6265 Boca Raton. Architect Gary Olp.
AIA Dallas Tour of Homes . . . the self-guided tour is this Saturday, November 5 and Sunday, November 6, and it's not too late to buy tickets online or at the door. The tour includes 7 modern homes by some of the city's best architects, including DSGN Associates, James Manning, Bill Larson, Mark Hoesterey, Gary Olp, Buchanan Architecture, and Welch Architecture. For more information on the architects and their houses, go to the AIA tour site. Here's a preview of some of my favorite houses on the tour:
3755 Meadowdale. Welch Architecture.
1302 Eastus Drive. Buchanan Architecture.
3755 Meadowdale. Welch Architecture.
Montclair Campaign Bed from Michael Smith's Jasper collection
Michael Smith . . . designer Michael Smith's own furniture and fabric line, Jasper, has hit the floor at Culp showroom. Known for creating casual, yet elegantly traditional rooms for the rich and famous, including Cindy Crawford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dustin Hoffman, and Steven Spielberg, Smith has always been one of my favorite designers. He makes it all look so effortless.
His book, Elements of Style, is packed with ideas and tips, and is penned in the kind of conversational style that makes you believe he wrote every word. Kelly Hardage, owner of Culp, tells me that Smith is scheduled to come to the showroom early next year for a book signing. I'l keep you posted on the details. Meanwhile, here's a few pieces from Jasper:
Medici Console from Michael Smith's Jasper collection. 
Laurent Sofa, from Michael Smith's Jasper collection.
One Arts Plaza model condo designed by Brant McFarlain
One Arts Plaza . . . Lucy Billingsly, who built One Arts Plaza, personally chose Dallas designers Brant McFarlain and Gonzolo Bueno to create two model condos in the luxury tower across from the AT&T Performing Arts Center. True to both McFarlain's and Bueno's styles, the apartments have a lot of masculine dash and tailored glamour. To accessorize the rooms, they borrowed liberally from Billingsly's own extraordinary art collection. Not bad, eh?
Left, Brant McFarlain and Gonzolo Bueno
Room designed by Gonzolo Bueno includes a selenite crystal
mineral chandelier, vintage 1960s mahogany
dining chairs, burnt orange metallic wall coverings and a custom sofa.
Room designed by Brant McFarlain
The condo's limestone floors, museum-polished walls, and aluminum baseboards make for a great backdrop for McFarlain's repurposed vintage modern furniture and Billingsly's Asian artifacts. (I think I spot one of those terrific Cophenhagen leather chairs from Restoration Hardware, don't you?)
Bedroom designed by Brant McFarlain
Artist Sedric Huckaby's quilt paintings on show at Valley HouseAt Valley House . . . Sedric Huckaby's huge paintings of quilts pay homage to his grandmother and the African American craft of quilting, in a show at the Valley House gallery, When Old People Talk to Young People. What a great title.
The show opens Saturday, November 5 at 6 pm, with a reception for the artist. Huckaby is one of the most talented artists of our generation (that's my opinion), and he's got a lot to express. I saw some of his huge paintings up close not too long ago, and they really knock you for a loop, especially if you have a grandmother who quilts. His work is packed with unexpected emotion, and I wasn't expecting the effect that these big painted quilts would have on me. Go and see for yourself.
Hadar Sobol's embroidery at The Mac
Then dash over to The Mac . . . a year ago, I wrote extensively about Israeli artist Hadar Sobol's beautiful and edgy embroidered art. Click here to read my original post and see more of her work. If you missed her show, Go, at Valley House last year, you have another chance to see her work at The Mac, when it opens on Saturday, November 5 at 6:30, with a reception for Sobol.
See you there.
