Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays

Well we are off for a bit (yeah!) first to see the families in VT + NH and then to escape the shoveling and cold weather in Cabo. Luckily Mr. Mischief has a nice little cat sitter to tend to his needs while we are away. Happy Holidays to everyone! I'll see you here on January 4th!

Kites Abound!!

Kite flying is very popular in India. Pauline van Lynden describes watching kite clubs fight in her lovely book, Rajahsthan. I was so intrigued. The kite's string is covered with small pieces of crushed glass, and one opponent tries to slice the string of another leading to victory.
January 14th is the day of the kite festival in India and in Jaipur kites can block the sun from the sky. The three day celebration is separated into Kite Fighting and Display Flying (for the pretty kites). The air force drops kites from the sky, the finals of the Kite Fighting competition takes place on a palace lawn... I think it all sounds fantastic. You can read more about the kite festival here.
I thought the whole thing so fantastic that I made that the center of the Jaipur print, with emeralds replacing the cut pieces of glass. I haven't flown a kite in years and seeing thousands of them in the sky could be quite magical...

Holiday Guidance: Chihiro Makio

The amazing contemporary craft gallery, Fire Opal, has been a design client of mine for a good 4 years. But before that I worked in both of their stores and I generally fell in love with most of their artist's work. Not too long ago, maybe last year, I was in visiting the store in Brookline when a body of work stopped me right in my jewelry-perusing tracks. The work was of Boston jeweler Chihiro Makio, and is shown above. Chihiro's pieces are hand-fabricated from oxidized sterling silver with 24K plated parts and hand stitched glass beads details.
I think they look like something out of a lovely, modern fairy tale. I would love to wear that necklace. You can see more of her work online here at guild.com or if you are in the Boston-area I urge you to stop in to Fire Opal in Brookline's Coolidge Corner to see the full body of work. www.fire-opal.com She also has these pieces in a forest green and violet combination. mmmmm.

Piles of Emeralds

To be honest, emeralds have always kind of creeped me out, though I'm unsure why. I imagine them on the fingers of a eccentric crazy women like Ms. Dinsmoor from Great Expectations or Little Edie from Grey Gardens. Hmmm.... strange that this is also my mother's birthstone. Anyways... Jaipur is the emerald cutting/processing center of the world. Mined emeralds are brought here from places such as Columbia and Zimbabwae (emeralds from Zimbabwae began growing over 2600 million years ago) to be cut by master, well cutters. The emerald's hardness protects it from scratches but its brittleness can make cutting difficult. Apparently master cutters still love this stone as they developed its own cut: the emerald cut.
Emeralds create the tail of the kites in the Jaipur print. Imagine the day of the Kite Festival, kites flying through the sky dripping with emeralds. The b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l emerald & diamond necklace above is from Tiffany's and goes for $350,000. I'll be looking for that in my stocking.

Holiday Guidance: Amy Jensen

I've known Amy for quite a few years. In my first job out of college she was my "boss" (and a very nice one at that). She makes terrific jewelry out of found objects, like her series of Subway + Bus token jewelry seen above. I LOVE the "Good or One Fare" necklace. The Boston "T" token cufflinks are great because Boston has replaced this beloved token with the "Charlie Card" (I AM seeing how many times I can use quotation marks in this post btw), a paper card you'll see strewn about the Boston streets. She also has a really beautiful Savannah Token necklace that is graced by an azalea. Besides the token line Amy works with sea glass (she has made beautiful pieces for myself and my sister) and also takes custom orders.
I also have to mention that Amy makes the BEST Christmas cookies in the entire world. Like I would pay her for the cookies. She would always make a batch of holiday cookies for the store that we worked at, and most of the people I worked with wouldn't "eat sugar" so I generally got to eat the entire pan myself. Including, my favorite, the minty brownie bar.
You can see more of Amy's work (and purchase it) on her etsy site here or view her website (which is going to get a big update as soon as I get back from vacation. I promise Amy) at www.amyjensen.com.

Blue Jaipur Pottery

My God we got a lot of snow yesterday. I didn't even know that it was supposed to snow (being sick = no tv/radio/npr) so i was a bit surprised. I went to do my FedEx/USPS run at 6 last night and the drifts in our driveway were about a foot and a half deep. So then I got to shovel for an hour or so (at least it was fluffy and relatively light). Then I walked to the T to bring Sasso his boots and get some wine. I love walking around the city when a snow storm has everything at a standstill. And now we are getting another storm this weekend. At least I'm going to Cabo in 12 days.



So about Blue Jaipur Pottery, isn't it beautiful? If it reminds you of traditional Chinese pottery there is a reason for that. An Iranian king began production of this pottery because he saw how high of a demand there was in Europe for the blue Chinese pottery. Later , during the Mugal Period, this pottery came to India via trade relations with Iran. Potters came to work in India and later left, leaving behind Indian potters who were now producing the ceramics. The King of Jaipur was very into crafts so he supported the potters and that is how the story goes.
The great video above shows master craftsman Kripal Singh Shekhawat demonstrating how the pottery is made. The blue Jaipur pottery starts with ground quartz, is molded, then glazed and low-fired. The range of items are mainly decorative because they are very fragile. The palette is restricted to blue from the colbalt oxide, green from copper oxide and white, though in this video you will see many more colors.
When I came upon the blue Jaipur pottery I new I wanted to include it into the Jaipur pattern, It was graphic, a clean color palette and something full of history. The traditional patterns make up the bodies of the kites in the drawing.
video via sutree (i've never seen this site before, great videos)

Holiday Guidance: Prints Charming

Hello... I disappeared for a few days under an avalanche of calendars and shipping envelopes (I'm not complaining... it is a good problem to have) only to come out and be smacked with a cold. You know when you feel like the cold is just around the corner... I had an acupuncture treatment this am that is supposed to "push out my cold" so hopefully it will be gone by the weekend. :)
But because I can't get my act together to post about Jaipur today, here is a holiday guide from a great show I took part in this weekend. Design Nearby's "Prints Charming" show in Boston's South End. The gallery coordinators Kelly and Ann really did a great job and it was a really fun time. There was also some really good work!Albertine Press: I've been a fan of these ladies since I saw their cards on Decor8 a while ago. It was nice to get to meet them in person too! Their 2008 calendar is so sweet and soft and pretty. It is a limited-edition, hand-marbled, hand-letterpress masterpiece. Every single page is a paper-marbled original, with a different pattern for each month. Because of the nature of paper marbling, no two pages or calendars are exactly alike. How cool is that. You can get it at their etsy shop here for $45.
Wing-Ip Nygan: I saw Wing-Ip's work on Decor8 too and I loved it. I was hoping that I would get a chance to see it in person sometime and lucky me, there is was. We snatched up this great long "zzzzzzzzzz..." print and it is sitting on our mantle right now. Check out the work at his etsy shop here.
Erin Ruth: What I loved about this show is that it was all sorts of printed pieces, not just "art prints". Gift wrap designer Erin Ruth framed a large sheet of her Jacqueline gift wrap for the show and it looked so cool and chic. You can see more of Erin's work at erinruth.com
Jenn Ski: I feel akin to Jenn Ski. My "nickname" from the Spoil was always Jenski (we'd put a -ski on the end of anything just to give it that Eastern European vibe). Jen Ski has some great prints which kind of remind me of Angela Adams, but it is her original pieces that really stand out. I love how graphic they are and how much texture is in them. View her site at www.jennski.com
(Also I just noticed that all of these designers have been posted on decor8... isn't that great that Holly has talked about so many Boston designers?)

Holiday Guidance: Boston's Bazaar Bizarre

I've sequestered myself to the living room today because I can't stand my tomb-like cold office any longer. Apparently this leads my cat to think that this is hangout time. I write this entire blog with a laptop in my lap and a black cat draped over my arm. He doesn't seem to mind at all...
This Sunday, December 9, the annual Boston Bazaar Bizarre will be held at the Cylcorama in the South End. Every year I think about doing this show and then I get overwhelmed (holiday shows are at the bottom of my list of favorite things to do - I'd rather be shopping at them) and don't apply. But some of my friends and acquaintances got their act together and did. So check out these great picks of the BB, if your not in Boston you can always visit them online.



1. Glamourpuss Creations: I met Lisa through Boston Handmade. She creates new jewelry from the recycled pieces of vintage jewelry. I've seen this done before, most unsuccessfully, but I love Lisa's work. It is super colorful and really graphic, as well as being very affordable. www.Glamourpuss.etsy.com
2. The Candy Thief: I don't know the thief but I wish I did. I've been eying her headbands and scarves on etsy for a while. You can buy them on her etsy site here and see more images on her flickr site here.
3. Skullknocker: Mandy and I went to MassArt together, and I remember that she was a good friend of my college roommate. I was delighted to see her high-end "stuffed animals" on etsy. They are made with recycled materials, contain a walnut heart and are stuffed with tee shirts. www.skullknocker.etsy.com and www.mandylamb.com
4. Karalee Designs: My dear, dear friend Karalee wears a bunch of hats (figuratively - though she may wear hats, but I don't think so) she designs stationary, is a freelance graphic designer and makes jewelry. i love her pieces (especially her hair clips - even though one is named for emily and not for me) because they are so fun adn young, but they are made really well and are of a very high quality - these 2 things don't usually go together. www.karaleedesigns.com and www.simplyserra.com
5. Mitten Mitten: Another friend that wears a lot of hats, Ms Ann Karash. Ann sews beautifully and this book bag is on the top of my I-Want-It-List. She also puts on delightful shows of local designers, there is one tonight called Design Nearby: Prints Charming that I happen to be in at the Pink Comma gallery. www.mittenmitten.com and www.designnearby.com

The Pink City

I've been writing up some posts about emeralds and kit fighteing, then I got Xander's comment this morning and realized first I needed to explain the whole Pink City thing for people who don't know why it is called the Pink City.
Well, to start, Jaipur is the capital city of Rajasthan, India. Why is it called the Pink City? Well, apparently because it is. According to Rajasthan by Pauline Van Lynden (a beautiful book I've talked of before) the buildings in town are all painted in a locally produced burt sienna, called gehru. The entire city gives off a light pinkish-brown hue. Some of the buildings are trimmed in ornamental white, and they just look like beautiful pastries.
One of these pastry buildings is the Hawa Mahal or Palace of Winds. Built in 1777, the original intention of the building was for the royal ladies to be able to sit, look out and see everyday life going on without being seen. Seems a bit lonesome, but I guess that all depends.
The images above are from Vineeta Nair who writes the lovely Artnlight blog. She sent them over a few months ago when she heard I was working on a pattern for Jaipur. So nice.

Holiday Guidance: Mimi Kirchner

Today is a great morning. This is the first time in 5 years of owning a car that I haven't had to get up at 6am, bring the car to the garage and wait for it to be finished. Sasso did it, god bless him. Instead I get to stay at home and write about some very cool dolls.
I'm involved with a group of Boston Etsy sellers called Boston Handmade, and that is how I got to meet Mimi Kirchner and her amazing dolls. Mimi creates her original dolls from mostly vintage and recycled materials. I think they are stunning, even more so in person. I would love to have a collection of her dolls in our home, and one of the tattoo men is at the top of my list (isn't it ingenious how the toile is his tattoo? see above). I would love to get a family of robots for Sasso too.
Mimi sells her dolls through her etsy store here. You can also view her blog at MimiKirchner.com as well as see many photos of her work here and here.

The Jaipur Print

I'm back from said dentist appointment. I've had to go through a lot of dental pain recently, but I still believe I have absolutely the nicest and most trustworthy dentist and that Dr. Pezeshki is the man to go to in Boston. That means a lot from someone who had 19 teeth pulled as a child and generally equates dentists to monsters.
But back to the work. Oh Jaipur... with your emeralds and your kites and your pink buildings and your blue pottery. So intriguing. Here is the *new* Jaipur print above. I used to design prints all at once for the calendar, and as you can imagine that can be a bit overwhelming. So now I've taken to just working on them all the time, but one at a time, which is much nicer. A while back Shalini emailed me asking if I had any prints of Jaipur. I didn't so she sent me some photos as inspiration. (I love when people do this and share places with me.) How could I not want to start imagining this vacation, see a few of the pictures she sent me below!

Holiday Guidance : Phetnikone

I've mentioned Phetnikone's bags here before. But I wanted to show you a few more because I love, love them and her. Above is the tote, the flat shopper and the wrist. I love the flat shopper because I can dump anything into it. Whether it be emptying my po box, a few groceries, or the more common place one now - having somewhere to stash my gloves, hat and scarf when I get out of the cold, cold air. Phet lives and has her studio in Somerville, MA where she sews all her bags. Besides being sturdy I love her color combinations. The bags are always lined with something unexpected to create a little surprise when you open them up.
How many of Phet's bags do I have? Hmmm 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... and I would have photographed my little collection for you but I get to go to the dentist in 15 mins. If you are in the Bosotn area Phet will be showing at the Alchemist's Lounge in Jamaica Plain on Saturday, 11-3. Check out her site at www.phetnikone.com

Some Holiday Guidance

So the time is upon us when we all go out and buy gift for loved ones, office mates and those people that you have to get a gift cause you know they are going to get you a gift and if you don't... awkward.
So with every forthcoming Places I Have Never Been post, I'd like to try to also post about one of my dear designer friends who make lovely things that would be perfect for gifting. I've lived in Boston for 10 years (that makes me feel old) and I have come to know so many talented designers and artists, and you just don't see their work out their enough. So here we go...

ETCETERA MEDIA is a Boston-based design studio founded in January 2005 the husband/wife team of Chris Grimley + Kelly Smith. Collectively they are architects, interior, graphic, furniture, urban and textile designers and very talented. One great thing about Etcetera's products is that they are manufactured locally in Massachusetts - you rarely find this anymore. They combine industrial wool felt that is imported from Germany (recycled from sheep!) with high end upholstery fabric by Knoll.
Their latest product is just the beginning of their home line: the felt wine rack. I think this is a great gift, especially if you fill it up before giving (even if it has to be 2-Buck Chuck). The Wine Rack is available here for $40.00
Always the multi-tasker Kelly and Chris have transformed part of their South End studio space into a gallery: The Pink Comma. This coming Friday I will be taking part in a show there (along with quite a few amazing local designers) called Design Nearby: Prints Charming. More info about the show here.

Oooooooh... Jaipur!

A while ago I wrote about working on a print about Jaipur, India. Well, now the print is finished so I thought I'd take this week to share all the inspirations with you. Jaipur is located in the Rajasthan area of India. It is known as the "Pink City" for reasons I will explain later. There are piles of Emeralds, Dye Pits, Jaipur Blue Pottery, beautiful textiles, Bangles Galore (and we're not talking about the "Walk Like and Egyptian" kind here) and the most intriguing: Kite Fighting (this is the coolest thing, I hope I can find some better videos on youtube to show you).
I could do hundreds of drawings for India and I don't think I would ever EVER get bored. I just find the country absolutely fascinating, and a bit intimidating at the same time.
Well we had our first snow storm last night, I use the term "storm" lightly here. Though I do have to shovel a bit. I sometimes (all the time) have the habit of just driving over the snow, out of our driveway and hoping that it will just melt away. Of course it doesn't, (it is 20 degrees out), and then I've created a big ice slick that lasts most the winter. So I won't do that, I will shovel... later.