Today's post introduces a new series I am putting together entitled Artistically Speaking that explores the philosophies and inspirations of designers, architects and artists that I admire. Although I consider myself a visual learner {i.e. I could look at pretty pictures of interiors all day!} I also enjoy reading my shelter magazines especially when interiors that have caught my attention are complemented by a thoughtful interview of the designer, architect, artist, stylist or antique dealer that created the space. I love to be included in the artistic process and learn the why. Sometimes when I am reading these inspiring passages, I dog-ear the page as something of great value resonates with me. It is either something I have felt all my life that makes me feel normal or it is something profound that i have really never considered. This new series will explore my dog-eared pages and the quotes that captivate me.
Several years back, I had the great pleasure of hearing Alexa Hampton speak. She was somewhat an unknown at the time, at least as unknown as you can be as the daughter of Mark Hampton. She visited our small luncheon here in Winston Salem, presented a slide show and lecture. She not only had a lot of extremely insightful things to share, she was incredibly gracious, down-to-earth and really funny. I wish I had a video of that afternoon because the message she shared was so inspiring. She talked about growing up in New York with her extremely talented father and showed never before family photos of her childhood home and how it evolved through the years. She then shared her own home and discussed the choices she had made. She told us she once sold her car, a VW bug, to buy a chair for her living room and she explained that because she couldn't afford 'good art', by her words, she created her own and framed it regally.
The two images above are from Alexa Hampton's New York apartment bedroom ...it's dog-eared pages have been a part of my bedroom inspiration files for many years and influenced the design of both my master bedroom and my guest bedroom. I have since read that she has redesigned her own bedroom and that this is now her son's room. The watercolor on top is by her father, Mark Hampton and the one below is her own.
Here's the series of quotes from the book Inspired Styles by Alexa Hampton that speak to me:
"Design is all about the editorial eye. Because I draw, I see things composed. I look at a wall and see it as an elevation. When I look at a table, I see a composition. It's almost as if my mind puts together a picture that allows me to add and delete.""I'm looking all the time, cultivating my eye over the whole gamut of things from the most lofty to the truly mundane, from great big things to silly things. I look at buildings, at friezes, at the world around me."
"When you have a visual vernacular, you constantly refer to it. If you have a background of looking, you register problems that may exist - and you can figure out where and what they are and fix them."
I have selected just a few rooms designed by Alexa Hampton that I think would look just a beautiful 50 years from now:
"The best spaces have intelligence and rhythm or are full of opposites; tall and short, light and dark, rough and soft. When things become mono tonal, the eye grows bored and it stops."
From the book Inspired Styles
A hallway in Alexa Hampton's New York apartment that utilizes one of her favorite go-to paint colors, a rich dark brown from Benjamin Moore HC-68; Middlebury Brown. Notice the quatrefoil flush mount ceiling fixture, it's from Hampton's line for Circa Lighting
A library light from her Circa Lighting collection illuminates a bookcase in her New York apartment. She made many changes to improve the proportions of the space, including this beautiful antique mantel, which Hampton says will be coming with her if she ever moves.
I am totally captivated by the amazing storyboard Hampton created for the redesign of her New York apartment. It makes me want to make one for my own home. Sometimes the design collage is just as inspiring as the finished interior.
The Alexa Hampton lighting collection for
Circa Lighting is amazing. Here are just a few of my favorites:
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