Hudson River School Revisited

Hudson River Octopoda                    Oil on Paper

A Wing and Prayer Wallet         Upcycled Leather

As I completed the painting Hudson River Octopoda featuring the Thomas Cole House in Catskill and Olana across the Hudson River in Hudson, NY, I realized the importance of the conversation between two artists.  It was the collaboration between Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church that encouraged both men to pursue ideas about man's relationship to nature, thus establishing the Hudson River School of Art.  With this context in mind that I changed the name of this blog to Omgeving, a Dutch word for surroundings-- for when you surround yourself in an environment of creative people, an engaging conversation about art, architecture, and the environment is bound to emerge.

I've had such a 30+ year conversation with dear friend and fellow artist Adriane Errera, whose one-of-a-kind handbags have inspired me greatly. As a lifelong vegetarian, Errera faced an ethical quandary over using leather materials, so when making her handmade accessories, she decided to upcycle second-hand leather garments found at thrift stores, which not only keeps garments out of landfills, but curtails the use of new animal products.  The designs themselves incorporate nature-based motifs with tattoo-inspired illustration. I've long admired her sense of color and craft as she refashioned garments into artistic statements.

So perhaps this blog can serve as a conversation-starter for your own creative growth, either alone, or with friends!

Celtic Tiger

Having had many students participate in my writing process proved invaluable. My first YA novel, Celtic Tiger, is about Johnny O'Shea, a disenfranchised dropout from Queens, who, after losing his mother to a life of drugs and murder, finds connectedness with his great-uncle on the west coast of Ireland. It leads him to solve the mystery of his mother's death.

Though the novel is yet to be published, its had a healthy share of teen readers who generously offered insights into how they related to a character like Johnny O'Shea. Email me for the complete PDF if you would like to download it for free.

Studio Update

A quirky little oil sketch I just finished-- which I've nicknamed "Butterbean"-- has me reevaluating Spanish surrealist Joan Miro. I've always been more of a fan of the cerebral Belgian Rene Magritte, his images serving up a beautiful series of narrative contradictions, but Miro's graphic abstractions are pulling me in. I even included a Miro eyeball in my little gardenscape-- so perhaps I should title it as an ode to him. Suggestions are very welcome.

Meanwhile the invitations to the Ripe Art Gallery holiday show are beginning to make the rounds. My portion of the show, Homes for the Holidays, will include the houses based on emotions series, but also the alphahouses and Moongirl series. It's been fun thinking about seeing so much of the work up-- wondering the story the whole collection will tell.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

In light of the current banking crisis, perhaps we should seriously consider turning all banks into spas and restaurants. Look at the evidence in these images-- lovely art deco banks reused to create exceptionally elegant and inviting architecture. In what was once the First National Bank and Trust, Drew Patrick Spa in Bay Shore, NY is one of the most luxurious places to spend the day. Built in 1917 and completely renovated starting in 2006, the building is a highlight in the downtown fabric of buildings. Another striking example of a renovated bank is Tellers Chophouse in Islip, NY. where its 30 foot tall interior space is often considered one of the most romantic restaurants on Long Island. Once built as monuments to the stability and security of the financial system, banks of this era spared little expense in their construction. Isn't it a wonderful and ecofriendly way for our downtown areas to reinvigorate and reestablish themselves by renovating these fine pieces of architecture?

The Preliminary Design is Ready

Thank you James Bouler and Nicholas Pfluger! I am happy to say that after a few collaborative meetings, we've hashed out a design that makes both design and fiscal sense. If you look at the first floor plan, (thanks to Tom Judson) you can see the footprint is pretty tight. Our initial response was to expand the foundation and go out to the back off the bathroom hallway. Unfortunately that disrupts a lot of the roofline and requires costly excavation. But the interior of the house couldn't accommodate a staircase for a second story, so we've decided to compromise. By expanding the footprint a tiny bit, we can add the staircase off the bathroom for an additional two bedrooms and a bath on a second story, thus leaving the downstairs footprint alone. We will be able to then rip the drop ceiling in the living room and kitchen and use the exposed rafters and flooring above as a ceiling. True, the bedrooms upstairs will be small; however we can soundproof the master bedroom over the existing bedroom and leave that ceiling sheetrocked and insulated.
The house as it exists right now is very low, so it was crucial to add the second story without losing the integrity of the existing cottage. And we certainly didn't want it to look like the traditional gabled, dormered, everyday addition we see far too often. Instead, we all agreed that boxy and a bit brutal was a good way to go,n offsetting those hard lines with a warm wood siding.
Now that we've got that agreed upon, it's time for construction drawings.

Gehry Field Trip

I suppose you could call it Bilbao in the Hudson Valley-- though I'm sure Bard's concert hall would be dwarfed by the Guggenheim's museum-- but it did save us the trip to Spain. Needless to say Gehry's performance center for Bard was awesome. I literally got tears in my eyes at its audacity in the rolling hills of Annendale-on-the-Hudson. It is incredibly easy to visit-- just pull off 9G for a short stint and whammo-- there you are, face to face with a truly memorable building. It doesn't change the direction of our ideas for Potic Cottage for obvious reasons; however it is not lost on us that Gehry's early experimentation was on his own home. Who knows what sorts of lessons we'll learn on our Potic experiment?

Launch Party!

Bouler Design Group hosted a launch party at Teller's Chophouse in Islip, NY to celebrate the publication of Leading Residential Architects, where Bouler Design Group is representing New York. Three of our high-end waterfront homes are showcased in this coffee table book, and many of our friends and clients were on hand to raise a glass to celebrate.