RADAR / SCENE
#INSTACRUSH
@annabode
WHO: Denver resident Anna Smith, who turned her lifelong passion for design into Annabode + Co., a business that helps homeowners across the country create peaceful modern living spaces. WHAT: Consider this feed your instruction manual for conveying “simplicity with character,” which is Smith’s goal. She achieves this in her designs and on her feed by marrying a limited color palette and streamlined furnishings with organic shapes and textures in warm neutral hues. WHY: Smith loves calm spaces that feel connected to the earth, and you’ll find yourself sharing her passion. There’s substance here, too: Smith’s 41,000-plus followers love her decorating tips, her willingness to answer questions and share sources and the chance to offer their advice when she’s faced with a design dilemma of her own. IN HER WORDS: “Put very simply, good design makes life better.”
SHOPS + SHOWROOMS
Winter is the perfect time to tackle those home decor projects put off when warm weather beckoned, and Denver’s latest shops are ready to help. For instance, Furniture Row’s high-end spin-off, The Showroom @Furniture Row (5445 N. Bannock St.), boasts 170,000 square feet of luxury pieces from brands like Henredon, Christopher Guy, Hancock & Moore and Bernhardt. In Cherry Creek North, the California Closets Design Studio (2950 E. 2nd Ave.), shown, lets clients create custom storage solutions using technologies like a floor-to-ceiling projection wall for 3-D CAD renderings. The Tile Shop’s new showroom (14175 E. 42nd Ave., Building A) displays its inventory of more than 4,000 designs in roomsize vignettes. And the makers in the River North Art District now have a collective place to sell their work at RiNo Made (Zeppelin Station, 3501 Wazee St.), which is filled with sculptures, stationery, apparel and more; look for pop-up trunk shows and classes, too.
THE INSIDER DAISY PATTON
“As an artist, my primary goal is to re-humanize people who have been forgotten or ignored,” Denver artist Daisy Patton says of her multidisciplinary work, which explores themes of history and memory. “I have found that even within those personal histories, my audience can always find aspects of their own autobiographies.” Her latest collection, for instance, is a series of oil paintings atop enlarged photographs. Here, Patton introduces us to some local artists and galleries who are making waves in Colorado—and beyond. daisypatton.com Where she finds inspiration: I appreciate the thoughtfulness and risk-taking at the Museo de las Americas, the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities and the Center for Visual Art. I also enjoy Leon Gallery and Michael Warren Contemporary, and I’m excited about my new gallery, K Contemporary. As a collector: I tend to buy work I wouldn’t make myself, such as a piece by Ashley Eliza Williams that depicts a rock covered in delicately painted colorful moss. I also have work from local artists Suchitra Mattai (mixed-media “drawings” and installations), Libby Barbee (mixed-media images and interactive sculptures) and Jodi Stuart (digital and plastic sculptural works). Ones to watch? Frankie Toan’s plush sculptures and interactive works, 2-D and 3-D prints by Sarah Fukami, Jennifer Pettus’ mixed-media fiber art, book arts by Sammy Lee and Alicia Bailey, paintings and drawings by Stephen Batura, sculpture and installations by Laura Shill and Amber Cobb and Ian Fisher’s large oil paintings of clouds.
132 / luxesource.com
WRITTEN BY CHRISTINE DEORIO
instacrush photos: courtesy anna smith. the insider photo: courtesy daisy patton. open house photo: courtesy california closets.
OPEN HOUSE