Photos by Angela Shoemaker
Shelling the Egg
Dover House Antiques & Mercantile, 2000 Frankfort Ave. (899-1699), has rooms full of antique and modern gift ideas, all intermingled to show how the old and the new work together. Among them is this 19-inch-tall "Egg" table lamp from John Derian Co., which combines art glass and coral decoupage and comes with a 12-inch brown shade. Its cost is $990.
Reefly Noted
The floral and accessories shop Herbal Accents, 1404 Evergreen Road in Anchorage (489-5511), carries boxes of four-by-six-inch note cards by Caspari Inc. The 15 note cards, priced at $12.75, are reproductions from Pierre Frey’s fabric designs Aquarius and Maldives, made to resemble coral reefs such as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef in the world.
Muse for Music
Lexington artist Ron Meece makes art with coral and shells, a skill he inherited from his grandmother. "Coral adds movement to a piece and gives it an Old World, grotto-type appearance," Meece says. This coral and blue shell music box, which plays the theme from Love Story, measures 4 ? by 4 ? by 3 ? inches and sells for $250 at the sales gallery of the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, 715 W. Main St. (589-0102, www.kentuckyarts.org). The price range of Meece’s work at KMAC is $90-$1,500.
Undersea Palette
Artist Luci A. Mistratov, who has a B.S. in biology and a Ph.D. in art education, worked for three years in the World Ocean Museum in her hometown of Kaliningrad, Russia, near the Baltic Sea. "I’m familiar with coral," she says. "They have a great collection of it." Her vividly hued watercolor Red Coral I is 12 by 16 inches and priced at $500. You can buy it at the Kentucky Watercolor Society in the Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center, 1860 Mellwood Ave. (326-9256, www.kentuckyartists.com/kws). The price range of Mistratov’s work is $20-$2,000, and you can view more of it on her website, www.mycolorworld.net.
Oceanic Plates
Dwellings, at 7405 New LaGrange Road (896-2990, www.dwellingsfurniture.com), is the new name and location of the former D&S Designs on Westport Road. There you can find several items featuring coral images or forms, including these 10-inch-diameter coral-decorated ceramic plates, which sell for $42 each.
Scouting for Coral
California home-accessories maker Fringe Studio must love coral, for the company produces a large assortment of glass and ceramic items adorned with it, including this 13-inch-tall vase, which sells for $60. Also not to be missed are the four-inch-long matches in the red coral box. Fringe Studio items range in price from $3.25-$60 at Scout, 801 E. Market St. (584-8989, www.scoutonmarket.com).
