Mid Century Modern Fiberglass Lamp Base

Mid Century Modern Fiberglass Lamp Base, a photo by The White Mole on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Made of fiberglass and wood, with its sputnik shape and sleek lines, this lamp base has all the quintessential characteristics of mid century modern design. See profile for more details.

What a cool Mid-Century Lamp made of Fiberglass. Kinda looks like half a space ship.

When I see cool lamps, my instinct is to get inspired and start to create a lamp for myself. Granted, I'm probably not going to make a mold and then make a fiberglass lamp. Even though... No. I'm more inclined to design something of the Danish modern lamp* fame. Then though, I always wonder. Should I buy, or build. To decide, I have to do my research. So, here are some lamps that I've found for inspiration and maybe even to buy. Who knows...

Mid Century Modern Danish Teak Hanging Swag Light Lamp Fixture Eames*

Pair 2 Vintage Mid Century Danish Modern Teak Retro Atomic Eames Era Table Lamps*

Mouse over image to zoom Have one to sell? Sell it yourself Mid Century Modern Danish Atomic Mad Men Hanging Swag Pendant Light Lamp Fixture*















Note: Links with an (*) beside them are affiliate links. If you purchase thru these links, Amidst Mod receives a small but necessary income. This income allows Amidst Mod to continue providing you with quality information.

Mid-Century Metro Atlanta

Mid-Century Arc on Flickr

Atlanta in reality, has quite a bit of Mid-century Modern design and influence to behold. What it doesn't have, are huge amounts of neighbors that have open lots to see what is there. Due to the dense landscape of brush, bush, and trees, it took me quite a while to notice all the mid-century that exists. Just so you understand, I'm not about to try and show an example of all the styles of MCM homes or buildings that exist. I will show a few styles that I have run across though. Personally, I had the privilege of entering a large number of these incredible houses when I worked as a pest control technician, or what ever you call them. In fact, as of about 9 years ago, many of the original owners still lived in there homes. Also, I had the interesting experience of living in the Riverbend Apartments on the Chatahoochee of "Catch Me If You Can"* fame.

Please understand that I could spend all day talking about where you can find Mid-Century/Mid-century Modern homes in the Metro Atlanta area. Howerver, that would be a really long post. So, I'm going to mention a little about the areas where I used to work and live. Plus, these are the areas that I have photos of.

While I worked as a pestcontrol technician, I worked a huge territory. I worked all the way from Northern Gwinett, thru buckhead and in to the marietta and smyrna areas. All of these areas have a number of mid-century, modern and non, houses that are very interesting to see. As I mentioned before, I found that it took a keen eye to see thru the hedges and see the treasures that laid beyond those sneaky things. In fact, I have walked up to more than my share of houses, fences, gates and intercoms to ask the person at home when there house was built and if I could walk around it to take a look see. Surprisingly enough, most people where very friendly and let me in.

Unfortunately, at the time, I hadn't gotten into photography heavily and never had a camera with me. So, I don't have photos of some of the coolest houses that I had the pleasure of seeing.

Where to find MCM homes in Atlanta.

On the west side, you can find Mid-century houses in the old portions of just about all the small towns. Even Paulding County has a few gems. Very few though. So... I suggest that you stick to the more progressive areas. One instance of this would be Smyrna. While you're not going to see a ton of the MCM homes from the main roads, Austell, Windy Hill, Atlanta, Cobb Parkway, and South Cobb Drive, just go down some of the local neighborhood roads and you will see some nice houses a block or so from the main highway. One instace of this is, just off of Windy Hill, you can find a few neighborhoods with a house similar to the one just to the left of this paragraph.

You need to understand that the mid-century modern homes that do exist in Atlanta are generally not of the famed "California Style".  These ranches are generally just an elongated 50's or 60's ranch with long banks of windows, open beam ceilings, and paneled and rock exteriors. While not extreme, they are very beautiful. Many of the mcm houses in Atlanta where also built with brick. It seemed to be the fad of the times.

Good rules of thumb to use are

Near this Fire Stone on South Cobb there are number of mcm ranches.

- Any of the old main thru fairs that where popular in the 50's and 60's are usually good places to look as well. One example of this is South Cobb Drive. On this road, from just about the Chatahoochee river , all the way up thru Northern Kennesaw, there are a number of old neighbor hoods with some cool houses laying hidden.

-Look at neighborhoods near old sections of town. Is there an old shopping center, or square? Was there one once? A good example of this is the Marietta Square. Just driving around there, you will find a number of interesting mid-century and mcm houses waiting to be found.

-Look for old land marks. One example of this is the OK Cafe off of West Paces Ferry. This sector of the city has been well know for years to be affluent. Because of this, there are quite a number of Mid-century houses that have been built. Many of these houses are the more famous houses, as they are not tract houses.

Photo by SellModern.com

-Look for longtime affluent areas. Buckhead is would be an example of such an area, as well as Roswell/Johnson's Ferry. These areas have a number of older homes that have been around for many years.

Really, there are a number of places more as well. I know in the Decatur, Stone Mountain, Duluth, and Candler Park I've seen a lot. In reality though, there's now way to tell you about all of them. If you would like to know more about the mid-century homes in the Metro Atlanta area. I suggest that you check out www.atlantamoderns.com, www.northcrestmodern.com, atlanta.curbed.com/tags/mid-century-modern, and docomomoga.org/wordpress. If you would like to see a few more images of some mid-century homes in the Metro Atlanta Area, check out this link here.

Note: All links with an (*) at the end are affiliate links that provide Amidst Mod with a small, but important income with any purchase that you make thru this link. This income helps Amidst Mod stay alive.

Design Modern Illustrated

"Design Modern" graphic by Eric McGrew

Something about simple modern/retro modern design has always intrigued me. I love just, well... how simple and beautiful it is. Above you see one of my own designs. Generally, I take a little bit more of a loose and less regulated approach to my designs because I like the unique creativity that comes from it. However, I really dig the super regulated obsessed approach that some other artist have as well.

One inspiration that I have for these very simple designs is a designer who goes by Genís Carreras. There work, to me is truly inspiring. They have a wonderful portfolio, and have been featured on a number of sites. Not to mention the numerous clients they've worked with. However, you need to stop by their site and see it all.

If you want another awesome illustrators site for contemporary designers of the retro, simple illustrated style, you should check out Grain Edit too. This site could keep me occupied all day. So, take a moment and check em out. You will easily find art and books that will fit in nicely with any mid-century/retro themed interior. Plus, you'll get the opportunity to support some of the lesser know folks in the design industry.

Illustrating The Past And Present 2

If you thought that those few artist on the "Illustrating The Past And Present" post that I put up on Monday was all I had, then you we're mistaken. Today, as you see from the image above, we have us a new retro/vintage styled artist*. Her name is Dawn Frasier.

Dawn has really been focused on Mid-century tiki art* for some time now. Unlike many tiki artist* today, she doesn't just focus on the tiki side of things, but instead, shows the mid-century/tiki union that has been so popular. Ms. Frasier is amazing with her paintings in so many ways. One of them, as you can see in these paintings is that she has a wonderful ability to give subtle but very import emotion to the ambiance of the painting. Her paints of the moonlight lit mcm architecture, ocean, and tiki sculptures have a emotion transporter device built in. You just look at the picture and you're instantly on vacation. 

Only problem I find with Dawn's art, is that I can decide which one I like most. Not only do you get to choose from the paintings, but you can also choose from some of her home decor items that are well worth looking into also. She offers art from anywhere around $30 and up. With prices like that, there is something available for everybody.

If you haven't yet, I seriously suggest that you check out her various sites that she has up and running. Here's a short but important list.

www.etsy.com/shop/sophistatiki
www.sophista-tiki.com
Flickr

Also, if you really want to see what's going on, and don't want to miss one painting, why not befriend this lovely lady on Facebook.com. There you'll see all the new works and even a few personal interest items she puts up. Plus, she's super friendly!

If you want to know a bit more about the tiki art side of things, then one of these books* may help you.

Note: Not all links are affiliate links. However, any link with an (*) at the end is an affiliate link. These links help provide AmidstMod with a small income that keeps this site going. 

Images: All images and rights are property of Dawn Frasier.

A little Hawaiian Art Inspiration

Vintage ALOHA Luau Invitation, a photo by hmdavid on Flickr.

As summer is starting soon, I figured you might just like a good dose of Mid-Century Hawaiian Inspired Art*. Courtesy of flickr of course. HM David has huge collection of information, and photos.

At HM David's flickr, you won't only find Mid-Century Hawaiian Art*. You'll see numerous sets of matchbook covers, ads, antiques, and even themed sets for different area's. You got to see it to believe it.  It's definitely a Mid-century flickr account to remember. So swing by and check it out now.

 Note: links with an (*) at the end are affiliate links that help keep Amidstmod running. 

Illustrating The Past And Present.

Deedee914 art on etsy.com/Illustrated bird postcards

Art, while not necessary to live, is a great asset to your space. That is, if you can afford it. Wait though, you can....

A few years back, I started to get into mid-century digital, illustration, and abstract art. At the time, the market lacked many of the ebay, etsy, and online stores that it has today that are selling Mid-century furniture. Instead, when I search such terms as Mid-Century*, Space Age*, retro*, atomic age*, and Eames Era* art, I was treated to the bright and wonderful world of the mid-century revivalists (That's what I call them anyhow.). These are artists that were creating contemporary (new) are in the style of the mid-century era. Some of the art was a bit more modern, some of it was a bit more traditional, but all of it was inspiring. So, today, I'm going to give you a teaser as to what will be coming your way over the next few weeks.

If all goes well, I will be able to give you articles and interviews with at least a few great artist. So, let's see a bit about what it is that our contemporaries are doing for the mid-century modern revival.

At the top of the post, you'll the mid-century modern illustrated bird post cards of deedee 914. These nine post cards are a set, and can be used as postcards, note cards, greeting cards, invitation, or as classy wall art. Plus, these are a good option for inexpensive wall art. If you want to know more, check out Deedee914's etsy site. By the way, Deedee914, also has a blog I love to read here.

Art by: Edwin Wade

My next mention is Edwin Wade. This gentleman is someone I'm very happy to see still going strong. I remember when he first started on facebook, and I took a liking to his art immediately. His style, color choice, and general composition of his art makes them truly a please to look at. While Edwin has art of all different types of medium. He also is very fair about pricing.  Check out Edwin's etsy here and see what I mean.

Greg Maletic is another creative artist that, while not having a large portfolio of hanging art that he sales directly, he does have 4 disney attration themed pieces that you can download for free and then print on your own. Plus, the pdf's (1& 2) that he has saved them as, allow them to be modified for your need. While I love his work, I changed the colors of one of mine in Adobe Illustrator* to fit the color theme of my house. While the art is free, there is a licensing agreement you should read and understand. As he's giving us this incredible art, be kind enough to respect it please.

While these are not all of the mid-century revivalist artist, they are some good ones. As the blog goes on, I'll try and feature more as I have in this post, but also, as I have in the post such as my interview with Edwin Wade that you can read here.

Note: Links with an (*) at the end of them are links that direct readers to affiliate sites. Purchases thru these links help finance amidst mod and keep the site going.

A Taste Of What's To Come!

ArtWork by Edwin Wade