Gorgeous Paintings: Provence

Sometimes all you need is a quick look at a stunningly beautiful late 19th C. French Impressionist painting to make the sun come out and shadows dapple through the branches while the warm breezes caress your cheek. Escape the escalating wintry days. 

This is exactly the feeling I get when I look at some of my favorite Provençal paintings and artists. How many of these do you know, and how do you like your Impressionists?

artist Vincent Van Gogh of white roses in a vase

artist Vincent Van Gogh, of the olive trees in St. Remy

artist Cezanne of les Alpilles

artist Matisse of a still life with gorgeous fabric and fruit

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You will see some of these artists' works on the Chic Provence Design Tour... come join us!

see details and what happy guests have to say:

download the brochure here  

download registration forms here 

We quickly sold last year so let me know right away 

if you you would like me to hold a space for you!

questions? 

email me

skype me: kitgolson

call or text me:  650-302-6883

Delighted to Find {myself in} Selvedge Magazine!

"The Fabric of Your Life: Textiles in Fashion, Fine Art, Interiors, Travel and Shopping"... reads the Selvedge magazine byline. To be perfectly honest, I didn't even know about this gorgeous print magazine before Kate Cavendish contacted me for an article she was writing about Pascale Palun.

Now, I am so delighted with the writing, the hip graphics and photography, the depth and breadth of the coverage that I've subscribed to the online edition. Dancing just on the edge of "scholarly", this magazine is a rich resource for the history of all things textile, and delights the intellect while it captivates the eye.

Like most interior designers, I adore fabric. It's fascinating how Selvedge celebrates the close ties between fabric and women's lives, across time and many cultures. Selvedge captures that elemental connection and had me from the first page!

these servants's costumes in Russian Ballet, 1920's under the

artistic direction of Serge Diaghliev,

inspired the designer Paul Poirot, whose contributions

to 20th C. fashion have been likened to Picasso's

contributions to 20th c. art

backdrop for Russian Ballet in the 1920's

fragments from costumes from the heyday of Russian Ballet;

restoration has been made of these costumes,

some of which were designed

by Henri Matisse, who had a lifelong fascination with fabric

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this very happy interior designer-turned-fabric-and-

accessories-designer is profiled in Selvedge

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an innovative, to say the least, treatment of the

familiar Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman

beloved by virtually every interior designer I

have ever known, including myself!

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Selvedge reviews books such as this one published by

the Victoria and Albert Museum... and now

on my Christmas list!

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lovely graphics illustrating a story about

the Twelve Days of Christmas

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the cover of the current issue of Selvedge magazine,

published in Britain; you can see the quote by

me on page 45 included in Kate Cavendish's lovely

article about Pascal Palun

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Be absolutely certain that you enter the

Chic Provence Design Tour Giveaway

fora chance to win an

incredible silk filament filled duvet!

Cool. Period.

When he could no longer go for a swim in the ocean, Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954) brought the water inside. Confined to a wheelchair, he created The Swimming Pool, a 56-foot long frieze of blue bathers silhouetted against a wide band, to adorn the walls of his dining room at the Hôtel Régina in Nice in 1952. In an ultimate interior design moment, he deliberately used his brilliant talent to create an idealized environment for himself.

I love this mural and would have loved to see it installed in his dining room. He created the nine-panel mural in two parts: gouache on paper, cut and pasted, on white painted paper mounted on none other than that perennial favorite...burlap!

And now, with searingly hot July temperatures all over the Northern Hemisphere, we can appreciate Matisse's last great collage even more and thank him for the very cool inspiration.

images courtesy of

the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Think how pleased Matisse might

be today to see his works viewed by billions of

people all over the world on the internet!