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Showing posts with label Dorothy O'C. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dorothy O'C. Show all posts
Axioms, Capitol, Veranda
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oh, if you missed yesterday's post- go here ,You missed my dear friend Dorothy and her latest decorating project.
I am off for the day to this amazing place here.
for a party honoring
read an interview with Dara here
.
oh, if you missed yesterday's post- go here ,You missed my dear friend Dorothy and her latest decorating project.
I am off for the day to this amazing place here.
Alexander McQueen's Praying Mantis dress featured at CAPITOL here
for a party honoring
Dara Caponigro & her new role as Editor-in-Chief of VERANDA
image from CAPITOL,
read the post from the Capitol blog on Dara Caponigro here
read an interview with Dara here
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Rooms. & A Life with ZEST
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honestly, I always say-I have the best clients. They know it. Having worked on numerous projects with them all-it is like returning to visit an old friend each time we start a new project. We may not keep in touch, but when reunited, it is instant chemistry. No time lapsed, any and all topics of conversation resume.
A very rare few were friends the instant we met, even more rare-like the long lost friend we never met but always knew we would . Two such clients- I can say, I immediately KNEW. We knew each other.
& here- the best of women, the best of clients, the best of friends to me- the divine Dorothy. She grew up on Park Avenue, went to finishing school at Finch, later- married and moved to Boston, summered in West Hyannisport with her family, then returned to New York to work, and headed South after several other stops along the way. She is what I would love to be at her age-I never will-I hardly measure up Now. Dorothy has a Zest for Life that is unmatched, but her Rooms-they give her a run for her money.
It is said painter PAUL SWAN was the The Most Beautiful Man in the World that may be so-but
Dorothy says, "No. I don't see it." She did know him though-he painted a portrait of Dorothy, her mother and sister in his heyday. Sold, the family lost track of the life size painting for years, later finding it in a resort lobby holding court. The painting has returned to private ownership, not in the family, but it surely makes an overwhelming impression to anyone that sees it.
I've talked about Dorothy before here and will again, I hope-sharing some of her stories. Today it's Dorothy and her most recent design project-only it was about five years ago now, yet it seems like yesterday. Just as it did the day , Dorothy walked into my office to inquire about my design services-what? about 16 years ago. Our first project was Dorothy's move from up North to down South way. Reinventing her furniture and all the lovely things she brought to fit into a townhouse perched right on a posh golf course. It was a labor of love- hardly a labor even. It all worked so beautifully-
But that was then-
This is our latest incarnation done up for another swank locale-on the move again.
Fully "tented"
Though the original intent in this Sunroom was to go full out with the coral and white wide stripe-it seemed to overwhelm the space.
Lose the Stripe- replace it with a crisp cotton duck and use the stripe on the bias to band the valance and the panels.. The iron and porcelain chandelier enjoys its forth hanging-at the least- in another of Dorothy's homes. The wide silk DEDAR stripe is on one of the chairs pulled up to a skirted table for impromptu dining. The fabric on the skirt is by Kelly Wearstler for F.Schumacher, Imperial Trellis.
More views- The Living Room with more of the Louis XV style caned chairs done in green linen and green & yellow check boxed cushions. The walls in the Sunroom and Living Room match the curtains a sunny white- Parchment.
Many a mismatched pair has grace rooms I decorate-here- old gilded brackets hold two of Dorothy's jades.Dorothy's work Scherenschnitte (pronounced shair-en-shnit-teh) which literally means 'scissors-cutting' hangs over a lacquered Regency style piece.
Flo Clarke
Little credit can I take for my favorite piece in the Living Room. Dorothy's decorator, New Yorker, Flo Clarke takes that honor. Dorothy elaborates on Flo:
Flo Clarke's monumental sconces
In Pinks-or coral.
The CORAL certainly is not done justice in my photographs but you get the picture. I insisted we use the full length portrait in this tiny Sitting Room painted Coral. Just off the Living Room-it is really a part of that room, with the luxury of mixing things up a bit. Changing the walls to this color, repeating the Imperial Trellis on the window curtains- puts this room at the top for my own personal favorite spot in the whole place. Dark bottle green bookcases fill the opposite side of the room. Notice the little "nothing" settee of Flo's creation from years ago. Maintaining Flo's good design details- the covering is now a hessian cotton with Scalamandre white cotton tufts along the scallop edges.
a Gin Rickey please-
This narrow mellow apple green suede table swagged with brass studs was added to a hallway off the Sitting room to accommodate a simple bar for get-togethers. It works perfectly in the limited space and anchors the old framed prints of English thatch cottages hanging above.
Ladies of the Club Some of the most wonderful pieces Dorothy has are these cuttings of antique fashion plates from Ackermans or Godeys. She has a collection of them in one of the bedrooms. Along with these framed fashion plates there are a few touches of green and other little feminine-but tailored touches as well- an upholstered headboard in a Decorator's Walk floral chintz and a valance that matches, along with eyelet white curtains-both banded in a tiny green Scalamandre silk check.
Dorothy
She is always up to something. Her latest jaunt was down to Panama to traverse the Panama Canal-something she has always wanted to do. What next?
.
.
honestly, I always say-I have the best clients. They know it. Having worked on numerous projects with them all-it is like returning to visit an old friend each time we start a new project. We may not keep in touch, but when reunited, it is instant chemistry. No time lapsed, any and all topics of conversation resume.
A very rare few were friends the instant we met, even more rare-like the long lost friend we never met but always knew we would . Two such clients- I can say, I immediately KNEW. We knew each other.
& here- the best of women, the best of clients, the best of friends to me- the divine Dorothy. She grew up on Park Avenue, went to finishing school at Finch, later- married and moved to Boston, summered in West Hyannisport with her family, then returned to New York to work, and headed South after several other stops along the way. She is what I would love to be at her age-I never will-I hardly measure up Now. Dorothy has a Zest for Life that is unmatched, but her Rooms-they give her a run for her money.
It is said painter PAUL SWAN was the The Most Beautiful Man in the World that may be so-but
Dorothy says, "No. I don't see it." She did know him though-he painted a portrait of Dorothy, her mother and sister in his heyday. Sold, the family lost track of the life size painting for years, later finding it in a resort lobby holding court. The painting has returned to private ownership, not in the family, but it surely makes an overwhelming impression to anyone that sees it.
Portrait of Dorothy, (l. ) her mother and sister- by Paul Swan
I've talked about Dorothy before here and will again, I hope-sharing some of her stories. Today it's Dorothy and her most recent design project-only it was about five years ago now, yet it seems like yesterday. Just as it did the day , Dorothy walked into my office to inquire about my design services-what? about 16 years ago. Our first project was Dorothy's move from up North to down South way. Reinventing her furniture and all the lovely things she brought to fit into a townhouse perched right on a posh golf course. It was a labor of love- hardly a labor even. It all worked so beautifully-
But that was then-
This is our latest incarnation done up for another swank locale-on the move again.
Fully "tented"
Though the original intent in this Sunroom was to go full out with the coral and white wide stripe-it seemed to overwhelm the space.
Lose the Stripe- replace it with a crisp cotton duck and use the stripe on the bias to band the valance and the panels.. The iron and porcelain chandelier enjoys its forth hanging-at the least- in another of Dorothy's homes. The wide silk DEDAR stripe is on one of the chairs pulled up to a skirted table for impromptu dining. The fabric on the skirt is by Kelly Wearstler for F.Schumacher, Imperial Trellis.
More views- The Living Room with more of the Louis XV style caned chairs done in green linen and green & yellow check boxed cushions. The walls in the Sunroom and Living Room match the curtains a sunny white- Parchment.
Many a mismatched pair has grace rooms I decorate-here- old gilded brackets hold two of Dorothy's jades.Dorothy's work Scherenschnitte (pronounced shair-en-shnit-teh) which literally means 'scissors-cutting' hangs over a lacquered Regency style piece.
Gin Rickey or -elegance with a twist of lime.
We took Dorothy's already elegant and beautiful furniture and antiques and applied some ZEST. Here mostly LIME. The chair and sofa are covered in G.P & J Baker Peony and Blossom linen print. Limeapple- I call it- with dashes of deep coral peony. A chair in the forefront got the yellow rose treatment and Imperial Trellis makes another appearance in the Living Room on an ottoman. I left the covering on the old lilac gray petitpoint chair and replaced its tired gimp with a new Scalamandre trim of coral, gray and cream. Dorothy loves that little, but ever so needed, and transforming touch. The parquet floors are covered with a sisal and wool woven Stark Carpet rug. Dorothy's collection of Italian watercolors and drawings have a prominent place in the room.
Flo Clarke
Little credit can I take for my favorite piece in the Living Room. Dorothy's decorator, New Yorker, Flo Clarke takes that honor. Dorothy elaborates on Flo:
"She had a kind of little atelier ,if that is the right word, where she had in her employ artists and painters. She was the one who had the man who did my coffee table. She was the first one I knew who used smoked glass which was big at the time. Also it was there that she put together the unimportant five sconces to become the two on the wooden ribbons that I have now and became two large ones. Also she found, when they sold the Julliard mansion, the carved wood from that library and brought it all up to Boston and reassembled it for our library there. But she would also take what you have and redo it.. That little white settee was a nothing with a plaid cover and she redid it to be that white scalloped thing with white knitted ball trim etc.. I am trying to think of other things she thought of using what one already had.. She was also good at conning men into spending more than they expected. Oh,She was good."
Flo Clarke's monumental sconces
In Pinks-or coral.
The CORAL certainly is not done justice in my photographs but you get the picture. I insisted we use the full length portrait in this tiny Sitting Room painted Coral. Just off the Living Room-it is really a part of that room, with the luxury of mixing things up a bit. Changing the walls to this color, repeating the Imperial Trellis on the window curtains- puts this room at the top for my own personal favorite spot in the whole place. Dark bottle green bookcases fill the opposite side of the room. Notice the little "nothing" settee of Flo's creation from years ago. Maintaining Flo's good design details- the covering is now a hessian cotton with Scalamandre white cotton tufts along the scallop edges.
Dorothy's Maxims
Dorothy cut out and decoupaged the lamps long ago, new brown paper bag shades add fresh wrapping
a wire basket of Lemons sits on a center portion of stretchers under a table
D. and her husband with one of their winning thoroughbreds
a Gin Rickey please-
This narrow mellow apple green suede table swagged with brass studs was added to a hallway off the Sitting room to accommodate a simple bar for get-togethers. It works perfectly in the limited space and anchors the old framed prints of English thatch cottages hanging above.
Ladies of the Club Some of the most wonderful pieces Dorothy has are these cuttings of antique fashion plates from Ackermans or Godeys. She has a collection of them in one of the bedrooms. Along with these framed fashion plates there are a few touches of green and other little feminine-but tailored touches as well- an upholstered headboard in a Decorator's Walk floral chintz and a valance that matches, along with eyelet white curtains-both banded in a tiny green Scalamandre silk check.
This is one of the plates she did for me in with my dog Moses here.
Dorothy
She is always up to something. Her latest jaunt was down to Panama to traverse the Panama Canal-something she has always wanted to do. What next?
the intrepid Dorothy with her designer.
.
.
Dorothy- birds of a feather...& books, & wisdom & friendship
"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.
They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs,
they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.
That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs,
they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.
That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
Harper Lee
Today is the last of my book posts from new friends and old, this one with a just slight change in the questions.
&
Yes to my mind, I've saved the best for last. Dorothy is the dearest, and most elegant of my friends- on this they would all agree.
She grew up on Park Avenue, went to finishing school at Finch, later- married and moved to Boston, summered in West Hyannisport with her family, then returned to New York to work and through all these adventures she read and she continues to...This among many other things we share a passion for, and do we ever talk it. The time we spend together could be more frequent-but I know where she is -She is reading & that connects me to her.
Dorothy what are your first memories of reading?
The OZ books and then of course "The Little Princess" .
I never had my mother read in bed to me...
Winslow Homer " the new novel"
I think my love of books came much later in life when all of a sudden I realized that I was missing a big slice of living so I started to take courses...
Untitled
Jose de Almada Negreiros, 1930
and finally got to "Alice in Wonderland" and "Gulliver's Travels" and in retrospect, I really don't think that either of these are children's books.
Alice illustrated by Arthur Rackham 
Dorothy in her own creation What is your favorite book?
I think Wallace Stegner's "Angle of Repose.
Well- I don't know if she knows- but this is my favorite too- I think- but a very hard decision. I have read Angle twice since Dorothy introduced me to the book. It calls me back and I could sit down to it, drop all others , and read it again with pleasure, bitter-sweet , & melancholy.
Wallace Stegner
the author 
"It's perfectly clear that if every writer is born to write one story, that's my story." Wallace Stegner
Angle of Repose, winner of the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for fiction is based on the correspondence of the little known 19th writer, Mary Hallock Foote written to her husband and family during the explosion of migration to the West. The main characters are a part of this migration and their lives are altered by way of it.
Some of Mary Hallock Foote's Illustrations:
Right now I am reading" Out Stealing Horses" by Per Petterson a beloved Norwegian writer who also has gotten awards for his book.
( thoughtful, good writing)
&
"Olive Kittridge": by Elizabeth
Dorothy,What about the Classics? You know I love to read these and as the genre suggests-we can gain new insights each time we read the beloved books.
I think we do need to occasionally return to the Classics . So I suggest:
"Middlemarch "by George Eliot.. 
"It is an uneasy lot at best, to be what we call highly taught and yet not to enjoy: to be present at this great spectacle of life and never to be liberated from a small hungry shivering self--never to be fully possessed by the glory we behold, never to have our consciousness rapturously transformed into the vividness of a thought, the ardor of a passion, the energy of an action, but always to be scholarly and uninspired, ambitious and timid, scrupulous and dim-sighted."
George Eliot
&
Maybe a return to "To Kill a Mocking Bird" by Harper Lee.
"In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its protagonist, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism." -Joseph Crespino
Two books that are not novels that came out recently that are really good reading.
"The Nine " Jeffrey Toobin (Obviously about the Supreme Court)
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the other "Indian Summer" by Alex Von Tunzelmann-about the era of Ghandi, Montbatten and the take over by India from the British Empire .
In spite of the subjects both these books are chatty and even , at times, gossipy- so they are far from heavy.
Do you have an ongoing LIST?
I do have books that are piled up for future reading...
the American Lion
The Given Day (because it's about Boston
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"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jaime Ford because a friend liked it.
Yes, books are next to the bed..also on the table opposite that I tell myself I will get to ( one is the Encyclopedia of Music and another jokes with asides by Socrates or something like that.... and I could go on and ...
Wisdom begins in wonder.
Socrates
& for me-I could go on listening.
As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.
Socrates
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Socrates
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