Setting Sail to Sydney

Photo by Mondayne, courtesy Flickr

If I ever get to Australia, and I'm pretty sure I will, the first place I'd like to see is the Sydney Opera House. It just might be one of the most innovative architectural structures built in my lifetime. Indeed, Danish architect Jørn Utzon, was awarded the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honor, in 2003 for his work on this magnificent building.

Now, a new form of art is enhancing the iconic structure located on Bennelong Point in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, a structure built in three stages beginning in 1959 and ending in 1973. The building itself has become a canvas for the artwork of music producer Brian Eno as part of a sound and light festival in the city. Eno's "77 Million Paintings" has also been shown at the Venice Biennale and the Milan Triennale, as well as in Tokyo, London and San Francisco,

Educated in fine arts, Brian Eno became known in the 1970s with his band Roxy Music which he co-founded with Brian Ferry. He has since produced records for Talking Heads, Ultravox, U2 and Coldplay.

The Sydney Opera house is being illuminated by his audio-visual work which uses "self-generating software" to manipulate 300 of Eno's drawings. He says the display is designed to provoke "visual ecstasy" and "heightened calm." With a canvas like the Opera House, I know it has to be spectacular.

Sydney Opera House chief executive Richard Evans said giving permission to project the work onto the sails was "not done lightly." He was quoted by BBC news as saying. "We're not coloring the opera house, we're actually kind of taking the art of the opera house and raising it to a different level."

The show lasts until June 14th. Now would be a good time to go to Sydney.--Ruth Mitchell

(c) 2009 - Ruth Mitchell - all rights reserved

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Recently our favorite trend setting stock market guru, Warren Buffet, announced newspapers were going the way of dinosaurs and would no longer be a viable investment. Anyone in publishing has known this for quite some time and I’m pretty sure Buffett has too, but it gives us a chance to explore the phenomenon we are now faced with as we all begin to adapt to building our own reliable newspapers with our favorite news sources through RSS feeds. No longer do we depend on a responsible neighborhood youth to deliver our news to our doorstep. Even our favorite local television station now refers us to their website for the latest detailed information. Information doesn’t have the luxury of downtime while it is produced and this can lead to uncured or inaccurate information to make its way more readily into our living rooms and our minds. The good news is that electronic publishing can be edited with the click of a button as well, so it is important to build some consistency to our consumption of information.

And part of our newspaper has always been the features: our favorite columnist, the arts and culture sections, sports and society. A well rounded newspaper has features to it. It even has advertisements, and while sometimes we view this as a necessary evil, it is the ads which can direct us to that sale so we can get that pair of shoes for half price, we’ve been eying.

And while the news is important to keep up with, what we find of interest, what we collect and, how we spend our leisure time says so much about us.

We invite you to click on the big orange button now, and let us become a regular part of your life. Go ahead, you know you want to do it.—Ruth Mitchell

(c) 2009 - Ruth Mitchell - all rights reserved

Art Deco Delight

Our friends at the historic New Yorker Hotel in Midtown Manhattan inform us the 43-story Art Deco classic has undergone a comprehensive, $70 million restoration. The hotel, designed by the architectural firm of Sugarman and Berger opened its doors on January 2, 1930, the same year the Chrysler Building opened and just one year before the Empire State building, both Art Deco designs.

The Art Deco movement was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until 1939. Based on mathematical geometric shapes, the art movement was widely considered to be an eclectic form of elegant and stylish modernism, influencing the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, industrial design and the visual arts. Ironically, the movement was also influenced by a variety of primitive cultures including Africa, Aztec Mexico and ancient Egypt.

When the New Yorker first opened its doors on Jan. 2, 1930, it was the largest hotel in Manhattan with 2,500 rooms. In addition to the ballrooms there were ten private dining "salons" and five restaurants employing 35 chefs. The barber shop was one of the largest in the world with 42 chairs and 20 manicurists. There were 92 telephone operators and 150 laundry staff washing as many as 350,000 pieces daily.

The New Yorker Hotel quickly gained popularity by playing host to “Big Bands” of the classic era and became the hotel of choice for many of society’s rich, famous and powerful leaders including Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford and even Fidel Castro. The inventor Nikola Tesla spent the last ten years of his life in near-seclusion in Suite 3327 (where he also died).

Today, the New Yorker Hotel, located at the corner of 8th Ave and 34th Street, features spectacular panoramic views of midtown Manhattan from its 39th floor dining lounge. Diners get a sweeping view of landmarks such as the Chrysler Building to the north, the Empire State Building and One Penn Plaza, due east, and lower Manhattan, due south. This magnificent hotel will celebrate its 80th birthday next year.--Ruth Mitchell

(c) 2009 - Ruth Mitchell - all rights reserved

Introducing Joanne Monks

The colored pencil as an artistic tool is getting much more attention these days. Now available are non fading pencils such as pastel pencils, wax pencils, charcoal, graphite, color, oil and others. With a background in architectural drafting, artist Joanne Monks is a natural for this medium and we are pleased to showcase her beautifully detailed work on buyoutsidethebox.com.

A long-time resident of California, Monks has lived in Sonoma County since 1993, and is an exhibitor in ARTTrails, a program of the Arts Council of Sonoma County. The annual event, now in its 23rd year, is Sonoma County's largest and most visible arts event.

We invite you to explore Joanne's work now!--Ruth Mitchell

(c) 2009 - Ruth Mitchell - all rights reserved

What is Your Non-Traditional Wedding Story?

June is almost upon us, and there are lots of brides, grooms and mother-of-the-brides scurrying around to make the wedding of a lifetime come to fruition. There is a great interest in making the wedding individualized to each couple's visualization and that means there will be more non-traditional weddings than ever before. Many of our customers purchase something from buyoutsidethebox.com for a unique wedding present, and we are proud of our role in being a non-conformist gift registry for brides and grooms everywhere. On each purchase page of an item you have the ability to add that item to your wish list. In this way you can use buyoutsidethebox.com as a gift registry.

And now that we have a social networking capability, we hope you will sign onto our social network and tell us about your wedding, your dreams, your hopes and your desire for your perfect wedding day. Tell us you story of your non-traditional wedding. It makes for interesting reading, but it also gives other people ideas for making their wedding day memorable. Click on the items pictured for more details. Or check out these links: hand-blown bottle stoppers, saki sets, kitchen gizmos and art. Remember there are no shipping costs at buyoutsidethebox.com. Enjoy and let us hear from you.--Ruth Mitchell

(c) 2009 - Ruth Mitchell - all rights reserved

Complex Logos Convey Hidden Meanings

We recently came across this interesting article on logo design and thought you might be interested in information about some very clever designs. Some of the logos will be familiar to you, and others you will never have heard of. Enjoy--Ruth Mitchell

(c) 2009 - Ruth Mitchell - all rights reserved

Artist Gina Skillings Has a Whimsical Approach to Pottery

Artist Gina Skillings has a unique approach to pottery, and this is evidenced in her latest work to appear on buyoutsidethebox.com, "Mixed Media Clay Purse." An early passion for textiles led her to pursue a Home Economics degree at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Years later, while living in Brazil, her interest in fine craft led her to clay and a new passion developed. After returning to the US she continued taking pottery classes and workshops, eventually returning to complete a BFA and develop her skills as a potter and artist.

Gina’s current body of work combines her passions for clay and textiles. Many of her clay forms are canvases onto which she adds textile studies, created by weaving and quilting together organic and man-made materials such as fabric, dried petals, seeds, shells and paper. Much of her clay work is glazed only on the inside, using oxide wash on the exterior to create an organic sensibility.

Gina’s passion for clay and fibers is matched by her love for animals and the environment. No animal leather is used in Gina’s work and recycled materials are often symbolically incorporated into her fiber studies. A portion of all her sales is donated to animal charities.--Ruth Mitchell

(c) 2009 - Ruth Mitchell - all rights reserved