Sunday, September 30, 2012

An Affair to remember



Steppin' out at the Queen    The Red Shoe Event


Last weekend's fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware was held at the recently renovated World Cafe Live at the Queen Theatre in Wilmington.  With people dancing the night away to The Strangers and enjoying the the delicious food prepared by the Queen, it was truly an evening to remember. 





I was privilege to be called upon to design the floral decorations for a fundraiser for an organization that means so much to me.  Many hands made quick work.









I was thrilled to find that half of the volunteers assembled were young ladies aged 9-12.  They were quick studies and their enthusiasm was infectious.










                       




                                                                                                         Some pretty spectacular foliage




A few of the twenty two centerpieces on their way to the party.



An amazing night for a truly wonderful organization.  To find out more on how you can support your local Ronald McDonald House  just click the link.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Great Read

At last! My much anticipated copy of Good Bones Great Pieces by Suzannne and Lauren McGrath has arrived.  Thank you UPS Man.  The McGraths have put words and pictures to what many seasoned designers have known.  There are some basic pieces, that if chosen wisely, can carry us from first apartment to retirement community.  I've finished the chapter on love seats and am moving on to benches.

Gracenotes

Flowers in the home

I love flowers in the home. Nothing fancy, no big fuss.  They add warmth, color and life to any room.  And besides, I just like them and they make me happy.  




A good neighbor had an excess of Sedum Autum Joy that she kindly shared with me.  I took my Felco pruners to my magnolia and Limelight hydrangea.  Added in the seed pod from the crape myrle, a few hosta leaves,  a slip or two from the coleus in my planters and was ready to create.






Don't overlook seed pods when your turning to your garden for material.  Sometimes the second act is more interesting the the first.




 Selecting a container is always fun and the pair on the right won.











The final product, quick, easy and free!  And as an added bonus, both the sedum and hydrangea will dry very nicely in place.  Just be lazy and don't change or replenish the water.  Another plus, the coleus will root and you can remove it and plant it in containers for some much needed winter color.



Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Audubon Prints in Your Home

Audubon Canvas Backed Duck

All design projects have a creative starting point, that something that starts the ball rolling.  For a recent library I designed, it was Audubon's Canvas Back Ducks.   The homeowner, with an international lifestyle, wanted something indigenous to the area, something that would relate the interior to it's location.


fabric selections
 After the print was chosen,  I selected fabrics using the soft shades of blues, greens and tans from the ducks' surroundings.  Our goal was to capture some of the serenity of the marsh.

Library and breakfast room

I pulled the deep red from the ducks head for accent pieces like the ox blood lamp and the ginger jar.


Library

Seagrass carpeting, rush seat benches and natural fiber window shades add an organic touch.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Audubon Prints

Beautiful, Timeless and Fascinating

Roseatte Spoonbill


Soetheby's NY 2012


Every year I have the privilege of previewing the Important Americana Auctions at Christies and Soetheby's in New York with the guides from Winterthur Museum.  
This year I was captivated by this amazing pair of Audubon' prints at Soetheby's.  Dramatic, vibrant and overwhelmingly beautiful.  (Mr. Keno was captivating as well!)

The two exceeded their auction estimates and sold for  $122,500 (the American Flamingo) and  $43,750 (Hooping Crane)
Christie's NY 2012




Across town  Christies' featured  the complete John James Audubon's  Birds of America The Duke of Portland Set. The complete, beautifully bound folios created quite the stir.

Incredible to see first hand, but a bit out of my price range, the  set sold for a whopping $7,922,500.


Anxious to refresh my knowledge of the artist, I pulled out my copy of Ella M Foshay's John James Audubon and my copy of Birds of America. ( Alas, mine is not worth $7,000,000.)

 In an nutshell, John James Audubon (1785-1851) came to America from France as a young man. An ornithologist, naturalist and painter, he set out to illustrate the birds of the new world.  Most of his works were drawn from life during his travels through North America.  Noted for their scientific accuracy and their depictions of the birds in their natural surroundings, these images are both beautiful and powerful.

The man himself, is a fascinating story of frontier naturalist and audacious self promoter. 
J.J. Audubon by John Syme 1826


Back in the real world, I stumbled upon a source for very affordable modern Audubon prints for the rest of us.
Although I can be a purist and poo poo reproductions, my very clever son pointed out that, with the exception of the original water colors, all Audubon prints are reproductions and the artist himself created them with mass production in mind.  

Quandary  solved.  As you can see from the photos in my shop, these prints are stunning, command attention and transcend the mere scientific representation of wildlife.  
Louisiana Heron


Snowy Egret

American Flamingo