Nature by Design
Ever heard of a Herkimer diamond?
Nope, not actual diamonds. Herkimers are simply one type of quartz crystal. The world abounds in quartz. But Herkimers are special and cool and unusual - they have two terminations. Instead of growing out of a rock and having one pointy end, they have two pointy ends. They are found only (so far) in the Mohawk River Valley in New York State and are named for Herkimer County.
Herkimers can be used in jewelry-making, but for my money, leave them in their natural state. The best presentation is "in the matrix," meaning that the crystal is kept in the rock in which it is found. Many times the crystals are trapped in the rock and often are loose (since they are not growing from the rock).
I own several Herkimers and my favorites are still in the matrix. As clear crystals, Herkimers aren't as showy as, say, amethysts (which are single-terminated, by the way), but I love the simple little treasures of nature.
Frank Lloyd Wright in Iowa
If you live in east central Iowa, treat yourself to a visit to Cedar Rock, one of FLW's Usonian houses. It was built for an Iowa businessman; once he and his wife passed away, they left their beloved house to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, including a trust to take care of the house in perpetuity. So it's free to visit.
My brother, also a fan of FLW, visited from Los Angeles where he has gone through FLW houses such as Hollyhock. He's been to Taliesen. After seeing Cedar Rock, he said it's his favorite Wright house, period. It's small and intimate and only so many people at a time are there with you. For a short while you can almost imagine yourself living in this beautiful house on a beautiful bend in the Wapsipinicon River just outside of Quasqueton.
This is one of the houses that Wright deigned to "sign," shown by the red glazed tile with his initials that is near the entryway to the house. Notice also how the grout between the bricks is visible in the horizontal plane, but that the vertical grout has been darkened. Wright did this to emphasize the horizontal appearance of the long, low house, anchoring it to the landscape.
Vintage Disneyland
A very cool Flicker set of vintage Disneyland posters can be found here.
Like the era, these posters have clean edges, bold shapes and bright colors. Disneyland calls itself the Happiest Place on Earth, and the design of the posters reflects that beautifully. While I happen to think that Disneyland has the highest concentration of molded plastic on the planet, my cousins who practically grew up on Disneyland's Main Street concur with the theme park's tag line. Anyhula, their posters are way cool.
Blackwood By Design
Welcome to the blog for Blackwood Design. I'll be talking about all sorts of design. Stay tuned.