Our Container of French Fabulousness Arrives...

The phone rang the other day and it was our customs broker in Houston calling to tell us that our long-awaited container had not only arrived safe and sound in Savannah but had miraculously cleared US Customs in world-record time...and were we ready for it immediately?

After jumping up and down with joy and excitement, we set up delivery for 7 a.m. the following morning and got busy making calls to our reliable and nice movers and a couple muscly, strong Huffington teenager boys.  Then, we frantically started clearing a nice big spot in the back of the store to corral all the goodies that we'd be unloading the next morning.

Now, you have to understand that Ann did the shopping for this container back in April and we were all dying to see what she had picked out as she made her way through her favorite little markets and fairs in France. While she was buying, she'd tempt us with Iphone pictures like these just to whet our appetites:

"...and I just had to get this fabulous crunchy ladder - perfect for North Georgia lake houses, don't you think?"

"...I just couldn't resist these." (We didn't blame her one bit.)

".. and I got two of these - aren't they fabulous? Can't you just see them on either end of a long and elegant sofa?"

We all know that Ann possesses a killer eye and can sift through piles of junque to uncover the most lovely little treasures. And she's a whiz at identifying styles and woods and she definitely has a weakness for Louis XVI mirrors and old sparkly chandeliers.  So no wonder that we were really, really excited to see our treasures, like this Swedish buffet a deux corps.

This has initials and a date painted on it but they're so faded you can barely see them. Feels romantic to us.

We were ready to get to work.  As the sun came up, our gigantic 18-wheeler was already waiting for us at the store and our helpers arrived bearing coolers of Gatorade and water (did we mention it was a typical 90 degree, steamy and humid July morning in Atlanta?)

After we scrounged a bolt-cutter to cut the iron bolt that locks the container (note to selves: let's just buy one and keep it at the store...), Ricky and guys flung the doors open and the fun began:

The guys unloading an antique console that seriously weighs about a zillion pounds.

Eric Wagasky and Quinn Mohan, our adorable (and strong) Huffington teenager helpers.

There was lots of oooohing and aaaahhhing as boxes were unloaded and we went crazy with scissors and box-cutters. Ann had her list going and she was positively glowing with delight as her treasures arrived.

Ann checking her list (it's a little blurry but maybe that's a good thing because it was literally the crack of dawn.)

Every once in a while, she'd say "uh oh...I'm not sure what I was thinking with this one..." but we'd all end up adoring whatever the piece was. It really was like Christmas in July.  There was packing paper and boxes everywhere, we were all dripping with sweat but none of that mattered.   How could it when we were feasting our eyes on little vignettes that just kept making themselves:

We were feeling a little bit like our own little French antiques fair by the time these beauties showed up. We loved them propped on the wall outside the store.

Crusty antique sap pots that still smell of pine.

"Alarm clocks" kept showing up on our paperwork and couldn't figure out for the life of us what that meant. Here are the charming and sweet Frenchy clocks that we're all dying over.

Vintage hotel silver with the most gorgeous patina. Perfect for a stylish bar at home.

A lovely armoire has this inscription carved into the front: "Arts et Lettres."

The key to the "Arts et Lettres" armoire was nailed into the back of it. There was no way that key was going to be lost. What a nice, old-worldly touch.

Voila! The "Arts et Lettres" armoire all dressed up in its new home and full of the vintage hotel silver as well as new sleek nickel barware.

Ann kept telling us about this wonderfully old, very long crusty table with an iron base that she wasn't leaving France without buying.  She had sent us a picture of it and we were salivating over the thought of it:

The "very long table with iron base" that we were dying to see. Here it is when Ann found it with painted blue metal chairs that are adorable in their own right.

And here it is after we fluffed it: it's a spectacular library table...and we do humbly think the antique zebra rug looks great with it.

Needless to say, we've been having a blast this week fluffing, arranging and moving our mountains of buffets, shutters, ladders, accessories and armoires around - and we can't wait to show them all off.

A scrolly iron coffee table base from Paris.

And, finally...our very favorite little piece that now sits outside the store during business hours - and has been stealing all the attention with its very Frenchiness:

Une bicyclette made of French willow. We added the wine.

Ta ta.

p.s. This is a busy week for us...we're also hosting our fifth annual Bastille Day show at Huff Harrington Fine Art on Saturday, July 14th from 6-8 p.m. Hope you'll join us for this fun celebration: we'll have bubbly, nibbles and our favorite accordion player belting out lively tunes - all while surrounded by paintings that evoke the very essence of all things French. A bientot!

Plein Air Extraordinaire

What happens when you're in Provence for a glorious week of painting and pleasure, and instead of waking up to this in the morning ...




 ... you get this?


 For one of us, who clearly suffers from Seasonal Affect Disorder, even the slightest threat of rain will throw me into a mild depression.  In fact, although I was lucky enough to spend a few extra days (OK Meg, I know, it was closer to a week!) in Provence after our wonderful artists' workshop last month, I was not pleased when, uncharacteristically for this time of year, the heavens opened up and it rained off and on for three days.

I'm not the only one who was in a funk about it.  When it rains in Provence, it automatically becomes the hot topic of conversation everywhere you go, with people buzzing about, saying things like:  "This is totally ridiculous! It never rains at this time of year!" or,  "This is a completely unusual year because it didn't rain all winter"  or, "It's good for the soil but bad for the soul" or, "The truffle season will be ruined if it rains this month."  You get the idea!  Nobody likes it and everyone talks about it and complains about it ... except for one unique and determined genre of person:  The Plein Air Artist!


For plein air artists, the cloudy skies are just another excuse to get out there with paints, boots and a windbreaker to explore the dramatic effect of clouds, contrasts and ever changing light.

Bill Davidson, Plein Air Painter Extraordinaire

And for this plein air artists, in particular, nothing could hold him back from the pure thrill of painting in the rain, and catching that fleeting light that is so dramatic and different, even when it means a soaking wet palette and a rain drenched canvas.  Bill Davidson couldn't get enough of it.

As a fan of his work, it only strengthened my appreciation of what it takes to be a dedicated plein air painter.

When he showed me the oil sketch he had done of the town of Goult, in the Luberon Valley (above), he said his canvas had been so wet, he had to stop painting. "Aaah, it was fabulous!" he gushed.

One of my favorite paintings is one he did from a sketch along a country road, when he was simultaneously dodging puddles and raindrops to produce a little masterpiece, called Provence Mood:

The inspiration for it was pretty dramatic as well.

His first sketch of the town of Bonnieux was painted on a cloudy day, which was dramatic for photography, but not a happy place for a painting.

At my insistence, a a couple of days later, he went back and captured the sunny side of the village.

Sunny Bonnieux

 
Bill sketched all over the South of France and came up with a huge amount of inspiration and fodder for paintings that he will finish over time.  We're so lucky that he'll be bringing us some for our upcoming Bastille Day Show, on July 14th at Huff Harrington Fine Art.

We are excitedly pulling together all of our French inspired paintings for this show, which will feature some of the work done by our guest artists who attended Bill Davidson and Nancy Franke's wonderful workshops in Provence.  It's a new idea for us and I hope it will become a tradition ... just as our Bastille Day show is now a five year old tradition!  Luckily for the artists and the workshop, the weather cooperated nicely and nobody had to endure the raw elements that Bill Davidson encountered.  But even if it had rained in Provence, something tells me it wouldn't have stopped this wonderful breed of troopers called Plein Air Artists, who make a pact with nature, for better and for worse.  And I know for sure, it wouldn't have put a damper on the week we had together.

We hope you'll join us on Saturday, July 14th, rain or shine, for our Bastille Day Art Show and come meet some of our Plein Air Extraordinaire artists!

A bientot ...

Ta ta.

HH

Workshop Frenzy

 

When we walk through the door in the morning to the sound of a ringing telephone, and see that the emails have piled up and there are six new messages on our answering machine, we can pretty much guarantee that Nancy Franke has posted the dates for her next workshop at Huff Harrington Fine Art!

Not only are we so fortunate to represent this talented artist, but we also have the privilege of hosting her tremendously popular one-day workshops.  This is all well and good except when we inadvertently schedule a workshop on Father's Day, and need to reschedule the participants for another time (which Nancy kindly offered to do), creating yet another round of clogging phone wires and emails, and a frenzy of eager participants.

Nancy Franke, Watch Me Go

Luckily, this all turned out for the best, and Nancy had another wonderful workshop at HHFA this past Sunday, painting children's portraits.  And when we look at the work that came out of this workshop, we know what all the fuss is about! In fact, we're so taken with both Nancy's inspirational paintings that she had on hand for the workshop, and by the work done by the artist participants, that we just had to share it with you.

Nancy Franke, Un Peu Curieux

How does she do it?  With these workshops, Nancy starts with a photograph, like this one of a familiar (and adorable) little pink model, who even from the back, coincidentally bears a strong resemblance to her talented grandma.

 

Then she sketches, using artistic license and resizing for the canvas ...

The rough sketch

... and with the loose lick of a brush, she makes it look way too easy!

Let's make her orange instead of pink!

Although we weren't able to stay for the workshop, we've been around Nancy long enough to know that all this is done with tremendous energy, enthusiasm, humor, patience and clarity, which is one of the reasons her workshops are so popular.  And why not?  Look at the fabulous work that came out of it in just a few hours (with the names of the artists shown under the paintings).

Martha Elder

Leslie Line

Elizabeth Lines

Kathy Bowman

Christine Bray

Carol Carmichael

Berthe Mobasser

Jacki Newell

Joann Richardson

So we’re more than happy to have our phone lines light up and the emails clogged when Nancy announces her workshop, because it’s all for a great cause.  Watching Nancy inspire other artists is one of the highlights of our job here at the gallery, just as it was for those of us lucky enough to participate in Bill Davidson’s superb workshop in Provence last month.

Oh and by the way, did we mention that Nancy added another children’s workshop date to the roster this summer?  It’s on July 22^nd …  Yeeeks, there goes the phone!

Ta ta …

HH

Huff Harrington Hommes: The Experts Weigh In on Dad's Day

Father's Day is almost upon us...and we realized that while we have a blast figuring out what we girls like, we might need a little help in the guys' department.  So, we went straight to the experts:

 The Huff Harrington Hommes: Scott, Bill and Dan

We gathered the guys around one afternoon, poured them a little cocktail or two and picked their brains (while we took some cute pictures of them.)

One of our experts, Mark,  was too busy with his real job to make our little party and we missed his funny sense of humor and quick observations on everything.  More from him later on.

...and Mark.

What we're hearing is that the dads just want it simple.  No big plans, no big parties - just good quality time with friends and family.

Cute Dan Mohan, who is married to the lovely Linda, told us this:
"I'd start out early with a nice bike ride (he's an avid biker).  After a shower, I'd have a leisurely brunch with the Sunday New York Times at Fado in Buckhead.

Dan would have lunch at Fado in Buckhead.

Late in the day, I might pour a single malt Irish and a nice cigar while I grill the meat. A good steak dinner with Linda and the boys and a nice bottle of red."

What else could a dad want?

(we have just the thing for Dan to keep his single malt at the perfect temperature: Whiskey Stones, soapstone "cubes" that you freeze and add to your favorite cocktail. They don't melt and they don't dilute!)

Whiskey Stones: keep your cocktail chilled without diluting the good stuff.

Scott (who is married to Meg) thinks his perfect Dad's day revolves around food, golf, family and wine:  "I'd love to have my morning coffee and the newspaper in bed (after ten hours of uninterrupted sleep - highly unlikely) followed by a light breakfast served by my beautiful daughters.  Then, I'd love to shoot a 75 on the golf course (again, highly unlikely...) and have a cocktail with my buddies.  After shooting that brilliant round, I'd go home for steaks, salad and a great wine on the porch with the wife and kids."

We'll keep our fingers crossed for Scott's hole-in-one.

Here's a great guide for matching all those grilled steaks with a good wine.

Bill Huff (married to Ann) came up with this perfect fete de pere:  "as it sometimes happens, Father's Day this year also happens to be our anniversary.  So, at best, Father's Day is a shared activity.  My ideal day would be to have time withe people who make me a Father (Ann and the kids) coupled with some Bill-time.  On the Bill-time side I'll definitely go for a bike ride in the monring (and since it's Father's Day, I can get away with taking a long ride.  I'll return late morning and have my favorite meal of the week - brunch! I'm assuming it's a nice day (isn't that part of the Father's Day rule?) so some of the afternoon will be spent at and in the pool.  I'll touch base from time to time with the US Open - which could easily lead to a nap.  And, we'll celebrate the day - and our anniversary  - with dinner (that one is Ann's call.)"

Ann might surprise Bill with this perfect little book.

And, Allison's husband, Mark weighed in with this: "Father's Day.  Could start out by having my lovely  wife join me in my early morning spin class.  Daughter Katie's home (from UGA) so maybe she will surprise me by making her special eggs and French toast. I'm hoping the rest of the day will include watching our son Eric in the Southern Closed tennis tournament. Hot as heck in Rome, Georgia in June,  but some really good tennis! I know Allison and the kids will get me something even though I don't need a thing...but if it's a linen shirt from my favorite store in Clemson, it's a keeper!"

Mark might love these great glasses, made from recycled wine bottles. We love them.

To all our fabulous fathers, dear old dads and positively wonderful pops, we wish you the lovliest of days with all the things you want and love: lots of biking, golfing, wine, food...and, most important, family.

 

Ta ta.