Sharon Stangenes

Last week was a big one for Chicago art lovers, with Art Chicago and the Chicago International Art Exposition to explore. But it turned out to be an even bigger...

Some people receive a sign from heaven. Mitch Levin received a sign from a license plate. Driving home after quitting his secure computer graphics job for the uncertain life of...

If the art in your kitchen is mostly of the commercial variety, like the the green-and-white label on a 7-Up can, the stripes and floral apostrophe on a Brach`s candy...

''Conservative but kinky'' is how Peter Eisenman, a New York architect, described his collection of upholstery fabrics in five patterns for KnollTextiles to architects and designers at a cocktail meeting...

A member of Britain`s royal family paid an unofficial visit to Chicago and the Merchandise Mart recently for a crash course in the American way of selling furniture. David Linley,...

Is a designer ever off-duty? Apparently not John Saladino. The nationally known New York architect and interior designer, who was honored last week by Chicago`s Art Resources in Teaching (ART),...

Plainfield-area residents whose homes were wrecked by the tornado last August are finding help in furnishing their rebuilt houses from McFinn`s Fine Home Furnishings, Naperville. The retailer is offering free...

''Shinichi Suzuki'' is a new orchid hybrid developed by a Chicago-area breeder that an Elgin music teacher hand-carried to Tokyo and presented to its namesake. Lamar Blum, owner of the...

No, Chicago designer Wayne Carey, did not rip up old swimming pools for his creation appropriately dubbed ''diving table.'' Yes, people really do have places they want to put this...

Recession? What recession? Tim Rigdon, furniture buyer for the new K.C. Larson Galleries here, hasn`t seen it. Since January, Rigdon has sold 10 pieces of collector-quality furniture in the confines...