Domestic Excitement

It's finally here! The book I ordered long before its distribution date was determined, "Domestic Art, Curated Interiors" by Holly Moore, Rob Brinkley and Laurann Claridge; Principal Photography by Ka Yeung and Tria Giovan; Additional photography by Steve Wrubel, Stephen Karlisch, Guillaume Garrigue, Jack Thompson, Paul Hester, Hickey-Robertson and Mali Azima. The written commentary and photography are superb.

Sit right here with me on My Ranchburger rug (which is Menil gray) and devour each delicious morsel that these authors and photographers pulled from the pages of PaperCity.

Here's Aaron Rambo's home. It looks just like the vintage and antiques shop, Found, that he co-owns. Tall Husband buys vintage lab glass from Found.

I love Hiram Butler's place. Tall Husband and I enjoy the gallery in which Butler is a partner, Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery; the Gallery is a short walk, through a magical white Oleander alley, from his 1880's house. The story about Butler's having discovered that squirrels had insulated the walls of this house with pecans is charming. I remember having read it in PaperCity years ago and was delighted to read it again in Domestic Art.


Don't You just love the Menil gray of this wall in the living room of the de Menil house? There is a village of Menil gray bungalows that surrounds the de Menil Museum here in Houston. Dominique de Menil once rented them only to artists. (I had an eccentric friend, a famous photographer, who lived in one of her gray bungalows years ago. He never forgave me for running off to Paris with Tall Husband and he quit speaking to me when we returned from Paris to be married.)


I remember seeing this magical place in PaperCity. If I'm not mistaken, it's on Blossom Street, just east of Shepherd, just before you get to Hiram Butler's place. Wouldn't you love to sit down and have a drink with this lady, Salle Werner-Vaughn, in her fairytale aerie? I bet she has some great stories to tell.

Click on each photo to enlarge.

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Confessions of a Magazine Addict

Côté Paris n°2

Sortie le 4 octobre 2008

Côté Paris n°2, currently a semi-annual publication, was supposed to be on the newsstands yesterday; but apparently not in Houston. I've searched the City high and low. I previously attempted to get several bookshops to put this issue on hold for me but no dice! I have yet to find a way to subscribe to this magazine stateside. One periodicals dealer did say that he expects his French magazines to be delivered on Wednesday.

Most of the designers, whom I know, confessed that they have had 4 October on their day planners since they got their hands on Côté Paris n°1 last April. One well-known, Houston-based French minimalist designer had her sister fly from Paris to Houston with the first issue. I don't know what her strategy is for the second issue.

Meanwhile, my frantic search will continue; until I score, I'll have to settle for this teaser.

Foraging

Out front of My Ranchburger, remained a small pile of debris, remnants of Hurricane Ike. Taking a lesson from the local squirrels, I went foraging. There in the untidy pile of twigs and tree limbs, glowed white berries (seeds of the Chinese Tallow tree.) I recognized them as the same berries for which I had paid dearly at a flower boutique last winter.

The two rubber pots are from Ligne Roset in Houston and the vintage lab flask is from Found for the Home.

And voila! A small, minimalist bouquet, a feast for the eyes and the soul.

Playing With Wordle

This cool graphic was created by Wordle at www.wordle.net. Wordle is an elegant software program developed by IBM Senior Software Engineer Jonathan Feinberg. So go play!

To Our Distant Neighbors: A Big Texas Thanks!

This is Sean Paul from Miami, Florida. He is one of the thousands of wonderful people who have left their homes across the United States to come to Houston to clean up after Hurricane Ike.

Thank you, Sean Paul! Thank you for cleaning up our neighborhood, our city, all of Southeast Texas.

Sean Paul and his Bobcat are taking away the debris left by Hurricane Ike. Today Sean and his crew are in Meyerland, the neighborhood of My Ranchburger.

Today, there is nothing more beautiful than Sean Paul and his Bobcat!

Minimalist to Minimalist

Vitra Design Miniature, Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Charlotte Perriand, 1928

I confess: After witnessing Hurricane Ike, Tall Husband and I went house hunting, farther inland, where my son lives with his family. We did not find a house to our liking, so upon our return to Houston I continued my search on-line.

As Tall Son shares my aversion to clutter and kitsch and is a devout minimalist, I trust his design decisions, so sent this e-mail to him:

Mom wrote:

"What do you think of this one?" (I attached a photo of a new modern minimalist house, designed by a great architect; a photo I will not attach here, as I do not want someone to scoop the house out from under us.)

Tall Son responded:

"I like it but it lacks a few Southern touches:

1. Stone hunting dogs flanking the entry way
2. A two-foot rusty lone star over the front door.
3. A junkyard sculpture of a longhorn in the front yard.
4. Twin lazy boys in the living room facing a ten-foot TV tuned to college football.
5. A pool table with a plastic Budweiser lampshade over it.
6. A poster of a large-breasted bimbo in a bikini mounting a Harley in the garage (over the arc welder of course).
7. A longhorn trophy over the TV that sings the "Yellow Rose of Texas" when you pull its tongue.
8. Antlers mounted in every room for good measure.
9. A flashing neon sign over the sound system that just reads "The King."
10. Oh, and for the little lady: a velvet painting of young Elvis over the stove.
    

Love,
Tall Son"

He loves the house!

Floating

Han Feng's suspended flowers at Sotheby's
Photo: Courtesy of Han Feng's website

Ingo Maurer's Fly Candle
Photo courtesy of Ingo Maurer's website

Things that appear to levitate are always fascinating. Two wonderful examples of such slight-of-hand are German designer Ingo Maurer's Fly Candle, and Chinese designer Han Feng's fresh flower arrangement at Sotheby's. Minimalism at its chicest.