Longing for Mexico

It's raining and I miss Mexico - it's noise, it's color, it's civility, it's age.

Some pages from when I first started my travel journal: Yucatan November 08. I don't journal much but traveling seems to bring it out in me.

Here's one of my favorite pages from my Chiapas trip.

It says, " the river of life"....I had just come back from witnessing a beautiful Easter procession in the town of Zinacantan......And I had been interested in exploring the egg shape..a young Mayan girl (who was selling trinkets with her brother) made the drawing on the bottom of the page and gave it to me when she was done.

Oaxaca anyone?

Handpainted Easter Eggs at Passionflower

Years ago, when I lived in Portland, I would go to Powell's Books and buy the most beautifully colored Ukranian dyes and writing tools.....Many people don't know this but Mr. Powell (who was a really great guy) was Ukranian and he had a little locked cabinet full of dyes and styluses and wax which he would ceremoniously unlock for you. Then I'd have a big party with friends and their children. We'd make a mess and make some beautiful eggs while we were at it........There was something special about the vivid colored dyes and the way the styluses could be used to "write" on the eggs with wax. We'd write our names and draw maps of the world and scribble bits of poetry on them. Sometimes we'd hang crystals and ribbons from them. It was great fun. Click here to find out more about Ukranian Easter Egg dyeing tools.

These eggs remind me a little of those times.....They're handpainted in Austria and we have them in several patterns.

Dried Wreaths at Passionflower

I always love a wreath in the spring time.....to me it symbolizes the circle of life. Here's one a little bigger than the outspread span of my hand....it has eggs, and feathers, and twigs and moss and a touch of blue hydrangea - oh yeah and a little pussywillow.....

Because pussywillow is the harbinger of spring.

Swinging Bunnies & Other Great Easter Gifts

We've been so happy with how things went with the Artists with Autism show that happened in our upstair space last year and then was followed by Barb Campbell's trunk show.....that led to the Objects of Desire Show & so now it's official - We will be using our upstair "attic" space to promote the works of a number of local artists whose work we think fits in with our "look"....And I'd describe that look as whimsical, soulful, and nature centered. Sometimes these shows will be short lived trunk shows and other times, exhibits that might last weeks and sometimes there might be some front window display involved too......This seems like such a win/win to us. Local artists get a rent free venue to sell their work and we get a window or upstairs space that is really beautiful and curated with love and attention. Plus the customer gets a chance to see some really special work.

In April we will be featuring the ceramic work of porcelain artist Katie Swenson...Her hanging bunnies pictured above have been hits at Passionflower for years..... Here's a sneek peak of our front window curated by Katie....or as we like to think of it, this slightly crazed (in a good way) fairy showed up last Friday night and made our front window beautiful.....or perhaps it was someone channeling Beatrix Potter........

These are amazing.....they are jars and the bird on the nest is the lid!!!

Katie has really outdone herself......the window is full of flying bunnies and baskets and birds and everywhere you look there is more and more to see - bowls with poems written on the inside and tea sets and mad hatters. We hope you get a chance to come by and find something special. These are all one of a kind pieces. No mass market here.

And just to give you an idea of scale, here's a photo Lindsey took of the itsy bitsy bunny.

So if a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush......what exactly is the value of a bunny in the palm ?

Katie Swenson Comes to Passionflower

Many of you may know these charming porcelain pieces as a Passionflower staple.....I've always loved these rabbits because sometimes I look at them and they're barely hanging on trying to keep it all together. Other times, they look like they're free spirited and frolicking. To me they're a metaphor for moving through life.....There is something just right about them. I've given them as baby gifts and get well gifts too ......

How lucky for us that their maker Katie Swenson agreed to be our First Friday Artist coming up on April 2nd.........

Lots of beautiful porcelain pieces and she's guest curating the front window.........stay tuned for more posts on Katie & her work.......and click here to go to her website.

Long ago and far away, I think it was in January, we had our staff holiday party and I realized what an art loving, crafty bunch we are. Handmade cards and drawings and beads and journals and other goodies were flowing in abundance.

Becky made everyone these little egg cups (at least that's how I think of them) from paper mache.

Mine had a little "J" inside it and the words were all kinds of writing about flowers and mist and dew and lots of ephemeral things like that. I loved it.

And then we did a gift exchange and (lucky me) I got this beautiful miniature book framed in a small shadowbox that Becky made.
Wow did I feel rich. So much art made me want to luxuriate in it and so I decided to redo my mantle.

One of the great things about collecting art is that over the years you end up with a treasure trove of possibilities when it comes to putting together a vignette. So I mined my house for treasures and came up with these paper spoons made by Clare Goddard. They were paper and they were white - like Becky's egg but different so I thought they'd be able to have an interesting conversation together.

Then away with all the holiday goodies and on to the cool, spare, clean lines of the winterscape.
Here's my new winter mantle - Becky's art, Sue Tackmier card, the Clare Goddard spoons, and bare huckleberry branches. I like the objects all clustered together instead of spread out.
They become something greater than the sum of the parts.

A Beautiful Handmade Card Arrives in the Mail -

Becky opened this card from long lost artist Sue Tackmier in Portland.......she wondered had she made it and mailed it to herself in a dream? Needless to say we were enchanted.

Just the other day I was planning an October window display with Lynn Peterson about blackbirds and here comes one in the mail.....

Sue sent her business card in a glassine envelope onto which she has stamped her seal.
I love this and am now going to search for the one we had made when we incoporated....

I think we will start stamping glassine envelopes and anything else we can think of......

So happy to see some of her cards again - she is my Edward Gorey in sister disguise.
Sue told me she has been busy making shoes for ants......(Did I mention she is extremely droll - that's funny in an odd way)....I'd like to see some of those shoes.

This will make a lovely Valentine's card.

Christmas Gift Wrapping with Rubber Stamps

Last week when it was time to wrap some packages, I pulled out my tried and trusty DIY gift wrap kit which consisted of

Cavallini rubber stamp alphabet kit, a black inkpad, and a glue stick.

Some might call it recycling, others might say I was going green with my gift wrap, but I say I was putting my packrat tendencies to good use when I cut up this paper bag I'd been saving and used it to label my USPS Priority Mail box.....

I liked the strong imagery of strange animals.

And there was lots of space for the address...

And it was playful and fun. It made me smile.

It made the person who got the package smile.

And it even made the postman smile. So how about that?
Paperbags and rubber stamps and duct tape.

Christmas at the Brandywine River Museum

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Brandywine River Museum while having a little mini holiday with my mom in Philadelphia. It's a fine little museum with a quirky mix of specialties.

Amongst the slightly macabre collection of Jamie
Wyeth oversize paintings of pigs and crows and male ballet stars, they had it all decked out for the holidays .....

It's a totally homespun affair using only what they have gathered in the surrounding field and gardens.

I imagine hordes of volunteers let loose to give flight to their fancies......

There were lots of animals



Kind of like Granny Craft meets Do It Yourselfer.





I was completely charmed by the treetoppers.

And I know just where I can get a firecracker allium like this one for the top of my tree......
Makes a pretty nice star, don't you think?

Some Details from Barb Campbell's "First Friday" Show at Passionflower

A few details from the colorful world of Barb Campbell's ceramic work.

Everything tastes better when it comes from this magical teapot.

I'm still not sure wether she calls these Pinkies or Pixies but they are little flower frogs - that become miniature gardens. People loved these.

And the sipping cups were very popular.

Some details....

Barb Campbell Ceramics at Passionflower Design

Sometime, I think I am getting wiser in my old age. With 3,000 square feet of store to merchandise (that's trade talk for making it look good), it can be a challenge. Especially this time of year with loads of new merchandise coming in. And we always want the front window to look extra special.. Realizing I don't have to do it all (that' s the older/wiser part), I asked Barb Campbell if she'd like to "do" our front window for her upcoming First Friday Artwalk Show.....

She was gracious enough to agree.

Here's a photo of Barb and her husband Javier when we first started talking about this idea last summer....they came and took some measurements. We repainted the floor....and then last Thursday they came and set up. I think of it as an artist driven installation.

Here's a night shot of part of the window from the outside.
Everything is sitting on an old drafting table.

The same table from the inside of the store. I like how it looks like you're peeking into the artist's private space. It's how I might imagine Barb's studio.

And in this spilled cup above, the artist is perhaps telling us some of her thoughts and feelings about color.

Here she muses on the utilitarian nature of the vessel. Plus I love all the tools many of which appear to be handmade. There's even a porcupine quill in there. I think she bought that at Passionflower!

And in this teapot we find a craftsmanship so strong that it can be used in the service of playfulness and whimsy.

And what is this beautiful assemblage laying here? Be still my beating heart.

A color xerox, a handmade brush , a pen drawing,
a natural part, and a clay object. I look a little closer. The clay piece looks like a seed head or a sieve. I can't tell if the natural object (that's around 7 o'clock in the photo above) is the handle of a pumpkin or a tiny antler. I think the little object attached with string to the end of the brush is a stamp Barb uses in the clay. I am enchanted. It is man and nature in some mystical conversation.

And finally a view from the top.....this window is so much richer and fuller than these photos can convey. If you like what you see, I encourage you to come take a peek in our window.

Or better yet, visit us for First Friday where Barb will be showing an entire table full of her beautiful pots, vessels, teapots, and more.....