Provided by Karen Weiner of The Reading Room. Here’s another ornament that I managed to wrangle from the The MAC’s Blue Yule ten plus years ago. It has remained charming and timeless despite being moved around during my home’s seven year restoration process and has now found a permanent home in my office.
Originally a Christmas ornament, this red head has been part of my office decor for twelve years, and is one of the many creative ornaments that I have purchased at The McKinney Avenue’s annual Blue Yule. What’s different about The MAC’s ornaments is that they can be used all year round. I couldn’t resist not taking a photograph of this one as the afternoon sun was lighting up the reflective paint. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be doing a series of posts showcasing my strange collection.
Shall We Dance from 1937 has some very stylized sets. Several scenes feature custom designed hotel rooms for each sex, which is common in Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films. I’m pretty sure that in reality, this never happened. Here’s a list of common design trends used for contemporary film interiors during the 1930s and 40s: padded and/or studded walls, curving walls, lots of built-ins, wall murals, bare-bulb sconces, heavy usage of fluorescent wall and overhead light fixtures. The following photos will show you what I’m referring to.
A newly bracketed focal point. These two cast stone benches arrived Friday, but I had to wait for the weather to clear up before I could photograph them. If the brick and decomposed granite appear unusually saturated color wise, that’s because they are saturated from days and days of badly needed rain.
I did a tremendous amount of research before choosing this pair. The strict criteria of depth and length determined by the brick terrace’s shape and size, and the height determined by the central pot drastically limited my choices. And then, of course, there was the overall design to worry about. Do you know what kind of designs there were plenty of? Foo foo. Lots and lots of frilly overwrought foo foo. Bleh! The best choices were found through Campania International, and since they are strictly wholesale, Nicholson-Hardie had them ordered and delivered to me. The Pansy Bench was the only choice that had the right dimensions and clean lines. Unfortunately there’s a wee bit of flower frippery on the pedestal supports that will hopefully become less noticeable as the concrete ages.
The Index Cards: Vincent Falsetta will open at The Reading Room on Saturday, December 3 from 7 to 9 pm and continue through December 31. There will also be an artist talk on Saturday, December 10 at 4 pm.
“Process as content is for me a form of indexing the moment, “Falsetta says about his practice. The index cards date back to the 1980s. There is a format that he follows. First the work is described in detail: dimensions, materials, when the canvas was stretched, then title and any dedication. There is usually but not always a thumbnail of the work, sometimes a diagram or chart, and questions that he poses to the work and to himself. He writes, deliberately, with pen and ink, thus slowing the process down and making it more than just documentation or a journal entry. There are over 600 cards.
Blue Yule 2011 at The MAC. This Saturday The MAC will be having their sixteenth annual fundraiser selling hand-crafted-one-of-a-kind ornaments. Come support your favorite blue building and savor the infamous Blue Mystery Punch! Make this your first stop of the evening, and then mosey on over to The Reading Room for more artistic fun.
The McKinney Avenue Contemporary
3120 McKinney Avenue
Saturday, December 3
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
The Reading Room. Again I waited until the last day to see a show, Rebecca Carter’s Reading the Love Letter, but the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. While most folks were probably killing themselves with frantic Christmas shopping, I found a wonderful respite in Karen Weiner’s little space located far away from the holiday madness. It was a fun lazy afternoon reconnecting with old friends, chitchatting, listening to the haunting background music, and poking around in all the little spaces and hidden corners searching out Rebecca’s little surprises.
Can be far more preferable. This post is for those who are like me and don’t wish to engage in the full on madness of the holidays. It seems like every autumn there’s a slow buildup of activity that begins to peak on Thanksgiving and continues into a screaming pitch that eventually explodes just before the new year. It’s as if there’s a contest going on to see who can out decorate, out party, out shop, out wrap, and out glamour. Instead of signing up for that tussle, my holidays will be about the simple things. So starting tomorrow, on Thanksgiving, I wish for everyone simple daily moments of beauty.
This vintage 1950’s heavy iron patio furniture just arrived today. This five-piece Woodard set, which includes two barrel arm chairs and two coil spring barrel chairs, was found on one of my favorite antique websites, Ruby Lane. All five pieces are in great condition with their original finish, and the table’s solid construction is far superior to the flimsy variety that’s being produced today.
Woodard developed their first collection of hand-crafted wrought iron furniture in the 1930s, and this innovation marked the birth of casual outdoor furniture. This particular design, Briarwood, is still being produced today. Well, the chair styles are the same, but not the table. In the near future, I will be replacing the glass top with a stone version. Between the acorns and golfball-sized hail, there’s not a chance this glass will survive any length of time unscathed. Future outdoor dinners will have to wait until after the current annual acorn bombardment.
Dallas’ deb season officially begins this weekend. When I say the “season”, I mean the traditional season that’s been around since 1884 before there was La Fiesta de las Seis Bandera and the Dallas Symphony’s presentation ball. I don’t know how long the season was in my mother’s time, but during mine, 1975, it lasted for three months with up to two parties a day with the exception of Sundays and Mondays. It’s a very different story now with an abbreviated season and fewer parties during the week.
I find the photos of my mother’s era far more glamorous than what has been produced in the last thirty years — especially in the last ten years with the advent of the digital photo. Perhaps it’s because of the black and white format? Maybe it’s because we no longer have the same kind of poise and polish. Continue to see what I’m talking about.