Valentina

Sculpture In My Hands | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

01 Dec 2017 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #ChicInVintage, #HowToDressWithVintage, #LucitePurses, #VintageFashion, #VintagePurses

Welcome to December episode of Friday Fashion.
There is nothing better I like than dressing in modern clothes and accessorize my outfits with vintage items. It’s a playful look and not necessarily prim, snobbish.
The fact is, a vintage accessory goes well with everything we wear today. The clothes of today are mass-produced and lack originality. The moment one thinks is wearing something original, thousands examples exactly the same have come out at the same time filling stores with garment-uniforms. In the past, when clothes were tailored, every woman was original, details on the garment were exceptional, different from one dress to another and often reflected the fantasy of the tailoress. Well-designed original dresses required just as original accessories for a finishing touch.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

I own Lucite and other vintage purses mostly from the ‘40s and ‘50s, they all find their place with my outfit and somehow, they work every time. Some purses have lids that open and reveal mirrors, lipstick case or small make-up compartments, some even have a cigarette case attached. Their value today is very high, they might range from $50 to over $500.

Play with geometry – I attribute the success of combining modern with vintage to the futurist shapes of some vintage purses: square and rectangular box styles, ovals, trapezoid, cylinders, scalloped shaped……

Let’s say you are wearing an A line skirt, your vintage purse looks better if it is vertical in a long shape. Why? The A line skirt flair out from the body, the cylinder purse will balance the visual puffiness of the skirt.
If you are wearing a cigarette pair of pants, the round barrel or the square purse will look better.

Clothes as Architecture
Clothes and accessories follow the same principle of architecture. It must be aesthetically pleasing and proportionate to create harmony on the body. When we look at a building with classic architecture we might see a row of windows with triangle pediments on top, then below we see a row of windows with arched tops, then again, another row of windows with triangle pediments. This is called repetition in harmony. We sculpt our body the same way with colors and shapes. In my drawing is easy to understand how to counterbalance triangle shapes with round shapes and square shapes with rectangular shapes, just as architects do. This eliminates boredom and it is easy on the eyes.

If your body is round, your purses shapes should be vertical and rectangular, if your body is rectangular, you can choose the round shape purses. Difficult? It might be at the beginning, once you get the hang of it, you will love to play this game. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com/services#fashion-services

Valentina Cirasola is a trained Fashion and Interior Designer, born in Italy in a family of artists. Style surrounded her since the beginning of her life. Her many years of experience led her to offer consultations in both specializations and now she can remodel homes as well as personal images. She is passionate about colors and encourages her clients to express their individual style in their homes and with the clothes they wear. To better help people all over the world she offers consultations online. She is the author of three books. Get your copy of Valentina’s book on colors:
©RED-A Voyage Into Colors on

Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB

Dining In Colors | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

16 Nov 2017 6 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ArtOfDining, #BohemianColors, #ColorfulDining, #ColorfulHolidayDiningTable, #TableDesign, #ThanksgivingColors, Tablescape

Eating is a story, not just a moment to fulfill a necessity. Every nation has special holiday dining customs and rituals. In the western world, we sit at a well decorated table and give our guests something stunning to look at while they gather to enjoy dinner. Your dining table should be colorful, inviting, extravagant (why not?) and especially filled with good food.

It is easy to set up a table with traditional dishware, crystal glasses and silver flatware, nothing to it. The challenge comes when you want to do something out of the ordinary, colorful and follow your instinct instead of rules. How a table that responds to these characteristics would look like?

First, create a color scheme, let’s say blue. It doesn’t mean everything on the table must be blue, you need to create a rhythm with complement or analog colors.
Vincent Van Gogh said: “There is no blue without yellow and without orange”. Right there is the answer. With a blue tablecloth, yellow and orange tableware will be perfect. Blue is a cold color, yellow and orange are warm colors. You have created a color temperature.

Start with choosing a theme for your table: Bohemian, bucolic, country and so on.
Then select dark, medium and light values of the color you plan on using.
Find some complement or analogue colors to mix in and to add rhythm to the table setting.
Mix and match the tableware as you like.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

For this first tablescape the theme is Bohemian. I chose a white tablecloth as the base for layering all the colors. Two different colors tea tablecloth covered opposite corners of the table, one black with bird motifs and the other one in golden tones with classical motifs.
Playing with geometry and mixing round with square plates from various dish sets is fun. Mix vintage and modern plates, mix colors and shapes, no rules and surprise yourself.
I made the napkins from leftover material of various projects and closed them in brass napkin rings. Tea light holders made of rusted metal go well with brushed bronze flatware.
Glassware don’t match on purpose, but the greenish tone is their common denominator to other items on the table.
Prosecco bottle has an interesting Venetian embellishment. She is the autumn leaves lady that sometimes is on a wine bottle and sometimes is on a mirror somewhere else in the house. Her purpose is to embellish.

For the second Bohemian table, I have used a floral tablecloth, made of silk fabric in silver tone, as the base, then I cover it half way with a red voiles shawl. Each set of glassware is made of three different styles glasses and each set is made of the same three pieces. Even though, I chose a continuity in the glassware, I wanted my plate sets to be extravagant in style and colors. The silver flatware is a contrast to the gold wine glassware. I scattered some acrylic diamonds on the cloth to pick up light from candles and lamps outside the table. The table is set for two, it would be just the same for 4-6 or more people.

A dinner table is for food and conversation, decorations should be kept minimal and low to allow guests to see each other and talk across the table.

This will be the topic of my next TV Show: “Dinner At 7:00” produced under my label Valentina Design Universe.
I hope you have a splendid Thanksgiving. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola transforms and creates spaces realizing people’s dreams in homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She infuses your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living. Valentina is well-known for bringing originality on any project and for thinking outside the box. Her interiors are not made with cookie cutters, only follow client’s inspiration, lifestyle and personality. She offers on-line design consultations through Skype and the traditional in-house consultations, helping people with their design challenge anywhere in the world. She is the author of three books, all-available on
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Life To A Cloth | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

10 Nov 2017 4 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #TailoredClothes, #TailoredSuits, #TailorScissors, #TailorTrade, #TailorWork, #WomenTailors

This Friday Fashion is about a charming trade.
Today, they are called “Men of Cloth” and “Men of Artistry”, they are those few tailors left in the world. Their stories are so similar to the tailoresses’ stories, I know so well. My mom and all her sisters were professional tailoresses. The difference between a tailoress and a seamstress? Like day and night, without putting one on the pedestal and diminishing the other. They both contribute to the beauty of a person in a different way.

In my mom’s era, both men and women learned some king of trade in school or off school, a solid trade to make a living and support families. Tailoring was an art, it was about choosing a piece of cloth and make it come alive on someone’s body. Anyone going in that trade, had to start from the basics, learn how to manage the needle, how to use a thimble, how to do basting (a rough stitching that holds two pieces of cloth together, whether it was for hemming, holding fabric and lining, or interface) and even learn how to hold a scissor in the hand. The apprentices learned the artistry of making a perfect garment from established tailor teachers with a reputation of being beyond strict.

Artistry is having the ability to bend a piece of metal, to tame a stone, to shape a cloth, to give a life to any material as the artist wants. My mom celebrated the woman’s body, transformed large women, women with birth defects, tall and small women into perfect bodies, she made clothes to highlight their best features and knew how to hide imperfections.

In her sewing laboratory there was camaraderie between the girls working for her. Married women workers shared marriage hardships, kids difficulties and kids sicknesses, the single girls shared love stories and dreamt with opened eyes. They were proud to work in my mom’s tailor laboratory. Working condition were good, clean and most of them knew my mom put high quality craftsmanship at the centre of their attention. They wanted to work for her, she was kind, sweet and understanding, very unusual qualities as a boss in the tailor trade. Our younger workers were always excited to get a glimpse at the clients’ young sons picking up their moms after fittings, the girls waited for that moment to be noticed. There was a lot of giggling and many mirrors came out of their purse to smear more red lipsticks or freshen up a make-up, every time there was a rich boy at the door. My mom’s clients were wealthy, every young worker aspired to end up in the grace of one of those wealthy kids one day.

With a few tricks of the trade, which weren’t tricks, but professional knowledge, my mom made miracles on paper patterns she drew free hands. She knew how to make the stomach of a woman disappear by drawing the right slit on the paper pattern, or how to augment a small breast with a dart in the right place. She knew how to make uneven shoulders look even and square, or uneven arm look the same length. All the designs happened on paper first, then transferred on cloth.

Her tools of the trade had been the same for over 65 years: chalk, measuring tapes, paper, pencils, some squares she never used, thimbles, heavy scissors, some decorated with cherubs or metal embroiders, some plain and heavy. She carried her scissors hanging on her waist, like a guard carries a gun on the side of the body. She never wanted anyone to use her scissors. Where did they end up? I wished I had them today.

(Click each photo to view it larger).

(Above https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Art-Noueau-Gilt-Brass-Handled-Scissors-of-Unusual-Form/112629748198?hash=item1a394191e6:g:oXMAAOSwOA1Z~mmJ)

Her laboratory was in the house where we lived. Workers came to work there and they were part of our family life. It wasn’t an industrial place, like this one in my photos, but more like a large salon with nice furniture, sofas, tall mirrors and upholstered chairs for the comfort of the clients. The working area was filled with a couple of sewing machines, iron table, cutting table, shredded fabric and thread everywhere on the floor. My mom had little time to devote to shopping and cooking. She would ask one of the girls designated for errands to go by the market to pick up this and that food between running errands for the tailor shop. Admonishing her not to flirt around too much was like telling it to the wall and completely disregarded.

(Above pictures were taken by Valentina Cirasola inside a seamstress shop with permission)

No one body is the same, there are no two people alike, the expertise of a tailor is not to make clothes that fit everybody like those mass-produced clothes today, but to understand the differences and find the solution to create visually perfect bodies, no matter the size.
My mom always said: “Style is more than putting fashionable clothes on. One must travel through life changes, accept them and adapt by wearing clothes that will give you the power each age brings”.

I learned all my mom’s trade secrets just by being there, living and breathing fabrics, threads, notions, colors, style and hearing shop talk, I learned their jargon and techniques. My mom never wanted to teach me her trade. Often she exclaimed: “The needle is very small and very heavy, learn a profession!!!”. I guess, she didn’t want me to deal with long working hours, temperamental clients, delicate fabrics, disasters of the unexpected or being in a volatile field, but life always plays tricks with us. I moved away for work, I ended up going to the Fashion Academy in Italy and worked as a fashion designer after all. The cloth that comes alive under the hand of experts, fascinated me and I wanted to be part of that magic too. If you have a dream, let it happen and if you have stories in the tailoring trade you like to share, please write me and I will share them here. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com/services#fashion-services

Rounded | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

31 Oct 2017 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #NapaStyleFurniture, #NapaWineCountry, #PodChair, #RoundedChair, #RoundMetalPlates, #WordPressPhotoChallengeRounded

Going to Napa, the California wines’ valley is a fun experience every time. Stores display unusual merchandise for those people looking for originality and at time a bit crazy too, but crazy in home décor is good. One or a few whimsical pieces here and there make a jovial, playful home. Colors and rounded shapes are more welcoming than straight lines or sharp corners, especially if kids are around.

I loved this pod chair. Not only is round, it swivels and is patriotic. All black leather covers the interior of the pod. I would have liked it in all red interior.

(Click on each photo to view it larger)

In the same store, I found this very unusual table set made of hammered metal with golden beading. I wondered if this is only a decorative table set, or it is intended for food and if it is, how food would taste on metal. In the Middle Age, metal and wood were the only materials used to make plates, until ceramic was invented.

This set of lace tray and plates is magnificent, and the price is as well, $525 each set, of my !!!

The visit could not be complete without a visit to at least one winery, where the round oak wine barrels, round shaped garden and beautiful flowers greeted us.

Round shaped flower beds and a round fountain make an inviting courtyard.

Napa Valley is a country side, with a warm, sultry temperature, vineyards and wine makers populate the area. Here, days go by tasting wines, eating specialty food and international variety of cheeses. I think that’s the reason people are so relaxed here. Life is easier when it is not stuck in the same groove.

Some of the buildings stayed the same since 1892 or just about. The round paneling enclosing all windows makes nice details on a building that is otherwise square. History and traditions is what I want to see when I get away from the city, skyscrapers and heavy traffic.

I think, I can live here, even without the sea. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian interior designer in business since 1990. She is passionate about colors and all expressive arts. She is a “colorist”. To her, selecting art and original pieces means to bring out the best energy of her clients and nourish their soul. She trots the world and loves writing travel notes, from which she draws inspiration to design her interiors. She is the author of her book on the subject of colors: ©Red-A Voyage Into Colors available on:
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB

Equestrian Weekend | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

29 Oct 2017 2 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #EquestrianStyle, #IndianJewelry, #LeisureClothes, #UrbanCowgirlStyle, #WesternStyleFashion

My last business trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico enticed me to look at another type of fashion, the one that is far from my city style: western style and even equestrian style. There is a lot of charm in this style, it’s a little rough, a little country, suggestive of adventures with bizarre horses running with the mane in the wind, in all their strength and grace.

Local stores in Albuquerque displayed a lot of western clothes, but I haven’t seen many people wearing that fashion in the street, except cowboy hats on a few older men.

I thought it would be interesting and fun to wear an equestrian style for a weekend in the gold country of California. Up there, one can still feel the spell of gold and the roughness of pioneers. Architecture is the same as in the 1800s, saloons are still there and people do wear this kind of clothes. At least I will not look prepared for Halloween. With this style, I have more opportunities to wear my huge turquoise index ring, an original design of Navajo Cecil Atencio.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

I made up a concept board with all I want to wear and now that I am looking at it, I can say, it would feel comfortable wearing this style even in the city. Just need the right horse. I love the ankle bracelet to wear over the boots, nice touch! It comes in a few colors.

(All items in my concept board are from https://www.backinthesaddle.com)

This is how the concept of building a new personal wardrobe starts, when I am remaking someone’s image. I look at the client’s lifestyle and decide how many pieces of clothes he/she needs for leisure or work. I look at the colors of skin, hair and eyes, the shape of the body, I take measurements and put all the information on a concept board. Once approved, we go shopping. Nothing is difficult with experience and skills. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com/services#fashion-services

Valentina Cirasola, is a trained Fashion and Interior Designer, born in Italy in a family of artists. Style has surrounded her since the beginning of her life. Her many years of experience in design business led her to offer consultations in both fashion and interiors, so much so that she can remodel homes as well as personal images. She is passionate about colors and encourages her clients to express their individual style in their homes and with the clothes they wear. She is the author of three books, one of which is a book on color theory: ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Bring Back Charm | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

21 Oct 2017 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #Archways, #CrownMolding, #DecorativeBaseboards, #DecorativeMoldings, #MoldingandTrims, #MoldingsandCorbels

Newly built homes might follow trends of the moment, but lack the charm of trims and custom millwork of elegant homes of the past.
Adding an arch, a niche, a wainscoting or various crown moldings is not as intimidating as one thinks. I am working on a client’s home, it will be cute as a button when it will be finished. Adding the archway was easy even for the contractor. Between demolishing the existing door and building the new arch, took no time, just a day of work. It seems such a small detail, but the new arch is making a big impression in the room. The medium-high kick board highlights the new distressed wood next to the tile planks. The cabinets with interior lights on both sides of the arch, seem to frame it. The new corner block molding finishes beautifully the end of the crown molding, which doesn’t dead end in the wall.
Before the arch, there was a door there, now both rooms look one entity, even though there is a change of color.
That is called rhythm.

New Arch with block molding

Wood floor and tile planks

New lit cabinets with block molding

Block moldings are small details with large power, they finish corners so beautifully.
(Photo below: Decorating Ceiling Tiles)

(Photo below: Crown Molding Corner Blocks Lowes Sheltylvratt Net Pinterest)

In the photo below is explained how easy it is to design and elegant ceiling crown moldings with a bunch of strips stacked together in an artistic manner. (Photo below: TheJoyofMoldings.com)

What else can we frame with crown moldings? Frame a mirror.
(Photo below: http://www.kts-s.com/kts/53083/how-to-frame.asp)

Frame a door with simple molding and corbels, which will add attractive classical details with an old charm, even if it’s only one doorway as shown in the photo (By: Full of Great Ideas – http://www.livingho.me)

Wall frame paneling – simple moldings can be arranged to mimic ornate profiles and add the illusion of wood paneling, just like those used by the British homes in the 1750s. (Photo found on: http://www.buzzfeed.com)

Tall Baseboard –After World War II, houses went up like mushrooms. Society had the need to rebuild infrastructures, homes, schools, shops and everything else. To give way to fast building, beautiful details of past architecture were not important anymore. Layering various pieces of molding with different feature, such as a flat plank with a decorative cap molding and quarter round pieces, is very effective, it defines the room by adding a regal look and value to the house.
A tall baseboard can be made with flexible skirting as this one in the photo below.
(Photo below – https://www.wmboyle.co.uk/product/sx118-flexible-skirting)

Upgrading the home with small details such as crown molding will increase the value of your property and will be your home, personalized to your taste, not the builder’s taste. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola transforms and creates spaces realizing people’s dreams in homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She infuses your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living. Valentina is well-known for bringing originality on any project and for thinking outside the box. Her interiors are not made with cookie cutters, only follow client’s inspiration, lifestyle and personality. She offers online design consultations through Skype and the traditional in-house consultations, helping people with their design challenge anywhere in the world. She is the author of three books, all-available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Glow | Valentina Cirasola | Designer and Author

21 Oct 2017 8 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #AlbuquerqueHistory, #AlbuquerqueOldTown, #EarthColors, #SouthWesternArt, #TravelUSA, #WordPressPhotoChallengeGlow

Sleepy life in the afternoon glow has its charm.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

I had forgotten how it was to slow down life activities in the afternoon for a relaxed siesta, until I went to Albuquerque on business and experience it again. The Old Town is just as I had envisioned: Abobe style architecture, earth colors, brick sidewalks, natural stones, row hides, pleasantly warm weather, friendly people and sleepy corners glowing in the golden light of the afternoon. Memories of the past came back when I saw Guajillo Peppers drying in the air. My grandparents used to dry the same peppers and they weren’t Mexican. I guess drying earth summer bounty was a way to ensure good food for the winter as well. I find a common denominator in various cultures and drying or canning food for the winter is one.

I am observing the Adobe style and how I can reproduce some details in a different climate and environment. Colors here are warm, mostly ochre, sandy, green and turquoise, while brown dominates. Here, the light is different from the area I live, we are at 5000 ft of altitude, the air is thinner, the golden glow in the air is enveloping, it adds to the quiet and slow life. I feel the vibrations of this spiritual land.

The lintel beam over the iron gate is very appealing to me as a rustic garden feature, especially when the opening leads to another glowing garden vignette with colorful flowers. This is the rectory’s courtyard of San Felipe de Neri Historic Church built in 1793 in the Old Town Albuquerque.

Yellow fits in the brown like two peas in the pot.

I sat here between flower beds for half hour and saw the world going by. I can feel the earth’s vibrations in this old town. In that glowing atmosphere of a warm afternoon, I actually learned from my silence and the quiet around me. Every moment counts, live it in colors!

I returned home in the glowing afternoon, accomplished, full of ideas and happy.

Ciao.
Valentina
https://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-to-puglia-2/

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian interior designer in business since 1990. She is passionate about colors and all expressive arts. She is a “colorist”. To her, selecting art means to bring out the best energy of her clients and nourish their soul. She trots the world and loves writing travel notes, from which she draws inspiration to design her interiors. She is the author of her book on the subject of colors: ©Red-A Voyage Into Colors available on

Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Art Of Puglia: Taming A Stone | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

11 Oct 2017 4 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #LecceStone, #LecceStoneSculptures, #PietraLecce, #PugliaArtsandCraft, #RenzoButtazzo, #RenzoButtazzoSculptor

“It is warm to the touch and feels like a skin of a woman” says Renzo Buttazzo, Italian sculptor of a particular stone found only in Lecce, in the deep region of Puglia, South-East of Italy. I had the opportunity to interview him and a world of beauty opened up to me.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

(Above: Renzo Buttazzo – Italian sculptor)

Renzo Buttazzo calls the stone an “unstable precariousness”. Inspired by the simplicity of walls in the Puglia countryside, which were built only with stones stacked one on top of the other without mortar, Renzo designed a piece of stone furniture the same way. Each piece of stone he carved, hovers over the other, he stacked them like the walls in the country securely standing for centuries under all-weather conditions. The design style he chose refers to the square shapes of ‘70s.

(Above: “Yang” Stone Furniture)

Renzo Buttazzo started carving Lecce Stone at age 19 when the path he wanted to follow was clear to him. He wanted to create something “spectacular” with his hands. Experiment after experiment, he changed the way of carving a stone. Renzo empties out the block of Lecce Stone and creates from the inside out. He doesn’t use the traditional method of carving and shaping a block of stone into a figure or an object, as it has been done with marble and granite for so long. Lecce Stone, Renzo explained, is a soft limestone, as ancient as 4 million years, yellowish in color, warm to the touch and contains fossils, water and sand, basically the memory of past lives that have touched it.

(Above: “Aurea” Table)

He went on to say that the stone produces natural and magical games of light. He was the first to create stone lamps that, in his imagination, were not necessary to turn on. The texture and fenestration he creates in the stone lamps receive the sunlight at various times of the day, making beautiful fluid shapes on walls and surfaces, enough to free the viewer’s imagination. In the morning, the lamps are sculptures and in the evening they become lamps.

(Above: “Dormienti – Vulca” Light Installation)

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(Above: “Meltemi” Lamp)

His way of carving the stone inside out was so innovative to get the media interested in his work and at only age 38, the President of the Italian Republic nominated Renzo Buttazzo:
“Cavalier of the Republic” for artistic merits, a rare award to receive in Italy.

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(Above: “Maui” Floor Lamp)

The nature of Puglia, his native region, where he lives and creates, the shapes of the olive trees, the Karstic rocks of Puglia, coral reefs and the basin of the Adriatic Sea, are all the elements contributing to his inspiration. Touching his sculptures, which is something Renzo encourages to do, will give the visitors the right sensation of the stone’s fluidity, warmth and sensual shapes he attributes to the stone.

(Above and below: “Merlera” Sculpted Wall)

The sculptor loves to empty out the stone with ancient chisels to make it as light as possible, thus no one piece he crafted is equal to the other. In fact, when he receives an order of a large number of wall sconces, or lamps for the same interior, each piece looks different. The attention to detail he puts in his work makes every piece original and highly appreciated.

(Above: “Ovo” Bath Tub)

Due to its versatility, Lecce stone is used for interior applications, usually left in its row state, as it keeps the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The formation of a slight layer of mould protects the stone under any weather condition when used for exterior applications. From the steppe to the desert, Renzo produced exterior decorations for a church in Russia, buildings in Canada and in Dubai. He produces sculptures, lamps, wall sconces, and even stone furniture for famous resorts and hotels around the world.
He loves to talk about his stone lounge chairs for swimming pools, the “Mareposa chaise longue”. At the end of the summer, when people and noises are no longer there, the undulated chairs remain on the swimming pool as soft, silent sculptures of flying ribbons.

(Above: “Mareposa” Chaise Longue)

Renzo collaborates with various glass, wood and metal artists. The “Zeus” table created with metal legs, Lecce stone top and a crack made on purpose to be filled with liquid copper was a great hit at Milan Furniture Exhibition and sold immediately.

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(Above: “Zeus” Table)

Molten glass at the highest temperature mixed in with Lecce stone, burns the stone and creates unpredictable shapes. Once the glass cools, it separates from the stone and voila’ two objects tamed to the will of the artist are born with distinctive characters.

(Above: “Velata” Bowls)

Vulcanization is Renzo’s way of shaping volcanic black stone and incorporating it in the Lecce stone to create dark-light effects and original rhythms.

(Above: “Niura” Sculpture – Vulcanization)

I asked him about his future projects. He wants to fight globalization by returning to its origins. With the help of the European Community Renzo has plans to teach his art to youngsters, teach how to work all materials nature produces, teach them to appreciate the history of Italian craftsmanship and the value of creating objects by hand, making sure the posterity will keep the art alive. Creating a piece art also means knowing how to sell or place it in the right interior, with the right client that will appreciate it.
To his teaching he wants to add market studies, the philosophy of understanding world customers and their needs. The duty of an artist is to hand the past to the new generation to build their future.

(Above: “Vulca Casa” Lamp)

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(Above: “Reef” Vase)

(All works by Renzo Buttazzo – permission granted to use all the photos).

Renzo Buttazzo concluded our conversation by saying he creates for himself first to satisfy his needs. Customers take home his passion, his love and his emotions. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is a designer in business since 1990. She is interested in helping people designing their interior and exterior spaces with an overall feeling of peace, relaxation and harmony that will draw them home eagerly. She is always looking to add that special touch with original findings to the spaces she designs. Colour is the focus of her business today, changing people’s energy and life force just by introducing them to colours they would have never imagined. Vogue Italia magazine, Gentry and many prominent magazines in California featured her work. She appeared on RAI, National Italian T.V. and her story continues. Find copies of her book on colours ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors and the rest of her books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Orange Of Today | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

07 Oct 2017 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #FallColors, #MustardYellow, #OrangeandPurple, #OrangeColor, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #SulfurYellow, #WarmColors

October in California is the best month, weather is mild warm and the breeze caresses softly. It is such a pleasure being seated outdoor at a restaurant and enjoy lunch with a chilled prosecco.

Today, I wanted to dress with a mix of intense Fall season colors to convey a certain strength and power nature has on me.
In a cool way, typical of my ability to mix colors, I composed my style with sulfur yellow tank, mustard yellow pants, brown leather belt, mixed brown-gold silk scarf, orange light sweater jacket and mixed jewelry in orange-brown with gold. A bit of leopard skin doesn’t hurt, especially if it is in the form of Kate Spade’s shoes. This combination is vibrant and very safe, colors are all warm and in the same family. That’s the reason they all work well together, especially if the wearer has a golden tone, olive or tanned skin.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Trying a combination with a cool color on the other side of the color wheel it’s not just good, it’s excellent. Orange, purple and a bit of turquoise is dynamic, zesty, eclectic and playful. As for jewelry, gold tones will go better with orange and silver will mix better with purple, it’s up to the wearer getting the sun energy from the gold or the moon energy from the silver.

Of course, many more colors love orange, as green and blue, but I will leave it to your imagination.

It is time to color your clothes, your closet, your home and everything else around. Leave the Opaque Couché color types to Mark Zuckerberg.

Colors play an important role in the vibe you give off to the rest of the world. It keep away depression, sadness and minor sicknesses. If you wear colors that make you feel good, your brain will know it, your heart will be lighter, positive energy will flow from your veins out of your skin and on your lips forming a big smile. A smile is contagious, people will notice it! Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com/services#fashion-services

Valentina Cirasola is a trained Fashion and Interior Designer, born in Italy in a family of artists. Style has surrounded her since the very beginning of her life. Her many years of experience in design business led her to offer consultations in both fashion and interiors, so much so that she can remodel homes as well as personal images. She is passionate about colors and encourages her clients to express their individual style in their homes and with the clothes they wear. She is the author of three books, one of which is a book on color theory: ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors

Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Windows | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

01 Oct 2017 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #1930PublicWorkArtProject, #CoitTower, #CoitTowerMurals, #GreatDepressionArt, #SanFranciscoArt, #TravelSanFrancisco, #WordPressPhotoChallengeWindows

They say you should never lose your child curiosity. I never have lost mine. I came to San Francisco many moons ago and still feel I am a tourist in my life. The city to me is a great opportunity for learning, never lose the chance to visit buildings which contain arts and culture. The restaurant scene is my second interest, of course, learning about food of various cultures is very interesting, it’s always a good subject to talk about at dinner parties.

Walking up to Coit Tower is an enterprise, the Greenwich stairs on Telegraph Hill are steep and intimidated, but I like the challenge and always go up that way. Most people drive to Coit Tower, only to find out, parking up there is limited and waiting time, to take someone’s spot, is about 45 minutes. On the long climb up the stairs, I can admire the gardens and residents’ houses made of redwood, the only one that survived the earthquake of 1906. In their windows is easy to see parrots, of which at times, I hear their voices. If I turn around while climbing, it is like looking in the window of San Francisco bay, framed with trees and foliage, breathtaking!

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Inside Coit Tower, the murals are a window in the history of America life during the Great Depression era of 1930s, a very difficult time for Americans, who lived the roaring ’20s and then suddenly knew poverty, as the economy stood still for about 5-6 years. Those who have lived the Great Depression, lived the rest of their lives saving and conserving anything they could.

(California agriculture – vignette by Maxine Albro’s)

(Police calling for an emergency vignette)

The murals were part of the city’s Public Work Art Project. Various students collaborated in the projects, inspired by painter Diego Rivera’s style. The murals depict the struggles of working class Americans. Through various vignettes we can see in the windows of chemical and steel mills working day, scenes in the cannery work, news gathering, packaging line, striking miners, women washing clothes and men panning for gold in the river, farming and wine making. In the window of city life, we can see a splash of everyday life, fashion of the era, a traffic accident, an armed robbery and a policeman calling for an emergency.

(Mural of the Library by Bernard Zakheim was one of the most controversial)

(Traffic accident and arm robbery – City Life mural by Victor Mikhail Arnautoff)

(Washing clothes at the river and gold diggers vignette by John Langley Howard)

(Chemists vignette)

(Industries of California – mural by Ralph Stackpole)

(Wine shop vignette)

The murals created around a real window, make American life of the era very real.
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”― Augustine of Hippo

Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-to-puglia-2/

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian interior designer in business since 1990. She is passionate about colors and all expressive arts. She is a “colorist”. To her, selecting art means to bring out the best energy of her clients and nourish their soul. She trots the world and loves to write travel notes, from which she draws inspiration to design home interiors of her clients .
She is the author of her book on the subject of colors: ©Red-A Voyage Into Colors available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w