We spent last weekend upstate in Woodstock, visiting for the first time with our girlfriend Carol Graham, who owns a lovely farmhouse situated moments away from Main Street, that felt a lot like Park Slope Brooklyn. There primarily for Autumn's changing of the leaves, which was spectacular, we also wanted to stop by the John Derian Picture Book, book signing event at the Paper Trail store in nearby Rhinebeck. I've been a fan of John's exquisite decoupage plates, trays and paperweights for years and the must-have John Derian Picture Book is a curated collection of nearly 300 of his best-loved images from more than 30 years of work.
John Derian is the king of the decorative art of decoupage - a craft or art form that entails pasting paper cut-outs to an object, then covering them with several coats of varnish or lacquer. This gives flat cut-outs an appearance of depth and makes patterns and pictures look as if they are actually painted on the decoupaged object.
To visit John Derian Company, the owner's namesake store located in the East Village is to step through the door and be transported to an earlier time and place. Equal parts charming old curiosity shop, design boutique, art gallery and accessories emporium there's so much to look at and discover, it takes a moment to orient yourself.
Anna Wintour, Artistic Director for Condé Nast wrote the foreword for Picture Book and vividly describes the store's appeal... "At Vogue, we even have a nickname for the shop: "the grocery store," because that's what it is - somewhere that everyone gravitates to, because it's communal and democratic and you expect to be nourished by what you find there."
I'm always on the hunt for interesting, decorative accessories for my interior design clients that are also unique and have a hand-crafted, yet sophisticated sensibility. For me, John's decoupage pieces are timeless gems that fit perfectly in both contemporary and traditional environments.
John Derian Company, 6 East 2nd Street, NY - (212) 677-3917
There's fabric too...
Living with John Derian items
A selection of decoupage trays and plates on display at the book signing
With John Derian at his book signing
More examples from the booksigning
Plates and trays that are just too pretty not to hang on the wall