The endings are just terrible, and all of it is machine made.  (Standard = machine made and sold like hot cakes; everyone's got one!)

Bad forging and absolutely no rhyme or reason in the design-work (if you can call it that)

Same as above plus a bunch of standard components, it's probably a cheap rip-off of some old lovely French rail, but it's been so butchered that the design is lost in translation.

Terribly proportioned, just terrible forging, bad design.

Simply standard; almost an apartment railing.

Straight off the shelf.

Metalwork should flow, have a great design to it, be proportionately made, scrolls should flow out of each other instead of being "stuck" to each other, welds should be properly cleaned, the tips should be properly forged, the scrolls should be flowing like poetry.  All or most of this is missing in all of the above designs.  It's like a difference between getting faux stone or the real thing... you can just tell, no matter how good the impression of the real thing is.

Here are a few examples of well made, custom ironwork, worthy of a multi-million dollar home.  Beautiful, well made things don't have to be found only in expensive homes.  Lots of people live in smaller homes and have an appreciation for fine things.  See the difference?

See how the scrolls are beautifully forged and everything is well balanced?

Pine cone and needle railing... want to get creative? Sure, but make sure that the elements look great not only from far away, but up close as well.

Closeup of the organic wrought iron railing above.

If you own a large home, proportion your railing to it.

A small, exterior railing can look good too!

What's Good for me is Good for my Garden

a glass of juice and leftover pulp

I have to say that I'm falling in love with my juice maker, all over again!
Now that I started an organic garden in my backyard, it's become my little organic gardening helper.
Every time I juice some veggies:
kale
parsley
red beet
spinach
carrot
etc...
I end up with all this wonderful left over pulp, or fiber, which is still slightly saturated by the veggie juices.
Since fiber is so good for the body, you an use the leftovers in some really yummy recipes, but more often then not, I like to collect the leftovers, quickly soak them in water, and use the concoction on my raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, tomatos, herbs and even flowers.  The nutrient rich water soaks into the earth super quickly to provide the plants with a fast boost of organic nutrients and the left over fiber on top breaks down over time and creates a really rich soil; you can even work it into the ground if you wish for a quicker turnaround.
No store, not even the best ones, can compete with the flavor your garden provides.  Especially if you treat it well.

my blueberries: fresh from the blueberry bush

Aerial Acrobatics on So You Think You Can Dance!

I am soooo excited!  So You Think You Can Dance is back on TV and today was the 2nd night of picking through all the potential dancers.  I was so psyched to see aerial silks, aerial hoop (lyra), pole acrobatics, as well as the cyr wheel, which is like a giant circus hoop.  A 27 year old circus performer David Matz on the cyr wheel was just AMAZING!  I'm in LOVE!  I am sure that by tomorrow he'll be all over the internet and so I'll add a link to the video of his dance.

I have been taking classes at CirqueFit in Dallas (although lately I must admit that I have been bad and have not gone in a while... need to fix that,) and have even been in a theatre production of Kazoo-la-la on the aerial hammock, which was so much fun... and I have to say that if I were to ever get anywhere in the neighborhood of what that guy did, I would be the happiest chick on this planet.  WOW!  So impressed!

Hoops: photo manipulation

Unlike drawing something in pencil and then manipulating it, I took a really bad photograph I took at a Middle Eastern restaurant and transformed it into this "painting."

I made her hair longer, made her taller, and put a flower in her hair... hope you like her.

Below is the original photo.

red Butterfly

I don't know about you, but I love to doodle!  This is one of my little doodles.  I snapped a photo of it on with my phone and uploaded it to my computer.  At that point it's fun to just do what ever looks good on top of the pencil drawing.  I love photo manipulation:)

The perfect pair: Picking your interior designer

Chandelier Beverly and I designed for
one of her last clients.

"Someone once asked me what my style was, and I said I have no style" [Beverly Travis.]  Such a wonderful quote, as Beverly's style happens to be what ever her client's style is.

Interior designer, Beverly Travis, has got to be one of the most caring designers out there.  She is extremely in tune with her client's needs.  She listens to what her client wants and gives them exactly what they have asked for, with proper and careful guiding of course.

I have recently put together a design for one of her client's fireplace screens, pictured below, and we set up a meeting to iron out the wrinkles.

Beverly made sure that her client understood the entire process of custom metalwork, showed her all the different possibilities in our showroom, and made sure that she was as clear as possible about the entire design.   I really like and respect that.  A few things were added to the design at that point, a few were taken away, and we perfected the overall look and feel of what her client wanted right there at the showroom table.

There are different types of designers out there, and different types of client personalities.  It makes me very happy when the two are very compatible.  Before picking a designer, always make sure to interview several and pick the one that works for you.  Some designers have a very distinct style, so if you love their style, they're the ones for you.  Some designers, like Beverly, can work in any style and each one looks fabulous, so they can work with your distinct style.  Beverly interviews her clients before she takes on a job, and I have to say that so far, every single pair was a total pleasure to work with.

The fireplace screen design we started with.

Final version of the fireplace screen for
Beverly's client.

DHome Blog turns ONE at the Nest

DHome Blog is turning ONE!

So, what should ONE do about it? I celebrated the day with Dallas’ top tastemakers, designers, and lifestyle bloggers!

The event took place at Nest, a swanky little place off McKinney.

I ran into Brynn Bagot, the most awesome PR girl in town!

I also met the lovely Jan Strimple, who is super passionate about fighting AIDS; we chatted about the very worthy cause as well as a few other topics. She's so cute:) For those of you immersed in the world of fashion, yes, it is that Jan! She's walked the world's most glamorous fashion shows and is a real supermodel indeed. These days she produces the hottest of the hottest fashion events in town and beyond, including New York's Fashion Week. Pretty cool, ey?

stelladallas Grand Opening

Oh yes, stelladallas knows how to groove! You get a burst of happiness as soon as you walk through the door! Talk about a modern and colorful twist on home furnishings and accessories. If you love color, this is the place for you! Interior decorator Lisa Lowe felt like she was in candy land... as soon as she walked into one of the back rooms she knew it was a clear vision of her dream sunroom.

Top left: Lisa and Richard Potter

Top right: I snagged the owner of stelladallas, Amber Frazee, for a little photo

Bottom Middle: DJ Lucy Wrubel in the house! I keep running into her, she's great!

Thanks for the invite Shanan! You little Luxe cutie, you! —

Portait of a stranger

I was checking up on my facebook today and a photo on one of the posts caught my eye.  I really liked the composition, so I decided to do my own rendition of the stranger...
The entire thing is drawn on the computer, no pencil or paper for this one!  It is not a manipulated photo.  Photoshop is perfect for something like this...Kind of a fun exercise.

Living Art

Thank you everyone for sharing a night of Living Art with me. I hope you have enjoyed yourselves as much as I did;). It feels so good to have shared my paintings and sculpture with all of you. It was so nice having you there.

For those of you who were not at the show, HERE is a little bit about the Living Art.
The second show of the night felt so much different then the first, I bet it was because the aerialists became familiar with the space. I remember the Christmas show I was in... It definitely helps to do it once; the first time you run around trying to figure out your place and the second time you can actually step back, take in where you are and enjoy the experience. I did the aerial hammock spinning in that Christmas show, and I have to say that I had a huge desire to get in there with everyone else's performances last night... Too bad I was wearing a dress and heels! Hehe

I'm also very happy that my painting entitled Metamorphosis and Freedom is going to a very good home, I will be casting one of the sculptures called Mother Holding Baby and it is also going to a good home, plus I'm going to make a few prints on canvas of Angel over Water, Despair and Strength Bound.

I met some really great people last night, including composer and violinist Mark Landson whose music I am now officially in love with! I'm not sure what I was expecting, but 400 guests was quite a crowd:) Loved it! And afterwords we all went out to the Mettlesome Moth! It was a blast. The girls still had their makeup on, which was so cool!, and of course everyone else there was really interested as to what all the makeup was about, and so I met a few more people who wished they had known about the show because they would have wanted to be there:)

Something I had no idea about:
Duc actually choreographed the last routine of the night! He's soo good! It's amazing how far everyone has come along since the last time we had a show! Corean is out of this world in her fantastic lines now, Shannon's strength and being able to tell a story with her body is just ridiculous, and Karl is off the charts with how strong he has gotten; my jaw dropped! His James Bond routine was fantastic! And that's just some of the "old crew"... I can't believe how far the new girls have come... Mother Holding Baby had my saying "Wow, beautiful!"... I could just keep going and going, so I'll stop before this becomes a 5 page long essay:) ‎Kimberly and Dylan! You guys rock!!!!! Blew me away again! Thanks so much for he experience:)  (Since I didn't really take any photos (other then what I posted)... I don't really have pics of the aerial show... but as soon as I make my rounds to see who has what, I'll post them promptly!)

Thanks again to everyone who came to the show for making this night fabulous and oh so special for me. And a big thank you to Brian Grobleski for making the gallery even more dramatic with his beautiful photographs of gorgeous eagles in Alaska.  Brian does not use any software to enhance his works of art, which just about dropped my jaw to the floor... there is this one photo of a young eagle (bottom left on the photo above, a really bad one at that and does not do any justice to the actual piece... you just have to see it live) which was caught at the perfect moment in a perfect setting... it's so rich and yummy!  The sun caught the eagle just in the perfect light, and the rest simply fades to black.  Spectacular!

UPDATE!
I've started getting a few photos in, HERE is the album.

The Mind of Leo Dowell

I asked Leo Dowell to snap a few photos for me of the lanterns we custom made for him in the surroundings of the home he designed, because I'm simply in love with his fairy tale like architectural details he creates.  I have to say that the wait was worth every minute!  As soon as I looked at the photos attached to my e-mail, a large smile appeared on my face and my heart warmed with feelings of happiness!

Leo creates these fabulous French Country Estates as authentic as possible, but his little extra touches are what makes the homes that much more special.  Take a look at the adorable hand painted wooden shutters, don't they look like they came straight out of a fairy tale?  That's exactly what I'm talking about!

The lanterns we bult for the front doors needed an extra special bracket, since the gas line had to come out of the top of the lanterns and attach way above it and to the side, as you can see in the photo above.  Yet instead of dropping pendants  from those locations, Leo came up with a way to still have beautifully mounted bracket lanterns; no detail is too small in Leo's world!  He thinks like us in that way, and that's one of the many reasons why we love him so much.

Now, if there's one custom made copper and wrought iron lantern you must see, it's this one!  Leo designed it and we fabricated it with delight!  Isn't it the most adorable design you have ever seen? Next time I'm in Charlotte, (NC) I'll be sure to visit him and hopefully see some of his work personally!

***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com

Elegant Wrought Iron Gates and Fence: Before and After

New Fence, Gate, and Lanterns by Potter Art Metal Studios

You'd be surprised what a difference a new wrought iron gate and fence can do for your property.  I even have a before and after photo to help illustrate my point.

I loved designing the new custom made wrought iron gates (with solid brass details), fence and brass lighting for a residential building off Sherry Lane and Douglas, in Dallas.  Our client wanted a new and fabulous look for his two entrances, and so we jumped right in!  It was a great opportunity to make some really nice,  large scale, and heavy gates.  The pair of gates on one side of the multi-story building open in and the one pictured above is actually a slider which we made look like a matching pair; I thought they would look much more grand and inviting this way.  The lanterns have matching wrought iron brackets with a beautiful solid brass body.  They are proportioned to the existing posts.

wrought iron fencing matching the gates

The fence is actually quite simple, but very effective.  I love the elegant scrolls on the top; we made sure that all the scrolls were forged to a tip and had a lovely flow to them; otherwise the effect would not work and the fence would look like any off the shelf fencing out there.

Original Gate we replaced.

The original gate was too light weight and did not have much of an actual design; it was your regular off the shelf looking gate.  Because the building itself looks quite commercial, the gate did also.  Our client's visitors would constantly mistake the building for a commercial one and drive right past it; he wanted an impressive entrance so that all he'd have to say is "You'll know you're there when you see the gates."  ...and he got exactly what he wanted.

***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com

CRÚ Food and Wine Bar: Contemporary Storefront

"We are the custom metalwork company for you!"...When Patrick Colombo came to our showroom with a request for a new, contemporary storefront for CRÚ, a Food and Wine Bar in the Upper Kirby District in Houston, we all got super excited because we happened to have been enjoying Patrick's Dallas based restaurants for quite a while now and CRÚ offers a glimpse into the sophisticated world of wines from all over the world.  Pair that with a large selection of delicious stone oven fried pizzas and artisan cheeses and you have got yourself a wonderful spot for an evening with friends and family filled with atmosphere like no other.

The storefront came out beautifully!  I especially love the understated door and the hardware we made for it.  I can't wait to drop by the next time I'm in Houston!   On that note, I'm going to leave you with a photo of the yummy pizza made at CRÚ!

***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com

The New Look of Highland Park Village

Recently HP Village got a facelift and we are proud to be a small, but fun part of the project!  One of our local designers, Elizabeth Robertson asked us to put on paper a flattering design, which melted right into the look of the Village.  We hand forged the new flower basket brackets on the  freshly installed post lamps.  I drove by the Village on the way back from a client's home, yesterday, and snapped a photograph of one of the flower pot brackets next to Jimmy Choo.  The lanterns in the background were also made by Potter Art Metal Studios... quite a few years ago.

Flower pot brackets and lantern made by Potter Art Metal

Most of the lanterns around the Village were originally made by Henry Potter, Richard Potter's (the current owner of Potter Art Metal Studios) grandfather.

Original HP dragon sketch by Potter Art Metal

I found an original sketch online from the Henry Potter Collection located in SMU's Hamon Arts Library (Bywaters Special Collection), which consists of several hundred shop sketches and accompanying invoices of lighting fixtures, furniture, and other items, primarily in iron.

Next time you drive by the Village, notice the interesting dragons and other beautiful Moorish lanterns spread throughout.



For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com

AIA Dallas: Retrospect Kick Off Party 2012

Starting to get excited about the AIA Dallas Retrospect Kick Off Party tonight at North Park's Cibus Italian Restaurant.

I received my invitation in the mail a while ago and the night has finally come!

Surrounded by a beautiful garden setting, the exhibition will showcase some of the best work Dallas architects have to offer, and I can't wait to hear all about it since Dallas happens to rock in that department... one of many...

Check out AIA Dallas; the Dallas Chapter of The American Institute of Architects.  Some of my favorites are right here in Dallas and we have gotten the privilege of working with them!

House Hunting For The Rich and The Famous in Dallas

Photo from khloekardashian.celebuzz.com

Every time I click on my remote control, I happen to run into a preview of Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom buying a house in Dallas.  Normally it would be just another preview, except that the first thing my eye is drawn to is the wrought iron railing in the background of the Khloé & Lamar clip airing April 1st on E! (which I will have to take a photo of and post in here next time I see.)  Just as a shoe maker can't help but be drawn to the lower end of a woman's body, I can't help but hone in onto wrought ironwork and lighting.  
I would so love to get my hands on the metal railing in the background of one of the clips and replace it with a hand forged custom design, as opposed to the off the shelf components spliced all over this one.  There is nothing wrong with off the shelf components per say... they are wonderful for certain projects, but I think that this particular design could use a little help.  Classy and timeless I say!
I have posted a suggestion below; modern yet timelss... Khloé, what do you say?
Love, Izabela

***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com

Wrought Iron Corbels

One of our clients decided on a granite top bar area by his swimming pool.  He thought he'd like wrought iron corbels as supports for the slab of granite.  We designed and hand forged them in iron and decorated them with ping hammered double copper banding.  I love wrought iron; they are gorgeous!

***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com