Inhabiting the space that was once home to A+R, then Ten10, OK’s newest eastside outpost is 1716 Silverlake Blvd. Smaller than the main store, OK Silver Lake offers a more informal, accessible subset of goods including old-school toys, pottery by local ceramicists, gardening tools and kitchen staples. Prices range from $6 for Japanese turned-wood tops to $750 for a Noguchi floor lamp. Open Friday through Sunday from 12 to 6.
Come August, the cocktail-hour revelers on my grandmother’s porch were always outnumbered by the spiders hard at work on their artful snares. Leaving their designs in every lantern-lit eave.
For spiders alone, I love late summer.
A couple years back I picked up a concrete version of Kelly Lamb’s geo planter at a sample sale Mohawk General Store hosted. Lamb now makes the planters in a glazed ceramic, which are also beautiful. Something about the rough cast concrete though is perfect for dressing down this living room hearth.
I’m not one for inspirational quotes. But leave it to Cleo Pollock to incorporate one into her work/retail space that hits the perfect note.
Just ordered from Goodwill.com a new copy of the out-of-print book Calder at Home: The Joyous Environment of Alexander Calder
My friend Beatrice recently turned me on to Stan Bitters’ ceramic pendant light. Since the 1960s Bitters’ large-scale ceramics have been a presence in California’s architectural landscape and more recently his iconic wall murals, fountains and sculptures have appeared in the residential projects of design firm Commune.
The pendants, crafted from terracotta and fired with signature glazes Bitters calls “happenings”, are available in three sizes; the large cylinder (13 by 6 inches) is $750, the small cylinder (8 by 6 inches) is $550 and the 9 inch round is $575. The lights can be purchased at Ten10 in Los Angeles. Or for more information, call 323 663 3603.
Cookbook, a grocer in Echo Park, Los Angeles sells local, responsibly-grown fruits, vegetables, herbs as well as meats, poultry, cheeses, and select dry/canned goods. Owners Robert Stelzner and Marta Teegan (trained chef, master gardener and author of Homegrown: A Growing Guide for Creating a Cook’s Garden), choose a different cookbook to cook out of for prepared foods each week (the cornerstone theme of the shop, after which it is named). Some past favorites have included all of the Moro cookbooks, Ottolenghi, and Canal House.
In May, Cookbook added “No. 2”, a storefront next door which serves as a classroom for food history lectures, classes on edible gardening, still life painting, and ikebana with fruits and vegetables. The spare interiors are adorned with Victoria Morris ceramics and Hadley Holliday artwork. Friend and architect Samantha Gore helped design the spaces and contractor Carl Bronson built all the furniture to Marta and Robert’s specifications.
1stdibs’ 16-page interview and profile on Barbara Barry offers unexpectedly inspirational insight with stunning visuals to match. Her orientation to the world is enviable and her lens on design has application to anyone interested in the good things life has to offer, whether you share her specific aesthetic or not. Here are some especially good excerpts:
“The color of water in the bathtub is my favorite color in the world.”
Favorite tea: her own blend “The Warm Night Air in Los Angeles.”
“I love hiking in Austria. You go all day and come back to soft pine floors, linen tablecloths, polished silver and different size napkins for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
“No arrangements. Flowers should happen in five minutes.”
