T House Marks the Spot
The idea was to create a little getaway that you didn’t have to go far to get to, Tony Gwilliam said of his design for the T House, a small multipurpose backyard shelter for adults. The architect, who was born in England and has lived in Ojai for more than 20 years, said creating the design was easy because he spends quite a bit of time in Bali.
“I often stay in little houses. They are so beautiful to be in, I thought, ‘I really want to have a little place to be in, to see the sky and be close to nature and the sounds of nature--a good reminder in life, of where we come from.’ Most homes take us away from nature.”
The floor of the house, which is inspired by the Japanese teahouse and named after its creator (Tony), is at “sitting height,” 16 inches above the ground. The house is supported by four Douglas fir posts and is covered by a boat-fabric roof. The original design has a 6-by-10-foot redwood floor, an instruction booklet and hardware. A couple of larger structures are also available. Prices start at $1,780.
Gwilliam estimates that two people can set up a T House within a day. If someone constructs a 250-pound T in the wrong spot, he said, four people can move it intact. A T House can be anything you want it to be--a place to do yoga, meditate or even break away from an invisible leash, such as a cell phone.
To find out out more about the T House--plus extras such as gauze curtains, canvas panels with grommets, enclosed wood walls and a door with a moon-shaped cutout--call (805) 646-2421 or go to the Web site https://www.TonysTHouse.com.
A few pieces of pottery made by Ojai’s most renowned artist, Beatrice Wood, are on sale via the Internet for the first time. Wood, who died at age 105 in 1998, was well-known for her lustrous pottery and personality.
Twenty-six pieces of her fine pottery have been pulled from the Beatrice Wood Studio in Ojai. The works will be available until Nov. 30 at Guild.com, an online retailer for artisans.
Martin Gewirtz, director of the Beatrice Wood Studio, handpicked the 26 pieces. “I chose pieces for the Guild.com exhibition which were mostly a part of [Wood’s] personal collection--around the house and studio--while she was alive.” Prices range from $1,350 for “Purple Luster Bottle,” which stands 21/2 inches high, to $5,000 for the 6-inch-wide “Gold Luster Footed Bowl.”
The site is also selling a companion book, “Gilded Vessel: The Lustrous Art and Life of Beatrice Wood” (Guild Publishing, $35) written by Garth Clark, her longtime art dealer and friend.
“Beatrice was in some ways like a hummingbird. She had that fragile beauty and yet great strength. Something really magical about her,” Clark said. He added that her age never seemed to matter. “She was incredibly funny. She followed current events to the end of her life. You never realized you were with somebody her age. She attracted very young friends. I’m 54. Eventually, I was too old for Beatrice,” he teased.
Clark confirmed that Wood was a perpetual, relentless flirt. “She was known for liking younger men, even though, according to Clark, it was just talk. “I once went with her to dinner with a museum director, and his face turned red, and Beatrice, who was close to 90, was running her toes up and down his leg. It was all in good fun. She would never have done anything.”
Clark summed up his book, which was in the planning stages while Wood was alive, as “a love letter to Beatrice.” That’s why all the art is at the front of the book and text at the back, the way she wanted it.
Clark said his gallery (Garth Clark Gallery on West 57th Street in Manhattan, and formerly in Los Angeles) is going to present a retrospective of Wood’s work in November. She continued to work until she was about 101.
Most ceramists of her generation were trying to take on an aesthetic of perfection. “Along comes Beatrice, and her pots are wobbly or with clumsily attached feet or the glaze doesn’t always stay where it should. Her throwing is eccentric. Instead of a line spiraling from the bottom and working up in one continual flow, in Beatrices’ throwing, you could see the line go up and waver. In the field that would be considered an error, and yet she could turn that around and give it a life force.”
Clark recalled when, after a successful show of Wood’s work in 1981, she said, “I think this is the first time I have more money coming in than going out, so this is a dilemma. Do I buy a gigolo or a vacuum cleaner?” (She got a vacuum cleaner.)
Sometimes she would agitate on purpose, Clark said. “She confused feminists; she was a hero to them. I took a feminist writer to meet her. Dinner was going well until Beatrice leaned over and said to her, ‘You know, the role of the woman is to kiss the feet of the man.’ Of course she never did it ... but she was a great romantic. I think her art replaced that--romance.”
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Candace A. Wedlan can be reached at candace.wedlan@latimes.com.
