sunday, april 29, 2007 décordl.owneriq.net/3/3e94d694-bbf6-49bc-b9bc-b8f0a8840c3c.pdf · lighten...

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HUNTING FOR ANTIQUES CAPTURING MOTHER NATURE PLAYING WITH DIMENSION

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If you’re planning a spring reno-vation and are eager to knowmore about living light on theplanet, the Kortright Centre forConservation in Woodbridge isoffering a series of seminars onenvironmentally friendly re-sources, technology and prac-tices for the home. Topics rangefrom concepts for green living,to a hands-on workshop on howto install a renewable energysystem. For more information,visit kortright.org or call 905-832-2289.

DIY corner

KEITH BEATY/TORONTO STAR

6

45COLOUR YOUR WORLD

Bored with cool spa colour schemes? You’re notalone. Melanie Rice, colour advisor for Para Paintsand a member of the Color Marketing Group,which tracks colour trends internationally, saysconsumers are moving away from neutrals. “Peo-ple want a punch of colour, especially clear, cleancolours that are evocative of nature.” So go ahead,add a jolt of spicy red or warm yellow to your interi-or landscape. If you’re wary of strong hues, startwith subtle shades, like Para’s Cream Custard andMing Gold, in a powder room. Or go big and bold bypainting the family room in deep shades of red. TryPara’s Paris Red washed with Heart’s Desire.

RAY OF LIGHT Replace heavy winter drapes with sheer draperypanels. If the view is more urban grit than bucolicsplendour, cover them with a translucent, reusabledecorative window film, such as Artscape’s Bam-boo or Magnolia designs, both $27 for a 24- by 36-inch roll. Artscape products are available at TheHome Depot stores and at homedepot.ca.

EDITOR: ELIZABETH [email protected] DESIGN BY SHARIS SHAHMIRYANAND NEIL COCHRANE/TORONTO STAR

1KEITH BEATY/TORONTO STAR;

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BRIGHT IDEAS

CRYSTAL CLEARCut crystal, formerly the staid dowager of the chinacabinet, is chic this spring, now that designer MarcJacobs has included it in his new line of tablewarefor Waterford Wedgwood, in stores this June. Im-press your guests with an elegant bouquet of tulips,freesia and other spring flowers. Cathy Cox, direc-tor of horticulture for the Toronto Botanical Gar-den suggests bringing in branches pruned from ap-ple or other fruit trees, placing them in water andwatching the blossoms unfold.

Spring flingSeize the day and invite spring into yourhome. Here are six upbeat ways to rid yourhouse of winter ballast and create alighter, more spacious environment.

2THE OFFICERevitalize and expand your workspace with a greatnew chair, like the Dialogue, whose broad armsprovide a perch for a laptop, lunch tray or the heftyreport you’re ploughing through. Inspired by retrodesign, particularly the Womb, designed by Mod-ernist icon Saarinen in 1948, and featured in thisNorman Rockwell painting, left, it’s elegant enoughfor the living room as well. And unlike Rockwell’shapless-looking fellow, the elevated seat height issupposed to encourage the user to sit slightly for-ward, and maintain better posture. The Dialogue isavailable in fabric and leather at UpCountry, 310King St. E., Toronto, 416-777-1700 or VaughanMills mall, 905-760-8108. Prices start at about$2,700, and for matching ottoman, $850.

UNCORK ITCelebrate the season by sharing a bottle of winewith friends. Serve in a decanter, such as Reidel’snew Colori, $80, at William Ashley. Wine snobsmay debate the merits of decanting, but Konrad Ej-bich, author of A Portable Guide to Ontario Wines,Wineries, Vineyards & Vines, says they’re usefulwhen you want to aerate a wine, filter sediment, orsimply put together a pretty tabletop. His only ca-veat: Don’t leave wine in the decanter overnight. Ifthere’s any left when the party’s over, he advisespouring into the smallest bottle or jar possible, andsaving it to cook with — or drink — later.

3IN THE BEDROOMLighten up your bedroom with a new set of sheetsin a contemporary floral design, such as Au Lit FineLinen’s new Swedish Collection. With its re-strained cherry-blossom motif, this breezy bluebed linen is made from 250 thread-count cotton-percale, and is available at Au Lit (2049 Yonge St.,Toronto, aulitfinelinens.com, 416-489-7010). Aqueen-size duvet cover sells for $283, a flat sheet,$141; a fitted sheet, $136; standard and queen pil-lowcases, $77 a pair.

They say it takes a woman todo a man’s job, so why notlook like one the next timeyou take a sledgehammer tothe kitchen wall? TomboyTrades offers a full line ofmade-for-women workclothes and tools, includingtoolbelts, gloves and thesepink constructionboots. Pamela Ander-son, Home Improve-ment’s Tool TimeGirl, would haveloved them.Check tomboy-trades.com forbuying information.

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NEW LOOK

The fashion runways and homeinteriors have always had a lot incommon. The trends from yourwardrobe, sooner or later, findthemselves splashed about yourhouse. So it’s no surprise thatmore fashion designers are ex-panding their brand and capital-izing on their esthetic withhome collections.

But as the list of designers-turned-interior decoratorsgrows, a few of these fashionbrands get lost in translation.Let’s just say some designers’distinctive signatures and brandidentities seem more tailor-made than others for the homearena. (Can you picture whatbedsheets from the über-hotbut difficult-to-wear label Ba-lenciaga might look like?)

But one contender whosestrong fashion vision seems justright for home décor, is the ven-erable Italian label Missoni.

Known for its colourful graph-ic print knits, the family busi-ness actually started in textiles acentury ago, providing home

furnishings like linens, sheetsand hand embroideries. Itwasn’t until almost 50 years lat-er that it entered the fashion do-main, with T-shirt designs.

And those famous zigzags andlines were born. But it was nomajor design feat. The knittingmachines back when they start-

ed the company couldn’t do any-thing else but simple stripes.

Today, those knitwear printsprove to be architecturallypleasing lines — they work won-ders on small spaces by givingthe illusion of height and width.

Returning to their roots a fewyears ago with a home décor

line, the company has justlaunched Missoni Home inCanada. The 2007 collectionfeatures an expansive lineupthat includes textiles for uphol-stery for sofas, home linens,rugs and furnishings. The homecollection also takes the compa-ny’s rich mosaic of colours to the

outdoors with fabrics that canbe used for cushions, ham-mocks and patio furniture thatwould be perfect for upscale cot-tage country or to add someglam to a poolside deck.

But lest you think it’s all aboutthose famous eye-popping col-our bars, less adventurous home

decorators can find other pat-terns such as herringbone, plaidand some luscious florals. Thiscacophony of prints can be an-chored by the range of solids al-so offered in the line.

And it looks like this colourfulfashion company’s brand will befurther expanded. Up next onthe design horizon: Hotel Mis-soni. The company will belaunching its first hotels in Du-bai and Edinburgh by next year.

Lovers of Italian design can al-so look forward to Fendi, whenthe fashion powerhouse launch-es its home line in Canada laterthis year.

Missoni goes home, againTHE ITALIANLABELRETURNS TOITS ROOTSWITH HOMEFURNISHINGS

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Now you can wrap yourself — and your living room — in designer stripes from the newly launched Missoni Home line.

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From major pieces to finishing touches, you'll find it all at over20 inspiring shops at the Mississauga Home & Design Centre.

The Missoni HomeCollection can be found at:

*Missoni Home Gallery atCastlefield Design Centre.1400 Castlefield Ave.Toronto

* Finn Boutique1 Yorkville Ave.Toronto

*Nord Sud Home20 Hazelton Ave. Toronto

* Prima Lighting51 Jevlan Dr.Woodbridge

Stars in stripes


One of the biggest emergingtrends in home decor has noshape, colour or texture. De-spite that, it’s going to have ahuge influence on the way welive in our homes, says WilliamMacDonald, a Toronto-basedinterior designer.

“Creating privacy in architec-ture and design is a trend that’sreally strong in Europe and NewYork,” says MacDonald. “I thinkit’s partly a reaction to an In-ternet world, in which every-thing is out there for everybodyto see.”

It’s also partly in response tothe widespread elimination ofinterior walls that occurred overthe last few decades, as home-owners embraced the open-concept design. MacDonaldthinks the same homeowners —especially ones with noisy chil-dren or a family member with amessy home office — are discov-ering that walls and doors haveadvantages.

The urge for some room ofone’s own is behind a resur-gence in the use of room divid-ers and screens, which wereoriginally invented to preventdrafts, or to hide entranceways,especially those used by ser-vants. Now, they have a new task— to delineate space.

While space needs to be carvedinto livable chunks, most peopledon’t want to sacrifice one of thegrandest benefits of an open-concept plan — lots of light. Thatmeans unlike their sturdy an-cestors, room dividers are nowshowing up in semi-opaque ma-terials, such as glass and paper.

Toronto glass artist LucyRoussel has already noticedgrowing interest in the glasspanels she makes. Frequentlyused as room dividers, Roussel’spieces are constructed from castglass about an inch thick, intowhich she incorporates naturalelements, such as large fernfronds, poppy blossoms or spentmilkweed pods, or industrialmaterials, such as steel mesh orsheeting. Available in a varietyof dimensions, from countertopheight up, prices start at about$800 for smaller pieces andabout $3,000 for larger.

They’re especially popularwith those living in lofts.

“People want to create roomdivisions without obstructingthe light,” says Roussel. Insmaller condominiums andapartments, she adds, home-owners want to define areaswithout producing a maze-likeeffect.

Furniture maker Rob Brownmakes room screens inspired by

Japanese shoji screens, whichare typically constructed with awooden grid frame, to which alayer of handmade paper is at-tached.

The paper can be left plain ordecorated with calligraphy,paintings or other material,such as paper collage. Browncombines both methods in hisMosaic Shoji, prices for whichstart at about $77 for an un-adorned folding model.

Ikea offers many affordableoptions for dividing space:There are the Agen, a simple rat-tan room divider, about $90,and the Orgel lamp, which func-tions as a short, semi-opaqueroom divider by day and accentlighting in the evening.

It features a paper shade andsells for about $60. Another op-tion is to hang a light and prettyfabric panel from a track at-tached to a ceiling.

Roussel’s work is on display atMaterial Matters at 215 SpadinaAve. (materialmatters.ca or 416-977-3387), and the Living ArtsCentre in Mississauga (1-888-805-8888 or livingartscentre.ca.You can also get further detailson lucyroussel.com.

For more information aboutRob Brown’s work, check outequinoxinteriors.ca or tele-phone 1-888-815-9663.

Divide & multiplyTHE MODERNDIVIDERSCREATE NEWROOMSWITHOUTLOSING LIGHTB Y V I C K Y S A N D E R S O N

Privacy act. These glasspanels by Lucy Roussel,interlock as dividers, andbring the outdoors inside.


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SPACE


Douglas Stocks greets me at thedoor of Maus Park Antiqueswith a welcoming smile. At 58,he cuts a courtly figure with histhick silvering hair and well-cuttweed jacket.

He would make a convincinglord of the manor, and indeed,he very nearly is one. Next doorto the huge interlocking barnsthat house his extensive antiquecollection, Stocks’ home — a 22-room, 1850s-era stone farm-house — is as classic as he is, dig-nified and gracious.

Set in the countryside on theoutskirts of Paris, Ont., MausPark offers, according to its pro-prietor, “the largest display offormal 18th- and 19th-centuryfurniture and accessories inCanada.” His regular clients arenot deterred by the store’s loca-tion; they fly in from Montreal,Florida, Connecticut and evenTexas.

“People find it worthwhile tocome out here,” says Stocks,who in the past has displayed histreasures in various places, in-cluding Toronto. “It’s so big, it’sa destination place. It’s one-stopshopping. I can’t have this kindof space in the city.”

One of the seven “core apprais-ers” on CBC television’s popularCanadian Antiques Roadshow,Stocks has had a lifelong love af-fair with the world of antiquity.He recalls digging up shards ofpottery in his garden in Englandwhen he was 5, and being “mes-merized” with visions of trea-sures and exotic finds.

Unfortunately (or perhapsnot), his parents did not sub-scribe to his early dream of be-coming an archeologist; nor, forthat matter, to his later one ofbecoming an artist.

But, he says, “I couldn’t avoidmy destiny” and by a “circu-itous” route, which included auniversity degree in art and his-tory, he managed to become abit of both: an antique dealer.

“I love the hunt, the find,” heconfesses. “When I lose that, I’llbe out of the business, becauseI’ve never been a believer in do-ing something you don’t like.”

His family moved to Galt, Ont.,when Douglas was 8. At 13, heacquired his first antique, a“primitive” Canadiana ciderpress (for $11), which he paid forover several weeks with moneyfrom his paper route. By thetime he was 20, he owned somany antiques that he had tostart selling them, and at 27,Stocks opened his first store inPlattsville, Ont.

“I’ve always had the passion,”he explains. “I love the wholehistory thing. It’s a big story ofpeople doing things. When I seean object, it conjures up thatwhole story: of politics, of wars,of aspirations, the spirit of by-gone eras.”

This passion is what lies be-hind his success with Roadshow.As then-president of the Cana-dian Antique Dealers Associa-tion (he recently steppeddown), Stocks was asked fouryears ago to help develop theprogram’s format, and to audi-tion expert consultants. Notsurprisingly, he ended up beinginvited to join their ranks.

The show, in which peoplebrings in their heirlooms orlucky finds to be evaluated byexperts, is taped during a solidmonth of travelling from oneCanadian centre to another. De-spite the exhaustion of being onthe road for such a long time,Stocks enjoys the Roadshow tre-mendously.

“It’s that discovery thingagain,” he says. “It’s exciting be-cause you get to see things yougenerally wouldn’t see. Most ofthe people aren’t planning tosell their stuff, so you’d neversee it otherwise. And you get tosee the diversity of people whohave come to Canada to live.”

Every item, he muses, has astory behind it. They speak ofpeople’s personalities, theirlives, and the different culturesbehind these lives. “It’s great.People open up to you, they tellyou all these histories, aboutpersonal relationships . . .wher-ever you go, there are thesewonderful stories.” Some of

J.P. MOCZULSKI FOR THE TORONTO STAR

Douglas Stocks, a dealer in antique furniture, is also an appraiser for the Canadian Antiques Roadshow. “When I see an object, it conjures up the spirit of bygone eras.”

The time travellerANTIQUES DEALER DOUGLAS STOCKS IS DRIVEN BY THE THRILL OF THEHUNT AND THE STORIES BEHIND THE FINDS, REPORTS DONNA YAWCHING


Raspberry-red drapes and couches and a stunning Oriental vase in the Georgian-style living room.

J.P. MOCZULSKI FOR THE TORONTO STAR

A French neo-classic bust of Zeus, foreground, ages gracefullyalongside a terracotta Austrian-Hungarian emperor.


ANTIQUES

Paris, Ont., is about a 90-minute drive west fromToron-to. Those in a hurry will optfor the 401, but a far morepleasant experience can behad on the smaller ruralroads. Highway 5 runsthrough picturesque farmcountry complete with barns,horses and rolling fields.

Charming country villagesand the occasional museumoffer possibilities for explor-ing, and on the outskirts of

Paris, the White Horse Res-taurant is a popular rendez-vous point. Its renowned buf-fet is pure Canadiana.

Maus Park Antiques is onthe far side of Paris, at 289 Pi-nehurst Rd. (formerly High-way 24A). Look for the land-mark flags. It’s open Saturdayand Sunday, 11a.m. to 5 p.m.,or by appointment. For fur-ther information, go to maus-parkantiques.ca or call 519-442-7500.

A trip to Paris

Many of the pieces that cram the Maus Park Antiques store, near Paris, Ont., are museum-quality,like the 18th-century cabinet, left. Three interlocking barns make up the massive two-storeyshowrooms, with high-roofed beams and glazed woodplank floors, centre and right.‰ Please see Object, G7


them, like the pine travellingtrunk of a little Irish orphan girl,still leave him emotional. (seeTales sidebar at right).

Not everything that’s broughtinto the Roadshow is a treasure,but even when it’s not, Stock in-sists, “it’s not junk. What youhave to do is tell the people whatit is and why it looks like that.You listen to the people, they telltheir stories, and really, it’s thatgreat thing of sharing.”

Self-taught in the field of an-tiques, Stocks’ specialty is 18th-and 19th-century furniture be-cause, he says, “the older thebetter. The rarity is important.And I like the sophistication ofdesign that you see in that peri-od.”

His rural showroom, itself a19th-century artifact, is a splen-did high-roofed space withrough-hewn beams and ancient,highly glazed floorplanks.

Hundreds of period items —Chippendale sofas, Regencychairs, ornate gilt-framed mir-rors, exquisite marquetry ta-bles, and “enough lamps to opena lamp store” — are attractivelyset out amidst rich Persian rugsand interesting artwork. Tchai-kovsky plays softly in the back-ground.

Two fireplaces offer cozynooks for clients to relax andconfer. Through the back win-

dows, a serene little creek glim-mers between the foliage. It wassilted up when Stocks boughtthe property 20 years ago, buthe’s had it dredged to restore its19th-century flow.

Stocks ’ farmhouse home is anextension of his showroom.

It’s furnished with a choice se-lection of his inventory and, hedeclares airily, “it’s all for sale!”

His décor, he admits, changesevery few weeks. As soon as an

item is sold, it’s replaced by an-other favourite piece from hisstorerooms.

Some might find this a slightlydisconcerting way to live, butStocks is philosophical.

“We don’t ever really own anobject, we’re just custodians of itfor a certain amount of time, be-fore it gets passed on to the nextgeneration.

"I think of antique dealing asthe first form of recycling.”

Objectlessonsthroughthe ages


Stocks’ stone farmhouse is a designated heritage site. Anextension of the store, most of its contents are antiques, for sale.

‰ Object From G6


ANTIQUES

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Douglas Stocks advises any-one interested in dabbling inthe antiques market to spendsome time first educatingthemselves on the basics. Hereare a few things to considerbefore making a purchase:‰ Read a bit of history and lookat lots of pictures. Learn toidentify style and form, patinaand structure. “There’s a lan-guage of antiques,” he says.“Doing the academics helpsbecause you understand thehows and whys of the esthet-ics; then you start to apply it.”‰ Look before you leap. Mak-ing mistakes is all part of thelearning process — and “it cancost you money” — so takeyour time before buying.

‰ Buy from reputable dealers.It’s easy to be fooled by fakeswhen you don’t have theknowledge (China, Stockssays, is doing a wonderful jobof producing fake antique por-celain.) Members of the Cana-dian Antique Dealers Associa-tion are required to authenti-cate and label their goods, pro-viding a level of protection forthe inexperienced buyer. ‰ Try to define your personalstyle. Even if you can’t articu-late it clearly, you might find acertain piece too fussy, or tooplain; and that helps your deal-er help you. “Once you have anidea of the style, you try to ap-ply it to a certain space,” saysStocks. “Function, form and es-

thetic appeal all need to beconsidered.”

Novice buyers, he says, tendto enter the market at a mod-erate price level, upgradingand refining their collectionsas they grow more comfort-able.

Others, perhaps with greaterexperience, may wait andsearch for “the very special su-perb piece.”

He recommends rural an-tique-hunting as a good start-ing point.

“You get to see the country-side,” he says,“and you get tomeet people. And if you don’tknow anything about it, youstart to learn. It’s a great wayto get your feet wet.”

Before you buy: What you should know

The Canadian Antiques Road-show is one of CBC’s most en-during successes and DouglasStocks thinks it’s because ofthe stories. Even the humblestof artifacts has a history, andsome of them can still leavehim misty-eyed.

He recalls a Halifax womanpresenting a photograph of hergrandmother, a former slavewho married another formerslave. All their children grewup to become doctors, lawyersand schoolteachers, a testa-ment to their parents’ struggleand determination.

“As a personal history,” saysStocks, “it was priceless.”

Another man brought in hisgreat-great-grandfather’s or-nately carved walking stickand a coat-of-arms letter seal,thinking his ancestor mighthave belonged to a secretguild. The Roadshow expertswere able to tell him his 18th-century relative had actually

been the King of Sweden’sprime minister and had beenpresented with these gifts up-on his retirement.

But Stocks’ favourite story

from the Roadshow (“I may crywhen I tell you this”) has to dowith a plain pine trunk,brought in by a woman whose92-year-old mother had re-cently died.

She had discovered the trunkwhile cleaning and sorting outher mother’s house.

She said she knew it was old,but that was all.

Taped to the inside of the lidwas a list that read: “2 pairssocks, 1 coat, 1 good petticoat,1 everyday petticoat . . .”

It turned out they were thetravelling items given to a

6-year-old orphan, sent fromIreland to Canada to be“adopted” into indentureship.The mother had never told herfamily about her heart-wrenching history. “It wasquite an eye-opener (for herdaughter),” comments Stocks.“It was very touching. Wherev-er you go, there are all of thesewonderful stories.”

Tales from the Antiques Roadshow

J.P. MOCZULSKI

Stocks examines an EnglishDerby vase, circa 1835.


Great design wears well. Thatmay explain why works by Dan-ish designers of the last centuryare still winning prestigiousawards and why design junkiesare seeking out Danish homedécor and design products withan enthusiasm not seen sincethe 1950s, when Danish modern(remember teak?) was all therage.

Probably the most recogniz-able modern chair designs comefrom Arne Jacobsen, the grand-daddy of modern Danish design.Variations on his “Egg” chair,designed in 1958, have been astaple of homes and offices formore than half a century. De-signers, such as Tord Boontjefrom Holland, are now givingthe Egg a new look with special-ly designed fabrics, as shown onthe Décor Extra cover. The Eggis available both in classic col-ours and updated prints at PlanB Office, (91 Parliament St., To-ronto, 416-941–1010 planbof-fice.com), with prices starting atabout $5,300.

Jacobsen, by the way, was oneof the first designers to create afull line of household or indus-trial products. He oversaw everydetail, including the look of doorhandles and furniture, of the de-sign of the Royal Hotel in Co-penhagen, (now the RadissionSAS Royal Hotel), which openedin 1960. The famous Room 606,which has retained much of theoriginal furniture and cool grey-blue scheme, is still rented out —most frequently to fans of Ja-cobsen’s work.

Just how timeless Danishmodernism is became apparentwhen an upholstered wingchair, made in 1960 by the leg-endary Hans Wegner, was re-launched by Carl Hansen, aDanish furniture maker whocollaborated with Wegner as farback as 1949. Called the Ch445,the reissued chair design wasshown at the International Con-temporary Furniture Fair inNew York last year and was giv-en the ICFF Editors Award forFurniture. It, and other Wegnerchair designs, are now availablein Toronto at several stores, in-cluding Hollace Cluny (1070Yonge St. Toronto, 416-968-7894), where prices for theWegner series start at about$6,300. For a full list of dealers,go to carlhansen.com.

Verner Panton, who worked

with Jacobsen, injected theclean lines of Danish modern-ism with a Mod esthetic. Hiswhimsical Spiral lamp garneredhuge attention when it came outin 1969. It, too, is enjoying new-found attention. Sold under thebrand name Verpan, the designhas become a hot seller at Euro-lite, the exclusive distributor ofPanton’s designs in southernOntario (5 Lower SherbourneSt., Suite 100, Toronto, 416-203-1501, eurolite.com). A one-tier

Spiral in white sells for $1,200. Panton’s Globe pendant lamp,

designed in 1977, has white re-flectors held by steel chains. InToronto, it’s available at Euro-lite by special order, where the20-inch model sells for $3,200.

The current generation ofDanish designers is equally in-tent on creating beautiful, use-ful objects for the home andhouseware market. Take, for ex-ample, Lene Frantzen and EvaHelene Rasmussen, partners inDanish design company Zig-zign. Their latest consumer of-fering, the Slice, marries greatdesign with practicality. TheSlice is 100 per cent felt woodthat has been dyed and thenrolled up and cut, or “sliced.”

The richly coloured material,in lush shades of eye-poppingred, electric blue and tropicalyellow and green, is fashioned

into seat pads, cushions, pillowsand hot pads.

The Slice is also environmen-tally friendly. Its thick surfacerejects dirt, insulates, is heart-resistant, muffles sound, andcan be easily wiped clean with adamp cloth.

The Slice chair pad will beavailable soon for $310 at Kiosk(99 Jarvis St., Toronto, 416-601-1661, kioskmobilia.com). Allother items can be ordered on-line through zigzign.com. Theprice for the 15-inch table mat is$52, not including shipping.

The Danes have always been atthe forefront of developing al-ternative forms of energy, in-cluding wind power, which ac-counts for about 10 per cent ofthe country’s energy supply.Consumer interest in high-effi-

ciency, wood-burning stoves isalso strong, fuelling the growthof Danish companies such asRais, which has been manufac-turing high-efficiency, clean-burning wood stoves since theearly ’70s.

One of the most popular mod-els sold locally is the Rais Pina,which can be accessorized sothat it turns 360 degrees, offer-ing a view of the flames from anyvantage point. It sells for about$5,000.

Rais wood stoves are availablethrough custom builder and fur-niture designer Yuill McGregorof North on Sixty, who acts asthe Ontario representative forthe company. A list of dealersand more product informationcan be found at northonsixty.caor by calling 1-877-985-2458.

Great contemporary Danishdesign can even be found in

kitchen cookware. Popular inDenmark and other Nordiccountries for the past 50 years,Scanpan is a Danish manufac-turer of cookware that’s recent-ly come to Canada. The line in-cludes pots, pans, dutch ovensand woks coated with a non-stick ceramic titanium, appliedthrough a casting method thatuses pressure of more than 250tonnes and temperatures of upto 20,000C.

According to its makers, thatmeans the aluminum bottomsof the pans stay flat, and there-fore, better heat conduction.The Danish design touch is re-flected in the clean lines, andhigh-end materials. Scanpanproducts are available in profes-sional and consumer-grade op-tions at most Sears locations,and specialty kitchen shops.Visit scanpan.ca. for more in-formation.

The Design Exchange will host“Contemporary Danish Design,”from May 15 to June 25, a homage topost-war design. Call 416-363-6121or log onto dx.org for details.

FreshDanish

The clean linear lines andorganic shapes of thisGeorg Jensen candelabra,and wooden cheeseboard, left, are typical ofcontemporary Danishdesign, famous for simpleform and function. Theelegant candelabra isbrushed stainless steeland emulates a bouquetof flowers, withtulip-shaped holders andsix curved stems.

HOWTHE DANESHAVE IMPROVEDON THEIRENDURING STYLES

Verner Panton’sGlobe pendantlamp, designed in1977, has whitereflectors held bysteel chains thatseem to floatinside thetransparentacrylic globe.

The original “Egg” and “Drop” chairs (left and right), in Room606 of the old Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. The Drop chair neverwent into production and prototypes are extremely rare.

VernerPanton’swhimsicalSpiral lampgarnered hugeattentionwhen it cameout in 1969.

B Y V I C K Y S A N D E R S O N


ICON



PHOTO FINISH

Until 20 years ago, when artistsstarted trading in their paint-brushes for cameras, photogra-phy wasn’t considered art. Nowit’s the stuff of curators, critics,collectors and dealers aroundthe world.

“I think it’s exciting on a num-ber of fronts,” says one of thosedealers, Toronto’s Stephen Bul-ger. “The surge of activity start-ed when contemporary artistsstarted using photography as ameans of delivery. But then peo-ple grew interested in otherphotographers, like Diane Ar-bus and Robert Frank.

“After that they started to lookat work done by European ex-perimental photographers be-tween the two world wars. Nowthe market is huge.”

Though prices for photo-graphs can’t match those for OldMasters, Impressionists andPost-Impressionists, one pic-ture, by French photographerHenri Cartier-Bresson, sold re-cently for $3 million (U.S.).

In other words, photography ishot.

But as Bulger explains, there’smore to the printed image thanmeets the eye. For example, thesame piece by, say, the lateAmerican landscape photogra-

pher Ansel Adams, can fetchanywhere between $60,000 and$600,000 (U.S.).

The critical factor is the date ofthe print; generally speaking,the earlier the better. Considerthat an unlimited number ofcopies can be made from onenegative, and you can see whyconnoisseurs prefer vintage. “Avintage print is a photographmade at the same time the nega-tive was made,” Bulger says. “Alot of people are interested inthe very first photograph. It hasmore historical significance.Andre Kertesz’s vintage printssell for $1 million, prints fromthe 1950s and ’60s are $80,000and prints around 1980 areworth about $40,000. But be-cause of its reproducibility, youcan always buy an original.

“Vintage prints have an au-thenticity to them, a patina. Butif you’re just starting, or work-ing with a lower budget, you canstill buy an original photograph.Each is worth its price.”

And as demand grows, so doesinterest in photographers whonever thought of themselves asartists. Arbus, for example, tookpictures for books and for maga-zine articles, some of which shealso wrote.

“Though vintage Arbus worksare very hard to find – and veryexpensive — posthumous printsare now being made in editionsof 75.

“It’s a much more global mar-ket place now,” Bulger contin-ues. “When I go to art fairs, 90per cent of the material I put onthe wall in places like New Yorkis Canadian. Fifteen years ago, Iwould only have put up prints byfamous photographers, such asAnsel Adams and Cartier-Bres-son.

“Ed Burtynsky is everywhere

these days. He overshadows ev-eryone else in the field rightnow.

“As for Jeff Wall, whom I don’teven consider a photographer,demand for his work is unbe-lievable. There are peoplearound the world who think he’sthe best.”

The Vancouver-based artist,whose elaborate tableaux arebased on historical paintings, iscurrently featured in a solo ex-hibition at the Museum of Mod-ern Art in New York.

One of Bulger’s other favourite

Canadian photographers isRichard Harrington. Thoughnot as celebrated as some, Har-rington was one of a handful ofpractitioners hired by the Na-tional Film Board’s Still Divi-sion to document Canada.

Bulger rightly calls him “one ofthe great figures of Canadianphotography.”

When he died in 2005, he wasbest known for a series of por-traits he produced in the 1950sthat depicted native life in theCanadian Arctic. The pictures,which showed starving Inuit,

caused a national scandal. Half acentury later, they have lostnone of their power to enlight-en, engage, as well as to disturb.

“He was a humanist, and alsointerested in culture,” Bulgersays. “He wasn’t just a journalistbut a social documentarian.”

Bulger has organized a retro-spective of Harrington’s workthat will run at his gallery, 1026Queen St. W., from June 14 toJuly 21. It will include some ofthe photographer’s famous Arc-tic pictures, as well as otherstaken in China and the Far East.

Framework

These pictures, by the late Canadian photographer Richard Harrington, documented Inuit life in the 1950s. With the interest in theprinted image growing, collectors of art are giving the brush to paintings while keeping a keen focus on the photography market.

PHOTOS ARE NOW A FOCALPOINT FOR HOME DÉCOR,WRITES CHRISTOPHER HUME

Sitting in a bright sunroom inher Danforth home, Lee DavisCreal is surrounded by what shecalls “nature’s art.”

Old Mother Nature may notactually have snapped the neat-ly matted photographs lying onthe couch, but she is certainlyresponsible for the subject mat-ter: surreal whorls of ice, withglistening striations, formed insheets along the edge of a riverin the wilderness.

“Isn’t this amazing? I was justblown away,” exclaims Creal,with infectious enthusiasm. “Iwas just fascinated by the for-mations. I’d never seen any-thing like it.”

Creal, 61, doesn’t consider her-self an artist, but she’s alwayshad a “strong interest” in art,and this is not the first time herlove of nature has taken her inartistic directions.

Her little Sony digital camerais her constant companion. Inthe past, she has done series ofphotographs on frogs, sheep,starfish and ancient Scottishstones. “I’ve always taken pho-tos,” she says, “whenever I’mjust caught by something.”

Most of her past efforts havebeen turned into cards, orframed for gifts; but the “ice” se-ries is destined for bigger things— literally.

“I’m going to be working withthem for awhile,” she says. “Iwant to explore how big I canmake them. I think these couldbe spectacular framed photo-graphs.”

There’s little doubt that, even-tually, they will be a striking walladornment in her home, amidsther already-impressive art col-lection.

Creal’s affinity for the natural

world is nurtured by a propertycalled Sanctuary North, whichshe and her husband, retiredhumanities professor MichaelCreal, manage on behalf of anon-profit organization they

started six years ago. Situated along the York River,

near Bancroft, Ont., the smallcottage on 40 hectares offersnew refugees to Canada the op-portunity to “experience the

Canadian wilderness” — duringthe summer, obviously.

Small groups of refugees andvolunteers from five differentrefugee communities reservedays to visit the cottage, and

help to maintain and develop it.“It’s community-building,”Creal explains. “It brings to-gether people from all over theworld. They just love it. And thefood is wonderful!”

The project is run completelyby volunteers and with no gov-ernment funding.

Not surprisingly, Creal followsthrough with her love for natu-ral art even in the midst of thewilderness. She has decoratedthe cottage walls with a series offramed photographs, taken by afriend, of the wildflowers foundin the area.

“It’s a way of educating (thevisitors) about the environ-ment.”

She thinks homemade art iseasy to achieve these days — dig-ital cameras offer high-qualityimages, and the photographs onthe couch beside her wereprinted off her home computer.“It’s something you could defi-nitely do yourself, with today’stechnology.”

For Creal, the crucial ingredi-ent to this kind of art is sponta-neity — an openness to thebeauty that surrounds us every-where.

“Nature is just full of surpris-es,” she says. “I guess you cancreate your own images, butwhen you think of so muchthat’s already there. . .I think ifyou actually go out looking forphotographs, you don’t getthem. It just happens.

“It’s just about being alert, vi-sually, to what’s around you.”

AARON LYNETT/TORONTO STAR

Lee Davis Creal creates her own décor with nature photography, much of it taken around Sanctuary North, a rustic holiday escape forrefugees in cottage country. Her latest project is a series of photos of ice formations during spring thaw on the lake, top.

Collaborating with natureLEE DAVIS CREAL LOOKS FOR DRAMA AND WHIMSY IN NATURE, SAYS DONNA YAWCHING


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