Art tour in DC for Mother's Day

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and Mother's Day.  It has been a while since I've been to art galleries, so that is what I wanted to do yesterday with my kids.  We went into DC and toured the Hirshorn and National Galleries of Art. The Hirshorn is one of my usual favorites, but this time it was sparse as they were doing some renovations. 

The BELIEF & DOUBT exhibit by Barbara Kruger had bold graphic statements often taken for granted.

The sculpture garden is always my favorite.

It was fun having Bethany along, as she is not my usual art gallery companion.  We scrutinized all the wall colors and trims at the National Gallery of Art. Versions of gray predominated but subtle deep olive and mineral greens were so delicious!

Here was an installation at the East Wing that makes any gallery wall we've seen pale in comparison.  There were no images inside these painted wood blocks, just black in the center. I would have loved to see them hang this!

It was a great weekend highlighted by a spanish tapas dinner at Jaleo.

Ready for the week? I'm still relishing the weekend!

Girls Night Out with HOUZZ

We were invited to a cocktail hour and presentation given by HOUZZ.com in Washington DC last night.  It was an event held at one of my favorite stores, Room and Board, for professionals in the field of Architecture, Interior Design, Building and Landscaping.  If you're not familiar with Room and Board, they are over 90% American made by small companies and artisans around the U.S.  This way they have strict control on the product and consumer satisfaction.  Their aesthetic is clean, contemporary, natural, some iconic modern furnishings, and lots of texture and wood.  I purchased a sofa their two years ago and was thrilled with their quality and service.

Are you familiar with HOUZZ? It is an online service to the trade, similar to Pinterest, but each profile and picture is linked to a professional in the trade. It is a free service, and facilitates the acquiring of a professional by a prospective client- they can view your profile, read reviews, and see your work- and encourages professionals in the business to network and find companies that can fill a niche.

We have a Powell Brower profile and a Houzz Ideabook on our sidebar.  We are going to enhance our presence on Houzz with more uploaded pictures of our work, tagging them with key search words, and network with area professionals. We've already gotten a client appointment from a HOUZZ referral; someone who went to the site to look for a designer when she moved to our area.  So awesome!

Here are some lovely shots of the furnishings at Room and Board. Sorry for the yellow pictures- all nighttime shots. ( remember I'm still practicing!)

 and then, to celebrate our ONE YEAR BLOG ANNIVERSARY, we took advantage of coming to the big city from the burbs and had a lovely dinner along this lighted avenue.  It really is starting to look like Christmas all of a sudden! 

 What a wonderful evening with my favorite business partner, daughter and friend.

Have a great weekend!
Nancy

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Art Tour Series, Part I

I love to go to museums, especially with my kids, Bethany and Mike, and soak up all that is creative and unleashed within those usually spectacular museum walls.  These places are shrines, and I'd like to start a monthly post on some of my favorite museums.  I usually come away so inspired, it fuels my fire ( that sounds like lyrics to a song! ).  I hope you enjoy my journey, and please let me know if you've been to these places, and share your thoughts with us!

Trip Number 1: The Hirshorn Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC.

I have to start here, since this is near my home, and the place I go the most!   The Hirshorn was built in 1960, and has a vast collection of contemporary and modern art and sculpture.  There are always interactive exhibits ( here I am trying to put myself on the Niagra Falls);

unending circular halls of sculpture and art, with the likes of Rodin, Echelman, Brancusi, Motherwell, Kapoor, and hundreds more....

                                                                                     

                                                                             

                                                                        

                                                                           

                                                                                 

 

a maze of outdoor gardens...

and tons of tactile, emotional and thought provoking experiences to be had... I love it!

This brings to mind a story of my days as a high school art teacher, while on a field trip to the DC art galleries, a student looks at a piece of modern art and  says to me: "I could have done that!", and my response was " but you didn't !" while further explaining the years of 'work' the artist created to get to this point, are something a teenager cannot even fathom.

My connection between interior design and sculpture is intimately related.  I love the variety of textures, the design qualities of light, line and space, and how a sculpture is 'presented' or displayed has everything to do with placement and arrangement, just like in interior spaces.  Then of course, the addition of color is another huge emotional response for me, which fuels my love of color in all things...

Next month will feature another of my favorite national galleries, so stay tuned!

Don't forget to check out our GIVEAWAY! 

~Nancy