New

Perhaps it is the relief of getting through the holidays. Or that the days are more quiet, relative to our norm. For whatever reason, the New Year always brings a burst of energy for me, new creative thoughts arrive and projects which have been stagnant always find a way to move ahead.

I've enjoyed the last two weeks partying with family and friends, as well as some much-needed time for contemplation. I've indulged in time to peruse many old magazines and books, rearrange things on the walls and tabletops, and enjoy the last of our Christmas and New Year/Birthday decor~

In the midst of the waning flowers from Mom's birthday, while sipping Kusmi Anastasia tea from English lustreware, I've been revisiting the French 18C, developing a fascination with cream & gilt. Add in some modified Pompadour Pink for freshness and black & white Parisienne photos of the 20thC for crispness.

Colors are constantly rediscovered and reapplied. Not that the French have any lock on color, but is pink not associated with Madame Pompadour and Sevres Porcelain? Red popularized in Paris following the discovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum? Saturated yellows, azure blues and rich greens made their way to France after the Empire's Egyptian campaigns, and have been throughly rooted in French style since then, as are softer colors like lilac.

Turquoise was "the color" for 2010, and it's amazing where it turned up: in Veranda for Christmas decor, in the sweater my sis gifted me for Christmas, in the magazine racks that sit on my desk. Honeysuckle Pink has been chosen by Pantone as "the color" for 2011, which is very convenient because Laura & I chose to focus on pink for Metis spring several months ago. So in the spirit of repurposing and renewing and applying new colors, I've been playing around with pink, Pantone Honeysuckle 18-2120, to be exact; the color is not as dark as it looks in this first photo; believe me, you'll see more of it soon~~
I have been reading too many books on the 18C I think, because after I painted this chair, I spied several others in the house that would look much much better in gilt & cream....
The fabric over the seat is our vintage linen dyed by me, and the "plaster" citrus are acutally plastic, from an old door wreath, painted chalky white like so many Grand Tour busts and a plaster apple I have from Paris.
I am mulling over my French Basketeer line for Spring and hope to finish my orders soon; while I have lots of pink, I will actually head in a slightly different direction for the baskets. Laura and I will be at the Long Beach Flea Market on Sunday January 16th with a large array of new Metis merchandise. In the meantime, you can check our Metis blog for product and color development.