Detail of Wreath by Tish Key Interior Design (Photo: Michael Bello)
Children of Shelters, founded in 1995 to help children living in transition and in shelters, assists an estimated 4,000 homeless children. Their two annual holiday events, Jingle & Mingle and Santa Fest are their major benefits to finance programs such as back-to-school clothing, one-on-one tutoring, college and secondary school tuition assistance and more.
This year the Board of Directors, Lois Pavlow, Serena Fairchild Sheldon, Summer Tompkins Walker, Sarah R. Moore, Heidi Castelein, Alison Kiley, and Kate Sheridan Chung, along with their board members, organized their tenth Jingle & Mingle event. It brought together San Francisco’s society and design community to cheer the holidays and to raise money in them most creative of spirits.
Held at the historic Presidio Officers’ Club guests got to bid on some of the most creative and stunning holiday wreaths while enjoying wines and cocktails and tasting hors d’oeuvres from various San Francisco restaurants.
Summer Tompkins-Walker and Vanessa Getty
The venue was designed by Ken Fulk Design and provided comfortable lounge areas throughout the Officers’ Club, a much-appreciated option to rest one’s heels for a moment. But most of the activity of course was around the stunning wreaths, as guests wondered what the designers were inspired by and where some of the more unique materials came from.
Over 50 of the top Bay Area designers and artists conjured up exquisite one-of-a-kind creations to be auctioned off. Shapes and materials pushed the boundaries of what we generally expect from a holiday wreath. From squares to deer heads, and from magazine pages to electrical wires and old light bulbs, nothing was off limit, and the results were the reflection of the impressive creativity San Francisco has to offer.
Ken Fulk, Jo Labagh, Nelson Bloncourt
Raising a toast to artistry and to support of Children of Shelters were Vanessa Getty, board members Lana Adair, Melissa Barber, Summer Tompkins-Walker, Jenna Lidell-Hunt and Bryan Hunt, Karen Caldwell, Angelique Griepp, Helen Hilton Raiser and Jennifer Raiser, Joy Bianchi, Jessica and Jason Moment, Kate Harbin, Sobia Shaikh, Elizabeth Touw, Holly Baxter and Lindsay Bolton.
Sobia Shaikh, Susan Dunlevy
In friendly competition designers came to appraise their colleagues’ creations and to view their own, hung from old doors and lit to highlight their allure. Amidst them were landscape architect Stephen Suzman and Katharine Webster, architects Ken Linsteadt and Aleck Wilson, interior designers Douglas Durkin, Ken Fulk, Steven Volpe, Gil Mendez, Nicole Hollis, Vernon Applegate, Gioi Tran, Barbara Scavullo, Tish Key, Will Wick, Michael Burg, Beryn Hammil, Barbara Ashfield, David Hansen, Cecilia Sagrera Hill, George Brazil, sculptor Adam P. Gale, artists Daniel Tousignant and Shirley Robinson, Jennifer Perlmutter, floral designers Mandy Scott, Paul Robertson, lighting artist Michael Donnely of Dogfork Lamp Arts, seamstress Madina Aryeh, and retailers Marta Benson of Gump’s and Sue Fisher King.
“I love supporting Children of Shelters’ programs by purchasing a wreath every year at Jingle & Mingle. I started buying wreaths for my own home six years ago and now I try to buy at least one wreath annually as a gift for friends. These wreaths are one of a kind and my purchase makes a difference in the lives of many- that is a recipe for a great gift!” Anonymous
And now let me introduce you to:
THE TRADITIONALISTS
Beryn Hammil took red silk roses and dusted the edges of the petals in red glitter for a most elegant holiday wreath.
Beryn Hammil
Elizabeth Touw, Sobia Shaikh, Susan Dunlevy
Cecilia Sagrera and George Brazil created a wreath was influenced by the incomparable jewelry of Tony Duquette. To represent the iconic designer’s penchant for unusual materials the gilded leaves illustrated his use of handcrafted metal, and the organically shaped berries represented the colorful gems. Contrasted by a teal ribbon the arrangement looked worthy of a Roman emperor.
Sagrera Brazil Design (Photo: Michael Bello)
Sue Fisher King paired classic evergreen with touches of teal and turquoise in the form of pinecones dusted in teal glitter, sparkling birds and a turquoise satin ribbon.
Sue Fisher King
Jennifer Fick, John Bradfield, Joy Bianchi
THE PURISTS
Gil Mendez’s 35 pound ring of humble everyday childhood memories was tailored beauty reminiscent of simpler times, created from red crayons tied with the perfect large red satin ribbon.
Gil Mendez Design
Jennifer Weiss arranged perfect bands of felt for their wintery piece that had the soft appearance of a winter-white cashmere coat.
J. Weiss Design
Barbara Ashfield’s and David Hansen’s classic star made from pale bird’s eye maple with black edges, held by an elegant black & white vintage ribbon from Ribbonerie, was evocative of the styling and palette of Biedermeier furniture.
Ashfield Hansen Design
“Children of Shelters is a charity very close to my heart, and I love Biedermeier. So I am very happy to have won this beautiful star wreath to hang in my study all year round.” – Jenna Liddell Hunt
Jenna and Bryan Hunt
THE MINIMALISTS
Steven Volpe must have been inspired by the long nights of Winter with his irregularly shaped piece of blackened metal braces and black tulle.
Steven Volpe Design (Photo: Michael Bello)
Melissa Barber and Erin Lowenberg
Gloria Marth is known for tailored their interiors fabricated a square wreath from steel reminiscent of an industrial window.
Gloria Marth Interiors
Jacqueline Sacks and Angelique Griepp
THE SENSUALISTS
Monica Duque’s organic creation was influenced by studio visits to various Bay Area artists. Visiting John Lewis Glass in Oakland they stumbled across recycled glass disks that were waste from drilling holes in the fabrication of sinks for Kohler. Combined with curly driftwood branches, surrounded by a ring wrapped in rope, the designers composed a wreath representing the chilly and dry air of Winter.
Duque Design Group
Michael Burg collaborated with c1901 in devising a simple large upholstered ring made from lipstick-red cowhide studded with nailheads.
Michael Burg Design & c1901
Katherine North returned to her roots with her firm’s design. Her family owns Kelly Miller Circus, and in the 1940s her great uncle John Ringling North of Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey popularized what is called a web rope. Web ropes are generally suspended from the top of the circus tent via metal cable rigging and are used to support areal ballets. Katherine has always been very fond of those areal ballets, and to pay tribute to her family’s circus legacy she composed a wreath from web ropes tied together with metal cable rigging.
Northbrook Design
Helen Hilton Raiser and Jennifer Raiser
THE NATURALISTS
Douglas Durkin used traditional materials in an untraditional shape with a variety of natural elements, such as branches, different color mosses, pinecones and berries.
Douglas Durkin Design
Heidi Castelan, Douglas Durkin, Serena Fairchild
Decorum, an intellectual consortium comprised of four interior design firms, namely Ashfield Hansen Design, Brian Dittmar Design, Sagrera Brazil and my own firm Adeeni Design Group, got together to create a wreath inspired by the four seasons. Each firm created a lacquer square adorned with materials and objects reminiscent of Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.
Decorum (Photo: Michael Bello)
Baylor Chapman, owner of Lila B Design, a certified green floral and garden design firm, likes to use long-lasting flowers, repurposed and sustainable materials. They juxtaposed life and inanimacy by encapsulating nature in glass globe terrariums, forming a circle on a polished copper square.
Lila B Design
George Brazil, David Hansen, Michael Burg, Larry Martin
THE PROVOCATEURS
Ken Fulk, often pushing the boundaries of what may seem appropriate, literally went below the belt with his traditionally shaped wreath fashioned from pages of a porn magazine complete with a condom and hung from a black leather harness strap. Let’s just say, there was a lot of talk about it throughout the evening. In the end it served as an example of audacity paying off, judging by the amount of bids it had received.
Ken Fulk Design
Barbara Scavullo’s witty Wheel of Fortune actually spun, and it was filled with New Year’s resolutions where the winning numbers included messages like ” I will pay my bills on time”, I will have more sex”, “I will give pedestrians the right of way” and “I will send a handwritten letter instead of an email”.
Barbara Scavullo Design
Una Malan and Waldo Gibson
THE STORYTELLERS
Gump’s recalled Christmas traditions with a framed vintage photo of their legendary store surrounded by beautiful quotes from Charles Dickens, Charles N. Barnard and others written in the most gorgeous red calligraphy.
Gump’s (Photo: Michael Bello)
Nicole Hollis’ creation could be considered minimal in display, but it was full of movement and made you linger to watch a creature running around a wreath and the spinning head of a snowman, all simply projected in white light onto the door.
Nicole Hollis Interior Design (Photo: Michael Bello)
Kate Harbin, Douglas Durkin, Rachel Latch
Shirley Robinson created a beautiful old-fashioned round plaque with the delicate painting of a goldfinch on snow-topped branches of evergreens, recalling romantic memories of winter.
Shirley Robinson
Jason and Jessica Moment
THE LUMINAIRIES
Kimberly Ayres’ hexagon-shaped design made from brass tubing tipped with decorative bulbs would also make a beautiful light fixture.
Kimberly Ayres Interior Design
Ricky Serbin and Mitchell Benjamin
Michael Donnelly took the idea of the wreath horizontal, more reminiscent of European Advent wreaths. A ring fashioned from a cluster of lit vintage fishing floats was suspended from a heavy metal bracket with iron chains.
Dogfork Lamp Arts
The beauty of the architectural design by Aleck Wilson made from intersecting sheets of acrylic was emphasized by the light behind it, which made it glow quite mysteriously.
Moroso Construction & Aleck Wilson Architects
Gary Friedman and Claudia Castillo Ross
THE METALSMITHS
Ken Linstaedt designed an almost delicate criss cross of metal rods accented with big chunks of glass to form a spiky “ring”.
Ken Linstaedt Architects (Photo: Michael Bello)
Michael Bello, Kaylee Tierney, Robert Whitworth
Metal sculptor Adam P. Gale, the frontrunner for the highest bids, created two wreaths this year, both of course in his signature material. One was a free-standing, with riveted squares of steel fashioned into a ring, and the other one was a jewelry-like circle comprised of bronze bands in the shapes of circles and squares, attached to the door with a very serious metal bracket.
Adam P. Gale
Adam P. Gale, Megan Murr, Holly Mitchell, Josh Lambert
Kelly Keiser fashioned their wreath from rusted bells and keys strung from a willow ring, the perfect choice for a country house.
Kelly Keiser Splendid Interiors
Laticia Headings, Maya Hiersoux, Kelly Keiser
THE LUXURISTS
Daniel Tousignant bejeweled a red stag head with hundreds of red rhinestones, as its antlers formed the circle of a wreath. Hanging from one of them was a generous spherical ornament painted with one of Daniel’s meticulous landscapes.
Daniel Tousignant for JAK Home
Daniel Tousignant and James Geras
Chandler Prewitt turned an animal skull, hemp romp and crystal into an object of opulence that felt like an over-scaled mystical tribal necklace.
Chandler Prewitt Design
Katherine Jacobus and Gloria Marth
Tish Key’s tailored creation was traditional in shape but modern in execution. The swirly coral-colored felt ring was suspended from a tan leather belt, evoking the Equestrian glamour of Hermès.
Tish Key Interior Design
Laura Miller and Michelle Ojala
THE CONSERVATIONISTS
Gioi Tran and Vernon Applegate created art out of chaos and trash. Due to their recent office move they were left with a ton of wires and burnt out light bulbs ready for the dumpster. With a great sense of humor, a generous dose of creativity, and hours of twisting and tying the result was a wreath out of the ordinary.
Applegate Tran Interiors
“This piece could have sold for $100K at Art Basel Miami.” Holly Baxter, Baxter & Cook Art Advisors, who had just returned from Art Basel.
Drew Altizer
Will Wick, known for his industrial aesthetic composed an unpretentious yet beautiful wreath from a large vintage rope formed into a perfect circle and strung from an old pulley, simple and effective.
Wick Design Group
Jennifer Kelly and Will Wick
Me and my team at Adeeni Design Group wanted to reuse some leftover acrylic from a recent cafe project. Inspired by its translucent quality and childhood memories of creating holiday paper cuts we designed a bright orange snowflake ring with a smaller snowflake suspended from the bottom.
Adeeni Design Group (Photo: Michael Bello)
When I walked into the festive room the first thing that caught my eye was this beautiful orange wreath in my favorite color orange. I not only will display it happily during the holidays, but throughout the whole year. It is a beautiful piece of art! The whole event made me really feel the Holidays in all their glory, and it supports such a needed cause.” Karen Caldwell, Caldwell Snyder Gallery
Marta Benson and Karen Caldwell
Once again Jingle & Mingle raised a generous amount of money for Children of Shelters. But as always it also allowed designers to showcase their creativity on a more intimate scale, and the lucky winners to bring home true works of art, many of which they will surely enjoy long beyond the holidays.
Tags: Claudia Juestel, Douglas Durkin, Ken Fulk, Vanessa Getty
We’re delighted to see that the Alex Chases Salon, run by the renowned hairstylist Alex Chases, has recently moved into a larger space at Rosewood Sand Hill’s Sense spa.
Designer Cedric Charlier recently visited San Francisco from Paris, to present his Spring 2013 collection at Barneys.
With Sloan and Roger Barnett, Sabrina Buell and Yves Behar, Jean-Pierre Conte, and Alison and Mark Pincus, Gucci recently hosted a private cocktail party at the San Francisco store to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the loafer, and the new 1953 collection for men and women.
Catherine Kwong’s living room, inspired by Mick Jagger and Bianca Jagger, is one of the highlights of the 2013 San Francisco Decorator Showcase, taking place at 2800 Pacific Avenue.
Saks Fifth Avenue and San Francisco Ballet Auxiliary are presenting Zac Posen as this year’s guest designer at the 32nd San Francisco Ballet Auxiliary Fashion Show, benefiting San Francisco Ballet.
Michael S. Smith was recently honored at Hedge Gallery in San Francisco at a party hosted by Alison Pincus, Vanessa Getty and Allison Speer. His design work for a Palladian Villa in Malibu is being put up for auction at Christie’s in New York. Nicolas Berggruen, Princess Tatiana Galitzine, Dede Wilsey, and Sabrina Buell were among the guests.
Deepa Pakianathan and Phil Pemberton recently hosted a reception for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in anticipation of its upcoming Gala on April 20, 2013, which pays tribute to legendary opera baritone and Conservatory Advisory Board member Thomas Hampson.
Conservatory mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook directs and stars in a program featuring special performances by Hampson with Conservatory students, faculty and guest artists. Teresa Medearis and Barbara Walkowski co-chair the event, with catering by McCall’s Catering and Events and decor by Blueprint Studios.
Tickets for this very special occasion can be purchased at www.sfcm.edu
UCSF Partners in Care recently held its 2013 kick-off membership event at Reed & Greenough. Membership co-Chairs Schuyler Hudak and Libby Leffler hosted the launch party and kicked off the well-attended evening with brief remarks, followed by UCSF Partners in Care President Katie Budge, who spoke about the services that the auxiliary organization provides to the hospital.
UCSF Partners in Care works with UCSF hospital staff to fund programs that provide comfort and well-being to patients and their families while visiting the UCSF medical center.
Guests enjoyed spirited greyhounds nicknamed “Doctor’s Orders,” and a “Members Only” wine special while noshing on sweet treats from Kara’s Cupakes, and savory sliders and arancini from Cedar Hill Kitchen and Smokehouse.
Please visit www.ucsfpartnersincare.org for more information about this important organization.
Renowned European designer Ms. Madeline Pauw recently made an appearance at a delightful luncheon at Saks Fifth Avenue in San Francisco, where her Spring 2013 collection was presented.
The Pauw collection is designed by Madeleine Pauw, daughter of the original founders. Pauw is known for its luxurious fabrics and soft touches of femininity while integrating just a splash of masculine undertones, but always keeping the fit and style in mind for the female physique. The company has been in business for over 50 years, and originally was created in the Netherlands where it currently has 29 stores.
You can purchase pieces from Pauw at Saks Fifth Avenue at 384 Post Street, San Francisco, or online at Saks Fifth Avenue
ModeWalk recently unveiled its newest service for their clients, a first-of-its-kind, by-appointment showroom in San Francisco called Boudoir, located on the 7th Floor of 391 Sutter Street in Union Square.
Betty Lin, the chic Presidio Heights boutique, recently celebrated the launch of the new Maiyet collection with a party hosted by Alexis Traina, Alison Pincus, Nina Stanford, and Seth Miller.
The Mid Winter Gala for 2013 honored the exhibit, “Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis” with a chic winter wonderland that raised over $400k. Marissa Mayer, Jonathan Ive, Alison Pincus, Vanessa Getty, Dick Costolo, Stephan Jenkins, Connie Nielsen, Lori Levine, Evgenia Peretz, Jeremy Stoppelman, Trevor Traina, Allison Speer and Kathryn Lasater were among the 380 who attended.
Stephanie Phair, the managing director of Outnet.com, recently visited from London to host a luncheon previewing Oscar de la Renta’s new limited edition collection designed exclusively for The Outnet.
The Italian artist, Paolo Troilo, recently debuted his first U.S. exhibit at Coup d’Etat, the most exceptional designer space in San Francisco.
Sponsored by Testa Vineyards, the event brought together San Francisco tastemakers such as Jack Calhoun, Stephen Brady, Gary Friedman, Joy Bianchi, Anna Weinberg, Ken Fulk, and Jamie Finegold, among others.
The exhibit will run at Coup d’Etat until May 2013.
Visit Coup d’Etat at 111 Rhode Island, or online at coupdetatsf.com
The International Museum of Women (IMOW) hosted its annual Celebrating Change Benefit on March 6th, 2013, and the associated Vanguard Group hosted its Art Live Lounge benefit.
This year’s benefit featured IMOW’s second annual Innovator Award for Women in Technology, presented to Padmasree Warrior, Chief Technology and Strategy Officer of Cisco Systems.
The International Museum of Women is an innovative online museum that showcases art, stories and ideas to celebrate, inspire and advance the lives of women around the world. With the support of over 500 guests, IMOW raised over $200,000 to benefit its mission and exhibitions. Guests enjoyed a night of art and inspiration from the museum’s virtual collection, music, networking and dancing, while watching notable female artists create original artwork.
Learn more about the International Museum of Women at www.imow.org
Jay Jeffers recently designed three of the 23 penthouses of the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Lake Tahoe. The homes range from $1,250,000 to $4,500,000 in price.
Vaunte has selected five chic San Francisco women to feature on their site: Allison Speer, Sabrina Buell, Lauren Goodman, Jane Gruber, and Tienlyn Jacobson.
