We are lucky to meet all types of designers and artists everyday in the NY Flower Market. Many of them are our long-time friends who share their love of their work and their knowledge generously. Most recently, we feel honored that the Artist and Director Philip Haas, best known for the Oscar-nominated Angels and Insects (1995), chose to work with CFD to recreate Arcimboldo’s oil painting Spring in 3D form. Haas took our Silk flowers and painstakingly reworked and re-assembled each piece on his Fiberglass form, as he interpreted the original painting. Haas said he was inspired to recreate Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s portraits originally as garden sculptures. A 15 ft fiberglass version of the Winter statue exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC in September 2010, before traveling in 2011 to the Piazza delDuomo in Milan and the Garden of Versailles.

You can view the Spring Sculpture, as well as Haas’s other three seasons (made of fiberglass and other media) from February 25 through April 21, 2012,at the Sonnabend Gallery at 536 W. 22nd Street in New York.

For more info, visit www.sonnabendgallery.com.

For more on Philip Haas and his works please view his bio at http://www.kimbellart.org/haas/philip-haas.asp.

They say movies never compare to books. That may be so but books do not give you visuals of elaborate costumes and set design. We look forward to seeing the characters in debonair suits and 1920’s sparkly glamour. Also, from the first peeks, the garden party set already looks fabulous, and since the movie offers it, we can ogle it all in 3D.

For more information, see a January 16th NY Times article discussing the 3D feature, and for more cast photos on their set in Australia, see here.

(Photos from NY Times and the Internet)

The Highline, beginning from the entrance at Gansevoort St and now newly expanded up to W. 30th St. on the west Side of Manhattan, remains an inspiration for us. The new features such as a water park, new amphitheater seating, and an elevated ramp in Section 2 may be quite a treat already, but don’t miss The Highline past sundown, when all the lights come on throughout the elevated garden.  Below,  please view our photos from our visit. For more information, go to: http://www.thehighline.org

We have taken up the challenge of providing our artificial plants and trees for the purpose of creating artificial outdoor gardens. And it is not a perfect science, but the results can be really fantastic and natural-looking. We do recommend replacing artificial plants placed outdoors after every two years as the colors will change under the sun.

Check out recent photos below for a Penthouse terrace that has our custom Cedar plant, and Ming Aralea tree (our Lamb’s Ear in the white vase is inside the room), and a terrace in a courtyard landscaped with our artificial Bamboo trees, ferns, and grasses.

Indulge the botanical geek in you by visiting Harvard Museum’s exhibit, “The Glass Flowers”. The collection is blessed with over 4000 accurate glass models of plants by Rudolph and Leopold Blaschka.

Here are the Harvard Museum’s FAQ’s on the Glass Flowers:

Are they really glass?
Yes, the models are made entirely of glass often reinforced internally with a wire support.

Who made the Glass Flowers?
The models were created by father and son Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka, nineteenth century glass artisans who perfected their family craft. Their lineage of jewelers and glassmakers trace as far back as the fifteenth century.

How were the models made?
The parts were shaped after the glass was softened by heat. Some models were blown. Colored glass was used for many, others were “cold painted” with a thin wash of colored ground glass or metal oxide(s) and heated until the material fused to the model.

When were they made?
The models were made from 1887 through 1936.

Where were the Glass Flowers made?
The Blaschkas’ studio was located in Hosterwitz, near Dresden, Germany.

Why were the models made?
Professor George Lincoln Goodale, founder of the Botanical Museum, wanted life-like representatives of the plant kingdom for teaching botany. At the time only crude papier-maché or wax models were available.

The life-size models include 847 species, with remarkably accurate anatomical sections and enlarged flower parts. Since the Glass Flowers are always in bloom, tropical and temperate species may be studied year-round.

Mrs. Elizabeth C. Ware and her daughter Mary Lee Ware financed the collection and presented it to Harvard University as a memorial to Dr. Charles Eliot Ware, Class of 1834.

This Winter in New York has challenged even the best of us this year. It’s not worth staying outside in frigid temperatures unless it’s really for something special. If you are in New York, do look for outdoor installations of giant pink and red roses starting January 25th on a stretch of Park Avenue between 57th to 67th Streets. These gigantic fiberglass and stainless steel roses were created by Artist Will Ryman. According to the NY Times, they will be as tall as twenty-five feet in height, and each rose diameter will range from five to ten feet wide.

Read more about Will Ryman in the New York Times here.

To my delight, Gwyneth Paltrow graces the cover of the January issue of Instyle Magazine. I’m sure the jury will be out on her new movie “Country Strong” but she sure makes a good fashion icon. While Mrs. Martin always looks svelte and fashionable, the Instyle article caught my attention because I adore the styling of this photo spread. I sure do want to live in this glamorous denim Country twang world. The photographs are by Michelangelo Di Battista and the scenes are styled by Laura Ferrara. Both people I feel the need to research/stalk from now on. I am inspired by the beautiful antique blues and tans in this spread.

(Photos from the Internet.)

Aside from the beautiful set, this also happens to be a terrific show! What a treat to see our Silk flowers on TV, and to enjoy the great writing and characters.

Catch “The Good Wife” on CBS on Tuesdays at 10PM.

(Photos below are from episodes shown on Hulu.com)