Designers don't vacation like the rest of us. They vacation with purpose.
For these artists, travel is not just a buying trip, but an essential element of inspiration. Traveling is an opportunity to see something new — and a chance to refresh that vision.
To gain some insight about how travel can change our horizons at home, we talked to three Baltimore area designers about how their travels have influenced their work.
Interior designer Mona Hajj talks about "the colors of different places." Landscape designer Pierre Moitrier talks about the special light in France. Rita St. Clair describes finding the perfect spot for what she saw on the isle of Crete — 30 years later.
"There is a lot at home," says St. Clair, "but inspiration is always something you find somewhere else."
Rita St. Clair, interior design
She is calling from Italy — Pietrasanta, to be exact. In Tuscany, near Pisa. The little town between the mountains and the sea is where she and her husband, artist Joseph Sheppard, have had a home for nearly 30 years. It is a 300-year-old farmhouse that was a ruin when her husband purchased it, and they very diligently renovated it. The couple spend the months of July and September there.
"I have traveled for 50 years," says St. Clair, a fixture in Baltimore design since 1968, who is best known for her designs for restaurants and public buildings. "I would say that without travel, my work would be inherently different. I can point to projects I have done that have been influenced by my travels."
Born in Italy, St. Clair says her culture is European but her eclectic style is the result of all her travels. On a more practical level, her travels have taught her where to go to buy things and to have things made.
She has to buy fabrics in Italy, France and Switzerland, but she has a drapery workshop she likes in Baltimore. She designs light fixtures herself but has them fabricated in Italy. She has her furniture made in the United States, especially Tennessee, where she has been able to find wonderful craftsmen, she says.
Like most designers, St. Clair has a warehouse where she stores her finds until she has a client or a project for which it would be perfect. But she has stored things in her imagination, too.
She was in Greece in 1977 at Knossos, an ancient town on the island of Crete, when she saw a pair of columns that took her breath away. All these years later, she replicated them for the interior of Meli, the Fells Point bistro. The mural in Meli of men attacking a bull with spears was also inspired by the Minoan murals she saw in Crete.
And the grand mural in the foyer of her apartment is inspired by the murals she saw on her travels to Pompeii, where paints survived the eruption of Vesuvius.
"I may not remember names, but I remember images," she said.
St. Clair has found inspiration inside the United States as well.
"The Appalachian Mountains in Tennessee and Kentucky and the Rhinebeck area in New York State are extraordinary in their richness, for not only natural beauty but for the marvelous art glass, weavings, carvings and beautifully styled crafts and furniture that are made there," she said in an e-mail. "We in America are indeed lucky to have experienced a strong and rich Arts and Crafts movement for the last 100 years."
Her next trip? Morocco over Christmas. She hasn't been there in 30 years. "I hope to bring back really wonderful things. Rugs, fabrics weavings, pillows and cushions."
Pierre and Nancy Moitrier, garden design
A trip home to see the family means a trip to France for Pierre Moitrier and his wife, Nancy, the principals in Designs for Greener Gardens in Annapolis.
"Because of our work, we go in the winter," said Pierre Moitrier. "And we love the little villages. There might not be the ambience in winter and not so many restaurants are open. But you can learn a lot because the people are happy to see you, and they have time for you."
When they return, their heads are fuller than their suitcases.
"It is all in here," said Nancy Moitrier, tapping the side of her head. Even the perfectly legal package of seeds she tried to bring into the United States was confiscated by a zealous customs agent.
But nobody can take away the vision of the gardens in which they wandered in Jardins du Prieure d'Orsan, an ancient monastery that has been converted into a bed-and-breakfast with 12 garden "rooms" that were inspired by medieval tapestries. The gardens include a labyrinth, an allee of fruit trees and vegetable gardens that make use of the old tradition of braided twigs to make raised beds.
"It is a magical place, 900 years old," said Pierre Moitrier. "So many ideas. You wonder, 'Where is the client who will want this?' "
There is a whimsy to Pierre Moitrier's designs that dates to his childhood, when he played among the ruins of a 13th-century castle, Chateau de Montgilbert, near his home in central France. "The teachers would take us there to wear us out," he said.
Today, many of his designs evoke those ancient places, especially in his use of stone. The couple calls them "garden follies," garden rooms that are also an experience. They are gardeners, they say, not landscapers. Nothing about this team says manicured lawns and sheared shrubs.
Their shared sense of whimsy has been reinforced by trips to Pennsylvania gardens in the Brandywine Valley, where public gardens have done much to attract not just gardeners, but families with children.
"Sometimes when you travel, you get inspired," said Pierre. "But sometimes it reaffirms what you like already and had forgotten."
Mona Hajj, interior design
Mona Hajj travels a lot, and everywhere she goes, she buys. But it is not the warehouse of furnishings and accessories she has accumulated that informs her work. It is the experience of traveling itself.
"It is not the things," said the Lebanese-born, Baltimore-based designer. "It is the culture itself that inspires me. The colors, the architecture. My design work is very connected to my travels. Without traveling, my work would be so flat and uninteresting."
Hajj travels out of the country two or three times a year. Sometimes she simply drops her luggage at a hotel and sets out with a driver to see and buy. She can wear out her companions and would never consider traveling with a client. She moves too quickly and pushes herself through long days.
"I am always buying. I would not waste my time," she said. "If I am looking for something, I never find it. I buy what I love, and eventually it will have a place."
Hajj is sitting on the first floor of her offices in a downtown Baltimore rowhouse. Every inch is crammed with furniture, paintings, mirrors and accessories just delivered from a Boston estate sale. She travels often to New York, Boston and New Orleans. "I go everywhere," she said.
Her next stop? Tunisia. "I am enchanted with the culture and the beauty," she said.
Will she ever travel for the simple pleasure of sitting by a pool with a fruity cocktail?
"When I grow up, I am going to do that," she said, smiling. "Right now I am still having too good a time."
Vacation inspiration tips
Are you traveling this summer hoping to bring home more than a tan? Looking for some fresh ideas for your home or garden? Here are some tips from the design experts:
Take lots of photos Take notes and record what about the space or the setting got a "Wow!" from you.
Buy souvenirs Bring home things that remind you of where you were — vases or rugs or accessories. Collect things that will help you create the ambience you want. But make sure you love it before you buy it.
Look for quality Don't bring home just anything — make sure you know what you're buying. Sometimes when people are traveling, they purchase things on an emotional high and things get lost in translation.
Make a note Note what makes a room, scene, or plant attractive to you and share it with your designer.
Resources
Rita St. Clair Associates, 1009 N. Charles St., Baltimore, 410-752-1313; ritastclair.com
Designs for Greener Gardens, 1001 Old Bay Ridge Road, Annapolis, 410-626-6122; greenergardens.net
Mona Hajj Interiors, 13 E. Eager St., Baltimore, 410-234-0091; monahajj.com