The Ferrone Home and Corinne Robbins Style

For years now my dearest friends, Nick Ferrone, a real estate broker for Corcoran in Brooklyn Heights, and Stephanie Lewin, a clinical psychologist in Manhattan, have furnished their Cobble Hill loft with mid-century modern finds, many of which came from my shop.  Not only have they purchased many pieces from me, but they have also invested in several paintings of mine which are hanging in Stephanie’s office. The abstract paintings help her patients with their therapy.  

Nick and Stephanie are such good customers that I have let them in on a few of my secret contacts, including my favorite "picker," my relatively inexpensive upholsterer, and one of my refinishers from a list of many.  They also get free services such as storage, restorations arrangements, shopping tips, and decorating advice. In return though, I’m taken out to dinner a lot. Thank you!

Nick and Stephanie's first purchase with me was a vintage Candelabra by British designer Tom Dixon. Good eye, guys! I believe that piece is pretty rare--it looks hand crafted. Their next purchase, which has always been one of my favorite pieces, is a pair of 1950’s wicker chairs and table by Finnish designer Eero Aarnio.  The early Aarnio design is typical of his sculptural signature, and this set happens to be in excellent condition. 

Stephanie and Nick also bought a set of six “Julianne” chairs by Johannes Anderson, the Danish designer, to go around their contemporary dining table. The biggest purchase was a beautiful sofa by Edward Wormely for Dunbar. This sofa is just stunning! The petite faux bamboo brass and marble table is an eclectic compliment to the sofa. 

Their most recent furniture purchase from me was a small walnut case and white door Florence Knoll Credenza. Somehow it all works. Their place is like a mini museum, but still comfortable and homey. Perfect!

Open For Business!

So, I'm open for business in the Hudson Valley now, and I can't believe the sign was handmade--by me!

To save a little money, I decided to make my own sign. I took the letters from my banner on 1stdibs and blew it up in Word. I printed it out, cut the letters and traced them on thicker paper (I used file folders), then cut out each letter. I then traced it on a piece of masonite. ...Okay, the guy at the lumber yard cut the masonite, but I did everything else! I primed the masonite white after it was cut, then I painted a couple of layers of gray oil based paint on both sides.

Once the gray paint was dry I traced the letters on to the gray background and taped the letters off with blue edge tape. I painted the letters in white; the rounded edges were painted by hand and for the hard edges I used the tape. Once dry, I hung it in place. The little "modern" sign below is scripted by hand also -- in my handwriting. Voila!

Shop hours: Saturdays 10-5 and Sundays by appointment
Location: 1977 Route 295, Canaan, NY

20 Years Later

You know how you go picking for vintage art? Well, I wasn't even picking and I found a vintage piece... by me. Actually, I was at a friend's house and saw that she had a painting on her wall that I made twenty years ago.  It's a cute piece. It measures 6x9 inches and it's oil on green canvas. And the painting hasn't moved in twenty years. That's vintage.

Pick 6 Review

By Piri Halasz, June 16, 2010, TWO EXTREMES; THREE OTHER PRETTY SHOWS

...We have mdh fine arts, a pocket-sized gallery located at 233 West 19th Street, down the block from where Marlborough Chelsea used to be. 

Its proprietor, Michael Henry, doesn’t trouble himself with explications. His modest announcement for “Pick 6,” an exhibition offered in conjunction with the gallerist Corinne Robbins, says only that it is “A collaborative show featuring the work of Jeffrey Bye, James O. Clark, Risa Glickman, Michael Henry, Michael Miller, Gabriella Mlynarczyk, John-Paul Philippe, Rachel Press, Corinne Robbins, Donna Senger, Jimmy Shack and Ann Walsh” (through June 19, though individual pieces may remain on view longer). 

Actually, after the invite was printed, the artist Kenneth Hayden came in with his provocative little paintings of birds, and Henry was so taken with them that he omitted his own work from the show in order to include Hayden’s. 

No work in this show appears to rely on “chance,” or be more significant for its manner of creation than its results. On the contrary, it is all straightforward and well-crafted painting, sculpture, works on paper and ceramics (with materials & methods ranging from very traditional to very up-to-date, and all created within the past few years). No artwork is large; everything is small (though needless to say, there are degrees of smallness). 

I particularly liked Bye’s sensitive oil painting entitled “FDR,” with its aerial view of small cars trundling alongside the East River and skyscrapers in the background, ceramic bowls by Press, ceramic cubes by Shack, mixed-media constructions by Clark, and the four handsome & good-sized tree studies by Glickman, made with pastel, acrylic, and charcoal on paper. 

However, the star of the show is Walsh, whose brightly colored blocks & free-standing panels, made of vinyl and cast acrylic, are among the smallest works on view, but stand out for their especial verve and vigor. The display in the window facing the street is a still life that easily surpasses anything by Morandi and approaches Cézanne in perfection — a particularly delightful combination of shapes, colors & textures. A white block stands next to a slender vase of white gladioli on their pale green stalks. Atop the white block stands Walsh’s “Button,” a rectilinear, three-dimensional shape measuring only 8” x 7” x 5.5” and combining a mostly-electric-blue surface with one upper corner of the hottest pink in town.

Pick 6 Opening

The PICK 6 opening at mdh fine arts was well attended with a nice flow of people during the 2-hour reception. For those of you who couldn’t make it here are some images from the show.

John-Paul Phillipe

Ann Walsh with Corinne Robbins and Risa Glickman, Michael Miller, and James O. Clark in background

Ann Walsh

Michael Miller

Michael Henry with James O. Clark (L) and Corinne Robbins (R)

Corinne Robbins on wall left,  Risa Glickman on wall right

Risa Glickman

James O. Clark