I have to say I was pleased, yet again, to see that Metropolitan Home was thinking outside the glass box when they included this home in their June issue. While there are many contemporary elements to this Neptune's Palace, such as the bare terrazzo floors, there is also an abundance of traditional and whimsical luxury.

Can you just see Ariel sitting here cooling her flippers while sipping a Blue Hawaiian at the bar?

The Master Bedroom is a bit more subtle, yet still contributes to the overall undersea effect.

The Master Bath has just that right mix of antique and contemporary, high and low, that makes it perfect in my eyes. (The lantern is only $29!)

All photos above by Colleen Duffley

Artisan Cathy Jarman was let loose in the Powder Room and created a true grotto effect.

Oh, BTW, Barry Dixon has a new book scheduled to be released this fall. For Info, click here.

Photo by William Waldron

Elle Decor featured another Palm Beach house in their June issue. Owner Jack Staub just threw this little shell mirror together. Just another little weekend DIY project. Seriously, he has to be one talented guy. When describing the house, partner Renny Reynolds says: "Have you ever seen so many Buddhas? It's not exactly Zen austere." My kind of guy.

Photo from "Tony Duquette" by Wendy Goodman and Hutton Wilkinson

So just who started all of this shell underwater cool craziness anyway? Was it Tony Duquette with his over the top fabulous creations like the chandelier above? You'd have to go back a bit farther back than that. This tradition of creating beautiful objects out of shells dates at least as far back as the Renaissance. Rich merchants and scholars across the European continent were collecting and trading shells in the 1500's. Rooms were encrusted with shells, mirrors and boxes and furniture as well. Some wonderful examples:

A La Ronde, a late 18th century English house, shells were displayed in a fireplace. House and Garden November 1992.

Festoons of Shells at Walton, c. 1748, House and Garden November 1992.

Frederick the Great's grotto hall at Sanssouci, November 1763-70. House and Garden November 1992

Bonnet House in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 1932.

A few objects of interest to feed that seaside obsession:

Early 20th century shell table from Linda Horn through 1st dibs.

OK....I just included this cuz it is so .....well...crazy bizarre fabulous. Dolce antiques, 1st dibs.

There is alot to choose from in the way of sea shell decor. Here are a few of my favorites:

Oly Studio Neptune Mirror

Oly Studio Jenny Chandelier. Designer Emma Jane Pilkington used this for a home in the latest Elle Decor.

Oly Studio Wellfleet Sconce

Sweet shell creamer and sugar available through jettmodern.

OK...enough. I am ready to go back to work now.

Why did I pick this photo to begin a profile on photographer, James Bleecker you may be asking yourselves. Having asked myself the same question, my answer has to be this: it seems to tell a poignant story. There is a path to follow, to a place that seems a bit other-worldly with a mysterious sort of beauty that calls for you to proceed even if you are unsure what might happen when you get there.

James Bleecker has this way about his art. He has a way of creating a story with his lens...of capturing a moment in time, that is yet timeless. And James has lived quite a story himself as well. James has been creating photography in his home state of New York since 1982. Having studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, James proceeded to gain prestigious commissions from The Frick Collection, The Morgan Library, the Rockefeller family and The American Museum of Natural History.

I am not just a little impressed with his skill. He has been asked to photograph some of the most beautiful and historic homes in New York, and particularly the Hudson Valley. I was lucky enough to get to spend some time with James and , his wife (and my cousin), Jenny and their son Jamie a summer ago at his country home in New Concord. There I got to see genius at work. With his studio in their red barn, James showed us how he printed his photos onto special archival paper. We got to see some of his very amazing work of prize livestock and stunning architecture that clients had commissioned.

Red Devon

We had begun a correspondence and James has been kind enough to agree to an interview about his recent projects, including his Tuxedo Park project for the Tuxedo Historical Society, as well as upcoming projects.

2) There are so many genres/styles of photography. What inspired your subject matter choices?
The subject chose me. Architecture created between the Civil War and the Depression – the Gilded Age – captured my imagination as student, and hasn't let go.
I don't give much thought to style. I did, however, stumble upon a method of producing black-and-white slides while I was in art school. If you projected them on a screen using two slide projectors hooked up to an electronic "dissolve unit," you could create the most ethereal effects. Often an uninvited ghost image would materialize as one slide dissolved into the next. If you designed a sequence in which every two images created a surprise third, you had something that was hypnotic. Set that sequence to music and now you had a show: a seeming story or poem, and quite haunting.

3)How did your career progress after after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design?
It progressed from these student slide shows I made. Historical societies and museums commissioned me to make multi-media shows that communicated stories to visitors. My first and best show was Hudson River Gothic, produced for Hudson River Heritage in 1983. The subject was crumbling mansions along the river. Later I won several awards, including a Gold Award from the American Association of Museums, for my film, Up the River: Sing Sing Prison. Some of my commissions have been permanently installed in museums: if you visit the Frick Collection you'll see a show I made back in 1993.

4) How did you become involved in the Tuxedo Park project?
The Tuxedo Park project came to me by way of someone who attended a screening of Hudson River Gothic. This gentleman introduced himself as president of the Tuxedo Historical Society and said, "some day we'll do a book together." I didn't hear from him for several years. Then two years ago I received a call from his associate, who reminded me of that earlier meeting and said, "let's get to work."
Tuxedo Park: The Historic Houses was privately published last year by Tuxedo Historical Society, with money raised from homeowners. It's designed by a top graphic artist named Hilary Kliros and printed on sumptuous Italian paper. I've shown it to commercial publishers who said they couldn't match its quality. The project has changed my thinking about the potential of private publishing. (The book, co-edited by Christian R. Sonne and Chiu yin Hempel, is available at http://www.tuxedohistoricalsociety.org/.)

Tuxedo Park School

Allee

Tennis House Columns

Lake and Tennis House

5) What has been your favorite photography project/subject and why?
Tuxedo Park has been among my favorite projects. The place has a craggy, Picturesque character, with rustic stone houses designed by Bruce Price that seem to grow right out of the cliffs. I love rain, and it seemed to rain almost constantly during my six months of shooting there. The place became a rain forest. I was blessed each day with uncanny effects from the heavens: sun bursts through dark clouds, fog banks drifting up the steep hills; rain drops glistening on gardens. This atmosphere pervades the book. Another editor might have grumbled, "more sun." But my editors knew the Park and knew we had it right. A perfect project.

Hills in Mist

6) What is your favorite pastime after your career in photography?
Hiking with my wife Jenny, son Jamie, and our new dog. At nine, Jamie's just turned a corner: he now walks ahead of us, enjoys steep open faces, and is more or less fearless. New York City is not unlike San Francisco in that's it's surrounded with magnificent parks, mainly to the north along the Hudson River.

7) What are you reading at the moment?
The Intelligence of Dogs, by Stanely Coren. My puppy Retriever is resisting house breaking, and I hope this book will reveal whether her many accidents are truly those, or if she has, in fact, a cruel design upon our antique oak floors.
8)Where do you like to go to get "away from it all"?
We have a small Greek Revival house in the farm country that we escape to on weekends. Though it was surely built by a local carpenter, it has fine proportions. In its whiteness (no shudders) it becomes a gleaming sculpture. I can stare at it for hours. I've taken many pictures of it, some of which you can see on my Web site. (http://www.jamesbleecker.com/)

House, New Concord

9) What are you never without?
I should say my camera, right? I will correct that soon by buying a small digital camera that I can keep glued to my hand.

Sutherland Pond

10) If you could be anywhere anytime, where and when would that be?
I would be transported to the southeast coast of Maui in rainy season. That's the steep side of the island. The twisty road along the ocean threads in and out of the mountains and past innumerable waterfalls dropping hundreds of feet. It's all shrouded in mist and you can only imagine the height of the peaks above you. Rain and fog: is there a motif running through this conversation?
11) Who are your heroes and why?
While he was more of a grouch than a hero, I admire Walker Evans. His iconic photos of Depression-era towns stop me in my tracks. He brings dignity and stature to simple buildings like a vernacular Southern church or a gas station. It's partly his straight-on, no-nonsense compositions, and partly his soft Pictorialism: opposing styles brought together without irony. I feel his pictures are honest and ennobling. That, to me, is close to a heroic accomplishment – at least in artistic terms.

Barn, New Concord

12. What are you up to at the moment?
I'm working on my next show in Chelsea, which will feature giant prints of the High Line. The High Line is a massive, rusting elevated railway cutting through the Chelsea gallery district of Manhattan. It threads its way into and out of the old warehouses here, the buildings actually enveloping it. I suppose it was too massive for anyone to take on the task of demolishing it, so it sat idle for years. Now it's being adapted as a greenway park; imagine walking through thirty blocks of Manhattan at an elevation of 30 feet, like King Kong.
The High Line appeals to my love of old or abandoned structures – in this case one that cuts through some of New York's swankest new architecture, making for startling juxtapositions. New York's only contribution from Frank Gehry, the new IAC building, is the backdrop for one of my photographs.
It's fun not to be photographing houses for a change. But guess what? One building along the High Line is a semi-ruinous 19th-century office that someone has stabilized. They've built a modernist townhouse within – and peeking out from – the crumbling walls. Now that's a house I could live in.
(This show opens in November at Allen Sheppard Gallery, 530 West 25th Street. http://www.allensheppardgallery.com/)

Rockefeller Center

Please take a moment to check out James' website to see many more stunning photos and find out more about the book Tuxedo Park: the Historic Houses.

I went to see who it was that could be gracing this beautiful and edgy cover. The white upholstered sofas and daybeds (Room and Board), the ebonized floors, the black tiled fireplace surround...I thought I had found a new crush.

But then..... I knew it was you as soon as I saw the white sheers and your custom designed light fixture (ABYU Lighting) in the foyer. Yes...you had me at "Hello". Only you could have piqued my interest with the Country Swedish chair with the seat in Sacco Carpet goat hair!

One of the things I love about you is the way you mix up the high and the low. Like in this Dining Room: putting a Larsen Velvet on a Crate and Barrel chair. It makes my heart smile, like wildflowers in a silver vase. Zimmer + Rohde fabric used as wall art, it's wonderful.

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Well men aren't the only ones who love the culinary arts. And to find a kitchen at the other end of the Living Room, well that's just magic. And then you go and make it look like this! That curtain of beads by BallChain around the stovehood, the Plexi-Craft barstools.... sigh.

I could lounge here for hours on this banquette by the window. Long relaxing dinners with family and friends. Maybe a little Jamie Cullum playing in the back round. You did this on purpose, I know it. (Chairs through Room and Board).

Then you got really glamorous, but I could expect no less. In the Master Bedroom, you went for the Swarovski crystals on the custom shade and Ostrich Pillow on the bed, both by ABYU. Jean Harlow would be right at home. So could I.

And there it was.... just what I'd hoped for. One of your iconic feather lampshades (ABYU) hiding in the guest room, perfectly juxtaposed with the Man Ray photographs.

What I love about you is that you inspire me. I can watch you make magic using sources available to everyone, like this bed by Room and Board, the Restoration Hardware Lamps, and the mirrors by Crate and Barrel.

I promise, I am not stalking you........yet......

All photos by Antoine Bootz for Veranda, May-June 2008

I know many of you are in the throes of planning Spring parties and charity events, and believe me, I know that it can be daunting to decide on a scheme for an event. Sometimes all it takes is a spark... which is why I thought I would show some images from last week's New York City Ballet Spring Gala which was designed by none other than Charlotte Moss in collaboration with the talented DeJuan Stroud. (Moss and her husband Barry S. Friedberg were also Chairmen on the event.)

The event kicked off the Ballet's Jerome Robbins Celebration, so naturally the evening's program included such Robbins' works as Circus Polka, The Four Seasons, and of course West Side Story Suite. It was the graphic backdrop of this last piece that inspired the design duo's scheme for the event: yellow and black. I think this was an interesting choice because this color combination is graphic and gutsy and is not usually seen in Moss' residential work. But this is where Moss and Stroud were absolutely correct- when planning an event, sometimes you've got to think big and bold. What might work in a small room at home might fall flat in a large space, especially one like Lincoln Center.

Stroud and Moss, seen above attending to pre-gala details, kept things interesting by mixing up the table settings. Some tables had yellow cloths and small arrangements of yellow roses and protea, while others were all about black- black tablecloths, big black vases, and tall branches of forsythia.








Mixing up the table settings keeps things interesting.

Of course, the table settings are not the only things that need to be considered. What to do with the general atmosphere of the space? Are there architectural details that can be incorporated into your design scheme? Are there large voids that need to be attended to? In a place like Lincoln Center, it was important to make sure guests did not feel overwhelmed by the vastness of the space. I think they managed the space issue quite successfully, both with the tall masses of yellow flowering branches and with the yellow sculptural pieces hanging from the ceiling. And how great does the yellow and black striped banner look behind the Nadelman sculpture?


Bringing a large space down to size


It's all about the details

I hope that these tips might help you in planning your next event. With a little creativity, forethought, and careful planning, not only will your party be a success, but you too will be cool as a cucumber the night of the event. Just like Charlotte Moss.


Moss making her entrance at the Gala.

(For more information on the New York City Ballet, click here.)

(Image of Moss at top courtesy of Erin Baiano/Paul Kolnik studio. Decor shots and image of Moss at bottom: Mary Hilliard.)