Friday Favorites 8/1/2014

Cheryl Katz, Contributing Editor
I’ve been a fan of Bec Brittain’s lighting since I first came across it at Matter in New York City. But now it won’t require a trip on the Acela to see the Brooklyn artisan’s work, as Casa Design on Harrison Avenue in Boston is introducing Brittain to New England audiences.

Paula M. Bodah, Senior Editor
I stumbled across Vermont-based glass artist Robin Mix’s work when I was doing a bit of research for another piece, and I was immediately taken by the lively, playful nature of his work. Mix was a youngster living with his parents in West Africa when he first encountered Venetian trade beads. The gleaming, multi-colored bits of glass made an impression that influences his art to this day. Mix makes his own custom-colored murrini—the mosaic glass Italian artists have been creating since ancient Pompeii—to craft his vivid, organically shaped vessels. Inspired by the vibrant paintings of the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928–2000), Mix calls these pieces Hundertwasser vases.

Kyle Hoepner, Editor-in-Chief
While researching my post yesterday on the beauties of stone, I also came across this bronze tea table from fashion designer Ralph Rucci’s 2013 furniture collection for Holly Hunt. The monochromatic matching of the brown marble top to the patination of the bronze base and the elegantly attenuated Chinese horse-hoof feet combine to make a quiet but powerfully sophisticated statement. Holly Hunt is represented in New England by Webster & Company at the Boston Design Center.