The driftwood hanging item

Laziness is a common theme with most of the successful people I know. I’ve talked with some of the best-known designers, who have endless energy and are always tackling something. They all think they are lazy. Of course, that can’t be true, these are people who are propelling the profession forward with new ideas, volunteerism, and new technologies. I, on the other hand, am actually lazy. Knowing this, I keep myself busy. I’m always on alert for any lazy thinking. If I feel like waiting to do something, I don’t. I take on that task right then. If I feel like sitting on the sofa and watching television on a Sunday afternoon, I get up and work in the garden.

When I run out of things to do, I can turn to our collection of Sunset Books. There are endless ideas to keep me busy. One of my favorite objects is a driftwood hanging my grandmother made. She collected the driftwood on a trip up the Pacific coast and used an idea in one of the Sunset Books to create the hanging. This is a good example of fighting the lazy temptation of sitting on a beach.

Sunset Books, Garden Art and Decoration

Sunset Books, Garden & Patio Building

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detail, bag made of bleach bottles

One of my favorite blogs is Cathy of California. There are always wonderful ideas and images. I don’t have the time to make many of the incredible items, but a blog that has appliqué items is all good. As you know, my grandmother did have the time and talent to make items. I spent an entire summer organizing her felt, Styrofoam balls, jeweled pins, tacky glue, and thousands of other craft materials. They are all still sitting in 100s of plastic bins. We donated several boxes of yarn to Terry Stone who was teaching knitting to at risk teens. But jeweled pins have limited appeal today unless you have hours to watch reruns of Lawrence Welk and make ornaments.

One of my favorite items is a bag my grandmother made from plastic bottles of detergent and bleach. I use it to carry supplies to school, or as a tote bag when I need to cart items between the house and office. Of course, it’s disturbing to many when the see me carrying an old lady craft bag, but get over it. It’s got everything: orange, ochre, pink, yellow, plastic, imprints of numbers, and a handy pocket on the inside to hold knitting needles. When anyone talks about sustainable practices, take note: we should all make usable items from our empty bottles, or other debris.

The very groovy bleach bottle bag

detail, a bleach bottle bottom patch

avocado green, blue, yellow, ochre, pink. Is there anything better?

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The amazing MJB peacock, LaPrele Adams, 1965

My grandparents passed away two years ago, and I think about them every day. Of course, at Thanksgiving, we still honor them in some way. My grandmother was like me. She was unable to sit still, and was constantly doing something productive. She had a remarkable talent visually and put that talent to good use, making amazing objects. Being a product of her time and place, she didn’t consider being a designer, which is unfortunate. Her sense of color was unique and always worked.

This peacock is one of two. My brother, Ian, has the other one at his house. At first glance, it seems like a nice piece of metal sculpture from the mid 1960s. That’s what it is. But it’s more. My grandmother made it from MJB coffee tins. The damned thing has tons of sharp edges, and I always cut myself when I move it. So I don’t know how she managed to cut and twist the coffee cans to make this without slicing off a finger. This goes far beyond felt animals with sequins.

I had a well-known editor of a major design magazine at my house for a dinner party a few years ago. When she saw my grandmother’s peacock on the wall, she looked at it condescendingly, and said, “Sean, what a remarkable collection of kitsch you have.” She has not been invited back.

detail

detail

MJB coffee tin

Russell and LaPrele Adams, 50th Anniversary, 1989

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Something Sean and I have in common is our appreciation for craft and home improvement books from the 60s and 70s. Recently, I was excited to find (and promptly steal), Sunset’s ”Garden Art & Decoration” from my father’s house. I brought it into the office to share and Sean realized he had another from the same series, “Interior Art & Decoration.” What’s so amazing about these books are the range of projects, from simple to complex, that still somehow look contemporary. I would love to make mobiles, wall hangings and the like for my house. And, if etsy is any indication, I’m not alone.

Below are a few of my favorites from these two books, and one particularly disturbing project that uses pink fiber glass insulation to create a “cloud” for cherub angels. I would suggest Sunset removes that one if they ever do a reprint!

A coated plywood bas-relief

A more advanced project, the coolest sun shade I've ever seen

DON'T try this at home

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