Thanks to Clark Goodwin for telling me about the reception for John Folsom, Todd Murphy and Felice Sharp hosted by Astolfi Art at White Provision last night.
Now it just so happened - a coincidence? I think not - that Ms. Kasler did an interview with the Skirted Round Table last week. Have you listened? You should. Ms. Kasler not only has a rare design talent, she has an even rarer talent: She can explain what she's doing.
Only one of my pictures worked, it shows the big crowd and a great room. Ms. Kasler spent the entire evening at the signing desk. There was a line all night. This picture looks pretty good if you click and make it bigger. (You can see a bit of her face under the leftmost lampshade.)
Meeting Atlanta Bloggers I went by myself. The crowd was a bit above my pay grade. Well dressed and coiffed designer ladys, well dressed designer guys, well dressed clients and design fans, me in my cleanest Lands End khakis.
Meeting Jay Reardon, president of Hickory Chair TTI introduced me to Jay Reardon. I grew up in High Point where nearly everybody had a tie to the furniture industry. I'm sure I knew of Hickory Chair before I was weaned. Talking with Mr. Rardon was an honor for a High Pointer. I was delighted to learn that 85% of Hickory Chair's products were made in the USA. Mr. Reardon's enthusiasm for the industry was contagious. Hickory Chair has a blog, "Made by Hickory Chair" Laura Holland from Hickory Chair is on Twitter.
Tête-à-têtes everwhere Bungalow Classic has many cozy corners where you could have a quiet conversation in spite of the crowd. Designers were doing doing business throughout the store, many with fabric books at hand in serious conversation.
Thanks to the Atlanta design community and my fellow Atlanta bloggers for an unexpectedly great time.
P.S. Here are the 3 whites if I heard correctly:from the Skirted Round Table interview. Benjamin Moore OC-17 White Dove: (F0EFE6) 912 Linen White (F3ECDB) OC-29 Floral White (EEECDE)
I prefer people in my places. On that count it was a great week.
Andrea and Eli got married in a pasture last Saturday. They are Atlanta chefs who tweet. Eli s is executive chef at the soon to open @TheLuminaryATL. JoAnn and I saw Eli at Piedmont Hospital on the day he was born. He grew up to earn this great woman's love. Ladies: Most of us dorky guys will never understand how we get these wonderful girls to make a families with us. Though we don't always express it well, we are so grateful.
Sarah Emerson waved while painting on Broad Street for "Elevate." This is the new Mammal Gallery. It's just south the downtown MARTA station. Now you can find it.
The Grant Mansion's Drawing Room Gallery is my favorite 600 square feet in Atlanta, It's great even when empty. It's even better with people and art. See art critiqueJerry Cullum? See WonderRoot leader Crhis Appleton?
Carolne Kilgore is photography director for Atlanta Magazine. In the old days she grew up with my children. I used to be taller than Caroline (and taller than 2 of my 3 children).
It's a beauty you won't see in a real estate ad. This is the view from the parking court. For Kyle and me it was a piece of heaven.
The parking court was so good, I had to photograph the electric meter, you gotta have one, even in a McAlpine house.
Mmm, mmm, mmm. Those zigs and zags, cornices and gutters, lentils and shutters. Just yummy. Remember, this the service side of the house where the basketball goal is, trashcans too but I didn't see them.
Here is the driveway.
Nice driveway no? The house is right up there.
This is the front porch. But compared to the porch on my little house, this needs a fancy French name. I didn't realize these were shutters until I got up close. The front door is behind me. The great room is though those French doors. You can see the porch from the inside in the video at the bottom.
The foyer is small and cozy. I'm looking down from the 2nd floor. I think the foyer has the highest charm/square-foot ratio I've ever experienced.
Many mansions whack you upside the head with their foyer. Know what I mean?
This foyer says, "We are not giants, we're just folks who want you to feel comfortable in our house."
But the foyer is not just a foyer.
It's in the middle of a long upstairs enfilade from the children's wing, through the great room, to the master. It's a box seat with a balcony for observing the flow of folks through the house.
James told me that a McAlpine signature is a mirror on a window. Here you go: this is looking into the master bath, the mirror hanging above the sink in the center window.
There was so much to look at. I'd turn the chairs so I could look at the detials.
By this time the crowd was shoulder to shoulder inside. Kyle showed me this detail.
Kyle, James, and Blayne had a moment in the keeping room before the multitudes arrived.
I don't want to embarrass anyone but Helen, Capella, Ally, Claire, Angela, Travis: This will go your permanent record unless you bring an written excuse. Cristi is excused, she sent Billy and he did run the party and we heard that the baby is really, really cute.
Finally, a little video of the great room before the crowd arrived.
Thanks so much so much to Blayne, Glennis and all the folks at Beacham & Company, REALTORS® and to Bobby and to Bruce and Lisa. Thanks to the bloggers who have been so nice to me, who've shown me so much.
Moving Photos So, we entered Besharat. On one side were National Geographic style photos by Steve McCurry. We've seen these. Up close, they are uncannily real.
On the other were stunning fine art photographs by Atlanta Photographer Parish Kohanim.
And lots of happy people in the middle:
MOVING Pictures Can a picture make you weep? Make me weep? Maybe I was in the mood: We three Architecture Tourists have found something special, unexpected. I don't know. This one made my eyes tear up. It's by Parish Kohanim, huge, layered, shiny: floating dancers twirling into a blur:
Your results may vary of course. I can't explain it. I kept returning. It kept it's magic. It didn't affect Katherine or Laura the same way but they appreciated what it did for me. What will happen when I see if again?
I kept returning to this portrait with a flower by Parish Kohanim. Against an impressionistic background, this woman seemed more real than the people in the gallery. The flower in her hand seemed supernaturally natural. Her slight smirk let us in.
Steve McCurry's subjects also seem to be in the room with us:
MOVING Arabesque #1, Claude Debussy Dania McDonald Lane played harp for the reception. Perfect yet most folks pay little attention: A beautiful sound, a beautiful instrument that is fascinating to watch. And watch I did while looking at my hyper-real girl on the left.
After a bit more wandering around Ms. Lane started playing Debussy's Arabesque #1. I rushed to the harp, listened and watched from 3 feet away with misty eyes. Never this close.
You've heard it many times. It may even be your ring tone. You might enjoy listening while you finish this post:
MOVING People Laura, a well traveled photographer herself, knew who Mr. McCurry was. Katherine and I took it on ourselves to get pictures with Mr. McCurry and Mr. Kohanim and to make sure Laura got to speak with them. Mission accomplished. Both were delightful.
Laura, Katherine, Steve McCurry, Darrell Lane, Parish Kohanim at Besharat Gallery - Reception Thursday, October 15, 2009
Mr. Kohanim enjoyed our crew:
Turns out that Mr. McCurry asked Laura questions:
This is a hard act to follow. But I toured more of the gallery, frequently returning to my red, ballet triptych. Does it still "get" me. Yes:
Outside, there is a deck with this amazing whatever it is:
