The Art of Venetian Plaster

I have always been fascinated by Venetian plaster, and those who love the look, consider the finish ultimate in elegance. The richness of the lustrous colors in Venetian plaster truly make the room.  Used in Italy for hundreds of years, the plaster was used to repair or even replace damaged marble.  On top of the fact that it is durable, this classic finish, made up of marble dust, lime and pigments, actually feels amazing to the touch.

There are lots of great things about this plaster, like the fact that it can be smoothed out to feel like glass, but the most fascinating thing about it in my opinion, is that for some reason those of us who might go with a more subtle pallet of paint choices for our home really can go wild with Venetian plaster and it always looks spectacular!

In theory, the finish should be an easy task, but I have experimented with it for a project at my home, and let me tell you... not as easy as one might think.  It takes an artist to truly bring the Venetian plaster to life.  Tom Soltys, with whom I always seem to cross paths, is one of those rare people who can make any crazy color look out of this world, even black!  He was showing me the other day a finish he did for on of his clients, and I was just blown away.  The black Venetian plaster, contrasting the white travertine floors... I automatically pictured classic contemporary furniture, wall accessories and lighting, which would further contrast the finish.

Here's one home we crossed paths on... it was an amazing project by the talented team of Carl Wesley Lowery and Cody Wayne Glover from Wesley-Wayne Interiors.  If you are looking for an interior designer, they should be in on your list of potential interviews.  I asked Tom if I could use his photos for my blog, and he agreed, so of course I asked him if he would like it if I'd add his phone number... "Of course," he said.  So, here it is: 214.677.6254.  I think that everyone, home owner or interior designer, should get to know Tom for sure.

Luk, the garden tornado...

Luk, the tomato gardener is a difficult character to deal with.  I planted all sorts of goodies in my planter boxes, and he decided that he'll be super helpful... by digging up every single little bush of blueberries, blackberries, rosemary, and the list just goes on.  Thank goodness he's not interested in smaller pots... he's only a level 10 tornado in areas he can fit into.

Believe it or not, I grew these out of a single heirloom, organic, purple tomato.

They've been growing in the flower pot for a while now, but I think it might be time to place them in the garden... it's getting quite warm outside, and they are at the point when more room will be required quite soon.

The roses are looking gorgeous already, and there are still so many little buds on the rosebush... in a few more days all you'll see is the rich color of the flowers... can't wait!

I took this photo when the peach tree started blooming, and darn! I forgot to snap another one when it was absolutely overflowing with pink... next year...

In any case, the smaller peach is overflowing with baby peaches... hoping they won't drop off like they did last year.

So what's better then a pretty pear? A pear which smells and tastes like a real fruit should.  I got these from Natural Grocers... they were so juicy that I pretty much had to stand back when taking a bite... yummy...

From coffee tables to Gothic chandeliers: my new wrought iron designs

I've not been blogging for quite some time, so I decided to show off a few of my recent designs....

It's a mix of custom light fixtures, coffee tables, and exterior gates.  Some are wrought iron, some are more modern and nickel plated, and all of them can be made for your home, in a custom size, a finish you desire, and what ever the configuration your home requires.  Let me know what your favorites are, and click HERE to get a hold of me.  Here we go...

This is one of my favorites, a hanging branch fixture... some might consider it a hanging branch sconce, and others a hanging branch chandelier... what ever works for you.  It's the perfect piece for a transitional or contemporary home.  A great finish for this fabulous fixture would be a brushed nickel or a polished chrome, but it can also fit in a more traditional home as well, with a gold or silver or even a natural wrought iron look.

Going toward a more traditional design, this four candle chandelier is a great piece for anyone with a smaller dining room table.  It provides plenty of WOW factor, without taking up the space of a larger, more traditional designs.  The scrolls are beautifully textured, and I think that this finish is just perfect for the design.

A simple candelabra goes a long way... In this case it will be all about the textures and finishes.... Maybe a mix of dark pewter with a touch of antiqued copper or brass.

The large quatrefoil design is just the thing for this simple, yet effective red coffee table design.  The vibe of this piece changes entirely by changing the finish to a soft nickel plating or even a warm black finish.

For those of you with large homes and a whole lot of ceiling space, a three tier gothic chandelier is just the thing.  The entire fixture is spectacular, but the bottom tier is where the magic really happens.  I've alternated lights with gorgeous, hand forged floral details.

Quatrefoils are, in my opinion, one of the most gorgeous designs ever made by the old masters.  I just can't get enough of them.  Here is a gate design, which incorporates two types of quatrefoils, which makes for a very impressive piece of functional art.

A New Designs Page For Interior Designers and Clients

The big day has come!
I'm happy to unveil a page I've attached to my website, which consists of my new paintings, lighting, and other ornamental metalwork designs.

Just as I had pictured, the page is all about Art & Function.

Here's the thing... I absolutely love doing it all, and couldn't decide on just one, because that would me not being me.  I love to paint, I love to sculpt, and I also love designing ornamental ironwork and lighting.  I simply adore working with designers, architects, and home builders, as well as the art types.  I do not see these things as separates; I see them as a whole, which makes me who I am and also, kind of makes my life interesting.

In any case, I think it's the perfect place to show off my designs as well as give designers new ideas for their client's homes.  The most wonderful thing about it?  It's all custom, so I can make any of these pieces in any size, finish, configuration, etc... I can re-design anything to fit the client's home, or just come up with a brand new design.  After all, custom is what I've been doing for over 10 years, the only difference is that now I can do it on my own terms.

Click HERE to check it out, and let me know how you like it.

Hugs!

Izabela

A trip to White Rock Lake

Now that's a tired dog;)
Luk and I went to the dog park and he had tons of buddies to run around with today.
I was actually pretty excited when I saw a Doberman enter the park, because that's where he gets his love of being chased from, but apparently they were not interested in each other at all.
So we decided to walk around White Rock Lake... It's the perfect weather for going, so I would highly suggest dropping what ever you are doing and getting some relaxation time;)
The grass is absolutely perfect for sitting in the sun.

Interior Designers say Gold is back

I just read that gold is back!  Not only in Sochi, but in the glimmer of the eyes of interior designers everywhere.  Silver tones have been our friends for a long time, but now little gold accents are appearing in beautifully designed homes and I'm loving it!  I pulled the photo above from Houzz; the gold accents most definitely pop in this zen-like space.

According to Tracy Hobson Lehmann "In a scene long dominated by the silver tones of stainless steel, nickel and chrome, consumers are warming to gold."  I have to agree that clean lined mid-century pieces work quite well in this warm metal, no longer the polished brass of the eighties; thank heavens.
Just keep it toned down; after all, a little does go a long way.

Raw Organic Chocolate and Oatmeal Balls

As most of you know, I am the biggest chocoholic on planet earth, while Laimis is the biggest oatmeal cookieholic.  I have decided to combine the two... and in a healthy way.

This recipe is as easy as it gets and takes no time what so ever.

I purchased some organic rolled oats, raw almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds and hazelnuts and dried powdered dates instead of sugar.
Also, a bar of really good dark chocolate with orange peel and a carton of something similar to soy-milk (which is really bad for you because it messes with your hormones), so instead a hazelnut drink.

I put the nuts and oats into the blender and blended all of them a bit until everything was pretty constant, but not too blended, because you don't want to end up with flour. You can decide how much you'd like to end up with... all together I used about a cup of ingredients.

With all the dry ingredients blended together, I started on what will keep it all together; the chocolate mass. I have a tiny little pot for things like this.... it really comes in handy.

I put a little bit of liquid into the pot and started heating it up on low. Into that I broke apart almost half of the chocolate, leaving a row for tempering.
So basically, what ever amount of chocolate square you use, should be covered with the liquid, and in this case, the hazelnut drink. Keep stirring until all the chocolate is melted, and then take it off the heat and stir in another square, if it melts, add another one, and then another one... about the third one won't melt all the way, take it out and put it in your mouth:)

Now, take the warm mixture and add it to your dry mix slowly, a bit at a time, until you end up with something which is easily rolled into a ball, without falling apart.

Which brings us to the next step. Roll a bunch of balls from the mixture you just put together. You're done.

If you want, you can roll the balls in chocolate, or cacao, or coconut flakes... what ever rocks your boat. I just put a hazelnut on top of each one and sprinkled a bit of the dried dates on top.

The best thing about these is that as I said, A. They're really healthy., but B. They fill you up really quickly, so instead of eating an entire chocolate, you'll pretty much be done after two or three of these.

Bon Appetite!