I'VE BEEN STONEWALLED

At the moment, I don't have any pets myself, yet, somehow, more and more keep coming into my life. As I work on portraits of my client's pets, I feel like I get to know them a little. This little guy, Stonewall, is a Southern gentleman from Atlanta who wanted to pose in a formal, dignified chair. I kept smiling as I worked on him. He's just so.......cute! If you are interested in commissioning me to capture your pet or perhaps someone else's as a gift for the Holidays, just email me here for more info.

BOND AND BOWERY

This is a Vintage Model of a 1960's Chris-Craft Constellation yacht. I thought this objet d'art was an especially interesting object with a cool retro feel. It's from an estate in Chicago. I love boats and am fascinated with the whole boating and yachting scene, loving the water as I do. My brother-in-law recently had his boat stolen from right off his backyard dock, so he and my sister have been boat shopping lately. This might be a bit of a tight fit for them, at 48"W X 13"D X 7.5", but it sure is cute! Just a sample of what Bond and Bowery's dealers have to offer.

Here is a news flash from Bond and Bowery - Ben Spaisman just informed me that Bond and Bowery is introducing DealerDirect. It's a new and one of a kind feature (to the best of their knowledge) in their industry.

The DealerDirect feature enables Bond & Bowery registered users to submit a request for a specific item (or items), that they have been unable to find on their site or elsewhere, to their entire network of dealers. The submissions are posted dynamically in a Craig’s List type format so that Bond & Bowery dealers can browse and respond to any requests that they can fulfill.

Bond and Bowery could keep me busy browsing for hours. There are so many interesting pieces to peruse. Why not take a look?

SANIBEL ISLAND BIRTHDAY

A sampling of some of the beautiful shells native to Sanibel

Lighthouse Point Beach (Dans Photo Art- Flickr)

I spent my birthday on beautiful Sanibel Island, located on Florida's Gulf Coast. It's a place that feels like it's far more than a mile or two offshore. It's home to great natural beauty and known worldwide for its sea shells. Shell seekers from around the country and all over the globe come to comb the beaches and enjoy the small-town charm and slower pace of this beautiful island. Some of these photos were ones I took and others are courtesy of my friends on Flickr. I just wanted to showcase the diverse beauty and some of these shots I wasn't able to get myself. Thanks to so many of you, especially Patricia van Essche, for your kind birthday wishes and thoughtfulness! You made my day!

Beautiful local bougainvillea in one of my favorite colors - cerise. (Saul Zackson-Flickr)

A majestic native bird - the Roseate Spoonbill (JMI Images)

Can't help liking a place that has such appealing names for their roads, like "Periwinkle Way"!

A unique little indoor-outdoor eatery we tried, The Island Cow.

Approaching the causeway that links the island to the mainland

Newspaper anyone? (Nazcreative - Flickr)

Sanibel Pier at Sunset (Swantho - Flickr)

Palms against the sunset (ARKramer - Flickr)

WINDOW SHOPPING

Here is a rendering that Tonic Home commissioned me to do of their charming storefront. If you own a boutique or business, consider having it captured by me for a unique public "face" for that's perfect for ads, stationery and business cards. It creates a more custom, personal public "face" for your company that people will visualize when they hear your company name.

WORD TO THE WISE....AND CRAFTY

The queen of all things crafty, Martha Stewart

Martha's perfectly organized personal attic craft space

I don't consider myself a huge crafter. HOWEVER, I do shop at Michaels from time to time, mostly because I like to see what's new in their MARTHA section. Always something cool and, tell me, who can resist the colors and packaging? Martha just gets it right. Good news is that from now through Saturday, the 20th, all of her craft supplies at Michaels are a whopping 30% off! Time to stock up, my crafty friends! Now, if they would only silence all those halloween decorations with annoying sounds that play incessantly....

AND THE WINNER IS......

Rebecca Williams! Congratulations!! Rebecca won my Give-Away Contest and she gets to choose two prints off of my Etsy site. Rebecca happens to be a blogger and talented Etsy seller herself. She is a navy wife who lives in Groton, Connecticut with her husband and 15 month old son. You can check out her blog and Etsy site here.

MY BLUE CORAL

Talk about stunning - how gorgeous is this piece of blue coral spotted on Decorati via Domino? To me, nothing makes a more beautiful accent than an artifact from the sea.

Speaking of the sea, it's a gorgeous day here in Florida, but that's because Ike only left us with some rain and wind for a few days, courtesy of his feeder bands, but now it's clear. For those of you in Texas, yet to be visited by "Ike", YOU are in my thoughts and prayers this weekend!

I hope everyone else has a terrific weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!

COTE DE TEXAS - THANK YOU!

Ok, I don't want to nauseate any of you with too much of a mutual admiration society going on here, BUT I am not going to withhold a thank you from those to whom it is due! Joni Webb of Cote de Texas surprised me with a very sweet post yesterday after I posted her interview and I can't help but acknowledge her kindness publicly. Always an honor to be on Cote de Texas!

DESIGN HOLE

I wanted to send a "thank you" to Jennifer Mitchell of Design Hole for her support and mentioning my give-away this week. Jennifer is a a gifted writer and designer based in Detroit, Michigan (my birthplace). I know you will enjoy her blog!

ARTIST'S PORTRAIT * JONI WEBB

I am very happy to feature one of my favorite bloggers and designers, the effervescent and lovely Houstonian, Joni Webb. I know many of you are already loyal readers of her fabulous blog Cote de Texas. Joni is an open, expressive, generous, talented and utterly lovable person! She has quite a trained eye and gift for creating beautiful interiors. But it doesn't just stop there. This woman could single handedly write a series of design encyclopedias! She manages to get the "Most Productive Insomniac" award in my book. This lady takes her sleepless nights and transforms them into an opportunity to devour, discover, track down and compile all sorts of fascinating facts, photos and tantalizing tidbits on houses, decorators and all things design-related for the many scores of readers who follow her blog religiously. She isn't afraid to tell you what she really thinks and I think her frankness and candor is one of the things that is most enjoyable about reading her posts. This spunky Texan doesn't do anything halfway - her posts are notorious for being about as thorough as you can get. I sometimes wonder how she finds the time to do all she does as a wife, mom, designer, blogger and house stalker. Something tells me her numerous daily runs to Starbucks might have something to do with it. Anyway you cut it, the blogging world wouldn't be the same without Joni. Everybody knows her, everybody reads her and everybody loves her. SO, I thought it might be fun to find out a little bit more about one of the blogosphere's biggest personalities. In typical fashion, this powerhouse of a woman had sent a completed questionnaire back to me within minutes. Amazing. So, without further ado, here's more on the affable Miss Joni.......

Joni and her daughter, Elisabeth

Are you married? Children? Pets?
I've been married 20 years to Ben - We are 11 days apart and we married late - at 33, had our first and only child, Elisabeth at 37. We were definitely late bloomers. Very, very late bloomers. And we have two dogs which you graciously immortalized in your portfolio. Ben and I were looking at your portfolio yesterday and he said, "That looks like Georgie!" I said - It does - because it IS Georgie!

What are some of your favorite things or things that are essential to your success/well-being as a person and designer/business owner?
My laptop - I can not live without my laptop. I get anxious without it. If it breaks, I'll be at the store at 9am to get a new one - I can't wait to get it fixed. I travel in the car on road trips with it. I have wi-fi AND a mobile cell phone account for it for the car and out of town places. It actually calms my nerves and helps with anxiety!!! As a businesswoman - I don't know - I guess I would say the decorative center in Houston is essential to me. I always go there for fabric inspiration when I start a new job. And - the antique stores in Houston are VERY essential to my work as a designer: Tara Shaw and Joyce Horn have provided many of my client's furniture over the years.

What's your pet peeve?
Cheap, tight people. Absolutely. I hate that in a person. I like people who are generous - they tend to be generous in all aspects of their lives and much more understanding, forgiving, nonjudgmental and empathetic. My husband is like that - empathetic, generous, and kind.

Joni's charming breakfast room with her signature white slipcovers

Joni's family room

Do you have a motto?
"There's no place like home" and my husband's favorite "Anyplace together beats anyplace apart." Also, "Anywhere in Texas beats any other place." He has quite a few mottos actually. Mostly about Texas and home, ha! We are both HUGE homebodies. My mom and I have another saying "We do house, we don't do clothes." That's another biggie in my life. Totally.
What's your favorite color?
I love blues - any "cool" color. I love the colors of hydrangeas.

What did you want to be when you were a kid?
Either an interior designer or an architect which I quickly got over after taking a few architecture classes in college. But definitely, something to do with house and floorplans. I was obsessed with floorplans throughout my entire youth for some reason.

What inspires you most creatively and gets your creative juices flowing?
Fabric. I always start each project with a key fabric. Once I have that - the rest is easy and everything falls into place, the colors, etc. Designing a room is a process for me: I usually do a floor plan first, then together with the client we pick one inspirational fabric. I usually pick the remaining fabrics. Then I either design the furniture or buy it. Do the curtains and the rugs; and the accessories I pick up the week before the installation - so they can be easily returned. It's not so daunting if I do it step by step. I'm not one of those designers that can look at a space and visualize something immediately. It comes more slowly to me. Also, I visualize myself living there - if this was mine, what would I do, WWJD? Haha!!! That makes it really easy then.

The living room (I love it that she says," I never use this room, except for spying on the neighbors!")

What keeps you awake at night?
Me? Awake at night? hahahah!! I don't sleep. No, seriously, coffee? My father actually sent me an article that said the two worst things that cause insomnia are coffee and blogging! Bingo!!!! I swear it named blogging.
I guess, honestly - it would be worrying about when my daughter's upset about something. I think when she gets hurt, it hurts me more than her. They don't tell you that in the manual.

Where do you live and work?
I live in Houston, in West University, which is a small town inside of Houston - we have our own mayor, our police department, trash pick up, little town center - it's almost as old as Houston itself. It's like living in a country town inside of a large metropolitan area.

Favorite food?
Wendy's Caesar Salad - I eat that every night for dinner. You would think I'd be very, very thin. I really don't care for food that much and never have. My parents had to force me to eat when I was young. When we would go on family road trips, I would eat a blt for lunch and a club sandwich for dinner. Every day. Ben is actually exactly the same as I am. He ate a pbj every single day and a bowl of cereal for dinner every night of his life. He stills eats cereal for dinner every night. We are very, very compatible, to say the least.

3 words you'd use to describe yourself?
Mother, wife, daughter.

If you haven't acqainted yourself with Joni and Cote de Texas yet, check it out here. I guarantee you'll be hooked!

THANKS, DESIGN SECRETS!

I would like to thank the talented and gracious Lorrie Browne, of My Design Secrets for featuring my work on her blog yesterday!

This is just a sampling from Lorrie's extensive portfolio. She is an interior designer and blogger based in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Please take a chance to read her post and check out her blog here!

One of the best things about living in Florida is the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors year round - this is a beautiful courtyard area Lorrie designed. Take a look at her portfolio here.

ANNECHOVIE GIVE AWAY THIS WEEK!

The Aqua Interior, one of my most popular prints, is available as a giclee on canvas as large as 16x20

This popular print, the Courtney Barnes chair is now available in a giclee canvas in an 8x10 and 11x14.

The Ikat Chair is available in giclee on canvas in 8x10 or 11x14

New release, "Courtney's Favorite Things", is available in giclee on canvas in a 12x12. This is from an original commission of Courtney Barnes' bedside table.

To celebrate the addition of new prints on canvas, I am offering a give-away contest this week. The lucky winner will receive their choice of any 2 of my standard size prints on 140 lb. watercolor paper. To enter, just purchase any item off of my Etsy site between now and September 13th and you will be automatically entered. The winner will be randomly drawn from all the entries and I will announce the winner on Monday, September 15th.

My giclee prints on canvas are very high-quality, archival prints on matte canvas that are stretched and mounted with finished edges and require NO frame! As always, contact me for info if you are interested in having a giclee of another of my paintings that may not be shown on my site. Most are available as a custom order.

ALSO, BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE NEW SALE SECTION ON MY ETSY SITE, WITH REDUCED PRICES ON SELECT ITEMS - FEATURING SEVERAL ORIGINAL PAINTINGS RIGHT NOW!

HAPPY MONDAY!

Here's a perky little tune to start your Monday! It's from Diana Krall from her "Live in Paris" CD.

KAREN CARROLL ON 1ST DIBS!

photo by Alison Springer

I don't know if you've had a chance to read it yet, but there is an especially interesting interview by Marcia Sherrill on 1st Dibs right now. It's with the Editor of Southern Accents, Karen Carroll. In my opinion, Karen is one of the best magazine editors out there! Not only has she done an amazing job of taking Southern Accents to a higher level with it's recent "facelift", but she exudes warmth, graciousness and integrity that is sometimes lacking in the upper levels of the publishing business. I hold her in high regard for her taste, skill, professionalism and flawless manners. I also appreciate the kindness and support she has shown me personally as an independent artist! She manages to embody many of the positive characteristics that are often identified with being "Southern". Long live Southern Accents and long may Karen Carroll reign as the Editor!

MORE CHINOISERIE

This is a Michael Devine Home exclusive - the Pagoda Wall bracket. Isn't it charming? It's available online here. I just love the fretwork detailing and it's perfect for display.

ITALIAN TREATS

I have always loved upholstered headboards - perfect for someone who reads, surfs the internet (and, at times, paints) from my bed! My model now is a bit more linear and utilitarian, but I spotted this gorgeous headboard on Decorati. I love it! The graceful curves, unusual shape, nailhead trim - it's another example of classic Italian style that's so pleasing to the eye. It looks like it could fit right in at some luxe palazzo in Venice.

TREATS IN THE MAIL!

Artist/Photographer Maritere Casillas-Rice sent me her gorgeous photo of rhodochrosite and a print of one of her lovely paintings. Congratulations to Maritere who recently received a special award for her architectural photography in Houston!

What a treat! The talented and gracious Sunny Goode sent me 2 of her books, "Paint Can" and her latest, "Paint Can Children's Rooms". Both are beautifully illustrated with full color photos and step by step instructions - very inspirational. Thanks to you both for your thoughtfulness and generosity!

I am amazed by the wonderful people I continue to meet through blogging - each one is so unique and has opened me up to such diversity and beauty. From France to Australia, from Japan to Canada to Ireland, all over the globe and right here in the US, it's been a true joy meeting each and every one of you!

** On a side note, I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Labor Day. For those of you in the path of Gustav, my prayers and thoughts are with you!

HAPPY 67TH ANNIVERSARY TO A SPECIAL COUPLE!

My grandparents together in the early 40's when my grandfather was a Marine.

Tomorrow is my grandparent's 67th Anniversary. Quite a milestone! They are two of the most kind and generous people you will ever meet. I want to wish them a very happy anniversary and thank them for the wonderful and loving example they have been to all of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I feel so blessed to have had them in my life for so many years. They still lead active lives at 90 and 89. They are an even better pair now then they were all those years ago! Love you, Grandma and Grandpa!

I hope you all have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!

ARTIST'S PORTRAIT * MARNIE RUANE

Today I want to introduce you to another wonderful artist/designer, business owner and blogging friend, Marnie Ruane. I first became acquainted with Marnie's great designs through my friend PVE. Getting to know her a little has been a delight! Marnie has indulged my inquisitive nature with a little info. on herself and what makes Marnie tick!

Marnie and her daughter, Isabel

Marnie's desk and a photo with her husband.

Can you tell us a little about your background and home life?

Married for almost 20 years to a wonderful, yet unpredictable guy, dh, as he is sometimes referred to in my posts, (dear hubby). We are opposite in so many ways, yet it works. We have a terrific daughter, Isabel, who I mention on the blog periodically, 16 years old and quite independent and our dear dog named Libby, pictured on the blog next to me, "the mound of black fluff". She is a poodle - smart and active who thinks she is a "big" dog.

I was born in Boston and lived there until I was 25. Then I took a leap and moved to New York City where I stayed for 12 years. Branching out to NYC wasn't enough, so I took a year off from work, and went to London to study art history when I was 29. One of the best years of my life. Upon the arrival of our daughter we settled in Connecticut.

One of Marnie's great frame designs

What are your favorite foods?

Soft-shelled crabs (my husband makes them for me on every birthday) and ice cream cones - especially pistachio (but it must be white and not green) with chocolate jimmies (that's what we call sprinkles in Boston), second choice, plain vanilla with jimmies.

Three words to describe you? Passionate, Practical and Pollyanna!

Marnie has a terrific shop on Etsy - this is her Etsy store banner, I love it, don't you?!

Another of her colorful and preppy designs in classic madras patchwork.

Any favorite colors?

Celadon green and bird's egg blue. I collect all sorts of objects in celadon green: fire king mixing bowls, vases, wastebasket, tins, a tea cosy, aprons, etc. I also love the pink/red family of colors.

What did you aspire to in your youth?

When I was quite young I wanted to be a 1st grade teacher but that did not last long...I love art history... and thought a position at one of the auction houses would be great. Working for a company like Colefax and Fowler would be great too!

How do you get inspired?

My inspiration comes from reading and looking at everything around me - just keeping my eyes open, ears open and mind open - color, ideas, daydreaming.

Marnie's blog header created by our mutual friend, Patricia van Essche of PVE Designs.

What are some of your favorite things or things that are essential to your success/well-being as a person and artist/business owner?

This question is really a two part - because creativity and business do not always go hand in hand...
Favorite things essential to my success/well being as an artist -
Organization of time and space; a place of my own, even if it is the studio in our extra long garage; happiness, peace and balance in my life.

Favorite things essential to my success/well being as a business -
Believing in myself, organization of time and space, hard work, setting goals, pushing the envelope. To use current lingo, stepping out of my comfort zone and my excel spread sheets.
A year ago I started working with SCORE, a national organization of retired individuals who are dedicated to helping entrepreneurs - it has been wonderful - they help me set targets, evaluate my business, and provide useful constructive advice, keeping me focused and consequently, energized.

What keeps you up at night? Risky ventures

Thanks to Marnie for taking the time to share more with us! You can check out her Etsy store and latest creations here .

Read her delightful blog as well.

VIBRANT BUYS AT VIVRE

In case you haven't noticed, I have a thing for orange, especially when it happens to be this classic kind of Hermes-like shade. I am like a monkey - shiny objects grab my attention. Lacquer is so appealing and the black banding adds a nice contrast along the edges. How's this for a tasteful tschotcke that offers storage solutions while punching up the color quota?

Vibrant colored glassware by Threseinthal - what fantastic hues!

I may not have my finger on the pulse of what's hot, because I am still really digging coral and shell motifs. Always have and always will. Hey, when you live in Florida, it's a perennial fit. I love this silver-plated flatware by Siecle. Very unique and looks to be so heavy, you can tone your arms while employing your utensils!

And last but not least, I thought this was a great accent piece by Ankasa. Perfect for a little extra seating. The orange Ikat pattern and great shape really grabbed me. However, if you have pets or kids, it might not be such a great fit, because at $2,800, you probably don't want it getting clawed or stained. MEEEEOOOOWWWW. All items available at Vivre.