Beautiful Bumblebee Tattoo Spyed at Passionflower

How fun is this?

I think the larger than life size scale of the bee is just right. And those are orchid flowers on the side. She's going to have it colored in but I like it in this stage too....

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.

Words to Live By

I think it's important what we have by our doors as we come and go from our homes everyday.

When I lived with a teenager there was a mirror at the entrance. This considerably slowed down exit times. Now I have this great hanging I got at Pewter Rabbit Antiques. Shelley thinks it's from an old Masonic Lodge and they probably had a whole lot of them along the walls each with a different virtue.

Courage works for me.

I love my Screen Saver

You know you're procrastinating when you're searching the web looking for screen saver images .....How delighted was I to find this one......It's from David Gray at Reuters news and it's a traditonal Chinese dancer during the Festival of the Lanterns which celebrates the ending of the two week Chinese New Year Festivities .....

I have learned the hard way that it's useful to have a solid color background on your screen savers - that is of course if you ever want to find an icon.

How delighted I was that the blue of the headress matches almost perfectly the blue of the toolbar.


I look at this image and it makes me want to write great things....I found it on
the

free people blog. Stay tuned for more screen savers. And send us your favorites.

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.

The Venus of Willendorf Visits Passionflower

This isn't exactly mail, it didn't cross my desk, but it did cross our doorway. I love it when people bring me strange things.....Strange in a good way.

Here our friend Ann Gordon was showing off her potato which I think looks a lot like the Venus of Willendorf.......Did you know that this 25,000 year old figurine (not the potato) has fans on Facebook? Click here for more info on the Venus of Willendorf.

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.....

The World Through a Microscope

These phtos came courtesty the Nikon Photomicrography Competition .

Using a Microscope to See the World

I'm going to make a habit of giving myself time to aimlessly search the web for inspiration. Aimless is the key word here. Here's some photos from the Nikon Photomicrography Competiton

Tapeworms




Fly Larva


and Carrot Seeds

More Mail - Italian Paper

Julianne's mother sent me this beautiful thank you note for a book I lent her.

It had that beautiful Italian gilt paper feel....this one had a homegrown touch to it.

Sure enough she bought it on a recent trip to Italy. I would stay on the lookout for beautiful paper were I traveling to Italy.

What I Got for My Birthday

Here's something special.

It was my birthday right after I got back from New York.

The cake consisted of this uber tasty marzipan tart from Hideaway Bakery and long skinny red candles.
Here is my staff all looking pretty pleased with themselves.



They are perhaps going to jump up and surprise me and sing?

They know how much I will like this set of 6 salts they are giving me.

Why do I have such a thing for miniatures?

Lustreware on the inside, three little gold feet and painted with forget-me-nots.

I love them.