Friday Favorites 2/25/2011

Sorae Lee, Assistant Art Director
If you’re looking for something functional and decorative for your walls, this light from Ligne Roset might be what you’re looking for. The Josephine 5d is a wall/ceiling light in plexiglass with a silver-coated bulb. It can light up your room and serve as a decoration at the same time–when lit, it throws intricate patterned shadows onto the wall or ceiling (depending on where you mount it). I doubt the Josephine 5d is any more practical than other suspended lights, but you’d be hard pressed to find one this imaginative, or this beautiful.

Photos courtesy of Ligne Roset

Click here to see some other bright lights featured in the Elements department of our current January/February issue.

Erin Marvin, Managing Editor
The term “wearable art†takes on new meaning with J. Crew‘s spring 2011 men’s collection. Head of Men’s Design Frank Muytjens took his team to the Winslow Homer Studio at Prouts Neck in Scarborough, Maine, where the famed American artist lived and painted many of his masterpieces from 1883 until his death.

The Portland Museum of Art is currently conducting a major campaign to raise $10.5 million for the acquisition and preservation of the Winslow Homer Studio, now a National Historic Landmark.

Photo by Doug Jones, courtesy of the Portland Press Herald

According to Muytjens, the designers drew influence from “the beautiful watercolors by Winslow Homer of the Maine coast where you can see all the different hues of the ocean.â€

“Weatherbeaten” by Winslow Homer, photo courtesy of the Portland Museum of Art

Photos courtesy of jcrew.com

A modern clothing line inspired by nineteenth-century art: it seems inspiration really can strike anywhere.

Stacy Kunstel, Homes Editor
I’ve always been a fan of vintage cakestands, but I’m in love with the modern twist on these cupcake stands by DBO Home in Sharon, Connecticut. The hand-turned wood base says traditional, but the ceramic top has a touch of modernity to it. For get cakes, let them eat cupcakes!

Photo courtesy of DBO Home