Russell forester san diego

Eleanor and Russell married on April 13, , in La Jolla. Forester opened his first office, at Cuvier Avenue, in , as a freelance architectural designer. Inspired by- and at the urging of Ruocco, not to mention financing from the GI Bill, Russell sought out formal architectural studies.

Russell later recollected that his foundation course focused on perception, space, light, proportion and texture. Eleanor and Russell returned to San Diego when his mother became ill.

While his early works, of , were fairly traditional, Russell's work following his time in Chicago were boldly 'contemporary'. Eleanor and Russell built three family homes together before they divorced after 20 years of marriage: their first house at Rushville Street in April ; their 2 nd house on Hillside Drive in ; and a spec house in the upper Shores area in the early s. Eleanor was an accomplished and successful interior designer. Her company, Eleanor Forester Interiors, based in downtown La Jolla, focused on both commercial and residential projects.

From his La Jolla practice, Mr. Forester enjoyed a number of commissions by local art patrons Lynn and Danah Fayman as well as restaurateurs like Bob Peterson. Russell Forester defined architecture as problem solving. Our unique systems approach to the total project from the feasibility studies through design and finished construction gives us an economic and functional solution.

In our practice all functions architecture, feasibility studies, planning, interiors, color or graphics are based on a systems approach to the total concept. We know the broad scope of thinking and the individual talent that is brought to bear on each commission.

It is unsurpassed. We are entering a new age of building. As in architecture, empty spaces are as important as what envelops them. Russell experimented with the lines and dots of an industrial sewing machine, the subtle layers and muted tones of gauze as well as embossed lead.

His richly colored acrylics always began with a white canvas and often contained hundreds of square and rectangles, all individually hand-painted. Later he worked with LED lights and neon bulbs using electricity and the play of light in installations set in rooms he built.

These works are not part of the exhibit because they are too fragile for display, but can be seen on video. Handmade Lafranca paper from Switzerland inspired a series of collages where white-on-white paper pieces create lines and edges with shifting shadows. Russell was influenced by American abstract expressionist Mark Tobey, whom he eventually met in Basel, Switzerland, where Tobey lived, and the Swiss-born expressionist and cubist Paul Klee.

His connection to Switzerland came from Christine, a native of Geneva. Both architects, Russell and Christine met on a mutual project and were married in He was so much younger than I ever was. They collaborated on a home in La Jolla where Christine still lives.

At that time, Russell concentrated on his artwork in his spare time, as a hobby. And while Russell would have preferred to become an artist rather than an architect from the start, his profession contributed greatly to his art.

Russell moved to La Jolla from Salmon, Idaho, with his mother and younger brother at the age 5. His architect father had abandoned the family. Christine said he nearly failed a science class at La Jolla High School until his teacher realized that he excelled in art. Russell was then allowed to draw his answers, which saved his grade. After graduating in , he became a draftsman to support his family.

After the war, he was back in La Jolla. He opened his architectural design business in and started building homes, including one with his first wife, Eleanor, an interior designer, whom he met while working as a draftsman.

Ships framed and ready to hang. Earlier, his father, an architect, had abandoned the family. His mother became a librarian at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Russell graduated from La Jolla High School in Russell served in the Army Corps of Engineers , where he worked as a draftsman alongside noted San Diego architect Lloyd Ruocco, designing replacement depots.

Much of his free time away from the drafting table was sketching. Darrell, in After graduating from Hoover High School she worked as a draftsman for Concrete Shipyards in San Diego designing barges for the war effort. They immediately hit it off, forcing the head of the draftsmen, Lloyd Ruocco, to move their desks apart since Russell spent too much time turning around to talk to her. In Russell opened his first office as a freelance architectural designer.

His foundation course focused on perception, space, light, proportion and texture. The young couple returned to San Diego when Russell's mother became very ill. Eleanor built three houses with Russell they divorced after 20 years of marriage ; their first house at Rushville Street in April , a house on Hillside Drive in and a spec house in the upper Shores area in the early s. Her work included both commercial as well as residential jobs.

She wrote the "La Jollans are Talking About" column in the early s.