Trac*er*y

Recently, I was asked a most intimate question, a question that a lover or intimate friend may ask.  It came to me on the heels of a conversation comparing life stories, family background, experiences both formal and informal, travel, and children.  Our friendship quickened, to MY core with a single question posed to me by new, and quick to be favorite, clients.  "How was it learned to you, to be aware."  BANG! There I was, sitting in the back seat of a Prius with new clients--nervous, and now, very vulnerable.  My reply started with, “I wanted to be a nun” (it’s true)…”sailing and a boy”…and ended with the woes of being labeled as ”too sensitive.”  There, it was out…or I was out! I quickly learned that our meeting was a cross road that allowed me to … [Read more...]

Ever since I was a small child I knew that the views of my world were different from the views of those around me.  I saw art/design  as a means of communication, the way to live a life fulfilled, thinking that one cannot co-exist without the other.  Large thoughts for a little person!  I was influenced very simply:  The smell of the linseed oil used to thin paint in my uncle’s studio.  Shyly watching my grandfather from the doorway of his studio, as he smoked his pipe and cut glass, listening to the opera on Saturday afternoons.  The garden to table food that my mother so gorgeously prepared.  All have been as influential as the pundit Masters that would soon become a well spring of icons to emulate. As I grew older, I followed the mandatory path of higher education, albeit … [Read more...]

trac er y:  ornamental pattern of interlacing lines trac er y: affectionate nick name from beloved friend and colleague trac er y: a pattern of 3 I believe that we are all, in our own right,  a sparkling living ornament.  Creating living patterns within our spaces, and interlacing among relationships. As a designer I am in constant awe of how these connections to space and others can come full circle and make a powerful difference in the lives of others. Particularly with regard to giving back to the community both locally and globally. A living example of tracery, in both form and practice, is a South American company called Teixidors.  Formed in 1983, Marta Ribas and Juan Ruiz set out to provide economic freedom and social integration to adults living with a mental … [Read more...]