Hidden In France

antique tin cans

I'm seeing an unprecedented surge in the amount of visistors for this blog. I sure would love to know who you are! (could be one person reading it over and over for all I know.) So leave a comment if you’d like. Meanwhile here are a few (awful) photographs of a few (drop dead gorgeous) objects that make me swoon. The tin cans are part of my ever- growing collection. Some are antiques, and some are not. Please bear with me as I learn to use my new state of the art but itsy bitsy camera. It’s so small I need toothpicks or q-tips to push the buttons or something. I have a bad case of banana fingers.

hadley hutton's new artwork

As I write, the following artwork, some of which only came for sale this morning, is still available so FLY to this website. The original artowrk is shockingly affordable.

By the way, I am told that Hadley Hutton’s great grandmother was from France, that Hadley grew up eating French food, and that she is a pretty mean cook herself.

Told ya.

sarut's colorful toasters

There is a vague association with France with these items. One of the owners and creators of the brand Sarut apparently spent ten years of his life there. I say that's plenty good to feature here. He had to have been inspired by France, or at least somewhat impacted by the experience, wouldn't he?

Definitely not for the color-shy, Sarut's line of home décor, houseware, kitchenware and even furniture, combines often classic shapes with unbridled themes and patterns. But I think what speaks to me is the glossy, airbrush feel of the design. It makes me whan to put my finerprints all over it. I've seen a lot of their smaller objects in boutiques around L.A, but the website sells everything retail so take your pick.
I have a weak spot for the heart toaster. How about you?

On second thought, I'll go for the thermos.

sometimes i feel the urge to paint...

... but it hasn't happened in a few years. My friend Isabelle, another French expatriate (an one without whom integration would have been a heck of a lot harder,) showed me a few tricks and encouraged me to try. So I tried:

I'm pretty excited today because Isabelle spent the afternoon at my house, not eating chocolate this time, but hard at work on a lovely logo for this blog. Enough with the old orange banner I say. Isabelle is the REAL artist here, and I will be posting her amazing artwork very soon.

angela scirpo

I’m a flower kinda girl. I like real flowers, I like dried flowers, I like silk and paper flowers, and I am also known for my lavish, overbearing use of plastic flowers. But I think I found the most amazing flowers of all: the enameled flower rings from the artist, sculptor and jewelry maker Angela Scirpo. I am in complete awe of Angela’s taste, imagination and craftsmanship. You can check her website to learn more about Angela Scirpo and her creative process. But most important you can buy the rings and her other jewelry here.
I want those rings! I want every single on of them. I’d then wear them just like she does right here:

Here are the babies. I wish the pictures were larger. You might want to use a magifying glass.

french bull

Probably not French either but now that a rule has been broken, chaos reigns.

French Bull is the a tableware collection by Jackie Shapiro. When her stuff arrived in a few cool stores in L.A, the general reaction was one of visceral angst, followed by haunted dreams, then by mass hysteria. We're all (at least those of us with good sense) lining up for it now. I love it when a designer has the vision to break from what is expected, what is polite, what is the general sense of esthetic of the moment. And I love it even more when all the public can do is hurry to catch up.

The collection is made of 100% melamine, is dishwater safe, high water resistant and (mostly) unbreakable. It is not, however, microwave safe.
This is the grace platter:

Here are the storage containers with lids.

and a few other taken at random:

There is also a cool paper goods line:

You can purchase parts of the melamine and paper collection at PlumParty.

hadley hutton

Oh, I agonized over that one. But there comes a time when, as a blogger, you have to laydown the law. A rule is a rule. A theme is a theme. Regarding today's post, here is what I put myself through:

"This is just too darn beautiful. This artist blows me away! I must feature her paintings!"

No. Sorry no can’t do: she’s not French.

"But her birds painting are everything I love! The color scheme, the sweetness, the lightness! I want to eat those up they’re so delicious looking!"

I’m sorry no exception to the rule. This is a blog about French things. Non-French artists can therefore not be featured insofar as they haven't apply to a change of nationality.

"But… but.. but."

No if, ands and cetainly no buts. This is a respectable blog.

And then after a sleepless night, one thought occured to me: It’s my blog and I get do whatever I want.

So here she is: I discovered her by chance on Etsy and yesterday Décor8 (Love this blog!) put her back in the spotlight. I present you Hadley Hutton. Here are a few of my favorites:

Ya know, I think I'll continue doing watever I please from now on. Here's the new rule: If I happen to like it, then it's French enough.

Fauchon

What is this store? No it isn’t Sephora. It isn’t a fancy Parisian lingerie boutique either.
It's the new and improved Fauchon Place de la Madeleine in the eight arrondissement of Paris. Fauchon is the place for extravagant, over the top, and wildly over priced food glamour where you can find the ultimate in fruit basket, chocolates, spices, and patisserie de luxe.

A new blog about France and design (written in French and English,) city rats, posted pictures in April of those hip looking éclairs.
The sight and thought of éclairs threw me back twenty years, at a time when I lived within five minutes walking distance from Fauchon. A time when a single éclair was equivalent to my daily food budget. I remember peeking in the window in awe, and trying not to look entirely pathetic doing so.
Now I can afford Fauchon’s éclairs every day if I darn well please, but what gives me trouble is the twelve hour plane ride.
When it comes to éclairs actual taste, I’d stick to the tried and true coffee or chocolate flavor that can be found at any corner boulangerie. But if you’re visiting Paris and can’t shop at Hermes of Chanel you can still indulge in a little luxury, by going to Fauchon and purchasing one of the following designer's edible:

Will it be marzipan dots and green tea filling?

Or mango?

Nah... boring. How about these, then?

Or, if you are in a nautical kind of mood:

Patrick Blanc

This is old news, maybe, but beautiful too. I’ ve been fascinated for a while now by the work of French artist/ landscaper/botanis/dreamer Patrick Blanc. Unfortunately I could not steal, ahem… borrow photos from his website, but I did find some great photos of one of his vertical gardens installed on the Musée du Quai Branly on this fine website: Inhabitat where you can go for info on why, how and accessorily some interesting points made about the potential lack of sustainability of the whole enterprise. I wonder what it looks like now. Is it all fané (wilted) I hope not.

There! There she is! The old Tour Eiffel! (Sorry, I get excited...)

Full credit must given to Kstyle for this post. Thanks Karen!

celine saby

It's French, it’s Japanese, it’s retro, it’s modern and it's citrucy! (not a real word). I'm not only refering to the awesome citrus colors of those objects, but also to the effect you get when you watch someone suck on a lemon and you end up salivating. That’s pretty much what happens to me when I see the work of Celine Saby. I’d gladly toss half the decorative objects in my house to make room for her Photophores/lights/lamps (She doesn't give it an official name.)
She and four other French creators share Atelier Beau Travail, a studio and store located in the Belleville section of Paris, which also welcomes other artists and designer’s work. They have, for example, exposed Lyndie Dourthe which I featured in May, right here.
And now... drumroll please....

Here are pictures of her atelier. Aren't those amazing?

Thanks to Muriel and the youpi touch, here is a phtograph taken from French Touche. Those lamps look even better with lights in them. Who knew?

ma cabane en couleur

Ma Cabane En Couleur is a delighful children boutique in the Var area of France in the town of Montauroux. The owner, Stephanie, organizes creative workshops for children and sells soft toys and adorable clothing.


She is also an artist and creator of the decorative names 'wiry thingies' below. Those are made by hand using, as far as I can tell, feathers, cloth, wool and wire. To purchase them you'll need to place an order directly with her via her cute blog. Hope she speaks English!

For more information about the thirteen century town of Montauroux, click here and have a chuckle over the very creative english used on the website. I thought I had issues with the English language!

berlingots

Berlingots are a specialty of Carpentras, here are a few pictures. They're a delight to the eye. I found most of the pictures below on Google image.

marie claire maison

One of France’s most beautiful decoration magazines is Marie Claire Maison. This month Marie Claire features a collection of “objets fleuris.” Should I translate it as flowery objects or blooming objects? Nevertheless, the selection is very pretty. I love this Kenzo Maison lantern:

This is the magnolia plate from the Luminarc collection and here is the cherry tree plate also from Luminarc The plate sells for 2.90 Euros only. And there is an American site to go to, though I found fascinating how
French website has a reasonably trendy design, whereas the American website is.. what is the word I’m looking for? Ugly? I’m not exaggerating. The design is an insult to webdesigners the world over, the products are hard to find or missing, not to mention that it is adorned with what resembles stock photography of generic families taken with a greasy lenses. Why?
But going back to Marie Claire Maison, I also liked the Hortensia (Hydrangea) curtains by Madura and I adore this pink teapot by ThéOdor

Macaroons, Exclamation point!

I was lucky enough to come across Leesa's blog. She is a California native who did what I did, only the other way around. She married a French Man (and does not seem to be complaining, by the way, quite the opposite.) and she now lives in Paris. I find that Expatriates have some of the most beautiful photographs of their country of adoption because they are able to look at things with a fresh eye and take nothing for granted. Leesa, who happens to be a heck of a good photographer is to blame for my latest wave of homesickness.

She and I seem to share a strong bond: Macaroons. The French call them Macarons. At the base of the recipe are egg whites, meringue style, and almonds. They are crispy/crunchy and gooey, and esthetically speaking, they belong more at the center of a mantelpiece than in a kitchen cabinet.

The best of the best, the crème de la crème in matter of Macaroons is La Durée, here are pictures taken from Leesa’s blog.