Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1420844
PALM TREES & PAGODAS ALDOUS BERTRAM & AMANDA LINDROTH X JAMES SHOWROOM By Lisa Collins Shaddock. Photography Jonathan Zizzo. O n the eve of the launch of his first book, darling British art historian, illustrator, and designer Aldous Bertram joined his caftan-clad friend and designer Amanda Lindroth, the doyenne of island design, at James Showroom for cocktails, book signings, and an illustrated salon talk kicking off Texas Design Week. The evening, hosted by James owners designer Meredith Ellis and husband Hunter Ellis (who moderated the chat), included a talk that ranged from academia to island gossip. Bertram has a Ph.D. from Cambridge, specializing in the historical influence of China on English garden design and architecture. "I like to say I have a Ph.D. in Chinese pavilions," he told the crowd. By a circuitous twist of fortune, he found himself in the sphere of simpatico Lindroth on Lyford Cay. His tropical lifestyle working with her and painting her clients' dream-like renderings in his signature watercolors may seem like a stark departure from his English academic background, but it's actually come full-circle. "The link between chinoiserie and tropical places is from the beginning," says Bertram, who devotes the final chapter of Dragons & Pagodas: A Celebration of Chinoiserie (Vendome) to this topic. "The ships bringing in porcelain and early lacquer were also bringing in shells, coral, and other exotica from the Far East." Following the talk, Bertram signed Dragons & Pagodas, while Lindroth signed her book Island Hopping (Vendome), which is filled with homes she's designed in Harbour Island, Great Abaco, and Lyford Cay. Seen: Jane Scott Hodges, Janet Gridley, Melinda Obenchain, Susie Kwiatkowski, Christina Dandar, Mia Brous, Christy and Douglas Nance, Jennifer Klos, Porter Fuqua, Wilson Fuqua, Luis Araujo, Callie Wheeler, and Sherry Hayslip. Elisabeth McCabe Caroline Finkelstein Lauren Gonzalez Angela Gonzalez Craig O'Dell Austin Mill Liz MacPhail, Kelli Ogletree Traci Reed Georgia Bass Megan Linquest Susie Kwiatkowsky Porter Fuqua Sherry Hayslip Lloyd Princeton, Jane Scott Hodges Lauren McGowan Jessica Pinzo Amanda Dorsey Hannah White Amanda Lindroth, Hunter & Meredith Ellis, Aldous Bertram Hunter Ellis Wilson Fuqua Jennifer Klos