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| Interview by Diana Keeler | Photos by David Chow |
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Sometimes people think that they can’t have everyday things on a shelf — they think they have to have tchotchkes, which honestly can look a bit weird. It’s nice to have things that really do need to be stored on a shelf, but mixed with prettier or unexpected things like wood flowers which come in different heights and sizes and add a woodsy texture to a still life. If you’re going to have books, don’t have just one book, but a nice hefty stack. Collections of things are great, and objects of varying height — when things are the same height, it looks terrible. You also can’t have things that are all wispy and soft. You need a mixture — of feminine and masculine, hard and soft, and then oversized things to ground it. |
Top image from left to right: Tracie Hervy white stoneware slim cylinder vase; hand carved, whitewashed wood chain by Atuto; Tracie Hervy white stoneware tray and tumbler; European recycled glass jar; paper mache bowl. Image left, from left to right: Wood flower by Atuto; handmade ceramic vase by Yuko Sato under small recycled glass cloche; beach stone vase with dried silver brunia
“MIX FEMININE AND MASCULINE WITH HARD AND SOFT. THEN ADD SOME BIG SCULPTURAL THINGS TO GROUND THE PICTURE.” |
Above image from left to right: Hand carved, whitewashed wood chain by Atuto; paper mache bowl; Tunisian clay beads.
ANCHOR THE SHOT WITH SOMETHING SOLID
Sometimes I’ll use a chain in a shot because I want something a bit more solid, and the plus is it falls in lots of different ways. You also hang it or use it as an extra-large bookmark. Or I’ll want something that will kind of hang off the shelf — something that can kind of snake around things. Everything else in the typical shelfie is piles of books or a vase or a plant, so it’s kind of nice to have an amorphous shape that you can drape on the shelf.
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THINK OF TRAYS AS MINI-STAGES FOR VIGNETTESI love a tray. Instead of having a vase on its own, you can make more of a statement if you put several smaller things together on a tray. From left to right: On white stoneware tray by Tracie Hervy, beach stone match striker and recycled glass bud vase; Palo Santo sticks in a white stoneware tumbler by Tracie Hervy; hand carved, whitewashed wood chain by Atuto; small bronze-glazed porcelain dish by DBO Home |
“I LIKE A TRAY FOR CONSOLIDATING THINGS, FOR BRINGING SMALLER THINGS TOGETHER” |
