fauxplusdesign

Art Ladies Road Trip, or, Leading the Artful Life!

We are the Art Ladies. Full-time artists. Part-time artists. Art lovers. Women who buy art. We have been meeting for dinner, wine and artful conversation monthly for eleven years. Our core group never varies, and, well, we just love each other.

A few weeks ago we piled in a car late on Friday afternoon and drove two hours north to a tiny town in Virginia to visit art lady Nancy Brooks of Sleepin'Dog. She makes art prolifically. And buys art. Prolifically.

Her 200-year-old restored home is beyond eye candy. Every turn lands on a fabulous vignette.

Just look. I don't have the words...

To see Nancy Brooks' artwork and jewelry,

visit

sleepindog.com

Studio redesign redux, or, here I go again!

There is one thing my dearest friends know about me. I love change.

Design change is uplifting, exciting, motivating and transforming.

Three years ago as I planned my new studio design, I was on the way to Marrakech, so, it became distinctively Moroccan, featuring treasures from my faux adventure there. Citrus-colored rugs and warm layers of color.

Check out the old design here.

Now? Well, see for yourself! I believe I have morphed.

 





 


 



Now it's sort of crusty industrial.

I like it here so much, I want to work 24/7...

 

A Passion for the Pantheon, or, My Sunday Memories of Rome.

As I finalize preparations to leave for Barcelona next month on my next faux/work/travel adventure with Melanie Royals and some dear friends and friends not-yet-met, I spent the day savoring our trip to Rome and Florence last October.

One of our last stops was at the Pantheon.

Ancient. Breathtaking. Mysterious. Inspiring.

I am a very fortunate fauxwoman indeed to experience the wonders of this world with so many gifted finishers from across the USA.

Not a day passes without visions of our projects, our mouth-watering meals, our laughter and our joy of discovery. 

I will truely miss one of my frequent travel roomies, Barb Skivington. You will be with me every step, every moment!

Introducing DION HAYES DESIGN STUDIO, or, Here I Come High Point Furniture Market!

 
A spectacular trip to Umbria with Gary Lord and Melanie Royals.

A dusty pile of recycled tempered glass.

A custom-designed wall mount - and my new line of glass art line is born!

Enter my amazing sister-in-law Patricia Chrisley and her fabulous company, P. Chrisley International, and look out world, here we come!

DION HAYES DESIGN STUDIO for P. Chrisley International.

TO THE TRADE at Hamilton Square.

Please stop by during Market, April 2 through 7!

Many designs to choose from. With semi-precious stones and coins, and without.

Interchangeable designs which include the wall mount,

hanging hardware and directions for hanging.

SWEET.

 

Coming soon on facebook

Frankenstein on the beach, or, one too many cocktails...

Mix gently:

Two creative sisters-in-law.

One gorgeous remote Puerto Rican beach.

One questionable amount of frosty adult beverages and lots of time on our hands.

PLUS

Unlimited sources of inspiring goofy materials.

What do you get? Just look...(giggle, hiccup...)

Con-chia Coconutta

Chia-Chia Rodriquez

Mrs. ("come up and see me sometime") Frankenstein

See what a little vacation time will do to a faux finisher with nothing to finish?

 

A Fab Florence Design Studio, or, I Want It All!

I fell more in love with design in Florence.

Our hotel in the Oltrarno artist district was just seconds away from the Porto Romano and the Riccardo Barthel studio. Every time we passed by we stuck our noses to the display windows and dreamed and drooled.

Until they had to invite us in.

The experience viewing room after fabulous room was, well, right up there with the wine, food and gelato. We'll never forget this feast for our designer's eyes.

 

 

HMMMM....

WHAT must Melanie Royals be thinking?

A new stencil perhaps for Royal Designs? Why, I think yes.

Check out her newest designs here.

Sometimes My Camera Only Wants to See Greens, or, Heaven Must Be Verde

If you have read this blog before, you already know I have a fondness, no, let's say a passion, for green. It lifts my spirits. It makes soar over the rainforests. It makes me smell the moss. It makes me trample the newly-mown grass.

I am no photographer. I know no rules. My little camera just gravitates to anything than photosynthesizes. Anything that molds. Anything that glows chartreuse. Anything painted and crusty.

So, here are a few observations, once more, from our October painting trip to Umbria.

A little Rome-ish. A little countryside-ish. A little garden-ish. A little woods-ish.

A little me-ish...

 

The Contessa and the Palazzo Tour, or, Shut My Mouth I Think I'm Drooling

Picture this:

It's a crisp October day in Florence, Italy. Gentle breezes blow over the Arno River, just near the famed Ponte Veccio bridge. You're walking into a magnificent stone breezeway on a picturesque side street...

...stepping back in time to meet famed Contessa Corsini who is leading your tour through her magnificent Palazzo. Why yes, the very same Contessa who allowed your group of adventurous finishers to create magical projects in her Castello near Rome.

Oh forget it, cut to pictures, who needs words...

I did not dream this.

Though I did quit shooting pictures.

My brain could not absorb more beauty.

Room after spectacular room.

Lauren Gaines was there.

She'll vouch for me.

 

The Roman Ruins at Carsulae, or, a Favorite Site Bathed in Verdant Greens and Timeless Textures.

One of the spectacular side-trips our merry band of faux finishers took in October, during our working trip near Rome, was to one of the most important ancient ruins at Carsulae.

Out in the middle of nowhere. Hidden. Unlike the wonders in the middle of Rome.

Magnificent.

Boo! from the Umbrian Castle, or, We Did Not Dream This...

ONCE UPON A TIME (two weeks ago) my  roommate Barbara and I had the keys to the Castle - the Castello di Casigliano in Umbria, Italy.

Our band of merry faux finishers was deep amongst the rolling hills a carriage ride from Rome...

We ate, we drank, we worked, we played.

We all felt the presence of the Ghost.

But it was not until we took the secret tour with

the keeper of the castle that we believed...

 

 



SO as you go off to your Halloween Parties this weekend dressed in your scary, scary costumes and drink weird tasting concoctions and say "Trick or Treat" just ask yourselves...

IS THIS REAL? Then look over your shoulder. What was that cool breeze...

Final photo courtesy of Laura Stoykevitch.  

BOO!

P.S. Barb put her watch and ring on the nightstand just before bed one night at the castle. When she got up the ring was gone. We never found it.

I did not take it.