Designer

……………….I painted these two pictures so long ago I can’t exactly remember when, but definitely over 30 years ago! You can see in the background of the painting that the balustrade is still there…..so it has to be around 1992/1993….whatever year the hurricane was that destroyed it after I had just had the WHOLE thing redone!…..As I was cleaning out my storage room….when Lou put up shelves for me to store my Christmas decorations….I found these paintings in bubble wrap….I wondered where they were????, but never really looked that hard for them…..As you can see the actual chair, at the lower left, is in a completely different fabric that is very faded from the sun….All the chairs need to be done over again for the THIRD or maybe FOURTH TIME!…The room is constantly sunny, so the fabrics, even the “sun proof” ones, take a beating…..I’m thinking about going back to blue and white, but that’s just my feeling today!………Some people find painting RELAXING….I’m NOT in that camp!….I found it a lot of work, because I was very meticulous…..This time around I’m thinking of using only large brushes on bigger canvases…..I still haven’t committed to starting, but I do have the equipment…..Have to check to see if the paint hasn’t dried out in the tubes!!!!

…………..Overnight a new blanket of snow fell……I would guess it’s about 2 to 3 inches…..I’m still waiting for the BIG one…..We seem to be in a snow corridor weather pattern with snow or snow mixed with sleet and or rain predicted a few times in the coming week …..After every snowfall I look out of my window to see the beautiful white snow……It never fails….there are always tracks from visitors!

…………………As soon as I was able to choose and buy my own clothes I had a UNIFORM………..In high school I basically wore blue or white button down shirts, sleeves rolled up, with Khaki pants and tan buck shoes……..At Parsons School of Design, I wore blue or white button down shirts, sleeves rolled up, khaki pants and tan bucks…….When I worked at Anne Klein I wore more expensive blue or white button down shirts, sleeves rolled up, more expensive khaki pants and more expensive tan buck shoes……..Basically I never changed out of my uniform and comfort zone….It was just easier to get ready in the morning. My friends used to make fun of my closet because it was one blue, white or pink button down after the other, lined up like soldiers….with an occasional pin stripe or check, and a novelty style shirt here and there….Then a line up of different style khaki pants….not too different!…….My shoe rack had at least 10 pairs of tan bucks, three pair of white bucks, two pairs of dress black and cordovan shoes and a pair of formal black shoes……I had six suits for business and a tuxedo……That’s it!…….I NEVER wore or owned a pair of jeans or sneakers!……Now everything has changed!!!!……..My uniform has segued into jeans in different blues, grey, black…..red, yellow and white for the spring/summer, and pull on casual pants, all in stretch fabrics in a variety of styles and colors….tee shirts in a zillion colors and hoodies in a rainbow of colors…….Now I have at least a 16 pair of sneakers in all colors and designs…..MERRILS and SUAVS are my favorites…..I still have my collection of button downs [which I hardly wear]…..I do wear my cotton khakis, and Cargo pants, but the colors have expanded to also include, olive, grey, blue, black, light tan and white for the summer….My RED SNEAKERS are my newest acquisition! So different from anything I have EVER owned, but they called out to me…..BUY ME LOUIS….BUY ME!!!…They are super comfortable made in stretch fabric!…..I’m getting daring in my old age!!!!LOL……..When George, my trainer came to my house for a session, he saw me and said…..”Wow, looking good…..you’re styling RED”….he took the picture.

……………………….After I removed my Christmas decor which included my CHRISTMAS TABLE SETTING…..I had to decide what was to come next!?…All I knew was I wanted something FRESH and CLEAN…….After the ornate table with the tartan plaid table cloth, napkins and tartan place settings…the ornate beaded napkin rings, the gold vases and all the greens and red berries in each vase….the nutcrackers at each place setting and the gold forks knives and spoons…the green and gold candles in gold candle sticks and the fancy gold star lighting…..I craved for something a little more stark…..less color….yes….something cleaner and something that looked simpler, a cleansing of the pallet so to speak….but still with my signature details…….It always starts for me with the color scheme which determines the place setting. I wanted something opposite of the RED, GREEN, WHITE and GOLD, and all of the ornate accents……..I started with a more neutral dark brown table cloth with a shorter white one on top which I thought would make a good backdrop for anything I wanted to add….Next came the STRAW SQUARE place mates with round brown and taupe “marled” place mates on top, and on top of those….SILVER CHARGERS…..That may seem excessive, but the mixture of textures, colors and sheens looks wonderful…..Next my BROWN and WHITE speckled dinner plates, salad plates and white round desert plates on top……On top of those came my brown and white BUFFALO CHECK napkins and HORN NAPKIN RINGS….each ring with a different geometric design……Next the SILVER FORKS, KNIVES and SPOONS….all with ribbed handles…..Once the basics were established the decorating begins….I chose SILVER vases of different shapes and sizes, and matte white sand blasted vases of different shapes and sizes….each white vase with hand tied raffia cords around the throats of the vases to coordinate with the straw mats….it’s all in the details….Some details are very subtle, but it takes a keen eye to notice…..There are lucite and silver salt and pepper shakers…and for my glass ware…my favorite Simon Pierce wine glasses with a swirl of glass encapsulated into the stems of the glass…Unfortunately, this pattern is no longer in production so I’m very careful with them…They always get hand washed…by ME!….With the wine glasses a simple tall water tumbler….I chose SILVER, and Simon Pierce GLASS candle sticks with silver and white 10 inch tapered candles. Additional lighting consists of my two CYLINDER lights that go on with a touch of the finger at the base….my new WHITE STAR LED LIGHTS from Nest, and my DANDELION/STARBURST LED lights also from NEST….Also, scattered around the table are white votive candles in fluted glass votive holders…………For fun there is a little wooden brown and white “COW” ornament that rocks, and its’ head, tail and body sections swing freely….I’ve had this little character for years….Jac bought him, and he usually “lives” in the kitchen where I can see him all the time….There are also some pieces of interesting drift wood….Jac and I picked them up somewhere on our travels? The drift wood’s only purpose is to decorate the table and create conversation pieces……..The flowers are all WHITE…adding the fresh and clean look I wanted. This time they are all faux…..BABY’S BREATH……and white DELPHINUM with green delicate stems of fine leaves….They look so real, and I didn’t want the expense of fresh flowers every week…..The over all look is CALM and REFINED, which is exactly what I wanted…..Something I can live with until Spring….when it all gets redone with a new colorful fantasy setting!