Project Description
Welcome to the overview section of the Lee Coleman Collection.
Rooms
Foyer
The foyer functions as the entry way into Lee and Lone’s house as well as the entrance to the collection. In this section we will look at some of the pieces that make the foyer unique.
The foyer sets the mood for the entire house. This photograph was created while standing at the foot of the stairs to the second floor. The front door is visible on the right. The afternoon sun streams down from a large, leaded-glass window on the landing between the floors. Hence the shadows on the floor. The arch of the top of the door balances similar architectural details – like the arch that separates the living room from the foyer. On the far left of the image is a door that leads to a small hallway. From the hallway one can access the kitchen or a small room and bath. Not visible in this image is the stairway to the second floor.
In the morning, the sun streams into the foyer from the dining room, and from the kitchen, through the hall, and into the foyer. As beautiful as that is, nothing matches the beauty of the foyer in the afternoon. The light descends through the leaded glass windows on the landing to the second floor and then streams across the foyer. The rich tones of the tapestries, the colors of the rugs, and the warm tones of the wood fill the space with a sense of calm and beauty.
A little three legged table of Claro walnut that I made for the beautifully carved model of a humpback whale. Unknown Balinese carver. On the wall, three Japanese woodblock prints.
My first piece after deciding in the late 1990s to take my woodworking to a higher level. This piece is based on a piece by Brian Condron, outstanding disciple of James Krenov, who founded the famous woodworking school at the College of the Redwoods.
Over the door to the dining room hangs a hangar for a textile from the Philippines. Examples of basketry trays from northern California are on one wall of the dining room.
This is a scrap, probably from a kimono, made by a stenciling technique for dying silk, called bingata. A specialty of the textile traditions of Okinawa.
Another view looking from the entry hall to the dining room. The little table has a basket from the Mt. Shasta area of northern California, and on the wall is a painting of a Korean Guardian figure.
Another view of the entry hall. The oriental rug is from the Beshir tribe, one of the Turkman tribes of central Asia.
