William West

Birds of a Feather

2010-11-26T03:21:00.000-08:00

Last December my family and I visited Zoo Atlanta. Besides the lovable Pandas, Zoo Atlanta has a wonderful collection of Birds from all over the world. Many are behind wire fences which make it difficult to photograph but sometimes you get lucky and snag a great picture of these awesome creatures.

White Peacock

Besides the India Blue, whites are the most well known peafowl type to non-enthusiasts. Contrary to popular belief, whites are not albinos, because their eyes are blue, not pink.

Cassowary

The cassowary (genus Casuarius) is a very large flightless bird native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, nearby islands and northeastern Australia. The Southern Cassowary is the third tallest and second heaviest living bird, smaller only than the ostrich and emu.

Eagle Owl

Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds though a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth except Antarctica, most of Greenland and some remote islands. Though owls are typically solitary, the literary collective noun for a group of owls is a parliament.

Blue Crane

The Blue Crane is the national bird of South Africa. It is a tall, ground-dwelling bird, but is fairly small by the standards of the crane family.

I really should pay more attention to the names of the birds that I am shooting but I get so excited I forget to follow up with researching the different species that my camera captures. Below are a few more birds from Zoo Atlanta:

Green with Envy

2010-11-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

The word green is closely related to the Old English verb growan, “to grow”. It is used to describe plants or the ocean. The first recorded use of green as a color name in English was in 700.

In many folklores and literatures, green has traditionally been used to symbolize nature and its embodied attributes, namely those of life, fertility, and rebirth. Green was symbolic of resurrection and immortality in Ancient Egypt; the god Osiris was depicted as green-skinned.

Culturally, green has broad and sometimes contradictory meanings. In some cultures, green symbolizes hope and growth, while in others, it is associated with death, sickness, envy, or the devil.

Green is thought to be an unlucky color in British and British-derived cultures, where green cars, wedding dresses, and theater costumes are all the objects of superstition.

Frogs often appear green because light reflects off of a blue underlayer of chemicals and through a yellow upperlayer, filtering the light to be primarily green.

By far the largest contributor to green in nature is chlorophyll, the chemical by which plants photosynthesize. Many creatures have adapted to their green environments by taking on a green hue themselves as camouflage.

Green is also known to have signified witchcraft, devilry and evil for its association with faeries and spirits of early English folklore. It also had an association with decay and toxicity.

Green has become the symbolic color of environmentalism, chosen for its association with nature, health, and growth.

In Ireland and Scotland especially, green is used to represent Catholics, while orange is used to represent Protestantism.

Green is one of the Christmas colors as well, possibly dating back to pre-Christian times, when evergreens were worshiped for their ability to maintain their color through the winter season. Romans used green holly and evergreen as decorations for their winter solstice celebration called Saturnalia, which eventually evolved into a Christmas celebration.

Green is considered the traditional color of Islam. Muhammad is reliably quoted in a hadith as saying that "water, greenery, and a beautiful face" were three universally good things.

Are you green and growing or ripe and rotting?
Ray Kroc

life.less

2010-11-21T07:48:00.000-08:00

Last night, Villain Pictures held a Private Cast and Crew screening of their film "life.less" at the Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center.

Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center

Writer/Producer/Director, Robinson Vil

Vil tells real stories that the average person can identify with, which has led to his writing, producing and directing “life.less” (2010), a story based on actual events that have happened and are happening right now.

SYNOPSIS: Myong-hee (JENNIFER SUN BELL) has been betrayed at an early age by the men closest to her. In her early teens, the physical, emotional and mental abuse escalate to unimaginable proportion, which prompts her decision to run away from home (her safe haven, supposedly) and inadvertently finds herself in greater danger on the streets of Atlanta. She must now fight for her life and sanity and decide how her life will end, a victim or a survivor?

Kitchen Scene

My draperies were used on the set in Myong-hee's parents house. In the kitchen I chose a swag treatment with tassel trim to fit in the bay.

Myong-hee's Bedroom

A taupe and black plaid was chosen for Myong-hee's bedroom.

Another behind the scenes shot

My friend Cassandra Layne was the set designer for the Parent's house, she gave me the opportunity to help on this project.

William West, Robinson Vil (Writer/Producer/Director), and Cassandra Layne (Set Designer)

The Cast

Jennifer Sun Bell speaking about her experience while filming life.less

The night was a lot of fun! The movie was really amazing and really moved those in attendance. There is hopes that the film will be picked up by the Sundance Film Festival.

Visit the official website: life.less the movie where you can read more about the project, view the official trailer, and the "Fly Away" music video from the soundtrack.

A Ladies Touch

2010-11-20T03:10:00.000-08:00

My Drapery Work was Featured in Atlanta Magazine's Home

The spread features the home of Anna Griffen

Silk drapery panels embellished with tassel trim.(above)

View into the Dining Room from the Foyer

The Master Bedroom - The Canopy is actually screwed into the ceiling!

Stationary Designer Anna Griffen

Anna's Georgette Christmas collection

A view of the Living Room

Heavy Damask draperies embellished with antique wood bead trim.

Corona and Bed hanging w/Sashes in the Guest Bedroom

Fort Macon

2010-11-19T19:01:00.000-08:00

Parade Ground

Located on Bogue Banks near Atlantic Beach, the Fort Macon State Park park opened in 1936. Fort Macon State Park is the second most visited state park in North Carolina, with an annual visitation of 1.3 million, despite being the third smallest park in North Carolina with 389 acres.

Five-sided Fort Macon is constructed of brick and stone. It was named after North Carolina's eminent statesman of the period, Nathaniel Macon.

View from the sally port

Looking through the main entrance known as the sally port. Directly ahead is the inner court known as the parade ground. On either side of the parade are vaulted rooms known as casemates.

Construction of the present fort began in 1826 and lasted eight years. The fort was completed in December, 1834.

Window looking out to the inner court.

The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, and only two days elapsed before local North Carolina militia forces from Beaufort arrived to seize the fort for the state of North Carolina and the Confederacy.

Great view of the inner wall construction

Fort Macon was designed by Brig. Gen. Simon Bernard and built by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Casemate

Twenty-six vaulted rooms (also called casemates) are enclosed by outer walls that average 4 1/2 feet thick.

Ditch and Moat

The total cost of the fort was $463,790.

Civil War ration storage room

Kitchen and Mess Hall

The Fort Macon Flag

After seizing Fort Macon in April 1861, Confederate soldiers lacked a suitable Confederate flag. To solve the problem, they recycled the fort's old 20-foot by 36-foot U.S. garrison flag. The old "Stars and Stripes" was taken apart, then sewn back together to create the first national flag of the Confederacy. This flag, known as the "Stars and Bars," had three broad red-whit-red bars. Enough stars were left on the flag to represent the Confederate states; extra stars were simply cut out.

At the outbreak of World War II, the US Army leased the park from the state and actively manned the old fort with Coast Artillery troops to protect a number of important nearby facilities.

The fort was occupied from December, 1941, to November, 1944.

On October 1, 1946, the Army returned the fort and the park to the state.

Sage Advise.

The Ava Gardner Museum

2010-11-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

The Ava Gardner Museum is home to an extensive collection of Ava Gardner memorabilia. Each object in the museum was either owned by Ava Gardner or her family, used in her films or had a special meaning or relationship to Ava.

The glorious cape and 2 pairs of 33 shoes used in making the movie The Barefoot Contessa (1954).

This stunning silk satin cape, embroidered with gold thread and brass sequins, was worn by Ava in publicity shots for The Barefoot Contessa. However, the costume does not appear in the movie and may have been included in scenes that were deleted in the final cut of the film.

One of 23 pairs of shoes warn in The Barefoot Contessa (1954)

Ava's wardrobe for Contessa included 23 pairs of shoes. Cast in a role that most critics agree paralleled her private life, Ava played the character of Maria Vargas. As the film's title implies, both Ava and Maria preferred to forgo shoes whenever possible.

Black Dress worn in The Great Sinner (1949)

Within the Main Case of the Museum Gallery is a visitor favorite: the black dress Ava wore in The Great Sinner. Visitors often remark on the diminutive size of the dress and exclaim over her waist size – 18 inches.

Ava Gardner Museum

Ava Lavinia Gardner was born on Christmas Eve, 1922, in Grabtown, a rural community seven miles east of Smithfield, NC. She was the youngest of seven children of Jonas and Mary Elizabeth (Molly) Gardner. The town of Smithfield now has an Ava Gardner Museum.

A view of the Museum

In October 2000, the new Ava Gardner Museum opened its doors and has continued to draw national and even worldwide attention with approximately 12,000 visitors each year.

Bodice from The Great Sinner (1949)

Gown crafted from silk and wool gaberdine worn in The Naked Maja (1958)

Jacket worn in Mogambo (1953)

Harem (1986)

A pair of shoes from Harem (1986)

TV-miniseries Harem (1986)

Really cool pair of pumps!

Handbag

One of the many story boards of Ava's life.

I saw signs posted along I-95 for the museum and decided to take a chance. I have to tell you, it was a great way to spend the afternoon!

Nassau Botanical Garden

2010-11-18T18:00:00.000-08:00

The Nassau Botanical Garden was established on July, 10, 1973 on 18 acres and features over 600 species of shrubs and trees.

The site was originally a rock quarry that supplied stones for roadways and the building of fort Charlotte but is now a quiet garden with trails, terraces, and grotto.

The gardens were damaged a few years back by a hurricane and is now in need of repair. One could tell it was a Grand place in the past. Although the gardens were closed to the public, two workers allowed me full access to the property. What luck!

A moss covered staircase

Palms against a stormy sky

Banyan Tree

Wooden Gate

One of the workers

Terraced trails weave through the tropical garden.

There were many varieties of Palm trees that I have never seen before.

Tropical flowers

Staircase that empties onto the Grotto.

Ardastra Gardens

2010-11-17T17:47:00.000-08:00

Ardastra Gardens was first opened to the public in 1937. It was the brain child of Hedley Vivian Edwards, a Jamaican horticulturalist, who wanted to create a luscious garden here in the heart of Nassau.

This was not an easy task as the area in those days was more of a marshland than a lush garden.

In the 1950’s flamingos in the Bahamas were nearly hunted to the point of extinction. The Government at that time brought flamingos to Ardastra Gardens as an experiment to try breeding them in captivity.

The flamingos were featured in the National Geographic magazine in the October 1957 issue as nobody had trained flamingos to be comfortable around people before and so people could come closer to the flamingos in Ardastra compared to anywhere else in the world.

Ringtailed Lemur

In 1982 the gardens were bought by Mr. Norman Solomon, a Bahamian, and it was then that the first zoo in the Bahamas was born.

Serval

The day I visited the zoo, I had the entire park to myself. I had the most wonderful time with each of the animals.

Military Macaw

Some of the animals were as facinated with me as I was with them.

Meer Kat

Molucan Cokatoo

These two were whispering secrets

Spectacled Caiman

This one thought I looked tasty!

San salvador rock iguana

The colors and textures on this lizard were amazing. He was quite large as well.

East African Crowned Crane

This little guy was not happy that I had gotten too close and had risen up and stomped his feet in distain. I really didn't know whether to run or take the pic. The pic won. The crane was no more than two feet from me when I captured this pic.

Black Swan

Black Swans were first seen by Europeans in 1697, when Willem de Vlamingh's expedition explored the Swan River, Western Australia. This one was quite aggressive. If you got to close he would try to bite.

Peacock

Many of the birds roamed the gardens. You can walk right up to many of the flamingos which was really quite surreal .

A Step Back In Time

2010-03-19T04:13:00.000-07:00

The Great Smokey Mountains

Just outside Cherokee, NC is a wonderful visitor center as you enter the Smokey Mountain National Park. If you find yourself passing into the park, take time out to visit the Oconaluftee Visitor Center and Mountain Farm Museum.Visitors can explore a log farmhouse, barn, apple house, springhouse, and a working blacksmith shop to get a sense of how families may have lived 100 years ago.

Mountain Farm Museum

The farm buildings, most dating around 1900, were moved from their original locations throughout the Great Smoky Mountain National Park to create this open-air museum.

Corn Field

Old Equipment

Split-rail fences line much of the property. Constructed out of timber logs, split-rail fences were typically used for agricultural or decorative fencing. These were very simple in their construction, and could be easily assembled with few tools even on hard or rocky ground. They could even be partially or wholly disassembled if the fence was needed to be moved or if the wood became more useful for other purposes.

Shake Roof

A shake is a wooden shingle that is made from split logs. When these are used for covering the top of a house, the result is a shake roof. In North America shakes are typically made from Western Red Cedar.

Out Building

Barn Door (Window)

Davis House

The Davis House is a rare chance to view a log house built from chestnut wood before the chestnut blight decimated the American Chestnut in our forests during the 1930s and early 1940s.

Oconaluftee Visitor Center and The Farm Museum is free. Open All Year:
Open every day except Christmas Day

January - April   8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. May   8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.June - August   8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
September - October   8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
November - December   8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Location
Inside the Smokey Mountain National Park, 2 miles north of Cherokee, NC, on US-441.

The Winecoff Hotel Remembered

2010-03-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

The Winecoff Hotel

Built in 1913 by renowned architect, William Lee Stoddard, best known for urban hotels in the eastern United States.

William Lee Stoddard (1921)

The Georgian Terrace Hotel, Ponce de Leon Apartments, and the Connally Building were all built in Atlanta by Stoddard between 1910 and 1915.

Building Detail

The Winecoff Hotel was Atlanta's tallest and most luxurious hotel. Standing fifteen stories tall with an open-air terrace dining room, coffee shop and lounge, the hotel was strategically located in the heart of Atlanta's retail district.

Stationary

According to their stationery, the hotel was advertised as being absolutely fireproof, even though it was designed without fire alarms, fire escapes or a sprinkler system. The Winecoff is best known for a fire that occurred there on December 7, 1946, in which 119 people died.

The Upper Floors

Guests at the hotel that night included teenagers attending a Tri-Y Youth Conference, Christmas shoppers, and people in town to see Song of the South.

Historical Marker

It remains the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history, and prompted many changes in building codes.

Leather & Lace

2010-03-17T05:33:00.000-07:00

What to do? A designer has an idea to layer leather fishnet lace over a silk taffeta in a formal dining room and I am to come up with a design for her client. "No!" was my initial response. I could not think of anyway that that combination, in that setting, would ever be appropriate or attractive. Whatever protesting I did fell on deaf ears.

Three Arch Windows

To further complicate the process, that the Architect saw fit to have a bank of 3 arched windows on one wall. Dressing each arch was not an option as the windows were set too low - to dress each arch would have closed in the room. Simple panels between each window would have solved the problem but the end client thought that that would not have the dramatic look he desired.

Morticia Adams

OMG! All I could think was that this dining room was going to look like something out of the Adams Family and THAT is when it hit me. I was designing "Morticia" draperies. The sleek long drape would be made of the Copper Metallic Leather Lace over the Tangerine Taffeta. Black velvet was chosen to add some punch to the mix with a gathered skirting and swagging.

Button Detail

Other dressmaker details were added to finish off the look. The Window Treatment was mounted on a single Black lacquered rod on rings.

The Vision Completed

The Color Purple (Flashback)

2010-03-16T01:51:00.000-07:00

As a young designer for a bedding company, I was sat down by the owner for a strategy meeting. He inquired as to the color I thought was up and coming. After some consideration I told him "Purple".

He apparently did not like my answer one bit and promptly told me that my 'taste' was in my bum! A month or two later I was called into the office. I could tell the owner was a little miffed, but why? The answer was clear when he tossed the leading trade magazine on the table in front of me. There it was in large bold letters the pronouncement "The Color is PURPLE". By that point it was too late to put product into production and he missed out on a great opportunity.

Purple is often associated with Royalty and Nobility, for me, I associate it with just deserts!

Kudzu

Water Hyacinth

Maypop (Purple Passion Flower)

Japanese Anemone

The photos above are taken from the book "Flowers" by William West.

Al Fresco

2010-03-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

As Spring quickly approaches, so does the desire to dine and entertain outdoors. Pull up a chair and have a seat - good friends and good food are right around the corner!

The pictures above were taken at the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach, Florida. This open-air pedestrian promenade is "The Location" for restaurants, stores, art galleries, and the Regal movie theater.

The people watching on Lincoln Road is considered the best in South Beach and without question, can match any place in the world. There seems to be a constant flow of stunningly attractive women and men passing by, and many wear fashionable clothes with a major dose of sexy.

Chicken or Beef?

After Class

Public Parking

Delivery or DiGiorno

Spike

Did I mention that even the dogs get into the act? Each and every pup was dressed finer than the last!