Hanging the Art: Laundry Room edition

House Art in the laundry. I took Nadine's advice and hung her Purple House in the laundry where it makes me smile while I'm washing clothes and feeding cats. I can also wave cheerfully to it as I make my way to the back door to let the dog out ...again...

Hanging the Art: The Great Room edition

Almost seven years ago we moved in to our new home and threw Jacques Brel on the wall where he landed on an existing picture hook. For all the intervening time he's been sardonically silent; mocking me for his off-kilter placement and the dirt lines that marked where the previous owner's art hung. During that time we've collected a lot more art; some made it on to the walls but a lot has been piled up waiting for someone with a decent eye to tell me where it should go.


Last night I invited Nadine Bouler the artist responsible for some of the recent acquisitions, the framer and gallery owner Cherie Via, the Awesome Designer and a couple of modern art lovers to set the art to rights. A glass of wine, a few nibbles and a hammer or two later the great room placement was finished and I had a cohesive look. Where once Monsieur Brel was hanging high and lonely, now Arthur Luiz Piza joins Andrew Geller, Nadine Bouler and Sharyn Bradford to successfully fill the wall.


And Jacques Brel? He's bien à l'aise above the credenza, keeping his eye on the glass vase that holds all the recent invitations to art gallery openings...

::UPDATE:: There are some super candid shots of the process on Nadine's blog. Go check them out!

New Year's Art

Last week I picked up the art I'd selected at the Festivus Art show, along with a few extra surprises. Noted artist Nadine Bouler had slipped in an extra piece of House Art to go with Two if by Sea, a mixed-media piece that mixes architecture and shore imagery, which I've long admired. They are grouped together, under a Arthur Luiz Piza lithiograph, on the credenza in the great room along with a watercolor by Andrew Geller, a Sharyn Bradford nude and Great Tern by Olivia Bouler. And the Puffin peeking out from the frame of Olivia's painting? That's her younger brother Jackson's business card, which he kindly presented to me when we collected the art.


I also found this gorgeous silver bird ornament in Nadine's sack of goodies and I immediately placed it in its new home-the Satellite fruit bowl cage in the dining room.


I've hung my other piece of Festivus art, Louise Millman's collage Joy in the kitchen. I'm thinking of hanging a calender under it to tick off the days until I'm eligible to take the citizenship exam and one step nearer to getting my voting rights restored.

Festivus Art

Saturday afternoon was spent at the much anticipated "Festivus- Affordable Art for the Rest of Us" show by Nadine Bouler and Louise Millmann at Ripe Art Gallery. Here's just a small selection of the work:


Nadine Bouler's Angry Landscapes


Louise Millmann's collages.


Besides the great art on the walls there was some serious design going on: Nadine Bouler's cloche for example. There were so many pieces we loved it was difficult to choose what to bring home. None of the pieces we picked is in these shots but if you wander over to Nadine's site you'll find them. I'm not going to be more specific until they arrive at The Cool House!


The show attracted an eclectic crowd including this angel. I'm as much freaked out by angels as I am by clowns so it was only the power of the art that kept me from running out screaming when this incarnation wandered in and began her performance. You can catch the show - minus the angel - until January 8 at 67A Broadway, Greenlawn NY 11740 Tel: (631) 239 1805.

The following morning...

courtesy of Nadine, James and the ever-delightful Olivia and Jackson the cute felt tie and fab retro mid-century owls on an oven mitt, perfect for the new kitchen.


We had a fun evening but they bought so many gifts we had to stash some for next time. There's cake in the refrigerator, folks - don't cause a stampede! Also, how about them upstate apples?

Images of The Cool House

When Nadine Bouler popped in to The Cool House a month or so back to drop off an invite to her Homes for the Holidays show I was so taken by the image on the invite I asked her if she would consider painting a portrait of my house. Things evolved and soon the Cool House portrait doubled down into two analogous images.


Here are a couple of shots of the house taken from angles Nadine thought would inspire her



Now pop over to Nadine's site Bouler Architecture to see her artistic interpretation of The Cool House and our lives in symbolic detail!

Ripe Art

Big art, small art, insects and of course, houses at Nadine Bouler's show, part of the current exhibition at Ripe Art Gallery.


Part of the House series - just prior to the red stickers going up.


House in Flight


Some of the Big Girls


The Alphahouse series


Despite the appalling weather the room was packed: The Loyal Blog Reader, the Artist, The Guy and the Awesome Designer in front of some of the House series of paintings


the Gallery owner and artist, Cherie Via met up with some old friends.


It's an awesome collection; besides Nadine's beautiful and haunting work, Triple Deuce Jewels was showing some rocking silver jewelry; there were ceramics and felted scarves and some fetching blue and pink Pet Semen globes that invited closer inspection. In fact I'm going to go back mid-week for a second viewing. The show runs from today until the end of December. Unfortunately after today you might not see Nadine's fabulous vintage dress but you should go anyway:
Ripe Art Gallery
67 Broadway
Greenlawn, NY 11740-1302
(631) 239-1805

Homes for the Holidays

I couldn't leave the whiney, moaning post up front any longer - on to brighter, more positive topics. The wonderfully creative author and painter Nadine Bouler of Bouler Design Group dropped in to The Cool House yesterday bringing an invitation to the opening of her latest show Homes for the Holidays at The Ripe Gallery on December 5th.


Her last show explored houses as emotions and the new works are also house-themed. The paintings are intricate, atmospheric, whimsical in a good way, with just a hint of danger. Almost as soon as I saw the butterfly landing the aqua villa I said "I should ask you to paint this house", and as simply as that a project was born. I can't wait to see what Nadine has in mind for this house - which angle she'll choose to portray, if it will be a night painting and which animal or insect will find it's way into the frame. Whatever she decides I know we'll be able to see in it far more than just a house... which is, perhaps, just a little disconcerting.

Reading about blogs and more pink..

A while ago I challenged six bloggers to write about Six Uninteresting Things That Made Them Happy. Let's check in and see what they are up to.
From ThirteenEleven: I learned something today about Pink. Like who is responsible for those pink 50s bathrooms? Mamie Eisenhower, that's who... Who knew?
Over at the House on Red Hill S has been catching up on her blog reading but hasn't yet throught of 6 things that make her happy...
Just Off the Taconic did post her list and some pretty photos to go with it
Nadine at Bouler Design Group got her 6 things in early and is now having literary thoughts
Heidi at faboolosity is having an existential moment
Kathleen is beautifying the yard over at House Things I Like
What are you up to today?

Uninteresting? Happy? Moi?

I've been tagged by the stylish From the Right Bank to the Left Coast to come up with six uninteresting things that make me happy - all those who think they already know too much about me and none of it could be called interesting, can just be quiet and those who say I'm rarely happy can move along. I'm in no mood for sarcasm today, I'm going to be positively full of joy!

In no particular order:


The water - coastline, lakes, bays, the ocean - it doesn't matter, to see the water every day makes me calm and happy


Snow - the first fat flakes falling out of the night sky and the crisp crunch of the icy crystals the following day.


Expressive flowers: blooms that beckon and sensual blossoms



The smell of old books: cloth covered or leather-bound and the age-stained pages of old encyclopedias


Seasonal food: A plate of fresh red cherries... or heirloom tomatoes ripened in the sun... or a simple salad


The clink of glasses, that happy sound that signals the start of a celebration, or a simple meal shared with friends. Cheers!

Now I'm tagging six inspiring people to do the same:
Nadine at Bouler Design Group
Another New Yorker Just Off the Taconic
Heidi at faboolosity
Jenni at ThirteenEleven
Kathleen from House Things I Like
and The House on Red Hill
All you have to do (but only if it makes you happy) is to find uninteresting things that make you happy, choose 6 people to tag and link your post back to me...

Green Beach House

The first full day of summer 2009 is the date homeowner Jill Kornman has set to be lounging on the porch of her newly-built green beach house. The determination she shows to finish construction in the next six weeks is a tribute to her vision, the design plan of architects Bouler Design Group and the skill and dedication of her team of builders.

Situated on a strip of land where the Atlantic Ocean meets Long Island's Great South Bay, the house with its geo-thermal heat pump, solar panels, extra insulation, and use of green building materials, is a premier example of sustainable architecture. I've been following its progress since I first heard that BDG was building a modern house with a zero carbon footprint in Oak Beach, NY. I was lucky enough to be invited by Creative Advisor Nadine Bouler (seen here on the right with Jill on the left) to see the house at 90% complete.

BDG worked with the owner to create an energy-efficient beach house that fits the scale of the surrounding properties on this barrier beach. Although the house has a unique design, traces of the original cottage can still be seen in the north side of the building - in the remains of the screened-in porch, the arches and of course the ubiquitous shingles.

 

Superimposed upon the original footprint are two soaring towers. One of these, with its tapered walls and clerestory windows, gives the playroom/library/zen retreat (the purpose hasn't yet been finalised) the feel of a monastery within and a lighthouse outside - and superb views of the bay to the south, east and west.

Facing south the angled roofs are covered in EPDM, a non-polluting synthetic rubber roof that will support enough solar panels to provide for all the electrical needs of the 2000 sq ft house. Naturally the design of the house takes full advantage of the beautiful site. Huge sliding glass doors with transoms above allow 180 degree views of the ocean to the south, while to the east a wall of windows will flood the house with light at sunrise. But Jill goes that extra mile: mindful of the aesthetics of the building and the surrounding shore, she is having the power lines seen in this photo re-routed underground.

Although most of the finishes are chosen: polished concrete floors with inset stone though out the house; reclaimed white oak treads on the staircase and bamboo on the barrel ceiling in the living room, some have yet to be finalized, including the kitchen cabinets and guest bath. All are sustainable, but perhaps the best examples of environmentally-friendly fixtures are the banister posts made from reclaimed pilings.

Jill has been hands-on throughout the process. She interviewed several architects before finding one she believed truly shared her dream of building green and she's been able to keep a close watch on the construction, renting the house next door while her dream house is built. She chose BDG because they believe in efficient design; building smarter, not necessarily bigger, houses. For more information on the Oak Beach house and other sustainable designs visit the Bouler Design Group website.