monts et cristaux - light that dazzles

I’ve been enamored since I first saw a Monts et Cristaux chandelier hanging above the gorgeous porcelain at 3 Femmes et 1 Coussin. I loved the color, the sparkle, and the whimsy the vintage crystal fixture brought to the room.

Finally, more than a year later, I’ve met its creator, Maryline Scaviner, who has created chandeliers for kitchens, dining rooms, restaurants, and even a prestigious French aperitif.

Maryline built her first chandelier five years ago. Recently arrived in Montreal from Africa, and working as an interior designer, she missed the lush colors of the distant continent. When she couldn’t find a lighting fixture that pleased her, she created one.

Another designer saw it, asked her to build one, and her company, Monts et Cristaux, was born.

Then as now, Maryline sees each project as a chance to explore. “I build according to inspiration,” she says.

Slim and smiling in black boots and fine, silver hair, Maryline showed me the beginnings of a traditional chandelier. Hanging in the corner of her rue Bellechase atelier is a silver hook fastened to a fist-sized metal disc, and a slender wand with a knob at the bottom.

Within days, these meager beginnings would be hidden beneath a center column, from which she would add a half dozen upswept arms, tapered columns holding clear bulbs, and graceful sweeps of crystal pendants, beads and attenuated drops.

Color comes next. It is Maryline’s muse as she hand-dyes European crystal to match a room’s decor. A striking green chandelier called “Le Vert” contains a multitude of beaded ropes that glimmer as they spill from bobeches - patterned glass bowls that hold the lamps. Small pearls stud the ropes, and reflect soft white light, in contrast to the shimmering chartreuse pendants suspended below them.

Where the preferred style is modern, materials lean toward industrial: chainmail, recycled aluminum, LED lights. Forms are crisp and linear - a column of glittering crystal, for instance, suspended from a laser-cut aluminum crown and illuminated from within by a round white bulb.

This personalized approach to lighting makes Maryline the go-to person for interior decorators throughout North America. Her clients live as far away as Florida and British Columbia.

In the dining room of Le Cosmos, a Quebec restaurant and bar, she strung 1000 crystals of different sizes and colors around an antique Spanish chandelier.

To pay homage to Andy Warhol, she created five chandeliers, each three feet wide and five feet tall, dripping with wooden beads and metal chains painted fuschia, orange, purple, turquoise.

“Crystal is a noble material,” says Maryline. But what I see is dazzling color, and unexpected beauty.

Have you seen Maryline’s work? Tell us what you think!

muvbox - a design-friendly, affordable lunch spot

Leave it to design-friendly Montreal to combine green technology with scenic vistas and affordable food.

Muvbox, a new take-out restaurant in Vieux Montreal, is a 20-foot shipping container by night and a solar powered boîte serving clam chowder, pizza, and lobster from the Magdalen Islands by day.

I arrived just before noon on a Wed, at the recommendation of a friend - knowing nothing about the design, but eager to try a lobster roll that cost less than $10.

It was a sunny day with a delicious breeze coming off the water, and the place was hopping: the shaded deck was full, half a dozen people waited in line on the building’s north side, and red-aproned staff moved quickly and efficiently at the heart of the miniscule space.

My lobster roll came in a paper box, in keeping with the box theme. The split hot dog roll was nicely toasted, making a warm shell for chunks of claw meat with slivers of celery and bound by a little mayo. The most popular meal was the special - clam chowder, lobster roll, chips and a drink for $14.95.

My friend pronounced the Margherita Pizza ($5.95) delicious and a good value. (The resto’s founder, Daniel Noiseux, brought the wood-fired oven to Montreal 25 years ago.)

Located on the quai next to La Maison des Eclusiers, the minimalist structure looks onto a gorgeous view. And at night, the restaurant itself adds to the scenery. Painted black, white and red, with giant lobsters on the end, the box has awnings that retract and sides that fold up to enclose kitchen and deck.

If you go:
Muvbox is located at the corner of McGill and rue de la Commune
Open from 11:30 am to 7:30 pm, weather permitting

fantasme fashion event

In my work, I experience 99% of the addresses, activities, events and products I recommend. Experience is key. It sets me apart.

I get lost, eat bad food, and make mistakes so my clients don’t have to.

The upside is reliability, and information designed for use. And I love sharing what’s great about Montreal.

The downside is that I can’t be everywhere, do everything.

So I need your help: I just received information about Fantasme. The one-night fashion event brings together Montreal-based art gallery the Darling Foundry, and designers Andrew Ly and Melissa Matos in an outdoor fashion show, fashion film screening and afterparty.

It’s just the kind of thing I like to cover on this blog. It takes place Thursday, Aug 20…and I can’t go!

Dear readers, would you attend, and report back?

Give us a few details about something you loved or hated. Tell us if it worked, and why (or why not).

The event is open to the public and free to attend. Read the overview and see a video at http://www.fantasme-event.blogspot.com/

Please rsvp to FANTASMESEVENT@GMAIL.COM

I look forward to hearing from you on the 21st!

Photograph courtesy Melissa Matos.

jamais assez - oh, really?

A confirmed minimalist, I am not a big consumer - and the name on the window of the design-friendly Plateau boutique, Jamais Assez (Never Enough) got my dander up.

Pausing in front of the St Laurent shop on my way to Aux Vivres (I do consume more than my fair share of good food), I began an internal rant to the effect of “Never enough?? Our economy is in shambles because of that philosophy.”

Yet I couldn’t resist entering. Spending philosophies aside, it’s the kind of place that makes me smile.

I consider well-designed retail spaces as mini-museums. Fun, imaginative products inspire me. I hang around just to revel in originality. To be charmed by color, composition and humor.

Fanciful, full of good design, well lit, and spacious in its arrangement of furniture, tableware, accessories for the home and body - Jamais Assez is very appealing.

A rocker that substitutes a polar bear for a horse; a wooden book case shaped like a ladder; a way cool high chair are all examples of well made Canadian made crafts.

At least shopping here stimulates the local economy.

Still, I resist their subliminal plea to buy. Isn’t it enough just to enjoy?

One of my favorite Paris shops, with similar designer eye appeal, is Pylones. The gift shop has spread world wide, thanks so its affordable, brightly colored tea pots, cheese graters, eye glass cases and more - all highly endowed with personality.

Another is The Cornershop - a home design store that carries the work of several European designers. My favorites are the larger items: a glass and chrome coffee table, club chairs in leather and velour. But I’ve also found tableware that had me mentally throwing out clothes to make room in my suitcase. And a side table that I wanted to build a room around. Unfortunately, they don’t ship.

Jamais Assez strikes me as somewhere in the middle. A place to dream, take inspiration, maybe even shop for a gift.

Sometimes, when I think about the grim state of the world, just remembering these places is enough for me.

If you go: 5155 Blvd St Laurent, at Fairmont.