A Sneak Peek at A Special Project!

Last Saturday, I mentioned that I was working on a special project that I would talk about when we could. Here's a sneak peek if you will of a behind the scenes recap of Saturday, written by the oh so talented Jodi Murphy who is a contributing writer for Gentry Magazine! If you recall, Jodi is the one who recently wrote an article about my clay flowers for the home in the March issue of Gentry Magazine.

Here are some photos taken by Jodi to capture my portion of the day. My next blog post will consist of photos from Natalie Wii of Allure West Studios. It was truly an amazing day working with VERY talented professionals! More to come soon... Thank you to Jodi for a wonderful recap of the day's events! Stay tuned for more news about these exciting projects created and produced by Lea McIntosh!

The filming of two new internet shows, photographing for a coffee table book, tablescaping, and a Los Altos power anomaly…How was your Saturday?
As told by Jodi Murphy, Contributing Writer to Gentry Magazine

Leave it to Lea McIntosh to bring a talented team together to each focus on and do what they do best. It begins at 7 AM when Lea and her faithful crew, Pat, Betsy & Aunt Lonni, arrive at the beautiful Rutt of Los Altos showroom to begin setting up a cooking segment for an exciting new internet show (to be announced soon!) aimed at newlyweds, almost weds and those who are living away from mom & dad’s for the very first time.
James Burkart of Burkart Videography shows up with his lovely wife, Amy, to set up cameras and lighting. Filming will take place in three separate areas of the Rutt showroom. Meanwhile, Vanessa Rockey – a rockin’ hair stylist from Updo Artistry/Hair by Ness starts taming Lea’s raven tresses, and Tiffany Chiang, DesignHer Image, gets Lea's face camera ready. Lacee and Diane (more about them later) wait in the wings for their turns.

Natalie Wi – incredible photographer and co-owner of Allure West Studios – is snapping shots at every turn, documenting the day. She is collaborating with Lea on a future coffee table book. I arrive around 9:00 AM in Penelope (my MINI Cooper) filled to the brim with china, crystal, flatware, & linens I borrowed from Bloomingdale’s Stanford, along with seashells and tea lights for staging a fresh take on a Mediterranean seaside table setting. Just as I show up, David Braddy, floral designer, pulls up – thank heavens, because I need the help to unload. He’s made lovely arrangements for the kitchen set display and tablescape.
It’s a happy pandemonium inside, and you can just feel the creative energy everywhere. Carl Mindling, Lea’s on-air co-host for the cooking show, is working with Betsy to get everything prepped and ready to go. Lacee and Tejas Naik, newlyweds, are joining Lea and Carl on camera. They’re getting miked so they can ask questions while Lea and Carl demonstrate easy ways to cook and entertain. Amy Burkart, the director, is reviewing the script and making last minute notations.
Diane Phillips of DK Designs is setting up in another area. She’s arranging her custom clay floral pieces and laying out her tools to get ready for the filming of the “how to” show. She’s so organized! She’ll be teaching Lea how to create a dendrobium orchid favor box. Diane will be the premiere guest on Lea’s new show (to be announced soon!) featuring creative people & their work..

By 11 AM it’s LIGHTS! CAMERAS!...and NO action! We all hear ‘bleep’ just as the power goes out. I know what you’re thinking…we blew a fuse; but on this sunny Saturday morning there is an anomalous power outage in downtown Los Altos. There’s an estimate of TWO hours until it’s fixed…oh, and did I forget to mention that Lacee and Tejas have to leave for the airport by 12:30?

Well, as the rest of the gang try to figure out a Plan B, Natalie takes shots of the tablescape, and I take advantage of her downtime to do a kitchen vignette shot with sock monkey for Rutt of Los Altos...part of their new ad campaign Lea & I developed. It sounds like an odd idea, but it’s really getting a great reaction after the first ad we recently launched : )

Lea is about to release the newlyweds and send them on their way when – ‘bleep’ – power’s back on! Cooking segment begins, and even with several takes (it was the first time, you know), Lacee & Tejas get out the door at 12:30…okay it's 12:38, but who noticed?

Diane and Lea are up now and the rest of us watched in awe at how adept Diane is at making flowers out of this unique soft clay. Lea was an impressive first-timer but it is clear that Diane is a master artist, especially when you see how she hand-crafts each flower one petal at a time. It was a great session!

After some pick up shots, a short segment describing the table setting, more photographs, lots of clean up, the day was a wrap at 6 PM. The two new shows will air on The Wedding Chat and soon Newbies will learn to nest and we’ll all learn insights into others’ creative pursuits…yes, Leave it to Lea - JM

Jodi Murphy is a contributing writer for Gentry Magazine and Gentry Design, writing the At Home Column, Kitchen and Bath Department and feature Interior Design stories.