Relaxing...Island Style

Ahhh, summertime in the South.  It’s always hot and humid and here in Atlanta, it’s been pouring down rain for about 35 days in a row.  And after a crazy couple of weeks (including back-to-back shows at the gallery and seven straight days of serious shopping for the holiday season at the store), Ann and I were ready to jump on a plane and head outta town.

With passports at the ready and bags packed, we stopped for a nano-second to think about that precious time off.  It’s no secret that we’re all certified Francophiles around here.  Sacre bleu, we’ll go through all kinds of hoops and obstacles for any chance to we get to immerse ourselves in the magic of Paris or Provence…or anywhere in France.  The lifestyle, the culture and the sheer  “frenchiness”  of it gets our hearts racing with delight.

Our favorite landmark.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t love lots of other places too…and for this year’s little getaway, I had my eye on my favorite island-y getaway: the sunny, hot and ever-so-beautiful Bahamas.   When Ann and I pulled vacay straws, I got lucky and scored the first bit of free time that was headed our way. Ann would stay and spend the week slogging through paperwork and budgets until I returned and she got her turn (we’ve very democratic in that sense.)

My little family and I have been going to the Bahamian Out Islands for more than 20 years – and each and every visit ends with promises to ourselves to return quickly.

That laid-back Bahamian attitude can take over pretty quickly…and lunch at Cracker P’s is a island tradition.

Like France, there’s a lot to love  but that’s pretty much where the similarity ends.  In our favorite spots like Harbour Island, Eleuthera and the Abacos, you can feast your eyes on endless and ridiculously white sandy beaches that stretch for miles; bathwater temp waters that are impossibly turquoise; spectacular sunsets and fish, fowl and fauna beyond description.

I snapped this picture with an iPhone…and I promise you it doesn’t do the water justice. Impossibly bluey-green and crystal clear.

Instead of fighting hoards of art-lovers at the Louvre, you might find yourself snorkeling in peaceful solitude over the reef at Sandy Cay and marveling at the sheer magnitude of life that lies beneath the water’s surface.  And, if our uniform in Paris is a LBD and a chic scarf, it’s more like flipflops and a coverup in the Bahamas.  Instead of finding your energy levels soaring at the sights of Notre Dame or a charming outdoor market in the Seventh, it takes a true commitment to yourself to relax when in the Bahamas.  It took about 36 hours to unwind, but once I did, I devoured six books in seven days.  Pure bliss!

Beach uniform:  this is about as dressed up as you need to be. Florabella tunic from Huff Harrington Home. Starting at $125.00.

So that laid back lifestyle definitely has its appeal to a workaholic…and I’d be lying if I didn’t confess to spending hours imagining what a little beach abode a la Huff Harrington Home would look like.  And with all the island inspiration out there, it’s easy to visualize.   White, blue, green and some more white. A splash of orange to jazz it up.   An outdoor shower – and, while I’m being greedy, may I please have a pretty boat?

Elegant and island-y…I could move right in and feel perfectly at home.  From Coastal Living.

This sums it all up. Sophisticated but simple beach living. Huffingtons adore a white sofa.  From Four Walls and a Roof. 

Can’t you just picture falling asleep to the sound of the waves? Parrot Cay, Turks and Caicos.

Here’s the splash of orange we love. From Suzanne Kasler.

And we’d just have to hang something like this in our island house:

I absolutely cove this crystal and shell chandelier. Available through Huff Harrington Home.

The Bahamas are part of the British Commonwealth and one of our favorite island icons is India Hicks.  India is related in all sorts of ways to the royal family and was even a bridesmaid in Diana and Charles’ wedding. Today she’s a super successful businesswoman with all sorts of lifestyle lines to her name.  She lives with her family on Harbour Island, a chic-y little strip of pink sand and turquoise water just off Eleuthera.  Cote du Texas recently dished up these images of effortless island living:

Harbour Island’s  famous pink sand beach: lucky India Hicks has a gorgeous view.

More India Hicks magic: the fireplace probably doesn’t get used much, but it fits perfectly in this island-y vignette.

A shady little spot at India Hicks’ house.  I’d curl up here everyday with a book and a Pimm’s Cup (The Bahamas are part of the Commonwealth, after all…)

So, seven days later, it was back to reality, purchase orders and rehanging art – and I couldn’t wait.  My tropical respite left me amazingly recharged, full of energy and ready to take on the world.  And as Ann left on her much-deserved holiday to Paris and Normandy, I had a funny little giggle:  If vactions were a menu, what would you order?

Would you pick a croissant?

It’s all about the croissant…

Or a conch?

... or the conch.

Let us know!  Either way, it’s all pretty fabulous. Spending lots of leisurely time with family and friends is a true gift and pleasure whether you’re oogling the Eiffel Tower or swimming through a school of fish.

Happy travels.

Ta ta.

Hot off the Easel

 

 A new favorite from our artist Nancy Franke, White Sunday 24 x 24

 While some of us have been sweltering, mildewing and generally suffering from this summer of extreme weather discontent,  it seems like others among us – namely our gallery artists – have been using the time creatively to paint up a storm (which is a bad metaphor considering the weather we’ve had in Atlanta!).  But lucky for us, it feels like Christmas in July at the gallery, with boxes arriving daily from our various artists, each one revealing a wonderfully unique surprise.

 

Linda handling Christmas in July at Huff Harrington Fine Art

 It’s been so much that Linda enlisted Emily to come over and help wrestle with some of the boxes today … which (happily)  just keep coming.

 Although we loved hosting our annual Bastille Day bash, and had a gorgeous show with our guest artists’ particularly beautiful paintings this year (and a fun opening with Pascal Bouterin’s fabulous jazz band), it does feel good once again to be turning the gallery back to our artists who have spoiled us with their perenially spectacular new work.  Here are some of our new arrivals:

 Bonnie Beauchamp Cooke, Lady 1, 40×40

Bonnie Cooke’s Lady 2, 40 x 40

 Nancy Franke’s inspiration of Maine (Late Light, 12 x 9, after spending a week at the beautiful Rock Gardens Inn)

 And Nancy Franke’s Before the Rain, with a whole new palette that she discovered in Maine.

 Andrea Costa’s Grassy Meadows is just one of several new works by the artist.

 We love the leaps this artist takes, from abstract to figurative to highly contrasted and luminous landscapes. Here is her abstracted, “Blinding Rain” 48 x 48.

 

 Pascal Bouterin never disappoints, and this work, inspired by 19th century artists Boudin and Corot, is just one of many new works that is stamped with this artist’s unique and unmistakable signature.

 Martini Grey, 8 x 8 by Amy Dixon

 

 So vivid is this series, by Amy Dixon, that I told Linda today, “This just makes me want a martini” which is a little dangerous and naughty … and so fun, just like the painting!

 Every time we get a Lorraine Christie (not often enough, as she only has two arms), we revel in the painting and love to watch people’s reactions as they discover it too. Priceless (almost).  Always known for her enigmatic titles, the artist named her latest, “Not for you”  — which may actually be the one … for you!

 Rick Reinert’s Afternoon Glow, capturing all the warmth and light of a South Carolina late afternoon.

 

 And Reiner’t Morning Glow, which is what we’d all love to wake up to, every day.

And we are also particularly excited to add the work of a new artist, OPA (Oil Painters of America) member, Kevin LePrince to our family of gallery artists.   LePrince, who is from Charleston, came to us shortly after we discovered and signed up his friend and fellow artist, Rick Reinert, whose work has absolutely mesmerized us (and our clients) since we first started representing him a few months ago.

LePrince, who also works in oils and enjoys a very limited palette that focuses on the warm, sun drenched hues of his southeastern city, is quoted in American Art Collector Magazine, talking about his favorite city:    “[Charleston] has a never-ending source of inspiration with all its quaint restaurant interiors, streets rich with architecture reminiscent of old European cities, lush gardens, seasonal shifts that illuminate the sunset differently depending on the time of year. Wildlife is abundant here as well. I often find the creatures in the Lowcountry to be full of personality. The marshes here are full of life and mystery.”

 Kevin LePrince, Kiawah Sun, 30 x 40

 

 Night Moods II, 16 x 8 (one of a pair of beautiful paintings that evoke that amazing coastal sunset) in the artist’s loose and confident brush strokes.

 And one of our favorite paintings of all, a little jewel (9 x 12) by Kevin LePrince, that is “Looking West” and says it all.

We find that LePrince’s work, much like Reinert’s, evokes a wonderful nostalgic feeling that allows us to get transported back to a place or time that is both vivid and striking and, because of the shifting light, completely ephemeral.

We’re completely hooked.  Hope you will be too.

Ta ta,

HH

Vive La France!

On the heels of our favorite American holiday – that July 4th patriotic, enthusiastic celebration of our freedom and the country we cherish – comes another holiday that always puts a smile on our faces.  It’s July 14th, Bastille Day, the anniversary that marks the storming of the Bastille prison and the birth of modern France.

Being the Frenchies we are, we love to celebrate Bastille Day in our own little way with a French-inspired exhibit at the gallery featuring the works of French artists – and American artists inspired by all things French. We pour lots of chilled whites and roses, don our espadrilles and celebrate the evening. This year, Pascal Bouterin, one of our French artists and also an accomplished jazz musician, rocked the gallery with French classics and plenty of le jazz.  It’s always a great party and we love showcasing the French-accented art.

 

Pascal Bouterin, our very favorite Renaissance man: artist, musician and nice guy.

Bastille Day got us thinking about all those things we adore about France: the Eiffel Tower, croissants, the cheese course, a wonderful and efficient rail system, breath-taking scenery, colorful and vibrant markets, Paris in all its glory, vineyards and chilled bottles of rose.  In a nutshell, we simply love la vie en rose…

 

 

 

 

 

From one of our favorite blogs, French Essence.

We can never stay away for long (in fact, we’re already booking spots for our 2014 trips to  Paris and Provence) and we’re counting down the days we board our favorite Air France and Delta flights to whisk us to the City of Light.

So, as they say in la belle France: a bientot!

Ta ta.

Ah-ha moments

 

Carol Griffin, Provence Olive Grove, 36 x 36

 

We never know what to expect when we host a group show – especially when it’s a group show of guest artists. When it comes to art, we always tell people to “buy what you love” (not for the space) because when you stick to buying what you love, it always looks good together. We see this first hand,  over and over, when we’re hanging our gallery group shows. We love all of our artists’ work, and we love to see how well it hangs together magically. We call these our Ah Ha moments and they’re pure joy!

But hanging a guest show?  That could be a little tricky, or at least so we thought before the work started coming in for our upcoming “Jewels of Provence” show, featuring the works of our Provence workshop participants.

But let’s let the work speak for itself and you decide what you think of this group of paintings!

 Clouds over Provence, Sydney Sams, 30 x 15

 Martha Elder, Luberon Light, 20 x 16

 

 Rhonda Feldman, Trois Pots

 

 Sheryl Lott, Bicycle in St. Remy, 10 x 10

 Tei Tober, Cypress Path

 

 Sandy Cox, Enter In, 10 x 8

 

 Lesley Line, Bateaux, 6 x 6

 Kathy Broyles, Provence 1, 10 x 10

 Jana Doles, Olive Branches, 14 x 18

 

 Debbie Schuchmann, Serenity, 12 x 9

 Cathy Groome, Petits Bateaux, 11 x 14

 

 Elizabeth Lines, Riviera, 16 x 12

 

 Nancy Armstrong, Sunflowers, 10 x 8

 

 Ann Currey, Vineyard View, 12 x 6

 Jean Dortch, At Rest, 10 x 8

 

 Debbie Bruce, Beach at Cassis, 16 x 20

OK, we may be a little biased, but aren’t they fabulous?!!! We’ve been Ah-ha-ing all over the place!

As you know, we love these painting trips to Provence and have blogged about them a lot in the past (most recently with Bill Davidson’s May trip to Provence, right here.)  We like to honor the workshop participants with a gallery show because a) they’ve worked hard and deserve to be recognized, b) they’re all serious painters who are taking their work to new levels, and c) we’ve gotten to know the artists as people and we just plain like them!

Last year, we combined their show with our annual Bastille Night exhibit, and to be honest, it was a zoo!  We had so many people at the gallery that nobody could possibly see the art.  Some might call that a huge success but to us it was a big disappointment because the work couldn’t be appreciated.  So this year, we are offering the guest artists – and their guests—(yes, guests of guests may invite guests!) to a private preview evening of their art.  We’re excited about this especially now that we know how the show will hang.  When you love it, it all comes together with one big Ah-Ha!

Ta ta.

HH

PS Our annual Bastille Exhibit opens on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at Huff Harrington Fine Art.  Our guest artists will each have some of their work hanging for that show as well.