Celebration

Yesterday was an awesome day for us :)
We started off the day in Northport by spending it with Jean-Paul and friends celebrating the life and work of Gretchen Rau, at her beautiful home. (see previous blog about Gretchen from a few weeks ago.)It was such a beautiful day and SO many friends turned out. We sat on the edge of the water, drinking wine, eating delicious foods, talking about Gretchen, and watching the kids (who instantly bonded as kids do) throw big rocks onto the shore line making all the pisser clams shoot their waters up! I had never seen anything like that before.. and of course we all cheered when we saw the little clam waters shoot up into the air!.. lol. The kids also made a floating boat of some sort that they decorated with cray fish shells (they look exactly like baby lobsters) that were served at the party. They tried launching it a few times but it kept floating back in which was very amusing :)
It turned out to be a perfect day! Esp. with the threat and downpouring of rain that we've been experiencing here the past days!! The sun was shining and it was just perfect. Just as Gretchen would have wanted it.

The library room was decorated with tons of beautiful photographs of Gretchen taken over the years including this tribute article from the Times of Northport about her:

Gretchen Rau beautified big screen and Bayview:
Set designer leaves 'evergreen' impression on neighbors..
By Joshua Diamant

April 19, 2006
You didn't need to be a movie buff to know that Gretchen Rau, a longtime Northport resident who died last month at the age of 66, was a set designer of immense talent. All you had to do was walk by her house.

"I think the most interesting conversation I had with her was over a tree she'd planted in front of her house," recalled Northport Village Trustee Arlene Handel, who was a neighbor of Rau's on Bayview Avenue. "It was an evergreen magnolia, an unusual choice for this part of the world. This beautiful specimen typified her style. It was unexpected, beautiful, stylish, and she took a chance on planting it there. She had style and wit, and the tree is flourishing."

The New Orleans-born Rau died quietly in her home on March 29 of a brain tumor and received a private burial. Her passing was not widely noted until nearly two weeks later, when an obituary appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Nearly all of the nation's major daily newspapers quickly followed suit.

Three weeks before she died, Rau was honored with an Oscar for her design on Memoirs of a Geisha, an award she shared with production designer John Myhre. "She was just thrilled," Rau's son, Taylor Pattison said. He and his brother, George Pattison, both of whom live in Northport and work in film and television, accepted the award on her behalf at the Los Angeles ceremony.

Geisha, directed by Rob Marshall and based on the novel by Arthur Golden, received lukewarm reviews overall but universal praise for its visual richness; Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers wrote that the film "puts new luster on the word 'gorgeous.'"

George Pattison said that Rau moved to Northport in 1966 and got into the film design business "by accident.... She used to make catered lunches for a commercial company and from there she just gravitated toward the industry." Her big break was the 1980 film Atlantic City, "and from there, her career just blossomed," Pattison said. Other credits include Crocodile Dundee, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Six Degrees of Separation, City of Angels and The Last Samurai, for which she received an Oscar nomination.

Another son, Jean-Paul Menard, also in the family business and also of Northport, said, "It's a field that we all found our little niche in, so to speak. She was definitely an influence."

Rau's line of work meant constant travel, so her involvement in local civic affairs was minimal, but neighbors on Bayview and colleagues across the country alike remember her for an unflagging artistic sensibility, a unique sense of humor, an abiding sense of devotion to family and friends, and a deep love for the Village of Northport.

"They were an incredibly talented family and very artistic," said Gay Wagner, a former neighbor now living in Connecticut. "Gretchen was a fabulous cook. If there was anything ever that I didn't have, I could usually go to Gretchen and borrow it. And she was a rare Southerner in Northport, which was very nice."

Echoing the remarks of several others, Wagner added, "It was always an interesting house. It was very clear that there was someone with a real flair living there."

Henry Tobin, the newly elected village trustee who has pushed for historic preservation laws, said, "She has had a beautiful house, and she renovated it in a way that really accentuates the charm in the original structure."

Another neighbor, JoAnne Moran, described Rau as "a very wise, entertaining woman devoted to her kids. She was always interesting to be around and always had a sparkle."

Myhre, Rau's collaborator on Geisha as well as on Gilbert Grape, said, "She was absolutely fantastic, just a joy to work with. She was such a lovely, lovely person, and she is so sadly missed by everyone out here in Los Angeles.... What was especially wonderful is that nothing was ever a problem for her. We work in a funny business. Every day there are 200 problems. But she saw everything as an interesting challenge and just said, 'Let's do it.' She had a great sense of humor and an elegance about her as well. You knew when she was working with you that you were in such good hands."

In addition to her three sons, Rau is survived by two daughters: Anne Pattison, who lives in London and works as a makeup artist, and Stephanie Pattison, who is a teacher living in West Palm Beach, Florida. She is also survived by sister Roli Deeves, brother Forrest Rau and four grandchildren.

Gretchen Rau's artistry has left lasting impressions — wherever it may be found. "When I walk down the street and past that tree, I'll always think of who planted it," Trustee Handel concluded.