CASUDI ~ images of LIFE

 

Spring has Sprung!

Finally, today April 22nd it felt as though Spring has Sprung. There was still a nip in the air and we weren't planting herbs like @Loismarketing, my online twitter friend was in Atlanta, but it was a beautiful day and the Wisteria blooms on our pergola began to look quite promising. 

P1060643

The yellow Rhododendron went from closed to almost open in a matter of hours.

P1060646

The miniature cut leaf maple went from asleep to open for business, and the magnificent red sheaths were a fabulous contrast to the "spring green" of the leaves.

P1060667

P1060670

And sixteen year old Shuko san took advantage of the sun and relaxed away from the computer keyboard where he usually hangs out. 

P1060658

It's been a long "gray" winter in the Great Pacific North West however today was the tipping point into SPRING. 
CASUDI in the San Juan Islands.


Posted April 22, 2012
// 0 Comments
 

We Love Our Loyal Customers!

What does it take to appreciate a loyal customer? I am a frequent participant in the twitter chat #CXO with a focus on Customer Service or more accurately stated CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, and "appreciation of loyal customers" is a reoccurring discussion. Therefore I thought I'd share this with our #CXO community and BTW this is one of my favorite chats taking place Monday at 9AM PST and hosted by @Vivismo_inc

Nespresso has it right. I received a fabulous coffee drink recipe book last Christmas, and then out of the blue yesterday a package arrived. In the package a box with 12 special blend capsules and this great appreciation card. I feel very "special" to be first to try this Limited Edition blend.

P1060560

After all I have been a member of the Nespresso club for over 12 years, but it's really nice to be appreciated. I bought the first Nespresso machine to arrive in Washington in 2000; a very trendy Alessi model from Peter Miller (Architectural & Design) Books in Seattle.

The package from Nespresso just after I opened it (below)

P1060561
 

P1060562

 

I order coffee every other month or so and I do like the 12 different standard blends of Nespresso (all fresh, vacuum packed capsules) however what makes this a continuing commitment on my part are the "special blend" LIMITED EDITION capsules that Nespresso has available twice a year.

P1060563

You can read more about Nespresso and about my kitchen design where I incorporated a "built in" Nespresso" machine.  After we had two stand alone models, nine years ago we opted for a built in Miele Nespresso machine which now has efficiently brewed 14,920 cups of coffee!

P1040429

ENJOY……..and if you are ever in my neighborhood do please stop in for a double Nespresso.

AND I am only a "loyal customer" ~ I dont even work for Nespresso!
CASUDI 

Filed under  //   Customer Service  
Posted March 30, 2012
// 0 Comments
 

Bizarre For The Home

Here is an artist that boggles my mind. The matching pair of sculptures (below) are four feet square and one foot deep. They are heavy, bring your fork lift heavy, and expensive, bring 25K for the pair. Expensive is relative of course. Beauty is also in the eye of the beholder. Up until now the artist known as Ono Saba has done only commissioned works. 
Image_1
So how do you put value on a piece of art in this case a pair, when the artist is unknown (no Google hits), or at least unknown to any but an exclusive few. Of course, if the artist had Steve as a client and worked with Steve on the design of his first house, then by association these pieces of art might sell for a considerably higher price. Yes value by association; that's always an interesting discussion. If the Jag XJS was previously owned by Frank Sinatra the auction selling price might be in excess of 160k, if it was mine it would sell for 20K or less at market price.! 

The title for these two pieces are "Heavy ONE" and "Heavy TOO."
Image
I like to help artists find their patrons and buyers, and as you know I write about artists from time; Marc Grant, the Fresh Pressed Entrepreneur and Kate Scott come to mind. So should I pin this on my #Bizarre4home board, it might get a some pins but I don't quite see the 25K there. Maybe it needs to be pinned on Board-of-Man as suitable man-cave art…….maybe I'll FANCY it, that's supposed to support upscale luxury buyers. 

Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated. BTW what do you think of this ART?

CASUDI

Filed under  //   Art  
Posted March 4, 2012
// 0 Comments
 

Delightfully Demented!

That's what someone called Kate Scott's art show  ~"Delightfully Demented". The show opened on January 27th at the Lopez Island Community Center.

P1060469

Another visitor to the show said, "Your show was marvelous ! ! !  Complex and distinctive, your convention-defying imagination is so visually rich that I would have loved to be there all alone for a long time."   This one probably doesn't count Kate said as...she's 89 and she loves me!. The original oil pastel is "Fork in the road."

P1060473

This flaming heart is a watercolor and really should become the logo for the twitter chat #BeOnFire. The title is however "Heartburn" though I have asked Kate to change it to #BeOnFire. 

P1060470

The original of this print was created for a breast cancer fundraiser in Seattle called "The Bra Show" and the with the title  "Ze Bra" raised $1000. The wine was flowing during the auction, Kate said, helping the wallets slide our of the pockets.  

P1060465

My title for this is "Delightfully Decadent," however the oil pastel (above) is called "Apple Parfait" ! Boring!

P1060471

Kate hates golf…..and that's because her last boyfriend played golf from nine in the morning to nine at night…round & round he went, a slightly addictive personality. Yes, she said he'll read this as they are still good friends. This is a print of the original Prismacolor and was painted for yet another fundraiser. This time, Kate thought it was going to be for a local school scholarship, instead (bait & switch) it was for a student to learn "how to play golf." This is of course called "Tee Time"

P1060476

Seriously now: this is a collection of graphite drawings (& some Prismacolor) inspired by nature. Everyone should know that Kate collects rocks (amongst a lot of other things). Graphite are the pencils that some of us remember from school (before computers)

P1060472

The drawing above entitled "Mother Load" was sold twice! If you missed out Kate is making prints from this sometime soon.

P1060466

Unfortunately these were displayed quite high in a grouping and I was unable to shoot them straight on, or find a ladder. The original oil pastel on the left is "Escape to China" and the one on the right is one of Kate's favorites, which no one seemed to notice. It's an oil pastel called "The Family - Armored Camp" ~ maybe it was the title that put people off!

P1060474

"The Tea Party" is a watercolor….. this was a print and the original is hanging in the Library. Some of you may read politics in this? Kate said the toys are all in her toy collection. Oh yes she collects and collects…..slightly obsessive maybe and her friends call her house & studio "The Katesonian"

Humor, whimsy and a bunch of talent makes Kate's art both entertaining and collectable. She says people call her eccentric but she says she feels so normal……well what do you think?

CASUDI 

Filed under  //   Art  
Posted February 13, 2012
// 0 Comments
 

DESIGN of the week

Last week I joined @pinterest at the continuing suggestion of several designers on #intdesignerchat; one of the best organized chats for professionals on twitter. 

I have an idea to have a DESIGN of the week "collaborative" board on my Pinterest. I have no idea if it will work but here is how I described it.

Every week I will personally select a DESIGN …... maybe not the way I would do it....but never the less WELL DONE ~ as I progress with this idea I will open this board up to other contributors to pin the DESIGN of the week.

This is what I selected for week one? http://pinterest.com/pin/43276846388962721/

Dow

It would be my pleasure to have someone other than me do board selection for week 2 (Monday January 9th) and then others thereafter posting every Monday. What do you think of the idea? And would you like to be part of the selection group? If so please send me a message via twitter or email from my blog, as I can allow you to pin on the DESIGN of the week board if you want to be the pin-up for the week…..that doesn't sound right… but you know what I mean !!

What I think this will show, is that there are many POV of "good design" and it will be fun to see them all together. Pinning your own design is perfectly OK, providing you think it will meet the criteria of "DESIGN of the week" :-)

@CASUDI

Filed under  //   Art   Social Media   Solutions  
Posted January 1, 2012
// 0 Comments
 

New Year 2012

Riva_xmas

CASUDI, James & BarnFindRiva


Filed under  //   Barn Find Riva   Holidays  
Posted December 25, 2011
// 0 Comments
 

Building Bridges Between People ~ Designing Success

To find out more about this very compelling photography journey, please check out my post Building Bridges……..

(download)

CASUDI 

DESIGNING SUCCESS

Filed under  //   Art   Entrepreneurs  
Posted December 8, 2011
// 0 Comments
 

Inconveniently Serving…….

Orcas

If you live in and know the area, this is actually good marketing……inconveniently serving western Washington. 

The San Juan Islands are linked by an inconvenient Ferry with the mainland part of Western Washington….. and for any hardware store to undertake any level of service beyond their home Island (in this case Orcas Island) is quite an amazing feat.

This sign alone won me over……. though inconvenient they will provide me with service.

CASUDI on Highway 20 in Anacortes, Washington.

Filed under  //   Customer Service  
Posted November 11, 2011
// 0 Comments
 

Fresh Pressed on Tour ~ An Amazing Success.

The Fresh Pressed Entrepreneur, Miss Amanda was on tour over Labor Day weekend..and what an outstanding success it was; over 70% of her exhibit sold..... she told me, and when I looked around I could understand why.
P1050820
This was the star of the show....."Grateful Heart" and it has to be one of the largest pressed flower creations ever..... with a price tag of "on request" it was already sold when I arrived. 
P1050827

The exhibit was exquisitely displayed in "The Barn" an architectural icon on the Island which was in gallery mode for the holiday weekend. Notice "Grateful Heart" on the back wall and get a full realisation of the absolute scale of it. Many took advantage of the incredible weather and arrived to view the exhibit by bicycle and in full biking atire.....attesting that Fresh Pressed appeals to a very varied clientele.

Fresh_pressed_show_6

Miss Amanda told me that this year on the studio tour people had actually come to see ART, and were actually interested in buying. Fresh Pressed was one of 20+ studios which opened their doors over the Labor Day weekend. You can read more about Miss Amanda in The Fresh Pressed Entrepreneur. 

Gallery_day_1_lopez

In the two days over 500 people came to the Fresh Pressed exhibit. It was a steady stream from start to finish. It was also the first year Miss Amanda had been on the ART tour, so of course there were many curious to see her Art and of course the Barn. But curiosity can turn into buying, which it obviously did!

Working

When you see the amazing Fresh Pressed creations you begin to understand all the meticulous planning and time consuming work that goes into each one-of-a-kind design. Almost all the pieces were framed: so you could buy and hang instantly :-) 

P1050825

The sheer number of creations was in fact mind boggling.... especially to me as I knew Fresh Pressed was a start up business and this is only Miss.Amanda's third exhibit ......or would you consider it... more of an event? 

P1050822

From what I observed it was the larger (more expensive) pieces of art that sold first; interesting in today's economy.

P1050829

These were the ones I was considering........and as many people know I am into poppies and some of the poppies were from my Natural Landscaping.

P1050823

I overheard one tour participant mention that he thought the architecture was a distraction from the exhibit; quite the opposite in my opinion...... and everyone else I spoke with concurred..... the art was truly enanced by the magnificent architeture!

P1050824

Fresh Pressed does of course need lots of presses for the fresh flowers (raw materials) and these in the foreground are the ones custom made for Miss Amanda. Simple and effective. Note the antique press on the far right; this came from my friend Karen who had used it as a fireplace hearth decoration for many years. It's a book binder's press and now has been repurposed yet again, and is pressing the flowers for smaller creations. 

P1050826

The entire event was a lesson in consistent branding of a small business.... everything went together perfectly.... every detail had been designed... and thought through........ making a really enjoyable customer experience...... including the approach through the woods to the studio (see below)

P1050831

So what's next for Fresh Pressed? An exhibit in NYC I asked......... "maybe this winter", Miss Amanda indicated shyly!

 

More details of the "event", it's preparation and some choice Fresh Pressed creations can be viewed on this short video.... well worth watching.

CASUDI on Lopez Island






Filed under  //   Entrepreneurs  
Posted September 19, 2011
// 0 Comments
 

The FUTURE OF DESIGN

Is this subject too complex to comprehend and discuss in an online chat? We’ll see in the 21st JULY #Futrchat on twitter.....

As the focus for this chat are we thinking “future of design - an overall view”….. or are we looking at and analyzing how will the many different  design disciplines be embraced in the future? That’s a dozen chats or so minimum :-)

P1050462

I am currently reading ‘THE SHALLOWS’, by Nicholas Carr (yes, reading a book) .... and it has got me to considering …. is there an analogous mindset or similarity to how we will change our design thinking, just the way we have changed how we read and digest information via the Internet?  IMO there has to be, since they are so interrelated.  I am not sure yet how this change will manifest itself ....

Carr points out in his book (amongst lots of other things!) that instead of sitting down and reading a book cover to cover in a linear way, we engage in a sort of non-linear “skimming activity” when we read online.

On closer analysis I have found this to be true for me.  I used to average about 150 books a year, cover to cover, engaging in a concentrated, linear activity.  And I was able to remember a lot of what I read. Now, I read only about 10-12 books a year (including this hardcopy version of The Shallows), and I am finding it harder to settle down and read a book cover to cover! Instead, I get the majority of my reading and information online ….. and rarely read something all the way through; instead I am following interesting links, sometimes so far from the original that I am well and truly sidetracked from where I started!  Often after I read something ……it’s out of mind.  I prefer the term “power browsing” for this useful “non-linear” activity we now all seem to be engaging in.

Can the same ‘non-linear’ thought process be applied to design thinking in the future?  How so?

Back to the book; I strongly recommend “The Shallows”; it’s an eye opener to how we have subtly changed our metal processes via the internet.  IMO there has not been such a change in viewing & digesting information since the invention of the printing press, when we went from oral assimilation to reading (Carr goes into that fascinating parallel in greater depth in the book) .....

Check out this amzaing framing post by APF (Association of Professional Futurists) The Fiture of Design . This should get you totally excited about attending #FUTRCHAT ~ time 4PM Eastern Time, day Thursday, date 21 July 2011.

Back to the future ....

CASUDI

 

 




Filed under  //   FUTURE  
Posted July 19, 2011
// 0 Comments