When all else fails, looking at something beautiful can put things right again. Or if not to put right, to remind. To remind us that there is beauty in abundance in this sometimes-ugly world, and that it is often created by people who are talented, disciplined, and devoted to using and celebrating their God-given gifts.… Continue reading How Hunt Slonem Celebrates
Art & About
Just Back From Lost Angeles
Have to admit it is exciting to be in Los Angeles for Oscar weekend and friend Alex Hitz’s super fun party which ended at around 2 with the diehards gathered around the kitchen island singing at the tops of their lungs to every song, using whisks as microphones. Umhmm. I’m not saying I was one… Continue reading Just Back From Lost Angeles
Touched
So many of you have responded to the Sunday Painter post, thank you; and some of you are artists yourselves. Just this morning Jill Steenhuis added a comment to Sunday Painter, and I’d like to comment back by treating you to her work and website, here. Jill is an Atlanta native who has lived and… Continue reading Touched
Sunday Painter
I’ve been doing this bi-coastal commute for about two and a half years now. Aspects of it are a pain in the bo-hiney, and I joke about being 4,000 miles from the nearest Bergdorf’s (okay 2,462; and yes they do have stores in Santa Barbara), but being on this ranch and being able to sit… Continue reading Sunday Painter
Did Not Make it to Church This Morning
Did not make it to church this morning but did make it to the Cathedral Antiques Show in Atlanta this weekend, a whirlwind week of parties, tours, an “Inspiration House” of Atlanta’s up and coming design talent, and lectures lectures by Richard Keith Langham, Jeffrey Bilhuber, and Veranda’s Deborah Sanders. They all three couldn’t have… Continue reading Did Not Make it to Church This Morning
If I Were a Book…
If I were a book I’d be The Perfectly Imperfect Home – How to Decorate & Live Well, by Deborah Needleman, published late last year by Clarkson Potter. And if I were a portfolio of drawings I’d be one by the book’s illustrator, Virginia Johnson. It is simply the most charming, practical, accessible, inspiring book… Continue reading If I Were a Book…
A South Texas Sojourn-Part 2
Like I was saying yesterday…In the winter months, during quail season in South Texas, they all go to one another’s places on the weekends to shoot and have a good time. We were lucky enough to be invited last weekend. Our hosts, whose middle name is Hospitality and whose other middle names are Cute, Fun,… Continue reading A South Texas Sojourn-Part 2
A South Texas Sojourn
My mother once said casually, but as if bestowing the greatest compliment, “Texas people are cute; they’re a lot like people from North Carolina.” Yes, I answered, but they have better jewelry. They have ranches, too. People in Texas have ranches like people in North Carolina have azaleas. His Grace and I were lucky to… Continue reading A South Texas Sojourn
(Last) Postcard From Havana-Part 4: Sketchbook
Here is one last look at Cuba, in my simple, scribbled drawings. If you said your 5-year-old could do this, you’d be correct. It doesn’t worry this “artist” (liberal use of the term) in the least. For years I have kept little sketchbooks of my travels and I find they amuse me as much as… Continue reading (Last) Postcard From Havana-Part 4: Sketchbook
Postcard From Havana-Part 3: Vicente Wolf and Hemingway’s House
One of the most memorable meals of my life was with a small group of friends years ago at the restaurant Georges, atop the Beaubourg (Centre Pompidou) in Paris. It lasted from 2 until 7 – or was it 1 until 8? – and went through I don’t know how many bottles of wine and… Continue reading Postcard From Havana-Part 3: Vicente Wolf and Hemingway’s House
Postcard From Havana-Part 2: Vicente Wolf Weighs in
It occurred to me I really should speak to renowned Cuban-born New York designer Vicente Wolf about Cuba – how it has influenced him as a designer and how Cuba has inspired him. Graciously he obliged. His answers, which might have surprised me before I went there myself last week, do not surprise me now.… Continue reading Postcard From Havana-Part 2: Vicente Wolf Weighs in
Postcard From Havana
Am just back to the ranch with jet lag and a cold, but what a fascinating four days we spent in Havana, frayed and falling apart as she is. The people are friendly and warm, and the vibe is energetic and lively. There’s a burgeoning contemporary art scene, and the Buena Vista Social Club plays… Continue reading Postcard From Havana