Time to RSVP Your Miller Residence Tour

photo courtesy of IMA

Sometimes, it has been said, the best things in life come in threes. In 1953, the combination of Eero Saarinen, Dan Kiley, and Alexander Girard created one of the finest examples of residential modernism, the Miller House. Debuting for public touring starting May 10, the house will be available to the public after several years of meticulous care by the Indianapolis Museum of Art. There is no doubt the house, interiors, and its surrounding gardens represent the epitome of Mid Century Modernism at its best.

photo courtesy of IMA

I was fortunate enough to tour the house last spring along with other bloggers on the now legendary Columbus blogger tour. From the geometric landscape to the sunken conversation pit to the atomic awesome thoroughness of the house, there's no doubt a tour will rock you to your modern soul. If you're local, it's less than 2 hours away, there are no excuses. CF3 is currently setting up their group tour set for mid July. For more info, be sure to visit the Columbus Indiana website for more info and to book a scheduled tour now.

photo courtesy of IMA

Thrift Store Score - Art Glass & Beyond

One of the great things about collecting is the surprise finds that lead down collection roads you had never noticed. One of the roads we've recently discovered is the world of modern art glass. It's one of those things that are surprising in how little you actually know about all things modern. I've always been a fan of Chihuly, had been familiar with Blenko, but until recently have come to know names such as Murano, Fenton, and Viking.
I could say it all started with the piece to the left, my recent $4 thrift store score, but it really goes back to another thrift store score of a nice large Polish Art Glass piece found almost 2 years ago. This 8" Turquoise bowl sat lonely on the bottom shelf for weeks, I walked by it multiple times, referred Wendy to stop by and look, then finally without warning, it jumped off the shelf into my hand. I mean how can you resist a hefty colorful piece?

After the thrift purchase and some online research I was hooked, we needed to build our collection some so we headed up to Waynesville Antique Mall (be sure to check them out on Facebook) and purchased a few more pieces. I was shocked at the variety and selection we found of modern art glass there. This gray vase stands as the anomaly to our small collection.

Another Waynesville Antique Mall purchase. The glass with the bubbles makes me a little bubbley myself.

Green is our default house color, we had to make sure to keep with the rhyme scheme. This too was purchased at Waynesville Antique Mall.

And last but not least is the latest entrant into the collection. I think this piece might be real Murano, I've understood that the gold flecking was a trademark move by Murano makers. That with the spiraling air bubbles leave no doubt in the craftsmanship and work that went into this little piece. This was our lone purchase at the 20th Century Show this year. Be sure to check out some more photos from the show on our Facebook Page.

20th Century Cincinnati - Day 1

Checking in live from the CF3 table, this year's show is packed to gills with modernists. Being next to the entry, I am witnessing a steady stream of purchases going out the front door. I wanted to highlight some of the local vendors representing Cincinnati. To the left CF3's modest table.
Susan Rissover from Cincinnati Modern has a plethora of modern properties for sale.

The Fisks from Mainly Art never disappoint, how many Eames chairs can you fit in one booth?

Design Smith Gallery's booth.

The guys from Atomic Style Home have an amazing Jere-esque wall sculpture headlining their booth this year.

If you need to add to your art collection, there's no shortage of Charley Harper work. Be sure to stop by the Harper Art Studio booth and grab a Ford Times print before they are all gone.

20th Century Cincinnati 2011

If you're starting to sweat with cabin fever, the snow is starting to melt, and your itch for modern eye candy has grown to its brink, finally, it's time to get your modern on at the 20th Century Cincinnati show this weekend. Being one of the largest modernism shows in the region, it's guaranteed not to disappoint. A lot of modernists are traveling from out of town for the weekend. Yours truly will be stationed at the CF3 table both Saturday and Sunday morning, make sure to stop by to see all the great events CF3 has planned for the year. Also be sure to tune in to the facebook event page to let us know if you're planning to attend. In the meantime, you can reminisce about some of the extra-curricular events from last year here and here.

2010 Mid Century Modern Xmas Wishlist

It's probably safe to say most Mid Century Modern enthusiasts have a sizable wishlist, no matter what point they are in their depth of collecting. One of my most wanted items right now is a George Nelson Saucer Lamp. We currently have a cheap Ikea pendant over our dining table, a signature piece would look killer through the window from the street and mirror our next door neighbors Pear Lamp.

Sometimes the little pieces that can make huge differences. An Eames Hang It All from Herman Miller would look great by our front door and contrast well with the dark gray wall. With two little ones, coats + fashion = need for more storage.

Custom framing by Fab Frames for all of our collected Charley Harper Prints would allow us to officially hang them around the house. Wall space is a bit slim right now until we finish the studio & master bedroom. Framed in the same style & color, these three prints would look awesome on the wall above our staircase.

This is mostly a luxury wish, yet an Eames designed plywood elephant would find a nice home in our living room. Our kids like elephents, we like Eames, it's a perfect combination. Hive Modern carries them in a nice array of colors.

Last, but certainly not least is my all time most wanted 'will buy when the kids move out of the house and we can have white things again' chairs, a Eero Saarinen designed Womb Chair by Knoll. It might be the most comfortable of all Mid Century Modern signature chairs I've sat in. The Bertoia Bird Chair and Eames Lounger are close runner ups.

Thrift Store Score - Atomic Taylorstone Cathay Dish Set

I made a really nice score yesterday, so nice I have to share. Having recently made many fruitless thrifting ventures, there I was shrugging off another thrift store stop with nothing gained. Then there it was, stacks of these super atomic dishes jumped off the bottom shelf, thank you peripheral vision.

In total we made out with a 31 piece set of Taylorstone 'Cathay' dishes. This collection was made by Taylor, Smith an Taylor in the late 1960s. Around the rims of the plates and bowls it features several atomic / mcm iconic shapes and icons in mint green and sky blue colors. It was love at first sight.

All in all we have 5 mugs, a creamer, platter, large soup bowl, a saucer, 8 bread and butter plates, 1 regular bowl, and 8 dinner plates. Although not a complete collection, a sturdy one if we choose to keep and collect them. We already have one vintage set of dishes, but no where near as cool as these.

The dishes certainly make for some photogenic MCM picture taking. Looking around the internet it seems we could collect to build a 12 person set plus extras, there is a bit of it floating around out there.