David Stark Sketchbook

A Fool’s Fete

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Each year, we look forward to kicking off the spring gala season with New Yorkers For Children’s A Fool’s Fête, definitely one of New York City’s most glamorous evenings!  So often, we wrack our brains to come up with a conceptual decor idea that relates to a foundation’s mission, but sometimes the goal is to just be  . . . BEAUTIFUL.

An Indian inspired fantasy of blazing color and hypnotic pattern filled the ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel last year, and since surprise is the name of our game, we swung the pendulum to the other extreme this year by creating a palette cleanse of pure whites, a sea of glimmering candlelight and a vast canopy of delicate but arresting cherry blossoms.  This party didn’t need tons of small bouquets.  Rather, the branches became the glorious new architecture of the space; dramatic in repetition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photography by Susan Montagna

 

Happy Spring, Gang!  May you have many nights of sparkle too, and a big thank you to our pals at New Yorkers.  It’s our honor to be there with you on so many special nights, doing so much good for foster children.
 
XO
 
D

 

 

 

 

Quick Pick Me Up: The Masks of Studio Bertjan Pot

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I was rooting around the internet last night and checked out Design Milk’s Friday Five with Stephen Burks. Thank you, guys.  I am totally inspired by one of Burk’s cool call outs:  the rope masks created by Studio Bertjan Pot of the Netherlands.  The Dutch are always makin’ cool stuff, and I am familiar and like much of the studio’s furniture and lighting, but I did not know of these beauties . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

All photography courtesy of Studio Bertjan Pot

 

A whole wall of them would be perfect, right?  Sign me up!  (wink!)

Xo

D.

Quick Pick Me Up: Choi Jeong-Hwa

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In honor of Earth Day this Sunday, April 22nd 2012, we’d like to shine the creative light on Choi Jeong-Hwa’s public installation from 2009 “Doors”.  Since we often gravitate toward materials otherwise destined for the rubbish bin in our own installations, we are wildly attracted to this work too.

 

 

 

 

Images via www.choijeonghwa.com

While the concept is pretty simple: a building façade of 1,000 found doors; there is an interesting story behind how he got there. In art school, the Korean artist entered a painting contest, painted what he thought the judges would gravitate to and won the Grand Prize of a trip to Europe. On his return, he burned those paintings, “decided against becoming an artist and decided instead to be an ordinary person who thinks like an artist.” He found beauty in garbage piles and construction sites, leading to a host of installations comprised of found stuff.

I love Choi Jeong Hwa’s creative premise:  Art is in the mind more so than skilled hands.

D.

Quick Pick Me Up : The Paris Home of Benoit Jamin and Isabel Puech

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My head has been focused on the prospect of moving to a new apartment, and I have been looking through a ton of my old interiors books for inspiration.  Last night, I came across the home of the incredible French accessories designers Jamin Puech, and remembered how much I fell in love with the giant pen that leans against the wall in their library years ago.

 

 

By chance and right after seeing their home in that same book for the first time years ago, I started finding giant pens when I would go to antique stores.  I was dying for one, still am, actually, but I never had (and still don’t!) have a ceiling high enough to host one.  Ahhh  . . . to dream . . .

Xo

D.

P.S.  I found the above photograph by Matthiew Soudet in Maison Décor.

New Chapters

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It’s always bittersweet when an important part of the team decides to move across the country. Case in point, Jason Neufeld, one of the fabulous members of our Design Team is moving to Los Angeles with his newlywed wife to start their next life chapter.

 

Captain Jason at the Philadelphia Flower Show in an installation we designed for Smith & Hawken for Target.

 

We thought it would be fun to take a look back at just few of the many projects on which Jason has left his brilliant mark over the past four years.

 

Photo by KT Merry Photography

Photo by KT Merry Photography

 

Photo by KT Merry Photography

 

 

 

Photo by Gustavo Campos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unless other wise noted, all photogarphy by Susan Montagna.

 

We know you will knock ‘em dead on the West Coast, Jason. We will miss you tons, good friend. Thank you for your brilliance, commitment, and spirit.

xo

D.