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A rtist George Sellers has spent the last decade creating a world full of fantastical creatures that inhabit highly ornate, otherworldly rooms. His gigantic white-plaster wasps, beetles and spiders are often gilded in 24K gold. His custom carved gold-leaf prosceniums, jewel-encrusted ceiling medallions and white goat-footed tables reference Renaissance and Rococo designs. Costly and precious, Sellers' rarified works have always been one- of-a-kind and custom pieces. Now, thanks to his new business partner Bradley Clifford (who joined him last year), Sellers is producing accessibly priced furniture and lighting for Mecox under the name Areté. The cubist and nature-inspired pieces, which will be carried at six Mecox locations throughout the country (including Dallas), come in a range of materials such as plaster, bronze, stone and glass. "Working with Bradley has enabled me to upgrade to other materials besides plaster, such as bronze, that is more stable," Sellers says. The pieces range from about $550 for the Clipped Cube metal side table to $6,900 for the Twisted Faux Bois console, hand-built from gypsum plaster. This fall, Areté introduces a collection of consoles, cigarette and side tables for Mecox in Carrera marble and Lueders limestone — "like something you'd see in a Catholic church, only abstracted," Sellers says. Clifford, an investor whose portfolio has included the Dallas-based furniture design company Breckinridge Taylor, has owned retail stores in Dallas and Portland, Oregon. "George didn't want to create only fine art, since it's not always sustainable," he says. "I told him, 'Let's do something a little more practical but still with your quality and design edge.' People want things made in America that are unique, but at a price point that is not too high." The two are currently putting together prototypes and presentations for collections of smaller accessories in fine porcelain bisque, which will be fired at some of the world's best porcelain foundries in Mexico. But Sellers hasn't left his love of specimens and curiosities behind. He's also producing prototypes of bronze lamps featuring bugs and other natural elements using the ancient lost- wax method, which will retail for $4,000 to $14,000. Sellers, who trained in Italy as a sculptor, is firing on all pistons now. "We're doing the Javitz gift show in New York, and next year we'll do Maison & Objet in Paris," he says. There, he plans to set up a booth for his newest goods in the New Talent section, in a mise en scène built from his carved, white-plaster architectural elements decorated with his massively scaled plaster animal heads and bugs. "I've been to Maison before and not seen anything like it yet," Sellers says. "I think we'll be the talk of the show." We couldn't agree more. Mecox, 4532 Cole Ave., 214.580.3800, mecox.com. DECORATION D uring the 17th century, tulips were so rare and prized in Europe that a lone bulb could fetch today's equivalent of $1,250 to $3,500. Tulipomania, as it became known, gave way to other fads among the wealthy, but the craze left us with a singularly beautiful object: the tulipière. These ornate vessels — traditionally made from delftware — were created to force tulip bulbs indoors and were often found in the homes of European elites. Towering, floor-standing tulipières were particularly extravagant status symbols, and this 61-inch modern-day version by ceramicist Matthew Solomon is no less coveted. Working from his studio in Upstate New York, Solomon's lavish porcelains take weeks to make. A lawyer turned amateur gardener, Solomon uses specimens from his own garden and those found in historic paintings as inspiration for smaller, complex floral sculptures, glazed in a range of delicate hues. Flowers $560 to $3,200; floor tulipière, price upon request, at Emily Summers Studio 54, 54 Highland Park Village, 214.521.5454, emilysummers.com/studio54. GLAZED& AMAZED In 1966, Richard Schultz designed a collection of metal patio furniture for Knoll that has become one of the most widely collected and recognizable ever created. Knoll has updated the all-white Schultz collection for the first time, powder-coated in tropical hues of plum, yellow, lime green, blue, green and orange. The colors were pulled from the electric tones of another pair of Knoll collaborators, Jonathan Olivares and David Adjaye, whose Washington Collection was inspired by artist David Hockney's paintings. How appropriate. Hockney himself was said to have been inspired by the bright, clear colors of Palm Springs pools and pool houses when he arrived in California from his native England in the 1960s. Prices upon request, at Scott + Cooner, scottcooner.com. OUT HERE HOT IT'S TOTAL NATURAL Gilded wasp and nest by George Sellers Creative SHAYNA FONTANA MAX BURKHALTER George Sellers Twisted Juniper side table $2,525, at Mecox C enturies before China became the epicenter for mass reproductions, it was the center of finely crafted porcelains made for the Imperial families. Young entrepreneurs Bo Jia and Alison Alten are reviving the tarnished art of fine porcelain making in China through their company, Middle Kingdom. Founded in 1998, Middle Kingdom employs highly trained artisans whose skills go back generations to produce exquisitely handmade vases and vessels in Jingdezhen, where the imperial kilns were once located. Middle Kingdom's work is part of the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and can be seen in the Forbidden City, the former Chinese imperial palace in Beijing. But fortunately, you won't have to pay a king's ransom for them. $75 to $80, at Blue Print, blueprintstore.com. BLUEBLOODS C reated by Parisian furniture designer Cédric Ragot, Roche Bobois' new lacquered Sismic ottoman throws off conventional seating with a stacked, off-kilter base. It doubles as a side table or highly functional sculpture. Available in red ombré effect or metallic mouse gray, white and taupe. $2,300, at Roche Bobois, rochebobois.com. TWISTED George Sellers Plaster owl $365, at Mecox One of only two gilded plaster snails ever created, $3,630, at Mecox BY REBECCA SHERMAN Richard Schultz for Knoll's new colorways in orange, green and yellow