SFO Spring 2014 by Adriana Naylor

SPRING 2014

EXPERIENCE THE LIVING ILLUSION OF CRAIG TRACY

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South Florida OPULENCE

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T o p F E AT U R E S 37

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EXPERIENCE THE LIVING ILLUSION OF CRAIG TRACY

Art “Butterfly” by Craig Tracy

Painted Alive

King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament

Maybe they haven’t flown, but elephants are playing polo in a championship event you have to see to believe. The King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament is moving to Bangkok, Thailand, and this year’s action-packed tournament will feature 50 street elephants for one of the biggest charitable events in Southeast Asia.

The three-dimensional living illusions of body art painter Craig Tracy are elevating the historic art of body painting to the level of fine art (he’s considered the world’s best in this age-old genre!) Tracy’s work quite literally comes alive, as the human form is transformed and integrated into an overall landscape. The brilliance of his work on a most challenging canvas is awe-inspiring alone, but there’s another factor that makes his art seem almost miraculous: Craig is legally blind.

68 Cultural Insights: Two Sports, Two Legends, One Great Friendship An exclusive interview with golf-great Jack Nicklaus and tennis legend Butch Buchholz – who are not only longtime friends – but have, in a way, traded favorite sports.

Analyzing Vincent van Gogh Part I in a two-part exclusive interview with the Curator of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam delves into the museum’s intensive research on Van Gogh at Work, including his evolution as a painter and the bittersweet tale of his tragic, yet legendary, life.

Art “Fiat” by Craig Tracy 14

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features 27 BravisSimo Maestro! Meet Michael Tilson Thomas, legendary composer and Artistic Director at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach.

30 Clowning Around The inside look at the life of a clown in Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

35 Cheers to Mead! The ancient wine — made of honey, not grapes — is making a comeback.

49 The Hugo & Victor Sweet Shop Brings Parisian Charm to South BeacH

Sweet curiosities as exquisite to view as they are sweet to taste.

56 Greubel Forsey Building a decade of unparalleled haute horology.

60 Lamborghini Huracán The Lamborghini Huracán arrives undercover in Miami and we’ll tell you where you can buy one.

64 A Rebel Rocking Renaissance Man Superstar music producer and professional racecar driver Jim Jonsin’s family-first mentality.

76 Decorating Beyond Extraordinary on a Private Island

High-end interior design firm, Interiors by Steven G., has been granted the enviable commission of designing the common areas for South Florida’s last private island.

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Spring 2014

80 A Museum Aquarium: The Wonder of Underwater

The art of re-creating nature within luxury aquariums.

91 Resurrecting

a Masterpiece

An exclusive conversation with conservationist extraordinaire, Gordon Lewis.

94 Leonardo Lost & Found The story of lost Leonardo da Vinci painting, Salvator Mundi.

97 Inside a Kaleidoscope Legendary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s avant-garde art.

104 Not Your Mother’s Beauty Pageant Anymore

The reinvented business model of Donald Trump’s Miss Universe Organization.

112 Business In a Bulletproof Suit Discover custom suitery company Garrison Bespoke’s bulletproof tailoring.

114 Closet or Sanctuary or Both? Find out today’s hottest trends in luxury closets.

116 Soul Searcher:

Icon Photographer Nancy Ellison

Nancy Ellison’s stories behind shooting A-list celebrities like Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford and Bette Davis.

SOUTH FLORIDA

features (continued) 120 Nature Inspired Living

146 (Some) Rich and (Some) Famous Pipe People of Yesteryear

Famous pipe smokers and tobacco pipe collectors from long ago.

in Miami

Luxury Miami residences with a nature-inspired aesthetic.

124 Haute Couture for the Sky Interior design for private jets.

126 Steve Jobs: The Questions I Wish You Could Answer

An intriguing look into the personal life of Apple’s former leader.

130 The Music Doc of Mechanicland Aesthetic dental surgeon Elliot Mechanic proves practicing dentistry and music is the perfect mix.

134 Double Take

The architectural illusions of Richard Haas.

139 The Psycho Suspense Meister: Sir Alfred Hitchcock

A compelling look at the life of iconic movie producer, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, from the eyes of the historian/author who knew him.

143 To Infinity and the Great Beyond Examining the commercial zeal to get consumers into outerspace.

144 Mission to Mars What would you sacrifice to be the first human being to live on Mars?

South Florida OPULENCE

Spring 2014

departments Gadgets

Calendar of Events

24-25

A Good Cup of Joe

Developer Profile

Landscape Design

84-85

Women’s Accessories

Women’s Fashion

100-103

Men’s Accessories

109

Men’s Fashion

110-111

Real Estate Trends

128

Philanthropy: Saving Sight in a Hospital with Wings

133

Must Reads from the Desk of Edwina Sandys

138

Philanthropy: If Only For One Second

141

Private Banking

148

Condo Law

150, 154

Condo Living

152, 156

Social Living

159-160

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Editor’s Letter

Thrill of the Editorial Treasure Hunt Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like the thrill of a quest for treasure. Some pursue gold. Some seek lost masterpiece paintings. Others feel the rush when searching for the latest pair of Jimmy Choos or a rare bottle of vino. As for me, the treasure that gets my heart racing is the never-ending search for The Great Story – those that compel even the most wellread information enthusiast to think, “Wow, I didn’t know that.” At South Florida Opulence, our editorial team is always on the prowl for The Great Story. And, of course, The Great Story must be accompanied by just-asintriguing photography and artwork. Allow me to tell you about some of the editorial gems hidden in this issue. Shhhhh, don’t tell anyone. First, take another look at the cover. A captivating face of a leopard, right? Not so fast. Upon closer inspection, you’ll find the model is a woman – and the artist is Craig Tracy, the world-renowned fine-art body painter (who, by the by, is legally blind). Turn to page 72 to discover more. Next, we have an interview with two legendary sports heroes that you won’t read anywhere else. Jack Nicklaus and Butch Buchholz tell the humorously candid story of how they became longtime friends and how they grew to love each other’s sport. (Today, tennis legend Buchholz is at the helm of the PGA Tour’s Cadillac Championship. And although Nicklaus still avidly designs golf courses, his personal passion is a match on his backyard grass tennis court.) See page 68. Other treasures in this issue include: the South Florida Opulence First Annual Best Celebrity Chef Picks (starting on page 37); a look at the King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament in Thailand (page 52); an interview with Geneva-based million-dollar watch makers Greubel Forsey (page 56); an exclusive chat with the Curator of Amsterdam’s Vincent van Gogh Museum (page 86); the inside scoop on how the lost Leonardo da Vinci painting, Salvator Mundi, was at last uncovered and authenticated (page 94); and much, much more. Once you’ve read the issue cover to cover, we invite you to tell us which editorial treasures made you do a double-take. And, if you have the next great story you’d like us to consider for an upcoming issue, please write to me at editor@southfloridaopulence.com. Enjoy the hunt! Robin Jay Editor-In-Chief

Photo Courtesy of Silvia Pangaro; Makeup by Alena Klenot; hair by Carlos Alvarez.

South Florida OPULENCE

Spring 2014

HORIZON PUBLISHING Executive PUBLISHER & Owner Geoff Hammond, CEO Jayne Hammond, President Associate PUBLISHERS Mark Blackburn David Hammond EDITOR IN CHIEF Robin Jay editor@southfloridaopulence.com CREATIVE ART DIRECTOR Adriana Naylor artdirector@southfloridaopulence.com 954-331-3912 PR AND MARKETING MANAGER Chantal Forster marketingmanager@southfloridaopulence.com 954-331-3390 Business Development director Erika Buchholz ebuchholz@southfloridaopulence.com 954-609-2447 Editorial Assistant Melissa Bryant CONTRIBUTING WRITERS John D. Adams Michael Bender, Esq. Donna Berger, Esq. Melissa Bryant Scott Eyman Hope Gainer Jule Guaglardi Julia Hebert Cara Jay

Dale King Andy Rand Ben Rapaport Ava Roosevelt Edwina Sandys Alex Starace Jenifer Mangione Vogt Richard Westlund Mary & Hugh Williamson

Photographers Harry Benson Nancy Ellison Mel Jay Douglas Lance Sylvia Pangaro PROOFREADER Susie Shaw Event Makeup artist Alena Klenot South Florida Opulence Magazine is published quarterly by Horizon Publishing LLC. Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. Horizon Publishing LLC, 6700 North Andrews Avenue, Suite 400, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 – Vol. 4, No.1 Spring 2014 (ISSN # 2157-5274) Subscription Rates: $40 per year, $10 per issue. For subscription inquiries or change of address, contact the subscription department, (954) 308-4300 Ext. 4312, Fax: (954) 331-6028. Horizon Publishing, LLC, its affiliates and contributing writers have exercised due care in compiling the information contained herein, but with the possibility of human or mechanical error, cannot assume liability for the accuracy of this data. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in part or in full in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording and any information storage and retrieval system without first obtaining permission from the publisher.

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Maserati GranCabrio Luggage Set The set of luggage recalls the style of the Maserati GranCabrio supercar. The interior car stitching resembles the label in the engine compartment and is reproduced on the luggage leather, the motifs on the seats are recalled on a metal plate which embellishes each piece of the Trident set, and the hubcap shapes are reproduced on the rivets and feet of the bags. www.maseratistore.com/ $6,052.70

The VK200 Keyfob Virtual Keyboard This innovative gadget projects a keyboard on any flat surface. You can type away accompanied by simulated keyboard sound feedback with its builtin display screen showing your key presses in real time for faster typing. The laser virtual keyboard approaches typing speeds of a standard keyboard in a size no larger than a matchbook. www.brookstone.com $119.99

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The Infrared Supine Sauna This is the personal sauna that allows users to lie in a comfortable supine position while infrared lamps provide deep penetrating, soothing heat. www.hammacher.com $14,000

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Up & Coming Events January-May 2014

March

march

The Movement: Bob Adelman & Civil Rights Era

Sony Ericsson Open

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Zubin Mehta

PROGRAM IV: DON QUIXOTE

1/19-5/17 17-30

Tennis Center at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne

Boca Museum of Art, Boca Raton

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale will present an exhibition of renowned photographer Bob Adelman. His unique vantage point at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement led him to produce some of that era’s most iconic images. www.moafl.org

Sony Open Tennis features the world’s top ATP men’s and WTA women’s tennis players in Miami at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park. www.sonyopentennis.com

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami

Of Israel’s oldest and most influential cultural institutions, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is an eloquent voice for peace as well as Israel’s powerful, most exquisite cultural ambassador. 305.949.6722

March

20-23

29th Annual Palm Beach International Boat Show

march

7-16

Palm Beach MIAMI INTERNATIONAL West The Palm Beach International Boat Show FILM FESTIVAL will feature more than $1 billion worth of Miami

The Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) is a world-class platform for International and Ibero-American film. Presenting its 31st edition in March 2014, MIFF showcases the work of the world’s best emerging and established filmmakers to the diverse South Florida community. www.miamifilmfestival.com

yachts, boats and accessories from the world’s leading marine manufacturers, including hundreds of boats ranging from small inflatables and center consoles to fishing boats and superyachts over 200 feet. www.showmanagement.com

dance Fest

Saturday, 5/3/2014-8PM Sunday, 5/4/2014-2PM A spicy blend of classical, neoclassical and contemporary works.

South Florida OPULENCE

Spring 2014

swan lake

28-30 Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, West Palm Beach Closing the season, Miami City Ballet brings back its joyous fulllength production of Don Quixote, set to the irresistible Minkus score, with its oom-pah-pah rhythms and Spanish accents. Skirts will swirl, fans will flutter, and the stage will be overrun with macho bullfighters and sensual gypsies in this all-time popular work. www.kravis.org

march-April

25-4/6 28-30 March

American Idiot Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale

Tony Award® winning hit musical AMERICAN IDIOT tells the story of three lifelong friends forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of suburbia. www.broadwayacrossamerica.com.

Friday, 8/1/2014 - 7PM Saturday, 8/2/2014 - 8PM Sunday, 8/3/2014 - 2PM Come see the most famous of all classical ballet.

The Golden Dragon Acrobats: CIRQUE ZIVA Delray Beach Center for the Arts, Delray Beach

Cirque Ziva combines traditional and modern Chinese acrobatics with the beauty, technology and choreography of Cirque in this brand-new show! Twenty-five performers — all masters of acrobatics, dance, aerial stunts, and contortion — create an exciting performance with ancient and contemporary music and colorful, traditional costumes. Tickets are $45.

Up & Coming Events April

7th Annual American Fine Wine Competition Charity Wine Gala

April

13–14

May

Miami Beach Polo World Cup X

Miami Fashion Week

23-27 Miami Beach

Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton

The AFWC Charity Wine Gala is a night of indulgence, discovery, and giving. Guests will delight in visiting “Winery Tasting Rooms” hosted by the winemakers themselves. They will be pouring highest award-winning wines of the competition. Expected to attend are 30 of the top US winemakers. www.americanfinewinecompetition.org

April

Spyro Gyra JAZZIZ Nightlife, Boca Raton

The dynamic four-day tournament has become one of the most exciting and sought after events on Miami Beach’s social calendar. With some of the world’s best male and female polo players competing in the world’s largest and most prestigious polo tournament on the beach. www.miamipolo.com

Spyro Gyra is a jazz juggernaut who will release their 30th album in 2013. Theirs is an unlikely story of a group with humble beginnings in Buffalo, NY who has continued to reach an international audience over nearly forty years, resulting in sales of over 10 million albums and having played over five thousand shows on five continents. 2014 will mark forty years from their start in a Buffalo club where they were first known as “Tuesday Night – Jazz Jam.” www.jazziz.com

15-18

Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach Miami Beach has become the backdrop for the world’s first fashion week dedicated to Resort and Pre-Spring Collections. MFW is in the top 5 fashion weeks around the world and recognized as the largest and most prestigious international fashion event in the United States. www.miamifashionweek.com

May-July

5/3-7/27 Afghan Rugs: The Contemporary Art of Central Asia

april

PULSE

New World Symphony, Miami Beach The New World Center transforms into a hip, late-night lounge — complete with club-style lighting and video projections — during this genre-bending, innovative event. A DJ spins electronic grooves alongside performances by the New World Symphony of contemporary and classical works for orchestra and ensembles.

april

15/16/18/20

Boca Museum of Art, Boca Raton

May

Shen Yun

Kravis Center For The Performing Arts and Adrienne Arsht Center 15-16 (West Palm Beach) 18-20 (Miami) At the core of Shen Yun’s performance is classical Chinese dance with its explosive techniques, synchronized movements, and expressive powers. For tickets in West Palm Beach, go to www.ShenYun. com/West-Palm-Beach. For tickets in Miami, go to www.ShenYun.com/Miami.

Cher Dressed To Kill Tour The international exhibition, Afghan War Rugs, features over 40 rugs from a private European collection, traveling for the first time to museums in North America. Selected for their exceptional quality and stunning imagery, the rugs in this exhibition represent a unique category in decorative arts. www.bocamuseum.org

BB&T Center, Sunrise The one and only Cher herself revealed that she will kick off her “Dressed To Kill” 49 city North American Tour beginning in Phoenix on March 22nd with stops in NY, LA, Boston, Las Vegas, and other major markets. www.thebbtcenter.com

Spring 2014

South Florida OPULENCE

“If you haven’t wanted to hug your lawyer lately...”

South Florida OPULENCE

Spring 2014

Bravissimo Maestro! Meet New World Symphony Artistic Director, Composer and Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas By Robin Jay

Spring 2014

South Florida OPULENCE

he legendary American conductor, pianist and composer, Michael Tilson Thomas is truly a musical treasure in South Florida. He is the Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony, a Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and also the Co-founder and Artistic Director of the New World Symphony (NWS) in Miami Beach. South Florida Opulence interviewed Mr. Tilson Thomas for an inside look at this unprecedented program. “For many years, I worked with young musicians at music festivals all over the world. I met many talented young musicians who didn’t know what they were going to do after finishing their studies at conservatories, or afterward, what their careers might be,” Tilson Thomas said. “I was very fortunate to meet Ted and Lin Arison, and together, we wanted to provide a place where young musicians could focus on developing their careers, while imagining the future of classical music. We’ve created a very special academy where this can happen, at the New World Symphony.”

New World Symphony Launched in 1987, the NWS prepares gifted graduates of distinguished music programs for leadership positions in orchestras and ensembles around the world. The program has become so prestigious that, for its Fellows, getting in is tougher than getting into Harvard. “In conservatory, emphasis is placed on technique, and at New World Symphony, our Fellows are excellent technically, but they’re also encouraged to think about what the music means, to get past the notes and communicate the points that composers took the time to imagine and write down,” Tilson Thomas explained.

The Launch of a Legend As a part of a third generation family to follow an artistic career, some may wonder what life was like growing up among such a talented household. Tilson Thomas remembers vividly the moment he knew for himself that he wanted to become a composer. “It was my family’s greatest fear that I would go into show business,” Tilson Thomas humored. “There was always music in the house, and it was therefore always a part of my life. I have a distinct memory, when I 28

South Florida OPULENCE

Spring 2014

was very young, of sitting at a piano and seeing the sunlight filter in through a window, and I would compose music to the dancing particles caught in the light. I pursued music in school, and then my life just made the turn it did. And once it started happening for me, my family was really happy about it.” Tilson Thomas says his most rewarding achievements include touring the world with the London Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony, receiving the National Medal of Arts Award from President Obama, winning his first of 11 Grammy Awards, and, of course, launching the New World Symphony, the Lincoln Theatre and the New World Center. “In thinking about the future, I fully believe there are people who are now 17 years old who will be the ones who will grasp what to do with what we’ve created and will drive classical music into the future,” Tilson Thomas continued.

Continuing the Legacy Finding novel ways to appeal to younger audiences, the NWS produces evenings like Pulse: Late Night at the New World Symphony, which presents DJ music alongside classical music; half-hour mini-concerts, which combine activities such as a yoga class with a concert, or a group of cyclists riding together to the concert; Encounters concerts, which describe the environment and context of the music through an onstage host and projected video; and WALLCAST concerts, in which they project concerts taking place inside the concert hall onto the grand front wall for audiences outside in the park. “We want to include everyone in the dialogue of what this music is; it’s very much a shared experience – shared by teachers with their students, passed down generation to generation, and shared between the performers and audiences,” Tilson Thomas said. Throughout 2014, NWS will present a variety of performances, including a New Work concert on April 26 that explores the intersection of different cultural genres – poetry, film and classical music. For a schedule or tickets, go to www.newworldcenter.com. Encore Mr. Tilson Thomas!

Spring 2014

South Florida OPULENCE

clowning An inside look at the life of a clown in Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus By Alex Starace

Clowns and Americana go hand-in-hand. But the origin of clowning seems to have Scandinavian roots: It was in the 1560s when the Icelandic word “klunni” (a boorish, clumsy fellow) first appeared in text. “It seems plausible that folly and fools, like religion and magic, meet some deeply rooted needs of human society,” wrote Peter Berger in Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience. “For this reason, clowning is often considered an important part of training as a physical performance discipline, partly because tricky subject matter can be dealt with, but also because it requires a high level of risk and play in the performer.”

South Florida OPULENCE

Spring 2014

around

Each year in January, the circus train – and its clowns – arrives here in Miami. South Florida Opulence had the opportunity to sit down with Taylor Albin, boss clown with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He gave us an inside look at the day in the life of the clown.

a Clown Joins the Circus Albin grew up in the small town of Mineral Wells, Texas, where he visited the circus every year with his family. The young dreamer envisioned one day joining the circus as a clown. But as childhood dreams often do, the vision faded and adulthood approached.

In 2009, Albin attended college in Tennessee, putting the finishing touches on a business degree. However, his ears perked up when he learned of open auditions with Ringling Brothers in Madison Square Garden. He thought, “If I really want to do this, I should do it now.” Albin flew to New York and auditioned. “I’d never been to an audition before,” Albin recalled. “I had no idea what was going to happen. But, because I’d been to Ringling so many times, I was like, ‘Okay, I know it needs to be big, and I know it needs to be funny. I think if I can achieve those two things, I have a chance.’” In his routine, Albin started out asleep on the floor. His arm woke up and tried to wake up the rest of him. Once he awoke, his arm fell asleep – and so then he tried to wake it up. The routine must have been a hit: He was accepted into the circus.

The Journey Begins For Albin, being the latest link in Ringling Brothers’ clowning lineage is an honor he takes seriously. He’s inspired by old-time greats like Lou Jacobs and Frosty Little. “All these amazing clowns who came before me – to think that I am trying to walk in their footsteps is humbling,” he said, explaining that there are three types of clowns: Whiteface, Auguste and Character. During a typical pie gag, the Whiteface clown always throws the pie, while the Auguste clown (which Albin is) always plays the victim. “The Auguste clown is the total buffoon, the butt of all jokes,” he said with a laugh. The Whiteface clown has an all-white face, while an Auguste clown has white around the mouth and white around the eyes, [with a] big wig or big hat. The Character clown sees what’s going on, understands the situation, might be part of the joke, but tries to avoid it completely.” A classic example is the famed Emmett Kelly (who performed with Ringling Brothers in the 1940s and 1950s) in

Taylor Albin the role of “Weary Willie,” a personage modeled after a stereotypical Depressionera hobo.

A Unique Lifestyle While clowns go for laughs, like all professions there are also practical matters to consider. For circus performers, good lodging and transportation are primary concerns: “We travel by the nation’s largest privately-owned train. I have my own miniapartment on the train [with] my own bathroom, my own little kitchen. It’s really cool because I look out my window and every week my backyard is different.” The train has been a mainstay of Ringling Brothers for decades. “We’ll go through a small town and people always come out to see the circus train. That’s been going on for over 100 years now. And to think that at least that small tiny stitch of American history is still going strong – it’s awesome. I love that.” In fact, many clowns’ connection to Ringling remains strong. According to Albin, at almost every city on tour, former clowns drop by the dressing room to talk shop, see what’s changed and take in a show – which only proves that once you get a taste for clowning around, it’s hard to stop. Spring 2014

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A good cup of joe

Meet The World’s Best Barista By Robin Jay

BY ROBIN JAY

Drumroll please… The competition is nearly down to the last drop. Champion coffee brewers from 50 nations have converged on Melbourne, Australia, to compete in The World Barista Championship. The top six brewmasters have received their final challenge: Prepare four espressos, four cappuccinos and four original signature drinks – in a 15-minute performance, set to music. To win, you must not miss a beat. Oh, and one more thing: For the ever-popular signature beverage, baristas must stretch their imaginations, tempt the judges’ palates and incorporate a wealth of knowledge into a recipe that expresses their individual tastes and experiences. No pressure!

The Final Moments Contestants pour their final cups. World Coffee Event judges from around the world carefully taste each coffee libation, grading each performance on the taste of the beverage, creativity, cleanliness, technical skill and overall presentation. They ponder… collaborate… and are ready to announce the winner.

Envelope please… The World’s Best Barista is: Mr. Pete Licata! Coffee fans cheer. Can you guess the winner’s city of origin? Bogota, Colombia? Lima, Peru? Rome, Italy? No ladies and gentlemen, the World’s Best Barista is from none other than – Kansas City, Missouri! “I think of this award as just the beginning of bigger and better things!” said Licata, 35, who admits he had no clue what a latte was until he began working part-time at a coffee shop in college (now,

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he’s the Quality Assurance Manager for Parisi Coffee in KC). “I love the versatility of coffee. It has a huge range of natural flavors in the bean itself, but it can also be used in food recipes or beer to add new dimensions of flavor. Coffee can really pair with a lot of flavors! “Coffee is a bit of a universal beverage,” continued Licata, who describes himself as introspective, sarcastic and thoughtful. “I don’t always talk a lot, but when I do, you better believe it is because I know what I’m talking about! Everyone knows coffee in some form or another. New-wave specialty coffee has been embraced worldwide, especially by people at the forefront of trends and popular culture. It helps bring communities together. But sometimes we in the specialty industry take coffee too seriously. The point of coffee is to taste good and to make people happy.” What does the World’s Best Barista brew at home? “I typically use a Clever Coffee Dripper with the beautiful Kenya Kiungu beans that we have at Parisi,” he said. If you brew coffee at home, here’s some advice from the World Champ: Buy whole beans freshly roasted from a specialty roaster. Store them in a cool, dry and airtight container away from sunlight. Get a “burr” grinder (not a spinning blade) and grind those beans right before you brew your coffee. The aromas will be better, and the intact bean helps preserve the freshness until you are ready to use them. Find a good brewing ratio (I use 16 grams of water to 1 gram of coffee), and make sure your water is hot enough (200F). Thanks a latte, Pete!

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CHEERS TO The ancient wine – made of honey, not grapes – is making a comeback By Alex Starace Mead, the drink of the gods, is made from fermented honey and often credited as mankind’s first alcoholic creation. Back in medieval days, as part of marital tradition, a bride and groom were bestowed enough mead to last a month, for good fortune in fertility. Hence the term ‘honeymoon.’ The legendary concoction also evokes a brutal, ancient history. Taliesin, the sixth-century Brythonic bard, sang of warriors carousing in mead halls. It was the drink of choice for the monster-slaying Beowulf in the eponymous Old English epic. And in Norse mythology, it was believed to be an inspiration to poetry – because it was first produced using the drained blood of the impossibly wise and mellifluous Kvasir. By the Middle Ages, however, mead was surpassed in popularity by wine, and then by beer and harder spirits. Befitting of its mythical history, though, it never quite died out. While the drink lost all popularity in Western Europe, it was consumed in Russia throughout the 1800s, making appearances in the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. In other regions of the world, mead remains common. Ethiopian mead, known as tej, continues to be consumed in the region. In the Americas, blaché, a mead-like drink that is flavored with tree bark, remains popular with the Yucatec Maya in southern Mexico and Central America.

American Meadery In recent years, mead is gaining a foothold in the United States. The traditional recipe of honey, water and yeast can easily be augmented by adding fruit and spices, giving boutique American meaderies a wide canvas on which to work. South Florida Opulence had the opportunity to sit down with Michael Fairbrother, the founder of Moonlight Meadery, which is based in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

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International and was the first New Hampshire winery/meadery invited to the Newport Mansions Food and Wine Festival.

Michael Fairbrother Fairbrother, who quit his job as the COO of a software company to brew mead, explained that among those who have heard of the drink, it’s often unfairly given a bad rap because of its assumed association with Wiccans and Renaissance fairs. And, until recently, it was legitimately hard to find good quality mead, though as Fairbrother put it, “If you try Wonderbread, you don’t give up on eating Panera – there’s a real big difference.”

Though mead is historically the drink of warriors, it’s now far more popular with women. Fairbrother, who got his start as a homebrewer, noticed this phenomenon early on: “When I pulled out a bottle of beer, my buddies were hanging around. When I pulled out a bottle of mead, every woman in the room was knocking somebody over [to try some].” His informal research has since held true to form: 80 percent of Moonlight Meadery’s current customers are women. Which only means that mead, that mystical drink, continues to evolve. If Fairbrother’s creations are any indication, the beverage has a bright future ahead.

“Her mouth was sweet as Mead with honey poured or apples in the hay or heather stored…” The Canterbury Tales — by Geoffrey Chaucer

More than Meads the Eye Moonlight Meadery, which started production in 2010, has found success by focusing on high-quality ingredients. “The biggest challenge is quality honey,” explained Fairbrother, “Making sure it’s not been diluted with corn syrup and that it’s not been adulterated. We buy only true-source, certified honey, which is sustainable … and independently verifiable all the way back to the beehive.” With superior ingredients comes a finished product that’s sweet (but not cloying), delightfully complex and full of surprises. Fairbrother’s meads have flavors as diverse as rhubarb, apple pie and coffee – and he boasts a catalogue of over 60 distinct products. With quality comes success: His company has won multiple awards at the Mazer Cup

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“The most appealing part about making mead in Florida is the fact it can be a 100% Florida product. We have access to some great local honey.” — Cigar City Brewing in Tampa

Spring 2014

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TOP CELEBRITY CHEF

2014 1st ANNUAL

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Spring 2014

A Pure Paragon –

Gastón!

Meet Peruvian Chef Gastón Acurio, brainchild of the new La Mar at Mandarin Oriental, Miami By Robin Jay

Top: Arroz con Mariscos Middle: Causa Cangrejo Bottom: Cebiche de Calamar

Drenched in classic colors of the Peruvian North Sea – the interior of Miami’s newest upscale cebichería, La Mar at Mandarin Oriental, instantly transports guests to the authentic feel of Peru. It’s the brilliant brainchild of world-renowned celebrity chef and co-proprietor Gastón Acurio. Truly a renaissance man, Acurio is also an author, ardent businessman, former law student, and leader in the Peruvian culinary revolution, with 35 restaurants in 12 countries. This culinary mastermind was once named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by America Economía magazine.

A Chat with gaston “I was born to be a chef,” Chef Acurio told South Florida Opulence. “Since I was 8 years old, my dream was to cook, to have my own restaurant. One day, my family convinced me that was not an option, as it was not serious. So I decided to be a lawyer and resign to cooking at home. When I went to Europe, I discovered the role chefs had there: They existed. I was not alone anymore. Seeing them gave me the courage to escape from my law school prison. I started cooking school without my parents knowing. After three years, the lawyer had to tell them that he was not a lawyer – he was a chef.” The entrepreneur’s culinary quest started in Lima with Astrid & Gastón, which he opened with his German-born wife. Today, it is among the top 50 restaurants in the world. “I am a Peruvian chef, so I’m honored to represent my country around the world by spreading the message of fraternity, integrity, commitment and passion that Peru has regarding our food culture,” said Acurio. “We have 7,000 years of food culture. At the beginning, our engineers developed thousands of ingredients from nature, with

respect to soil, seasons, environment and nutrition. Later, we developed a multicultural society with our Andean and Amazon heritage, with Spain, Italy, Japan, China and Africa. The result of this huge biodiversity and melting pot of cultures is Peruvian food. “We had this treasure hidden for a long time, and what we did was conceptualize it in Peruvian food experiences that seduce the hearts of people around the world, while inspiring our own people. Our dream was to share with the world our culture, flavors, while also being committed to the social and environmental battles we are fighting, not only in Peru, but in all Latin America.” From tourism and travel to art and cuisine, Peru is the hot topic of South Florida. “We are coming to Miami to be part of the story that hundreds of Peruvian families had been building over the last 20 years,” Acurio explained. “They are the ones who have been working very hard to put Peruvian food at the highest level of preferences. La Mar is coming to join this peaceful army of Peruvian flavors and experiences. Being at Mandarin Oriental, one of the most exciting hotels in the world, is such an honor. Diego Oka, the head chef, will lead his team with passion, integrity and talent.” At La Mar, Acurio’s team prepares fresh cebiches every day with local fish caught the night before. An anticucho grill and a scintillating Pisco cocktail program offer a traditional Peruvian food experience. “Our goal is to reproduce how we celebrate our food in Peru,” Acurio said.

A Family Guy With his primary residence in Peru, Acurio is still a family man at heart. “I like to do barbecues at home with my wife, daughters and friends. Actually, my daughters are already grown up, so we also have their boyfriends at the table. I am still learning about that.” If you’ve not yet experienced La Mar, consider this advice: “Start with some cebiches, then go for anticuchos and continue with our great pan-fried rice dishes, always with a Pisco cocktail in hand, and always sharing every dish at the middle of the table.” Welcome to Miami, Gastón!

Spring 2014

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Anchors Away

Josh Capon From SOHO to SOBE, Celebrity Chef Josh Capon is taking Miami Beach by storm at Lure Fishbar By Robin Jay

“Tequila!” cheered an exuberant Executive Chef Josh Capon as he greeted us with arms stretched toward the ceiling, victory dance style, boogying to the music piped over the sound system of his latest dining hot-spot: Lure Fishbar on Miami Beach. Capon (as he’s affectionately known) is not your run-of-the-mill celebrity chef – and neither is his sophisticated, innovative, seafood restaurant. Miami food enthusiasts are in for a novel experience.

The Chef Entertainer “I always have a good time – hospitality is in my blood,” said Capon, who grew up in Rockland County, New York and – no joke – first went to college to study…dirt. It was an odd choice given that Capon had been in the food service industry since he was 15. Thankfully, his parents brought him to his senses, driving him to Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island to study his true calling: cooking. “When I wore that chef’s white jacket, I was like Superman – now I don’t need the jacket anymore…I’m naturally entertaining. My wife gets a kick out of me [and so do his customers!] She says I have no filters. It’s so much more fun to laugh than to be stuffy, like chefs who take food too seriously.

"My philosophy is food should be fun. I’m a sports guy. At my restaurants, I’m the coach, building winning teams for fans who want to have a good time.” Capon’s philosophy has paid off. He’s the chef-partner behind Lure Fishbar, B&B Winepub and El Toro Blanco in New York City and, now, Lure Fishbar here in Miami Beach. Soon, he’ll have his own television show – Frankenfood – on Spike TV.

a master of emotion Capon's success hasn't gone to his head. There's not a chef more passionate, personal or compelling – who’s not afraid to laugh, joke and even get misty-eyed during an interview. Pulling up a chair, he turned on his iPhone and randomly read a poem "The Dash" that his Aunt Carol had recited at a family gathering for Rosh Hashanah. A tear streamed down his cheek. (His Aunt was diagnosed with cancer the week of our interview.) Moments later, he stopped a passing waiter and declared, “Quick! Name the singer of the song playing and I’ll give you $20.” “Billy Joel!” the server replied. “Yes!” True to his word, Capon handed him a $20 bill. The Chef's enthusiasm is infectious. At Lure Fishbar, Capon’s guests arrive hoping for a glimpse of Miami’s newest masterchef, and then leave ready to tell neighbors they’ve become friends with the jovial genius. Now that’s taking social networking to a whole new level! Capon’s menu is equally as impressive. A clever amuse-bouche (complimentary dish from the chef ) arrived at the table: Juevos con Juevos, or deviled eggs topped with caviar. Delish! Next came oysters garnished with pineapple salsa and jalapeño ponzu. Then coconut curry steamed shellfish with clams, mussels and prawns in a green curry broth. The alluring design of Lure Fishbar is influenced by the celebrated Queen Mary, which embodied the opulence of formal dining and entertainment during the 1920s and ‘30s. Once you’ve dined at this new culinary gem, you’ll agree: Miami is lucky to have Josh Capon and Lure in its culinary repertoire. Lure Fishbar is located in the historic St. Moritz Hotel building at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel at 1601 Collins Avenue. www.lurefishbar.com

Sashimi assortment Grilled Durade

Sauteed Branzino

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TOP CELEBRITY CHEF

2014 1st ANNUAL

Photo Credit: Andres Aravena

Spring 2014

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TOP CELEBRITY CHEF

2014 1st ANNUAL

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Spring 2014

She’s Back!

Paula DaSilva Rising nonstop from Gordon Ramsay’s “Hell’s Kitchen” to an angel in South Florida’s paradise kitchen When 3030 Ocean first opened its doors at the Harbor Beach Marriott Resort more than a decade ago, Paula DaSilva was fresh out of culinary school, an upstart talent taking her first steps in an exciting and challenging industry. In this lauded Lauderdale restaurant, DaSilva sharpened her skills, refined her palate and laid the groundwork for an amazing career. DaSilva’s forte and zeal earned her a coveted spot on Gordon Ramsay’s fierce “Hell’s Kitchen” television cooking competition in season 5 – an experience that skyrocketed her career. “It was a grueling six weeks that tests your patience, your pain threshold and both your physical and mental well-being,” DaSilva told the media. “It’s a military boot camp of cooking, but it was an amazing experience.”

The Celebrity Chef’s Return to Florida Fast-forward: After an acclaimed stint as Executive Chef at 1500° at the historic Eden Roc resort on Miami Beach, during which time the restaurant was named one of the “Best New Restaurants in America” by Esquire magazine, DaSilva returned to 3030 Ocean in 2013 as its Executive Chef and has unveiled an array of exciting new dishes. “Between its name and location, the restaurant has always been a destination for fine seafood and there’s no desire to move away from that completely,” says DaSilva, whose signature farm-to-table style is both refined and rustic, the delicious product of precise technique and soulful cookery. “My goal with the new menu is to broaden the scope of 3030’s offerings and introduce new dishes, new styles and new inspirations that complement some of the elements that 3030 is known for.”

The Tantalizing New Menu Entrees encompass the land and sea. Grilled swordfish comes with potato hash, roasted organic carrots, tomato and caper sauce. Crispy whole snapper is served with pork fried forbidden black rice, bok choy and Thai chili sauce. A to-die-for salt cod is served with cured olives, Calabrese peppers, baby fennel, egg gribiche and beans. Roasted B&E chicken comes complete with Anson Mills polenta, and grilled beef tenderloin is topped with a duck egg and served with French fries. Veggie lovers and vegetarians – who very much found a home at 1500° by virtue of DaSilva’s farm-centric

Top: Seafood Paella (Photo: Tiffany Studio) Middle: Pork Belly Tacos (Photo: Michael Pisarri) Bottom: Kale Salad (Photo: Tiffany Studio)

cooking – will rejoice in her new vegetarian chef’s selection, which will change based on season and availability. Desserts follow suit in style, from warm Nutella bread pudding topped with pecans, cherries and cayenne ice cream, and carrot cake with pecan praline, to a banana cream tart with dulce de leche ice cream and milk crumb topping. With a slew of new delights from the kitchen, foodies and cocktail fans have never had greater reason to visit (or return) to 3030 Ocean. Check it out at www.3030ocean.com

Spring 2014

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The Rat Pack Would Approve!

Michael Mina

Launches Michael Mina 74 at the Iconic Fontainebleau By Robin Jay

Shabu-Shabu

Since 1954 when Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin first strolled Fontainebleau Miami Beach, the iconic hotel has proven a symbol of style and sophistication. Now, another legendary icon – Chef Michael Mina – joins the Golden-Era glamour of his Rat-Pack predecessors at his new American-style bistro: Michael Mina 74. “It’s the only restaurant where I’ve been able to create a collection of menu items inspired by my travels,” Chef Mina told South Florida Opulence. “People in Miami really like bold-flavored food, which excites me because that’s what I like to cook. It’s been fun adding my twists on dishes that work well in warm weather, sprinkling in the exotic flavors from around the world. So in that way, it does carry a little something extra that’s my own.” Planning Michael Mina 74 took plenty of ingenuity to please South Florida foodies who have grown into quite the discerning crowd. “Miami is a unique food scene compared to the other cities where I have restaurants. Diners here have an immense selection, and higher standards, in terms of cuisine due to the melting pot that is Miami. There are so many cultures and ethnicities here that we’re hard-pressed to impress them with something new. That’s why we’ve focused on using the best ingredients and really played with different flavors from around the world. There’s this sexy edge and a fantastic, lively atmosphere here.”

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“The life of a chef is one of extremes: What I’m constantly seeking in my culinary and personal life is balance. The key ingredient to achieving balance is my family, starting in the morning when my boys wake me up with a big hug. Then we head into the kitchen together for fun and fuel — both culinary and spiritual. After breakfast, I drive them to school — a sacred part of the day for me. Throughout the day, I seek out innovative and energizing ways of bringing more harmony and balance into my life and into my restaurants to delight my customers.”

So what delights South Floridians most at Michael Mina 74? “The Shabu-Shabu is a must,” he says. “It’s a fun way for our guests to be a part of the cooking process of the Japanese Wagyu beef. The presentation of the caramelized dashi broth pot served over an open flame is astounding and resonates with everything I believe in when it comes to using high-quality ingredients, particularly the quality of the meat and the freshness of the vegetables,” Chef Mina said. For reservations, call 877-326-7412 or visit www.fontainebleau. com/web/dining/michael_mina_74.

Salt-baked beets and hazelnut salad

Truffle donuts

The four key elements that define a Michael Mina menu are a balance of spice, richness, acidity and sweetness. And for good reason.

Spring 2014

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TOP CELEBRITY CHEF

2014 1st ANNUAL

South Florida OPULENCE

Spring 2014

READY FOR A THROWDOWN WITH

Bobby Flay? Bobby Introduces Bobby’s Burger Palace, his first restaurant in Florida By Robin Jay Good thing for burger lovers that Bobby Flay threw in the towel as a Wall Street stockbroker (seriously!) and picked up his culinary gauntlet for a burger throwdown – now in Miami at Bobby’s Burger Palace. The celebrity chef has taunted South Florida foodies for years now with his one-night gourmet burger flipping at the Burger Bash beach event during the annual South Florida Food & Wine Festival. But now, Flay’s fans can sink their teeth into his creative patties anytime they like at his new burger joint at Dadeland Mall. “My favorite thing to eat is a cheeseburger,” Bobby said. “And at BBP, I celebrate America’s variety of flavors, styles and cultures surrounding this classic staple, offering a selection of specialty burgers, served at a great price. Miami has great restaurants and a very forward-thinking food community, so I’m very excited to be able to share this with the families and residents of the city.” Bobby’s entourage invited me to bring my boys to his Burger Palace for a tasting. We sampled great gourmet burgers, each paired with a decadent shake (clever fresh-made flavors like pistachio, coconut and blueberry-pomegranate) and sweet-potato fries with a flight of dipping sauces. Talk about a burger fest! Each BBP burger is Bobby’s tribute to America’s regional flavors and traditions, made with certified Angus beef, quality toppings (locally sourced when possible), house-made condiments – and crunchified

Top Left: Buffalo Burger (Photo: Melissa Hom) Top Right: Philadelphia Burger (Photo: Melissa Hom) Bottom: L.A. Burger (Photo: Melissa Hom)

with potato chips beneath the bun if you choose. Patrons can select from 10 signature burgers made-to-order. These were our favorites: The Miami Burger – a Cuban sandwich-inspired burger, the Miami Burger is pressed with ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard and mayonnaise; The Bobby Blue Burger – piled high with blue cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato; The Buffalo Style Burger – with red hot sauce, blue cheese dressing and watercress; The Dallas Burger – a spice crusted beef patty with coleslaw, Monterey Jack cheese, BBQ sauce and pickles; The Philadelphia Burger – with Provolone cheese, griddled onions and hot peppers; and The L.A. Burger – with avocado, cheddar cheese, relish, watercress and tomatoes. For fun, try what my family did: Order a variety of gourmet burgers and cut them into sections to share. Be sure to ask for a stack of napkins; with these loaded belt-busters, you’ll need them! Bobby’s Burger Palace is located in the new wing of the Dadeland Mall at 7535 North Kendall Drive, Miami. Visit www.bobbysburgerpalace.com.

Spring 2014

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ooh la la The Hugo & Victor Sweet Shop Brings Parisian Charm to South Beach By Robin Jay Like a gallery of fine art – or, in this case, gastronomie sucrée – the new French boulangerie Hugo & Victor woos South Beach patrons with a “cabinet of sweet curiosities.” A touch of luxury à la Française, the vibrant vertical showcases present a stunning display of highly refined artisanal desserts, pastries and chocolates – precious gems as exquisite to view as they are sweet to taste. The Parisian Sweet Shop is the creation of three-star Michelin Master Patisserie Hugues Pouget. He named his shop Hugo & Victor in honor of the French literary great Victor Marie Hugo, who authored Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In fact, Chef Hugues drew inspiration while sketching Victor Marie Hugo just outside Hugo’s home in Paris.

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A good cup of joe “Most of our late night brainstorming took place in a typical French bistro at Place des Vosges, a few meters away from Victor Hugo’s house! His name, his writings...such a French heritage can only be inspiring!” said Chef Hugues when he sat down with South Florida Opulence.

A Novel Concept for Miami Guests at Hugo & Victor are delighted to discover sweet delicacies unlike any other here in the states. What’s the formula to these artful culinary masterpieces?

Cara

Poire- Les 5 Saisons

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“The finest and freshest ingredients available and a little bit of creativity … the rest is a secret!” said Chef Hugues with a wry smile. Above all, the inspiration comes from the seasons and all they offer in fruit and fare. At Hugo & Victor, the year has five seasons, an additional season to stay closer to nature’s fruit cycles. Since he works only with seasonal fruits, Chef Hugues Pouget minimal sugar is needed, seasonality is something Chef Hugues has valued since he was a boy in rural France. “The South of France is known for its colours, scents and flavours, and this is exactly what I grew up with in Provence...fields of lavender, tangled vineyards that spread under cloudless blue skies. Land of Van Gogh and Cézanne. Homecooked dishes prepared with only the freshest, in-season ingredients bought at the local farmer’s market...olives, herbs, lemons, tomatoes, melons...,” Chef Hugues reminisced. “I like the challenge of working with a produce that hasn’t necessarily been explored yet in pastry, or very little. One of my favourites is pink grapefruit. I imagined a slice of tart with a light grapefruit juice cream, topped with fresh pink grapefruit segments. Many customers were skeptical at first, but once they tried it, they were surprised and always came back for more. It is today one of our best sellers!”

Grapefruit Tart

Realizing a Dream From his childhood home in Provence, Hugues always dreamed big. Family albums show photos of Hugues in his mother’s kitchen preparing cakes and tarts at the tender age of 3. “I wanted to work in a palace,” Chef Hugues recalled. “I enjoyed imagining what such a place was like; the service, the glamour, the food.” And so what does his maman (mother) think of Chef Hugues’ cooking when he comes home to visit in Provence? “Ah, my family! It is now impossible to do any cooking when I am down south visiting,” laughed Chef Hugues, who won the French Dessert Championship in 2003. “My parents have always cooked so extraordinarily well, that when we try and cook anything together, it is always about who has the best recipe and ‘why do you do it like that and not like this,’ so when I am there with them, I just sit back, relax and enjoy! I must admit, though, that I do use some of my mother’s recipes as inspiration!” The young Parisian’s patisserie and café is located inside the luxurious fashion store of The Webster Miami. A fan from the start, Laure Hériard-Dubreuil (founder of The Webster) embraced Hugo & Victor’s unique concept. Despite the distance from Paris, Laure observed the patisserie from its opening, falling in love with the grapefruit tarts. Laure and Hugues first met during Paris Fashion Week in March 2013. They immediately hit it off, and so they shared the idea to create a cafe together. Whether in fine food or in fashion, Hugo & Victor and The Webster Miami were both founded on the same principles of artistic creation and elegance; each share the same high levels of demand in terms of selection, quality and refinement.

Raisin

Combawa Spring 2014

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King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament

Packs its Trunk for Bangkok By Robin Jay

Mark your calendars! The 2014 dates for the King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament have been released. This year’s event, August 28 – 31, will move from its original home of Hua Hin to the Thai capital of Bangkok, assuring nail-biting action on and off the field. A total of 50 street elephants will participate in this year’s tournament, which is played much like horse polo but with a few key nuances: All elephants carry a player and a mahout (an animal keeper); ladies may use both hands; and players use mallets two meters long. Due to the size of the enormous mammals, each team is made of three players and their four-legged pachyderm teammate.

Final days at the King’s Cup Bangkok Bank vs. Mercedes

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Throughout the polo tournament, elephants enjoy access to a “fresh produce buffet.”

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Elephant blessing ceremony during Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cup Elephant Polo 2013

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Spring 2014

At the first elephant polo games in 2001, teams played with a soccer ball. However, when officials discovered playful elephants liked to stamp and pop the soccer balls, they quickly switched to standard polo balls. Humorously, the highly intelligent elephants seem to enjoy entertaining the crowd with their antics. Some play-restrain by sitting on top of a slow-moving jeep and swinging at the ball using their trunk as a polo stick! No elephants may lie down in front of the goal. To do so constitutes a foul. And an elephant may not pick up the ball in its trunk during play. This also constitutes a foul and a free hit is awarded to the opposing team.

BenefiTING The Welfare of Elephants Now in its 13th season, the annual Elephant Polo Tournament – one of the largest charitable events in SE Asia – has raised more than $750,000 to help fund projects that improve the lives of Thailand’s wild and domesticated elephant population. Initiatives include supporting research and clinics using elephants in therapy sessions for children living with autism; building the first elephant hospital in Krabi in southern Thailand and donating a framework to help lame elephants stand at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre. Funds also go toward planting 4,000 trees to create elephant corridors in Kui Buri to help avoid elephant/farmer conflicts; funding children’s educational programs to teach them the importance of conservation and protection of wild elephants, and funding workshops showing traditional elephant trainers and camp owners the benefits of Positive Reinforcement Training for domesticated elephants. During the tournaments, hosted by Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas, all of the street elephants are well fed, provided with a native forest environment, and receive essential vitamin supplements and veterinary care. Street life and ‘unemployment’ can be tough for an elephant, walking through crowded tourist areas and busy roads for 10 hours a night, forced to rest during the day on small green spaces within the cities, often without shade and water. Sugarcane or rice balls packed with vitamins (molasses and rock salt) are given to the elephants at the end of each match, and a cold beer, or soft drink, to the elephant drivers. The King’s Cup schedule is deliberately designed to give these elephants rest and relaxation on a scale they are never afforded in their ‘normal’ lives. Last year’s event which had 16 teams encompassing over 50 players, including Thai supermodels, professional horse polo players, the New Zealand All-Blacks rugby team and Thailand’s famous cabaret team Miss Tiffany’s was a far cry from the small two teamed event back when it started in 2001. For more information on the 13th Annual King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament, visit www.anantaraelephantpolo.com

Spring 2014

South Florida OPULENCE

Greubel Forsey:

By Dale King

In a world that prizes time, Swiss based master watchmakers Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey employ that commodity in liberal portions to craft their signature wrist timekeepers using a 200-year-old methodology they have brought forward and adapted to 21st century haute horology.

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Spring 2014

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the exclusive Greubel Forsey brand – handcrafted works of mechanical genius, often considered the finest and most precise mechanical timepieces available. The Precise Inner-workings of a Masterpiece According to the pioneering horology duo, the accuracy of a Greubel Forsey timepiece owes much to the “tourbillon,” French for “whirlwind,” a spinning device added to the mechanics of a watch escapement intended to counter the detrimental “drag” of gravity on proper timekeeping. The mechanism, once used to improve the accuracy of pocket watches that remained in a single position for long periods of time, was developed around 1795 by French-Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet from an earlier idea by English chronometer maker John Arnold.

Tourbillon 24" blue The Quadruple Tourbillon While the tourbillon may be the heart of Greubel Forsey timepieces, invention, creativity and inspiration are the chambers of the soul. Born in Alsace, Robert Greubel says he realizes the importance of the tourbillon, but when he worked on the Double Tourbillon 30 Degree, “I felt the need to express the Greubel Forsey philosophy by means of a beautiful dial.” Other watch designs speak volumes with a variety of “complications,” a watchmaker term for anything on the face that is not connected with hours, minutes and seconds. Greubel Forsey demand hand-finishing of all surfaces, whether seen or unseen. This philosophy is a bow to the days when no watches were machine-made. “Polishing consumes hundreds of hours,” says Greubel, “but such tender care enhances the perfection of each watch.” In fact, a quarter of the firm’s “passionate team of young professionals” is dedicated just to polishing each part of every timepiece.

Co-founder, Forsey says the first Greubel Forsey timepiece, the Double Tourbillon 30 Degree, presented in 2004, “featured two concentric cages – in other words, a double tourbillon – with the inner cage angled 30 degrees to the outer.” This “angled” dynamic is captured in the strongly inclined roof of the Greubel Forsey headquarters located in the quiet Swiss community of La Chaux-de-Fonds.

A Closer Look at the Collection The firm’s line of exquisite timepieces includes the Quadruple Tourbillon, using four tourbillon cages, all working to minimize gravitationally induced errors, and the Quadruple Tourbillon Secret, presented in 2012, housing a modified quadruple tourbillon to ensure enhanced accuracy. Other Greubel Forsey watches include the GMT, Tourbillon 24

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La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site, the hometown of Greubel Forsey production.

Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey

Other Greubel Forsey watches include the GMT, Tourbillon 24 Secondes Contemporain, Double Balancier 35 Degree and the Art Piece 1, most of which have won leading international horological awards.

Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey The two craftsmen were heavily steeped in watch expertise when they met in 1992 while working at Renaud & Papi, manufacturer of mechanical watch movements (now a subsidiary of Audemars Piquet Renaud & Papi SA). A tall, tousle-haired Brit hailing from St. Albans, Stephen Forsey is the more extroverted of the pair. His grandfather worked for many great names in engineering; his father was an industrial chemist and automobile enthusiast. Robert Greubel learned watchmaking from his father and attended L’Ecole d’Horlogerie in Morteau. “Working together, we noticed we shared a similar vision,” says Forsey. “It gave us the motivation to work together.” They left Renaud & Papi in 1999 and opened Greubel Forsey in 2004.

The Quadruple Tourbillon

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complemented by a three-dimensional rotating globe visible through the crystal as well as the side. All this is set in an asymmetrical case. Art of invention is the hallmark of Greubel Forsey. “Every day is an adventure,” says Forsey. “We don’t have much time to admire what we’ve done. We are always working on what we have to do tomorrow.” Greubel seconds that motion, adding: “Creating is our driving force, the result of the influences of our watchmaking history.” Overall, the pair assesses a decade of timepiece craftsmanship in a single sentence: “Art, as in watchmaking, is the process of the human mind directing human hands to create the work. These watches speak for us.” For more information about the ingenious horology of Greubel Forsey, go to www.greubelforsey.com. Editor’s Note: South Florida Opulence is pleased to host Greubel Forsey at our 2014 Annual MegaYacht Gala on Fisher Island. Guests will have the unprecedented opportunity to view these remarkable timepieces in person.

Art Piece 1

Reinventing Horology of the Past with Uncanny Sophistication Dedicated to continual re-invention of the mechanical watch, a product that faced an uncertain future against quartz electric timepieces, the timepiece creators used the process of independent, by-hand production, but with modern twists, to appeal to timepiece collectors and connoisseurs. “People interested in our creations are collectors with a high level of knowledge about watchmaking,” Forsey says. That’s good, he notes, since the company completes no more than 100 timepieces each year. Still, the world has developed an overwhelming desire to hold, wear or just touch one of the duo’s creations. At one of Greubel Forsey’s exhibitions in 2013 in Belles Montres, Paris, Forsey said, “Each year, more and more collectors and amateurs come back to see these creations firsthand.”

Invention is the hallmark of this talented pair. “Art, as in watchmaking, is the process of the human mind directing human hands to create the work. These watches speak for us.”

The watches possess an uncanny sophistication. The GMT has particular eye appeal with a second time zone indication on its face

Spring 2014

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From Italy With Love Shhhhhâ&#x20AC;Ś the top-secret Lamborghini HuracĂĄn arrives undercover in Miami A new era has launched for Automobili Lamborghini and the luxury super sports car segment.

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Spring 2014

The successor to the iconic Gallardo, the Lamborghini Huracán takes a giant leap into the future, enhancing the brand’s illustrious history with the next automotive legend. The Huracán redefines the benchmark for luxury super sports cars. With a pure and unique design, an innovative technology package, outstanding dynamics and excellent quality, the Huracán combines absolute performance with easy-to-drive road behavior and both luxurious and sport-oriented finish.

How HuracÁn Got Its Name Like the Gallardo and most other Lamborghini models, Huracán derives its name from the world of bullfighting. The fighting bull Huracán of the Spanish Conte de la Patilla breed was known for his outstanding courage and strong sense of attack. He fought in Alicante in August 1879, showing his unrelenting character and remaining defiant and invincible, thus entering into the legend of fighting bulls’ history. The new Huracán revolutionizes the design language of the Gallardo: precise technology and top-level craftsmanship meet an audacious design with sharp edges, monolithic and sculptured volumes and precise surfaces. The silhouette of the Huracán is defined by only one line that merges the front with

the cockpit and the rear of the car. The lateral windows come together to create a hexagonal form inserted like a glass jewel in the car’s profile. Also by night is the Huracán unmistakably a Lamborghini. Not only are the main headlamps equipped with full LED illumination, but all other light functions feature stateof-the-art LED technology as a standard feature. The interior, accentuated with fine napa leather, is dominated by an innovative cockpit. A 12.3 inch full-color TFT instrument panel delivers a rev counter, navigation maps and infotainment functions.

Driving dynamics The power of the V10 engine is brought to the road via the new 7-speed dual-clutch transmission “Lamborghini Doppia Frizione” and fully electronically controlled four-wheel drive system. A driving dynamics selector switch in the steering wheel offers different driving modes – from traction-oriented on the road to extreme performance on the race track. The Lamborghini Huracán is available for purchase at Prestige Imports Lamborghini in Miami, located at 14800 Biscayne Boulevard North, North Miami Beach. For an appointment to experience the Huracán test drive simulator, call (888) 860-5210 or go to www.prestigeimports.com.

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SHOWROOM 900 Park Centre Boulevard, Suite 476 Miami FL 33169 305.623.8282 californiaclosets.com/miami

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Exceptional designs for every room

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2/19/14 2:51 PM

PHOTO COURTESY OF DOUGLAS LANCE

By Melissa Bryant

A Rebel Rocking 64

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n an unassuming street in Broward County resides an estate home known as the Parkland Playhouse. On the inside, based on an impressive display of platinum and gold records, Billboard Hot 100 charts and celebrity portraits hanging on the wall, you might think you were in the home of merely a wealthy music fan. But it’s the GRAMMY award sitting on the mantle that gives him away. This, you see, is the home-studio of superstar music producer and professional racecar driver, Jim Jonsin. An entrepreneur extraordinaire, Jonsin started record label Rebel Rock Entertainment, launched the motorsports team Rebel Rock Racing, and produced hits with about every A-list musician from Beyoncé and Shakira to Lil’ Wayne and Usher. Still, at the center of his universe, hangs the portrait of his family. First and foremost, Jim Jonsin is a husband and father. Of course, he still knows how to have a little fun. Nearly every room in Jonsin’s home studio has been converted for making music — except for one, which houses his racing simulator. After all, this is Parkland Playhouse — and Jonsin, he’s just a big kid with an even bigger heart.

Scratching the Surface If you were into the Miami music scene in the late 80s, then you’ve probably already heard of Jonsin a.k.a. Jealous Jay from his certified gold single “Party Time,” or his album Miami Bass Jam. What you may not know is that he started off scratch DJing at local skating rinks and teen clubs when he was 15 years old. “My first experience scratching for an audience was terrible. Still, I put on a good show. I may have fooled a few people,” Jonsin said, smiling.

Jim Jonsin’s recording studio at his home, Parkland Playhouse!

After more than a decade of DJing, this multitalented man progressed naturally from playing the music to actually making the music. Alone in a friend’s living room, headphones on, sound checked, he crafted his first official record in 1988. With it came record deals, a music tour and success. In the blink of an eye, the starry-eyed teen from Boca Raton became a professional producer, working with some of the biggest acts in the country. And instead of choosing to work solely with celebrity clientele, Jonsin is hard at work giving the next budding musician a chance at a career. Right now, one of Jonsin’s protégés is Leroy Sanchez,

Renaissance Man Spring 2014

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a Spanish-born crooner who sings with soulful depth far beyond his years. “There’s nothing like finding a diamond in the rough like Leroy Sanchez and assisting him to become the success they were born to be,” said Jonsin. “It’s amazing.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF LORI GARNER

Even with a successful music career and new talent to develop, this entrepreneur has not stopped moving. In 2010, he formed a motocross sports team, Rebel Rock Racing, which is already on its way to greatness. The always playful producer previously opened a motocross track on his Parkland property for the neighborhood to enjoy. Although he says area families and children loved it, the track soon had to close. “When we got shut down, I was looking for something new. I’d been doing music for a long time and needed a new spark,” Jonsin said. Coincidentally, he learned of a Grand-Am practice race nearby, so he jumped in. “I just had to do it. Racing is equally as fulfilling as music to me.” Since then, the proverbial rubber has hit the road. In January, Rebel Rock Racing impressively placed 6th in Daytona at the 2014 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

Family First

Jim Jonsin’s Family, left to right: Brinique, Janell, Scarlett, Jim, and Tristan

“Music is great and racing is fun, but family comes first,” said Jonsin, who aims to stay within a metaphorical “triangle” to remain close to the ones he loves most. His race shop is just two miles from his studio, and his home is only two miles from there. “This way, I can take my children to school in the morning, have lunch with my wife, race my cars, pick up my kids from school, make some music, and be home in time for dinner.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF tyler clinton

You never know what will be next for this family man, record producer, song writer, star maker, and racecar driver. Whatever it is, one thing is for certain: It will be rebel-made.

Rebel Rock Racing Team, left to right: Al Carter, Brett Sandberg, Jim Jonsin, Martin Barkey, Kyle Marcelli 66

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PHOTO COURTESY OF Tyler Clinton Spring 2014

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Left: Butch Buchholz Right: Jack Nicklaus Photo Courtesy of Jim Mandeville

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Spring 2014

BY Ava Roosevelt

Jack Nicklaus & Butch Buchholz

By Ava Roosevelt

Two sports, two legends and one great friendship

s you can imagine, my heart leaped, full of trepidation, as I was summoned to a very-last-minute live interview with the two champions. Fully armed with all I could read about both Jack and Butch, I was trying to prepare myself for what turned out to be the most emotional interview I’ve ever conducted.

Jack Nicklaus, who is widely regarded as the most accomplished professional golfer of all times, hardly needs an introduction. Neither does Butch. A professional tennis player who was one of the game’s top players in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he is the founder (in 1985) of the fifth largest tournament in the world, formally The Lipton, now called the Sony Open. Of all the extraordinary accolades, Hall of Fame inductions and trophies, which both athletes received through the years for their phenomenal sports, business and philanthropic achievements, being humble was never mentioned. Yet as we spoke, their modesty impressed me most and evoked renewed passion for living, being fit and giving back. Ava Roosevelt: Now that I’ve overcome my initial awe, please tell me how you met? Butch Buchholz: I met Jack sometime in the 60s, I think with Billy Talbert [a legendary American tennis player]. Jack Nicklaus: When you joined the club [The Bears Club] is when we actually started spending time. Butch: Yes, but we played tennis and golf years before that. Leigh Livesay said to Jack, Butch Buchholz is a friend of mine, and so let’s play tennis and golf. We played two or three years at Loxahatchee, with Cliff Drysdale. It’s been 18 years. Ava: So, I take it, it was not a friendship at first sight, it took years? Jack: It was love at first sight! Butch: Jack loves to play tennis, I love to play golf. Livesay is a good tennis player and good golfer, and Drysdale is a pro tennis player who loves to play golf, so that’s how it started.

Ava: You’re both of German descent – your ancestry and your age – was that a common denominator in your friendship? Jack: We were both over the hill before we met! Seriously, I don’t think our ancestry had much to do with it. I knew of Butch growing up, playing tennis. I followed tennis, but I didn’t follow it to the degree I follow it today. When you’re playing something [golf ], you don’t follow anything else except your own sport. Butch: I really didn’t start playing golf until I was 28, but I did follow golf when I used to do outings for Billy Talbert. Jack: Yes, I remember the first time Billy came down. He brought Chuck McKinley with him [Butch’s doubles partner]. I’ll never forget playing with Chuck and getting hit right in the nose with the tennis ball with the kick serve. Ava: Is the switch to prefer each other’s sport something that is age related or fitness related? Jack: Neither. I think it’s just interest related. I mean we both love tennis and we both love golf, we have common interests – Butch likes stone crabs, I like stone crabs. We have a lot of fun together. Ava: With golf and tennis, the games are really different. I mean, golf you play against many other competitors… Jack: Actually they are very similar. Ava: How so? Jack: Well, I keep telling Butch when he’s trying to hit a driver, hit a top spin backhand. Cliff Drysdale tells me my chipping motion is always great for drop shots. The motion is exactly the same. Butch: Even though they’re individual sports – you’re still doing mental things. It’s still all about what’s going on up here, in the head. Jack: That’s right, it’s all mental. Ava: What would you tell a young person, providing that their talent was already established? Would you recommend they play golf or tennis? Spring 2014

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a public park in St. Louis. He never got mad at me when I lost. I was ranked number 1 in my teens. I was also playing basketball. That year I played the Orange Bowl, the tennis tournament, and I lost to somebody in the finals whom I had never lost to before. We get back home and my father said, “Now let’s see, you’re the number one junior in the world – what is your world ranking in basketball?” I got it. If I had not stopped playing basketball, I would have been playing basketball tournaments in March when Billy Talbert invited me to come down during spring vacation and play tennis in Puerto Rico and Jamaica. I beat two guys who had world rankings, and I was 17, and because of that I got picked to go play the French, Wimbledon, the Australian 0pen and if I hadn’t…Well, that was the hardest thing to go to that coach and tell him I’m not playing basketball.

Jack Nicklaus, US Amateur Championship, 1961 Jack: Play both. My father introduced me to all sports. My dad was the city tennis champion in Columbus. I didn’t really play tennis until I was in my 30s, but he introduced me to it when I was a teenager, so I had enough fundamentals to be able to not start from scratch. Butch would’ve loved to have started playing golf as a teenager, because you would be a lot better golfer. Butch: Jack played college basketball. Jack: No I didn’t. I got recruited to play, but I elected not to play. Butch: I think for a tennis player, he needs to show by the time he’s 12 to 14, 15 that he has the potential to be a top 10 tennis player in the world. I think you see that earlier in tennis than in golf. Jack: Yes, you guys specialize a lot earlier and are washed up at 27. Butch: Yes, they quit at 27. Jack: In golf, you’re really just getting started at 27. Ava: Whom do you give the most credit for becoming the legends that you are? Jack: My father introduced me to all sports, he got me started. He turned me over to a golf teacher named Jack Grout at age 10. Jack was like another father to me all my life until he passed away in 1989. I don’t think Butch would ever have become a champion or I would have ever become a champion if we didn’t have the desire within our own selves to be so – you can lead anybody to water, but you can’t make them drink. Butch: Once you get to that stage, it all depends what’s in your heart, and what’s in your head. My dad was a teaching pro at 70

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Jack: When I was Butch’s age at 17, I had actually narrowed it to basketball and golf, but I mean I had NO idea I was going to be a professional golfer. I was just another kid who played golf, and I didn’t even go to college on a golf scholarship. They recruited me for basketball, but I think that was more because they didn’t give golf scholarships. I was just having fun playing golf, and when I was 18, I won an amateur tournament (probably the 5th or 6th ranked amateur tournament), and that got me on the Walker Cup team, and so now all of a sudden I made the Walker Cup team, so I figured I’ve got to be one of the 12 best amateurs in the country, and that was pretty nice. Later that year, I won the US Amateur, when I was 19, and so I was ranked number 1. The next year, I played in the US Open and I finished second. I said, ‘Maybe I’m better than I thought.’ Ava: People call you a God of Golf, an individual of multifaceted talents, a marketing genius… Jack: No, I’m not, I have a lot of people that work for me that are smart and they give me all the credit. Ava: What do you consider your greatest accomplishment to date? Jack: Ahhh, five kids, 22 grandkids, by far. Ava: And you, Butch? Butch: Same. I have three kids, five grandchildren. He knows all 22 grandchildren’s names and birthdays. I think that’s pretty good. Jack: I don’t think I know them all….I have a cheat sheet with their names and birthdays that I carry. Ava: Do you influence the lives of your grandchildren in any way? Jack: Sure I do, by showing support. I influence by staying out of the way. I think what I’ve actually done with my kids is what my father did with me. I introduced all my kids to things but never really forced anything on them. Butch: That’s always a balance. Jack: It’s a tough balance, particularly when your father is Butch Buchholz or Jack Nicklaus. And so my kids have done pretty much the same thing, they all play all sports. We raised our kids – it’s time for them to raise their kids, and we support them to whatever level it’s necessary to do so.

Ava: Who beats who at which game, and how often? Butch: We’re actually partners when we golf together, although he beat me today when we had an individual game. In tennis, he is very smart when he picks his doubles partner, Cliff Drysdale. So not only does he beat me in golf, but he is smarter in picking a partner. Jack: He would obviously beat me at tennis. He’s a tennis player, who is past his prime, but a tennis player who’s past his prime can still play tennis. I’m a golfer past my prime and I can still play golf. He’s not a golfer, he’s a tennis player, but he loves to play golf and I love to play tennis. Butch: I will tell you about Jack’s tennis. He understands doubles better than some pros, seriously. He can go out there with anybody, and he’s going to have a good time and he’s not going to embarrass himself. Ava: So how is Butch’s golf? Jack: Butch is an 8 handicap in golf and I’m about an 8 handicap in tennis. We’re pretty much the same. We’re pretty comparable. I know that Butch can play golf with guys his age and never embarrass himself, except for today! Butch: Probably the worst round I’ve had in 20 years. Ava: What more would you like to accomplish in your lives? Butch: I want to see my children and my grandchildren do well and be happy. A little over a year ago, the PGA Tour asked me to become part of the Doral Golf Tournament, the Cadillac World Golf Championship. I am the Chairman of that event and I was supposed to do it on a part-time basis and all of a sudden it’s a fulltime basis! As long as I’m making a contribution, I’m happy with that. I’m just so thankful for my life and everything that tennis has given me and my family.

now will be government supported to grow the game. I don’t play my game very much anymore, Butch doesn’t either, but we both love our game. We’re both very concerned about the game. My personal ambitions are really the ambitions of helping others. I don’t need the income today, Butch doesn’t need the income, neither one of us are what you would call wealthy people, but we’re very comfortable. Ava: Listening to you, you are both very rich in my book, Sir. Jack: I’m very rich in being able and having the enjoyment of playing my sport, and enjoying my friends. Butch: We’ve had this game for the last 18 years. It’s Camp Nicklaus. You go play golf and then you go play tennis at Jack’s house [on grass courts]. Jack: We call it Golden Bear Day Camp. Butch: But you must know, there’re always these little friendly bets, $50, and inside of Jack’s kitchen cabinets, inside the doors, are these $50 bills that he’s won from Cliff Drysdale over all these years. When you go to his house and people come in for the first time, and they think, ‘oh yes, I’m going to see the Masters trophy, or the US Open and all the trophies that he won,’ but no. You go into the kitchen and you open up the cabinet door and see all these $50 bills all plastered in there. Jack: And it got so full we had to start another cabinet! And I have another one that’s called OD Money – that’s Other Dummies money. Butch: Mine’s going in the cabinet today. Jack’s wife, Barbara, always wants to know, what happened today? Can Jack come in the house? It’s been fun. Jack: My biggest problem is if I lose, I get to reach in my pocket and pay it off. If I win, I have to give it to my wife and she puts it in the cabinet. So I can’t come out ahead!

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PHOTO CREDIT: International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum

Ava: What about you, Jack? Jack: Keep my wife happy, that’s number one! I’m still working full-time – I travel to China, Russia, South America or Africa. I’m designing golf courses. When I played my sport, I tried to play as much around the world as I could – when the Iron Curtain went down, I wanted to do things in Russia, when Apartheid got abolished, I wanted to go to South Africa. I’m doing more golf courses in China than you can imagine – at least 15 golf courses are under construction there right now. The Olympics are going to be tremendous for golf – it’s been a great thing for tennis. Golf hasn’t been in the Olympics since 1904. China, Russia, India and Brazil (countries with large populations) Butch Buchholz, semi-final round, The National Tennis Championship, 1960

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By John D. Adams Let’s address the obvious first. The words “body painting” don’t immediately conjure images of gala art shows and gallery openings. Chances are your first thoughts were of a child’s birthday party, or a carnival, or maybe Mardi Gras. The stunning work of fine art body painter Craig Tracy will change that first impression forever. He is the most famous fine art body painter in the world; and is the artist/owner of “The Craig Tracy Gallery” in New Orleans, the first fine art gallery devoted to body painting.

The dimension of preconception

Elevating the historic art of body painting to the level of fine art, Craig Tracy invites you to experience the living illusion.

Look closely. Tracy’s work consists of a painted human body juxtaposed against a painted canvas or other surface. The image becomes a whole and is then photographed and put on canvas. “It’s insane,” remarks Tracy. “I’m never working on a flat surface. I’m painting a three-dimensional image on a three-dimensional surface. I always must keep in mind what the viewer is going to see…what the final result is going to be. Doing that on a curved human body is often ludicrous.” Standing before Tracy’s work is a transformative experience. His deft hand removes any stigma of appreciation for the curves and angles – the architecture – of the body. One’s eyes can unabashedly sweep across the human form. And that’s the point. This is not a recital. “You can be overwhelmed by the three-dimensional human body in front of you with paint on it,” says Tracy. “Your brain is saying: ‘show me-show, show me…’ but that impulse has no relevance to my work.” Tracy’s artwork allows the brain to relax and concentrate solely on the final piece as a fully integrated image with something to say. “That’s all that matters,” he says.

Intention over tricks

The title of the painting Craig is shown working on here is, quite appropriately, "Purr."

But how does he do it? Using a mélange of techniques – airbrushing [not as much as you might expect], brush painting and finger painting – to achieve a desired effect, Tracy firmly declares it is not as much about the “tools” as it is the intention. “Eighty percent of my work is about the camera’s view,” says Tracy. “It doesn’t matter if the subject matter is three-dimensional on a threedimensional surface; it’s all about the Spring 2014 2014 Spring

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relevance to the camera’s perspective. You have to go to where the camera is and see it from that point of view. It is ultimately the camera that is going to record and capture the three-dimension reality of my work, two-dimensionally.” Tracy is quick to emphasize that his are not “performance pieces.” The movement of the human canvas is a distraction, a knee-jerk reaction by the brain to understand how the illusion is created. Tracy’s intention is to express the beauty of integrating subjects, mediums and meanings, thereby revealing a symbiosis between the human and everything else in the universe. “I get it. I’m painting on a person. That’s cool. But it’s not about the paint, or which brush I use, it truly isn’t. My work isn’t about technique. My work is about the way I approach it intellectually. Of course, you must be technically competent, but that is secondary. Being overly technical is a flaw that can dehumanize. I like to engage the viewer with the humanity.”

Psychology of illusion

Quiver

While Tracy nimbly incorporates the person into a larger overall “landscape,” the artist never loses the humanity. And that’s the fascinating conundrum. How do you celebrate the integration of the human form without drawing attention to that form? “It’s all about trying to figure out the balance of the psychology of the viewer,” he says. “I try and make sure that the human form does not distract from the final intention… You have to step back to see the whole. In my case, it must be seen from that very specific point.” Ultimately, Tracy’s pieces celebrate us, human beings, and perhaps send a greater message that we are, indeed, an integral part of everything around us. “In a world where there is so much available, there really isn’t that much that is different… While body painting has a long and fascinating history, I’m taking it to a different level. I’m really doing something new and exciting.” Learn more about Craig Tracy’s gallery and work. Visit: www.craigtracy.com “The Craig Tracy Gallery,” 827 Royal St., New Orleans, LA 70116 SKIN WARS – New Reality TV Competition Coming Summer 2014 Body painting rock stars Craig Tracy and Robin Slonina are the celebrity judges of an exciting new competition television show, SKIN WARS, premiering on the Game Show Network (GSN) this summer. For details, go to gsntv.com. Stay tuned! 74

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Salvation

At left, artist Craig Tracy poses with the three models in his "Salvation" painting, which he made to increase awareness about the endangerment of the South China Tiger. "Butterfly" (at right) is named for the shape on the leopard's nose.

Butterfly

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Beyond Extraordinary on a Private Island

Island aerial shot

The Cigar and Wine Room

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outh Florida’s last private island is soon to be home to its most enviable new address–Privé at Island Estates. With just 160 lavish residences in twin 16-story towers on a private eight-acre island, set between Williams Island and Sunny Isles Beach, the enviable commission of designing the common areas has been granted to the award-winning design firm, Interiors by Steven G. “In the Grand Lobby, the exterior view of the water becomes the main focal point and featured artwork in the space, while a series of floorto-ceiling polished stainless steel rods provide a sculptural screen and divider between the front and back of the room,” said Steven G., Interior Designer. “Timeless contemporary furnishings with luxurious earth tone fabrics are carefully selected to suit the elegance and sophistication for this property.” Every Privé residence will feature private elevator entry, flow-through floor-plans with 10-foot glass on both eastern and western exposures, full balconies, expansive water views, European kitchens and bathrooms, as well as outdoor summer kitchens. First-class, resort-style amenities and services include a 10,000 square-foot gym and spa in each tower, private dining and social rooms, poolside café, wine and cigar rooms, kids’ rooms, tennis court, two pools, marina, private pier, nature trail, private beach, jogging path, 24-hour gated and roving security, and full-time concierge. It’s a private oasis on a secluded island. Groundbreaking is yet to come. Turn the page to read about the innovative developers making this vision reality… (And to see more grand interiors by Steven G., go to www.interiorsbysteveng.com.)

Main Social Room The Grand Lobby

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Developer profile

meet the powerhouse developers of privÉ at island estates by Jule Guaglardi When we think of private island living and balmy breezes, a picturesque Caribbean postcard image comes to mind. However, there is another type of private island living that is just as magnificent, maybe even more – Privé at Island Estates in South Florida – an eight-acre real estate development certain to dazzle even the most discerning buyer – offering an exceptionally refined lifestyle experience second to none. Spearheading this bespoke project is a powerhouse team consisting of co-developers Gary Cohen, an original developer of the land known as Williams Island, along with BH3, whose extremely impressive portfolio includes properties such as Trump Hollywood, Fontainebleau Sorrento, Terra Beachside, and many others.

The Men of BH3 Operated by Charlie Phelan, Gregory Freedman and Daniel Lebonsohn, BH3 could have maximized their financial potential on this project and placed 400 units on this prime location – however they didn’t – and there is a great deal to be said about the character of their firm for not having done so. Instead, the team considered all facets, wanting to further play on the allure of this exclusive petite island. They considered the space of the land (making certain not to overwhelm it visually) to the natural environment that abounds, to the surrounding residences across the water, wanting to offer them something visually spectacular as part of their view, and most of all, they were considerate to their desired clientele – a very distinct, successful and discerning individual or family, one with impeccable taste and very high expectations for elegance, service, uniqueness and privacy. This secluded island enclave boasts “160 unique works of art for fewer discerning buyers,” explains Daniel Lebonsohn, one of the owners of BH3 – with 80 outstanding residences in each tower. One of their goals for electing to make this property more boutique in nature was to capitalize not on dollars to be made, but rather to create one of the most outstanding lifestyle experiences possible. Hence, this project will be the most service-rich environment that this team has ever put together.

The Architecture Designed by Seiger Suarez, the architectural firm, these grand residences start at $1.7 million and will range anywhere from 2,585 square feet to 9,000 square feet of indoor space, plus terraces. The development provides 70,000 square feet of public space for residents — a huge, unrivaled amount. It is almost incomprehensible to offer this much grandeur encased in two chic, twin towers that

Privé at Island Estates Co-developers Gary Cohen (front center) and BH3 (back l-r) Charlie Phelan, Gregory Freedman, and Daniel Lebonsohn. will stand 16 stories high on just a few acres — and yet they’re doing it, while attending to every fine detail. The residences will showcase the lush landscaping, the Intracoastal Waterway and the surrounding Miami waterfront neighboring areas, all through floor to ceiling windows running both front to back, with interior designs crafted by the same team who created the magnificence of, for example, the St. Regis Bal Harbour. The units will have private-elevator entries with water views, flow-through floor plans, European kitchens and bathrooms, outdoor summer kitchens, private rooftops, a private bridge, full-service valet, five-star concierge service, poolside café, two swimming pools, tennis court, jogging trail, private jetty for guest boat landing and fishing, private marina with boat slips available for purchase, plus each building has a two-story, 10,000 square-foot gym and spa, wine cellar, cigar lounge, toddlers’ playroom, game room and a wide assortment of other items to cater to the residents every whim. For more information, please visit www.mypriveisland.com

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A Museum Aquarium:

The Wonder of Underwater By Alex Starace

Conservancy of Southwest Florida

In the deep sea or amongst the coral reef, humans have long been captivated by the remoteness of the aquatic realm. Which is why Mat Roy, the President and COO of Living Color Aquariums in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has such a fascinating job: His team brings the awe of the underwater to an indoor space. He’s also the star of the Nat Geo WILD hit series “Fish Tank Kings,” a reality television show based on Living Color’s custom aquarium construction. In past issues of South Florida Opulence, we’ve featured Living Color’s stunning residential, resort, hotel and spa custom aquariums. In this issue, we spotlight another unique niche: museum aquariums.

The Art of Re-creating Nature Mat explained that working with museums and nature centers presents unique challenges. Each custom aquarium must exactly re-create a representative section of nature within a relatively small space. “We’ll study the local surroundings to understand what is indigenous to a particular area, and then we replicate that specific scenery.” The team at Living Color Aquariums includes biologists who collaborate with each facility’s experts to build safe, true-to-life environments for the aquatic life. 80

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Loxahatchee River District’s River Center

“Living Color… it’s where engineering meets art,” said Mat. At the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, for example, Mat’s team was tasked with building an alligator exhibit, among other things. “Alligator exhibits are very unique. The challenge is creating a virtual “vertical slice” of the everglades displayed behind acrylic walls. Alligators, of course, need full water submersion and a dry area to relax and bake under the proper lighting, to absorb the needed nutrients, just as they would under the sun.” Making sure that such a complex system works flawlessly 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is not for the faint of heart – especially when one installation includes multiple exhibits – and not just on alligators, but also on turtles, snakes, octopuses and fish. These creatures each need their own individualized environments, depending on whether they live in shallow waters or deep waters, freshwater or saltwater. Continued on next page

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PHOTO COURTESY OF SILVIA PANGARO PHOTO COURTESYOF PETER W. CROSS

South Florida Science Center and Aquarium in West Palm Beach

Andrew Nieves of Lake Worth pretends to hold his breath for the camera while in the pop-up aquarium in the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium in West Palm Beach.

The “Kings” of Wild Such wide-ranging installations are commonplace for Living Color Aquariums. At the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium in West Palm Beach, Mat’s team built the story of the region’s waterways from an inland local canal system all the way out to a recently sunken industrial freighter ship, which is now home to many of Florida’s native marine species. There’s even an exhibit on freshwater invasive species, which was featured in an episode of “Fish Tank Kings.” But most popular is the “Pop Up” aquarium exhibit, where both kids and adults can crawl underneath an aquarium, and then “pop up” to find themselves in a tube in the middle of a reef, totally surrounded by water and fish. It’s something visitors seldom forget. 82

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Another fan favorite is a “touch tank.” Mat’s crew has installed one at the Loxahatchee River District’s River Center. It’s a low, shallow tank with an open top. A biologist stands behind it and uses the aquarium as an educational tool. Visitors are invited to touch the friendly aquatic life swimming within the touch tank. One can only imagine how easy it is to get lost in the fun and mystery of underwater life – and to forget that a visit to the aquarium couldn’t happen without experts like Mat Roy and the Living Color Aquariums’ team behind the scenes. For a tour to see just how the “Fish Tank Kings” at Living Color Aquariums work their magic, call (800) 878-9511 or log onto www.LivingColor.com. Living Color Aquariums is located at 6850 NW 12th Ave., Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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Looking for the extraordinary home? Call us or visit our website and with just a few clicks you can see extraordinary homes that leave the ordinary behind. onesothebysrealty.com

Claudia Fernandez Broker Associate One Sothebys Realty cfernandez@onesothebysrealty.com 305 733 1769

ONE Spring 2014

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A RT ( O f L i g h t ) IN THE L A NDS C A P E

Photo Credit: Al Whitley

The Broad Brush of the Sun The Fine Brush of Artificial Light Art In the Landscape: Series Part V By Mary & Hugh Williamson

he beautiful Sunshine State is blessed with the vi-

the year. Zen gardeners were masters of using light and

tal resource that the name implies. The sun is

shadow to reflect the movement of the sun and the moon

among the most powerful forces in nature and in

on objects.

the landscape, and it is indiscriminate. We can do

The whole concept of Yin and Yang, prominent in Oriental

little to control it using awnings, shade trees and lanais. Sun-

light can be harsh, or it can be sparkling. We are drawn to it,

culture, is reflected in the symbol which shows the sunlit side of the mountain and the shadowed side of the mountain. This

and sometimes retreat from it.

push-pull relationship is at the heart of many philosophies,

Sunlight is the greatest creator and shaper of art in the landscape.

including this one.

Sunlight and its constant companion, shadow, determine how

So then, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consider the incredible power of light as Art in the

we see everything in the outdoor environment. Sunlight

Landscape. Sunlight is a design element painted with a very large

changes its intensity and angle of approach every single day of

brush. Shadows and their interplay with light can be dramatic,

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subtle or in the wide range between. All of this can be incorporated into landscape design by those skilled in the nuances.

scape includes buildings, hardscapes, land art such as topiaries, and more traditional plant material.

To truly understand the concept of light and shadow, one only has to view the magnificent series of paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926). His studies of the effects of changing light on the façade of the Rouen Cathedral are some of the most compelling examples of light’s drama.

The sun cannot be commanded to highlight just one valued sculptural feature of your landscape. However, artificial light, in the dark or the semi-darkness paints its presence with a very fine brush. It is used to articulate and accent. It will always be sculptural and will use the darkness and the shadows to show contrast. This can be accomplished on a balcony, a penthouse garden or a broad estate.

As Natural Light Fades As natural sunlight wanes, the manmade version can take over, providing for security, wayfinding, beauty and glamour. Think beyond the usual highly functional applications of artificial light, such as your pool, the approaches to your home: pathways, driveways. Artificial light is much more manageable than the “real thing,” and allows for great drama and creativity. Your land-

The possibilities are endless, and if you have an interest and fascination, you can easily experiment with a few movable light fixtures identified with UL wet location designations. Change angles, change intensity, change your intent with the seasons. Flood a favorite sculpture, or a gloriously shaped tree. Palm trees are

wonderfully lighted from above during the day, and can be romantically lighted from the ground at night. Different angles cause dramatic variations of effect. It is remarkably easy to change your “canvas”. Maybe a fountain with its spray cooling the air can be a glowing evening focal point for your Florida outdoor lifestyle. Perhaps bringing light to the far reaches of your property will define the perimeters. Experiment and have fun. Your landscape architect or a member of the International Landscape Lighting Institute can make your vision real. Hugh Williamson is a graduate of landscape architecture programs at Syracuse University and the SUNY College of Environmental Science. Mary is a gardener and interior designer by training at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee, and Harrington Institute of Interior Design. Their Bluffton, SC wildlife habitat uses light as sculpture throughout.

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Analyzing

Vincent van Gogh Part I in a two-part exclusive interview with the Curator of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam By Robin Jay

Analyzing

Vincent van Gog Wheat Field Under Clouded Sky, 1890, Oil on canvas 50 × 100.5 cm (19.7 × 39.6 in), Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

he eloquent words of beloved impressionist Vincent van Gogh, documented in the more than 800 letters he wrote during his lifetime (mostly to his brother Theo), tell the bittersweet tale of his tragic, yet legendary, life.

Few would guess the brilliant literary correspondence was penned by a man who dropped out of school at the age of 15; of a man whose first aspiration was to help others as a clergyman but struggled a lifetime with low self-worth; of a man who painted some 900 works (now priceless), yet sold only one during his lifetime; of a man whose social circle included masters like Paul Gauguin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Lucien Pissarro and

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Emile Bernard, but became famous only after death; of a man whose beloved masterpiece Starry Night was painted from behind the window bars of an asylum (he struggled with epilepsy and mental illness); of a man whose personal despair led him to cut off a piece of his own earlobe and to self-inflict a bullet wound that would claim his own life. “To try to understand the real significance of what the great artists, the serious masters, tell us in their masterpieces, that leads to God; one man wrote or told it in a book; another, in a picture,” Van Gogh said in a letter in 1880 when he first decided that it was possible to serve God and become an artist.

“I dream of painting, I paint my dreams.”… “One can speak poetry just by arranging colors well, just as one can say comforting things in music.” … “I long so much to make beautiful things. But beautiful things require effort — and disappointment and perseverance.” Self-portrait with straw hat (March 1887 - June 1887), Oil on canvas Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

– Vincent van Gogh in letters

gh If only Van Gogh could have known the tremendous impact his labor of love would have on the art world more than a century after his passing – that historians, students, collectors and conservationists – and editors – alike would still voraciously seek to learn from and emulate his contributions. Ultimately, Van Gogh’s nephew and namesake, Vincent Willem van Gogh, inherited the priceless collection of artworks. He transferred them in 1962 to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam was opened by the Dutch state in 1973 and is home to the largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh, on loan from the Vincent van Gogh Foundation.

Starry Night, 1889, Oil on canvas, 73.7 x 92.1 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York

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It is with great pleasure that South Florida Opulence shares with you three exclusive interviews – in a two-part series. Here in Part I, we chat with the Vincent van Gogh Curator of Exhibitions Nienke Bakker about the museum’s intensive research on Van Gogh at Work. In Part II, we’ll talk with curator Bakker about Mr. Van Gogh’s Letters and with Ella Hendriks, the museum’s Art Conservationist, who recently finished the painstaking, but intriguingly revealing, restoration of Van Gogh’s world-famous painting The Bedroom. Don’t miss “Secrets of The Bedroom”! South Florida Opulence: What are the key themes of study that experts at your museum researched regarding how Van Gogh worked? Nienke Bakker: The Van Gogh Museum, with its collection of over 200 paintings and more than 500 drawings by Van Gogh, as

The Yellow House, 1888, Place of Creation: Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône, France Oil on canvas, Dimensions: 72 x 91.5 cm, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Van Gogh at Work – Interview Part I with Curator Nienke Bakker

well as 800 letters written by him, has a long tradition of scientific research into the life and work of the artist. Nowhere else in the world is it possible to study so many works by Van Gogh in such a cohesive context. Recently an innovative and multidisciplinary research programme, ‘Van Gogh’s Studio Practice’ was carried out by the museum together with the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands and Shell Nederland. The objective was to compare Van Gogh’s techniques, use of materials and acquired artistic know-how with those of his contemporaries and artists of earlier generations who had influenced him. This eight-year long, wide-ranging and ambitious project resulted in, among other things, a scholarly publication, a symposium and the large exhibition entitled “Van Gogh at Work,” clarifying the working methods of the artist for the first time for a wide audience. Before an artist starts to work, he needs to make choices that will determine the end result: He needs to decide what type of canvas or paint he is going to use. Like other painters, Van Gogh examined the characteristics of different materials with great care and experimented with various types of canvas, grounds and pigments. He often bought standard-size pre-primed can-

Dr. Paul Gachet , 1890, Oil on canvas, 67 x 56 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France

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Actual paint palette used by Vincent van Gogh vases, which allowed him to start painting right away, and which fitted most frames. When drawing or painting, Van Gogh had a number of devices at hand to help him reproduce a composition in the right proportions. One of these was a perspective device – a wooden or cardboard frame with a pattern of horizontal, vertical and sometimes diagonal threads. He copied the frame and the threads on his sheet of paper or canvas and then viewed his subject through the frame. On many of his works, from the Holland drawings to the Paris paintings, the lines of these grids are still visible in the underdrawing. Van Gogh had perspective frames in different sizes. In the Netherlands, he had had them made by a carpenter; in Paris he bought standard-sized frames and added the threads himself. Usually he chose the perspective frame of the appropriate size for a particular sheet of paper or canvas. Gradually he made less and less use of the perspective frame. The resultant more spontaneous approach gave his personal, energetic drawing style a significant impulse. SFO: Why did Van Gogh recycle his canvases, and what can be learned about Van Gogh by studying his various layers? Bakker: Van Gogh seems to have made both creative and efficient use of his materials. He often reused his canvases, out of financial necessity or because the study he had painted on it was no longer of use to him. Sometimes he painted over an existing work; in other cases he scraped off the paint and applied a new ground. In the summer of 1887, he was forced to turn to this method of recycling canvases, as he did not have the means to buy new ones. During this period he also created works on the backs of existing paintings. Research has shown that some canvases were used several times. The underlying representations can be identified with X-rays and MA-XRF (X-ray fluorescence), a technique used to analyze the chemical composition of paint. SFO: What can you tell us about the colours Van Gogh chose for his paintings? Bakker: Colour is an essential and constant element in Van Gogh’s entire oeuvre. Many of his experiments with colour are based on the theory of complementary colours: The colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel (red and green, yellow and purple, blue and orange) create contrast and accentuate each other. Van Gogh learned the basic principles of this theory from art books, and in his still lifes he experimented with different combinations and mixtures of colours.

It was only when Van Gogh saw paintings with intense colour effects in Paris, where he lived from 1886 to 1888, that he realized the full potential of colour combinations. He would apply the theory of complementary contrasts for the rest of his painting career. He applied bright contrasting colours next to and on top of each other, while some colours were applied straight from the tube. His became an expressive painting style with colour at its centre. In addition to contemporary French art – notably the daring stylistic experiments of his good friend Emile Bernard – Japanese woodblock prints were an important source of inspiration for Van Gogh’s new use of colour. Especially in the paintings from his first year in Provence, we encounter the strong colours, solid simple compositions and lack of depth so reminiscent of Japanese prints. Along with his particular use of colour, it is Van Gogh’s distinct brushwork that lends his work its specific impact and aura. During the 10 years of his career, he continued to experiment with different ways of applying paint. Van Gogh’s creative exploration of the use of colour and impasto and of new styles and techniques, especially during the second year of his stay in Paris, enabled him to establish a very personal, modern style characterized by strong colours and a distinctive swirling brushstroke. SFO: What was his studio like? Was he organized? Do you know why he sometimes chose to work outside? Bakker: Van Gogh preferred to work outdoors whenever possible. By the second half of the 19th century, artists no longer had to mix their own paint. Instead, they could buy it readymade in tubes. That made it much more convenient to paint in the open air. Dealers in art supplies responded to this trend with equipment designed for outdoor use, such as field easels and portable painters’ boxes. Van Gogh had a folding field easel and a painter’s box with tubes of paint that he could easily bring along when he worked outdoors. He also worked in his studio, which he always furnished with great care wherever he lived. From his letters we have a few descriptions, such as this one about his studio in The Hague in 1882: ‘The studio looks so authentic, it seems to me: plain, grey-brown wallpaper, scrubbed

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floorboards, muslin fixed to laths in front of the windows, everything bright. And of course the studies on the wall, an easel on each side, and a big pine-wood work-table. Adjoining the studio is a sort of alcove where the drawing boards, portfolios, boxes, sticks, etc. are, and also where all the prints lie. And in the corner a cupboard with all the little pots and bottles, and also all my books’. SFO: Is it known what Van Gogh’s personality was like when he was deep in work compared to his social personality when he wasn’t painting? Do you know what his hobbies were outside of art? Bakker: Van Gogh was always working extremely hard. He was enthusiastic to the point of Newly discovered – Sunset at Montmajour (1888). Painted during his period in Arles fanaticism, set excruciatingly in the south of France. high hurdles for himself, and struggled long and hard to overcome them. His personal life became completely subordinate to art. When he wasn’t painting or drawing, he was writing letters or reading books, with the same zeal. SFO: Is it known what works Van Gogh got the most pleasure out of painting and, if so, why? Bakker: There are many examples, such as this letter written in June 1888 when he was busy painting Wheatfields in Provence: ‘I even work in the wheatfields at midday, in the full heat of the sun, without any shade whatever, and there you are, I revel in it like a cicada. My God, if only I’d known this country at 25, instead of coming here at 35.’ SFO: When guests attend your exhibits about Van Gogh at Work, what do they find most interesting or surprising? Bakker: Most visitors know relatively little about the artist and his oeuvre, so they are amazed by the enormous amount of works he created and the evolution he went through as a painter and a draughtsman in only 10 years’ time. Van Gogh, in stark contrast to the myth of the impulsive genius, was in fact a very disciplined artist who worked hard at improving his technical skills and consciously experimented with a wide range of materials. He drew inspiration from fellow artists, such as Anton Mauve, Paul Gauguin, Emile Bernard and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and avidly explored the new ideas of his time.

Tournesols (Sunflowers), 1888, Oil on canvas 92.1 cm × 73 cm (36.2 in × 28.7 in), National Gallery, London

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Look for Part II of our series on Analyzing Vincent van Gogh in the summer issue of South Florida Opulence in June.

Resurrecting a Masterpiece An exclusive conversation with Conservationist Extraordinaire, Gordon Lewis By Dale King and Julia Hebert

Spring 2014 Spring South 2014 Florida South OPULENCE Florida OPULENCE 91

nside a nondescript building at an unassuming industrial park in Palm Beach County, Florida, a man and a masterpiece of portraiture meet face-to-face. The man, art conservationist Gordon Lewis, is staring at a 1631 work, a portrait by the great master: Rembrandt. His task? Remove nearly 400 years of dirt and repair the ravages of age. After studying the artist and the piece, Lewis will work with great care and little speed to restore its value and return it to the private owner who has already rejected a $58 million offer to buy it. [For confidentiality purposes, we’re unable to show the Rembrandt here – but trust me when we tell you it’s breathtaking!] With 40 years’ experience in art conservation and restoration, Gordon counts among his clientele private owners, major dealers and 28 museums, among them, the National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institutions, Lowe Museum and Bass Museum, both in Miami; the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the esteemed Uffizi Gallery in Florence. His trained hands have touched the works of Peter Paul Rubins, Gilbert Stuart, Dali, Botero and Picasso, to name a few.

The structure that houses the offices and labs at Gordon’s firm, The Fine Arts Conservancy, is climate-controlled, with digital locks on all doors and armored windows for security. In his work area, monitors attached to cameras show magnified sections of damaged portraits. Only two other institutions have the same electronic imaging microscopes found at his conservancy: The National Gallery of Art and Metropolitan Museum. Gordon is quick to note the difference between restorers and art conservationists. “Restorers have very good hand skills. Some are painters in their own right. They will take a picture and make it look good, sometimes very good indeed.” But they don’t understand the potential adverse impact of chemicals on the original work. I have seen more paintings destroyed this way than you can shake a stick at,” he said.

A look behind the scenes Gordon offers a glimpse into the mind of a conservationist. “It is a deep, dark recess. Every now and then, something bubbles to the surface. Working on a piece of art is only part of the restoration process. Another very important part is sitting down to contemplate how you are going to approach it.” The conservationist must also decide if the portrait is going to a museum or onto the market. “With private collections, we can assume that the work is going up for sale. We have to try and buy back as much of the value in the piece as possible. Sometimes, we can bring it back totally; other times, partially and sometimes, nothing can be done.” In the latter case, he quips, “We give the owner a spade and a little head marker and send it out to the back yard.” Working with his wife, Laney, a specialist in valuable, antique frames, and a staff of two, Gordon admits he never knows what will enter his door. “A woman came in with a 24-by-18-by-3 box. It contained a child’s dress made of pure gold threads. The girl’s great-uncle had been a British viceroy to India, and it was a gift from one of the maharajahs.” The conservationist can restore “pretty much every medium. It’s a lot of fun.” And the excitement of the job “is enough to keep me coming 92

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in every morning.” In his job, Gordon says he has learned that economic value often differs from sentimental value. “A couple of years ago, a man came in with a broken porcelain vase. I told him I could repair it for $700-$800, but I had seen the same vase in Macy’s for $90.” The man insisted, saying, “This was the last thing my late wife and I bought together before her untimely death.” Gordon has also seen the very rich squander multi-million dollar pieces. “A friend called and said she wanted a piece of furniture restored. As I was walking up a spiral staircase there, I passed a Matisse that I saw was flaking. I told her it needed work badly. She said, ‘Uh, it’s just decoration.’” Another client, he says, overlooked a deteriorating set of paintings because she “didn’t like them.” Gordon asked, “Why

not donate them? She said ‘I can’t. My late husband loved them.’”

“While working on a masterpiece, I feel i’m in the presence of greatness.

small group of people with various capacities for this type of work.’” That gave birth to his business.

The master of conservation has traveled the world to save art of all types. He monitored Gordon established his firm in New York, but moved south 17 years ago. He and his staff still go conservation work at the Uffizi Gallery in north when necessary. The former rector of St. Florence, Italy, and trained personnel at 14 musePatrick’s Cathedral, Monsignor Eugene V. Clark, ums in the Orient, including the National Palace contacted the conservancy in Florida to create a Museum. Lewis also had a hand in saving a chapel at the famed New York church. “I told my portrait of cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather people they had to understand every nuance of Post that still hangs at the Bath & Tennis Club in the work because Monsignor Clark was referred Palm Beach. He said he urged the club to repair to us by my good friend and an extraordinary the 1952 work by British artist Frank Salisbury man, Dr. Walter Persegati,” says Gordon. “I met Dr. that was damaged in a hurricane. “They didn’t Persegati while working on the ceiling of the Sistwant to; they said there wasn’t enough value.” So — Gordon Lewis he researched the painter and found that ine Chapel. He was secretary/treasurer of Vatican City Museums. He reported to – and only to – the Salisbury had not only created a portrait of Winston Churchill that sold for “an astronomical price,” but had also won Pope. So, I said, if we screw this up, we are all going to fry in hell forever!” a prestigious award. Club officials reconsidered and hired Gordon While working on a masterpiece, Gordon said he feels he’s in “the to repair the painting. presence of greatness. You feel a kinship to the artist and the paintBecoming an Art Conservationist ing. You know that painting better than anyone – except the artist.” After college, Gordon joined a management consulting firm. He He admits he has called clients and said, “Can you leave it here anreached the zenith in that occupation by age 33. While collecting other couple of weeks? I am having trouble letting go.” But letting go pre-Colombian pieces, he took a fancy to restoration – at a time he must as the next piece arrives and Gordon takes on the role of art when art conservation was coming into its own. “I said, ‘Let’s create a conservationist once again.

You feel a kinship to the artist and the painting.”

Spring 2014

South Florida OPULENCE

Leonardo Lost & Found Rediscovering the Salvator Mundi

By Jenifer Mangione Vogt

Yet, the pair moved slowly, aware of the criticism that would come with error. Simon went to Europe to conduct academic research. He visited the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, which houses da Vinci’s only two preparatory drawings for the painting, along with an etching of it made by artist Wenceslas Hollar, who worked for King Charles I.

Uncovering Clues

The story of a lost Leonardo da Vinci painting sounds like the plot of a suspense novel or cinematic thriller. But it’s a true tale that has art connoisseurs in awe. “The painting was located in a family’s collection in the U.S. for 50 years,” said Robert B. Simon, PhD, an art historian who specializes in Italian Renaissance art. He was referring to Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, the Salvator Mundi. The owners didn’t know they had an original work by the old master. “It was there as a nice bit of religious wall decoration,” Simon said.

The restoration revealed a pentimento, or “change of heart,” which showed the artists had moved the original placement of Christ’s thumb. Infra-red reflectography conducted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art revealed further changes made by the artist before the painting was completed. Still, more authentication was required. Simon called on Nicholas Penny, director of the National Gallery in London. He suggested the work be presented to an international team of Leonardo experts, including Oxford Renaissance scholar Martin Kemp, who said he knew immediately it was a Leonardo. “It had that kind of presence that Leonardos have,” Kemp said. His colleagues concurred and resoundingly authenticated it as a work done by the great master. In November of 2011, the work was revealed in an exhibit at the National Gallery, Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan. There are only some 15 paintings by Leonardo that survive today, making the discovery even more significant. Where is the Salvator Mundi now? The painting resides with an owner who wishes to remain anonymous. “All I can say is that the painting is not available,” Simon explained. “But, it’s been requested for a 2015 show in Milan and I’m expecting it will be lent.”

News outlets in 2011 speculated about the re-emergence of the painting, which depicts Christ making the sign of the blessing, and was first recorded in the collection of King Charles I in 1649. It vanished after being sold by British collector, Sir Frederick Cook, in 1958. Finally, after six years of research and restoration, its authenticity would be confirmed.

The Authentication Process A photograph of the Salvator Mundi was shown to Simon in 2005. “I immediately recognized it as related to a lost Leonardo, but it was covered with overpaint that disfigured it,” he said. “The hope was that it was by one of Leonardo’s assistants.” Simon took the painting to a renowned conservator, Mario Modestini, then 98, who had worked on Leonardo’s Ginevra de’Benci, now in Washington. “It was frightening, but I wrapped the painting in a black garbage bag and hopped in a taxi,” Simon said. Mario knew it as a piece of importance and his wife, Dianne, a professor of conservation at New York University, began to clean the work. She discovered passages of extraordinary quality suggestive of Leonardo. It looked like they might have an original. 94

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Key signs of authenticity to Leonardo experts: (1) The alteration of the thumb; (2) The hair ringlets nearly identical to the curls in Leonardo’s St. John the Baptist painting; (3) The extreme similarities of the mouth compared to the Mona Lisa; (4) The detail in the crystal globe that showed inclusions and refractions of light.

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Delfina Delettrez – Lips & Eye Leather Corded Bracelet/White An edgy style with supple leather cords and stainless steel encasements accented with enamel lips and eye. Leather cord, goldtone plated stainless steel, enamel, diameter about 7¾”. Slip knot closure. Made in Italy. Saks Fifth Avenue Dadeland. $360.00

Aerin Erickson Beamon – Jewel Drop Earrings Set with gleaming Swarovski crystals in a brilliant palette, these opulent drop earrings will illuminate your face and complement your ensemble. 24K gold vermeil. Swarovski crystals. Length, about 3”. Post back. Made in USA. Saks Fifth Avenue Dadeland. $444.00

Marc Jacobs – Woven Espadrille Tie-Up Wedge Sandals Carefully woven silhouette featuring a textured espadrille wedge, wraparound ties, and a signature embroidered logo patch. Compares to a 3½” heel (90mm). Woven upper with grosgrain trim and an embroidered patch adornment, rubber sole, padded insole. Made in Italy. Saks Fifth Avenue Dadeland. $340.00

Alexander McQueen – Demanta Floral Printed Satin Clutch Front-row favorite, the Demanta clutch, gets a high-impact update with a mesmerizing floral print. Double top zip closure, one inside zip pocket and cotton lining. 15½”W X 9½”H X 2”D. Made in Italy. Saks Fifth Avenue Dadeland. $540.00

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Title: I Who Have Arrived In Heaven

Legendary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s work continues to transcend reality and reason

By John D. Adams

eetering along the knife-edge between modernism and madness, Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama continues to produce work that confounds and provokes long after many of her contemporaries (Warhol, Hesse, O’Keefe… ) have passed on. After surviving nearly 40 years living in obscurity after leaving the New York art scene of the 1970s, Kusama and her work are enjoying a well-deserved and long overdue renaissance of accolades and recognition. Today Kusama is considered one of the most important living artists to come out of Japan. And while her mind may fail, her artistic voice is stronger than ever.

A way to infinity While Kusama works in an impressive variety of media, including painting, collage, sculpture, performance art, and environmental installations, the bulk of her work carries her thematic interest in psychedelic colors, repetition of pattern, and polka dots. Yes, polka dots. Kusama elaborates: “A polka dot has the form of the sun, which is a symbol of the energy of the whole world and our

Title: Women In The Memories Spring 2014

South Florida OPULENCE

living life, and also the form of the moon, which is calm. Round, soft, colorful, senseless, and unknowing. Polka dots become movement … Polka dots are a way to infinity.” Since as early as 1939 when she was just 10, Kusama has incorporated those dots into her work. Having lived with severe mental illness her entire life, the polka dots or “infinity nets” as she calls them, are taken directly from her hallucinations. It seems that perhaps Kusama has blazed a trail through insanity by covering her work with dots, like so many breadcrumbs in a forest.

A long, strange journey Upon the urging of Georgia O’Keefe, with whom Kusama had a long-standing friendship, she moved into the heart of the exploding 1950s Pop and Minimalist art movements – New York City. Kusama quickly became a vociferous opponent of the Vietnam War, known for organizing art/protest gatherings in Central Park and Brooklyn Bridge. In addition to her proliferation of polka dot works, since 1963 Kusama has continued her series of Mirror/Infinity rooms. In these complex installations, rooms lined with mirrored glass contain scores of psychedelic-colored balls, hanging at various heights above the viewer. Standing inside on a small platform, light is repeatedly reflected off the mirrored surfaces to create the illusion of a never-ending space. Inside one of her rooms, one can perhaps experience what it may be like inside Kusama’s own psyche. The bombardment of light, color, repetitive design and, of course, polka dots is at once unsettling and compelling. Kusama left New York in 1973 after sinking deeper into mental illness. She admitted herself to a mental institution in Tokyo, where she still resides today. And while she continued to work, her absence and ever-deepening separation from the outside world conspired to erase her from art history.

Rebirth and recognition When Kusama left New York, she was practically forgotten as an artist until the late 1980s and 1990s, when a number of retrospectives revived international interest. Today, at 84, she is referred to as a reclusive “living legend.” In 2012, a retrospective of her work, including those signature polka dots, opened at New York City’s Whitney Museum of American Art. Kusama’s recent work is as challenging and provocative as she has produced. “I work as much as fifty to sixty hours at a stretch,” Kusama wrote in a 1961 article of her obsessive creative process. “I gradually feel myself under the spell of the accumulation and repetition in my nets which expand beyond me, and over the limited space of canvas, covering the floor, desks, and everywhere.”

Top left: Kusama portrait Bottom: Kusama Pensive Night

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Love Is Calling

I gradually feel myself under the spell of the accumulation and repetition in my “nets which expand beyond me, and over the limited space of canvas, covering the floor, desks, and everywhere. – Yayoi Kusama ”

See Yayoi Kusama’s work:

Yayoi Kusama: Infinite Obsession tours Central and South America through 2015. Consisting of over 100 works created between 1950 and 2013, this exhibition opened in June 2013 at Malba – Fundación Costantini in Buenos Aires and also set a new record attendance for the museum. It is now hosted by the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro (through January 20, 2014), followed by the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Brasília; Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo; and the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City. In 2012, luxury brand Louis Vuitton announced plans to team up with Kusama for a new collection that will see her bold signature spots appear on the brand’s latest creations. Work by the artist is held in museum collections worldwide, including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Tate Gallery, London; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; among numerous others. Kusama lives and works in Tokyo.

My Visionary Life Spring 2014

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You might think the bold geometric patterns, flowing silks and vibrant hues of his pieces resemble works of art â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and with good reason. Peruvian designer Julian Chang is also a natural born painter. Julian Chang with model Lashay

Candy Halter Top Black/White Stripe Spencer Stretch Leggings

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Chang initially rejoiced in his ability to create an image from a white canvas that could touch people. However, he relinquished his paintbrush for the challenging, fast-pace environment of the fashion industry. He studied fashion at Miamiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s International Fine Arts College, but art was never far from his mind.

Connie Sequence Mini Dress

Sherry Color Full Printed Jumpsuit Full Leg Black Leather Belt

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Imani Stretch Square Neck White Fitted Top 3/4 Sleeve Lola Belted Printed Palazzo Pant

Elleine Printed V-Neck Top Alina Printed Straight Leg Pant

To Chang, designing a garment — creating something from raw materials — is art. “Painting helped me understand balance and color composition,” Chang said. “It’s allowed me to see things in different dimensions and make flexible, versatile pieces that my clients want to wear — that is the key to this industry.”

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Lulu Color Block Square Neck Dress Black/White Leather Black Belt

Ina Printed All Over Open Shoulder Jumpsuit

View more stunning Julian Chang designs at: www.julianchang.com.

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Not Your Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Beauty Pageant Anymore

The Reinvented Business Model of Donald Trumpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Miss Universe Organization Behind the scenes with Ava Roosevelt

To sit sandwiched between three of the most beautiful women in the world in the back of the stretch limo provided by the Miss Universe Organization, I must admit, took guts. On the way to the New York Fashion Week event, we crawled through midtown traffic under the watchful eye of Matt Rich of PlanetPR, while the girls worked their iPhones. Rich, who, for the past 16 years nurtured and chaperoned the titleholders around the globe, was the only other person in the car old enough to remember when Donald Trump purchased the contest in 1996.

Miss USA 2012 Nana Meriwether and Ava Roosevelt 104

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Pages 104-107 Photos Courtesy Of Fadil Barisha

Erin Brady, Miss USA 2013

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The pageant was founded in 1952 by California clothing company Pacific Mills. Today, under Trump leadership, the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) is a highly profitable international business. “Donald Trump’s ongoing vision, to reinvent the static brand, leads the way for the astute business day-to-day decision of MUO’s President, Paula Shugart,” Rich said. South Florida Opulence sat down with Trump, Shugart, the reigning Miss USA 2013, Erin Brady, Miss USA 2012, Nana Meriwether, and Miss Teen USA 2013, Cassidy Wolf, to discuss the more modern approach that has breathed new life into pageantry. What prompted Trump to acquire an organization that was once viewed as ‘trivial events whose interpretation required no scholarly effort?’ “I love and respect beautiful women, that’s the first and very good reason,” Trump said. “I could also see a good platform for a successful broadcast. Money could be made and NBC agreed. It has been a resounding success, with each year topping the last. We have a huge worldwide audience and it is the gold standard of all pageants.”

a task ripe with challenges Given the complexities of all the titleholder’s personalities, managing to achieve flawless, live television productions and overseeing offthe-air lives of so many participants involved, was no easy feat. “We have an extended team that looks after the safety and health of each contestant,” said Shugart. It took years (and Trump’s marketing genius) to restore luster to the pageant’s worldwide perception, and to create the Miss Universe Organization. Miss Universe, Miss USA (and the less watched Miss Earth and Miss World) are today the largest beauty contests in the world, earning NBC and the Miss Universe Organization hundreds of millions of dollars during Trump’s reign. Defying the most widely proclaimed misconception that beauty is all that it takes to achieve the pinnacle of world’s most competitive contests, these young women are well-educated, well–mannered and intelligent. They reflect the much desired (and required) global perspective of a beautiful woman of substance. Since I watched the Miss USA Pageant live in Las Vegas last summer, it was obvious to me that Erin Brady ‘nailed’ her 2013 Miss USA title. Brady, with a degree in finance and a minor in criminal justice, is a for-

Olivia Culpo, Miss Universe 2012

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“I was taught at a young age to dream big and reach for the stars, but to stay humble and thankful and always remember where I came from,” Wolf said. mer accountant for Prudential Retirement in Hartford, CT. She was the first woman from the state to be crowned Miss USA. “It taught me so much about myself and being confident no matter what,” said Brady. “Pageants tend to be negatively portrayed to many people, but what they don’t see are all of the personal benefits these women achieve after competing.” Often, well-publicized scrutiny is placed on reigning titleholder’s behavior by the Miss Universe Organization and Trump himself. One would be mistaken to assume 365 days of each titleholder’s reign is a leisurely stride. These young women clock long hours, promoting self-esteem, social organizations and fundraising for charities. As we stepped out of the limo, the attention on Cassidy Wolf, Miss Teen USA 2013, would have been overwhelming for any other 19-year-old. Cassidy handled it with poise. She has been awarded several scholarships to the Jeffrey Ballet. Nana Meriwether, 28, 2012 Miss USA, is the oldest contestant ever to be crowned. In New York, she is making serious strides, recently becoming ‘the face’ of Younique, a cosmetic conglomerate promoting women’s empowerment. The daughter of sports icon Delano Meriwether (the first African-American medical graduate of Duke University) and a South African mother, she heads the Nana Meriwether Foundation, which focuses on her native South Africa. “We provide health, education, nutrition and empowerment-based programs in impoverished communities of South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi,“ Meriwether said. The titleholder’s perks include digs in Manhattan, about $100,000 a year, and scholarships to the NY Film Academy. Skeptics may claim that few titleholders would flourish without well-defined guidance and the organization’s support. But after spending considerable time with Brady, Meriwether, Wolf and Miss Universe 2012, Olivia Culpo, I can personally confirm these women have serious smarts and make their parents proud wherever fate takes them.

Cassidy Wolf, Miss Teen USA 2013

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This page left: This limited edition sport shirt is crafted from 100% cotton and features an abstract-organic floral design. A space-dyed embroidery and ornamental tonal crystal details complement the design and complete this look.Â Available at Robert Graham, Town Center Boca Raton or robertgraham.us. Limited Edition Jimbo Sport Shirt - $398 This page right: This shirt is crafted from a luxurious linen-cotton blend for an exceptionally softer-than-average feel. A tonal paisley design completes this look.Â Available at Robert Graham, Town Center Boca Raton or robertgraham.us. Acquafin Sport Shirt (in light green) - $198

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No, he’s not a secret service agent, but he’s dressed like one. He didn’t bring an umbrella, but no need, he’s prepared. He’s glowing, yet it’s not because of any silver or gold. He is a Garrison Bespoke man and it’s just another day on the job. By Melissa Bryant

hen a man first walks into Garrison Bespoke’s Torontobased custom suitery showroom, he is not prodded, measured or fitted. Instead, he is offered to pull up a chair for a drink and casual conversation. Michael Nguyen, co-owner of Garrison Bespoke (named after a military post garrison), fashioned a place for men to hang out and enjoy a convivial social experience, all while anticipating a highly personalized custom wardrobe.

“We start not by understanding a customer based off body size. We start by understanding who the man is,” explained David Tran, head of special projects at Garrison Bespoke. “We go beyond making garments that just fit him — to garments that actually fit his lifestyle.”

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Unique tailoring is in the Garrison DNA. Take a look at some of their most extraordinary creations:

The Bulletproof Suit Oftentimes, these intimate dialogues with visiting clientele elicit surprising confessions. Over time, Garrison associates noticed a trend among men working in the world of finance. They found many felt nervous and on edge when traveling internationally to potentially dangerous locations for meetings. The added stress caused them to lose focus, impacting their work performance. Experts at Garrison Bespoke embarked on finding a solution to put their clients at ease. The custom tailors had the creative

Diamond-encrusted tuxedo

challenge of figuring a way to create a finely tailored suit of armor that would simultaneously make a statement, feel comfortable enough to wear all day long while traveling and, most importantly, be discreet. They collaborated with the military contractor responsible for creating armor gear for the U.S. 19th Special Forces. As a result, the Bulletproof Suit was born. Made from carbon nanotubes, the lightweight vest is able to withstand a 9mm shot — and is stab-resistant!

The Diamond-Encrusted Tuxedo Of course, not every man needs to be protected against unfriendly fire — some men just want to shine. When designing a tuxedo for 16-time GRAMMY winning artist David Foster, Garrison Bespoke tailors took into consideration how David envisioned his black-tie celebration. “We looked at how

Bulletproof suit

he moves on stage, and at his posture while playing piano,” Tran said. “So when we constructed the garment, we actually built the shoulders and back to give a particular ease in key movement areas. Foster told us it was the most comfortable suit he’s ever worn.”

The Waterproof Suit What do boaters, yachters and developers in the construction field have in common? Water, rain and wine are their worst enemies when they’re in their best suits. Garrison Bespoke’s solution: to make a beautiful suit using waterproof nanotechnology that is comfortable, feels like natural fabric, yet repels water. The result: the Dormeuil Aquaplan Suit. And gentlemen, the waterproof suit is also champagne-proof. Cheers! To have your own suit personalized and tailored by Garrison Bespoke, visit: www.garrisonbespoke.com for more information. Spring 2014

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Closet or Sanctuary or Both? By Hope Gainer

“If there was a man cave for a woman, it would be her dressing room/closet,” states Laressa Gjonaj of New York & Miami California Closets. Today, they are outfitted with glass doors, lighting, seating, decorative items and other creature comforts. These spaces are being made to look more like a boutique for the woman of the household. But men don’t need to feel left out of the closet! It doesn’t need to be an afterthought for men, or just a place to store their stuff like apparel, belts, ties and shoes. It is worth the male species while to have a wonderfully organized space to save time and look their best with quick access to accessories for a fresh daily appearance.

can become a wardrobe space. Creating custom built-ins are popular and closet-makers are actually building “furniture” to fit the space like vanities, etc. Closet furniture is a whole new emerging category. Everything can be customized to create space for every item to be stored. In terms of style, glass is a big trend nowadays with everything from glass doors to glass shelves to glass door fronts. Lighting is also key, incorporating special lighting into the custom shelving and closet space.

The biggest trend in closets today is being big. Big is better! Closets can be as big as a bedroom or even larger. They are no longer just a space to hang clothes. They are becoming an oasis or sanctuary in your home. In fact, the name closet is becoming obsolete. They are becoming a private place to retreat to. Some even have artwork, TVs, stereos, desks and ottomans to relax on.

Laressa Gjonaj who oversees both the New York and Miami markets for California Closets shared the distinctions. “New York and Miami are very different communities and cultures, each with their own style trends. NYC usually has smaller spaces available with more traditional taste, except for the downtown/SoHo district where the cool factor comes into play. The Miami market is more sleek, ultra-modern and contemporary. New Yorkers prefer more dark, rich colors while Miamians love high gloss white, as well as bold, bright accent colors that fuel their multicultural influences”.

In the past, couples were concerned about kitchens and bathrooms in their homes, but now they look at closet space. If it is not adequate, you can convert a spare room into a closet/dressing room. Everyone is looking for more space to build wardrobes. Any blank wall

California Closets has created their “Virtuoso Line” that reflects more of the European style systems that are more linear, open format and less bulky. This is in contrast to the traditional California Closet which is more sectional. Sliding doors are another popular trend these

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days. California Closets attends the ultimate furniture fair in Milan annually, Salon d’Mobile, to check out new trends and materials. When selecting a closet specialist, consider your timing requirements and the quality and exclusivity you desire. A company like California Closets with 30 years of experience and a vertical operation, can turnkey your closet haven from soup to nuts in no time! They do not outsource anything. They have their own in-house manufacturing capabilities and can even make custom glass sliding doors to be delivered at the same time as the closet system. Their designers work with a 3-D CAD design softwear program and deliver renderings to the customer right on the spot at the initial consultation and can make instant changes. Leadtime from consultation to completion to installation is about 4 weeks versus other suppliers whose timing can be triple or more. Today, closets are being customized from as low as $1,000.00 up to $100,000.00+ depending on size, specifications and materials. So now, sweet dreams are not only reserved for the bedroom! For information about a custom luxury closet for your home, call 305.623.8282 or visit 900 Park Center Blvd., Suite 476, Miami Fl Californiaclosets.com/Miami

Soul Searcher:

Icon Photographer

Nancy Ellison By John D. Adams

ometimes it is in their eyes; or maybe the set of a jaw. It can be in the line of an arm; or the tilt of a head. Whatever it is the subjects of Nancy Ellison’s photography share one simple, nearly unobtainable, characteristic – truth. In Ellison’s storied career, she has served as Special Photographer on over 75 films, including Witness, Basic Instinct, The Mosquito Coast, Coming Home, Terms of Endearment, and Total Recall. Her subjects have ranged from world leaders to icons of popular culture. Yet no matter how varied the subject, Nancy Ellison’s work always serves as a potent reminder that there is a human being behind the guise. Ellison is often able to do the near impossible. Her work has a way of getting past the art and artifice of people who are well-practiced in showing us only what they want us to see.

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Through the lens While never formally trained as a photographer, Ellison’s first efforts behind a (borrowed) camera seemed to ignite something different yet familiar in this collegiate art history and painting major. “I was an artist. And that has always mattered to me,” she says. “So when I looked through the lens, I didn’t know what I was doing, but I knew what I was looking at. And that has always been the stronger element of my work—just looking through the lens… [That] is a powerful reality. The world stops all around you. Either you see into the soul of the person, or you see beauty in the cheekbones, or you see whatever is in front of you. And that’s all you see. It’s a very heady, powerful moment.”

Total happiness No matter how carefully cultivated a celebrity veneer, the hallmark of any Ellison photograph is that glimpse behind the curtain; a subtle brushing past of the iconic into the intrinsic. Perhaps Ellison is best described as a truthseeker, a soul-searcher. “It’s all about the moment. To be able to go into a face that everyone knows and find something more intrinsic than you knew prior to looking at the photograph is my total happiness.”

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ometimes it is in their eyes; or maybe the set of a jaw. It can be in the line of an arm; or the tilt of a Shooting stories head. Whatever the subjects Nancy Ellison’s Jack Nicholson. “Thisitisis one of the shots thatofI will become known for. And it’s an image thatone I hadsimple, no control over whatsoever. We photography share nearly unobtainawere on location for ‘Terms Endearment. ’ I’m prowling the beach, ble, characteristic – oftruth. In Ellison’s storied caand I look up and see these two guys lifting Jack up onto a ladder

reer, she has served as Special Photographer on and I think: ‘Wow, that’s a great shot.’ I’m looking very cool and chic

over 75 films, including Instinct, in my cashmere sweats, but I go Witness, running intoBasic the water, holdingThe the camera over my head. IComing must haveHome, looked like a storkof trying to take Mosquito Coast, Terms Endear-

off. The director looks at me, then he sees Jack on the ladder, and immediately understands what I want. So he waves the two guys from world leaders to icons of popular aside just outside my framing, so I didn’t even get culture. to chooseYet the framing. Jack looks and bursts laughing.Nancy Then he Ellison’s picks himno matter howupvaried theout subject, self up into that choir boy pose. I got one shot. I hoped that work always serves as a potent reminder whatthat ever I had shot on the beach would work here since I didn’t even there is a human being behind the guise. Ellison is get to set my F-stop. There was not one part of that that was me, often able toondo impossible. Her work except that I was the the prowlnear and I got it.”

ment, and Total Recall. Her subjects have ranged

has a way getting the art andand artifice of Sharon Stone.of “Sharon loves past being photographed, she brings both professionalism joy to a session. This a favorite as can people who areand well-practiced inwas showing us‘you only see I am two-faced.’ But,hoddly they seem the same w a to me.”

Patrickwant Swayze. Swayze loved his wife, and wanted very much they us“Patrick to see. to do a dance film with her. I wanted him to ride nude and bareback on Through the lens his favorite horse... We settled on the photo you see here. (I was never While never formally trained as a photographer, sure whether it was an issue of riding bareback or riding nude...)” Ellison’s first efforts behind a (borrowed) camera seemed to ignite Harrison “This yet wasfamiliar the first in photo I ever with and him somethingFord. different this session collegiate artdid history in his home in Brentwood. It wasAnd around of ‘Star Wars’ and painting major. “I was an artist. thatthe hastime always mattered to ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark. ’ He was really charming. Shy and awkward me,” she says. “So when I looked through the lens, I didn’t know about as himself. He’d much be posing a character. what Iposing was doing, but I knew what rather I was looking at.as And that has What is wonderful about that shot is that Harrison is totally at home always been the stronger element of my work—just looking in it. Thatthe is hislens… home.[That] The shaker cabinet,reality. everything aboutstops the aesthrough is a powerful The world all thetics aroundof that picture is about Harrison, and he was relaxed. I don’t you. think home of him with that kind of, well, he EitherI’ve youever seegotten into thea soul ofshot the person, or you see beauty in the was gentle, happy, easewhatever with himself whyAnd I love it.” all cheekbones, or youatsee is in and frontthat’s of you. that’s you see. It’sCage. a very“The heady, powerful moment. Nicholas intrinsic Nick Cage ”holds DNA from the Coppola which means even as a young man he was highly Totalfamily, happiness sophisticated music,cultivated art and literature. hehallmark could go No matter howincarefully a celebrity Actually veneer, the of anywhere a photoshoot. His unpredictability wasa utterly any Ellison during photograph is that glimpse behind the curtain; subtle brilliant! This image of him, as he looks like is a best very brushing past is of my the favorite iconic into the intrinsic. Perhaps Ellison sexy bassetashound!” described a truth-seeker, a soul-searcher. “It’s all about the mo-

Pierce Brosnan. “What you see in Pierce is what you get. There has been no one who has allowed me, as a photographer or as a friend, ‘to steal his soul’ more than this most delicious and handsome Irishman. Pain, joy. laughter. goofiness, loss, success, love, pride, shyness – he carries it all within him like the beauty of a pennywhistle melody.” Bette Davis. “She was brilliant. I met her on the set of ‘Right of Way.’ The people around her were terrified. The PR person said: ‘Don’t look her in the eye, don’t get too close, and don’t do anything until I get to introduce you.’ So I’m watching her, and I’m looking her in the eye. She looks up and says: ‘Who are you?’ And the PR person practically drops dead on the spot. She looks down and says: ‘Red shoes. I like a woman who wears red shoes.’ So that got me started. As I was shooting her, the film wasn’t going through properly. I thought: ‘Oh, God.’ I turned to her, and I said: ‘Ms. Davis, the film is not rewinding in a way that is making me comfortable, and I think I may have screwed up.’ She said: ‘I like a person who knows when they’ve screwed up. Let’s do it again.’ She was a professional. She understood reality. And for some reason, out of the blue, she sent me a Thank You note.” River Phoenix. “I first shot River during the filming of ‘The Mosquito Coast.’ I think he was 14. Since we were all in the jungle on location for months, we became friends. We shot a lot together afterwards. I suppose it was about the comfort of someone familiar. This shot was the last one I took of him and the darkest. It was also (for that very reason) his favorite among photographs of him.” Mick Jagger. “I shot him a few times. The images in the show were around the time Hal Ashby’s documentary ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together,’ [about the Rolling Stones’ 1981 U.S. tour] came out. “Mick strips or gives the finger and the world falls in love. What else is there to say.” For a moment, Ellison becomes wistful. “The beauty of life and of working in a field that gives you the most pleasure is that curiosity and enthusiasm take you through the day... There is no time for self-conscious reflection. To look back therefore becomes a bit of a shock. I did all that? Wow! Was I having fun! And, I was... and still am having fun.”

ment. To be able to go into a face that everyone knows and find “The intrinsic Nick Cage holds DNA from the Coppola family, something more intrinsic than you knew prior to looking at the pho-

which means even as a young man he was highly sophisticated in music, art and literature. His unpredictability was utterly brilliant!”

1. Mick Jagger, 2. Bette Davis, 3. Pierce Brosnan, 4. River Phoenix, 5. Patrick Swayze, 6. Harrison Ford, 7. Sharon Stone, 8. Nicholas Cage

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See Nancy Ellison’s Work

For the past year, Ellison’s work has been showcased in traveling retrospectives throughout the United States. And this season, her work is being featured at three South Florida venues. In January, the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach featured 25 of the artist’s most iconic images. In February, the Design Center of the Americas (DCOTA) in Dania Beach honored Ellison with Design Lifetime Achievement Award coinciding with the opening of a 100-piece retrospective, which will run through April 11. And on March 12-April 11, her work will be mounted at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens in West Palm Beach.

7 Jagger, Year? Mick

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Nature inspired Living IN Miami 1 Hotel & Homes Presents Luxury Residences

Hotel & Homes South Beach, located in the heart of Miami Beach on Collins Avenue between 23rd and 24th streets, is set to open in the fall of 2014. The spectacular property will include 161 residences, plus 406 hotel rooms with four swimming pools and 600 linear feet of pristine beach. The hotel restaurant will feature the celebrated chef, Tom Colicchio, offering locally sourced farm-to-table gourmet cuisine throughout the property. The new brand by Barry Sternlicht, Chairman of Starwood Capital Group and the creative force behind the W brand, presents a unique environment for homeowners to enjoy a nature-inspired aesthetic and atmosphere.

Celebrated Brazilian interior designer and architect, Debora Aguiar, designed the residences. There is a variety of one, two, three and four-bedroom floor plans available, which range in size from 868 to 4,280 square feet. Residents will enjoy a private porte cochere and lobby as well as access to an array of hotel amenities, including a full-service health club and spa, several on-site dining options, and advanced home technology that integrates the hotel’s unique natural experiences and services into the home.

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The design of 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach uses the colors and textures of nature to bring a fresh aesthetic to its interior spaces. Reclaimed materials and natural elements adorn almost every facet of the property. Gardens and sand-floor cabanas on the pool deck blur the distinction between the built and natural environments. Sternlicht is combining his vast experience and talents with LeFrak’s real estate development expertise to bring to Miami a truly extraordinary property. Fortune International is leading the condo sales initiatives. 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach is located in the Collins Park neighborhood, only steps away from the shopping and dining options on the famed Lincoln Road Mall. This area of South Beach is rich in retail, restaurants, culture and entertainment, including the Frank Gehrydesigned New World Center and the Bass Museum of Art. 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach also offers easy access to gallery-lined streets in the Wynwood Art District and world-class shopping in Miami’s Design District. For residential sales inquiries, call 786-522-5477. 1hotels.com/southbeach

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Haute Couture for the Sky By Alex Starace

lying has long been a necessity for conducting high-level business. For those looking for something more classy, efficient (and less cramped) than commercial air travel, there are a number of options: owning or leasing a share from Berkshire-Hathaway’s NetJets, for example, or springing for chartered flights. Or, of course, there’s the convenience and cache of your own private jet. But whatever your choice, you’re likely to find yourself in a fashionable space: Of late, there has been a renaissance in the interior design of private aircraft. Leading the way are companies like Britain-based Design Q, which creates distinctive interiors for the charter aircraft market, as well as for private jets. The company’s Avro Business Jet Fusion design, for example, combines the elegance and relaxation of the private flying experience with lounge and “mood” areas that allow for easy socializing between members of a chartered group.

Personalized luxury Design Q also personalizes private planes. The company’s design for a commissioned VVIP Airbus A380 includes a master bedroom, private lounge, and conference room – a melding of the private needs of an individual with the realities of modern business. Other high-end companies like TAG Aircraft Interiors, which partners with the Italian design house Gianni Versace S.p.A., also provide design services for the 124

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Interior images provided courtesy of Design Q

elite – TAG describes its finished product as “haute couture for the sky,” for example. While it may seem no harder than any other type of interior design, interior designing for airplanes requires patience and expertise. All designs must be approved for safety before they can be implemented. And lightness is of the essence – the heavier the plane (and its contents), the harder it will be to achieve liftoff. In other words, products as rudimentary as dinnerware require careful consideration before being brought onboard.

Home Sweet Flight To navigate this problem, Boutsen Aviation has an interior design division that works directly with customers to achieve a comprehensive, color-coordinated style for everything from the plane’s bed linens to its magazine racks – and to make sure the products will pass inspection. The company sources from a variety of luxury designers who are willing to custom create their products. Boutsen, like many in the business, understands that a frequent traveler wants a home away from home – and that a well-designed aircraft can be just that. Spring 2014

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Steve Jobs

The questions I wish you could answer By Ava Roosevelt

Photo from "Steve Jobsâ&#x20AC;? By Walter Isaacson Photo Credit: Norman Seef 126

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The day doesn’t go by that billions of people around the globe are not united by the numerous inventions that have become the legacy of one man: Steve Jobs. A genius in a less-than-perfect-world, Steve constantly aspired to the excellence which seemed to define him, yet alienate him from those who worked with him, loved him, bored him or adopted him.

Were you angry when a routine CAT scan for kidney stones discovered a pancreatic cancer in 2003? Why did you opt to defy doctor’s orders to operate when there was time to possibly save you, and decide to cure yourself with juicing and other holistic methods? Looking back, were you just plainly arrogant or did you consider cancer an adversary you could conquer on your own?

Oftentimes, an individual’s brilliance forms a justification for being brutally honest, defiant, belligerent or just plain nasty, as was Steve’s case in many well-publicized instances. I often wonder if those whom you made billionaires excused those less than desirable attributes for the privilege of being able to be a part of the Apple’s ‘movement’?

And how about all these obsessive diets you were on-and-off all your life? I would have assumed, obviously wrongly, that someone who prized himself on being a pure vegan and who lived a life voided of edible impurities, would have been spared one of the most incurable and deadly cancers? Did you take on more than you should have trying to run both Apple and Pixar in 1977? Such a lesson for all of us to know when enough is enough; and what would you tell others graced with such extraordinary talents as yours?

In the end of your life, to which you clung, after making a decision which many in the medical community proclaimed as suicidal, did your mortality make you a better and a more forgiving man? Your life was cut short in 2011. I am sad thinking that it might have been prolonged, not only for the sake of your family but also the world at large. Your untimely death has catapulted you into history books as a man, who, at 56, without a doubt forever changed the way we communicate, listen to music and watch movies. A handheld device the size of a pack of cigarettes, capable of connecting us in a matter of seconds, has created demand for instantaneous reaction. We’re expected to be ON 24/7, yet are these tweets and texts at the cost of intimacy? Don’t you miss a proper handwritten

I wish you could tell us how it felt to be adopted and how did it affect your life? Was your tireless quest to succeed the cause or the symptom of being left behind? Was your heart closed to forgiving or reason and

is it why it took you so long to reunite with your daughter Lisa or refuse to see your birth father Abdulfattah John Janall?

fection,” said Laurene Powell Jobs from Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.

I wouldn’t dare to come to an interview lessthan-well-prepared, so I’ve read all there is about you, including the brilliant biography by Walter Isaacson, and got an insight to understanding what it is that drove you: a premonition that your life was to be short. So you lived to the max, didn’t stop until you dropped, and so many have profited from your extraordinary drive, but did you? What would you consider your greatest accomplishment? Your talent made all that you did almost easy. It didn’t seem to have been the case in your personal life until you married and had children with Laurene Powell, a woman you claimed ‘saved you.’

thank you note, or a holiday wish? At the risk of dating myself, I look forward to these relics, which I treasure and save for my young friends’ children who, computer-savvy at age 4, have never seen one. What would you say if the world’s population proclaimed a Steve Job’s day by turning off their Apple devices to actually have a conversation around the table with family and friends instead of texting and tweeting? What would have happened to the value of the stocks like Apple or Samsung and any other communication-related Dow components at the opening of the trading day on Wall Street?

“Steve possessed an epic sense of possibility. He looked at things from the stand of per-

Continued on next page

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Top Three Reasons for Paperless Real Estate Transactions By James C. Hoffman, President-Broker, Opulence International Realty

In the new age of real estate, performance and exceptional customer service are key. Showing your customer and your agents the true value of a paperless real estate transaction is as simple as 1,2,3. Although there is a cost to setting up a paperless system for the company, the time freed up for the agent and the customer can save not only thousands of dollars in printing and paperwork, but can facilitate a deal in real time; which, in a competitive marketplace, translates into increased sales and a truly satisfied customer who didn’t miss out on the big deal. 1. Digital secure signatures. The number-one priority is security for the consumer and the integrity of the business. At Opulence International Realty, your deal is safe, convenient and confidential. Contract execution is immediate anytime from wherever you are and can be done by a smartphone, tablet or computer at a push of a button. 2. Collaboration. Due to the convenient and instantaneous nature of the transaction, the agent can add the parties relevant to the deal, such as attorneys and title companies. As soon as the contract is electronically signed, all parties instantly have the documents and can begin working on a smooth closing. No more looking for a fax or scanner to upload and resend an illegible copy.

Customers love this aspect of the system; they have the entire file safely stored for them and have instant access 24 hours a day. 3. Less waste and no file cabinets. Traditionally, real estate offices are littered with paper waste, bulky file cabinets and customer files holding all your sensitive information. A paperless system allows all the documents, from digital inspection reports to title work, to be in one convenient digital file stored safely on our system platform with built-in redundancies and the highest level of security. Ultimately, the simplicity of the system works well for all involved – and it allows your agent to focus on working for you, finding the perfect home, and closing the deal with a few simple keystrokes. Opulence International Realty is located at 2060 N. Bayshore Drive, Miami. For a consultation, call 305-614-1376 or visit www.opulenceinternationalrealty.com.

Steve Jobs

Continued from previous page Do you think that we are becoming victims of your own creations, which so swiftly link us, yet allow us to be there part-time only, capable of disengaging by a touch of a fingertip? Knowing your wrath for imperfection, I can certainly understand why an iPhone’s text would suit you better, but don’t you miss an actual conversation, where a tone of voice can tell you the ‘real temperature’ and where you ‘stand’ with a friend, a lover or while making a deal? On the more-sinister side of things, while your inventions have claimed credits for helping to abolish dictatorships and

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establish democracies, aiding the world to be a better place, those devices also enable the terrorist, identity thieves and criminals to access data and make our world very small indeed, overpopulated, and a dangerous place to be, to raise children and to co-habit peacefully. Short of living on a deserted island, I wonder what advice would you give us to change that, or is it too late to ‘put the toothpaste back in the tube’? And lastly, why have you made the new Apple iPhone 5S so challenging to operate and so expensive? I guess it’s for you to know and me to figure out!

About The Book In a clear, elegant, biographical voice, Walter Isaacson provides an unflinching portrait of the most important technological and innovative personality of the modern era: Apple’s founder and chief thinker, Steve Jobs. Through a series of unprecedented interviews with Jobs — as well as interviews with more than 100 friends, family members, colleagues, adversaries, admirers, and imitators — Isaacson documents the transformation of an ambitious Silicon Valley whiz kid into one of the most feared and respected business leaders of his generation and quite possibly of all time, arriving at some hard truths about a man who defined the intersection of art and technology for the digital age and the future to come.

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Music Doc The of Mechanicland Dr. Elliot Mechanic proves practicing dentistry and music is the perfect mix By Dale King and Julia Hebert

Aesthetic dental surgeon Elliot Mechanic is a doctor who rocks. Literally. Visit a former old Anglican church in Montreal North any night and the famed upscale tooth designer can be found in Mechanicland – the complex of three recording studios he created there, strumming the daylights out of a guitar. The goal of this nearly 60-year-old rocker is the same one he’s had most of his life: Get a hit record, have fun and stay young.

Having a tremendous knowledge of music production, Doc Mechanic has written and recorded songs since he was a kid. He has collected unique recording equipment of all periods and a serious record collection of some of the world’s rarest soul. In the 1980s and 90s, Elliot was one of North America’s early vintage guitar collectors and dealers, and personally dealt hundreds of instruments with the who’s who of music, including Keith Richards, Brian Setzer, Mick Mars, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Klaus Voormann. The revamped church studio is testament to Elliot’s passion for music, and the name Mechanicland still carries its reputation for giving musicians everything they could dream of.

To Rock or Not to Rock? The married father of four daughters divides his time between his home in Montreal and his condominium in Miami’s South Beach –

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the balcony on which he plays and writes music. Still, Elliot keeps striving for that big musical hit. After long days in the dental office, he renews himself by visiting his “Rock Room,” which houses rock ‘n’ roll posters, guitars and amplifiers. His passion for performing was nearly innate. “At age 4, I’d get up in front of audiences at summer camp and tell jokes,” he says. “I was a ham on stage.” A counselor named Bucky showed the kids how to rock on with his cool Fender Stratocaster. For Elliot, it was love at first twang. “When I came home from camp, I took lessons from Bucky. I really liked to play.” But what he didn’t necessarily aspire to as a young man was a career in dentistry, preferring the music world over crowns and makeovers. Elliot’s dad, a handbag maker who hit it big providing official totes for the 1967 Montreal World’s Fair, struck a deal with his son. If the budding guitar man could land a record deal with a “major” label, he could skip dental school. If not, a lifetime in the tooth trade was in the offing. “I played in a rock band called Caravan in high school and at McGill University,” he recalls. “At age 19, I made a demo of a song called I Love You Baby, But Not Like Rock ‘N’ Roll. We shopped it around the U.S., visiting New York and L.A. One small record company in Buffalo was interested. But it was not a major label, so I kept my end of the bargain and went to dental school.” However, to this day 41 years later, Elliot still periodically plays in the same Caravan band with his longtime buddies.

Cosmetic Dental Surgeon Elliot Mechanic has never wavered on his dream for Mechanicland to produce a hit song. After a long day at the office, he retreats to his studio to jam with other artists.

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Hanging On to a Dream For a time, Dr. Mechanic put his musical vibe on hold as he devoted time to dentistry. Years later, “I was asked to take part in a charity ‘Battle of the Bands.’ ” Elliot called a friend, Costanzo “Cussy” Nicodemo, looking for singers. Cussy introduced the dentist to three underprivileged Haitian girls whom he had been coaching in a government-sponsored project called Culture X. “The girls didn’t know a thing about oldies,” said Elliot. “They thought an oldie was a two-year-old Beyoncé record.” The trio practiced and practiced. The girls were dubbed the “Surf Sisters” because of their tight harmony inspired by their Gospel music roots that made them sound like The Ronettes and The Supremes. They rocked the “Battle,” and afterward, Elliot groomed them to be his comeback project – to major adulation. He purchased an old church in their neighborhood, converted it into a music studio, with the intention to develop them into world-class artists. They were so good that Valley Dental Arts flew the group to perform at a convention for the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry in Atlanta. That night, the house was full of rockin’ docs.

Giving Back Closer to Home At the same time, the master dentist opened the church to community aid efforts for developing bands – a drum clinic and recording lessons. He teamed with choirmaster Jethro Auguste to serve the community by getting “kids off the streets.” But it wasn’t entirely kicks and grins. Elliot said he lost the Surf Sisters to a rival producer who “convinced them to break their contract. Then, the producer took advantage of the girls, using them as backup singers and then told them to get lost.” Dismayed and disillusioned, Dr. Mechanic changed focus. But he has never wavered on his dream. He gutted the studio and turned it into a commercial recording business. Now, after a busy day at the office, Elliot can retreat to his studio to jam with hip hop, rap and R&B artists, both young and old. “We are all for one here,” he said. “It brings balance to my life.” His dream is to see one of his artists make it big. Who knows, maybe we’ll see a Mechanicland act on a theater marquee soon.

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Philanthropy

Saving Sight in a Hospital with Wings By Melissa Bryant

For three decades, ORBIS International’s Flying Eye Hospital has stood as a symbol of hope, progress and compassion for millions of people around the world suffering with debilitating vision impairments. In 2013, the reengineered DC-10 aircraft flew ORBIS’s dedicated surgical staff to some of the most exotic locations, such as India’s lush valleys and Cameroon’s majestic mountains, where 90 percent of the world’s visually impaired live. Their mission: to treat as many patients and educate as many local healthcare professionals as possible in a three- to four-week timespan using a stateof-the-art, fully functional hospital with wings.

Aboard The Flying Eye Hospital ORBIS’s Flying Eye Hospital is the world’s only airborne ophthalmic training facility equipped with a laser treatment room, an operating room, a recovery room and a 48seat multimedia classroom. Onboard the high-tech cockpit, ORBIS medical experts provide lectures, case discussions and surgical simulations, as well as live broadcasts and demonstrations of surgical procedures. ORBIS trains local ophthalmologists in order to leave medical staff with every tool they will need to perform future operations once the visiting physicians leave. Before local ophthalmologists perform on real patients, they practice by operating on a simulator. One simulator tests trainees on how well they can remove a cataract — a gradual clouding of eye lens (cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in many third-world countries). Trainees use an electronic tool with a mock patient to

remove a synthetic cataract. If trainees score satisfactory, they can move on to a real patient inside the operating room (OR). Inside the OR, broadcasting through a twoway audiovisual system that transmits to a classroom, the operating physician walks trainees through a procedure. The medical professionals can hear and ask questions as the surgery takes place. Treating and teaching ensures that ORBIS’s efforts are productive and sustainable. Of course, this is all possible thanks to ORBIS’s dedicated team of traveling physicians.

Advocates For Sight “Our patients are able to see the effects of their surgeries immediately,” said Ahmed Gomaa, Medical Director of the Flying Eye Hospital. “The smile on their faces is the biggest reward we can get after a long working day on the Flying Eye Hospital.” For more information about ORBIS, go to www.orbis.org. Spring 2014

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Cincinatus Brotherhood Building - Kroger Company

Double Take! R The Architectural Illusions of Richard Haas By Dale King

ichard Haas has spent nearly a half-century deceiving millions of eyes. The 77-year-old artist, muralist, printmaker and architectural maven has “installed” bay windows on the flat, brick side of a Chicago building. He designed a “working” steel mill on the wall of a theater in Pittsburgh. He “punched” a hole in a wall to reveal Miami’s Fontainebleau Hotel. But all of these were painted illusions.

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The gray-haired, mustachioed master of trompe-l’oeil – “tricking the eye,” as the French say – is a Wisconsin-born multimedia craftsman who moved to New York’s SoHo district in 1968. He has made a career of creating eye-catching, but optically elusive, designs inside and outside of blank-walled buildings. Haas took an early interest in architecture, and even played with geometic blocks as an infant. But when he went on to study the

twists and turns of architectural style, he found that painting balusters, casements, parapets, columns and other structural pieces was a lot faster than designing them on paper and then building them. So, since 1975, Haas has created 60 such designs around the United States and one in Munich, which “is now gone,” he says. Fortyfour of his works survive.

Inspired by a Master For further inspiration, Haas took his cues from an even more iconic figure – the man considered to be America’s greatest architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. “He was born [in Green Spring, Wisc.], two miles from where I lived,” said Haas. “My great uncle was a stonemason and worked for him for 30 years. I worked for him two summers. My dad, who ran the local butcher shop, also knew him. I saw Wright maybe 50 to 100 times. I saw his studio when I had to drop things off for his assistant.” Haas quickly learned Wright’s idiosyncrasies. “He often stopped by to make comments while we were working.” One day, Wright rolled up in his chauffeur-driven Volkswagen Bug, his normal mode of transport. “He got the Volkswagen as payment for a project,” Haas recalls. “We were helping to lay a foundation for a restaurant on the banks of the Wisconsin River. We were nailing joists, working on a rickety scaffold, when Wright got out of his Volkswagen and came over. He tapped his keys on the scaffold and said, ‘Get rid of this, it’s ugly.’ The associate I was working with said, ‘How are we going to get the work done without a scaffold, Mr. Wright?’ The master answered: ‘You’ll hang like monkeys.’” Wright wasn’t always that irascible. “He came back two hours later and was in a jovial mood,” Haas said. “Maybe he got a loan from a bank.”

Haas’ First Trompe-l’oeil Armed with degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Minnesota, Haas set out in 1975 to help

Homage to Cincinatus Brotherhood Building - Kroger Company, Cincinnati, Ohio Before (left) After (right image)

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101 Merrimac Street, Boston, Mass. 1990 (Interior Mural) beautify the SoHo neighborhood as part of the City Walls program. The area suffered from “urban destruction,” he said. So, he created a trompe-l’oeil painting on a building. And that put him on the map of great designers. Haas says he has never actually painted the outside of a building. “I was spoiled rotten from the first. There are other guys much better at it than I am.” As the designing artist, he does paint interiors, usually by “getting on a stepladder at my studio.”

112 Prince Street, SoHo New York, 1975

His brushstrokes are all over Florida, he says, though the Fontainebleau design had been destroyed. “I have done a lot of interiors in Florida. The Sarasota County Courthouse, two large murals in a bank in Tampa, mosaics at banks in Vero Beach, Aventura and Bradenton.” His works are on display at a gallery in Naples. Haas is currently devoting time to his printmaking business, having just finished a 10-year, 14-mural project in Homewood, Ill. “This project allowed me to expand my work in many ways. Homewood now has the largest concentration of my works in one area.” His largest single work ever, he says, was a three-sided mural at the Edison Brothers Stores building, St. Louis, a 110,000 square-foot effort on a former warehouse that is now a Sheraton Hotel and Edison Condominiums. At 12 years past age 65, does Haas plan to retire? In a single, quickly spoken word, “No.”

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Literature M U S T - R E AD S F R O M T H E D E S K O F E D W I N A S A N D Y S

Edwina Sandys is an artist and sculptor, currently exhibiting at Grounds For Sculpture, NJ, and at Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, West Palm Beach, FL. www.edwinasandys.com DECORATING in the GRAND MANOR A Design Memoir by Carleton Varney DECOR ATING in the Rooster Books for Shannon Grove Press 2013 $25 Fireworks exploding in ecstasy across the sky begin their journey A Design Mem oir with perfect planning. Excellence C A R L E TO N VA R N E Y is achieved with meticulous attention to detail. So it is with Carleton Varney’s work. I open this sumptuous book at random. My eye lights upon a dining table set with a riot of green and turquoise, shimmering gold-rimmed, crystal glasses, mirroring a red-crested, blown-glass cockatoo. I leaf back a page and stand at the top of a stairway – walls and ceilings are covered with fluffy white clouds, floating Magritte-like on a pure blue sky, a Ming horse charges forth on a window ledge, disembodied Persian rugs hang close to the ceiling, all giving an Alice-in-Wonderland feeling of not knowing if you are up or down.

GR AND MANOR f o r e w o r d

b y

DESMOND GUINNESS

The mixing and the not-matching, the out-of-scale surprises, jolt me out of myself. The rooms are carefree and comfortable. People, dogs and even children are welcome. Not everyone has the nerve to embrace color the way Carleton does. His style is not for the faint-hearted, not for the lover of beige and low-key muted tones. His style is for those with the courage to grasp life with open arms. As with all the gifts on this earth, God wouldn’t have given us color if he hadn’t wanted us to enjoy it. I have known Carleton for many years and have stayed in some of these homes and hotels, including Makinaw, Greenbriar and Dromoland Castle, Ireland. No space is considered unimportant. The corridors and stairways are given as much attention and glamor as the grand dining halls and master bedrooms. I am thrilled to see the dramatic picture of the landing outside the bedroom, where I slept at Dromoland Castle. We also get a peek into the world of some of Carleton’s famous clients. The Bush family home in Kennebunkport shows a twin bedroom done in fresh blue and white - very New England. Nancy Reagan likes red so Carleton gives her White House bedroom red bedcovers, red headboard, red canopy, red walls and red roses. There are no rules to be adhered to but there is always the framework, the underlying classical bone structure, inherited and reimagined from Dorothy Draper. In 1962, as a very young man, Carleton joined the Dorothy Draper decorating company, where he has been owner and president for over 50 years. The book brims over with his wonderful good humor and attitude to life. This is a coffee-table book, which will not lie unopened. In Carleton Varney’s world, a picture says a million words.

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Edwina Sandys

My Lost Cuba A novel by Celso Gonzalez-Falla East End Press 2013 $25 The story all takes place in Cuba in the year 1958, and captures life as it was in the tumultuous year that led up to the coming of Castro and the end of an enchanted era. The political background adds a sense of urgency to the plot. The story is about transition: a father and son - the son taking over the farm in the Camaguey region from his widowed father… and about the burgeoning of new young love. Celso seems to be a painter as much as a writer: the gnarled farmhand, the prison cell, the scene at the Havana nightclub, are drawn as deftly as if by Toulouse-Lautrec… inanimate objects as evocatively as if by Van Gogh. All senses are engaged: You can taste it, you can see it, you can hear, touch, and smell it. The little things that make up everyday life give us an intimate picture. This is a novel and not an autobiography, but there can be no doubt that the very human experiences of the hero Mike are akin to those of the author. The description of aging farm equipment is so real that I can almost put my fingernail under the encrusted paint and flick off a cracked flake. And then there is the sensual description of the black stallion and related thoughts: “Mike wandered to the black stallion’s box. He felt better there, alone as he rubbed the horse’s silky coat, combed his finger through the black lustrous mane, looked into his eyes, and talked to him…. Mike held Rita’s hand as they walked through the barn. He enjoyed the soft feel of her skin as they went over rough cobblestones….” We swim with Mike at Varadero Beach, the playground of the rich; we accompany him to the Dupont home (now a small hotel which I stayed in twelve years ago). We feel his outrage and pain as the army officer beats him across the back with the flat of a machete; we rail with impatience at his dealings with his aging father, Don Miguel, who turns out to be not so aging after he finds rebirth with a new very young amour. I asked Celso what he thought would happen when the Castros are no longer running Cuba. “There already are changes. People can buy property and cars. I hope we can all soon return to a free Cuba.”

Edwina Sandys PHOTO COURTESY: harry benson

The

Psycho Suspense Meister

By Scott Eyman

A compelling look at the life of iconic movie producer, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, from the eyes of the historian/author who knew him

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Hitchcock once said that he migrated to the U.S. as a kind of cultural exchange, only nobody knows what was sent in return because, said Hitch “they are afraid to open it” – Hitchcock.tv

itting in his office at Universal Studios, hands folded on his famously ample stomach, Alfred Hitchcock looked like nothing so much as a benignly good-humored Buddha.

The year was 1974, and Hitchcock was an elderly but unquestioned eminence, beloved of audiences and critics alike. Yet, in 1950, if you had prophesied that the director who would attain the greatest share of retrospective popularity by the time the next century rolled around would be Alfred Hitchcock, you would have been greeted with amazement, if not amusement.

A Look Back In 1950, Alfred Hitchcock was in mid-career, regarded as a maker of distinguished, polished amusements – A-list, to be sure, but not distinguished. There was “Rebecca,” but that belonged more to David O. Selznick and Daphne Du Maurier than its director. There was “Shadow of a Doubt,” “Foreign Correspondent” and “Notorious,” a few others. Successes all. The condescension would have only partially been because Hitchcock’s greatest work was yet to come: “Rear Window,” “Vertigo,” “Psycho,” “The Birds.” Hitchcock, then and later, worked in a genre that got only marginally more respect than comedy: suspense.

Partially, it was because he did one thing extremely well. Almost every other director tried their hands at different genres, but Hitchcock specialized: stories of emotional and physical peril. In his maturity, he gingerly examined other possibilities only twice - the romantic comedy “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” and the factual noir “The Wrong Man.” Like a chef with a special expertise, he always hustled back to his métier. His work had sinuous pace, eroticism, huge technical assurance, and, most importantly, a complete lack of that quality that dates popular art more than any other: sentimentality. Like Hemingway’s description of good fiction resembling an iceberg, Hitchcock kept his plots clear, but his intimations firmly below the surface. How far did the relationship between Norman Bates and his mother extend in “Psycho”? Why do the birds attack in “The Birds”? Hitchcock wasn’t telling, and audiences have spent decades mulling it all over.

Hitchcock’s Secret to Cinematic Success

Today, with the 21st century well underway, and with Hitchcock dead for more than 30 years, he is the 20th century directorial name to conjure with – his films in constant circulation, “Vertigo” named as the greatest film of all time by the prestigious “Sight and Sound” poll, dozens of books and biographies published, and even two (indifferent) movies based, with varying degrees of veracity, on episodes in his life. It is all very strange. Or maybe it’s not. Although Hitchcock lived his life as a perfect bourgeois, surrounded by a wife and child, cellars of fine wine and his beloved Sealyham terriers, it was all so this grocer’s son could pour his energies into his work, which invariably emphasized the unstable.

A Legendary, Timeless Thrill Maker Why has Hitchcock’s work lasted every bit as long as that of John Ford or Orson Welles, directors who were far more honored in their own day? (Tellingly, Hitchcock never won an Academy Award. Ford won six, Welles one.) 140

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Hitchcock took vagrant ideas about the grim skull beneath the apparently beautiful social skin and made the subterranean concrete. Over and over again, Hitchcock told us that the world is deeply irrational – that love can be destructive, that all you have to do to have your clean, well-lit life fall into darkness is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – Robert Donat in “The 39 Steps,” Cary Grant in “North by Northwest.” As James Stewart finds out in “Rear Window,” you don’t even have to leave home. Hitchcock’s tightly ordered life came straight from his most deeply held anxieties about loss of control. By dramatizing the worst nightmares that motivated his own rigidly maintained sense of social propriety, Alfred Hitchcock put his fear inside us all. About the author: Scott Eyman has authored 11 books, including, with veteran actor Robert Wagner, The New York Times bestseller “Pieces of My Heart.” His next two books: Out in March 2014, another collaboration with Robert Wagner, “You Must Remember This,” about movie star life off the lot, published by Viking Books. His John Wayne biography is out April 1, 2014, “John Wayne: The Life and Legend,” published by Simon & Schuster. Both are available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

Philanthropy

{If Only For ONE Second} A unique, whimsical campaign by the Mimi Foundation designed to give cancer patients a chance to be completely carefree â&#x20AC;&#x201C; if only for a second By Cara Jay

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Few among us is a stranger to cancer. Those who have experienced it firsthand are familiar with the devastating effects it can have on not only the ill, but also their families and friends. Cancer survivor Myriam Ullens de Schooten, President and Founder of the Mimi Foundation in Belgium, recalls her fight with cancer, and how nurturing support to persevere came from all aspects of her life. When organizing the Mimi Foundation, she “adopted the belief that cancer must be attacked on all fronts, not just medically.”

Then came the anticipated “big reveal,” in two special stages. First, to immortalize the experience on film, as well as to snap a photograph at the precise special moment – when each patient would be asked to open his or her eyes. The photographer captured on camera the exact instant when each person saw his or her transformation for the very first time – the very jiffy that allowed them to forget their cancer condition, if only for one second.

The heart of the project was achieved – to create a completely unbridled, carefree moment and spread smiles – if only for one second.

The Mimi Foundation (which has hospitals in Belgium, France and Switzerland) recently released a very special project, a photo book titled, Ne Serait-ce Qu’une Seconde, or “If Only for One Second,” that was inspired by a woman battling cancer who said, “You know what I miss the most? Being carefree.” So the Mimi Foundation set out to create an inspiring, innovative way to bring that carefree feeling back to those who had lost it to cancer – to remind them that it is possible even in the midst of their illnesses, if only for one second.

A Project to Create Smiles The Mimi Foundation, in collaboration with Leo Burnett France (the famed creative advertising firm) invited 20 cancer patients to visit a studio in Brussels for an unprecedented hair and makeup makeover. Participants were unable to see themselves while hairdressers and cosmetologists worked on their faces and tresses for an exciting transformation. 142

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The second stage of the unveiling was when the photographs would be revealed to loved ones of the patients for the first time. At the moment of the second reveal, smiling faces, laughter and giggles spread across the entire room. It was another treasured instant when cancer didn’t exist for the families, either.

The heart of the project was achieved – to create a completely unbridled, carefree moment and spread smiles – if only for one second. Sale proceeds of the photo book If Only for One Second benefit patients at the Mimi Foundation. It is available at www.mimi-foundation.org or by emailing seconde@mimi-foundation.org. Why not check it out and get carried away by laughter, chuckles and a carefree smile.

To see the three-minute video of the project, visit www.southfloridaopulence.com.

To Infinity and the Great Beyond Examining the commercial zeal to get consumers into outer space By Melissa Bryant November 21, 1783 - Paris, France: The first free ascension flight takes place in a Montgolfier hot air balloon built by brothers and inventors Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier. Kept afloat by burning wool, straw and old shoes, the cloth balloon flew for 5.5 miles from the center of Paris to the city’s surrounding suburbs.

Corporation Concorde to break the sound barrier. Virgin Galactic is in the final phase of vehicle testing, which means commercial flights could begin as early as winter of this year.

This feat of human ingenuity ushered in the modern era of flight and made way for today’s burgeoning space tourism industry. From helium balloons to rocket-powered aircrafts, there are now more and more ways to go up, up and away. Let’s take a look at three companies leading the pack in commercial space travel: World View Enterprises, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX.

The World View Experience Commercial space operation, World View Enterprises, is providing suborbital flights to the edge of space by way of a high altitude helium balloon. Voyagers will begin their ascent to the stars in Arizona. Once the aircraft reaches 100,000 feet, travelers will cruise for two hours, watching stunning panoramic views of Earth through the capsule’s 360° viewing windows. “Imagine being there as the stars fade away and the sun comes up over the horizon. You see the transition from light to day in a way that you can’t get from a video,” said Jane Poynter, CEO of World View Enterprises. World View is scheduled to begin launches at the end of 2016.

Virgin Galactic English entrepreneur and billionaire tycoon Sir Richard Branson joined the space tourism arena in 2004 with the launch of his spaceflight company Virgin Galactic. Many moons ago, a 19-year-old Branson resolved to encounter the final frontier after watching the moon landings on TV in 1969. Little did he know that 44 years later his dream would develop into the world’s first commercial spaceline. On April 29, 2013, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo became the first commercial vehicle since the Aérospatiale - British Aircraft

ELON MUSK: FOUNDER OF PAYPAL, TESLA CARS, NOW ROCKETS TO MARS T esla Motors founder and PayPal co-founder Elon Musk isn’t playing coy about future plans for his newest venture, commercial space company, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation. To date, SpaceX is the only private company to return an aircraft from low-Earth orbit successfully and has traveled on three separate occasions to the International Space station to deliver cargo. With all of these accomplishments under their belt, Musk and his team are confident their plan to develop reusable rockets will generate lower flight costs and eventually lead to the colonization of a certain Red Planet. ut someone may have already beaten them in the race B to Mars. Turn the page to find out who. Spring 2014

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By John D. Adams

What would you sacrifice to be the first human being to live on Mars? Would you give your life? That’s just one of the fascinating questions that Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp is asking through his non-profit organization, Earth Mars One.

More than a dream?

The international Mars One Foundation plans a manned mission to Mars within the next 10 years “I think humans will reach Mars, and I would like to see it happen in my lifetime.” – Buzz Aldrin

With audacious plans to establish a permanent human colony of four on Mars by 2025, Lansdorp says: “Since we started Mars One in March 2011, we received support from scientists, engineers, businessmen and women and aerospace companies from all over the world. The announcement of our plan in May 2012 resulted in the engagement of the general public, and the support from sponsors and investors. To see our mission evolve this way feels like my dream is becoming a reality.” For as long as Man has gazed to the heavens, the planet Mars has been an inspired source of curiosity. And unlike our Moon, the “Red Planet,” our nearest planetoid neighbor, has remained tantalizingly out of reach. Until recently. On August 6, 2012, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) successfully landed Curiosity, a Mars rover, in Gale Crater. Since then, the world has been captivated by the constant stream of photographs and data that Curiosity has transmitted back to Earth. Recently, the rover drilled into its first rocks. They contained chemical evidence that the place had once been not only water-covered but also habitable! Could Mars once again become habitable? The Mars One organization believes so,

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and is currently working towards human colonization within the next 11 years. Thanks

It Begins With A Dream Think the Mars One project is just a dream? Well, dreams can become reality. Just ask one of the biggest names associated

the

guidance

with the future of intersteller travel -- Elon Musk. While you may

accomplished advisers and the en-

not know his name, our entire financial transaction world has

dorsement of Nobel Prize-winning

been changed by the young genius who made his first fortune

physicist Gerard ‘t Hooft, the Mars

merging his innovate online bill pay system into a little some-

One project appears to be much

thing called “PayPal.”

more than just another pipe dream held by so many stargazers over the centuries. Indeed, with feedback from prospective suppliers Mars One has designed a realistic plan utilizing existing technology available through the private space industry. Even more traction was gained in December 2013, when the foundation announced it had secured contracts with Lockheed Martin to develop and study an initial unmanned mission to be launched in 2018. The aerospace and defense giant will study building the lander, while Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. will develop a concept study.

The mission If all goes well and according to timetables by 2018, this settlement rover will explore the terrain of Mars in search of the ideal location for humans to reside. In 2021, additional rovers will transport and assemble six separate units to sustain human life. Two living units, two life support units, another supply unit, and a third rover will all arrive that same year. And then, in 2025, the first team of four carefully selected applicants will become the first human residents on the Red Planet. The catch? It’s a one-way trip. The biggest “glitch” in the Mars One plan is that whoever signs up and is accepted to participate in this historic event will have to live out the rest of their days on Mars. There simply isn’t the technology or infrastructure to launch a return flight.

Musk has gone on to found, invest, and oversee Tesla Motors and Space X, two entities that will likely change our concepts of transportation as greatly as PayPal altered the way we spend money. His Tesla Motors has developed and successfully produced the first electric sports car, which obliterates all previous electric car battery lives with a 300-mile charge. “We will run out of oil and we’re engaged in this dangerous experiment of pushing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It’s crazy.” Musk’s Tesla Model S and Falcon 9 are his first successful steps towards ending that dangerous game. With NASA’s space shuttle program now mothballed, Musk’s space vehicle and rocket technology company, Space Exploration Technology (SpaceX, for short), is ideally situated to take over the necessary heavy-lifting while ushering in the world of commercial space flight. In 2008, SpaceX was awarded a $1.6 billion NASA contract for 12 cargo flights of their “Falcon 9” rocket and “Dragon” spacecraft to the International Space Station. Musk considers this just the first step toward future human colonization of other worlds. “The goal of SpaceX has been to advance technology to create a self-sustaining colony on Mars. We have a long way to go and this is really hard work. It’s the most difficult thing humanity has ever done, but also the most interesting and inspiring. If I live 20 years, I think it’ll happen.”

Astonishingly, even with this, ahem, hiccup, Mars One received more than 200,000 applications during their initial enrollment period last year. Once

2025

this number is whittled down and 24-40

New crew lands and takes up residence in Mars One base

candidates have been fully trained and qualified, the final decision of choos-

2023

ing the first settlers will be decided by

4 astronauts land on Mars

a television audience vote. “In 1,000 years, everyone on Earth will still re-

Launch of the first Martian crew

member who the first humans on Mars were, just like Neil Armstrong has been

2022 2021

etched in our memories forever,” said

Installation of the first Mars base (6 modules and 2 rovers)

Lansdorp. “This makes the selection of the first crew to a different planet a very

2018

important election; in my opinion more

Launch and landing of exploration rover on Mars

important than most elections.” Adds

2016

physicist Gerard ‘t Hooft: “‘Big Brother’

Launch and landing on Mars of supply mission with 2.5t of food

will pale in comparison.” To learn more about Mars One, visit their

2013

website at: www.mars-one.com

Selection of 40 astronauts and simulation of Mars base on Earth

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(Some) Rich and (Some) Famous Pipe People of Yesteryear Exclusive to South Florida Opulence By Ben Rapaport

he global history of tobacco records some famous pipe smokers and some famous tobacco pipe collectors. Some avid pipe smokers: John Adams, Andrew Jackson (“Old Hickory”), Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, William Henry Harrison, Herbert Hoover, Gerald R. Ford, Ronald Reagan, Generals John Pershing, Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Millicent Fenwick, a four-term Republican member of Congress from New Jersey, to mention a few. Jackson, a frontiersman, did keep a large collection of pipes, but preferred smoking his own, a simple corncob pipe; his wife, Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson, often smoked a pipe. None of these Americans, however, were as colorful as Albert Pike, poet, philosopher, frontiersman, soldier, humanitarian and philanthropist, 33rd degree Mason, one of the founding fathers and head of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. A few of Old Hickory’s pipes are on exhibit at the Hermitage Museum, Nashville, Tennessee, but Albert Pike’s pipes are center-stage in The House of the Temple, the Scottish Rite headquarters, in Washington, D.C. The tobacco pipe is one of the cheapest luxuries, but it can become one of the most expensive hobbies. Those who amassed an extensive collection of antique pipes were rich enough, and because their names ripple through books and periodicals, they all had earned a degree of fame in their own inimitable way. Not surprisingly, a few were affiliated with the tobacco industry, and many were non-smokers. What they all had in common was an appreciation of pipe artistry and craftsmanship. As Werner Muensterberger wrote in Collecting: An Unruly Passion (1994): “There is reason to believe that the true nature of the habit [collecting] is the emotional state leading to a more or less perpetual attempt to surround oneself with magically potent objects.” But it’s not just a hobby; it’s an education in history, culture, society, economics, and more.

"Porcelaine de Paris" Pipe Bowls By André Leclaire, Member of the Académie Internationale de la Pipe (AIP) In the inventory records from 1898 of the Alice de Rothschild (handwritten document for the Bibliothèque de Grasse), a few pipes are described as “Porcelaine de Paris.” 146

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Who collected with passion and ardor? The roster of notable collectors is long, but here are a few personages that may resonate.

Pierre Lorillard (1742–1776) who opened New York City’s first successful manufactory for tobacco products in 1760. According to The Book Lover, Autumn 1899–Summer 1900, he had “a fine collection of meerschaum pipes, which is said to be worth $10,000.” His Royal HighPierre Lorillard ness, Prince Augustus Frederick, the Duke of Sussex (1773–1843), had an immense collection that drew a large audience to London at the Christie and Manson sale of his pipes when he died. Germany’s Iron Chancellor, Otto Eduard Prince Augustus Leopold von Bismarck (1815–1898), Frederick and Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria (1830–1916) were enthusiastic collectors; both were more famous, no doubt, for their politics than for their pipes. The collection of William Bragge (1823– 1884) of Birmingham, England, spanned the globe with more than 7,000 artifacts acquired in one brief and energetic period of 20 years: Franz Joseph I pipes; tobacco boxes and jars; pipe tampers; cigar cases; fire strikers; snuff boxes, rasps, mills, spoons and bottles; and books. In May 1885, one year after his death, The Museum, a Philadelphia journal thousands of miles from Birmingham, called him “one of the few ardent and systematic collectors of international reputation.” Baroness Alice de Rothschild (1847– 1922) of the renowned financier family, was famous not only for her gardens and grounds near Grasse, France—a hybrid violet bears her name—and several Cuban and Dominican cigars bear the family name, but also for her superior collection of Meissen, wood, and meerschaum pipes. Her collection of more than 450 disBaroness Alice crete examples was bequeathed to the de Rothschild Bibliothèque municipale de Grasse in 1927. The Library has exhibited her pipes on two occasions: in early 1989, and in late 2004, this time with a retrospective catalog for the debut: La Collection de pipes de la baronne Alice de Rothschild. Alfred Dunhill (1872–1959), founder of Alfred Dunhill Ltd., the arbiter of style among wealthy people who value elegance,

opened his first tobacconist’s shop in London in 1907, and in the early 1920s, started collecting antique pipes. After he died, Richard Dunhill, Alfred’s grandson, slowly expanded the collection, often snagging the occasional antique meerschaum pipe at auction. After 2000, the collection of almost 2,000 antique pipes was no longer a corporate interest, and Christie’s South Kensington auctioned it in two sessions, in May 2004 and May 2006. King Farouk (1920–1965), the last king of Egypt and playboy, was a voracious and undiscriminating collector: Arabian horses, matchboxes, coins, gold medals and boxes, watches, stamps, Gallé glass, early razor blades, aspirin bottles, and Fabergé Easter eggs. Little Caesar — Edward G. Robinson (Emanuel Goldenberg [1893–1973])— King Farouk was an avid pipe collector of high-grade briar pipes, many of which were illustrated in an Argosy magazine article in January 1960. “People call me a pipe collector,” said Robinson…. “They’re wrong. People who collect pipes or stamps or antiques or anyEdward G. Robinson thing else are interested in collecting. I’m not. To me pipe smoking is far more interesting than collecting.” His collection was auctioned by a Newport Beach, California, art gallery in July 1977. Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby (1903–1977) was almost always pictured with a briar pipe in his mouth; he and his pipe were inseparable, even when he crooned. Some of his pipes remain with the family, some in private collections, and others were displayed in two California restaurants, Bing Crosby’s Restaurant & Piano Bar, now shuttered. The Savinelli Pipe Company, Barasso (V), Italy, continues to make a series Bing Crosby of Crosby-unique pipe shapes, called “Bing’s Favorites.” Today, the anti-tobacco movement’s impact on society has, in great measure, changed the attitude toward the use or consumption of any tobacco product, but whereas smoking a pipe has declined, collecting pipes has not. From all the evidence so far—a worldwide network of aficionados, frequent pipe shows, and public exhibitions of tobacco pipes here and abroad, the most recent at the Museum Otto Ludwig Schloss Eisfeld, Thüringen, Germany, “Burning Love, Thüringian Porcelain Tobacco Pipes,” from June to December 2013 — this hobby will probably continue unabated.

Alfred Dunhill

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condo law

By Michael S. Bender, Esq., Kaye Bender Rembaum, P.L.

CLARIFICATION IN SPIAGGIA CASE RULING INVOLVING

“JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY”

he Third District Court of Appeal has attempted to

[the Association] took title to the subject property.” The Court

further define the principle regarding what resulted in

seemingly ignores the Statutory issue of whether Londono is

the protection of certain third party purchasers at lend-

jointly and severally liable with the Association for the sums which

er foreclosure sales involving condominium units and affecting

had been due on the unit prior to the Association taking title. In

condominium associations, initially set forth in the case of Aventura

essence, the Court in Park West has indicated that “joint and

Management, LLC v. Spiaggia Ocean Condominium Association,

several” liability should only be applied to sums owned by the

Inc. early in 2013. However, the latest decision seems to have made

owner that immediately precedes the current owner and we

the issue less clear and upon careful reading, may not be in accord-

would not look any further back from there to sums owed by other

ance with the provisions of the relevant Statute on this topic.

owners in the chain of title.

In Park West Professional Center Condominium Association, Inc. v.

For condominium associations that are addressing assessment

Londono, Case No. 3D13-770 (November 27, 2013), the Association

delinquencies on units that are also believed to be delinquent in

there had foreclosed on its lien against a unit in the Condominium

mortgage payments, the issue of the possible negative impact of a

during the pendency of a lender foreclosure, and the Associa-

third party purchaser taking title at a lender’s foreclosure sale is one

tion was the successful bidder at the Association foreclosure sale,

of several factors that should be considered by the board of direc-

becoming the owner of the property. Some time later, the lender

tors in deciding whether or not to pursue the lien and foreclosure

finished its foreclosure and Londono, a third party, was the purchas-

process. However, the issue should not be the primary basis for the

er at the lender foreclosure sale. There was then a dispute between

determination. There are likely only a limited number of situations

the Association and Londono regarding what Londono was to

in which this will occur which will then be to the detriment of the

pay to the Association for unpaid assessments, which was initially

association. So long as the amounts due on unpaid mortgages

decided in the trial court and then appealed by both parties.

significantly exceed the fair market value of the units, the likeli-

In attempting to further explain its earlier decision in Spiaggia (which held that the third party purchaser did not owe anything to the Association prior to the third party purchaser acquiring title), the Appellate Court ruled that the Association was jointly and severally liable with the prior owner of the unit that was foreclosed upon by the Association for all sums due before the Association took title to the time that the prior owner acquired title to the unit, and that the third party purchaser was “responsible for unpaid assessments back to the time when

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hood of a third party purchaser bidding at a lender sale on such a property is relatively low. As such, the board may not need to place significant weight on this issue in deciding whether to foreclose. Since most every case has unique factors, consultation with the association attorney is recommended prior to making the final decision on whether to pursue foreclosure against a delinquent owner.

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condo living

Does Your Association “Have” a Surplus to Roll Over?

Stay with me here, we’re getting technical! By Andrew Rand, Director of Association Accounting at CSI Management Services As boards of directors prepare the next year’s annual condominium association budget, it’s common to start planning months in advance, before the actual current year ends. For example, they may work on budget preparations in September for implementation in January. However, without prudent planning, significant unexpected expenses can still surface before year’s end – such as storm damage – that can wreak havoc on a new budget. And we all know what that could lead to: the dreaded emergency special assessment. No one can predict with absolute certainty when Mother Nature, or other circumstances, may trigger surprise expenses. But there are plenty of useful strategies of which BODs should be aware. One of those matters involves “Surplus Rollovers.” Used properly, and with actual funds, a surplus rollover may help prevent a maintenance increase. But used imprudently, a surplus rollover applied with “phantom funds” can also lead to mayhem. Allow me to explain. Your association accountant will advise that a minimum of two months of operating expenses, on average, should be in the operating account at all times. This is to ensure the association can absorb expenses related to an emergency or unforeseen event. An amount in excess of that threshold may

be considered as a surplus rollover toward the next budget. For example, let’s say an association’s budgeted expenses are $50,000 a month. Then the amount that should be maintained in the operating account at all times is $100,000. If during budget planning time (say it’s in September), the association has $150,000 in the operating account, then there may be a potential $50,000 “surplus” that could be rolled over into the next year’s budget. However, if an unexpected expense before year’s end should wipe out the surplus, then the “surplus rollover” applied in next year’s budget would disappear. The BOD would likely have to issue a special assessment to cover everyday operating costs. Additionally, even if a surplus rollover is successfully used in one budget year to offset an increase in maintenance fees, if the next year ends without a surplus, the BOD will need to find some way to replace those funds in the next budget, as well as funds to cover any new increases in operating expenses. And that could lead to the need for one doozy of a special assessment! If your condominium association is considering applying a “surplus rollover” to next year’s budget, it’s best to consult your association’s accounting department first to understand the risks versus benefits of doing so.

What is it about your community’s risk management program that keeps you up at night? Does the D&O policy we purchased fully protect the board? Will our Disaster Preparedness/ Recovery Plan be effective when we need it? Is our Insurance Program in compliance with our bylaws? With all these recent natural disasters, how do we effectively budget for next year? If we have a claim will we be adjusted and paid correctly?

We have the answers.

Serving South Florida for 90 years • 800.683.8664 • www.slatonriskservices.com 152

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State-of-the-art Building Services and Superior WorkForce Management

CSI International, Inc. provides custodial, mechanical and corporate support services to commercial Class A properties — educational, manufacturing and industrial — in the eastern half of the United States. At CSI, everything we do stems from one simple premise… We make life easier for our clients and ensure this by providing the finest in: • Janitorial services • Operating engineers services • Green cleaning options • Building mechanics services • Mechanical services • Corporate services

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CONDO LAW

By Donna DiMaggio Berger, Esq.

Has Your Community Ever Encountered A Non-Compete Clause? A client recently contacted me with regard to a personnel matter. The community had fallen in love with a particular security guard and while the contract with the security company was slated for termination, the board wanted to hire this guard personally to continue on with them. Unfortunately for this community, the guard had signed a non-compete agreement with his current employer and, as a consequence, would not be able to accept the association's offer of employment for at least two years.

Has this ever happened to your community? Non-compete agreements became even more common during the Great Recession when signing an agreement restricting future employment opportunities seemed like a small price to pay for a job. These types of restrictive provisions can be found in all types of industries including those which service community associations, particularly management and security services. With the economy on the upswing, more and more employees are starting to challenge the non-compete agreements they previously signed without much concern. While most employers can insist on a non-compete agreement from its employees, those same employers must have a legitimate business reason to enforce same. Some legitimate reasons include the employee possessing the company's trade secrets or other proprietary information which cannot be accessed through public means. Trying to protect a company's investment in an employee via specialized training as well as protecting the relationship which the company has created with a client

base, existing and potential, is a legitimate reason to enforce a non-compete. Trying to prevent competition is not. Most non-compete agreements restrict an employee's ability to obtain similar employment within a certain geographic area and within a certain period of time after leaving the company's employ. Lest you fear you will lose your favorite attorney if he or she leaves a particular firm, non-compete agreements have been stricken down by the Florida Bar and other state bar associations as they pertain to attorneys. However, the same is not true for other industries where each agreement will be judged on its own merits. Communities looking to hire personnel should inquire about the existence of any non-compete agreements those candidates may have previously signed. Hiring without having that knowledge can present costly problems for the association including an interruption in services if the employee must be fired and rehired at a future date. The moral of the story for associations: Look before you leap. The moral of the story for employees: Understand the long-term consequences a non-compete agreement can present before you sign on the dotted line! Donna DiMaggio Berger, Esq. is one of the Founding Partners of the statewide law firm, Katzman Garfinkel & Berger (KG&B), a firm that devotes its practice to the representation of community associations. Ms. Berger can be reached directly at 954-315-0372 or via email at dberger@kgblawfirm.com

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CSI Welcomes the Townhomes at Sunset Harbour

uxury residential property management company, CSI Management Services, is bringing its 20-year-plus service experience to the upscale Townhomes at Sunset Harbour.

CSI is delighted to extend its five-star level of service to the Townhomes at Sunset Harbour. “We couldn’t be more pleased to be serving the residents and association of the Townhomes at Sunset Harbour,” said Mark Blackburn, Chief Operating Officer of CSI Management Services.

These quaint Mediterranean-style townhomes offer residents a lavish, laid-back escape from the bustle of Miami Beach, yet are within walking distance of the vibrant restaurant scene, excellent shopping, and classy bars of Sunset Harbour Shops. Spacious marble-floored units boast waterfront views of Biscayne Bay and city views of South Florida’s urban metropolis.

Exceeding Expectations The staff of CSI Management Services is eager to provide residents of the Townhomes at Sunset Harbour exceptional quality service. “We measure success by the satisfaction of our residents. Our mission

is to offer homeowners superior service that will exceed expectations,” Blackburn said. Welcome aboard!

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Contact our South Florida Relationship Manager: Rebecca R. Prieto, V.P. 786-953-1221 rprieto@bpop.com

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uffizi gallery little dreams SOBE

Social Living

Philanthropy

Founders Rita & Rick Case of Rick Case Automotive Legendary drummer Phil Collins and Robin Jay Group, Kim Costello of AutoNation and Brian Quail, at The Little Dreams event. President/CEO Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County (Photo Credit: Clay Wieland Photography).

Erika Buchholz and Chantal Forster of South Florida Opulence at the Little Dreams Foundation.

Little Dreams Foundation with the custom designed holiday tree sponsored by South Florida Opukence.

Annual Brunch for the Friends of Uffizi Gallery Left: Dr. Robert Simon, Gordon Lewis & Editor Robin Jay.

Ira Birns, Nicole Blackburn, Adrienne Urban, Elena Woltin and other guests enjoy The Best of the Best.

Clay Conley, Chef Owner of Buccan Restaurant

Mark Blackburn with Jonathan Tisch at the Annual Tribute Dinner.

Rachel Ray greets guests at Burger Bash. Below: 2014 Burger Bash Champ Chef Michael Symon Trophy.

Celebrity Chef Scott Conant, owner of Scarpetta at Fontainebleau, with two guests.

Nicole and Mark Blackburn and guest. Spring 2014

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OIR Launch SOUTH BEACH krup glamping

Social Living

SLS Brickell Groundbreaking with Mayor Tomas P. Regalado, The Related Group.

Jorge PĂŠrez and South Florida Opulence Magazine Publisher Mark Blackburn & Business Development Director Erika Buchholz.

Geoff and Jayne Hammond with Tomi Rose and James C. Hoffman, President-Broker, Mark Strickland at the Opulence International Opulence International Realty with Realty launch event. Curt Schaffer CSI CFO at the Opulence International Realty launch event.

Chef Colicchio, Hankin, LeFrak, Aguiar and LeFrak. Chef Tom Colicchio and Richard LeFrak previewed new restaurant at 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach sales center opening.

Edwina Sandys and Jan Kayson at the book signing of My Mother, My Father And His Wife Hortense by Dialta Alliata Lensi Orlandi.

Mark Blackburn, Erika Buchholz and Bill Linsay at Weston Jewelers. Susie Wahab & Barbara Becker at the Krup Glamping event.

Ian Bush, Isabelle McKay, Marcos Izquierdo, Dr. Michael de Leon, Shannon McBride, Mirella Seferovic attended the Edward Beiner welcomes Chanel event. 160

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Spring 2014

Daniel & Marcella Novela at the Krup Glamping event.

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