Everyone has a different definition of beauty but I’m betting it’s the rare soul who wouldn’t be enamored with this sexy chair by Alden Parkes, which…
View More Courtesan Style CountsCategory: Cultural Explorations
I have a penchant for cultural explorations that combine history, literature, design, architecture and myriad angles relating to travel. These subjects inspire me as a writer. My sweep of historical cultural references is wide. One week may find me exploring Peggy Guggenheim’s romantic frustrations and my visit to her chosen home town of Venice while another week will find me on a literary adventure in Paris, one of my favorite cities.
I am fascinated with court cultures, such as lifestyles during the Tudor Era, especially relating to Henry VII, and any time-period relating to the Bourbon kings of France. I often combine these cultural explorations with design because I have been a design and architecture journalist for over two decades. Since it’s my beat, I often mine the industry for ways to combine these subjects with literature, which I call my literary design adventures. I hope you enjoy my worldly ramblings and my fascinations here on The Diary of an Improvateur.
The Grand Budapest Hotel
When the Writers Guild of America awards were handed out yesterday, Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness won for the best original screenplay for their film The…
View More The Grand Budapest HotelImpressions of Venice
Several months ago, Sophia Khan engaged me on Twitter and I decided to visit her site to understand her point of view. I must say…
View More Impressions of VeniceBarrymore Avignon Chair: A Love Story
Barrymore Avignon Chair: A Love Story Oh, fateful town in France! While communing in your Sainte-Claire d’Avignon, I saw her. Laura. The name that would…
View More Barrymore Avignon Chair: A Love StoryThe Valentino Lair
Before The Beatles turned teenaged girls into a screaming, weeping throng and George Clooney made even the most reserved woman a bit toasty under the…
View More The Valentino LairRococo Style in Italy
If I told you the most surprising thing I found in Parma, Italy, was France, would you think I’d lost my mind? I’m not speaking…
View More Rococo Style in ItalyInsiders in Outsider Art
There’s a backbone of stubbornness running through the south. It skirts along the undulant edges of Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains toward the foothills of the Cumberland…
View More Insiders in Outsider ArtHe Who Seeks Beauty
He Who Seeks Beauty In the documentary Bill Cunningham New York, a passionate observer is shown to viewers as the film crew trails him, sometimes…
View More He Who Seeks Beauty