House Dreams

While I have had the good fortune to live in this hill country house for the past four years, I find myself dreaming of designing a house for the next stage in our life. We will be empty nesters in a few years, and our needs will change.

This house is classic Texas hill country and has been a very special home to inhabit. Our girls have had a blast here entertaining their friends  - swimming, playing hide and seek, playing basketball, roasting marshmallows, and having backyard birthday celebrations. We have had good times as well, but the house is too big for the two of us. Another family needs it now.

Hill Country House is for sale.

The house is situated 4 miles outside of town. It is the perfect distance - country skies filled with stars at night and not a city light around, but close enough to run to the grocery store when you forget something. 

If you are interested in living here, or know someone who is, contact me and I will give you sales information.

So............

I know I want something smaller. It is no secret that I like too many things and too many styles, though.  I believe in building appropriately for the setting, and in Texas that can mean a southwestern or hill country style,  or a home with a Mexican influence.  There are many styles and choices. I dream of soft contemporary..........something like this:

Dallas home designed by Lake Flato

or even more modern, like this.....

Lake Flato

or sort of traditional modern, like this..........

Jon Pankratz, AIA

or let's throw in some Southern influence, or would it be Mediterranean?.........

I apologize for no credit info -  saved in my favorites file

or this............

Craig Kinney architect

or maybe really hill country, like this.....................

 Lake Flato

or subtle and nestled in the trees, waiting to be discovered............like this.......

 Reagan George, AIA

Confused? Me too.

Thoughts, ideas welcome.

My Idea of Fun

I went here and saw this.............

and this...........

and came home and did this...

Love decorating with my treasures from nature!!

David Bates: The Katrina Paintings at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art- Kansas City

Texas artist David Bates has long been one of my favorites.  Like so many of us, he was deeply moved by Hurricane Katrina and began sketching the New Orleans residents he saw on television news almost immediately. He spent the next several years painting scenes of the aftermath and created many large portraits of the grieving faces he had witnessed.   His work became a chronicle of the suffering and  damage done by the storm.

I am counting the days until the weekend trip my husband and I have planned to see the exhibition David Bates: the Katrina Paintings, at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art 
in Kansas City.

Photo from MW Capacity blog

David's paintings are compelling and spiritual. While I have admired his work for many years, I now have a new respect for his realistic and narrative style. His work reminds me of Picasso and another favorite of mine, Marsden Hartley.
I can hardly wait to experience this series in person.

Photo from Arthur Roger Gallery



There is tons of information on line on David's work, and particularly this series. If you are interested in doing a search,  this article is especially informative and to the point.


 Barbecue Man, a lithograph by David Bates, which hangs in my kitchen, was a gift of sorts years ago from Peregrine Press in Dallas. Unlike the Katrina series, this work brings a smile to one's face.

Peregrine Press is no longer in existence from what I have learned, but was at one time a great source for prints made by noted artists.

In Dallas, Mike Hart, a graduate of the print program at the University of North Texas, founded Peregrine Press with his wife Jo Ann in 1981. For the next ten years, the Harts invited many of the most accomplished artists in Texas, including eighty-three-year-old Otis Dozier, to create editions in their facility. Others who created editions at Peregrine include John Alexander, Eric Avery, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Bates, Linda and Ed Blackburn, Derek Boshier, Earl Staley and Judy Youngblood. Peregrines high-quality editions gave these artists a first-class printmaking experience and built an informed print audience statewide. The Harts eventually retired, donating their equipment to the Print Research Institute of North Texas in Denton

Reference
Art Lies: Art quarterly


I so look forward to visiting Kansas City and experiencing this amazing collection of work. I will report back!

Design on the Oregon Coast

While vacationing with our girls on the coast of Oregon last week, I stumbled upon the most marvelous home furnishings and art gallery.

Honestly, it was to be a family vacation - strictly family. Kayaking, biking, walking on the beaches and through the forests - (amazing forests!!) , good food and conversation, maybe a movie or two - just the four of us. No distractions from home, no work for my husband, no antiquing for mom. Just TIME together somewhere beautiful and cool, away from the Texas heat.

We were literally turning around in a parking lot and I caught a glimpse of this charming shop. Oh my, I thought I had better "take a spin through", as we say in our family when we know we should move on, but we just have to check something out.

I had stumbled upon Sesame and Lilies , owned by Diane Speakman, in Cannon Beach, Oregon. Everywhere I turned I saw something else I loved - some things I have in my home already, and some things I wish I had in my home! 

Patriotic memorabilia, ironstone and transfer ware,  colorful blankets, French linens, rugs..................

As I wandered through the shop, I stopped to ask the woman behind the counter if the shop belonged to her. Yes, she replied, to which I said something like "Oh, oh....it is just sooooo wonderful" and proceeded to gush about loving everything there and who knows what else..... design fool that I am.

Any and all of the Dash and Albert rugs you could ever choose..................

Old silver, old linens, new linens.....................

Shells, wonderful old bottles, birds nests..........................

Did I mention lighting, painted furniture, slip covered chairs, and sofas?

Faux bois pots,  mirrors, baskets, trays........................

 Crazy about these large paintings of shore birds, I asked Diane if the artist represented in the shop was local. Yes, she answered and there are more paintings upstairs.

Upstairs? there is MORE to this fabulous design haven?

Oh yes, lots more.

More beautiful paintings, more accessories, more furnishings.................

I loved these paintings! I really would have loved to have brought one home with me. When I talked to Diane a bit more about them, she confessed - she is actually the artist who paints these beautiful images! What a talented woman.

As we chatted some more, we discovered we are both originally from Texas, both love Maine and Oregon, and both love antiques......................kindred spirits. My visit with Diane was delightful and I can't recommend a visit to Sesame and Lilies enough if you find yourself even close to Cannon Beach.

Diane and her husband live in Oregon, but own several properties in Maine, as well. Her husband hails from that part of the country, and as I see it, they have the best of both worlds at this point in their lives. They spend time at their cabin on Little Cranberry Island, Maine, in the summer, and have a cottage rental in Southwest Harbor, Maine, as well.

For a visual treat, or to check availability on their cottage, visit Rice Cottage here.

Photo from Country Living Magazine




The cottage was featured in Country Living magazine a few years ago and you can read the article by clicking on the link under the photo. I would rent it in a heartbeat.

In closing, here are a few more offerings at this most wonderful coastal shop!

Eye candy!