The Colours of Summer

Here in Australia, we're eagerly awaiting for the buds of spring to bloom, after a seemingly long, cold and unseasonally wet winter. Impatient for some floral gorgeousness, I'm heading to Floriade in Canberra next week to catch the biggest flower festival in Australia, which is on at this time every year. It's my first time at Floriade, and this year's theme is 'Style and Design' so it's sure to be beautiful. The festival is free, so if you can, do make the trip to Canberra to wander among the spectacular garden designs and scented flowerbeds. It's on for four weeks, so you have time to plan. (There are day trips from Sydney for very cheap –$39, I think?)

In the meantime, here's another post on my favourite colours of the moment. I suspect they'll be big for the summer.

Floride Flower Festival, Canberra. 

An annual celebration of horticulture that attracts half a million people. Doesn't it look like one big fabulous fragrance fest?

A Painted Paen To Blue and Green

Susan Brown, whose works I love, is another fan of green and blue. Here are two of her paintings, entitled 'Blue Green Water' and 'Blue Green Water 2'.'

In The Swim

Another piece of beautiful art, called 'The Swimmer', which was featured in the film Something's Gotta Give. (Jack Nicholson had a big hand in the selection of art for this film. Who knew he had such an eye?)

Classic Paris

One of the prettiest places to stay in Paris is the Hotel Sorbonne. It's the sister (brother?) hotel to the Pantheon Hotel, and just as sophisticated.

Scarf Art

A vintage Hermes scarf, spotted on eBay.

Stepping Out In Style

Ralph Lauren's summery offerings from a recent collection.

Privacy, Please

Kate Moss, in a spectacular Vogue photo shoot at The Ritzz in Paris before the hotel closed last month for a two-year refurbishment. (Via Vogue)

Chanel With A Twist

An elegant Chanel 2.55 bag, in blue and green hues. Love this.

Chanel At Versailles

Chanel's Cruise Collection 2013 show, which was staged at Versailles against a theatrical backdrop of blue and green pavillions.

Deck Delectable

Interior design (or should that be deck design?) by my friend, the gorgeous Jane Coslick, as featured in Savannah magazine.

A Study In Green

The writer AN Wilson's study, as featured in Ben Pentreath's new book on English decoration. (Just published.)

I'll Have The Entree, And The Apron, Thanks

The uniform of the lovely Whitehall restaurant in New York's West Village. Doesn't this look smart? Almost like a cross between an old-fashioned butcher's outfit and a chic barman's get-up.

Artistic Licence

Not sure of source, but love this room. It looks like it belongs to an artist.

Cocktails At Five (Or Anytime, Really)

A coolly glamorous space by the Toronto Interior Design Group. That tufted sofa in powder blue is so beautiful.

Sitting Room Chic

A more subtle take on blue and green, as featured in House Beautiful.

Cafe Kitchen

Not quite green and blue, but still beautiful. The powder blue of the chairs and settee are so unusual. Via House Beautiful.

Sitting Pretty

A design from Firmdale Hotels featuring the fabric of Christopher Farr.  I've seen this fabric a lot now but still love it.

A Gallery To Chinoiserie

(Source unknown)

Outdoor Delights

(Source unknown)

Chaise For Two

Interior design by Eileen Kathryn Boyd. I really love this room.

Lit Chic: Part 2 – Lit Wits

Need an inspirational theme for your next soirée? Take a page from the lit wits, who are leading the way with book-lined parties. It's the hottest thing in entertaining at the moment – or should that be the wittiest thing? If you love books and want to incorporate them into your next dinner party or 'do', begin with some of the beautiful ideas on sites such as pinterest.com/randomhouse/literary-wedding and other bookish sources.

Here are a few of my favourite pix from the Random House Pinterest page, including this (above) - a catalogue of guest seating cards. {Detailed sources from each individual image on this site. NB If I have featured your photos and you would like to be credited here as well as on Random House's Pinterest, please do just let me know,}

The Photo For The Wedding Invitation

I think this image may have originally come from Brides magazine but it's now turning up on a lot of sites. I love this. It could also be a wedding photo.

The Photo of the Dress

Needs no introduction, really. Nor even a foreword.

 The Cake

Seems a shame to slice into it.

The Manicure

Might be going a bit far, but still cute.

And if you're a book lover AND a film lover, you may like to see a new film that's being released next month (it's just been released in the States), called The Words. It stars an impressive cast, including Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons and Dennis Quaid, and is being billed as a "layered romantic drama". I suspect it's more than that. It may not be Henry James but I suspect it's a lot more than Fifty Shades of Grey.

The story follows young writer Rory Jansen (Mr Cooper, as brooding as always) who's a struggling writer with aspirations to be the next great literary voice. When he discovers a lost manuscript in a weathered attaché case that he and his wife found in a shop in Paris on their honeymoon, he realizes he possesses an extraordinary book. It's just a shame he didn't write it. After much thought (okay a fleeting moment of guilt), Rory decides to pass the work off as his own. He is soon a literary superstar. However, he soon learns that the words are only the beginning. The trailers look great - here www.thewordsmovie.com

On another note (or page), I was saddened to read on the weekend that writer Bryce Courtenay only has a few months to live. Whatever you think of his books, he is a magnificent writer. Even his off-hand quotes are ridiculously brilliant. I’ll always remember a fantastic line he spouted when he was asked whether he ‘embellished’ the truth.

“Do I exaggerate? You bet I exaggerate! I take a fact, put a top hat on it, a silk shirt and a bow tie and striped trousers and a tail coat and a pair of tap shoes and I do a Fred Astaire with a fact. But I don't ruin the fact. I never ruin the fact. I'm just giving it life.”

Courtenay also said: "Writing a book is never easy. It takes guts, patience and a huge amount of self-discipline to succeed." Courtenay has written 22. Can you imagine how many hours it would have taken, sitting in a room alone, to produce that much work? The man needs an award just for his Hemingwayesque productivity.

Someone else who is staring at his last words is Clive James. Mr James has also announced that he is fighting the Grim Reaper, who wants to make him pay for his excessive and indulgent life of drinking, smoking and eating quality nosh – and lots of it – at top London restaurants.

I have had the extraordinary luck to have met and interviewed James on two occasions. He was the most delightful, convivial, self-deprecating, fiercely witty and fantastically humorous man I've ever met. He didn't just answer your questions with a Kingsley Amis-style sneer and then stare around the room for something better to entertain him. He truly engaged with you, person to person, with spark, warmth, interest and genuine friendliness. He didn't need – or deserve – the horrific publicity that A Current Affair gave him earlier this year.

Did you read the (more pleasing) article about him in The Weekend Australian Magazine recently? I loved the quote by Martin Amis. Amis said that Clive, when asked how he'd like his steak, always replied "Knock off its horns and wipe its arse!" Only Clive James could get away with that.

But he is more than the classic Aussie wit with a dry bite and a sense of humour from left field. He is also a great writer. One of James' critics, the Oxford academic Peter Conrad, now regrets giving him a bad review and says "As an essayist, he is up there with Hazlitt, Wilde, Chesterton and co."

According to The Weekend Australian Magazine, Clive James is fighting for his life. But he has sold his Cambridge house to move closer to his London doctors. When the Australian's journalist, Bryan Appleyard, visited him for the story, the only things left were a single Sidney Nolan painting and piles of books on the floor. "I couldn't bring myself to sell them," confessed James.

Oh Clive, how we shall miss you.


PS Apologies for my absence on this blog. I, too, am holed up in self-imposed isolation writing several books. If I haven't yet emailed you, I am so very sorry, and promise to reply soon. Please wait for me: I shall send a personal reply to each and every one who has kindly written very shortly. I also promise that the itinerary for the The Grand Botanical Tour will be up this week! Can't wait to see you all next May. It will be such a lovely trip! xx

Lit Chic: Library-Themed Hotels, Bars & Other Bits

Have you noticed how the onslaught of iPhones, iPads, Kindles and other electronic readers is causing a huge wave of sentimentality for old-fashioned books? It started with the trend of 'library hotels', whereby high-end boutique hotels began refashioning themselves as 'literary retreats'. Some of the most successful, including The Library in New York, The Pavillion de la Reine in Paris, and The Library in Thailand, became so popular, people booked them especially for their literary loveliness. Others, such as The Nomad in New York introduced grand bars based on dignified gentlemen's libraries, which were just as well received. And yet other bookish entrepreneurs, such as boutique and bar owners, began redesigning their spaces around the themes of reading. Even fashion designers are now starting to produce collections based on wordplay whimsy.

Here are a few of my favourite literary spaces. Oh – I'd love one of the Kate Spade Dictionary clutches, too (below). But I'd probably have to write another book to be able to afford it! {Top image from The Library Bar in Alberquerque}

Pre-Scripted

Have you ever dealt with Carolyn Quartermaine's office in France. Her staff are some of the loveliest people I've ever dealt with. I'd buy fabric from them simply because their manners are so beautiful. Carolyn has been creating sublime, script-enhanced fabrics for years, however she's now returning to her roots as an artist, so perhaps snap up some bolts while you can. These beautiful prints may not be around for many more years. {carolynquartermaine.com}

The Writing on the Wall (Or The Mirror)

I've always loved this image of a period Parisian apartment dressed in B&B Italia Lazy Chairs and a Lens Table, all reflected in a gilt mirror embellished with lines of typewriter-font. A curious juxtaposition of the classic, the modern, the witty and the whimsical. So beautiful. Via the book Design in Black and White. {Image via B&B Italia}

All Booked Up

Tucked away behind a hidden garden off the Place des Vosges, the Pavillion de la Reine hotel is one of the true secrets of Paris. Beloved by VIPs, it's a grand hotel with an intimate feel, but its most endearing trait is its literary-themed rooms. The suites feature quotes from famous authors while the library is full of great titles to take to bed with you. Should you not have anyone else in Paris to share the romance with. {Images via pavillon-de-la-reine.com}

The Reine's sister hotel, The Pavillion des Lettres, is also themed around books, and features rooms that have iPads stocked with international bestsellers and daily newspapers and music. Futhermore, each guest room is devoted to a letter of the alphabet and  writer who corresponds to that letter. Among the authors featured are Baudelaire and Rousseau, whose quotes are handwritten on the walls en Français.

LA Confidential

The Library Bar in LA is fast becoming a haunt for screenwriters I know. It's not surprising, really. It's a surprising – and rather inspiring – space to chill out from the craziness of LA. They've even got the colour of the website exactly right. It's the same shade as the borrowing cards and pockets in front of old library books. Too witty for words. {librarybarla.com}

How Do You Spell That Again?

Kate Spade's creative team has gone all out on the literary theme this year. I love this 'Dictionary' clutch, and the Cha Cha stockings are cute too. {katespade.com}

Stirred, Shaken, And Then Read From Front To Back

The Library Bar at The Lanesborough in London is a true gentleman's retreat, which also happily accepts ladies. Designed in the style of a Regency library with bookcases lined with leather-bound titles and deep leather wing chairs to read them in, the bar's most eye-catching features are the handsome display cabinets full of elegant alcohol bottles. There's a fire in winter, and plenty of ice in summer. The Lanesborough, Hyde Park Corner, London. Hours 11am - 1am.

The Romance Suite, Please

New York’s Library Hotel is a truly decadent hideaway for Dewey lovers. (Pun intended.) The intellectual inspiration for this innovative place comes from the nearby New York Public Library and the architecture is just as stunning. Each room has its own themed libraries (I love the Architecture Suite, okay, and the Romance One too), so you can choose your reading pleasures. And when you’re done seducing your other half with volumes of modern design (as I did – although he fell asleep before we reached the Contents Page), then you can retreat upstairs to the bookshelf-lined lounge and rooftop terrace for a late-night coffee and a chance to write your own bestseller. {libraryhotel.com}

Raising A Toast To Hemingway 

(And All The Other Literary Nomads)

The Nomad Hotel in New York is one of the most beautiful hotels in the world. It could even be my favourite. For my previous post on this glamour puss, click here.  {thenomadhotel.com}

Retreating Into Books

Many of you will have already heard of The White House, Lyn Gardner's gorgeous weekender in Daylesford. We were lucky enough stay there for a night two years ago, in order to shoot it for the book Design In Black and White. It was so lovely, we could have stayed all week. The most beautiful room was the tiny library, which comes with a wall full of Penguin classics, a fireplace full of wood and two comfy leather club chairs to sink into. Literary bliss. Even her branding and website are beautiful. {thewhitehousedaylesford.com.au}

A Page Turner

Former Ralph Lauren executive Ellen O'Neill's Gramercy Park studio apartment in New York. Decorated in graphic shades of ink black and white, its highlight is Ingo Maurer's Zettelz 5 chandelier, a light-as-paper artwork that Ellen has decorated with her own favourite pages and personal pieces. I was going to stay in this apartment for a week earlier this year, but the logistics proved too difficult. Pity. Isn't it pretty? {Image via House Beautiful}

Wall Flower

I've seen Ms Deborah Bowman's wallpaper in many homes now, but it never gets tiring. Well I mean, who could tire of books? Even the name – 'Genuine Fake Books' – is memorable. The latest space to feature it is Stephen Schubel's fisherman's cottage in Sausalito, which was in the July/August issue of House Beautiful. Have you seen this magazine yet? It's a beautiful issue.

Literary Chic

My favourite ad of all time. Can't imagine how the J Crew gang styled this up? But isn't it fabulous?

The Art of Food Photography (And A Great Christmas Gift Idea)

Have you noticed how it's no longer enough just toss a few ingredients together and call it a meal? Now you need to style it and photograph it too. Just in case, you know, you need it for your blog. Or your next book deal.

Or that cookbook of family recipes you been wanting to collate. (Such a great idea. It's just a pity I can't cook very well. A cookbook of dodgy dishes doesn't seem as appetising.)

Even those of us who aren't avid foodies, such as this writer, are still enthralled by food photography. Well I mean, it's fascinating. The vintage plates and bread boards. The old French linens. (Where do they source them all?) The styling. The beautiful lighting. Even the settings are amazing. It's not surprising that bloggers like Katie Quinn Davies (who took the second photo above and the one immediately below and writes from whatkatieate. blogspot. com) and Béatrice Peltre (top image and chocolate dish below:  latartinegourmande. com) have been given book deals.

So many people I know have started up food photography as a hobby that I've lost count of the number of conversations I've had about macro lenses. (I'm still trying to find the best one for good bokeh.)

One friend, a restaurant reviewer in London, even shoots the meals we have together when he's not reviewing. Apparently many London waiters are becoming annoyed about the sight of Canon lenses poking through the napkins. I'm not surprised. It would scare the life out of me too.

If you're fascinated by food photography, like I am, you may like to take a peek at a post Béatrice Peltre did here, on a workshop she held in France recently. It shows the behind-the-scenes shots of food styling. The images are so evocative you can almost smell the ripeness of the fresh produce. And the accompanying pix of the French countryside are beautiful too.

(If the link doesn't work, here's the site here: http://www.latartinegourmande.com/2012/06/28/food-styling-photography-workshop-france-beatrice-peltre)

So if you're wondering what to give you mother or grandmother for Christmas this year, why not collate a book of their best recipes, all photographed in beautiful, bokeh-enhanced light? Lots of places will print and collate mini booklets – Officeworks, Harvey Norman – and you could give them to the hard-to-buy-for aunts and cousins too.