RETURN ON DESIGN Can You Quantify the Return, or Gain, from Excellent Design?YES! With truly artful design, fees deliver exponentially. “Architecture is frozen music,” Goethe said, but it’s not a frozen asset. Exceptional design gives back from the conceptual stage through resale, like a high performing stock with dividends. This happens in three ways: saving money […]
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FOR BOUTIQUE HOTEL OWNERSLake Garda, ItalyI enjoy traveling and being home in New England about equally. Interestingly, home and hotel are inextricably intertwined. Well designed, they both express an evocative narrative about a unique location, or what I have termed The Poetry of Place. Webster defines a resort as a frequently visited refuge. A successfully designed […]
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CONNECTING WITH THE OUTDOORS – SUMMER 2019We’re finally enjoying the outdoors after a cold, rainy spring – only to hear the whine of pesky mosquitoes! Spraying pesticides will wipe out birds, amphibians, and pollinating bees – but there are a lot of safe products and good practices out there (see below). Mainly I’m feeling sentimental […]
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METROWEST MAGIC – FALL 2018A snowy New Hampshire hike with friends last Saturday got me psyched for (in addition to a nap!) one of my favorite winter spectacles. Right about now, distant views in the landscape that were concealed by leaves start to be visible. Dark evenings that feel a little ghostly here in historic […]
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LIGHT IN ARCHITECTURE – LATE SUMMER 2018As the days grow shorter, I have to remember not to get totally disgruntled! We New Englanders are nuts about our short season of bright sun and outdoor evenings. So I force myself to anticipate different kinds of light – mellow September, crisp vibrant October, and long blue shadows on […]
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I hope you’re relaxing, enjoying water, gardens, and travel. Sunday afternoon we headed out on the Sudbury River for a Father’s Day picnic. Aside from the usual Blue Herons, turtles, beavers and deer, we paddled past Concord families on their decks and had a chance encounter with friends. In this newsletter we’re focusing on why: […]
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STUDIO UPDATES – SPRING 2018What a progressive couple of months at the Umbrella Center for the Arts! We all – artists, architects, photographers, and crafts people – watched out our back windows as a cat with an enormous bucket began to knock down the back half of our building. We got back to work – […]
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ART AND ARCHITECTURE NOTES – SUMMER 2017Art NotesMy winter session “Calligraphy of Pastels” students laughed at how our Tuesday nights were stormy – to the week, without fail. The reward after slogging through the dark, wet weather? A warm, bright classroom, cheerful greetings, and vibrant pastel drawings. Student work is up in Gallery 3 during […]
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APRIL FOOLS – SPRING 2017Art NotesThe April Fools snow storm and all the rain has given us a lush Massachusetts spring. In true form New England has kept us guessing after an all too predictable winter! I had a good laugh with my winter session “Calligraphy of Pastels” students at how our Tuesday nights were stormy […]
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UNDERSTANDING A SPACE – FALL 2016Looking back at this year with thanks, it’s about you – and everyone who has supported, referred and hired Julia Miner Studio. More work has given us a new hire, Fangliang Shen, enabling me to leverage some time. Conferences in New York, Austin, Portland, and Boston have provided valuable insights […]
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