Farewell from Wayne Martin Inc.

Thank you all very much! My end of an era party for the Portland designer’s was quite successful in many ways. After 40 years in serving the design trade in Portland, I ended my 23 year career with all the dignity, integrity , honesty , sincerity and generosity as the man , Wayne Martin had when he started his business and throughout his life time. He singlehandedly brought good taste and design product to the city of Portland. Many design careers were made by our company. Many either shopped here for the first time or worked here only to achieve greatness as designers, Such as Sandra Lamer, Janet Edwards, Henry Brown, Kim Lamer, Jennifer Roos, Susan Green, Jenise Adams, Diane West, Lee Kidd, Howard Hermanson , Jayson and Carrie Gates, Frances Lefever, Cyndi Mohr, Garrison Hullinger, Joelle Nesen and the lovely ladies from Maison Inc and our beloved Mary Roberts to name a few. This was achieved through the vision of one man, D. Wayne Martin.
I wanted let you know it was a pleasure working with all the vendors, their national sales teams, their wonderful customer service and all designers and students from the design school that we nurtured into fresh new designers that have walked through these doors at 210 NW 21st Avenue. I am glad that I have the rich deep experiences from this and wonderful bonds of friendships were made. I feel like the richest man in town.

With much love and appreciation,
John A. Thompson
Showroom Manager
WAYNE MARTIN INC.
Portland, Oregon

the end of an era

John A. Thompson, The Showroom Manager at Wayne Martin Inc.




Dearest Designers,

How does one say what needs to be said. These words are among the saddest that I have ever written. The difficulty is only as a result that I have made deep connections with many of you throughout the years.You were there when my son Eric was born. Many of you saw him grow up when he visited me at the showroom. I remember a beautiful blue sweater that Mary Roberts knitted for him as a baby. She was also there for me when I was going through Stage 3 colorectal cancer. So many of you were there for me during that time as well. Your kind words and fierce encouragement helped me through the most difficult time in my life. Yours gifts of flowers made me smile when the pain was too great.
Words can not begin to describe what you all have meant to me. I have learned so much from all of you. We have shared endearing conversations, laughs and tears from our joys and our losses. Wayne Martin Inc. was more than a showroom for designers to shop.It was a place that friends met, relationships began and young careers blossomed to become talented interior designers. Our lives have been woven together in a textile more important than the ones that you purchased from us.
Many of you have had fond memories of our showroom's founder, D. Wayne Martin. My fondest memory was of Wayne sitting in his Wicker Works Rama lounge chair taking a drag from his menthol cigarette. As he exhaled, the billowing smoke would roll around his face.A designer would walk through the doors. Wayne would graciously greet her and say "Darling you are looking fabulous" later after she left he would ask me "who the hell was that?". It was the lively cast of characters that most intrigued Wayne. I can now understand his joy for this business. It was more than selling fabric. It was about you and our relationships that bonded us together.

Our talented wonderful interior designers,It is with much sadness that after 40 years of serving the interior design community, Wayne
Martin Inc. will be closing on July 31, 2010. We have been a leader in the industry with the finest quality furniture,
textiles, wall coverings, lighting, carpeting and accessories. You have been a strong part of our
former success. The economy has put a strain on our resources and as a consequence we can no
longer continue business. Our industry has been hit especially hard. Luxury items such as what we
have represented have been hard to sell. Along with the controversial problems created by our
Seattle showroom have forced us to make the decision to close.
We have striven to conduct our business with loyalty, integrity, honesty and good faith with our
vendors and our clients. Our customer service to our clients have been some of the best in the
industry.
It has been a pleasure getting to know you over the years. I have truly enjoyed my 23 year career at Wayne Martin Inc. I consider myself an expert as a mercer of fine textiles.I have helped you make thoughtful and wise selections for your clients. handled your problems with the best of my abilities. You have given me a strength and confidence as I have learned about interior design from you.
I feel very sad but I also feel a strange empowerment. I feel the energy surrounding this event is meant for something good. I have a very strong commitment to the design community. I am very open to the possibilities that are out there.You are my friends.I wish you all a successful future in the world of interior design.

Thank you for your cooperation in these unfortunate events.

Love,

John A. Thompson


(The Photo below my picture is at the first Fabric of Life, a benefit for Aids awareness. My dear friend, Mary Roberts is on the left, Wayne Martin and Judy Hoffer is to his right).

a graphic display for mother's day

Don't get to graphic. Stick with flowers she will appreciate it more. Remember it is the thought that counts.
take care,
John

My new living room

Thank you all who placed orders, made phone calls, moved furniture, rearranged furniture, selected a new paint colour when it looked like the bottom of a swimming pool,gave gifts, took photos and made pillows etc. I could have not done this without you. sincerely, John

Bronze sofa from JD Madison.

Chinese alter table with table lamps from Maison Inc.

lacquered boxes from Bedford Brown.

Greek key armless settee and wood framed chair covered in black and white fabric from Pollack from The Consignment Gallery.

Round black glass and steel side table from EWF Modern.

John Derrian,Fornasetti plates from Cielo Home.

Christopher Marley insect art from St.Maine

Pillows made by Hexafoo and my mom.

textiles from Clarence House, Glant, Ralph Lauren, Brentano and Pollack.

Photography by Corey Shelton.


I love my home.

the craftiness of being art.

The Arts and Crafts Movement was an international design movement that originated in Britain and flourished between 1880 and 1910. It was instigated by the artist and writer William Morris (1834–1896) in the 1860s and was inspired by the writings of John Ruskin (1819–1900). It influenced architecture, domestic design and the decorative arts, using simple forms and a medieval style of decoration. It advocated truth to materials, traditional craftsmanship and economic reform.
The Arts and Crafts Movement started as a search for authentic design and decoration and a reaction against the styles that had developed out of machine-production.

Arts and Crafts objects were simple in form, without superfluous decoration, often showing the way they were put together. They followed the idea of "truth to material", preserving and emphasizing the qualities of the materials used. They often had patterns inspired by British flora and fauna and drew on the vernacular, or domestic, traditions of the British countryside. Several designer-makers set up workshops in rural areas and revived old techniques. They were influenced by the Gothic Revival (1830–1880) and were interested in all things medieval, using bold forms and strong colors based on medieval designs. They believed in the moral purpose of art. Truth to material, structure and function had also been advocated by A.W.N. Pugin (1812–1852), a leading exponent of the Gothic Revival.[3]

The Arts and Crafts style was in part a reaction against the style of many of the things shown in the Great Exhibition of 1851, which were ornate, artificial and ignored the qualities of the materials used. The art historian Nikolaus Pevsner has said that exhibits in the Great Exhibition showed "ignorance of that basic need in creating patterns, the integrity of the surface" and "vulgarity in detail".[12] Design reform began with the organisers of the Exhibition itself, Henry Cole (1808–1882), Owen Jones (1809–1874), Matthew Digby Wyatt (1820–1877) and Richard Redgrave (1804–1888). Jones, for example, declared that "Ornament ... must be secondary to the thing decorated", that there must be "fitness in the ornament to the thing ornamented", and that wallpapers and carpets must have no patterns "suggestive of anything but a level or plain". These ideas were taken up by William Morris. Where a fabric or wallpaper in the Great Exhibition might be decorated in a natural motif made to look as real as possible, a William Morris wallpaper, like the Artichoke design illustrated above, would use a flat and simplified natural motif. In order to express the beauty inherent in craft, some products were deliberately left slightly unfinished, resulting in a certain rustic and robust effect.

By the end of the nineteenth century, Arts and Crafts ideals had affected the design and manufacture of all the decorative arts in Britain.

as copied from wikipedia.

yours,

john

The Strength of confident Blue.

The passion of this life is something that keeps me strong. I was reminded by a dear friend this morning of how strong I really am. Not the strength one might see parading around in the Olympic arenas. But my strength is in the quality of my choices, my character, my values,my integrity as a businessman and as a designer and my ability as a parent and a friend. I may never be a superhero zooming in from outer space on a silver surfboard saving the world from imploding from within. But I know that my passion for this life and what it brings is strong. I was reflecting on some of the things in this life that I love beside my family, my friends, design and riding my bicycle.
One of the other passions that I have is my garden. The weather has been very nice for the last few days to actually work in my yard. It has been a long time(almost 3 years) that I was physically able to do what was required in my yard to keep it together.
The blooms late as they may be are beginning to burst forth with vivid colour. One colour in particular is a favourite in my yard. I am reminded every year of a wonderful poem by Robert Francis as my yard is reborn, as I am reborn.


As this is a blog about interior design, may I just add. Many believe that all blues must match in their home. I think this poem may show you a different thought. So take strength in your passion. be confident with your choices.

Sincerely, John

EXCLUSIVE BLUE

Her flowers were exclusive blue.
No other color scheme would do.

Better than God she could reject
Being a gardener more select.

Blue, blue it was against the green
With nothing not blue sown or seen.

Yet secretly she half-confessed
With blue she was not wholly blessed.

All blue, she found, do not agree.
Blue riots in variety.

Purist-perfectionist at heart.
Her vision flew beyond her art--

Beyond her art, her touch, her power
To teach one blue to each blue flower.

my living room

The other day the dark teal cut velvet pillows for my home were finally completed. I am having a professional photographer take photos of my livingroom soon. It will be exciting to have this done.