I was lucky enough to be one of the 100-pick finalists for the Design Sherpa, "What Inspires You" contest this past summer. Grand prize was $10,000 and an all-expense paid trip to Paris
Despite not winning the grand prize, I was so appreciative to have been in the top 100 and published on the Design Sherpa website. As one of my dear friends commented: "Being published, no matter how small, means you have arrived."
Design Sherpa: Phase II
It is a progressive world and with this, or shall I say, because of this results a fleeting art.
A click of the mouse (and carpal tunnel) is replacing the innate talent of sketch. Perfect precision is winning out against the softer line of a loose scribble. Yet, can the steady movement and emerging delicate line of a #149 Mont Blanc fountain pen, following the hand as the ink flows, sketching the gentle scroll of a Victorian Chaise Lounge, blotting the ink for each embedded button tuft be displaced by an Auto Cad print out?
There is, of course, a necessity for computer aided drawing in our industry, but not in the beginning of a project, when the catharsis is madly streaming. Why bother with the layering and multi-colored line weights to draw a preliminary vanity, when a quick sketch, enhanced with a few stone and glass samples could sell the idea. I’ve seen this too often: the crutch of the computer becoming the only tool for thinking. It is time to take a step back.
Dare I say that after 10 years as an interior designer I am still mastering this passing art? It’s the truth. At the basis of all, we designers and architects are artists. Maybe it’s not a tightly stretched canvas where we are projecting our ideas, but most certainly it’s on a piece of white Bienfang Bumwad when first conceptualizing with a client, moving on to vellum for color rendered presentations, most likely with a few abstract Picasso-esque designed people, giving the space a human quality. Our canvas has no limit of dimension, neither texture nor imagination.
I am in awe of designers that sketch as they speak--- the instigation of an idea. How many quick ink sketches did Mies van der Rohe hammer out before achieving the final atonement for his Barcelona Chair? And well trained architectural lettering (albeit, with a bit of personality) is more beautiful than embossed calligraphy.
Needless to say, when not sketching a drapery treatment or architectural detail for my residential clients, I still have my sketch book close by.
So Jenn,
ReplyDeleteNew Venue? As always your resourcefulness is impressive and I cannot wait to see what you put up here- Could you get busy on some of the Modern Italian furniture/lighting? Would love to see some new ideas and your take on it.