A look back at Saturday’s block party. In the spirit of the season, a fabulous time was had by all (including our staff). No grumpy Scrooge types in sight! – Terri
post holiday party
December 17th, 2012ho! ho! ho! holiday block party
December 14th, 2012Saturday, December 15th is our annual Holiday Block Party where we and adjacent stores will be spreading good cheer until 10pm (or later – if you’re still shopping!). Along with our famous hot apple cider and spread of cheeses, Barrett Anderson will play live with Jim Haggerty of the Roy Sludge Trio beginning at 6:45 pm. Come join us for a ‘s-t-r-e-s-s f-r-e-e’ shopping experience with a cool vibe and an array of unique items unlike any around Boston. Forget the malls and support your local merchants! – Terri
Abodeon makes their “Hollywood” debut … on PBS’s This Old House
October 3rd, 2012Back in June of this year, many of you heard whispers about our own Dale Anderson making the jump to Hollywood. His rugged good looks have been known to us all for years, yet only recently discovered by talent scouts as he sat in *his* chair behind the jewelry case at Abodeon.
The truth is a bit less glamorous, however it is still super exciting for us. Earlier this year, This Old House started filming the new season and as part of their This Old House Tour, they were participating in a re-design of an 1887 Victorian-era two-family in Cambridge. which happened to be in Abodeon’s Porter Square neighborhood.
While the cast and crew were leaving the facade and a majority of the exterior largely as is, the interior was receiving a fairly intense deconstruction, resulting in a much more open and modern room footprint. This re-design is heavily inspired by the home owner’s Scandinavian heritage.
In the 3rd Episode of the series, the home owner, Sally, comes to Abodeon with Kevin O’Connor, host of This Old House, and asks Dale to pull together pieces for her home that are representative of the Scandinavian style, so that she may visually illustrate to Kevin the look she is going after. (Episode #1103)
Dale and everyone here at Abodeon had such a great time that day and we’d love for all of our readers to tune in when Dale makes his big screen debut. (TV is a big screen compared to our smartphones and iPads, so don’t downplay this honor for Dale by pointing out the obvious!)
Full episodes are available on their website here in case you forget to set the DVR.
- Michele J Martin
Art Institute of Boston Celebrates 100 Years
September 20th, 2012100 Years of Artistic Excellence
“…in art that the heart, the head, and the hand of a man come together.”
John Ruskin
British cultural theorist and architectural critic
Those words deeply inspired Roy Davidson, becoming the early philosophy on which he founded the School of Practical Art in 1912. 100 years later, the school, since renamed Art Institute of Boston, continues to facilitate the intellectual and creative growth of passionate young artists.
The Storefront Art Project
To kick-off their Centennial Celebration, student and faculty artists of the Art Institute of Boston are sharing their work with the community in a very public manner, via a unique exhibition of storefront window installations along Massachusetts Avenue, between Harvard and Porter Squares. Abodeon is honored to participate in this celebration of the arts. The installations will hang until October 13th, 2012.
For more information on exhibiting artists : Storefront Artists
Abodeon’s Installations
Our interior window installation was created by Kate Castelli, a local Cambridge artist. In the pictures below you’ll see Kate hanging her installation, as well as images of the finished piece as seen from Massachusetts Avenue. You can read more about this work on her website.
“100 Chairs” Sumi ink on handmade paper, twine, metal clips
Artist Kate Castelli, alumni BFA in Illustration, 2008, Art Institute of Boston Cambridge, MA
Our exterior installation was a truly collaborative artwork. The painting was created by Percy Fortini-Wright and 14 young students in a 2012 summer school session “AIB Pre-College Mural Painting”. For a list of the student artists: Mural Artists
According to Fortini-Wright’s Artist Statement, the title of the piece was decided as a group, the motivation being that “As teens they felt that the phrase was appropriate for their journey as young artists. Since the Art Institute of Boston has played a major role in their artistic development they wanted to use imagery associated with the departments that cultivated their broad experiences.”
The pictures below show our own Dale Anderson installing the collage to our brick exterior with the help of Cedric, one of the artist’s friends. The title of the work is a perfect fit for Neighborhood Nine, maybe they’ll let us keep it up after the show ends?
“As We Grow” Spray Paint on panel
Lead Artist Percy Fortini-Wright, adjunct AIB faculty BFA Fine Arts, 2003 MFA in Visual Arts, 2008, Art Institute of Boston
The next 100 years
The Art Institute of Boston will soon be breaking ground on a new Arts Campus in Porter Square, Cambridge. The design, led by architect Simeon Bruner of Bruner/Cott Architects will be a mix of historic preservation, adaptive reuse and new construction. Mr. Bruner was lead designer for award winning projects: MassMoCA (N. Adams, MA) , Piano Craft Guild (Boston, MA) and Crown and Eagle (Uxbridge, MA).
Designed in the International style of modern architecture made famous by architects such as Le Corbusier, Rudolph Michael Schindler and Alvar Aalto, the Arts Center will be built with an emphasis on sustainability, making it eligible for LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. The main building will be a mix of glass curtain walls and concrete, while a glass-enclosed connector reaches out and unites “what will be” with “what was” as it joins the historic church. The connector is designed to act as a general Arts Common for students and visitors, while the church will house the Art Institute of Boston’s Art Library.For proposed image renderings or to find out more about the Art Institute of Boston’s new Arts Campus: AIB Arts Campus
-Michele J Martin
duo deck
January 13th, 2012We only play vintage LPs at Abodeon and have an enormous collection, so this hit home with us. The portable Duo Deck is just being introduced by Ion Audio. Powered by 4 AA batteries or USB, the turntable and built-in cassette player plays and converts both LPs and cassettes to MP3 music files. Just connect the deck to a Mac or PC with the USB cable and your ready to transfer. There’s even a built-in speaker, and 1/8″ headphone output that can be used for listening or connecting it to a speaker system.
Ion is also introducing an even more compact LP 2 GO which converts LPs only. Think of them as the iPod of turntables – you can take them anywhere. – Terri
jens risom reissued
January 9th, 2012London’s Rocket Gallery, in cooperation with Jens Risom and Benchmark, has reissued a collection of nine pieces from Risom’s original designs. Born in Copenhagen in 1916, Risom moved to the U.S. in 1939 and designed a range of furniture for Knoll in 1941. Jens Risom Design Inc. was established in 1946, growing to become the third largest furniture company in America. Risom’s furniture is in MoMA and the RISD Museum in Providence. Here are a few of the reissued pieces. – Terri
U 431 low chair in oak or walnut. Produced from 1955 to 1958.
C 275 side chair in oak or walnut designed in 1957.
T 621 bench with cushion designed in 1955.
T 539 magazine table in oak or walnut, designed in 1949.
T 390 low table with magazine rack in oak or walnut from the 1950s.
4074 low table in oak with formica top, designed in 1970.
mixing modern with antiques
January 6th, 2012New Year’s resolution. Start blogging again. Second resolution. Really start blogging again.
Combining mid century with antiques isn’t a revolutionary idea. It softens the lines of modern, and adds layers of visual and textural interest that can make a space richer and more unexpected. In our loft, Dale and I combine mid century furniture with a mix of antique primitives, ethnic carvings, and industrial pieces. We love the unknown craftsman, and the sculptural aspect of everyday implements from a hundred years ago.
The good news is that with a bit effort and luck anyone find intriguing elements for very little money. You just have to think outside the box and enjoy the hunt. Here are a few details from our loft (I’ll show more of an overview at a later date). – Terri
This 40-inch piece of driftwood (that grew around a stake) resembles a bird. We mounted the driftwood ($20 at a antique shop in Maine) on a railroad tie discarded in our neighborhood. Voila!
A view from above at a connected bandoleer of WW2 cartridges ($15 from a flea market) rolled up into one of Dale’s bowls.
This top of an old apple picker encages a stone found on the beach. I rubbed the stone with powdered graphite, and buffed it until it looked like steel. Picker $27. Stone $0.
Above our kitchen cabinets, an antique cupboard door ($40) sets the stage for carved figures by Mexican artist Hippolito, purchased in the early 80s.
An antique fishing net holds a gourd that also has a powdered graphite stain. Below are circa 1930s bronze doll head molds found at Brimfield about 10 years ago for $100.
An old fish with iron teeth carved from a buoy swims in front of the Boston skyline. Found at a Texas flea market in the 90′s for $75.
An antique spinning wheel rests on the top center portion of our 60s Cado wall unit from Finland. Below it are cast baby shoes from my mom, brother, sister, and me. Wheel: $40. Shoes: Priceless.
The sides and back of a 19th century Conestoga wagon found at Todd’s Farm Flea Market in the late 90s for $200. We mounted the pieces on the wall as a gigantic triptych with the back floating in front of the side panels. One of our favorite pieces!
eero aarnio chair
December 31st, 2010Collectors can come in all ages and sizes. With a little help from his mom, Adan definitely looks pleased with his acquisition of a vintage fiberglass Pastil chair, designed in 1967 by Eero Aarnio. We think it’s a perfect fit… although Adan might want to rethink his spelling of Abodeon. Happy New Year! Cheers – Terri
vintage delivery
December 30th, 2010Most of our vintage items come directly from New England homes, and it feels almost like Christmas when someone brings things in to sell. This is one of our more unusual deliveries of late. We love the contrast between the old Model T and the 60s Saarinen tulip chairs. Very stylish. Cheers – Terri
holiday block party postscript
December 19th, 2010In case you missed it, last Saturday’s Holiday Block Party was a big success. Good weather, great music, yummy food – and of course – out-of-the-ordinary gifts helped make the store a cool place to chill while pondering what to get for picky Uncle George.
FYI, we were supposed to close at 9pm last night but our staff decided to keep the doors open until the last customer left at midnight. We thank them for their perseverance! Cheers – Terri
