Designer Showhouse Soirée

On Saturday evening, I attended the Preview Party of The Designer Showhouse of New Jersey with stylish and hilarious friend, Meg Bashaw. We gabbed with tons of guests and designers at “Hidden Acres Estate”—a 10 acre property in the Chestnut Ridge area of Saddle River, NJ. Traditional Home is sponsoring the 11,000 sq. ft. home featuring more than 20 interior and landscape designers.
The showhouse is open daily through June 10th (closed Mondays) from 10am to 4pm. General admission is $30. The Heart & Vascular Hospital and Emergency Trauma Department of Hackensack University Medical Center will benefit from all proceeds.

The entryway (below) by modelesque sisters Linda Maley & Lisa Keyser of Whitepop was dramatic and fun. I particularly loved their Jagger altar at the top of the stairs.

The dining room (below) was sexy, sophisticated and eclectic. No surprise, as Jennifer McGee masters those qualities in all her work. She had fabulous artwork, comfortable chairs and great focal points. I especially loved the built-in lounge in the corner (shown below with friend Meg Bashaw) that would be a great spot for cocktails before or after a dinner party.

Next we hit Philip La Bossiere’s room (my favorite room of the evening), an ultra-chic den/study (below). His attention to fine (and inventive) detail would make anyone want to upholster a bookshelf. His work is casual and relaxed, yet so very polished. LOVE.

Down the hall to a total SHOW-STOPPER, Keith Baltimore’s ultra-glamorous party room (below). I can definitely imagine my alter-ego smoking Nat Shermans with a cigarette holder and sipping endless bubbly in here.

Upstairs we found Barbara Ostrom’s office (below) calming and just the right combo of lodge and cabana.

Opposite Barbara’s office (below), was the spouse’s office, handsomely decorated by  the lovely duo Susan & Eugene Barbieri. LOVED the carpet. LOVED the RL lamps. And great artwork by Richard Bruce.

And last, but certainly not least, Colin Patrick Corcoran (friend of a friend as it turns out) decked out a luscious bedroom (below) with eclectic and interesting art and objets. I appreciated his mix of materials throughout the room—from geodes and alligator skin to watercolors and shagreen—there was plenty of texture to behold.

Creative Commons License
amerelife.com by Meredith McBride Kipp is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

© Meredith McBride Kipp and amerelife.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Meredith McBride Kipp and amerelife.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Get a Piece of Edward Holland…

I visited a designer showhouse where a very talented and fabulous friend, Jennifer McGee, was exhibiting (see a detail from her room below). After shamelessly running my hand over the outrageous, custom Greek key molding, I was drawn to the large abstract painting by a young artist that left me thinking… Who the fuck is this guy and why don’t you know anything about him?

Edward Holland is a local artist: he lives and works in New York City and is a staff member at NYU. I went to his studio to interview the [deliberate and disarmingly handsome] painter:

What artists are you most inspired by? There are certain artists that I continually return to for answers to problems, or to remind me to let something go: Manet, Johns, Mitchell, Matisse, Bruegel, Titian… I could keep going, but that would be boring. As far as more contemporary artists are concerned, I really admire Albert Oehlen, Michael St. John, Gordon Moore…
Do you find joy in completing a piece, or is there a certain part of your process that you enjoy most? I don’t know. For me, making a painting is a constant give and take. It is like a romantic relationship: you have moments of intensity and moments of despair, moments of compromise and selfishness; and when the relationship runs its course, you walk away unsure of your feelings. While that sounds really reductive, it is true for me. After a painting is finished, I may not know how I really feel about it until a couple of years later.
Are you superstitious in the studio? No. More OCD than superstitious. I like having my brushes in a certain place, my mediums in a certain place, and my cart in a certain place. It extends to the way that I stretch and prime a canvas, how I attach the hardware, and how I inscribe the back. I am a supreme creature of habit; so these rituals and placements have been honed over time.
I absolutely love Edward’s work. So much, in fact, that I added a piece to my personal collection (see below). Every time I stop to really appreciate it I see new things—it’s very rewarding—there’s so much depth in his work.
More about Edward Holland: he has a BFA from Syracuse University and an MA from NYU. He has had solo shows in New York and has been a part of many group exhibitions in NYC, Santa Fe, Cincinnati, Brooklyn, throughout the Hamptons, and Venice, Italy. He exhibits with the well-known Gerald Peters Galleries of NYC and Santa Fe

HE HAS UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS AT: Gerald Peters Galleries in New York City this spring, NYU’s 80wse galleries (May 23-June 9), Peter Marcelle Contemporary in Bridgehampton this summer.

Photo credits: Lead portrait and studio shots by Meredith McBride Kipp, Jennifer McGee interior by Peter Rymwid, bottom Holland portrait by Sandra Locke.

Here is a sampling of a few of my favorite Edward Holland pieces. For inquiries about these and other works, you can contact Edward directly or call him at 917.584.6236
a painting for my nine year old self, acrylic, colored pencil, graphite and oil on canvas with collage, 36 x 36 incheshunter’s twilight (after gifford), acrylic, colored pencil, graphite and oil on canvas with collage, 36 x 36 inchesinterior VI, acrylic, colored pencil and graphite on paper with collage, 14 x 11 inches
please please me, acrylic, colored pencil, graphite and oil on canvas with collage, 48 x 64 inchesThis one is HUGE and soooo amazing!! I absolutely LOVE this piece and wish I had a wall large enough… one day…
the doomsday lollipop
: 2007, acrylic, colored pencil, graphite and oil on paper with collage, 48 x 84″