Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Meeting Carolyne - Carolyne Roehm 's New Book Carolyne Roehm Design and Style - A Constant Thread

Carolyne Roehm Design and Style: A Constant Thread


"...posh hotels and restaurants in the area inflated costs. Geezers recall when that part of downtown was an armpit..." (This post tells blog readers about meeting Carolyne Roehm, about her newest book Carolyne Roehm Design and Style: A Constant Thread, and about how she inspired me.)


Meeting Carolyne - Carolyne Roehm 's New Book Carolyne Roehm Design and Style - A Constant Thread

Last Saturday morning I went to the Theta Charity Antiques show at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston.  The cost of going was notably higher than it was when I attended that show in the 1980s and 1990s, undoubtedly because all the posh hotels and restaurants in the area inflated costs.  Geezers recall when that part of downtown was an armpit.

I coughed up $25 for general admission and $50 for the lecture I attended, and would have paid more had I parked a car, or wanted booze.  However framed against the woman whose wallet was stolen during the $200 per head “preview” party, my visit was comparatively cheap.  But I was happy to spend the money to hear Carolyne Roehm discuss her design work and her newest book “Design and Style: A Constant Thread,” which I own.  For a few seconds I hesitated to haul my book to the show, it weighed a ton, and never in my life had I bothered to obtain an autograph.  But I figured what the hell, lugged my book and stood in line to shake Carolyne’s hand, and thank her for her work.  It was the second time I had the opportunity to hear Carolyne speak.

If I sound gushy, it’s because I’m grateful.  Carolyne has been a source of inspiration ever since the late-1980s when I saw her fashion designs in magazines.  Her interior design, which I follow on her website and in her books, has been extremely influential.  It’s hardly overblown to say Carolyne’s exquisite taste and discerning attention to detail helped to discipline me.  Take for example the pair of eighteenth century hand-carved gilt candelabra mirrors she placed in a bedroom.  I studied them closely, researched and learned, until I had the confidence to approach an antique dealer and make an offer on the nineteenth century hand-carved gilt candelabra mirror that now hangs in my living room.  Drinks on me, honey child, for that treasure.

Nineteenth century hand-carved Louis XV-style
gilt candelabra mirror

Donnie, of course, called my antique mirror "girlie," but I could see he was moved by its elegant fluidity and asymmetrical form.

In the same vein, Carolyne inspired me to acquire my carved marble portrait bust at auction.  I had dreamed about owning a hand-carved marble portrait bust ever since the mid-1980s when I saw a gazillion of them in Italy, and rather impulsively purchased a marble pedestal to hold one.  For many years the pedestal held other stuff, porcelain jars and bronze figures, until recently, when I spotted a carved marble portrait bust in an auction catalog and hauled my ass to that auction.  A nervous mess, I was afraid to bid, but thinking about Carolyne’s marble sculptures, her Madame de Pompadour for instance, filled me with resolve, and I overcame my fear and lassoed my marble bust.  I can’t remember if the gavel slammed, but I do recall being anxious enough to break my favorite booze rule about no drinking during the day because it makes me too sleepy, and I downed a big Chardonnay at the auction.  My carved marble portrait bust was very heavy, the auction assistants had to place it in my Jeep, where it remained for two days until Donnie returned home with his friend.  “What’s that?”  Its my carved portrait bust.  Carolyne has some.

(Selected Articles on BOUDINANDBOURBON.COM)

Consciousness Screwing with Us: Rice University’s 2023 Archives of the Impossible Conference

Garland Fielder Weighs In on Architectural Design and the Creative Process
A Talk with Angie Dumas About Her Blog "Da'Stylish Foodie" - Interview

Eating Garlic Beef at Mai's Vietnamese Restaurant - Mai's Immigrant Story

Discovering S.P.Q.R. and Miraculous Oil at the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere
My Visit to the Houston Farmers Market

Visiting ShyKatz Cafe on Galveston Island, Historical Architecture

Eating Oysters at Topwater Grill in San Leon at Galveston Bay

A Tribute to Legendary Wildcatter Jim Bob Moffett

A Talk with Food Guru George Graham about Acadianatable.com - Graham’s New Cookbook “Fresh From Louisiana: The Soul of Cajun and Creole Home Cooking” - Interview

Ryan Baptiste - The Light Beyond The Blight - Redbud Gallery - Echoes of New Orleans
https://www.boudinandbourbon.com/2020/06/ryan-baptiste-light-beyond-blight.html

Bar Boheme - Houston Bars - Drag Brunch - Architectural Preservation
https://www.boudinandbourbon.com/2020/05/bar-boheme-houston-bars-drag-brunch.html

Billeaud's Too, Calvin Trillin, and Jacking with Cajun Boudin
https://www.boudinandbourbon.com/2020/04/billeauds-too-calvin-trillin-and.html

Martha Stewart Visits Lucullus Antiques - Patrick Dunne - New Orleans
https://www.boudinandbourbon.com/2019/11/martha-stewart-visits-lucullus-antiques.html

Jimmy Domengeaux Chats about His Louisiana Wetlands Photography Exhibition – Interview

Long Live Irma Thomas - Essay

Notes on van Gogh’s Irises, Walter Annenberg, Louisiana Politics - Essay

A Closer Look at Christy Karll’s Painting “Swerve” –  Interview

A Closer Look - Beef Empanadas with Olives - Seco’s Latin Cuisine - Essay

Giacomo Restaurant's Foradori, Rotaliano, Trentino 2015" - Red wine produced by Elisabetta Foradori in Trentino Italy - A Closer Look
https://www.boudinandbourbon.com/2018/06/giacomo-restaurants-teroldego-foradori.html