They held the second annual Quill Awards at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, hosted by NBC News’ Lester Holt, with special performances by Fantasia, Lewis Black, and the Tony Award-winning cast of Broadway’s “Avenue Q.” Celebrity presenters included Anderson Cooper, Liz Smith, Donald Trump, Stanley Tucci, Harry Connick, Jr., Dominick Dunne, Sue Monk Kidd, James Patterson, Judy Blume, Janet Evanovich, Mary Matalin, Suzanne Somers, Rhea Perlman, S. Epatha Merkerson, Judd Hirsch, Ann Brashares, Marianne Williamson, Dana Delany, and Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), among others.

Chosen by readers across the country and announced by James Patterson, the Quills Book of the Year was awarded to Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life by Tyler Perry, published by Riverhead Books. Anderson Cooper and 2005 Quills winner Elizabeth Kostova presented the Debut Author of the Year Award to Julie Powell for Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, published by Little, Brown & Company.

Book of the Year – presented by James Patterson
Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life
Tyler Perry
Riverhead Books

Debut Author of the Year – presented by Anderson Cooper and 2005 Quills Winner Elizabeth Kostova
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen
Julie Powell
Little, Brown & Company

Audio Book - presented by Judd Hirsch and David Rakoff
Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
Written and Read by John Grogan
Harper Audio

Children’s Illustrated Book – presented by Rhea Perlman and Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket)
If You Give a Pig a Party
Laura Joffe Numeroff, Illustrated by Felicia Bond
Laura Geringer Books/HarperCollins

Children’s Chapter Book/Middle Grade – presented by Judy Blume
The Penultimate Peril
Lemony Snicket
HarperCollins

Young Adult/Teen – presented by “Avenue Q” cast member Jonathan Root and 2005 Quills Winner Ann Brashares
Eldest
Christopher Paolini
Random House Children's Books

General Fiction – presented by Dominick Dunne and 2005 Quills Winner Sue Monk Kidd
A Dirty Job
Christopher Moore
William Morrow

For several decades a woman named Isabel O’Neil was mentor to hundreds of women (and some men) in New York and its more select environs. Many of her students were the doyennes and would-be dowagers of society who needed, were impassioned to do something constructively creative that could fit into their environments. Mrs. O’Neil had developed unique paint finishes and cultivated the talent of many in painted surface design.

Mrs. O’Neil is no longer with us but her work that she so steadfastly put forth lives on. Last week the Isabel O’Neil Foundation and Studio Workshop brought the work of its school and not-for-profit Foundation to the attention of its many supporters with a special 50th Anniversary Retrospective Exhibition and Reception at The Museum of the City of New York, ISABEL O’NEIL: The Genius of the Painted Finish, where it was on view, unfortunately for only four days. There was an Artisan-Teacher demonstration of traditional techniques perfected by Mrs. O’Neil.

What Isabel O’Neil did was to revitalize the painted decorative art form in this country during a quarter century when she methodically researched and then reconstructed long lost furniture painting techniques and established a New York school to share this knowledge.

In her definitive 1971 book, “The Art of the Painted Finish for Furniture and Decoration” (Wm Morrow & Company) she revealed her techniques for antiquing, lacquering and gilding and showed how to paint Faux Bamboo and Marbre, Tortoise Shell, Eggshell Inlay, Casein and Mat Gilding, Patina for Leaf, Burnishing, and Porphyry, as well as incredibly realistic jewel-like finishes such as Lapis Lazuli, Malachite, Tiger’s Eye and Snowflake Obsidian.

She was a taskmaster and demanded not less than top quality for her students with her philosophy: "… the beautiful painted furniture of the past has added appeal today – its patinaed surface indicative of a less sterile time, when man’s use marked as his own furnishings he treasured and bequeathed to his descendants. There is a restorative in creating through the skill of one’s hand an object of beauty which exists in actuality. The statement “I made this” is the affirmation of “I am.”

Today the Isabel O’Neil Foundation and Studio Workshop she established in 1955 operates out of a spacious studio at 315 East 91st Street and offers 18 courses relating to the painted finish, inspired by the traditional teaching methods of the Renaissance guilds. The school also offers workshops on Kolcaustico ™ Venetian Plaster, Botanical Painting, Water Gilding, Icon Writing and Decoupage.

Genie Fuhrmann, a studio teacher and painter whose mother Kakia Livanos was an early passionate teacher of O’Neil’s techniques, says, “Isabel O’Neil devised a wonderful course of study based on the traditional Renaissance apprenticeship system. Hundreds of novices have progressed to Journeyman and to Master, often assisting teachers using original, innovative techniques devised by Isabel O’Neil.”

Among those who have created decorative accessories and furniture using O’Neil’s techniques are lauded design talents such as Angelo Donghia and Paloma Picasso as well as specialist painters including Ruth Carlucci, Joanne Day, Kay Lowinger, James Alan Smith, Ken Lutz, Lisa Wassong, and Ina Marx.

Board member Julie Sargent adds that ”Isabel O’Neil spent years traveling and studying centuries old techniques to develop ways to replicate the most beautiful painted finishes. She took great care to share her discoveries which are today in high demand by the world’s leading interior design specialists.”

James Alan Smith, best known for his trompe l’oeil murals at the annual Kips Bay Designer Showhouse, is a huge fan of the studio, and has taught week-long classes where he demonstrates Isabel O’Neil techniques that he says are crucial to his professional success.

The Isabel O’Neil Studio Workshop and not for profit Foundation have benefited from the support of many design industry luminaries who often serve as advisors and board members. Among these are Tiffany design director John Loring, long time House & Garden magazine editor Mary Jane Poole, Teel Orb and June Meier, Karl Springer, Betty Sherrill, Mario Buatta, Pia Lindstrom, Mrs. William F. Buckley, Clare Fraser and Bunny Williams.

Mommies mingling — With luxe looks for moms-to-be, Maternity Wear Designer Liz Lange joined Kate Spade, Jessica Seinfeld, Lucy Sykes and a host of New York’s most prominent mommy socialites in toasting bestselling author and columnist Samantha Ettus on the release of her latest book —The Experts' Guide to the Baby Years — over at the new Time Lounge in the Time Hotel.

Erica Reid and Deborah Roberts, wives of LA Reid and Al Roker, attended, along with Helmut Lang and Barney’s CEO Howard Socol, plus Vanessa von Bismarck, Daysi Olarte de Kanavos, and Claude and Bruce Wasserstein — all to benefit Jessica Seinfeld’s Baby Buggy Foundation.

Modern Mom donated fabulous gift bags and Liz Lange dressed the ladies preggers for keeps (!) in her latest lines (Celerie Kemble, whose son Ravenal Boykin Curry made an early appearance, so she was no longer in consideration to take advantage). Wondertime magazine sponsored with Kenneth Cole, Tom Arma, Graco, and Les Angelots.

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