Why have I just recently heard about Clarice Cliff?

My love for colorful vintage pottery has been strong for years — Red Wing, McCoy, Weller, I could go on. I thrill to find early Czech pieces — so bright and clever in design.

But England’s own Clarice Cliff is such a knockout, I just can’t believe she escaped my radar! Her designs, the brilliant colors, her very joyful attitude, all seem to explode in one fantastic visual experience!

“Crocus” tankard

And now that I mention her name at my favorite shops, EVEYONE knows about Clarice Cliff pottery — except me. One friend said her husband had collected CC for years. It’s still available on eBay. Another shop owner said they had some pieces of CC in just the other day before it was quickly snapped up. I want to be in the Clarice Cliff fan club! (As it turns out, there is an actual Clarice Cliff Collectors Club, established in 1982.)

“Honolulu Bonjour” pitcher

Clarice started working in pottery when she was 13, as a gilder. (Tabletop items were still very Victorian in design.) But she soon began covering obvious pottery imperfections with simple patterns of triangles, a style she coined “Bizarre.”

An original “Bizarre” vase

She became the art director of the adjoining Newport Pottery and AJ Wilkinson factories (Newport, Burslem, England) in 1927 and it was there she created her most outstanding art deco designs for ten years, often called “the Bizarre Years” by collectors.

“Lotus” pitcher and “Monsoon” plate

Clarice’s collection names are so dreamy — they could be exotic perfumes: Fantasque, Delecia, Crocus, Gayday, Red Tree, Idyll, Eden, and Monsoon, to name just a few.

“Honolulu Bonjour” teapot

I was pleased to read that in 2009, the Victoria and Albert Museum created its New Ceramics Galleries, in which Clarice Cliff’s works are now displayed. There’s a wealth of information about her life and career, and her international recognition, online.

Deco bowl and “Fantasque” platter

“Fantasque Mountain” plate

“Delicia” pitcher

Jampot

I would love to have a piece of Cliff pottery for my own collection. I see many offerings available on Etsy. Just imagine an entire tablescape in a joyful CC design!

Ok, that may be a little pricey. Maybe I could start smaller by sipping my tea from a Delecia cup and saucer…They’re rather magical!

“Delicia” cup and saucer

I’m focusing on color in a big way — color combinations I never would have entertained…pastels, neons, you name it.  I’m into a color salad –with extra dressing!  Whether we’re talking fashion or furnishings, a pop of color makes drab into dazzling.

Actually, this color craving is a phenomenon that happens about this time every spring.  It’s a “bust-out” craze that can be dangerous…if  you’re not in control of your palette.  But since we’re all emerging from an extraordinarily colorless year, I say we deserve to go a little wild with our paint brushes.

Yemen chameleon 

Let’s meet at the new Hotel Deux Gares, (2, rue des Deux Gares 75010 Paris-France) and take some notes on exactly what colors go where and why and the effect they have on our serotonin levels!

And right across the pond, look what The Queen is doing to get herself through “the interview.”

Continue Reading…

I’ve been a member of the same workout club for almost a year now.  It’s a unique space — the open area between my living room and dining room…

Most of us have probably found some little niche in our homes for the past year to do sit ups or a workout video.  But my space has an added feature — Mr. Danny Lena, Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8AM sharp, via FaceTime on my phone.

Danny is a personal friend, as is his wife, Marie.  We’ve known each other for more than 15 years.  Marie used to be my trainer, but she’s moved on.

Marie and Danny Lena

The three of us often joke about how the space, which is now my gym, has found us in the past drinking champagne and martinis and celebrating many holidays.  And that keeps our enthusiasm alive for better days – and bigger parties — ahead.

In the meantime, my stretch bands are Velcroed to the stair rail, my dining room chair is my barre, my exercise ball has become another living room chair, and my weights and dumbbells keep company with my grandchildrens’ toys and stuffed animals.

Continue Reading…

How can you resist an invitation to spend a week in the Catskills with  your Brooklyn grand-baby and her parents?  After precautionary testing, we jumped at the chance to leave Chicago’s spiking cases and headed for the hills.

12 hours later we were on top of the mountain in a 200-year-old farmhouse with our favorite New Yorkers. The original house and the family who built it…

Leave it to my daughter to find the MOST atmospheric house in upstate NY, complete with a sauna, hot tub, scenic little lake and two resident deer who emerged every night around 4 PM.

More on the house later…

Across our steep road was a breathtaking view of the valley beyond the mountains.  We had our choice of three or four hiking trails from the gate.

One was a deep forest trail that had no end, and the other two led to two waterfalls

via steep switchbacks.

Continue Reading…

Cathy Lancaster is a force of color and design and personality who has swept into Chicago to offer her delightful, upbeat outlook on life through her many design talents.

Originally from Mississippi, Cathy and her husband lived several years in New Orleans, as they raised their three children, then moved to Memphis where Cathy established herself with her artist mother in their own studio.

Although her mother is a landscape and flower artist, she encouraged Cathy to explore “the abstract designs in her head,” as she describes them.  An avid doodler, Cathy began painting primary color squares on her canvasses, which sold quickly.

As she continued to explore other mediums, such as collage work, Cathy was seeing her designs grow in complexity and color.

And as her canvas designs blossomed, so did her other offerings – folding tables (!), fabrics, tea towels, notebook covers, face masks, wallcoverings and art on paper.  As she explains it, “solo galleries are big in the south, where artists feature and market their own work in their own spaces.”

Continue Reading…

Last fall, my husband and I toyed with the idea of building a pool and mid-century style pool/guest house at our Indiana cabin.  I even drafted some rough plans which included a great room, sleeping for 4-6 and a kitchenette for easy pool service.

Then the pandemic hit.  We shelved our plans because of the economic uncertainty, and  (sadly) the vanishing act of 40 + friends and family who had vowed they would make the drive to share our pool fun…Our mantra became “maybe next year!”

Then my daughter introduced me to KidKraft playhouses…I know, it’s not exactly built for guests, but it’s a bright substitute for what we CAN install at our cabin that will make our three grandchildren jump for joy.  And it’s soooo mid-century!

The weight of the box coming off the truck told us that the kit was “complex…”

Continue Reading…

Wanderlust and travel envy is rampant.

I have friends and family calling me every day to lament that they are tearing their hair out doing the same thing in the same “office” that’s in the same house without a break.  Staycations have lost their meaning because we’ve been staying where we would normally stage a staycation!

Enter the humble trailer.  Or not so humble…

Last week, the WSJ featured this little gem by Romotow.  “For many, a change of scenery now isn’t just about the ‘where’ but especially the ‘how,'” They explain in their promotional material.

This amazing Romotow newby is built almost entirely of carbon fiber-reinforced composite materials.  With the push of a button, the RV literally turns from a 30-foot-long, eight-and-a-half foot wide trailer into a cushy retreat.

It makes sense that the Romotow founders are an architect and a structural engineer who have honed their skills on contemporary homes.  Of course, these smashing designs can climb way over seven figures, what with a wide range of bespoke features.  But forget about the price!

Continue Reading…

Thirteen hours at 70 miles per hour, and there we were last week, on Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.  Our quarantined daughter, plus her husband and baby, greeted us with a grilled seafood dinner and a sweet little Airbnb that was literally built on the seawall.

Continue Reading…

Porch.  What a wonderful word!  It’s evocative of summer, Grandma, quiet conversation, lazy days.  There doesn’t seem to be any down note about a porch…

Some lucky people have fabulous porches, with recliners and wicker and ferns and dappled sunlight.

Others have tiny porches that they make the most of.  We’re all trying to find ways to enjoy our homes and safe spaces as much as possible these days.

If you can fit a chair on it, you can sit on the porch.

I was pondering how different the 4th of July will be for most of us this year.We usually count 20 at the cabin with BBQ’s and a beautiful fireworks display from our dock.

This year, we’ll happily be sitting on our porch listening to the distant pop-pop of firecrackers and catching an occasional fireworks explosion on the horizon.

Continue Reading…

Take a look at some of the photos readers sent in, putting their passions on display!

I was so pleased and touched by many of the responses and photos I received after sending my newsletter about personal display areas. Some surprising, some endearing, I couldn’t have guessed at the many directions folks take in collections, souvenirs, photos and paraphernalia!  But I thank everyone for giving us a glimpse of their personal interests and histories.

E. of Chicago celebrates champagne occasions by making souvenir chairs.

D. of Indiana collects handmade dolls all over the world (from Haiti to the Sahara).

Continue Reading…