Ace Hotel Palm Springs

To honor Palm Spring's Modernism week, allow me to introduce the Ace Hotel.

Part of a Boutique chain formed by Wade Weigel, Doug Herrick and Alex Calderwood, this former Howard Johnson motel is decorated with found objects and mid-century relics.

The soaring arrow roof and stone supports of the front lobby and cafe hint at other mid-century modern touches. Big, simple shapes -- from canvas yurt rooms and bent metal deck chairs to sharply angled roof lines -- all things we're being taught to look at in class are there.


The funky vibe of the hotel is accented by cool design details that, while eclectic, serve as an invigorating display for the eyes.

Simply Lovely

Personally, I yearn for simplicity in my life and the work I pursue. Eliminating extraneous clutter is the cornerstone of Joshua Tree sculptor Alma Allen.

The self-taught artist collects salvaged wood and stone to create his work like the turned alder wood stool pictured. Massive logs and burls, found in his travels are moved to his desert home to dry. He then turns them on a lathe to silken smoothness.

The timeless cup shape of this piece is allowed it's imperfections, however. The cracks and splits aren't secured as in other pieces with a joinery but are instead a visual addition that echo the color variations of the wood.

Allen lives and works in his sustainable, self-built home with Nancy Pierce, their daughter Frieda and dogs Fritz and Poncho. He exhibits his work around the world and is featured in design magazines and blogs.

Mars Missile Pops by Shaunna Peterson

In the design class I'm taking at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, we've been asked by Professor McCambly (hi class!) to create a blog. My choice is to focus on things I find visually compelling coming from the I.E.

I'll talk about how hard starting school is when you're an old gal some other time. Meanwhile, here's my first post with a local Yucaipa artist I think is grand.

Behold the wonder of Shaunna Peterson's poppy PinUps!!

Shaunna is an Art Center, Pasadena graduate whose work is influenced by (among other things) rock and roll, car culture, MAD Magazine and Egon Schiele. Her work is part of the pop-surreal movement and is displayed in galleries as well as being used for freelance advertising assignments.

Mars Missile Pops is an acrylic on found board painting. The focal point of the pop is brought to the eye by the vibrant colors of yellow and red. That competes somewhat with the central figure wearing a red cap and red lipstick so the viewer is forced to look back and forth from the figure to the yellow orb and the pop in front of it.

The movement of the wave at the bottom of the painting, leads the eye to the pop as well as back to the word Mars.

I've gone back and forth about how I feel about Pin-Up art. While I enjoy the symbolism of a cheerful, busty woman, Shaunnah's use of intense color has a sort of circus undertone which makes me feel that she's saying more about contemporary women than first meets the eye. Her women are bright-eyed and smiley but I wonder exactly how happy they are and whether they're asking the viewer to look beyond the first impression.

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Hello Professor McCambly!