music music and more music

almost immediately upon returning from the premier of erling's mass in st gallen, switzerland,
he started rehearsals for his next opera, Mordake.

and i started working 12 hour days at my studio to keep up with the 3 large jobs i am juggling.

so we've been a bit too busy and distracted to spread the word about what a stunning success the swiss concert was.
the cathedral of st gall (pictured above) is --- well it's baroque-coco to the teeth, and has more natural reverb than can be dampened by the nearly 500 people who attended the concert.

the recording of the mass "Missa Beati Notkeri Balbuli Sancti Galli Monachi" has been in heavy rotation in my studio.

you can listen to / download mp3s of it here: erlingwold.com/works.html#mass

congratulations, maestro!

filling up the bank

Vienna
Unteres Belvedere: Goldenes Zimmer
designed circa 1720 by architect Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt for Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736)
decorative artist: unknown

---
one of the reasons i travel is to be inspired by the work of others, and be reminded of what i can do rather than just what i have to do; it renews my interest in my chosen career.
i am also making a photographic "ornament bank" for reference. not sure how to use it. it will wind up either as an on-line digital source or possibly i will publish a book. at any rate,
i need to see places like this once in a while and ask- why does no one ask me to make a room like this? because i can do it, just so you know. and what's more, i want to, and i know why it matters.

miss july

i'm "artist of the month" at the " learn to faux" site - a fairly new internet community for decorative artists and students wishing to learn painting technique.


they put up a nice profile for me here
www.learntofaux.com/artist_o...utter.php

i'm actually pretty flattered by this.

stone vs ice

the only difference is how long it takes for the wind to wear you down.

diego's big close-up

this weekend's cover of the SF Chronicle "96 hours" features a big picture of "diego"
a giant mural of a blue and gold macaw parrot i painted for the 'new spot' restaurant, at 20th and 3rd. check out the favorable review of their food, and another shot of the mural here:

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article

vintage laundry

on top of my normal nutso workload, for the last 3 months i've been up to my eyeballs in that lovely spring ritual known as the san francisco decorator showcase.

this year for some insane reason i fell in love with a gigantic laundry room in the freezing damp basement of a spectacular 1927 mansion that has been passively preserved in near original condition. i needed this gig like a hole in the head, but the room clearly needed me, to save it, to show people the elegant simplicity of doing things by hand.

4 nights a week for the entire month of may, i have to go up there and schmooze at a series of private cocktail parties hosted by real estate and finance firms. we're basically there to entertain their clients, but their clients happen to be my market.

in past showcases it became known that i was not capable of being nice to these people for more than about 38 minutes (other designers timed how long it would take me to walk away muttering)
breaking my previous record, and only mid-month, i am now down to 29 minutes!


more all about what i did to this this space on my new bona fide blog here:
www.lynnerutter.com/2007/05/...ndry.html

and to all of you who came to my rescue after i shamelessly asked for help - thank you!

you can wear the clothes

but that doesn't make you a real man.













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the feast of st nicolas

st nik is the main homeboy and he's got a krampus posse comin' to your town yo.


"santa claus" as we call him in the u.s., aka st. nicolas of myra,
like most saints in the old religion, has his own feast day: december 6.
but the best part of st nicolas day for me is krampus! the horned shaggy companions of the bishop who beat the bad kids with sticks while nik rewards the good ones with little gifts and candy.


a few years ago erling and i were in salzburg on st nicolas day, and quite by accident got to check out more middle austrian krampus action than you could shake a stick at. they wear these huge iron bells on their backs. and when the kids hear those bells they start running - either to or from....