The Art for the Perfect Provincetown House

A peek through the front gate of 593 Commercial Street with the bay in the distance

The dream continues. 593 Commercial Street remains the perfect Provincetown house. More than ever I long to call it home. I've biked by it and snapped a couple of photos. And will view it from the beach side this afternoon. 

In my last entry I presented to you the art that I would bring from the South to serve as a reminder of the artists I love and to give them proper inclusion in what would be a phenomenal collection were I able to  assemble it. 

This post is about the pieces I would want that are by artists represented by galleries in Provincetown, Wellfleet, Orleans, and Chatham, my favorite Cape Cod towns that make up the "Outer Cape". Being the oldest continuous art colony in America, Provincetown has many incredible artists that live and work here so it is tough to select a short list of favorites. Lue Svendson and I spent a few hours together yesterday seeing our individual favorites. We each came up with our top 15. 

Selections here represent 12 of my top 15 with a couple of extras thrown in. Every collection needs a starting point, a springboard. Mallory Page's "Morning-Summertime Blues" is the starting point painting for the first floor of the main house of the dream property. Mallory's piece sets the tone and colors that will radiate from the living/dining area, continue through the first floor and upstairs to the master bedroom/study/bath.

Mallory Page

Morning-Summertime Blues

Mixed Media on Panel

42" x 42"

$ 3,200.00

from Tracery Interiors, Mountain Brook (Birmingham), AL

For the first floor, the perfect pieces to complement Morning-Summertime Blues are:

A beauty by Anne Packard, the premier Provincetown artist. Anne Packard's paintings are mesmerizing. Each one commands a long view. Details emerge in a subtle, yet dynamic way that causes the viewer to gasp. I will do a full post on Anne Packard's work in the coming weeks. 

Anne Packard

Red Dory

36" x 36"

Oil on Canvas

$ 18,500.00

from Packard Gallery, Provincetown 

Pieces by artists that I became aware of for the first time in the last two weeks, Megan Hinton and Karen Cappotto:

Megan Hinton

Orange Sail

Oil on Panel

8" x 10"

$ 800.00

from William Scott Gallery, Provincetown

Karen Cappotto

Pond, Summer

Oil on Panel

12" x 12"

$ 1,750.00

from Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown

One of my favorite artists that I discovered last summer (and was able to place two of her pieces in client homes) is Hannah Bureau, a rising star of the American art world:

Hannah Bureau

Dockside

Oil on Canvas

20" x 24"

$ 2,400.00

from Julie Heller Gallery, Provincetown

a new discovery this year is Joan Cobb Marsh, represented by one of my favorite Provincetown galleries, Kiley Court:

Joan Cobb Marsh

Provincetown Pier Series, Late Afternoon

Oil on Canvas

30" x 30"

$ 3,500.00

from Kiley Court Gallery, Provincetown

And to finish off the first floor, I would assemble a grouping of wonderful small pieces. These are all by artists that are new to me but certainly not new to the art world:

Mary Moquin

Sienna Dream

Collagraph, Oil, Pastel, Wax on Panel

6" x 6.25"

$ 375.00

from Addison Art Gallery, Orleans

Mona Dukess

#8, 2008

Egg Tempera on Wood Panel

8" x 8"

$ 400.00

from Gallery Ehva, Provincetown

Pat Ross Marx

Spring Grasses

Pastel on Paper

8" x 8"

$ 275.00

from Nickerson Art Gallery, Chatham

Larry Horowitz

Tranquil Beach

Pastel on Paper

4.25" x 13"

$ 300.00

from Cove Gallery, Wellfleet

My most exciting discovery of all is this special treat that Lue, Tim, and I found on a side street that none of us had ever walked on before. This wonderfully talented artist, Alyssa Schmidt, has built a little "kiosk" and sells her small paintings for $ 60 each, on the honor system! There is a cash box bolted to the lower shelf and you put your cash in, take the jewel that you want and leave. Can you believe it? 

I would purchase all six of these paintings and sprinkle them throughout the house on side tables, a couple hung together in the bathroom, one on the ledge of the kitchen window, etc, etc.  

Alyssa Schmidt

app. 4" x 6" landscapes on panels

$ 60.00 each

For the 2nd Floor:

Ahhh, this bedroom! Look at that view. Incredible really. Of course, the curtains would go immediately and be replaced by a simple blackout roller shade only to be closed at night. I love the rawness of this. But it does need softening a bit and proper art selections will do that.

The starting point for this floor is Lue Svendson's "Alone for Awhile". I believe this piece would go in the study and be paired with a Hannah Bureau painting.

Lue Svendson

Alone for Awhile

Oil on Canvas

11" x 14"

$ 500.00

from Gallery at City Club, Lafayette, Louisiana

One of my all-time favorite artists is New York/Provincetown artist Arthur Cohen. I have probably seen forty pieces by Cohen now and haven't met one I didn't like. I will be doing a special post on this brilliant artists work in the coming weeks.

For the master bedroom:

Arthur Cohen

Provincetown Harbor

Oil on Canvas

30" x 40"

$ 8,000.00

from Cortile Gallery, Provincetown

Cape Light is a phenomenon that any visitor to the Cape never forgets once they experience it. It is what happens in the sky at sunset that takes over the viewers universe for as far as the eye can see. Photographer Joel Meyerowitz documented it best in his book, Cape Light, that I purchased in our first week of this trip.

There will be a blog post on Meyerowitz about all of his work but particularly the Cape Light pieces and pieces that Jackson Fine Art in Atlanta has.

I have studied the book several times and the piece that just feels right for 593 Commercial is this one:

Joel Meyerowitz

Laundry, Cape Cod, 1982

HP Archival Print

20" x 24"

from Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA

Lue Svendson and I fell in love with Laurence Young's paintings at Alden Gallery last summer. Since then, Lue's Rue du Pont Galerie in Breaux Bridge, LA, became one of Laurence's representatives. Over the last three weeks I was able to spend some time with Laurence and my next blog post once I finish my love affair with this house will be about the oil and wax creations of Young. 

I am very rarely drawn to figurative work but when I saw this piece during a studio visit with Laurence, I was immediately attracted. The details are incredible and the colors so warm and inviting.

Laurence Young

Back Stitch

Oil and Wax on Canvas

24" x 18"

$ 2,000.00

from Laurence Young

and finally, another Hannah Bureau painting. This is the one to be paired with Lue Svendson's painting:

Hannah Bureau

Drying Net

Oil on Canvas

12" x 9"

$ 650.00

from Julie Heller Gallery, Provincetown

So who is ready to spring for this special house? If you do, please purchase all of the art I am selecting since I have spent so much time building this dream collection!

Again, I must point out that since all of this is just a dream for me, your reality-based life can have any of the above paintings. They are all available from the great galleries that represent these talents.

Enjoy the next few days as I prepare the guest house art selections and may you see Cape Light wherever you are.

RESOURCES:

Mallory Page     www.mallorypage.com

Tracery Interiors   www.traceryinteriors.com

Anne Packard, Packard Gallery  www.packardgallery.com

Megan Hinton      www.meganhinton.com

William Scott Gallery   www.williamscottgallery.com

Karen Cappotto     www.karencappotto.com

Schoolhouse Gallery www.schoolhouseprovincetown.com

Hannah Bureau      www.hannahbureau.com

Julie Heller Gallery   www.juliehellergallery.com

Joan Cobb Marsh, Kiley Court Gallery   www.kileycourtgallery.com

Mary Moquin, Addison Art Gallery   www.addisonart.com

Mona Dukess   www.monadukess.com

Gallery Ehva     www.galleryehva.com

Pat Ross Marx   www.patrossmarx.com

Nickerson Art Gallery    www.nickersonartgallery.com

Larry Horowitz, Cove Gallery  www.covegallery.com

Lue Svendson   www.luesvendson.com

Arthur Cohen   www.arthurcohen.org

Cortile Gallery   www.cortilegallery.com

Joel Meyerowitz  www.joelmeyerowitz.com

Jackson Fine Art  www.jacksonfineart.com

Laurence Young  www.laurenceyoung.com

Alden Gallery   www.aldengallery.com

The Art to Fill a Provincetown Dream House...part 1

The perfect view through the trellised entrance gate.

As you know from my last blog post, Provincetown is special and important to me. I feel so alive and at home here and dream of a day where a waterfront property is more than just a once a year for a few weeks spot. I dream of having a place to spend most of the Summer and also a few weeks in October and November. Well......my dream house is on the market! I just discovered this house a few weeks ago and have played (over and over) the tape in my head of what it would be like to own this property and fill it with fantastic art. This has become a bit of an obsession filled with delusional dreams. But one can dream, right?

I should point out that Tim is not spending time playing this fantasy game. But, in playing the what if game for a few minutes while on a walk through town with our dear friend Lue Svendson, it came out that if we ever somehow found ourselves with a Provincetown getaway Tim would want a combination of shaded yard with a water view. That combo is hard to come by here. Most properties have one or the other. Not this one at 593 Commercial Street, Tim! 

Here is what the real estate listing says about this gem....

This quintessential beachfront cottage is everything you've ever imagined a beach house to be - and more. The house faces Cape Cod Bay in Provincetown's east end. With exposed beams & wood flooring throughout, windows with bay & garden views at every turn, the romance of living by the sea is fully at home here. The 2nd floor bedrooms feature cathedral ceilings & the master overlooks the water with sweeping views to the south, east & west. The many recent improvements include new windows, deck, fireplace and chimney, new bath, wall insulation, foundation & more. Outside, the lovingly created gardens complement the setting on the beach & the quaintness of the architecture with several "rooms" for enjoyment, contemplation, reading or gazing out to sea. In addition, there is a spacious artist's studio with north light. 

This house is special. From the entrance gate at the street front of the property all you can see is a beautiful yard on the bay beach. You have to crane your neck through the thick privacy hedge to see that there are three structures on the property. To the right, the artist studio/guest house and the garden shed:

To the left, the main house. A simple, shingled structure with the requisite crisp white trim. Nothing fancy (complicated), this building has an open living/dining/kitchen on the first floor and on the second floor the master bedroom and bathroom and a study. 

Across the back of the main house, a wall of windows in the master bedroom and a wall of windows/doors in the living/dining allow for incredible views of the water and a great new deck that goes right up to the sand and is perfect for the hours of the day when sunning and staring at the water is all one wants to do.

While Tim enjoys the shaded yard from the perch of these chic vintage lawn chairs......

I can be placing art inside.....many of you will see these interior shots and think, "what a mess." This is absolute perfection when it comes to a beach house. Fresh paint, de-cluttering, and great art will make this home exactly what a beach house should be...comfortable, crisp, fresh, simple...allowing for the stunning views of the water to take center stage and the art to complement those views and keep them alive inside even in parts of the house where water cannot be seen.

So, if the fantasy came true and we lived here what art would I want to fill the walls? Being the perfect beach house that it is there are only a few walls to hold large pieces. So only three or four large pieces could be purchased. All of the rest would be smalls.


I definitely would want a piece by each of the artists that I work with. And the rest would be Cape Cod artists. So here are my selections from the Southern artists that I serve as agent for (plus a couple of great friends) that I would bring up to Provincetown.


In the main house:

Mallory Page

Morning-Summertime Blues

Mixed Media-Acrylic, Gesso, Ink, Charcoal, Pencil on Wood Panel

42” x 42”

$ 3,200.00

available from Tracery, Mountain Brook, Alabama

Lue Svendson

Alone for Awhile

Oil on Canvas

11" x 14"

$ 500.00

available from Gallery at City Club, Lafayette, Louisiana

Candace Greer
Dusk at the Beach
Acrylic on Wood
12" x 12"
$ 450.00

available from Tracery, Mountain Brook, Alabama

Joy Gardner
Pale Reflection
Oil on Canvas
12" x 12"
$ 350.00
available from Rue du Pont Galerie, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

Caroline Chunn McCarthy
Bell Jar 
Oil on Canvas
30" x 40"
$ 1,800.00
available from Jeffery McCullough Art & Design Consulting, Atlanta/Lafayette

In the guest house:

Mallory Page

Need & Want Diptych

Acrylic on Wood 

3' x 4' each

$ 4,725.00/pair

available from Max & Company, Atlanta, Georgia

Candace Greer

No Fear
Acrylic on Wood
16" x 20"
$ 625.00

available from Jeffery McCullough Art & Design Consulting, Atlanta/Lafayette

Hope Hebert
Sea Breeze I
Acrylic on Canvas
24" x 18"
$ 600.00
from Gallery at City Club at River Ranch, Lafayette, Louisiana

Lue Svendson
The Wharf in the Morning
Oil on Panel
11" x 14"
$ 550.00
available from Rue du Pont Galerie, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

Since all of this is pure fantasy, I should point out that all of the art I have selected is available for you to have in your home...the real one that you live in. For more information on any of the artists or paintings that I have included, please be in touch.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this fantasy which will include my top 10 paintings that I have seen during this trip to Provincetown.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Jeffery

On the Water

We are in our beloved Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. We have been here for a week and have three more weeks to go. Being on the water is very restorative for me and gives me space and time to catch up--not just on work but on life and on myself. This journey, of both the physical and mental type, is an annual one. This is our fifth summer in the same house that faces the bay beach and being here feels like home. This is not vacation but an important part of the year that gives fuel to face the rest of the year to come.

My day's are actually quite similar. Coffee and meditation in the morning on the side deck with a perfect view of the water, work for a few hours at the dining table where I can see out the front door to the water, afternoon beach time usually spent reading while watching the tide go in and out, followed by a swim in the pool.......most days are pretty much the same and the structure is nice and important for me. If you carefully read the description of my days you know that water is the constant.

Mary Beth Thielhelm

(2009 Artist-in-Residence, Dune Shack C-Scape, Provincetown)

Teal Sea II, 2008

Solar Etching

29" x 29"

from Sears Peyton Gallery, New York

www.searspeyton.com

As Provincetown is the oldest American artists colony, the town is filled with art galleries, some of which I will feature in blog posts over the next few weeks. Art of all sorts is studied, produced, and sold in this village which is "artistic" in oh so many ways. Hence the reason why I am so right at home here! This is a special place for those of us who love it and call it home each summer even if it is only "home" for a week or two or a month as it is for us this year. Don't we all need a place we can feel peace, love, acceptance, and most of all, quiet?

John Dowd

(Provincetown resident)

Quiet Street

Oil on Linen

14" x 18"

from William Scott Gallery, Provincetown

www.williamscottgallery.com

So this is it for me. The perfect combination of peace, love, acceptance, quiet....all on the water. As Tim aptly put it the other day when someone asked how we could be in Provincetown for a month and maintain careers, "there is work..but work done while looking out at boats on the horizon." I couldn't ask for anything better. Wherever you are this summer, I hope you see boats on the horizon.

Laurence Young

(Provincetown resident)

Three Adrift

Oil & Wax on Canvas

18" x 24"

from Alden Gallery, Provincetown

www.aldengallery.com

Peace,

Jeffery

A Work in Progress, Lafayette, LA

For the last few months I have had the pleasure of designing the master bedroom in a wonderful house of a delightful young family in Lafayette, LA. This project is so right up my alley. I strongly believe that the best period of American architecture is from 1930-1970 and this house fits in that range. Classic architecture that could be in any nice American city. This house is fantastic and one of the best in Lafayette. The family that inhabits it is equally as fantastic and the parents need a bedroom that represents who they are--hip, cool, attractive, rooted, well-traveled, and most of all, nice.

My assignment was to update and refresh the bedroom. The clients already owned a large Tony Mose painting, upholstered bed, and classic Tolomeo bedside table lamps (from Design Within Reach) that would remain. Other than those items, the room became mine to design. These photos were taken after an art installation last week. Please note the room is a work in progress! I will do a follow up post end of August when the room should be completed with chair & ottoman, new bedding, and additional art installed.

Clients existing Tony Mose painting over the upholstered bed. Three shams (fabricated by Pauline Hayden) of Romo fabric with Samuel & Sons charcoal leather cord on tape trim. Lumbar pillow (fabricated by Kathy Dumesnil) in front of Jed Johnson Home "Jigsaw" fabric with Old World Weavers cord on tape trim. Melissa Payne Baker paintings from Parker Gallery hang above each bedside table.

Custom curtains and pelmet of F. Schumacher linen banded & welted with velvet..curtains by Pauline Hayden, Tolomeo bedside table lamp; the new chair & ottoman will go in the corner which is a perfect reading spot. To allow light in during the day yet maintain privacy I specified Sheerweave Solar Shades from ASCO Window Coverings in Lafayette.

The clients existing upholstered bed was too low. So I enlisted custom furniture designer Brady Johnson of Blackwater Design to build a walnut platform for it. Blackwater Design also fabricated the custom wood and painted bedside tables that I designed.

The fabric and wallcovering scheme:

I was able to use some of my favorite textile resources for this project: Studio Urban's "Linen-Neutral"  textured vinyl wallcovering gives depth to the walls, Romo Fabrics for (3) shams on bed, F. Schumacher "Linen" for main fabric for curtains, and Kevin O'Brien Textiles nubby/tweedy fabric for a modern bench at end of bed.

Art, so far:

 

Photograph of the family (minus 1 child!) feet on their beloved Florida 30-A beach sand, grouped with two Margaret Garrett abstract pieces framed by Lou at Concepts Gallery in Lafayette.

A close up of the headboard, Melissa Payne Baker "In the City" painting, and Tolomeo lamp

A quartet of Karen Stastny paintings that I found on 1st Dibs from New York dealer, High Style Deco. These pieces along with the Mallory Page below are in the bedroom entry vestibule and establish the color scheme for the room.

and an old Mallory Page painting (in custom frame by Carl Dautreuil) from Mallory's "Sol" Series which is the first group of paintings Mallory ever did. The clients are some of Mallory's first supporters and we have commissioned Mallory to do a diptych for the bedroom..will reveal that when it is installed in August.

This has been a dream job for me and I look forward to showing you a completed (& professionally photographed) room end of August.

Thanks, enjoy the weekend!

JM

Resources:

Fabrics, Trimmings, & Wallcovering (all from showrooms in D & D Building, New York):

Studio Printworks Papers & Fabrics:  www.studioprintworks.com

Jed Johnson Home Fabrics:  www.jedjohnsonhome.com

Romo Fabrics: www.romo.com

Kevin O'Brien Studio:  www.kevinobrienstudio.com

Samuel & Sons Trimmings:  www.samuelandsons.com

Old World Weavers/Stark Fabrics: www.starkcarpet.com

F. Schumacher:  www.fschumacher.com

Furniture, Lighting:

Blackwater Design, Lafayette: www.blackwater-design.com (bed platform and bedside tables)

Visiona, Miami:  http://visionamidcenturymodern.1stdibs.com (bench not shown)

Design Within Reach, New Orleans: www.dwr.com (Tolomeo lamps)

Jon Vaccari Antiques, New Orleans:  http://jonvaccari.1stdibs.com  (table lamp not shown)

Art:

Melissa Payne Baker, Parker Gallery, St. Simons Island, GA: www.parkerartgallery.com

Margaret Garrett, Shelter Island, NY: www.margaretgarrett.com

Mallory Page, New Orleans: www.mallorypage.com

Karen Stastny, High Style Deco, NY: www.highstyledeco.com

 **Karen Stastny shows at Cole Pratt Gallery, New Orleans: www.coleprattgallery.com

Tony Mose, New Orleans: http://members.cox.net/esomart/

Framing: Concepts Gallery, Lafayette: 337 984 7647

Framing: Carl Dautreuil, Arnaudville: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dautreuil-Framing/168923469814496?ref=ts

Window Treatments/Pillows:

Pauline Hayden, Lafayette, LA: 337 981 1312

Kathy Dumesnil, Lafayette, LA: kdpaints@hotmail.com

ASCO, Lafayette, LA: www.ascowc.com/