#designersnotebook

My Sunday Places Notebook takes me to a near yet far away place because it can only truly be reached through a child’s heart. We call it Heaven Must Be Here. It leaves tomorrow behind and is nestled somewhere between now and those forever days.

Here, at our cottage on the shores of Lake Huron, time stops as we know it. An old grandfather clock from the early 1900’s has its patinated hands permanently set at 3:34 p.m. We chose not to fix the frozen keeper of hours. I often wonder what happened at that moment on the day of a distant year. I feel that it must have been a memorable one, not a significant event, rather a special moment in time when a butterfly stretched its art wings to the sun, when the forget-me-nots offered a timid wave in a gentle breeze, and when the lake’s ebb and flow circled a beach rock in perfect and beautiful geometry.

Here, the wind caresses cheeks and whispers sweet nothings. Listen. Did you hear that? The heavenly child can play tricks rustling through the old wise trees.

Here, a symphony performs from dawn to dusk. If you listen carefully there are a myriad of instruments that key in harmonically as if guided by a master conductor. Small petals dance to the sonata strings of long summer field grasses and the drums of hummingbird wings keep all to the beat.

Here, silence has its own melodic tune; hauntingly mesmerizing and beautiful.

Here is where my favourite flower blankets the ground each spring. I’ve always loved the delicate little white bells and their sweet smell. They take me back to a childhood storybook where Mother Earth’s root children celebrate new beginnings with large lily of the valley lanterns.

Our Eden tree stands constant in a small garden island within the surrounding waters. It romances the rising sun and purple sunsets with its wispy silhouette. The hot summer surrounds it with bright chlorophyll green, water lilies, and wildflowers and offers a canvas of meandering Monet strokes; my live masterpiece.

Here is where wishes are made through dandelion heads against a fiery end-of-day sky.

And when the twilight touches the lake, illuminated trees strung with hammocks stand still and quite to give the stage to lonely bullfrog calls and distant night bird songs. 

I’ve been putting the big focus on our India project this week. Our presentations have been richly layered and detailed for the large luxury penthouse. We connected hand-painted chinoiseries with book-matched and illuminated onyx and shook it all up with contemporary crystal luminaires. These are exciting times here at the Regina Sturrock Design studio!

From this perspective, my Friday’s impression is taken from India; a beautiful country of contrasts and colour. Looking back to my inspiration file and the many snap shots I took during my last visit, I realize that each stirred my creative approach to this project. The images are faceted, from the exquisite pietra dura of the Taj Mahal to the simple and colourful vendor scenes of cloth and fruit. All lead to one glorious impression. 

Perhaps, what intrigued me most is the craft and the making of the extraordinary. After visiting the Taj and marveling the work of artisans dating back to the seventeenth century, I witnessed the same unaltered processes by the descendants of the masters. 

Pietra Dura, an Italian phrase that means “hard stone” refers to the technique of creating intricately inlaid pictures from shaped and cut coloured stones. 

Fanciful flower species in the form of semi-precious stones such as coral, onyx, carnelian, amethyst, and lapis lazuli add to the splendor of the Taj’s white marble. The masterful work extends from outside to inside. The detail is pure, intense and smooth and, even up close, it all appears like a painting. 

The ancient Indian tradition of inlaying stone continues today. 

It impressed me to see the tiny pieces of stone ready to be placed into perfectly chiseled-out surfaces. Artistry, history, and passion are at the heart of these wonders - and nimble fingers.

This is a precision of the hand that no machine could replicate with authenticity. 

The craft of shaping stones with small saws, wires, and metal instruments and adding them to a decorative object or surface is a process of antiquity that remains unchanged. 

My appreciation is continually renewed for those extraordinary things that I find for my clients as I travel the world. So is my understanding of beauty in its pure form.

This leaves a lasting impression.