The Estate of Things

Remember Dara’s bedroom, it looked like this when it was featured in Domino

Now featured in Elle Decor, it looks like this

Do you have a preference, if so let’s hear it.

aaah the ghost chair, not sure how I feel about frontal nudity while eating, anyone else?

just do it…

pretty dreamy

images via Marie Claire Maison

My interview with the Moyle sisters from Hello!Lucky letterpress studio continues. Scroll down for photos of Eunice and Sabrina’s apartments as seen in Design*Sponge’s sneak peek. Click Here if you missed the first half of the interview!

Q- Where do you draw inspiration from for your design work at Hello Lucky?

A- Vintage design, books, textiles & illustration, other artists that we admire (we’ve collaborated with artists such as Julia Rothman, EIEIO, Joel Dewberry and Lab Partners)…beautiful shops like Bell Jar in San Francisco and Antoine et LIli and Deyrolle in Paris…travels - London is always hugely inspiring…and the aesthetics of films like Moulin Rouge and Amelie…

Q- What is your dream job (something other than HL)?

A- Writing and illustrating children’s books, or designing home decor or apparel. Who knows, we might do both of those things yet!

Q- What are your favorite places to shop online for home decor?

A- Jonathan Adler, Tonic Home, monument.1stdibs.com, Anthropologie

Q- What was the last thing that you bought for your home?

A- A jackalope from Paxton Gate (Eunice). A pair of blue and white Chinoiserie needlepoint pieces from the flea market (Sabrina).

Q- Name one piece you really want to buy for your home?

A- A beautiful deep turquoise velvet couch that is somehow, someway, dog hair & muddy paw print proof. (Eunice).  Hans Wegner Papa Bear Chair - the perfect reading or office chair, especially in this teal blue! (Sabrina)

Q- Is there a particular interior designer that you admire?

A- Stylist Selina Lake, We also love the book The New Eighteenth Century Style by Michele Lalande, and Marie-Claire Maison for inspiration.

Q- Name a place you want to go to any where on the globe–money is not an issue?

A- Patagonia (Sabrina).  Pretty much anywhere in Europe, but I especially love Denmark and France (Eunice)

Want to learn more about Sabrina & Eunice or Hello!Lucky, visit them at their website or blog. Don’t forget to pick up their book, Handmade Hellos.

Sabrina’s home

Eunice’s Home

Thank you to Sabrina & Eunice for taking the time for our questions. We’d love to see you do both illustration for children’s books and design home decor.   Could there be a textile and home accessory collection in Hello!Lucky’s future?

My husband and I were married in 2005 on the bank of the New River at a place called The River House in Grassy Creek, NC.  It was to say the least an amazing day, one that we often wish we could relive…but we won’t do that now.  A year’s worth of painstaking planning went in to that day but one of the most memorable and pleasant parts of that planning was the selection of our wedding stationary.  After meticulously researching stationary options, I settled on Hello!Lucky after finding them in Martha Stewart Weddings.  Once I began working with Eunice & Sabrina Moyle, I knew I made the right choice.

Eunice and Sabrina Moyle founded Hello!Lucky in 2003, a custom letterpress print and design studio based in San Francisco.  With offices in the SOMA district of San Francisco and in London, Hello!Lucky’s clients worldwide include Anthropologie, Kate’s Paperie and LIberty of London.  Hello!Lucky offers wedding invitations, greeting cards and personalized stationary.

My personal experience with Hello!Lucky was a 100% positive one, being 3,000 miles away from the designer didn’t hinder the experience at all.  Never anything but pleasant and enthusiastic, Hello!Lucky produced an invitation that was perfect for us.  I am a forever fan.  Glad this post gave me a reason to pull my invitations and programs out of the box again and reminisce some.

Eunice and Sabrina were kind enough to entertain a few questions about small business, sources of inspiration and most importantly… their most recent purchases for their homes.

Q- Is your education and experience rooted in design? How did you both get your start?

A - Yes, we both studied art and design in college (Eunice has a degree in illustration and printmaking, and Sabrina has a degree in Art History). We started the business together in 2003; Eunice had been working as a freelance designer for a few years, and Sabrina was working in the nonprofit art world and then attended business school. With our combined backgrounds in art and business, we thought we’d make a go of starting our own stationery company!

Q- Hello!Lucky has had a significant amount of success since it’s start in 2003.  What are the top three hints or bits of advice you can give a beginner in business?

A-1) Be yourself. A successful business has to have its own, unique identity, particularly if you’re in the creative field. Don’t worry too much about what your competitors are doing and just be you. If people love what you do and think it’s original, word will get out and success will follow!

2) Be realistic. Starting a successful business requires 3 things:

• A clear strategy. Know your market, what they like, what they can afford, where they shop, etc. Then make sure you can deliver the goods at a price that still allows you to pay your rent (it can take years, but if the model is realistic, you’ll get there eventually!)
• Talented people. Make sure you have partners, advisors or staff who have skills in all the key areas you need to make a business successful: not just the creative side, but strategy, marketing, finance/budgeting, and operations. If you’re starting out and learning all these skills yourself, realize it’ll take a lot of work, but beats anything you ever learned in school! Hang tough, and start small.
• Capital. Small business is notoriously tough, particularly in the current economic climate. You need a source of cash for start-up expenses and to grow your business, whether it be your savings, friends and family, or a bank loan. If you don’t have a financial cushion of some sort, you might find yourself in a crunch with no option than to shutter the business - try to avoid this by planning carefully and being extremely prudent with expenses.

3) Be strong. There are so many ups and downs in small business. You have to have an iron will to get through the ups and downs. Be persistent, and try to have a balanced view of both the postive and the negative.

(We have to give credit to The Bridgespan Group, where Sabrina used to work as a non-profit consultant for this basic framework - it applies to small businesses, too, and is absolutely true!)

This was such a large post that we decided to separate it into parts. Please return tomorrow for Part II of the interview and photos of Eunice and Sabrina’s interiors.

The styling of James Leland Day can be seen in several of our favorite design mags. Many of the interiors that have been captured can be a great source of inspiration. Thinking of going bold with color? These images could help. I particularly like the use of red and turquoise.

Notice the red Pauchard chair, iconic French design

Oh Moroccan rug, how do I love thee…

The rug really brightens the room, the light streaming in through the window doesn’t hurt either

IKEA rug

I believe that Art is terribly personal and if you fill your home with what you love to look at - then no matter your style, it will be a success - Especially if you love to look at abstract artwork by Meredith Pardue.

We were lucky enough to catch the attention of the artist here at TEOT and to my dismay, Meredith has agreed to answer a few of our pressing questions?

You’ve lived in several pockets of the Nation! How has this changed your perspective of Home!? How has it changed your painting?

Visually, I have always been very literal.  I have observed that my physical surroundings influence the forms in my paintings.  For example, when I first moved to New York City, the forms and compositions became more rectilinear, which I attribute to the grid structure of Manhattan and to the prevalence and physical appearance of the architecture.  In Portland, OR a diagonal direction appeared in my compositions, probably due to the time I spent looking at and being in the mountains there.  I now live in Louisiana where everything grows on top of everything else.  The forms in my work have become quite organic, and the color and light here–mostly shades of green, blue, brown, gray, and black– have influenced the color palette in my work.  And the same held true of the work I made in Savannah.

Is it correct to call your work Abstract Expressionism!? Do you feel particularly inspired by artists from this era? If so, whom?
It could be, in that my work is abstract, and the brushwork is expressive.  However, when I think of Abstract Expressionism, I think of the early mid-century greats–Jackson Pollock, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline, to name just a few–all of whom have been a tremendous influence on my work.  I think of the first generation of Abstract Expressionism as an art historical movement that had “rules.”  No reference to anything representational allowed, no illusion of three-dimensional space allowed, emphasis must be placed on the flatness of the canvas, etc.  While this produced an incredible new kind of painting and artist, and while some of these things may sometimes apply to my paintings, I simply cannot think inside of a box.  Besides, my approach to making a painting comes more from a place that is more intuitive than intellectual.

I am most inspired by the work of Cy Twombly.  I am completely mesmerized when I am before his work.  I am attracted to and fascinated by the rawness of his mark making, the boldness of his work, the fact that most of his work has no recognizable imagery yet the titles often come from Greek and Roman mythology.  There is something primal about Twombly’s work that simply stirs me to my core.

Collisons of Growth and Decay #1, 30″ x 22.5″, mixed media on paper

Are you just in love with color or what!?
Yes, sometimes.  And sometimes I am in love with only light and shadow/black and white.  I am fickle and tend to go back and forth between the two.

When you sit down with a blank piece in front of you, what is the process like!?
I may have an image in my mind before I begin a new piece or new series, but it is always lucid, like a dream image.  For me the process is about having a dialogue with the canvas, allowing the forms to emerge, controlling what happens in certain places, and allowing for moments of randomness to occur in others.  There is a delicate balance between the two, and sometimes it comes very easily, while other times there is a struggle.

When you complete a painting - Do you prefer to think of your artwork on the walls of galleries and museums, or do you imagine them hanging on the walls of homes like AB Chao’s home (as featured on Apartment Therapy).
Neither really.  I think of my paintings as little beings unto themselves.  They will make their way to somewhere, but I believe my part ends with their creation.  To me Wilco’s “What Light” explains it perfectly.

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A photo from AB Chao’s home, as featured on an AT House Tour.

Are you evolving away from oil painting toward mixed media works on paper?
No, I love working on paper, canvas, and linen.  I love drawing, painting, all of it.

Collisons of Growth and Decay #6, 30″ x 22.5″, mixed media on paper

What is inspiring you lately?
I found my old music collection.  Lately I’ve been listening to Stevie Wonder, Jamiroquai, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Jeff Buckley, Pixies, and the Neville Brothers.

What emerging artists do you feel we should we be on the look out for!?
Some emerging artists whose work I love and collect (or hope to!) are Julio Garcia, Thrush Holmes, Doug Kennedy, Marcus Kenney, Lance Letscher, Emily Sartor, and Joey Slaughter. I also love the work of photographer Jack Pierson, although he is hardly an emerging artist.

What interests do you have outside of painting?
Fiction, yoga, and playing with my little boys!

What is the home decor of a couple of married artists like!?
Well, there are living things everywhere!  In my house you will find my husband Doug, me, our two young sons Julian and Jackson, Libby and Priscilla (our two cocker spaniels), an old grouchy cat named Kiki, with a variety of Legos, blocks, trains, and cars scattered throughout.  There is usually music playing in at least one room and something yummy cooking in the kitchen.
So picture all of that against all white walls and a collection of mid-century pieces mixed with a handful of French antiques and a pretty great art collection.  The color comes from our art collection, so all of our furniture is either black, brown or white.  It was important to us to create a simple, elegant space with clean lines and great light, but also a comfortable space where we can relax, play, and not have to worry about messing anything up.

And the Water Was Blue at Night, 72″ x 84″, oil on linen

What’s the best way to shop for your artwork?
Through any of the galleries that represent my work–Ann Connelly Fine Art (Baton Rouge), Bryant Street Gallery (Palo Alto, CA), Chicago Art Source Gallery (Chicago), Judith Costello Gallery (Hilton Head, SC), or Lounge Arts (Jackson, MS).

Is there anything else that you would like to tell me!!!?
I still love to draw from life, although I don’t have as much time to do that anymore.