In a Glazed Daze in Italy: Glazed terracotta pottery

From concrete planters to Italian terracotta pots, custom glazing has been one of Eye of the Day’s strengths for over fifteen years. We are sometimes amazed by the wild colors envisioned by one designer after another for special colors or finishes, but always try to provide what each designer or client requests. Either the beauty, quality and history of the colorful kiln-fired glazes produced by our most treasured American manufacturer, Gladding McBean, or hand painted and stained Greek pots made the same way for millennia will fulfill most requests.

As the largest distributors in the USA of the famed French Provencal pottery known as Vase Anduze, we have a wide selection of colors and sizes. We ship them from New York to San Diego and Washington state to Florida. Colorful pottery is the finishing touch:  the eyeliner, pearls and earrings for your home and garden.

Last month my son had his winter break and was able to go to the Terrecotte San Rocco factory in Italy with me to see the glazes they have started to produce. Part of preparing our children for the world and possibly to follow in our footsteps is to share our day to day labors. I wanted to take Ben to the factory so he could see it and be part of the process as well as to show him where this historic tradition of terracotta pottery comes from. We Segwayed our way around Rome seeing sites with historic statues, fountains, and pots from past millennia. The context was not lost on him and when we got to the Rocco factory, he was as dazzled with the new colors as I was.

For more than five years our largest factory, Terrecotte San Rocco has been experimenting and testing glazes to add to their impressive line of fine, frost proof terracotta pottery and their range of colors is magnificent and beautiful. Now we can offer all the great shapes in colors, including custom colors, to our clients. Don’t be afraid to dream up impossible colors for all of Rocco’s fabulous shapes.

We’ll dazzle you!

Brent

Travel Dispatches: A Letter from Portugal

It’s hard to say where I most like to be when my exploring takes me abroad. I like being where I’m familiar—definitely Paris and its arrondissements where I like to walk through the markets and bistros. In Bologna, I walk the miles of arcades looking at the architecture stopping only for a bowl of pasta or chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano. In Barcelona with its Catalonian pulse, I love the doors and wrought iron. San Sebastian I love, if just for tapas of seafood. But now: Porto, the Alentejo, Guimaraes, for the life. The people, the Posadas, the food and the wine is simply wonderful. In Portugal, like Italy, it is hard to get a bad meal and the value is extraordinary.

Portugal’s slight lack of sophistication comes from an ease of self and not a lack of acumen. Two of the world’s Pritzker winning architects are from Portugal, and the Portuguese sense of design is understated, colorful and to the point. The streets of the old, historic areas are mind-blowingly old. The granite and limestone buildings, sculpture and follies are worn and patinaed over the centuries with buildings showing dates from the 12th century. Simple handcrafts resonate with your soul without a hint of kitsch.

Getting to Portugal is easy and inexpensive, and driving the new motorways provided by EU funds along with a GPS device makes driving incredibly easy. I’m putting Portugal on my regular itinerary, I have found things in my explorations to bring to Eye of the Day and there’s no question that I will need some time to come back and arrange.

Let me know if you want to go!

Brent

GROUNDSKEEPING:  Austin, Texas

Being from California, born and raised, I have always had a prejudice towards Texas.  They were cowboys and we were beach people if not surfers.  They like six guns and we like bongs, they eat TexMex and we eat real Mexican food.  Girls in Texas have big hair and wear lots of makeup and who doesn’t still dream about California girls.

Texas is a desert and so is most of California. We both have major water issues and we both landscape our homes and developments like there is no bottom to the aquifers that provide much of our water.

Travelling to Austin to visit my family I have come to really, really enjoy it.  This hilly area along the Colorado River (different Colorado from the one we know in California) is a fun and exciting place and I enjoy driving the neighborhoods and suburbs when I’m there.  On a recent trip I went out to visit different landscape architects and design firms.

Several were in the Tarrytown neighborhood just west of the downtown which is doing its best to emulate the high-rise culture of many large cities today.  Tarrytown is an area of old and new residences that fit the description of “stately”.  With their use of Texas limestone for structures, walls and pathways and stairs, there is a feeling of substance and earth filled with lush landscapes that make one appreciate the humidity and heat in a way that as a Californian I didn’t know I could.

There are many, many architects and developers in the busy and growing Austin area and the design elements are trending to mid-century modern and contemporary.  The populace is very conscious of their outdoor areas and driving the neighborhoods shows a diversity of styles when it come to containers they use.

This historic estate makes the most of its entrance with lidded finials on the entry posts and two Campania concrete vase planters on the front porch.
 

Next is an empty tree planter downtown Austin on Willy Nelson Blvd.  Metal and wood, built for public traffic.  A new, modern twist on the Versailles planter used all over Europe with a very western feeling.  Perfect for walking on the sunny side of the street.  

Another commercial application, this project is in the University of Texas neighborhood – a large, metal square.  I like the scale and simplicity of its design and size in front of this office building.  

If you haven’t been and think of Texas the way I used to, I suggest a trip to the Austin area.  Great food, great music, the home of Whole Foods and a great place to experience the South and easy livin’ in great gardens.

True to my “Profile” I do wander the globe looking, sometimes under rocks.  Here at Eye of the Day we have been successful in offering old rocks with a purpose for the garden.

Throughout the centuries, agricultural societies shaped stone to hold water and fodder, fodder and water, to sustain their livestock. These pieces make stellar planters and add mass and dimension to a landscape in many ways. Here at EOD we make them into beautiful container gardens, water plant containers, border containers and fountains.

Yes, they are heavy and we have become pretty good at delivering and installing them, but that isn’t the story I want to tell here. The story is where to go to find these old and handmade things.

Where is there lots and lots of granite to hand pitch? The Andes, Peru, Machu Picchu.

Discovering Lima, Peru:

Busy and booming, this place where it never, and I mean never, rains is beyond bustling.  It reminds me of China with cars and buses everywhere so that if you’re not paying attention, you just might get run over.  There is smog, but being on the ocean, there is some relief.  Also, it’s a good idea to go in late November. Wait, that’s Summer. Or is it Winter there? T-shirts, sandals and shorts.

The city is spread out and the different districts make it fun and interesting to explore. The Baranca is funky, hip, and has a great flavor to it.

 

The M district, where everyone tells you to stay (I agree), is where the action is and the shopping and the best food. The food is fantastic, really. Ceviches galore and Pulpo,  the flavors and the talent of the cooks, chefs and kitchens is world class. The opportunities to walk and tour the city and sample their great restaurants are abundant.

Getting out of the City

But unless you are looking for crafts to purchase, especially things woven and crocheted from alpaca and sheep, or silverware all on a scale relative to grains of sand at the beach, you will be disappointed. So, I headed to the mountains of Cusco, something like 10,000 feet above sea level. This city is different in every way from Lima except for the woven and knitted goods.

Cusco is a small but bustling city with sights galore and outstanding food. The streets are still mostly made of granite cobblestone and strong ankles are recommended.  Let me say here that the coca tea is a good idea and tastes great, it helps with the altitude but it is not the experience many think it will be or maybe even want. I didn’t, however, chew any leaves, it just didn’t strike me as important. I was hunting for rocks!

If you could turn granite into energy, the Peruvians would be the wealthiest people on the planet.  How did the Incas move the boulders (some a hundred tons or more), not only downhill but, down mountain slopes, across large rivers and up mountain slopes hundreds and hundreds of feet into place, and when fitted together you could not slide an eyelash between them?

The ever present granite mountains granite buildings, granite temples and, granite streets are enough to cause a need in the hardened soul for some loamy soil and terracotta planters (that’s EOD humor, by the way). I was certain that I would come across some troughs or stones carved to hold water for thirsty beasts kept for their wool and hair.

Sadly, I canvassed from car, bus and train windows and never saw anything until we were on our way to Puno and we stopped at the most outrageous church I’ve ever seen. There I saw two old stones, definitely carved to hold water. Unfortunately, they were over two thousand years old and I could never have afforded them, at least for use as planters.  Oh well! Not every expedition is successful from the EOD point of view. Nor does it have to be, even for me, but I was surprised that in a country made of stone, so little of it has found  its way into the culture.

Oh well, on to the next spot!

 

GROUNDSKEEPING is about my travels for my life’s work, keeping Eye of the Day fresh and exciting not just for me, but our clients and customers. I am always trying to find what others are seeking for their designs.  Like a chef experimenting with ingredients and flavors to interest his public, I look for those things that different places and cultures want and need, and that architecture requires for exteriors to be in harmony with structures.

Recently I decided to return to the East Coast, which is the market we ship to more and more frequently. While walking throughout New York and Boston my goal was to come up with new ideas and directions.

Revisiting and walking the length of Central Park, one of my favorite urban places on earth, was a specific goal.  It is 2.9 miles long (in a straight line), but my meandering probably added another half mile or so.  Fredrick Law Olmsted was a remarkable genius and I marvel at his accomplishments. The Ramble is still my favorite area of all.  It is hard to believe you’re in the city at all.

As I approached the northern end I came to the Conservatory Garden, the only formal garden in the Park. It’s truly an intense, wonderful experience for garden lovers. I recommend that you go to Google images for more wonderful photos. From the corner of 110th Street I took the bus down 5th Avenue to my reward, lunch at Gramercy Tavern. I needed plenty of oysters to soothe my soul and rest my sore feet.

Next, I traveled to Boston ($ one-way bus ticket) to compare cities and get a better feel for this historic place and the homes and offices of its famous residents. Boston is to NYC as Santa Barbara is to LA; while it is a major city and urban center, it feels much more intimate.

Boston Public Garden, like Central Park, is right in the center of the city; it’s smaller, but very dynamic. The 24-acre park was the first public botanic garden in the USA, established in 1837. My favorite site is the magnificent bronze statue of George Washington on his horse.

Across the street from the Park is Beacon Hill. The word “historic” doesn’t begin to do justice to this neighborhood. Walking its narrow streets is not for those of weak ankle. I immediately saw what I was looking for, something you rarely see in the West: window boxes.  They were everywhere and many decorated for Halloween.

I could have walked all day through the streets of Beacon Hill, taking pictures of the Federal style homes packed side by side sporting window boxes below every wonderfully fenestrated opening.  San Francisco, Pasadena, and Brentwood: why don’t you have any window boxes?  They are jewelry for the home. Designers, what are you afraid of?  I want window boxes.  I have window boxes.

Next, my pilgrimage led me to the unassuming home office of Frederick Law Olmsted in Brookline, Massachusetts. This is the location where The Master worked on his brilliant, timeless designs. The Park Rangers and volunteers were wonderful, helpful and spunky. It is moments from downtown Boston, just a short cab ride.

Finally: the fountain I stumbled upon when I walked through Boston’s main library.  In the courtyard is a fountain that replaces my favorite for many years, The Electric Fountain at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills.  In the courtyard of Boston’s public library is the most wonderful fountain, Frederick MacMonnies’ Bacchante and Infant Faun.

In its unique setting it is difficult to think of another fountain I’ve seen in my travels that could make me smile more.

Where to next??

City Fountains I Have Loved

My love of city fountains begins with my formative years.  I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles where my father was a news photographer and intimately knew the nooks and crannies of the city.  Family drives all over the state and especially throughout greater L.A. were always amazing; there was so much to see. My sisters, brother and I were all given our own park, freeway, tree, public garden and fountain and I always thought my fountain was THE BEST. What a coincidence that when I met Brent I soon discovered my fountain was also HIS fountain. At the corner of Los Feliz Boulevard and Riverside Drive, near Griffith Park, is MY fountain, the William J. Mulholland Memorial Fountain. Each time we drive by the fountain, we both claim it. It’s still my favorite, but the two of us have also found other fountains to love in other US cities.

THE FACTS: The first “decorative” fountain in the US was dedicated in City Hall Park, New York City in 1842. Before that, fountains were primarily used to provide clean drinking water and had few decorative qualities. In the 20^th century, fountains weren’t needed for drinking water and became purely ornamental, designed to honor events or individuals. There are now many computer controlled fountains that can even dance and perform music.

SOME FOUNTAINS OF CHOICE:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. William J. Mulholland Memorial Fountain, Los Angeles CA. William Mulholland was the “father of the Los Angeles Water System.” His greatest contribution was being the engineer of the 233-mile long Los Angeles Aqueduct, completed in 1913. Unfortunately, many L.A. officials, including Mulholland were accused of shady dealings, from using scare tactics to convince Angelenos that the aqueduct was necessary to ensure the survival of the city, to buying up the San Fernando Valley from unsuspecting ranchers.  Remember Chinatown? After his death, all of these issues were forgotten and public funds were raised to construct a permanent shrine to Mulholland: The William J. Mulholland Memorial Fountain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The Forsyth Park Fountain, Savannah. GA.  The most well known feature of Forsyth Park is its fountain.  It was installed in 1858 and selected from a manufacturer’s catalogue, rather than being an individually commissioned artwork.  Unlike other monuments in Forsyth Park, such as the Confederate Memorial and the Spanish American War Memorial, the fountain’s purpose is only its beauty.  It has been witness to the Civil War, survived vandalism and the forces of weather and through the generous support of the Savannah community, it lives on today.

3. The Fountains at Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA.  Even if there were no fountains at the former estate of Pierre DuPont, the beauty of the 1100 acre, multi-faceted gardens is worth a long visit. It’s fantastic that Pierre DuPont himself made all the hydraulic calculations for the elaborately controlled, electrically illuminated and fountains known collectively as “The Waterworks,” the first of which began flowing in the mid 1920s.

4. The Bethesda Fountain, Central Park, NY, also called “The Angel of the Waters.” Everyone knows this fountain, it seems like it’s in every movie shot in New York City and Bill Cunningham loves it, especially when it’s frozen.  The fountain was designed in 1868 by Emma Stebbens, the first woman to receive a public commission for a major work of art in New York City and was the only statue called for in the original design of the park.  Beneath the angel are four cherubs representing Temperance, Purity, Health and Peace.

This is the short version of the Fountain Favorites tour, but the best of the best so far seen in our worldwide review.

Image Credits:
Fountains Longwood Gardens via Flickr/Joshua Ludwig
William Mulholland Memorial Fountain-Griffith Park via Flickr/Konrad Summers
Bethesda Fountain via Flickr/V Manninen
Licensed under  CC by 20