Soicher Marin Custom Artwork Featured in Traditional Home

One of the things that I love about my job is working with clients to create custom artwork. It is so satisfying to start with a simple concept--a Montauk beach house or a Moroccan-themed room--and to translate it into fine art that is a true and inspired complement to the design.

At the suggestion of Keith Granet of Granet & Associates, super agent to the stars of interior design, Amanda Nisbet contacted Soicher Marin to work up a collection of artwork for Traditional Home magazine's Oceans 33 Showhouse Showdown. Amanda came to our LA studio and we had such a good time collaborating. Our team immediately had a sense of what she was all about just by taking one look at her—she has the most chic sense of style. She showed up in a couture leopard-print dress, fabulous Christian Louboutin heels, and her bright green eyes and gorgeous auburn hair were the most perfect accessories. She challenged our creative process and the results were just as chic and beautiful as she is.

Amanda had a vision of what her ocean-front condominium would be and it involved her bold use of color as a foil to the stunning panoramic ocean views of the property. Nisbet is the first person to tell you that she is no enemy of color, and I was so excited to work with her and her team. Her overall concept took its cue from the sand and sea, but really upped the ante with bold shades of watermelon, chartreuse and the richest Prussian blue. While most of the furniture and fixtures grounded the space in sandy, golden neutrals, details and artwork—our project—brought in the glistening and bold reflections the ocean provides. Read the article at http://www.traditionalhome.com/design_decorating/showhouses/oceans-showhouse_ss1.html.

Everyone loves a map, but what I love about Amanda’s style is that she has such a strong sensibility of what her look is. She took a typical map of Long Island, one that you might see framed as an antique print, and we silhouetted and recolored it to work with her design concept. You don’t have to study it very hard to see that it is indeed Long Island, but with its contrasting colors and mass the piece doubles as a contemporary painting, providing a strong graphic image for the room.

These mirror seaweed pieces have turned out to be so popular—a signature look for this show house. Tracy Hiner from our office pulled all of our antique seaweed prints from our archives, maybe about 200 of them, and we silk screened them onto antiqued mirror to create these gorgeous pieces that have the same aquatic, reflective quality as the ocean.

Amanda was using a saturated purples and greens for the bedroom—so that’s what we used on the seaweed.

The charming sculptural pieces in Lizzie’s bathroom are our interpretations of Asian metal work. We painted them bright white and mounted them on hot pink linen to set off the details.

In the “B. Happy” room, we used these amazing prints found at the Santa Monica flea market. Katrin from Voila Gallery (one of my favorites—it’s at 518 North La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles and you can also see their collection online at www.1stdibs.com) had these funny, caricature images that were from French Moroccan plays from the 30s and 40s. Tracy separated the images and enlarged them, framing them in bright white frames against vibrant orange mattes. The strong lines against the navy walls provide an architectural element, and those faces, well, they really are happy!

Working with Nisbet’s team was just that—happy! And I think they felt the same way. On collaborating with the Soicher Marin tea m Amanda said, “Working with Soicher-Marin is not work it is pure creative play. They can create and assemble anything your imagination can dream up. They have a vast knowledge of art and a boundless library of original work. They are equipped to meet any request in an expedient and professional manner. The process is perfection from inception to delivery.”
I hope we have a chance to work together again soon!

Naturally we were thrilled to see the project featured in the March 2009 issue of Traditional Home. It was also so exciting to see another of my favorite designers, Suzanne Kasler, featured on the cover http://www.traditionalhome.com/design_decorating/howwelive/young-at-heart_ss1.html. Suzanne has a line of art with Soicher Marin and we’ve just put the finishing touches on her Spring 2009 collection that we’ll be unveiling in High Point, North Carolina. Check back on my blog for a preview of her collection—it promises to inspire!