SHARING AND CARING: SECOND ANNUAL ORNAMENT BALL & AUCTION

Jiun Ho, Inc. and Luxe Interiors + Design ring in the holiday spirit with the second annual Ornament Ball & Auction. A select group of designers and architects were invited to make one-of-a-kind holiday ornaments to be auctioned at several events benefiting the California College of the Arts Internship Scholarship Program. Lauren Daley, Senior Designer at TWG, created a lovely ornament to donate to the San Francisco auction.

The ornament, entitled "The Cloud," pays tribute to the zeitgeist of cloud computing. It is fabricated of lightly touching, transparent Plexiglas spheres. The shape is nebulous, reflecting light from all angles. The fragility of its form belies its structural integrity.

Don’t miss out on the live auction for an opportunity to snag this artful ornament and, perhaps, dinner with the chef and owner of La Urbana.

When: Wednesday December 18, 2013

Host: Jiun Ho de Jia

Where: 1180 Folsom Street in San Francisco

Time: 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

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SHARING AND CARING: JINGLE & MINGLE FUNDRAISING EVENT

Finished wreath, looking beautiful!

The Jingle & Mingle Designer Wreath Auction, a benefit of Children of Shelters, is an annual event featuring donated wreaths from some of the West Coast's top designers. The Wiseman Group has stepped up to the plate with a stunning entry. The process involved in making the wreath was classic TWG: many of the firm's creative minds were involved in the wreath's conception, and fine local artisans were used to fabricate the final product.

Concept drawing for Jingle & Mingle wreath Artwork - Victoria Kennedy

James Hunter came up with the initial idea for the wreath while visiting Tuell and Reynolds, a TWG vendor in Cloverdale, California.  He spotted a bronze ring "drop," or casting remnant, from a table top they had cut down to make smaller. The circular shape suggested a wreath by the nature of its form. Paul Wiseman liked the idea and suggested the addition of a T and R casting of kelp, a remnant from a TWG custom project. The organic shape of the kelp is suggestive of mistletoe, holly, or perhaps a bow. A candle was added, and a way to mount the wreath was designed. Assistant Architectural Designer, Victoria Kennedy, did the concept drawing for T and R and spearheaded the rest of the production. Designer, Anna Sweeney, provided guidance and mentorship along the way.

Wreath profile

For the auction, the wreath has been hung on a painted door. Paul suggested painting the door a deep purple color he had seen on the home of Evans & Brown, another TWG vendor. Jafe Custom Finishing  painted the door with a rich, glossy finish. As one can see, this is a tremendous pro bono effort on the part of many talented people, all for a very worthy cause.

Back side of wreath

Jingle & Mingle Designer Wreath Auction

Thursday, December 5, 2013

6:30 PM till Late

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Golden Gate Club, The Presidio

135 Fisher Loop 

San Francisco, California

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Information and Tickets

PINTREST: GIFTS FOR THE BON VIVANT

Pinterest is having a contest for best Christmas gift boards. For a bit of tongue-and-cheek fun, the Design Journal took a stab at what the boss might have on Santa's list. For the results go to "Gifts for the Bon Vivant" on Pinterest….

ON THE HUNT: TWG AT THE SAN FRANCISCO FALL ANTIQUES SHOW

Brenda Mickel, Design Prinicpal at The Wiseman Group, arriving at the SFFAS preview gala Photo - Drew Altizer Photography

The San Francisco Fall Antiques Show opened its doors last week, and TWG staff were in attendance. SFFAS provides a quality shopping venue for The Wiseman Group, always in search of fine, one-of-a-kind items for clients' homes. The staff attended the preview opening, fanning out to canvass dealer displays. It was a "target-rich" environment with many lovely items to consider for client approval. 

Paul Wiseman at the NY show with vendor Daniel Harrison of H. M. Luther Antiques

Due to unusual circumstances, both SFFAS and the International Fine Art and Antiques Show in New York were held the same week this year. It was the first time in SFFAS history that Paul Wiseman was unable to attend. Paul usually leads The Wiseman Group design staff through the SFFAS to talk about key vendors and particular items of interest. A flurry of emails and iPhone photos allowed Paul to communicate with the staff in SF while he attended the NYC show, killing two birds with one stone. While at the NYC show, Paul found an important Art Deco verre églomisé screen for a client in California.

French Deco screen made of twenty-five reverse-painted glass panels (Paule Ingrand c 1942) found by Paul Wiseman at Bernd Goeckler Antiques at the International Fine Art and Antiques Show in New York

Victoria Kennedy, Assistant Architectural Designer, stands in front of an unusual patchwork zebra skin rug from Galen Lowe Art & Antiques

After contacting clients with suggestions for purchases, several items from the SFFAS sold quickly. An unusual patchwork rug of zebra skin squares went to a TWG project in Tahoe. The rug will be hung on the wall as a tapestry. Two Italian Gio Ponti horn-shaped candelabras were found at Rachel Prater's booth. They were originally designed for Christofle, Paris, in 1927. Each one is on a circular foot with the conical stem capped by a dolphin finial. The candelabras went to a Hillsborough home recently installed by TWG. These pieces will become accents for the clients' new dining room.

Rachel Prater of Gallery 925 holds a rare Gio Ponti "Dauphin" candelabra, sold to a TWG client

More items that caught the tasteful eye of the staff:

A 1950s Belgian tapestry designed by Richard Lucas for sale through The Lotus Collection

TWG designer, Anna Sweeney, with Andre Arbus sconces (France c 1940)

A set of Japanese boxwood hair combs (20th c.)

A contemporary woodblock entitled "elmigration" by British artist, Julian Meredith

An important bronze lamp by Agostini (1957)

A set of Meiji Period (1868-1912) lacquered trays

Late 19th c. Pakistani silk shawls at The Lotus Collection

For over thirty years the SFFAS has been benefiting Enterprise for High School Students, a non-profit career development agency serving San Francisco youth. According to their website, it is the "oldest and most prestigious continuously operating international antiques show on the West Coast, and recognized as one of the top five in the world. The Show features approximately sixty dealers from across the United States and Europe, offering for sale an extraordinary range of fine and decorative arts representing all styles and periods including American, English, Continental, and Asian furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, jewelry, rugs, textiles, paintings, prints, and photographs."

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IN THE NEWS: PAUL WISEMAN'S BELVEDERE HOME FEATURED IN THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN

Kirsten Honeyman, blog writer for TWG Design Journal, recently published an article about Paul Wiseman's Belvedere Island home in The Mediterranean Garden, a publication of the international Mediterranean Garden Society. The non-profit association was founded in Greece in 1994 and acts as a forum for everyone who has a special interest in the plants and gardens of the mediterranean climate regions of the world. The forum operates through the quarterly journal, The Mediterranean Garden, with articles and book reviews written by members; through its web site; and, on a more local level, through events organized by branches formed in the countries where members live and garden. To see photographs from the article, go to the Mediterranean Garden Society website.

Photo - Doug Jones