Author: punchwpadmin

This exciting annual vintage car show features a weekend of entertainment culminating in the presentation of awards to winning vehicles and their owners. While local in nature, the Concours is international in scope, with more than 200 of the world’s most treasured and collectable cars adorning the fairways of the Crystal Springs Golf Course.

This year, Porsche is the featured marque and, as such, expect a stunning collection of the automobile led by the internationally-acclaimed 917K, which took the checkered flag at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970 and 1971. 

As the world’s longest-running Concours, the event gathers exceptionally rare automobiles spanning virtually every genre and marque, from hot rods and muscle cars to sports cars and classic luxury models. The Concours itself caps a fantastic weekend of exciting festivities that start with the kick-off party held at an exclusive, private vintage car club on Friday night, July 19. Early the next morning, the Hillsborough Tour d’Elegance launches under police escort on a 70-mile rally along the Bay Area’s most stunning back roads and scenic vistas, culminating with a catered luncheon at a private Hillsborough estate. 

“Each year, our goal is to provide Concours patrons with an exceptional showcase of the world’s most stunning collector cars, from American muscle to exotics to elegant luxury cars to racers,” says Concours Chairman Richard Kelaita. “Thanks to an unprecedented number of submissions, this year’s display will be our best ever in terms of variety and excellence. No matter what an enthusiast’s passion may be, we’ll have something for everyone.” The event raises proceeds for Autism Speaks, The Guardsmen, Gatepath and the Hillsborough schools.

celebrate vintage cars 

July 21, 10AM to 4PM

Buy tickets online at hillsboroughconcours.org $40/$45 in advance/$50 day of the event

“I used to think I didn’t have a single creative bone in my body,” says Ellen Brook. “I never imagined that I would become an artist.”

That’s a difficult statement to believe. Ellen’s dreamy designs on silk, meditative hangings and edgy fashion collections have carried her from a Silicon Valley marketing career to recognition as one of the Bay Area’s rising artistic stars. Her work regularly features at art shows in the Bay Area and beyond, and her designs are retailed at Britex Fabrics in San Francisco and on the design site Vida. Her shimmering hangings have been installed at public spaces like the Congregational Church of San Mateo and the Woodside Spirit House. And she’s just celebrating a studio move to the Peninsula Museum and Art Studios in Burlingame.

But, as Ellen explains, it wasn’t until the early 2000s, when she was in her mid-thirties, that she began to explore her creative side.

“I started to take meditation and self-knowledge classes,” she recalls. “This encouraged me to try what I thought was the easiest form of art—collage. I thought that even the least creative person could cut pictures out of magazines and stick them on a board.”

Encouraged by positive feedback from a collage workshop and subsequent courses, Ellen continued her voyage into art. When she tried painting on silk, her creative sparks really began to fly. She started experimenting with the colors and dynamics created by this unpredictable and messy process. Moving to her current home in San Mateo gave her an ideal workspace to evolve the style and technique that’s now her trademark.

Each artwork starts as a piece of white silk stretched tightly between two sawhorses. It’s only then that Ellen chooses a subject, an intention or a color direction. She deliberately avoids traditional techniques like wax resist to create forms and outlines. Instead, she lets the movement of dye and the speed of her brush shape her work, bringing in acrylics, salt, alcohol, water and using different types of silk to add drama, texture and focus.

The humble hair dryer is a key tool, as it helps to slow down the spread of the dye, but Ellen is not in search of complete control. “I like colors, organic shapes and lines to emerge naturally,” she says. “My approach is playful, experimental. I like to explore possibilities of each artwork as it evolves. I have to make spontaneous decisions as I work.”

After the design is set, the silks are steamed for hours, then rinsed, ironed and transformed into their final form. This could be artwork, home décor, apparel, accessories or printed onto final silk fabrics for her limited-edition collections.

Initially, Ellen showcased her approach with scarves, shawls, hangings and mixed media on canvas, playing with drifting forms and unexpected color combinations that—like her Lemon, Burgundy and Chocolate wrap—surprise and delight, but never clash. Next, she moved into fashion design.

“I love clothes; I’ve been told that clothes are my canvas, and I see creating fabrics and clothing as a form of art,” says Ellen. Her apparel collection reflects this sensibility: ponchos, dresses, wraps, shrugs and skirts highlight the colors and forms on her sheer, flowing silks, while the addition of structured textures, varied fabric combinations and leather embellishments add a fashion-forward element.

For her catwalk-ready clothes, Ellen collaborates with seamstresses to develop finished prototypes. Some designs are available as one-of-a-kind, some as limited-edition prints, while others are custom-created for individual customers. Popular styles such as her wraps or ponchos (available through her website and independent designer shows) are sent to partner manufacturers for digitizing and printing onto luxurious silks.

Ellen doesn’t have a favorite color, saying she likes color too much to discriminate. Instead, she searches for a meditative energy as she paints. Whether it’s a pink grommet tunic, a lipstick red top, her muted yet vibrant Urban Zen mixed media canvases or her bright but subtle table runners, “I want my work to evoke the inner sanctuary where individuals can retreat from today’s urban environments,” she says.

This sensibility is winning Ellen a growing audience. She has already achieved some impressive milestones: multiple exhibitions, catwalk shows and installations in galleries, offices and public spaces. In 2018, she was featured as the cover artist for the de Young Museum’s Artwear event. And this year, she unveils a stunning new collaboration with photographer Jamie Nease, combining their mutual passion for fashion art, color and dance.

The photo series “When Forces Align: Taking Flight” features professional ballet dancers (including members of the San Francisco Ballet) wearing Ellen’s beautiful fabrics and clothes as they dance. These and other works will be on permanent display at her new studio space. Fellow artists are already exchanging ideas about new interpretations of this dance theme. “This is making me so excited about experimenting with other media, about blending different art forms,” Ellen says.

The move to Burlingame has also propelled Ellen back to the corporate world. But this time her focus is helping people uncover their own creativity. Mindful of her personal transformation through art classes, she now provides corporate workshops to cultivate creativity, curiosity and collaboration. The short courses leverage the lovable rogue nature of dye on silk to demonstrate how creativity can be applied to everyday business. “Not only do people have to listen to each other, but there is no controlling exactly what happens,” she adds. “Each painter has to embrace a level of uncertainty and no one is an expert. Painting on silk is the ultimate democratic medium.”

The workshops are just one illustration of Ellen’s belief in the importance of personal realization through art, which benefits not only the individual, but society at large. She is on the advisory board of Cañada College’s Department of Fashion and Design and the Artist Advisory Board for Kids & Art. Through Kids & Art, Ellen also hosts workshops for young people with cancer. “The experience of working on silk provides lots of incredible metaphors for living and leads itself to deeper conversations,” she explains. “It’s a privilege to provide healing moments through art.”

As for the future, Ellen remains dedicated to her mission to bring more color into people’s lives. “What I am most propelled by is the ability to bring beauty into the world. Beauty is life-changing. Why not light up the world?”

fine art & fashion

ellen-brook.com • shopvida.com

What do you do with your tiny infant when you’re chasing after your toddler? This was the dilemma facing second-time mom Eli Yonas after her baby daughter was born in 2016.

“I didn’t even think of it with my first baby: I just held him the whole time. But you can’t do that when there’s a two-year-old who needs you too,” says Eli. “I wanted an alternative to putting my daughter in a swing, somewhere I could get on the floor and play with both her and my toddler.”

Eli searched high and low for a suitable floor mat. “I knew it had to be comfortable, easy and not an eyesore,” she explains. “It had to be made of high-quality material, non-toxic and comfortable.” The only problem: there was absolutely nothing on the market that met these specifications. She decided to create a mat herself, and Toki Mats was born.

Eli runs the company from her San Mateo home. Her brand name is a charming play on the Hebrew word ‘matoki,’ meaning ‘my sweetheart.’ And it turns out that Eli’s instincts were right on target. Since making its first sale in 2017, Toki Mats has amassed an ardent fan base of parents.

The mats provide a large, cushioned space for babies to learn to love tummy time and safely perform milestone exercises like rolling, sitting and standing. Eli devised the padding from latex foam, which is naturally antibacterial, self-ventilating and non-allergenic. The covers are available in natural cotton or in waterproof versions made of bamboo jersey, and in addition to the classic mats, Eli also offers an organic latex line.

A world away from typical primary-colored fabrics for children, the mat covers come in beautiful, subtle shades and patterns that live happily alongside more adult décor. A quick tour of Eli’s website shows just how close to her heart the Toki Mats venture is: many of the super-adorable photographs and videos feature Eli’s husband and children having flat-out fun on their own home floors.

Despite her clear vision for the product, Eli wasn’t initially sure how to go about turning it into reality. “Not knowing where to start was unnerving,” she admits. “I researched fabrics and materials every day. Then, two months into my maternity leave, I had a breakthrough.”

At a textiles conference in San Francisco, a supplier took Eli under her wing. “She gave me a ton of really great advice. She even held my daughter while I looked at fabric swatches,” recalls Eli. “I’ve been back to the same conference every year since then, and the supplier always looks out for my daughter, who is three now.”

Just one year after she first conceived the idea for Toki Mats, Eli had hired her cut and sew manufacturer, employed a fulfilment contractor, leased a storage and shipping space, launched a website, found resources to work on advertising and social media promotions and sold her first products.

This would be impressive under any circumstances. But for a mother of two young children, who also has a full-time career as a partnership manager for a large technology firm, it’s an even greater achievement. How does she manage it all?

“I ask for and accept help in any shape or form,” Eli responds. “My husband is a fantastic partner at home. We share looking after the kids 50:50 and he helps me out with warehouse management as well. Also, help from our family is invaluable to me. Some family members live locally and although my mother lives in Los Angeles, she flies up every few weeks to look after the kids for the weekend. Those tend to be my most creative and productive times.”

Reflecting on the difficulties of balancing her role as mother, corporate employee and business owner, Eli shares, “I’ve learned that I can’t do everything as perfectly as I’d like. I focus on the highest priorities in the three areas of my life and do whatever will make the most difference in each of those areas.

“It’s tempting to do everything yourself,” she adds. “This is good to help you learn all parts of the business, but eventually you work out which elements don’t match your skill sets or availability or passion.” It still leaves Eli with a full plate: she currently takes care of customer service, social media, the website and inventory control and is often onsite either at the women-run cut and sew factory in San Francisco, or the storage facility in San Mateo where her fulfilment contractor is based.

Eli’s passion for Toki Mats is unbounded, even though she finds herself dedicating most nights and weekends to the rapidly-growing company. “Most of it is fun and it’s helping me re-engage with my creative side,” she says. “I enjoy it. I’m very goal-oriented. I like producing, achieving and pushing boundaries. Being the owner of the whole process is what excites me most.

“Selling my first mat was beyond exciting and validating, but also terrifying,” recalls Eli. “I had no idea how people would respond. Even now, after hundreds of good reviews, my heart skips a beat when I open a new review. It matters a lot.”

Some of her favorite feedback comes from mothers of premature babies, who say the thick softness of the mats is a big factor in keeping their babies on schedule with their physical milestones. Many reviews describe how the mat has transformed tummy time from a chore to something their babies love. Even more say that their mats provide the perfect amount of cushioning for parents sitting on the floor with their children.

As with all good inventions, there’s a beautiful simplicity to the design and function of Eli’s creation. It’s surprising to think of a play mat as a breakthrough product, but anyone who regularly finds themselves on the floor with a child will be wondering why no one had this idea years ago.

“One reviewer said that her family loves that the mat means she gets down on the floor to play with her kids way more than ever before,” Eli says with a smile. “It’s really heartwarming to hear that the mats have made people’s lives better. Exactly what I hoped to achieve.”

get on the floor

tokimats.com

Happy Fourth of July! In a stunning reflection of how the Peninsula celebrates Independence Day, this Perfect Shot was captured on July 4, 2018, by photographer Charles “Charlie” Ginsburgh, looking northward along the Central Lake waterway toward Leo J. Ryan Park in Foster City. As Charlie tells it, “The images were the result of long exposures (5-10 seconds) on a tripod-mounted camera taken during the nighttime fireworks display. The long exposures allowed the capture of several bursts within the same image as well as the full expansion of each individual burst.” To see more of Charlie’s photography, visit charlie-g.smugmug.com

Image Courtesy of Charles Ginsburgh

calling all shutterbugs

If you’ve captured a unique perspective of the Peninsula, we’d love to see your Perfect Shot. Email us at hello@punchmonthly.com to be considered for publication.

Words by Sheri Baer

It’s evening, and the entire family is gathered. And while the weather is lovely, you don’t quite want to be outside. As water glasses are filled on the table, floor-to-ceiling pocketing doors are drawn back into the wall. Fresh air, scented with seasonal flowers, flows into the room, and the sounds of chirping birds and buzzing bees intermix with the dinner conversation and dishes being passed. As you settle into this moment, with an almost imperceptible sigh, all the stresses of the day slip away. This is indoor-outdoor living.

“When people go on vacation, they live a certain way. They always talk about how freeing it was,” notes architect Danielle Wyss. “And then they come back and they live a very different way. Indoor-outdoor allows you to literally take down walls but to also take down figurative walls.”

For that reason, Danielle is always looking for ways to incorporate indoor-outdoor elements into her projects. As an architect designing custom homes for Peninsula clients, she draws from years of experience—along with her own personal appreciation for this area’s almost-unparalleled climate.

Originally from Reno, Danielle soaked up Pacific Northwest precipitation while earning her architecture degree from the University of Washington. From there, she headed to Aspen, where she joined a small, high-end custom home architecture practice. Although inspired by Colorado’s stunning vistas, Danielle’s designs needed to account for snow, dying grass and even “a whole mud season.” Her entrepreneurial spirit eventually drew her to Silicon Valley, which turned out to be a liberating move. “It’s incredibly freeing as an architect to work out here. The Peninsula has this rare mix of Northern California and Southern California climates; you can just swing all the windows and doors open on a regular basis,” Danielle says. “In Colorado, there’s two months of the year when that’s going to happen. Here, it’s like there’s two months out of the year when it’s not going to happen.”

After a seven-year stretch as lead project architect for Fergus Garber Young Architects in Palo Alto, Danielle co-founded her own firm, Shift Collaborative, in 2014, while pursuing a masters in business management at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. The Stanford connections she made as a Sloan Fellow led to many of the projects she designed in her firm’s first year, followed by a steady roster of custom home clients ever since. Whether she’s designing contemporary or modern farmhouse, Danielle always prioritizes one objective: timelessness—which explains the desire to dissolve indoor-outdoor barriers. “There’s something about the indoor-outdoor relationship, this mental understanding of this connection with nature, that is timeless,” she says.

For Danielle, all design starts with the land, the piece of property. Is it sloped? Is it flat? What are the views? Can you see your neighbors? Those are just a few of the considerations she looks at first, and then the next step is determining where the client plans to live in the home—where will they spend most of their time. “I don’t care how big your house is; you’re probably going to live in 500 square feet, so let’s just nail it,” she says. “If you know the major portion is going to be spent in your great room, that has to have the best features of your piece of property—the best natural light, the best view of the trees or the view of the hills.”

And while Danielle perceives the indoor-outdoor relationship as vital for clients, she also emphasizes that it requires significant forethought and planning. “You end up wanting to have a large expanse of an opening that somehow magically disappears,” she says. “Whatever budget you have for the house, you need to save some budget for it because invariably it’s expensive to achieve that.”

To successfully blend indoor and outdoor, Danielle also underscores the need to design outdoor rooms thoughtfully. “Thinking through the outdoor rooms is as important as thinking through the indoor rooms,” she advises. “You need to have something drawing you out there.”

Danielle also points out that smaller spaces don’t have to be limiting—on a tight, narrow lot, even five feet of space can be turned into a side patio. Picture a glassy, sliding door leading to a French café table and two chairs. “It’s that mental connection you’re creating,” says Danielle. “Just having the relationship from the inside to the outside and making it accessible.”

Here’s a final point to keep in mind: While infusing your home with fresh air is relaxing and even regenerative, don’t forget, you may also be inviting in buzzing flies, dive-bombing mosquitos and a few icky spiders. “That’s a conversation I have with every single client: ‘What is your tolerance for this sort of stuff?’ I think that it is a very common concern,” Danielle confirms, before citing mitigating options like pocketing doors that include screens.

Bottom line: when you dissolve the barrier to let your life spill between inside and outside, be prepared to appreciate (and accept) all the wonders of nature that come with it. shift-collaborative.com

Los Altos Great Room

GOAL: Create a seamless flow from inside to outside for both entertaining and daily lounging.

APPROACH: Having the space to pocket the doors into the wall entirely requires forethought in the schematic design phase. Here, we hide them behind the fireplace. The wall is 12” thick to accommodate all the door leafs and screen leafs fully pocketing away.

PRO TIP: Paint the inside of the door pocket framing black.

Menlo Park Dining Room

GOAL: Make the relatively small space for a dining room feel spacious and engaged with the garden.

APPROACH: The existing ranch-style house had low ceilings and these doors require large headers, so getting the tallest and widest possible bi-folding door was important.

PRO TIP: Make sure you have room for the bi-folding doors to open without hitting furniture. If necessary, add more sections so each panel is smaller to reduce opening footprint.

Palo Alto Basement/Family Room

GOAL: Flood the basement with natural light by creating an
outdoor courtyard that is surrounded on three sides.

APPROACH: Needing multiple kinds of rooms to all share the courtyard but wanting the light to come in from all sides to the main space, I designed giant, ceiling-high pocket doors to separate the guest bedrooms down here from the family room. When not in use, they are left open to allow all that luscious light to spill into the family room.

PRO TIP: Even if enhancing natural light is the main objective, don’t miss the opportunity to create an inviting outdoor space.

Since we’re starting a two-month special getaway series on Lake Tahoe this month, June’s Perfect Shot emerged as the perfect selection. What looks like a shark’s fin is actually the extraordinary play of splashing water captured by photographer Anthony Obester of Half Moon Bay. Anthony equipped his Canon DSLR camera with a water housing and donned a wetsuit looking for clarity shots in Lake Tahoe. As he tells it, “Instead, we kept noticing a small ripple making crazy patterns in the water.” Shooting 10 frames a second, Anthony captured Lake Tahoe’s “Micro Magic,” barely discernible to the naked eye. To see more in Anthony’s series and other work, visit anthonyobesterphotography.com

Image Courtesy of Anthony Obester

calling all shutterbugs

If you’ve captured a unique perspective of the Peninsula, we’d love to see your Perfect Shot. Email us at hello@punchmonthly.com for a chance to see your photography featured on this page.

As a Bay Area architect with more than four decades of experience, Robert Swatt put his share of time into commercial projects but eventually narrowed his focus to his greatest passion: creating custom modern dream homes. “We are very careful about the work that we do and we are very selective,” he says. “We love designing dream homes because our clients are emotionally and financially invested in the project. We become part of that process of making the dream come true.”

Robert’s prime concern is quality design, services and construction for the client. Mindful of protecting the reputation of Swatt | Miers Architects, he says he typically steers clear of speculative housing projects—because there’s a developer on the other side, rather than an actual homeowner or client. “Traditionally, the developer’s prime concern is profit. The goal is making money. That’s their business,” he says. “There has to be deep trust that the developer will not veer from the specifications and will never cut corners in order to maximize profits. Whenever we think about doing developer work, we have to ask ourselves, ‘Do we feel confident that this developer will see the vision through?’ That’s why we don’t do it often.”

But when Robert was approached about a project in Hillsborough, he was instantly intrigued. The South Bay-based developer/builder had done contemporary work but wanted to expand into more modern design. And the broad, nearly one-acre lot near the end of a cul-de-sac offered interesting shapes and features. “We love topography because it gives buildings something to connect with and to relate to and respond to,” he says. Robert also connected with the developer’s intent: “They appeared to have the same interest. They don’t know who the homeowner is but they really wanted to create something great.”

Robert joined the team and immediately recognized that having no homeowner removed certain constraints. Accustomed to working with very specific and sometimes “unusual” requests and requirements, Robert embraced a different goal for the project. “The design had to be timeless—not trendy. It needed to stand the test of time,” he says, which for Robert, meant engaging the basic timeless principles of modern architecture.

Adapting the building to the land, open planning with flow from one space to the next and connecting inside and outside all became paramount to the home’s design. The topography that initially captured Robert’s imagination—which he describes as “a cross slope on a diagonal”—needed to be addressed first. “The typical builder would either fill part of the site or they would cut part of the site to create a level pad for the building,” Robert notes. “But we don’t work like that.”

Instead, Robert took the building and knitted it to the landscape, stepping everything down from the site. The two-story, 7,660-square-foot building he ultimately designed naturally split into five levels. Robert describes the design as an “H-Shape,” with a two-story wing on the right, a two-story wing on the left and a two-story great room in the middle. “There’s an art to being able to design these larger homes,” he says. “Spatially, all the spaces are kind of shared with each other, which makes all the public spaces feel larger and well connected. It’s not only a great house to live in, it’s a great house to entertain in.”

To keep a residential scale, one of Robert’s strategies is to express distinctive elements—whether it’s an all-glass entry, a stone vertical element or a floating stair tower. “All of these different elements are designed and pulled together in an artful way, to break up the scale of the building and make it feel more residential, more like a home, even though it’s a sizable structure,” he says.

Although the Hillsborough home was created as a speculative project, Robert always kept a conceptualized homeowner in mind. He incorporated the open spaces his clients typically request—providing fluidity between the kitchen and family rooms and informal dining. Envisioning a family with older kids, he made sure the design offered a little separation, effectively giving the master suite the perception of a retreat. And as it turned out, the act of designing the master suite confirmed Robert’s early instincts that he and the developer/builder were aligned in their vision.

As he examined the site’s topography, Robert recognized the potential for a spectacular element—a cantilevered master bedroom, appearing to nestle in the trees: “It really wanted to be hanging out there 18 feet. We could have put two columns underneath it to support the darn thing, but it is so much more dramatic to see this element that’s just floating above the landscape.”

He took his idea to the developer, keeping his expectations in check. “With a spec house, the usual formula is to do the easy things, not the difficult things. You do the difficult things for the client who wants to try something really special and daring,” Robert relates. “But in the case of this home, he was enthusiastic about it. It would take a brave owner to do it, and he was brave and he did it and that’s just wonderful.”

The project took about two years to complete and Robert points with pride to the home’s interweaving of custom touches, evocative elements and seamless indoor and outdoor flow. Front views of the home reflect a mix of materials—white cement plaster, sandstone and Western Red Cedar—with wood slats bringing in light while creating a sense of visual privacy. A “walk over” water feature marks the entry, which steps down with the contours of the land into a great room with soaring 22-foot-high ceilings. The wood screen lining the corridor heading to the children’s wing delivers eye-catching patterns of light and the two-island kitchen adjoining the family room creates a welcoming space.

And while Robert will continue to prioritize his “dream home” clients, he’s happy he took the chance on a different kind of working relationship and anticipates future collaboration. “We don’t do it often,” he says, reflecting on his previous experiences with spec projects. “But in this case we did it and we love the way it turned out.”

Polish-born artist Justyna Kisielewicz is a proud Burlingame resident who moved here with old-fashioned training in a new-fashioned way. After her fine art education in Warsaw, Justyna joined Instagram, started posting images of her artwork, et voila! She caught the attention of a San Francisco art gallery, flew out for a show in 2015 and never looked back. Earlier this year, she secured an EB-1 Visa, granted only to “immigrants with extraordinary ability,” and has settled in to stay.

“If you’re born in California you dream about Europe, but if you’re born in Europe, you dream about California,” Justyna says, gesturing to a painting that captures that sentiment. “Dreamland is about the celebration of coming to the U.S. When you come here, you have to forget about what you’re accustomed to because America is so different to Europe, and that is what it’s supposed to be.”

Different is what Justyna was desperate for. She grew up in then-Communist Poland, glued to her TV set and reruns of old American shows. There was even a billboard advertising a video rental store right across from her home. It read, “Beverly Hills, 3 Minutes Away.” The billboard was a siren’s call, a brightly colored beacon in her otherwise gray world. And since truth truly is stranger than fiction, Justyna learned dance moves and Western fashion from the likes of Beverly Hills 90210—“I wanted to go to that high school, I wanted to drive a red mustang”—not caring that the outdated shows were 10 years behind the times.

Inspired by the movies and TV shows she watched, Justyna decided to paint a fantasy world filled with the things she could not have. Chief among them was the idyllic life she imagined for herself in California. “I paint a positive image of America, as an immigrant who always dreamt of this place, celebrating it, worshipping it,” she says. “I was always a misfit. I didn’t fit into the Polish model, I didn’t dream about the same stuff as other kids. And also, the shortage of things led me to draw the things that I did—like Mickey Mouse and toys that I could never get.”

In the early ‘90s, Justyna’s mom got a cable TV. “I picked up MTV and I loved it. I just really wanted to understand what they were singing about. So I got a dictionary and started looking up the words,” she says, recalling how she turned music videos into English lessons. “There was Mariah Carey singing ‘Emotions,’ and she was putting so much into it that I really wanted to know what she was saying. My brother thought I was crazy. I was living in a mental California with Mickey Mouse, balloons and TV.”

When she finally met Mickey at Disneyland in 2016, Justyna hugged him and cried. “As a kid, Mickey Mouse was my friend; he could take me to places that were just beautiful. He had friends and everybody was happy.”

California is everywhere in Justyna’s paintings. In them you’ll find not just Mickey Mouse, but psychedelic colors, bright sunshine, swimming pools, cheeky nudity, even a leopard wearing a gold chain. Disney’s famous mouse is also an integral part of Justyna’s personal style. She found a pair of eyeglasses in Poland with round, flip-up lenses mimicking Mickey’s ears and has adopted them as her signature accessory. “I need to wear them at art shows or people don’t recognize me!” she says. “I think it shows that you have distance from yourself, that you’re not taking yourself too seriously.”

Not taking herself seriously extends to her choice of model… herself. Starting out, Justyna tried using other people, only to find that they complained, got tired, peckish or bored. Her solution? She hired herself, and in the process, became her own muse and inspiration: woman lost and found in a technicolor dreamscape of her own creation.

Now, some of her pieces are inspired by the abundance and sense of possibility she finds right here on the Peninsula: “I say that it’s the best place on earth, really, that it’s so diverse, so beautiful. The nature is absolutely marvelous, I love it. And I think that when the sun is shining here, there’s no better place on this planet.”

Viewing her loud, brash pieces—excess, pop culture, flash, flesh, materialism and capitalism all figure prominently in Justyna’s paintings—one might wonder if they’d appeal to the local khakis and laptop crowd, but Justyna believes her work is exactly what collectors here are looking for.

“I think more and more people don’t want anything that’s blending in. We’re all wearing Lululemons and jeans with the same sneakers,” she says. “But we don’t want what we are wearing to be up in our houses, you want to say something through this art, you want to express yourself. Sometimes you can’t do that very freely, but you can do it in your home.”

Taking a break from the easel in her light-filled apartment overlooking Burlingame’s Washington Park, Justyna tries to process the heady changes in her life. Recently, her work was acquired for the permanent collection of the National Museum in Gdansk, Poland. She’s even experiencing her own brush with celebrity, popping up in publications like Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Glamour. Represented by 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco and Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame (with the Optimism group exhibit coming up on July 27), she equates her paintings to the perfect party guest: “Whenever you’re inviting somebody over, you have a conversation about it and people see you through these works of art as somebody who’s more interesting, more compelling and I think this is what my collectors are looking for.”

Case in point is a Palo Alto man who has taken to throwing parties around his Justynas. “When he invites you over he wants to push you somewhere. He wants to present you with something interesting, and the paintings are telling a story to his friends,” she notes.

Creating community through her paintings is what excites Justyna, particularly while living in the U.S. “There are a lot of interesting people here and so many great things that you have, the sense of community, teamwork, team effort, you know, like ‘We the people.’ There’s no such thing in Europe. There, everybody wants to be an individual, everybody wants to do something by themselves. And I find it super refreshing that here, you can reach out to people; you can just ask for help and you might get it.”

That’s actually how Justyna connected with our magazine. On a day when she was feeling blue, her boyfriend walked her up to Burlingame’s Floral Art + Decor to buy some cheer-up flowers, and lo and behold, the owner told Justyna that she thought her story might be a great fit for PUNCH. Et voila indeed.

Discover Justyna at justynakisielewicz.com

In Justyna’s Words: California

This painting is a memoir of an Eastern European painter exploring and reflecting on California. The memoir is, of course, a visual snapshot of sorts, as well as an intellectual and aesthetic vision of the Bay Area. Coming from a former communist country, what strikes me here is the extraordinary light, sun, color, warmth, nature and general happiness and abundance in California.

California is as close to an artistic promised land as it gets. David Hockney writes about the various virtues of California over Europe in terms of light, scenery, imagery, symbolism and topics. I began to understand this only when I got here. Before, I would’ve dismissed this as naïve and banal. A lot of my paintings so far have been an observation of America from the outside. Right now I am on the inside. I am here and want to share what I see and how I see it. Maybe that is why you might call this painting my vision from San Francisco Bay.

This painting is definitely a lot more than a vision or an interpretation, but a reality. The lush and exotic flowers, plants, scents are what I discovered during house visits with collectors and my walks through Hillsborough, Atherton, Palo Alto, Los Gatos and Burlingame. Looking at the painting, you can feel the midday sun, sounds of daily life, hummingbirds and smell of the flowers. A day in California is never just another day, it is a day in sunny California, with potential and opportunities. The colors, temperature and saturation are not accidental here but provide the essence of California. Observation here is important. You cannot be unreflective in California. There is so much going on.

Although many places in California have a suburban feel, there is a lot of energy that makes this place feel cosmopolitan and well connected. California is full of tunes. From iTunes in Cupertino to Looney Tunes in the studios of Los Angeles. California is well balanced. Humans respect nature and civilization is kept at bay. Humans respectfully transform nature, and technology leads back to nature. From flower power to tech and from tech to landscape, nature and flowers. Welcome to iFornia.

In an unmarked warehouse space in Half Moon Bay, you’ll find an industrial studio buzzing with activity. “A full-blown operation of killer women” is the colorful moniker given to the workforce inside. Leading this creative strike team are Kris and Kim Nations, the two sisters behind a sizzling hot brand sold online and carried in over 500 stores, ranging from small boutiques to Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom.

This is Kris Nations Jewelry.

“Part Bohemian, part modernism, part in-your-face statement. Kind of like Alexander Calder meets Dolly Parton.” That’s how Kris and Kim describe their distinctive design style, which has caught the attention of fashion magazines like InStyle, Harper’s Bazaar and Lucky, along with celebrity fans including Hillary Duff and Kourtney Kardashian. “We try not to just blend in with all the jewelry in our space,” says Kris, the jewelry-making sister who jumped in first. “We try to have our personalities come through a little bit and when we do that, that’s when we have success.”

A sampling of the power words they capture in rings, charms, necklaces, bracelets and earrings gives an introduction of sorts—reflecting who they are and the journey that has brought them here: Thick as Thieves. Roll with the Punches. Killing it. Slay Everyday. Mama.

Originally from El Paso, Texas, Kris and Kim (who are 21 months apart) grew up with entrepreneurial parents. Their mother, an artist and teacher, indulged her creative side in the summer, selling acrylic paintings—often desert scenes, on everything from canvas to wooden bowls and mailboxes—at art festivals throughout the Southwest. Kris and Kim tagged along, loading up the truck, helping set up the booth and watching the interaction with customers. “We learned at a young age the concept of making something and selling it,” Kim recalls. “We shared her excitement when she would sell something.”

And while the sisters grew up playing with beads, rocks and metals, they took the more traditional college route, before ending up at advertising agencies in San Francisco. Already making jewelry as a hobby, Kris enrolled in a metalsmithing class at an industrial arts school—accumulating so many pieces that she needed to sell them. Feeling a bit creatively stifled herself, Kim learned HTML and started photographing her sister’s creations, building an e-commerce KrisNations.com website before crafty enterprises like Etsy existed. It turned out to be a winning combination.

In 2002, an editor bought a Kris Nations piece at a small show in Los Angeles and featured the jewelry line in Daily Candy, a popular national newsletter. The mention spurred a flurry of website orders—which allowed Kris to quit her day job and pursue Kris Nations Jewelry full-time.

“We started making some sales and we’ve grown very slow and steady, very organically ever since,” Kris says. When the operation outgrew Kris’ garage, she knew it was time to make a move.

Half Moon Bay beckoned. “My husband is a surfer, so we would go to Half Moon Bay on weekends just for fun—not really thinking people lived here,” Kris says. Exploring the idea, she found the perfect studio space and happily moved Kris Nations Jewelry (and her family) to the coast. Kim, who had been helping out all along, quit her day job in 2006, driving from San Mateo to join her sister in the business. “I have the best commute. No one goes to Half Moon Bay on a Monday at 9AM,” she observes.

Over the years, the roles the two sisters play have evolved into a collaborative creative process. For every new season of designs, they start by outlining basic ideas on old-fashioned pencil and paper. Then they decide how to execute the ideas by drawing out rough sketches. If it’s a casted piece, it goes to Kim, who handles computer aided design (CAD) with Kris specializing in the hands-on artisan techniques. “It’s unusual but we’ve always been able to jive together as business partners,” Kris says. “Founders of companies always say, ‘I wish I could clone myself,’ and Kim and I always say it’s as close to being able to clone yourself as possible.”

The two sisters agree that what keeps them in sync is sharing the same professional and personal goals. Even as they’re growing Kris Nations Jewelry, they’re also raising families—Kim has an 11-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter and Kris has a 10-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. “We have the same end goal. We want to be able to spend time with our families. We want to have flexibility. So we help each other have all those things,” Kim says. They also extend that philosophy to other moms in the Half Moon Bay community, with 15 “killer women” now contributing to the company’s success.

Whether it’s assembling pieces or packaging up finished designs in Kris Nations’ signature glass bottles, there’s a shared pride in what’s being crafted. The company uses only sterling silver or 18K gold vermeil, which is gold-plated over sterling—materials guaranteed to hold their color. “It’s not pure karat gold so it’s at an attainable price point, which is important because a lot of our jewelry is so fun,” Kris says. “For example, it’s fun to be able to buy a ‘chill pill’ necklace for $68, but maybe I wouldn’t want to buy a full carat gold $600 ‘chill pill’ necklace.”

With hundreds of pieces in the Kris Nations jewelry line, classic hammered-hoop earrings, charm bracelets and birthstone necklaces are always big sellers but the category they refer to as “Words + Mantras” is surging in demand. “Some of our more popular items are ‘badass’ and ‘I’m a ray of f**king sunshine,’ Kris says. As Kim explains, “We bring our personalities into it, but it completely resonates with other people and their own stories. I think we make jewelry that helps people tell their stories.”

The sisters say they are continually touched by the stories they hear—whether it’s a ‘badass’ necklace given to a friend going through chemotherapy or a new mother wearing a ‘mama’ necklace every day. Inspired by customer feedback, they are focusing on an engraved collection, only offered through their website. “We’re having a lot of fun with making one piece at a time for people because it’s just so personal and meaningful to everyone who buys it,” Kris says. “It’s becoming something very unique to us,” Kim adds.

Seventeen years in, it’s not hard to see where the ‘killing it’ and ‘slay everyday’ mantras come from—with Kris Nations carried in hundreds of boutiques, along with major department stores. “The boutiques are really our bread and butter. We also sell to museum gift stores,” Kris says. “Oh yeah,” Kim jumps in. “We’re in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. I never thought I’d make it there!”

When asked to look back on what it’s taken to arrive at this place, the two muse over the question. “I don’t think Kim and I really self-reflect enough, but we’re totally self-made,” Kim shares. “We’re doing it. We built something out of completely nothing.”

As for their own jewelry staples, they both love hammered-hoop earrings, inspired by a design their mother wore—along with a rotating collection of their personal favorites. On this particular day, Kim is wearing coral red enamel ‘roll with the punches’ hoop earrings because “I’m in love with that message,” she says. “And of course I’m wearing my rings with my kids names engraved on them.” Among other pieces, Kris is layering three necklaces—the first is a gemstone-beaded style, the second holds an engraved shield with the names of her husband and children and the word ‘love.’ And the third? Kris gestures to the final charm, which is also a work-life balance reminder: “I’m wearing my chill pill.”

wear your story

krisnations.com

Words by Sheri Baer

How can you be sure that they’re really the one? That their values are the same as yours. That they’re a good listener. And that they really understand what’s going to make you happy. After all, it’s a decision you’ll have to live with for years.

If this litmus test for choosing an architect sounds similar to selecting a significant other, it’s not surprising. “If you’re looking at working on a long-term project, it’s a big investment, so you want to make sure you have a good relationship,” Stephen Verner counsels. “It’s a long commitment and you really get into the nitty-gritty.”

Malika Junaid acknowledges that closeness is a necessity: “We really get to understand our clients, sometimes even more than their own families, because we have to understand their lifestyle in order to design what will work for them.”

Jerome Buttrick agrees that chemistry is critical. “You’re going to be working with this person for a number of years, so you should get to see them and know them in as many ways as you can,” he suggests.

In the end, how do you know if it’s right? “It’s definitely a vibe thing,” is how architect Noel Cross summarizes it.

This is also the kind of thing you can only learn by asking the architects. And that’s the point of the 5^th Annual AIA Silicon Valley Home Tours on May 4, showcasing projects ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 square feet. The math is simple. Four homes from Palo Alto to Los Altos plus four architects equals an opportunity to get educated on the latest design solutions and gain insights into what makes a healthy (client/architect) relationship.

We took a sneak peek at the homes and jumped in early with questions—for a deeper dive, check out aiasiliconvalley.org/page/2019HomeTours

Junaid Residence, M. Designs Architects

Malika Junaid had a unique understanding of her client’s needs. That’s because the client was her own family—and Malika and her engineer husband shared a vision for transforming a secluded Los Altos Hills plot of land into their dream home. The design objective: to merge cutting-edge technology with a seamless indoor-outdoor living experience, using strategies spanning the ultimate in smart home automation, innovative sustainability and open planning. Malika viewed her home’s construction as a test run—not just for the Junaid family, but for all of her clients. She emphasized sustainable finishes (even Sharpie pen-proof countertops) and engineered novelties like a retractable kitchen tool/spice rack (using a TV lift) and tucked-away appliances revealed with the press of a button. The biggest jaw-dropper? Adapting an aircraft hangar door to turn an indoor pool into an outdoor recreational space. While the Junaid residence may seem like the stuff of science fiction, Malika estimates that 80% of her home’s approaches can be scaled and applied to client projects.

What did you learn by being your own client?

“Going through something like this helps you relate to the people on the other side, and what they’re going through. At the end of the day, it’s their passion, it’s their lifestyle, it’s their families and it’s their money and you need to be very sensitive about how you’re spending it and how you’re advocating for them. Construction is not easy. There’s a lot of stress in it. Keep in mind, a specific project is being done specifically for a client and might not necessarily be your style. What you’re looking at is whether they actually solved the problem that they were asked to solve? Did they cater to what their clients wanted? All of us on the tour are like a library of information.”

Arbol House, Verner Architects

One of the first things Stephen Verner learned about his clients is that they are serious gardeners. Design centered around creating the largest outdoor space possible and preserving an existing apple tree. Starting with a modest kitchen remodel, the project slowly began to address other aspects of the existing home, such as the garden being visible from only one room. The clients wanted a stronger connection to the outdoors, which led to big folding doors or large windows in all of the main spaces. Tying the flow together is a custom stairwell structural element extending three stories—water-jetted functional art that was craned in and welded on site. In the kitchen, teak cabinetry with a Heath blue tile backsplash and stainless accents surround an island with a cantilevered counter, supported by another water-jetted design, a companion piece to the stairwell.

What’s the value of seeing finished homes versus photography?

“I always recommend when interviewing architects and builders that clients go tour projects. Photos are really beautiful but at the same time I want them to touch and feel and experience the home because the scale in a photo is very hard to discern. If you’re going to do a project, you’re going to be spending a lot of time in it, so it needs to be comfortable. When you’re in a space, see how it talks to you. Do you feel comfortable? Listen to your body’s response. That, to me, is the most important thing you can get out of visiting homes—your visceral reaction to the home. You can see the level of detail and quality that goes into the design and execution. That’s the final piece of the puzzle for you to know you are in good hands.”

Nandell House, Noel Cross + Architects

The house that got built wasn’t the first design that Noel Cross created for his clients. It wasn’t the second either. The first concept met the wife’s criteria for a traditional Tuscan villa. The second one answered the husband’s request for modern design. The third try made them both happy: Tudor style but with modern detailing. Designing a home is not an easy straight line, as this shows. It’s a process. Built as an oasis and sanctuary for a busy Los Altos family, the Nandell House also shows the value of making select showpiece investments. To introduce a calming element, a cascading water feature was custom built for the home’s entrance. Another example can be found in the kitchen’s striking pewter-surfaced island. Although the home’s origins are in the English Tudor gable forms, the crisply and minimally detailed façades are clearly rooted in the modern world.

How would you describe the ideal client?

“From my point of view, I’d rather have the client engaged—doing research, asking questions, coming up with ideas and throwing stuff out there. The best thing for clients to do is share and share and share and be involved and then to know when to get out of the way and let the architect do the job. Also, leave time to plan your project; let it breathe. Do not call somebody up on January 1 and say, ‘Let’s get under construction by spring.’ It won’t happen and perhaps it really shouldn’t happen. If you try to work at Silicon Valley speed, you’ll mess it up. There’s this maxim that the longer you plan to spend in your house, the longer you should spend planning.”

Art House + Courtyard, Buttrick Projects

Seeking additional living and gathering space and a way to display and store their burgeoning art collection, a Palo Alto couple purchased the lot adjacent to their home. For architect Jerome Buttrick, the project presented two key challenges. First, he needed to create a private world from a merged, awkwardly-shaped site with streets on two sides. He also needed to satisfy the requirements of a house and an art collection—providing both wall space and plenty of controlled, natural light. Rather than building a mega house, Jerome worked with the owners to create a set of small structures that fit with the scale of the residential neighborhood, using a courtyard as the binding agent. Taking into account dozens of pieces (including works showing in the Anderson Collection), Jerome accommodated the clients’ desire to rotate and change around art with some frequency.

What makes a successful client-architect relationship?

“You have to trust and believe in each other—that the architect will do their job and the client is going to do their job. Somebody once figured out that there are 25,000 decisions to be made in a house. An architect is only going to engage you in about 1,500 of those, maybe about 5 to 10%. Someone is going to have to decide 90% of the decisions for you and you should have trust in them as a person and trust in their taste and trust in their experience. This kind of tour is a way to start looking under the hood. It’s an opportunity to get your feet wet in a very rich, three-dimensional way.”

We are so lucky. Not only do we live on the glorious Peninsula, but our location comes with proximity to the San Francisco International Airport. Yes, the airport! While other Bay Areans must contend with the vagaries of a long schlep home, we know the value of smiling out the airplane window, knowing our beds are but a stone’s throw away—priceless. And there’s another reason to smile, one you may not know: the museum at SFO is the only accredited airport museum in America. Another ‘only in San Francisco,’ except it’s right here in our own backyard.

Let’s start with the history: in 1969, San Francisco was one of the first cities to enact an ordinance requiring that 2% of gross construction budgets be allocated to the acquisition of artwork for new public facilities and civic spaces, including its San Mateo County-based airport. Then in 1980, funded separately by airport revenue, SFO Museum was established to further enhance the passenger experience. The result? More than 100 pieces of fine art in the SFO permanent collection and, within SFO Museum, over 140,000 objects in the aviation collection and around 45 rotating exhibits per year—featuring everything from photography, popular culture and curios to history, music and decorative arts.

And it doesn’t cost the taxpayer anything. In fact, SFO Museum basically pays for itself. Bottom line for you? Free admission and world-class art, along with an ever-increasing list of cool bars and restaurants (give Samovar a try), all creating a great reason to visit SFO for a unique artistic adventure—with or without actually getting on a plane.

As part of a trial program, we received a special badge to access all the terminals both pre- and post-security in order to see as much art as possible. Happily, SFO Museum plans to roll out the badges on a limited basis to the general public sometime this year—stay tuned.

So, where do you begin? Driving onto the departure level, one of the first permanent pieces you’ll see is Norie Sato’s Air Over Under heralding the entrance to Terminal 2: it’s that enormous grid of laminated glass panels shifting from blue to green to purple, illuminating images of birds and clouds. In front of the International Terminal stands more outdoor art, celebrated Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo’s commanding Conquest of Space, a 32-foot-tall steel sculpture painted in red and blue.

When you’re ready for the indoor tour, start by visiting any of the Information stations and pick up a copy of Fly & Explore, a free brochure pointing out the locations of the temporary exhibits and permanent public art sites. The brochure’s map illustrates which pieces require a plane ticket to view, so you’ll know what to look for, where and when. For a deeper dive, you should peruse FlySFO.com/museum for tons of great background and descriptions. A hint: Don’t expect the staff to know everything or even anything about the art; let the pamphlet be your guide and go on your own personal treasure hunt. That’s part of the adventure!

If you’re not in a hurry to catch your flight or rush home, or just any old time—may we suggest Date Night, Mom’s Night or just Somewhere to Take the Kids Night?—pop inside the International Terminal and wonder at the abundance of free art located in its Main Hall. There, you’ll find SFO Museum’s vast aviation collection, permanent pieces integrated into the wall and ceiling, as well as five areas with rotating shows and video art. Right now, there’s a display of hand-shaped wooden surfboards, short films, British silver, and a fascinating collection of incredible insects, appealing to the entomologist in us all.

If you are able to access the International G Gates, you’ll discover a virtual El Dorado of astonishingly great artwork from beginning to end. And here’s a well-kept secret. If you’re flying in or out of Terminal 3 (mostly United), you can pass through security at the International G entrance, view the art, perhaps have a bite or drink, then slip down a passage to the T3 gates to board your plane and bonus: see all the art there. You can also do the route in reverse upon return. If you do, in G you’ll find treasures including Leah Rosenberg’s Everywhere, A Color, depicting San Francisco through a patchwork of vibrantly hued horizontal slats and Juana Alicia & Emmanuel C. Montoya’s Sanctuary/Sanctuario, a rich muralesque painting depicting the Bay Area as refuge to people of different cultures, extending to the shore birds flocking annually to our surrounding wetlands.

There’s so much to see in G that you might be tempted to take a break or turn around, but don’t! The prize at the very end is a secret outdoor garden, opening to a view of the hills and airplanes cruising the tarmac. It’s non-smoking, furnished with deck chairs and home to Woody De Othello’s three hefty sculptures, Time, Turn and Light. They contribute to the sense of peace and fresh air punctuating the hectic terminal. Grab a Joe & The Juice or a bite at 1300 Fillmore and your respite is complete.

Next, take your treasure map and venture further afield into the aforementioned Terminal 3. There you’ll find an original Wayne Thiebaud and Amy Ellingson’s majestic mosaic Untitled (Large Variation) past security, as well as a thoroughly nostalgic treat, The Modern Consumer: 1950s Products and Style, showcasing period objects representing consumer culture. Outside security and on view to all is Gustavo Rivera’s painting Azul, Azul y Hacer, a singular slice of culture unto its own.

Moving on to the ticketed area of Terminal 2, Janet Echelman’s Every Beating Second soaring above is a star of the permanent collection, while the temporary exhibit Down-Home Music: The Story of Arhoolie Records is a priceless collection of authentic mostly black American musical history.

Terminal 1 is in transition as it expands. By July, the first nine gates will open as well as the new Grand Hyatt at SFO, with 60+ new pieces dotted throughout added to the permanent collection, in addition to several new temporary display cases.

Back at the International Terminal A Gates, there’s more exceptional art including Joyce Hsu’s Namoo House, a sculptural wall piece suggesting that the airport fuses science, nature and imagination to become a transient home to all travellers. Make it to the very end and you’ll discover another treat: a couple of restaurants with bars and spectacular views, one of the prettiest and hippest spots at SFO.

Last stop on your tour should take you to the new long-term parking garage 2 located north of the airport. There, Joanna Grawunder’s immersive LED installation Coding spells out “San Francisco” across its glass façade in Morse code. Of course.

There’s lots more to see at SFO but we won’t spoil it. Grab a burrito, banh mi or your roller bag and carry on to an art adventure all your own. You’ll be glad you did.

Portrait of an SFO artist: Amy Ellingson

Amy’s mosaic Untitled (Large Variation) in Terminal 3 is part of SFO’s permanent collection. The work is Amy’s first public art piece and will be on display at SFO for at least 25 years—with an estimated seven million people passing by the mural each year, “an astonishing number,” says Amy, who is also a Bay Area native.

How does having your work exhibited at SFO make you feel?

I feel a great sense of pride to have contributed to the experience of travelers and staff at SFO. While some might see the mural only once or twice, many people see it often, if they are frequent travelers or airport staff. I like the idea that it silently exists and, in a strange way, ‘bears witness’ to a range of human activity and emotion.

What kind of impact has being an SFO artist had on your career?

It is wonderful to have a piece that is always on view in a prominent location. Sometimes it results in professional opportunities, but sometimes it’s just the pleasure of waking up in the morning and seeing that someone has taken a selfie with the mural and emailed it to me or posted it on social media.

How do you want viewers to respond to your work?

As an abstract image/object, it is not meant to be didactic. People are free to find their own associations and form interpretations. It is intended to communicate a spirit of joy, delight and buoyancy, while providing a perceptual, optical and tactile experience.

Is it a photograph or a painting? Wandering through the Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame, a street scene from San Francisco’s Chinatown inspires the question, causing one to draw closer, ponder and carefully examine—then finally process the answer with appreciation and wonder. A glance down at the lower corner reveals a signature and the work’s creative mastermind: SF Peninsula artist Lynette Cook.

Fooling the eye has been a goal of painting since ancient times. The Greek painter Zeuxis was said to have painted a boy holding grapes succulent enough to deceive  birds. In 1795, the American artist Charles Willson Peale painted his two sons descending a staircase and framed the work in a wall niche. The painting reportedly deceived George Washington, who nodded in greeting as he walked by. Finally, there was a movement of trompe-l’oeil (fool the eye) realists in late 19^th-century America that delighted in still life oil paintings of almost palpable reality.

As a 21^st-century artist, Lynette creates acrylic paintings of local urban landscapes so compellingly real that at least one visitor to Andra Norris Gallery refused to believe that he was seeing a painting and not a digitally printed photograph, an understandable mistake.

The inspiration for Lynette’s work lies in photorealism, an art movement of the 1960s that directly rebelled against wild-man abstract expressionist paint flinging by approaching art with exacting detail. Today, with conceptual art and abstraction dominating the art market, realist painting has been usurped to a certain extent by large-scale color photography, which is why Lynette’s stunning lifelike interpretations catch gallery visitors off-guard.

Rather than taking the direct fine art road, Lynette’s journey initially led her in a different direction. Growing up in a small town in southern Illinois, far from urban art centers, Lynette spent hours in the family basement copying illustrations from nature books; in junior high, she made paintings on riverbed stones and sold them at the country fair; at her college in Mississippi, she took a full load of drawing, painting, ceramics and printmaking courses while pursuing an ambitious double major in science and art. “I knew I liked art but I also wanted to do science,” she says. However, having had no professional artist role models, she couldn’t envision becoming a fine artist but she also didn’t see herself as a scientist. The solution to her career dilemma: scientific illustration.

Lynette identified a small scientific illustration program at California College of the Arts in Oakland, one of very few offerings in the 1980s. Despite being “scared” by the idea of California, especially, Lynette notes with amusement, its fruit flies and earthquakes, she set a course for the Bay Area. And while many art school students face uncertainty with their degrees, Lynette transformed an unpaid internship into a nearly full-time position at San Francisco’s Academy of Sciences within six months of graduation. Her position, split between the Exhibits and Invertebrate Zoology departments, was a dream job; among the memorable projects she took on was a huge astronomical mural of galaxies and nebulae, created by airbrushing and spattering, for the Academy’s exhibit of Chesley Bonestell, known as the father of space art.

During her 30-year career in scientific illustration, Lynette also ventured into less glamorous assignments—like stippled pen-and-ink drawings (made with the help of an optical device affixed to a microscope) of the infinitesimally small sex organs of snails. Aside from her work at the Academy, she took on freelance jobs with agencies like NASA and SETI Institute, painting such imponderables as planetary collisions in the constellation Aries, dust rings circling a superdense black hole and the escape of a comet from the Oort Cloud surrounding the solar system.

Although challenging and rewarding, the field of scientific illustration began to radically transform, as many others did, with computerization. In 2010, after facing a serious illness, Lynette finally shifted her focus to fine art painting, giving her more control of her subjects, her practice and her life. As if to validate her decision, Lynette’s artwork was promptly recognized in regional shows and by galleries and collectors.

Lynette describes a series entitled Praesentia, Latin for presence, as “contemporary visions of time-worn buildings that create a metaphor for the human experience.” The series began with a photograph taken on a 2007 trip to China’s Great Wall with her mother, Charlotte Cook-Fuller, who is also an artist. In Lynette’s acrylic on canvas Inner Calm, Charlotte is seen snapping a photo inside one of the Great Wall’s blockhouse towers, while a calamitous threat looms through an arched opening behind her. “Under such circumstances, the woman has a choice: to turn toward the threat and become worried or anxious—or to turn within and remain calm and centered,” is how Lynette captures her intent.

A four-year series on brick fortifications in the U.S. followed, again based on Charlotte’s travels, leading to her current series on San Francisco’s Chinatown, with its architectural glories and oddities, its balconies, shadows, and pennants—and its fluttering, colorful laundry, captured in works like Wash Day at Susie’s. Lynette marvels that laundry never falls from the clotheslines, such is the resourcefulness and skill of these hidden laundresses, “a hidden element,” as she describes it, “in a city that seems gritty and impersonal a lot of the time.”

Unlike some of her artistic predecessors, the uncanny realism in Lynette’s paintings is not meant to be playful deception. Instead, they are depictions of landscapes that have both visual interest and meaning for the artist, who carefully edits her photos before transferring the projected contours onto vellum and then to her gessoed canvas. Lynette’s paintings capture the photographic moment but acquire a pictorial density through the painting process.

These days, Lynette is keeping busy in her garage studio and with a new exhibit at Andra Norris Gallery that runs through June 1. A disciplined worker, she counts herself lucky, after three decades, to be able to work at home with her cat, her iPod and her backyard view. “I get to go into the city with my camera, I take photographs and eat dim sum and have my exploration,” she says. “I can tell stories with the work.”

As for her next series, Lynette is undecided, still content with mining the rich material of Chinatown. “I take photographs when I go somewhere else, but what of that will become art, I don’t know,” she ponders. “There was a nice fire escape in Oregon near a train that I got… There was a nice stairwell in Montana…”

To see more:

Andra Norris Gallery

1107 Burlingame Avenue

lynetteinthestudio.com

Words by Sheri Baer

Step into a small design studio in San Carlos and it’s like entering a time machine. Cast your eyes over to the work bench, and you’ll see hand saws, hammers and files forged during the Civil War era. Glance right and there’s a cutting-edge laser welder capable of joining wires the width of a human hair. Blocks of old-school carvable wax sit on a ledge—while on a nearby desk, a keystroke activates the latest computer aided design (CAD) software. This is the work space of custom jeweler Robert “Bob” Hilton, who, like a time traveler, seamlessly shifts between three centuries of craftsmanship.

“There are probably a couple hundred of us in the country who actually have bench skills and CAD skills,” Bob says, addressing the rarity of his skill set. “A lot of the older jewelers are still trying to figure out how to send an email and the new ones wouldn’t know how to hold a diamond in tweezers.”

Coming from a family steeped in jewelry making, Robert’s professional lineage dates back to his grandfather, Walter W. Hilton, who began his apprenticeship at Shreve’s in San Francisco the day before the 1906 earthquake. In another historical twist, Robert’s grandfather (who later became the mayor of Redwood City) moved his jewelry business to a new building on Broadway in Redwood City in August of 1929, two months before the stock market crash.

Despite the series of inauspicious circumstances, Hilton Jewelers endured, selling fine jewelry, along with silverware, watches, clocks, pen sets and shavers. Shortly after World War II, Robert’s father, Walter A. Hilton, joined the family business, and following two older brothers, at the age of 14, Robert started his own apprenticeship. “We had three generations working together. My first brother became a clockmaker, the second one was a watchmaker and when I went in, they said, ‘You’re going to be a jeweler.’” Bob recounts. “We would all work after school, and they banished me to the back where I could get my hands dirty.”

Getting his “hands dirty” as an apprentice meant five years learning an exacting, frequently-confounding and time-consuming craft. Bob spent the first six months turning a little block of silver into a chain, using a draw plate to work it into a 15-foot wire—then hand-crafting link after link, wrapping one around the other, soldering, polishing and repeating, again and again and again. When he was finally finished, Bob presented the chain to his grandfather: “In the old-school way, my grandfather took a torch and melted it all down and said, ‘Do it again. Instead of six months, do it in two months this time.’ They were pretty hard on us. It was mostly, ‘That’s really nice. Now do it again.’”

Bob credits that repetitive, intensive training for the delicate artistry and attention to detail that serves him to this day. Initially employed by his family, he ventured out with his tools, working for a large jeweler in Tucson, before opening a trade shop in a retail store and later his own business in Placerville. Next, he journeyed to British Columbia and then Corvallis, Oregon, before moving back to the Peninsula in 2005. “Here I try to keep it simple,” he says. Like his grandfather and father before him, he uses the name Hilton Jewelers, but he specializes in custom jewelry, open by appointment only. Having served his time in every nitty-gritty aspect of the trade, he describes his current vocation as “the happiest profession in the world.”

That’s quite a claim, which Bob backs up by crediting the perfect blend of craft and customer. “It’s pretty rare for someone to say, ‘I just got fired. I’ll go have a ring made,’” he wryly observes. “With custom jewelry, it’s always a good thing happening in life, something wonderful. They’re in love. They’re getting married. They’re celebrating an anniversary. They’re getting a promotion. They have a new baby.”

Customers arrive with ideas, sometimes just a glimmer or feeling about what they want—or even what they don’t want. Then the creative collaboration begins, with Bob learning more about the particular milestone, what the piece will convey, preferred lines, curves and colors, down to the delicacy or taper of a wrist or a finger. He typically works with faceted gemstones. Will it be diamonds, rubies, sapphires or emeralds? Maybe an opal or tourmaline. And while Bob tends toward classic designs that will stand the test of time, “If somebody goes off on a tangent, I want to go too,” he says.

Once the concept is determined, Bob will occasionally make sketches and carve wax models by hand but the CAD revolution radically transformed the jewelry making process. “I can make a design and a whole bunch of renders, lay it all out, make a model and print it out on my 3D printer and the model is ready for casting in a fraction of the time,” Bob relates. “I just did a piece that had 106 diamonds all laid out in a double wedding band with a big center diamond. Even in CAD, it still takes a long time, but doing it by hand, I would be working on it for months.”

Still, the newest tech tools aren’t always better and that’s why Bob is grateful that he can draw from both the past and the present. “I can be doing CAD all day and totally beating my head against the wall, thinking, ‘Why can’t I get this to work out?’ And then it’ll dawn on me, ‘Wait! I’m a jeweler. I can do this in 10 seconds with a saw or a file.’ Being able to marry the two techniques together is invaluable.”

When it comes to actually crafting the custom design—whether it’s a 2½-carat platinum Ceylon sapphire ring with Gypsy-set diamonds or an exact image of a prized show horse captured in a yellow-gold pendent—all the tools come into play, from the classic saws and files used for clean-up work to the laser welder that delivers incomprehensible accuracy. Bob’s favorite tool? Hands down, the microscope. “I would quit the business if I couldn’t use one,” he says. “If you can make it look great under 10 or 20 power, the finished product is just phenomenally better. It looks like magic.”

And it’s magic that Bob strives to deliver to every customer—through exquisite, one-of-a-kind pieces that trigger happy memories. At the same time, he cautions customers to remember that it’s not just about them. “I tell them your grandchildren are going to be fighting each other for this ring: ‘She wanted me to have it!’”

Bob knows just how precious family legacies can be, and he still holds himself to the same high standards from his apprenticeship days. “Being a third-generation jeweler is a good way to keep my ego in check,” he reflects. “My grandpa and father both still inspect everything I do in my mind before I deliver it to a customer. I can hear them saying, ‘You can do it however you want… as long as it’s perfect.’”

hiltonjewelers.com

In a culture that rewards going big, the idea of thinking small sounds contradictory. But in the case of design, being constrained by size is a common Peninsula occurrence—whether you’re buying a first home, downsizing after the kids are gone, creating an in-law unit for an aging parent or just trying to optimize a particularly petite room. “You want it to look beautiful but you also need it to be livable and really functional,” is how Rosanna Bassford describes the small space challenge. As the interior designer behind Eggshell Home, Rosanna helps clients create places “they feel good coming home to every day,” no matter the square footage.

Originally from Cupertino, Rosanna took a roundabout road to design. After graduating from UCLA, her first career was in public accounting, followed by an MBA from Northwestern and a second career in marketing. “I had my day job, but I always loved interior design and started doing work on the side,” Rosanna recounts. “Then I finally quit my day job and made the leap to full-time design.” For Rosanna, leaving the corporate world turned out to be the right decision—her third career is clearly the charm.

While big is often equated with better, Rosanna says there can be real advantages in cozier abodes. “What happens when you have a lot of space is you’ll say, ‘I need a chair and I need this and I need that’ just to fill the space, but in a small space, you don’t have that problem. If you have a small space, it makes sense to fill it with things that you really love.”

According to Rosanna, making the most of the space you have starts with layout—your floor plan. “With small spaces, you need it to be really functional and sometimes one space can have multiple functions,” she explains. The second most important thing is the scale and proportion of your furniture—and the number of pieces. And then, from a decorative standpoint, Rosanna employs a number of design tricks to make small spaces feel larger. By way of illustration, she points to “Modern Glam Peninsula Condo,” an Eggshell Home design project in Redwood Shores. The owner wanted to update and refresh this 800-square-foot unit, consisting of one bedroom, one bathroom and one flexible, open-space area. Here are some highlights from Rosanna’s approach:

Layout: The owner used the open-space room for three purposes: living room, dining room and home office. Rosanna’s client had positioned her office closest to the window with a blue sofa cutting the room in half. Rosanna’s first priority: ensuring the most functional floor plan possible. Taking traffic patterns into consideration, she swapped the office and living room, moving the couch against the back wall. “Now when you walk in the door, instead of seeing a desk with piles of papers, you see this beautiful living room, which now flows with the dining room. It really opened up the room and improved the flow of traffic and created an entertaining space. Plus, it brought all of this light into the living room,” notes Rosanna.

Furniture: Selecting the right pieces is key with small spaces. “Don’t go itty-bitty with furniture just because the space is small. That can make it look even smaller,” Rosanna cautions. “Make sure furniture is appropriately proportioned.” Rosanna started with the client’s own blue sofa and then added flexible, more neutral furniture. “The chairs swivel, which is nice in an open space because you can turn in any direction. And we chose rounded chairs so there aren’t as many angles and corners to bump into since they’re floating in the middle of a small space.” Rosanna suggests selecting streamlined pieces with smaller, thinner arms or more slender framing and storage ottomans and stools that can double as seating or tables and be easily moved around as needed.

Decor: Rosanna always looks for opportunities to take advantage of glass and mirrors—to move light around the room and create a sense of spaciousness. In the condo, the bottom level of the coffee table is mirrored, the dining room table is glass and there’s also a mirror in the entryway. For light fixtures, Rosanna’s advice is the opposite of what you might think: “I’d err on the side of bigger rather than smaller. One great light fixture is like a piece of jewelry in the room so you don’t need a lot of other decor.” Introducing strategically-placed area rugs is another way to deliver high-impact results. “The rugs clearly say this is the living room and this is the dining room,” Rosanna says. “Instead of just a bunch of furniture kind of floating in the room, we used rugs to effectively create two spaces out of one big space.”

Color: Rosanna recognized the perfect jumping-off point in the client’s striking blue sofa. “In a small space, I prefer to have one focal point or statement in the room,” she says. Rosanna installed her client’s colorful (and treasured) travel photographs above the sofa to complete the effect. Next, she wove the blue color palette throughout the condo—from the living room and dining room to the bedroom and entryway—to tie everything together. Stepping into the condo, the impression of unity is introduced with an eye-catching splash of teal grasscloth wallpaper. “There’s not a lot of wall space in the entry, so it’s a way to add a lot of texture and richness and make it stand out,” Rosanna says. “Suddenly, you have a big feature in a small space.”

Rosanna emphasizes one tip the most: With small rooms, make everything in them count. “Whether it’s your furniture, textiles, decorative objects or artwork,
make sure they’re all things that you love as opposed
to things that are just there to fill space.”

compact kitchen remodel

When Rosanna first saw this compact Peninsula kitchen, it screamed outdated everything: tile countertops, linoleum floors, fluorescent lighting. The client’s guidance included keeping the floor plan in place and that electric and plumbing couldn’t be moved. “We had a lot of limitations, but we needed to make the space feel lighter, bigger and more open,” Rosanna says. Here are a few ways she tackled the challenge:

• Get rid of the heavy hanging upper cabinets above the sink. “That was probably the most dramatic change,” Rosanna says. “The cabinets were so dark they were just eating up all the light.”

• Originally, the countertop had a short ledge at the end. Rosanna leveled it to make it a flat peninsula. “We took it down and that gave us so much more counter space. Now you can actually do something on the counter.”

• Instead of reinserting a microwave above the range, Rosanna installed a chimney hood, which draws eyes up to the ceiling and elongates the space. “In small, short spaces, you want to do things to emphasize vertical height,” she advises.

• To lighten everything up, Rosanna selected a white color palette and a soft gray textured tile backsplash. As for the flooring? “Obviously, the linoleum had to go!” Rosanna selected light oak hardwood floors to complete the compact kitchen makeover.

eggshellhome.com

April showers most certainly bring May flowers, but we actually have a rainy winter to thank for a super-bloom Peninsula spring. Photographer Frances Freyberg captured this eye-popping field of poppies at the 6,100-acre La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve, which opened to the public in 2017. Considered the gateway to the San Mateo Coast, La Honda Creek offers 10.7 miles of trails through open rolling grasslands, forest and redwood trees. Frances Freyberg will be showcasing some of her favorite Bay Area open spaces in Views from the Trail, an exhibit at the Portola Art Gallery at the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park through the month of May.

Image Courtesy of Frances Freyberg Photography/francesfreyberg.com

They can be antique or modern. Traditional, transitional or tribal. They can make the room. Or just provide a soft backdrop. They are works of art, crafted with almost incomprehensible precision and detail. And we walk all over them.

Bruce Good learned about rugs from the bottom up. As a teen living on his own in Berkeley, he worked at a friend’s family business, sweeping floors, rolling up rugs, making deliveries, flipping and moving stacks—the likes of 20,000 pounds in a day. If there’s a rug bug, Bruce caught it. He opened his own East Bay store in 1992, continuing on a trajectory that eventually led him to the Peninsula. In 2008, he became owner of The Oriental Carpet in Menlo Park.

Stephen Miller traces his passion for rugs to a trek through Europe and North Africa—where he became fascinated by early tribal cultures and hand-woven designs. He opened his first store in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the ‘70s, eventually moving to Menlo Park, where he opened the Stephen Miller Gallery in 1991.

With nearly 80 years between them in the rug business, Bruce and Stephen have tracked every trend and design wave washing over the Peninsula—making it interesting to look back (or actually down) at what’s under our feet.

bruce good

What have been some of the major changes since you started your career?

When I first started in the early ‘80s, it was only Iranian. That’s all people were buying because that’s what was readily available. The look was traditional—reds and blues, formal, floral. Iran had the mentality, ‘We make the best rugs, we have the best quality, if you don’t like it, don’t buy it.’ So they made their sizes, their colors, their designs. The problem is that the dark, heavy colors weren’t working so well in the U.S. anymore. When the embargo went into effect against Iran in 1987, importers like myself had to find other places to go. That’s the main reason people started going to India, China and Pakistan, and they were more willing to work with us on sizes, colors and designs. Nepal also came on board, and they were willing to go Western too.

What exactly goes into making a hand-knotted rug?

Everything we import is done by hand from start to finish, so everything is made on a loom. Depending on the country, it could be an aluminum loom or a wooden loom. There’s a warp, the vertical part, and then there’s the weft, the horizontal part. At the intersection of the warp and weft is where they actually tie the knot. The rugs are made vertically, and there’s a person who sits every two feet, so if a rug is 8’ x 10’ for example, there would be four people making the rug. They do it all from memory or from a cartoon. They tie the knots. They pull the threads down to make them tight. They tie the knots. And they clip as they’re going along. When the rug is done, they shear it, wash it, rinse it and then package it up. They are all hand-tied knots, and that’s why they last forever.

How would you describe the current trends in rug design?

People are getting rid of rugs that are super traditional reds and blues, what I call the grandma rugs. Modern is popular—contemporary, light colors. People are going with blues, grays, silver; everybody wants their house to be fresh and light and bright. I like contemporary because there are only one, two or three colors in the rug. They’re easy to drop in or swap from room to room. The same way a fresh coat of paint can make a room look really nice so can contemporary rugs.

How would you characterize Peninsula rug shoppers?

They want to be educated. People here want to know, ‘What’s it like in India? Tell me where this rug was made.’ And I can tell them because I’ve been there, ‘This is a good facility. I know this family, they’re one of the oldest in India.’ They want to know about Nepal. They want to know, is it a family industry? Do the women work? They want to know the ins and outs. What did it take to make this rug?

stephen miller

How would you describe the overarching trends in rug design?

A lot of my early career was at a time when there weren’t very many interesting new rugs being made, so what drew me more aesthetically were antique carpets. But then our interests culturally have gone away from what was antique, and modernism has taken over, and so now there’s much more thought and interesting things being done in contemporary rugs, and they’re actually coming up with new concepts. And what’s interesting to see is how the old influences the new—how designs get deconstructed and colors get reinterpreted. The number of options that are available to a rug buyer today is staggering.

What have been the major design shifts on the Peninsula?

When I first came here, there was a very different look. It was much more Laura Ashley, folksy, homey. And then for a long time, a Tuscan sort of aesthetic was very strong with softer, mellow colors. Now I’ve noticed a distinct shift towards modernism and minimalism. There was a phase of nothing but beige and then there was a phase of nothing but gray and now we’re getting beige with some gray. And then we’ve got some color too, some lavender, some rose pinks and even some starker, sharper colors. On certain levels, tribal rugs with saturated colors are timeless, and a soft palate with delicate shades is also timeless.

How do you view rugs in the design process?

There’s a visual hierarchy that starts with the rug because we walk into the room looking at the floor about six feet in front of us-—otherwise, we’d trip. And so the first thing we see when we walk into any room is the floor. We see the colors on the floor. So that is going to build the room’s color palette. I think the ideal thing is to take time to go into rug stores or to look at rugs, to look through publications, just to open your eyes up before you say, ‘Okay, honey, we’re going to go buy a rug today.’ Look at what appeals to you in terms of the palette.

What do we need to understand about the artistry of a hand-knotted rug?

The amount of work that goes into it is just phenomenal. Typically a 9’ x 12’ carpet, a hand-knotted rug, will take between three and four months to eight months or a year to make, and that’s just the weaving time. There’s the development of the design, and then the rug has to be woven according to a graph which is scaled, knot per knot, and in reality that may mean anywhere from 60 to 80 knots per square inch up to 150 to 250 knots per square inch. We have rugs that are 150 knots per square inch in a 9’ x 12’, so that’s millions and millions of knots. There isn’t anything that you can buy that has a higher degree of human effort and labor in it than a hand-knotted carpet.

Amanda Kuzak was that kid. You know the one—the friend who inspired that dreaded query from your parents: “Why can’t your room look like hers?” Amanda says she was born with the drive to organize and recognized opportunity from the start. “My older brother and sister would pay me part of their allowance to clean and organize their rooms,” she recalls. “I wanted to be fair so I didn’t take all of their money.”

As the owner of Kuzak’s Closet, a full-service professional organizing company with 12 full-time employees based in Los Altos, Amanda didn’t start out with the goal of being a professional organizer. Growing up in Michigan, she attempted law school before acknowledging that it just wasn’t the right fit. Meanwhile, she started organizing for her friends and then her “friends’ friends,” and in 2004, she began getting paid for her efforts.

Initially, Amanda found herself purging collections of designer handbags and shoes and selling them on eBay. “We had this big linen closet in our condo and I would put all this stuff I was selling in there—from 40 pairs of designer jeans to Christopher Radko ornaments,” she says. “That’s why the business is called Kuzak’s Closet. My friends could come over and say, ‘Oooh, what’s in Kuzak’s closet this week?’”

When Amanda moved to the Peninsula in 2009, she launched Kuzak’s Closet, along with a daily blog with organizing tips, and quickly adapted to the fast-paced local culture: “For our residential organizing services, our clients are busy families—it’s often Mom or Dad saying, ‘I can’t take it anymore.’ At the end of a busy day, they’ve picked up their house, they’ve picked up their kitchen and there’s just too much stuff. That’s when they reach out. We just have an overwhelming amount of access to stuff here.”

Call it a first-world problem, but having too much (or even just the wrong) stuff can take a big toll. For example, if you’ve gained some weight and haven’t cleared out outdated sizes, Amanda calls it “a slap in the face every time you look in your closet.” And when you open your garage door to go into your house and it’s overflowing with clutter? You mentally chastise yourself. “Ugh! I really should deal with that!” is how Amanda describes the reaction. “Looking at it is really fatiguing and you don’t even realize it.”

The urge to reduce clutter can strike anytime, but spring cleaning fervor has ratcheted up a notch with what’s being called the “Marie Kondo craze.” Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, inspired a cleanout frenzy when it was released in 2014. And with the January launch of her popular Netflix series “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo,” the desire to eliminate excess is soaring to new heights. “Her philosophies are the same philosophies that I’ve operated with for 15 years. Any professional organizer would say the same thing,” Amanda observes. “That’s just our process. You always pull it all out, sort it and then you purge—and then you plan and you put it away. There are so many organizing books that no one reads that are fantastic, so it’s nice to have it taken seriously.”

In addition to organizing, Kuzak’s Closet also offers relocation, estate sales and liquidation services, so Amanda finds herself managing three to four projects on any given day. And while she’ll deploy a team to get the job done, she says applying discipline and focus can get you satisfying results on your own. “You have to be strategic about where you start and then just stick to that zone,” she advises. “If you come across something that belongs in another room, just create a pile of action items. Don’t go to the other room and try to put it away because then you’ll just go down a different rabbit hole.”

While Marie Kondo uses the language of only keeping things that “spark joy,” Amanda frames that same concept in Peninsula real estate terms. “I always tell people the square footage of your home is worth at least $1,400 a foot, depending on where you live. ‘Is that item worth $1,400 dollars a square foot?’” she’ll ask her clients. “People need to understand the value it will provide when it’s gone and that it’s okay to pass things on.”

Visit kuzakscloset.com for more organizing tips and to follow Amanda’s blog.

amanda’s spring cleaning tips:

• Identify the zone you want to work on

• Methodically work through the space clockwise or counterclockwise

• Bag up stuff you don’t want

• Close the deal: process recycling, donations and trash right away

Although she always felt a calling for design, Celeste Randolph found herself being steered in a different direction. Cautioned by her parents that design wasn’t a practical choice, she became a court reporter instead. However, Celeste’s love of design never wavered. “I always had a copy of Southern Accents or Architectural Digest tucked in my drawer so when the judge and the lawyers would go to the bench, I could peek at the latest design trends,” she says.

Originally from Livermore, Celeste moved to Los Altos in 1995, and in 2005, she connected with Heidi Menard from Palo Alto’s Ambiance Interiors and seized the chance to finally pursue her dream career. “Heidi took me under her wing and she taught me so much over eight years,” Celeste says. As demand for her services grew, Celeste realized that it made sense to open her own business. She launched Celeste Randolph Designs in 2015, specializing in both interior design and decor. From accessorizing with pillows to implementing full construction design, Celeste now works with a team of eight, taking on “rebuild, remodel or refresh” projects from San Carlos to Los Gatos.

Whether it’s designing spaces for living, dining or sleeping, Celeste does it all, but she says the true heart of the home is the kitchen. “The family definitely lives in the kitchen and we want to entertain in our kitchens as well. That’s where all the activity takes place. It’s where we find out about our children’s days or what happened at work and it is probably the most popular room in the house,” Celeste notes.

That wasn’t always the case. When Celeste gets called in to consult on older Peninsula homes, she frequently encounters “galley” kitchens. Designed to be functional, like a galley on a ship, these isolated spaces had one sole purpose: preparing food. That shifted in the 1990s, and now when Celeste encounters a galley kitchen, “the first thing we do is try to open it up to family rooms.” With so much focus being given to this hub of the home, we asked Celeste to summarize what’s heating up in the kitchen.

COLOR: Whites and grays are still the craze but saturated colors like teal blue, navy or aubergine are making a splash on islands, barstools and accessories. Celeste thinks we’ll see more kitchens with saturated jewel-tone painted cabinets in the future. “People are getting bolder. We’ve seen a lot of white and we want something different,” Celeste says. “But you have to marry a balance of saturated color with light.”

COUNTERTOPS: While marble is always a classic choice, its popularity makes it more expensive and harder to come by. That’s why quartz and Neolith are quickly gaining traction. “Neolith is a sintered surface made with a combination of natural minerals using heat and pressure as binding agents and it looks so real and beautiful,” Celeste says. “It’s also a family-friendly product. It’s very durable, so you don’t have to babysit it.” According to Celeste, six out of eight recent projects chose Neolith and price was a definite factor: “Instead of $8,000 for a slab of Calcutta, you can get Neolith for $1,700.” For clients who prefer natural stone, trends are honing, leathering or texturing the granite.

FURNITURE STYLE: “We try to take any opportunity we can in a kitchen to give it a furniture-like presence,” Celeste says. Appliances are integrated and paneled, which creates a visually seamless look. The other advantage of paneling? You don’t have the constant fingerprint cleanup you get with stainless steel. (Although stainless is still the go-to choice for ultra-modern style.) Other tips: Bring cabinetry down to the counter in some places and accent with antique mirror and glass insets. Celeste also likes to play with toe kicks, the space between the base cabinet and the floor, bumping up to five inches and even adding leg detail to make cabinets look like furniture.

LIGHT AND LIGHTING: Kitchens are going big when it comes to light fixtures. By selecting the right chandelier, Celeste creates an eye-popping statement to ground the space and add a little glamour. She also recommends introducing as much natural light as possible: windows, French doors and skylights. “We love skylights in our kitchens,” Celeste acknowledges, “but how do you illuminate that at night?” That’s where a little ingenuity comes in—cabling through skylights to hang smaller pendants.

ISLANDS: Islands are a gathering place and a workspace too. And with everyone trying to get rid of counter clutter, they conveniently house microwave ovens, wine and beverage refrigerators and ice makers. “Islands are perfect for concealed storage space, especially for tucking away appliances,” Celeste says. And whether it’s two stools or four, bypass the backs “so you can tuck them in” if you need more space. Waterfall the counters to boost durability and give the island a more interesting look. And if you want a splash of color, this is a good place for it—consider navy blue, gray or a dark stain wood—steering clear of white will also reduce the nicks.

OTHER TOP TRENDS: When it comes to hardware, Celeste points to big and bulky cabinet pulls. She likes clean, European sleek lines on kitchen faucets and simpler, squared-off range hoods. And while white apron–front sinks are seeing a popularity surge, durable stainless steel is always timeless. For under the feet, Celeste is a big fan of wood flooring. “What we’re loving is 7” European white oak plank with an oil finish because it’s easy maintenance and gives you that farm-like look,” Celeste says, and she suggests topping it off with a hand-knotted antique runner. For enduring style, Celeste recommends transitional design: “I like fresh and new, so what we do is take the classic and modify it to reflect the client’s personality. And I’m always looking for ways to clean the lines a bit.”

refresh

Goal: Update kitchen with brown granite counters, tired wooden cabinets and a heavy Tuscan hood.

Design Choices: Painted cabinetry white and island navy. Selected herringbone marble backsplash and white quartzite counters. Installed new faucet and bold hardware. Replaced hood with cleaner, wooden design. This kitchen looks like a new kitchen for a fraction of the cost.

rebuild

Goal: White kitchen with a modern feel.

Design Choices: For a contemporary look, used espresso rift-cut oak floating shelves to match the island finish, mid-century-looking marble backsplash and waterfalled the Neolith counters on one side of the island. Note the cool light fixture hanging from the tall ceiling.

remodel

Goal: Client wanted traditional and loves anything French.

Design Choices: Used Neolith that looks like marble for island, added a pair of crystal chandeliers as well as more traditional hardware in brass. Shaker cabinets with an extra bead detail also add to traditional look. Large windows over the sink bring in natural light.

remodel (assisted by Ginger Case)

Goal: Update and open up original galley kitchen with beige cabinetry.

Design Choices: Removed wall to connect kitchen with family and dining spaces. To set a natural and organic tone, used rift-cut horizontal oak wood for cabinets, natural stone strip cladding for backsplash and sleek hardware. Designed cabinetry to conceal all appliances and keep counters clear. Kept windows from original plan and added skylights.

rebuild (assisted by Ginger Case)

Goal: Create a contemporary feeling utilizing as much storage as possible for the space.

Design Choices: Selected textured quartzite (Grigio Quartzite Flannel) for the island and chunky appliance handles for the hardware. Hung pendant lights from a cable inside the skylight to address lighting challenges. Squared-off range hood creates sleeker look.

remodel (assisted by Ginger Case)

Goal: White kitchen with a Santa Barbara feeling.

Design Choices: For backsplash, we used hand-thrown glazed subway tile for a timeless look. For lighting over the island, we installed a heavy iron chandelier that used to hang outside the original home, which ties in with other light fixtures. Woven bar stools add texture to the white kitchen.