As part of my recent trip to Italy to attend the 83rd Florence International Artisan fair, our Meet The Artisans group participated in a cultural excursion to the Museo della Ceramica in the town of Montelupo.

The town is a quintessential Tuscan countryside of a local community, about twenty five minutes from the city center of Florence.

The center of town mainly consists of about three streets of local shops, restaurants, and flats.

Public art is prevalent even in this small town.

The Italians are quite the artisans.

The locals are very friendly too. This beautiful dog took a liking to my friend and fellow group participant, interior designer Kim Lewis from Austin, Texas.

So much prettiness everywhere you look!

The man in the window above that door watching us, the tourists, taking photos of his front door.

Around the corner, sheds insight to daily life.

Exterior facades are colorful.

Decorative too: Ceramic tiles for address numbers and colorful potted plants.

After a brief walk through town we made our way to the ceramics museum to begin our tour. This is the front of the museum entrance.

The museum features a collection of ceramic dishes and bowls that were found in local wells from centuries past. Found were fragments and broken pieces that were discarded due to being unsalable.

The dishware depicts the Tuscan colors.

Motifs are a reflection of the various eras. The simpler ones are at a less prosperous time.

Others reflect life in the time they were made.

The museum consists of multiple displaying ceramics from various periods.

There is a little town just outside of Florence, in the Tuscany region of Italy, called Vinci. It happens to be the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci, or in other words, “Leonardo from Vinci”. On my recent trip as part of the Meet the Artisans group, we had the privledge of touring this small town as one of our neighborhood excursions.

It is a charming hillside town with very green Tuscan countryside views. Surprisingly, it’s reached after a drive through an industrial area. Once there, the town consists of a steep hill of shops and restaurants with a church and museum at the top overlooking the town.

Typical buildings with colorful facades and shutters.

A car in front of one of the many museums in this quaint town.

Archways and cobblestone streets adorn the town.

Looking up toward the church where Leonardo da Vinci was baptized.

The town includes a Leonardo da Vinci museum.

The sidewalk outside of the museum.

The Tuscan countryside.

Ode to Leonardo da Vinci.

Vinci is so charming and picturesque.

More views from the top.

Definitely recommend a visit if you’re in the region.

Thank you to PromoFirenze and the Florence Chamber of Commerce for including us on this neighborhood excursion. #MeetTheArtisans

I’ve just returned from a trip to Florence, Italy and although I’ve been to Italy many times, it was my first visit to the Tuscany region. I was there to attend the 83rd International Artisan Fair, a curated fair featuring local artisans and makers of art, decor, furnishings, clothing and accessories, & food and wine.

I arrived a day early and had some time to explore the city before our first night’s welcome dinner event. Our group stayed at the AC Marriot Firenze hotel, just on the outskirts of the city center in a more residential neighborhood. This was the view from my room.

The first day was a bit rainy but I managed to still get a lot of city walking in as the rain tapered off later in the day. As I was rushing to meet a friend of mine for lunch that lives in Florence, I turned a corner and came upon this carousel with a peek of the top of the bell tower from the Duomo behind.

As it turns out the Duomo was right next to where we had lunch and just as we were saying goodbye, I turned around and saw the very striking cathedral and bell tower.

At the Duomo.

The cathedral details.

Walking around the perimeter of the Duomo.

An exterior facade on the Piazzo del Duomo.

Cute cafes and restaurants around the Piazza del Duomo.

And beautifully engraved doors.

From the Duomo, I ventured out for more city walking and stumbled upon the Basilica of Santa Maria Novello.

Some of the buildings next to the Basilica include hotels and restaurants.

As I continued walking I came upon an open market area selling leather goods just before finding the Mercato Centrale, an indoor food market with restaurants. I’ve never seen so many varieties of pasta!

Street art on the streets of Firenze.

As I was making my way back to the hotel towards the end of the day, I came upon this 14th century fortress, the Fortezza da Basso, where the artisan fair I would be attending the next day is located.

Inside the fortress is this charming little building where one of the exhibitors we visited at the fair was.

On the second day, we had some free time after attending the fair in the morning, so I set out for more city sight seeing, strolling through narrow streets on a warm sunny afternoon.

Stopping to see cute local hotels.

And colorful buildings.

Bicycles lined up outside the Savoy Hotel in Firenze.

Suddenly and unexpectedly I came upon the Piazza della Signoria as I was making my way to the Ponte Vicchio.

Grand statues like this one overlook the Piazza.

Beyond the Piazza della Signoria is the Uffizi Gallery.

A “live” statue stands outside the Uffizi Gallery.

Looking up at the details.

Art and architecture is everywhere you look.

Just beyond the steps from the Uffizi Gallery is the river and Ponte Vecchio.

A view of the Ponte Vecchio and the Fiume Arno.

The annual Pasadena Showcase House opened its doors recently and I had the opportunity to attend a media preview. This year’s house is stunning! Located at the Descano Gardens in La Canada, CA. Here’s a highlight of some of the gorgeous rooms the designers involved created!

The sunroom.

Drapery details.

Creative hallway art.

The living room.

The breakfast room.

Cork tiles for the colorful flooring.

Major gorgeous complete kitchen renovation.

Much more to see if you have the chance to visit the house!

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Cosentino, the quartz surfaces company from Spain, has opened its first flagship in Los Angeles with the new Cosentino City showroom located on Beverly Boulevard in the heart of the West Hollywood Design District. This past week I attended the opening night party with colleagues and friends.

Cosentino’s Brand Ambassador, supermodel Cindy Crawford, hosted the opening night party. I also had the opportunity to attend her brand collaboration event with Cosentino two years ago at Milk Studios in Hollywood.

Celebratory drinks in the house!

Cheese, meat, and fruit spread with samples of Cosentino products in the presentation.

Decadent desserts.

Cindy Crawford makes her way through the gallery after signing one of the slabs.

Photo booth fun with friends Megan Reilly, Kevin Davis, Ron Farber, & Kam Kamran.

Over the weekend I attended the Latin Food Fest held at the Los Angeles Historic Park. We lucked out because the weather was amazing and it was a beautiful, sunny, warm, yet cool day to be outside enjoying great food and perhaps, a few too many drinks. Great wines (from the likes of Argentina & Spain) and seemingly, lots of tequila was flowing.

We had the privilege of getting into the VIP tent which had some extra great chefs and food samplings. Probably one of my most favorite was the scallops with mole verde, shishotos, radish, snap peas, & hoja santos from Hoja Blanco. Definitely a winner for me!

Homemade tortillas.

This past week I visited the Marciano Art Foundation for the first time, a Los Angeles museum I had been wanting to check out for quite some time.

It’s free to visit with an advanced reservation, the days are limited to later in the week and weekends, but that wasn’t a problem. I ended up going on a beautiful Spring weekday afternoon and it was quite nice!

The foundation is housed in what is a former Masonic Temple in mid-city LA. You can read more about the history of the building here.

The museum includes a lobby level, mezzanine with the Masonic archives, and two upper level galleries.

The lobby entrance showcases the two large abstracts above.

I thought this installation featuring the work of Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone was really cool.

The highly anticipated and very popular Yayoi Kusama exhibition did not disappoint. Fun to see in person and take pictures!

A collection from Catherine Opie featuring the life and home of Elizabeth Taylor, including the above signed Warhol.

Love the contemporary work of American artist Barbara Kruger, above and below.

Sunset by local Southern California artist, Doug Aitken.

A multi-dimensional art piece by Elliot Huntley made of soundboard, ink on paper, strings, pin, wood, paper, plastic, gesso, & photographs.

All photos by Jill Seidner Interior Design

I am looking forward to attending the 83rd MIDA event in Florence, Italy next month. I will be attending on behalf of Promo Firenze, Florence Chamber of Commerce, and the Italian Trade Agency.

The artisan fair features 600 exhibitors and represents fifty countries. As part of our visit we will be given a hosted tour of the fair.

During our two day tour we will be introduced to the local handi-craft through the “Meet the Artisans” program.

Now in it’s 83rd edition, the Florence International Artisan Fair has been completely renovated, reverting to its original purpose: a platform for featuring the finest Italian and international crafts.

During the fair, two major exhibitions will be focusing on Florentine and Tuscan crafts.

Next weekend the Latin Food Fest comes to Los Angeles! It will be held March 29-30 at the Los Angeles State Historic Park and tickets include food, beer, wine, spirits, & entertainment. I am looking forward to tasting Spanish wines and having seen a photo of the biggest paella I think I’ve ever seen (which will be featured on the chef’s night), I am going to be in search of! Looking forward to attending next weekend with friends on behalf of a very special invite! Will be posting about the event on Instagram and a future blog post to come. If interested in attending, tickets are available here.