Happy Halloween!

Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality. We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility. We passed the school, where children strove At recess, in the ring; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun. Or rather, he passed us; The dews grew quivering and chill, For only gossamer my gown, My tippet only tulle. We paused before a house that seemed A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, The cornice but a mound. Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each Feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses' heads Were toward eternity. ---Emily Dickinson

Halloween Flicks

There are so many movie options to match Halloween. From horror to gothic, to slasher, to humorous, this entry could last a while. Young Frankenstein, Rocky Horror, The Exorcist, all very viable options for Halloween viewing. As for me, I'm more 'Halloween-lite'. My picks this year? Nothing says Halloween like some good B-movies. Tonight is a double feature of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, followed by one from the Godzilla boxed set we have. Tomorrow we're going for some animation. There's the recent pic, Coraline, from the makers of Nightmare Before Christmas, about a spooky parallel universe. Another option is Spirited Away, an incredibly imaginative piece by the Japanese god of Animation, Hayao Miyazaki. I've seen it twenty times and I'm always blown away by its imaginative details. Don't ask me what it means; just know that it makes the incredible, credible. Finally, there's the ever-classic tale of faith-- The Great Pumpkin. In all seriousness, it is Waiting for Godot for children. How long do you wait for the Great Pumpkin? What alternatives do you have? Schultz was a devout man who infused the depth of his thought with childish irreverence. Of course there was a golden period with him-- they have an entire collection starting with the fifties, which are amazingly good all the way into the seventies.

I notice all of these pieces take place with the nighttime being a time of mystery, of depth, of transformation. My first novella, Searching for Moongirl is set at night. Most of my paintings, heck all of my paintings, are set at night. Surrealism, dreams, psychology, all realms of the night.

So on the night before All Hallow's Eve, a cozy night of movies and star-lit skies end the week in the most lovely way. I hope your night is wonderful, too.

A Surprise Arrival

In the mail this week we received a surprise package of photos from James' parents who came to visit Columbus Day weekend. The images captured the beauty of autumn in the Catskills, as well as the easy fun we had wandering through Windham, picking apples, shopping farm stands, and sitting on the porch. Going through the pictures, we lived it all over again.

Television Mania

Back in the day, families gathered around the hearth to warm their hands and listen to grandma's stories about those proverbial olden days. Then along came the electronic hearth: television. Grandma gave up on her stories and everyone talked about what was on that night. The negotiations over what to watch ended as the number of television per US household grew. In fact, a USA Today report said that, on average, there are more televisions per household than actual inhabitants. Free to choose their own shows, people love television for background noise, for breaking news, for their favorite programs. But how does one incorporate a television into a sensible spot in the household?

We've always had a rule: No Television In the Living Room. That has now been extended to include the kitchen, my office, Potic Cottage and the kids' rooms. The temptation to flip it on is too great, remarkable especially considering how, despite a couple hundred TV stations, there's never anything good to watch.

Over the years, it was easy enough to relegate our 19" TV to a family room, but these days people invest big money into their big screens. Even we upgraded to 35", small by some people's standards. With entire media rooms dedicated to the television, it becomes a design trick as to which room is designated with such distinction. True, the flat screen allows for more discreet decorating possibilities. I've seen some hanging over gas fireplaces, integrated into a salon of paintings, tucked away behind folding doors. In fact, Living Etc dedicated an entire photo spread to the topic, offering a variety of options.

Sure, everyone needs a little TV time, especially on the treadmill or folding laundry, perfect spots for TV absorption, but I've never walked away from watching a show feeling refreshed. Instead, it gives me new appreciation for the term: couch potato.

Wisconsin Design

There are some designs that just speak for themselves. This Bouler Architecture one for a lakeside weekend house in Wisconsin simply took my breath away. Inspired by House M of our Living Machine design for a client in Tennessee, this house is modern without losing warmth. Don't you think a Malm would be perfect for this place?

Graffiti Art

Before Twitter and Facebook, there was graffiti. It told us who, what, and where. It was a shout out, a prayer, a protest, a hello, a wish, and a good-bye. An identity in spray paint, initials tossed up on the overpass, morphed into fine art thanks to the likes of Keith Haring. His images, now icons of an era, came to an end too soon. With his death at 31 due to complications from AIDS, Haring's graffiti art was the perfect egalitarian counterpoint to the corporate conservatism of Reagan's 1980s. Discovering a Haring in the subway, drawn in chalk on black paper before a new ad was posted, was like discovering a new form of life. And then came success. His images appeared on everything and everywhere, especially as he fueled the merchandise craze with his store, The Pop Shop. I even had a Haring-designed Swatch, the epitome of chic at the time. Today, incorporating graffiti text into an image brings a hard-edged energy to the most staid and established images. Before his death last year, Robert Rauschenberg's best piece in his 2008 show at PaceWildenstein Gallery is this print combining literature, photographs, and graffiti-like text. This graphic mixture is explosive.

Big Apple Circus

Anyone who has ever seen Wim Wender's Wings of Desire knows the mystique of an old-time circus. The Big Apple Circus is one such event. Set under a tent in Lincoln Center, we had front row seats to watch acrobats from China, a dog show from Russia, and a trapeze troupe from Slovokia. The circus, a not-for-profit group whose mission is to serve the community through outreach programs, will be in town until January 18th, and I highly recommend it. The whole family was entranced with the action, but Liv said it best, "It was a one-ring show worth five stars."

A Studio of One's Own

The morning was spent adding a drafting table to my office. As Virginia Woolf advocated in A Room of One's Own, a person needs her own space in order to create, whether it be in writing or in painting. I realized that if I was going to get to work again in preparation for the December show at Ripe Gallery, I couldn't spend precious moments cleaning up the space I had been using, a space that is now home to craft projects for the kids.

I also needed a space that could remain set up. Having worked in gouache for the past few years, I missed the juiciness of oil paint. I also love using it on heavy stock paper. The combination of the smooth texture and the absorbency gives a surface that works well with my images, so last night I culled through my oil paints, taking stock of what I had, what was still useable, what to toss. I even made time to start a couple of new projects, revisiting some of the ideas I had in terms of surrealism in landscapes. It's nice having the studio as a part of my office, reminding me to return to what I started.

Another Before and After

Overlooking Northport harbor, this seasonal cottage was in a dilapidated state when our client purchased it. The extensive renovation added to the foundation's footprint and capitalized on the water view.

Verace: Coming Soon

Finish work continues at Verace. I especially love the wood inlay for flooring and these intense orange tiles in the prep area. The decor's combination of texture and color, traditional and modern is exactly how I imagine the cuisine will be.

Signs and Symbols

My mother handed me a magazine clipping about a writing contest. "You just have to write about a piece of clothing." Just?! How would I even begin to choose? My first little black dress? My interview suit? My wedding gown? It's like trying to choose my favorite book or painting. Impossible.

As a person who practically wears a different outfit every day, my attachement to fashion stretches all the way back to childhood, sneaking platform shoes to second grade and wearing sequined hats to the playground. For me, the attachement to clothing isn't simply about fashion; it is how clothing serves to establish identity. The maleability of our attire, the shaping of one's appearance is easy to see-- a suit signifies business, a uniform shows authority. The topic is at once superficial and meaningful. Even on days when I toss on something without thought, it's saying something. Our society uses fashion, even the rejection of fashion, as a representation of who we are in terms of self identification and social status.

Having just seen the Coco Chanel movie, I was pleased to see this designer's story told. Chanel broke with convention to craft clothing that rejected restraint, instead reflecting freedom of movement. Thus, her clothing, a symbol of modernity, ushered in a new era for women. Of course, her clothing has now become synonymous with exclusivity and luxury, but it started with a more egalitarian spirit. The film showed that one need not invest a king's fortune to have style. In fact, sometimes it's the exact opposite.

Sail Away

Sailing off to Omaha, Nebraska to be in a holiday show.

Captree Progress

Was it just a few weeks ago that we were breaking ground on the Captree project? And here we are with the bones of a building. It was a beautiful day to have a site visit-- sunny and sixty degrees-- a perfect autumn afternoon.

Befores and Afters

Reality shows have made their fortunes on this basic truism: everyone loves a good makeover. Whether its someone's home, wardrobe, or even their body, viewers hang on until the big 'reveal'. There is something exciting about transformation, and with an existing home, it is a creative give and take to try to use as much of the original structures as possible, as these BDG projects can attest.