Seattle’s Chihuly Garden and Glass

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Patty

I love to find the beauty in everyday objects.
– Dale Chihuly, American glass sculptor

A boat filled with glass globes against a black backdrop.

Last Saturday, when we were purchasing our tickets for the Space Needle, a package deal was also offered for the Space Needle and the Chihuly Garden & Glass (305 Harrison Street, Seattle, 206.753.4940). Without thinking, we went ahead and got tickets for both venues, which are next door to each other. When I asked our friend John who Chihuly was, he stopped in his tracks and said, in an incredulous tone of voice, “You’ve never heard of Chihuly?” Um, no, but I’m always up for learning about people I’ve never heard of. I was all ears.

An Education on Dale Chihuly
Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma in 1941 and graduated in 1965 from the University of Washington with a degree in interior design. While at school, he had to take a weaving class as a requirement and decided to weave bits of glass into a tapestry, which spawned his interest in glass and led him to build a studio in south Seattle. One night he melted glass between bricks in an oven and blew it into a bubble, and from that moment on, Chihuly said he wanted to be a glass blower.

Suspended sea sculpture.

He went on to the University of Wisconsin, enrolling in the country’s first glass program, and afterwards went to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). In 1968, on a Fulbright Scholarship, he worked in a glass factory in Venice and then returned to found a glass program at RISD. “I like to work on a team and that’s how they work in Venice,” he said in an interview, which I found on YouTube. “I saw how important teamwork was to glass blowing, and that’s the way I taught glass blowing at Rhode Island.”

Close-up of the sea sculpture.

He elevated glass as a fine art after he and a couple of his friends cofounded the Pilchuck Glass School at Washington State in 1971. Whereas at the time Seattle had few glass blowers, now the city boasts more glass artists and glassblowers than any place in the world, according to Chihuly. In 1980, when sales from his galleries exceeded his income as a professor at RISD, he quit teaching and returned to Seattle, where he said he’s been ever since. Chihuly rarely blows glass himself, which is a result of having gone blind in his left eye from an automobile accident in England in 1976. Having lost peripheral vision and depth perception, he relied on team members to blow the glass. By not being the head glass blower and not having to focus on finishing the piece at hand, he’s been able to enjoy watching his team and participating in the entire experience. Some teams numbered as high as 18, though he had more than 100 artists and craftsmen working to produce his visions.

Filaments and drops of glass and light.

Chihuly has many well-known works of art, but at a certain point he began to expand into doing large architectural installations and commissions for residences, hotels, and casinos around the world, including Venice, Dubai, London, and Jerusalem. His garden series has been exhibited in London, New York, and Chicago., among other cities He has done about 15 to 20 different series of works in the span of 40 years. His glass baskets series, for example, was inspired by his collection of Native American woven baskets, but his series of seashells began as a result of a piece that unintentionally turned out looking like a seashell.

Glass rods and what looks like eggplant bubble up from the earth.

Chihuly is no longer actively blowing glass. Instead, he has devoted his time to painting. The Chihuly Garden & Glass includes his paintings, as well. “I want to have a good time,” he said, of painting. “And then I want to work. Hopefully, if I work for two or three hours, I might come up with something I haven’t drawn before. A lot of it is just working. If you’re doing it, things just happen. It should feel good while you’re doing it. If it starts to feel like work, then I’ll stop.”

Standing beside a glass yucca tree in the garden.

Amazing exhibition hall, glasshouse, and garden
I didn’t have any expectations going into the Exhibition Hall, which is the best state to be in when you’re going to view an exhibit or see a movie or attend a concert. His work is pretty astonishing, and they are expertly lit and properly displayed against lacquered black walls and floors. The colors are deep and rich, and the patterns intricate. The shapes are the result of amazing control. He could not have achieved these works without a big and talented team. I recommend this exhibit, especially the Glasshouse, a 40-foot-tall, 4,500-square-foot structure made of glass and steel, which houses Chihuly’s 100-foot-long suspended sculpture resembling flowers in reds, yellows, oranges, and amber. The Glasshouse is where I’d want to have a grand party. The Garden exhibit is equally enjoyable, with glass plants and flowers mingling with live flora.

The suspended 100-foot-long glass structure hangs inside the Glasshouse. The Space Needle is to the left.

Afterwards, we ate a late lunch at the Collections Café, which is part of the exhibition hall. The menu offers fresh and local ingredients and food that is inspired by Chihuly’s travels. The restaurant is a long rectangular shape, with 36 of his large drawings backlit on the wall facing the wall of windows. I got a kick out of the shadow box tables that displayed Chihuly’s collections of vintage and antique wares, including cameras, radios, wind-up tin toys, mercury glass, Christmas ornaments, and shaving brushes, among other old items. Tall shelves house carnival chalkware, and suspended above the ceiling were more than 80 accordions. What a great concept and way to display and share his collections. This vintage lover certainly appreciated it.

From the Chihuly Bookstore, a 1914 globe pocket watch with optical lens and skeleton key (Corter, handmade in New England).

Café tables display Chihuly’s vintage and antique collections.

Accordions are suspended from the Collections Café ceiling.

The Space Needle, seemingly intertwined with the glass structure, viewed from inside the warm Glasshouse.

Transitions and Transformations: Carmela Rose Designs

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Patty

Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.
– Coco Chanel, French fashion designer

Jewelry designer Carmela Rose.

Carmela Rose grew up in a farming commune in the small town of Summertown, Tennessee, where its school emphasized the arts, including painting and pottery. When she was eight years old, she got hooked on Native American weaving and beading. One day, Carmela and her friend made earrings out of seashells that were part of her older sister’s crafting supplies. When someone suggested that the two girls sell the earrings, they pinned them to a board, went door to door, and sold nearly all of their creations. Thus were the beginnings of the designer and businesswoman behind Carmela Rose Designs.

Taking a leap of faith
Fast forward to 2005 when Carmela moved to the Bay Area after leaving her job as bead store manager in Sacramento and being hired in a jewelry department of a downtown San Francisco department store. When she was undergoing training, she realized that there was a conflict between her day job and her three-year-old, part-time jewelry business. During this time, Carmela had registered for the Los Angeles Gift Show, whose entrance fee was nonrefundable. “If there was a time to take that leap of faith, that was it,” she recalled. She had some savings set aside and already had clients who were selling her jewelry in their Bay Area shops. Ultimately, the demand for her jewelry fueled her decision to become a full-time jewelry designer, and the financial cushion helped with the transition.

A mixture of opalite, Swarovski crystal, quartz crystal, smoky quartz, and sterling silver.

Carmela built up her early business doing guerilla marketing, “hitting the pavement” to show her jewelry and distributing printouts and business cards when she had the money, as well as having her website built to draw business. Sometimes she would call stores ahead of time; other times, she would get up early in the morning, drive to a location with a good shopping district, and select stores with a good fit. Carmela looked for stores that had a good location and whose products were aligned with her jewelry’s aesthetics. She works with sterling silver and gold-filled metals, so she looked for stores that didn’t sell jewelry with plated metals or faux finishes, but rather focused on stores that specialized in natural fibers and simple, elegant, and classic styles. “Sometimes I would get really lucky and the buyer would be there and take the time to look and buy on the spot,” she said. While it doesn’t happen as often as it used to, at the time the economy was growing.

The first pieces of my collection from 2005: chalcedony, peridot, freshwater pearls, and sterling silver (left and middle) and labradorite, freshwater pearls, glass seed beads, and sterling silver (right).

While the economy has picked up in the last year, Carmela still does guerilla marketing. “It’s not something I’ll ever stop doing,” she said. She also participates in approximately five trade shows annually, including the San Francisco gift show, which is smaller than the Los Angeles gift show, an apparel show, and the sample sale trade show that takes place in October in San Francisco.

Vintage Carmela Rose: vintage sterling silver, tourmaline, and Czech glass (left) and vintage lampwork glass, freshwater pearls, and glass with a gold vermeil clasp (right).

Back in 2005, Carmela met Jen Komaromi of Jenny K in El Cerrito at the sample sale trade show. “At trade shows, you sometimes instantly click with a buyer,” she said, of their meeting. “They look at your stuff and instantly know they can sell it. I got the sense that I could trust her. We had this instant ability to communicate. I felt comfortable enough to push her to buy two pairs of earrings.” And that’s when Jenny K began selling Carmela Rose jewelry, and that’s when I began my Carmela Rose collection.

A mix of labradorite and agate earrings, along with vintage favorites: vintage plastic flowers, aqua quartz, and sterling silver, and vintage burnt yellow Lucite, Swarovski crystal, and sterling silver.

Relying on valuable marketing skills, overcoming challenges
Carmela gained valuable experience managing and marketing in her previous job at the bead store, and had already worked in many trade shows by then, traveling and meeting different buyers. “It gave me the skills and confidence to put my own larger creative goals into motion, because I’d been a part of that whole experience,” she said. “I was already skilled at marketing other people’s creativity and the ideas and personae of other designers more than my own.”

Vintage brass, tokens, garnet, Swarovski crystal, and 14k gold-filled hooks.

Marketing is the broadest challenge from day to day, and responding to customers’ needs is critical, according to Carmela. “You have to find new ways to do things and spend the time and energy to market,” she said. Figuring out how to measure one’s success is a skill that is also needed on a daily basis. “You have to assess whether something is working or not, and that’s often hard to do if it’s something that you’re passionate about; it’s hard for a lot of designers,” she noted.

Vintage Lucite, vintage Swarovski crystal, and sterling silver earrings, surrounded by andalusite, 22k gold vermeil leaf, and 14k gold-filled hooks (left) and citrine, brass leaves, and 14k gold-filled hooks.

Vintage Lucite, vintage Swarovski crystal, and sterling silver earrings (middle), surrounded by andalusite, 22k gold vermeil leaf, and 14k gold-filled hooks (left) and citrine, brass leaves, and 14k gold-filled hooks (right).

Carmela weathered the economic recession, thanks to a few loyal clients. New shops and new interest in her jewelry opened up last year, at the same time she was contemplating starting a family. “It worked out really well – having a home business and having a baby,” she said. “That’s my new direction. Things are looking really positive again.” While business not as booming as it was in 2005 and 2006, Carmela feels that she is moving in the right direction. “The most pleasant surprise is how supportive people can be, and all the wonderful people I’ve gotten to know – whether collectors, colleagues, clients or friends over the year,” she said. “Knowing some amazing and inspiring people have helped me get through the tough times.”

One of my favorite statement earrings, which give off an Art Deco vibe: vintage Lucite, garnet, and 14k gold-filled hooks.

The joys of designing jewelry
Carmela enjoys the freedom of being able to create something tangible out of a flow of ideas over any given time, and then releasing it to make room for the next creation. “And then to make a living out of it is unbelievable,” she said, with a quiet sense of awe. When pressed to name favorite pieces that she’s made over the years, Carmela is hesitant. She has cataloged everything she’s made, and while there are many pieces that she has enjoyed designing, her philosophy is to create something and set it free in order to make room for new pieces. “I’ve always felt that holding on too tightly to something would hold me back creatively,” she explained.

This necklace is one of my favorite Carmela Rose pieces: vintage sterling silver pieces mixed with oxidized sterling silver and Swarovski crystals.

Having been in business, both part-time and full-time, for a decade now and coming out of the recession stronger and assured, Carmela knows a thing or two about designing jewelry and making a business out of it. The ability to form and maintain sound partnerships is the most important trait to staying in business, she said. Ultimately, at the end of the day, she advises aspiring designers to “be true to yourself but also make it your goal to make really good products that other people enjoy.”

Post Script: Rave review
As you can see, I’m one of those Carmela Rose collectors. One of the things I’ve appreciated through the years is watching Carmela’s style and designs evolve and change, from the freshwater pearls, glass beads, and labradorite pieces to the vintage lampwork beads pieces, to the vintage metals. From delicate to statement to delicate. Simple to elaborate to simple. I have a very soft spot for the earlier statement pieces, as well as the reclaimed vintage jewelry. If I’ve converted you with my collection, check out Carmela’s jewelry at Jenny K’s (6927 Stockton Avenue, El Cerrito, 510.528.5350), where she usually has trunk shows during the holidays and special events such as Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, which happens to be next week!

Early Carmela Rose pieces: ruby quartz and glass with gold vermeil clasp (left) and carnelian, garnet, serpentine, glass, and 14k gold-filled (right).

Austin’s Sunday bluegrass brunch and the LBJ Library and Museum

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Patty

It is the excitement of becoming – always becoming, trying, probing, falling, resting, and trying again – but always trying and always gaining . . .
– Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th U.S. President, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1965

Threadgill’s West Riverside Drive location did not have the Sunday gospel brunch today.

An Austin bluegrass brunch to remember
Thanks to a recommendation from Irene Koch at BHIX, we set our sights on the Sunday gospel brunch at Threadgill’s (301 W. Riverside Drive, Austin, 512.472.9304). We arrived early, secured a corner booth, and enjoyed our Southern breakfast, but it turned out that the choir thought there wasn’t a performance today (perhaps because it was Super Bowl Sunday?) and wasn’t going to show up. Thinking quickly, we decided to hot-foot it to the other Threadgill’s location (6416 N. Lamar – Austin, 512.451.5440) and arrived a half-hour after the bluegrass performance began.

The Sunday bluegrass brunch was a go at the Threadgill's North Lamar location!

The Sunday bluegrass brunch was a go at Threadgill’s North Lamar location!

Though I would have loved to have waved and clapped my hands to a soul-stirring gospel performance, I am very glad we heard Out of the Blue, a trio comprising Jamie Stubblefield on guitar, Ginger Evans on bass, and Rob Lifford on mandolin. What a treat! We heard traditional bluegrass, as well as their renditions of Bob Dylan and the Beatles’ “My Life.” The best song was the lively one that, of course, I didn’t record. It’s called “The Hangman’s Reel,” and required a lot of flying fingers on the strings. I really love the sound of the mandolin, though I am fond of the guitar and the bass, as well. All three were terrific on their respective instruments. I was hoping to link to one of their songs, but the size of the files were too large. Definitely check out their site to hear their music.

Local bluegrass trio Out of the Blue making beautiful music.

Here’s an interesting piece of local history: Kenneth Threadgill, a country singer and tavern owner, opened his gas station at the Austin city limits in 1933 and sold gas, food, and beer – when the Prohibition law was repealed. In fact, he was the first one in the state to get a liquor license post-Prohibition. He transformed the gas station into a tavern that featured live entertainment. After the war, Threadgill and his Hootenanny Hoots played to packed houses, which included local college students who also performed on stage. One such University of Texas student was Janis Joplin, who became good friends with the Threadgills and sang at his venue. While some credit Threadgill’s for starting her career, the modest Threadgill said that she “started herself” at his place. Austin is known for its musical roots, and we were lucky to get a taste of local bluegrass.

The Living-large legacy of LBJ
After brunch, we went to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum (2313 Red River Street, Austin, 512.721.0200, donation of $8 for adults), which is on the grounds of the University of Texas. The museum covers three expansive floors, and his archives alone house 45 million pages of documents, photographs, video, and audio files, which are the raw materials documenting his life and times.

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is an enormous building on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.

While LBJ is known to many of my contemporaries as the President who was mired in the Vietnam War, it should be mandatory for all school children to visit this museum and see just how much LBJ transformed America and continues to influence all of us to this day as a result of his Great Society vision and legislation. It’s staggering to catalog the many groundbreaking pieces of legislation he pushed through Congress, but you know me, I have to give it a go.

Landmark legislation
I was familiar with the bigger pieces of legislation, namely the 1964 Civil Rights Act that ended segregation, the 1965 Voting Rights Act that eliminated poll taxes that African-Americans had to pay to vote and deliberately confusing literacy tests they were subjected to before they could vote, and finally the Civil Rights Act of 1968. I was also familiar with his Economic Opportunity Act, which was the centerpiece of LBJ’s War on Poverty and signed into law in 1964. The act created several social programs in the areas of education, healthcare, and the general welfare of those people in the lower-economic class. Head Start and Job Corps are two of the few remaining programs. I remember the now-defunct Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program when I was growing up, and much admired its work, along with Kennedy’s Peace Corps.

The LBJ Library and Museum face an expansive courtyard.

The LBJ Library and Museum faces an expansive courtyard.

In 1963, JBJ signed the Clean Air Act, which was established to combat air pollution and the first of many acts to protect the environment. LBJ was the first President to sign into law clean air and water quality legislation, and he went on to sign laws for pesticide control, water resource planning, solid waste disposal, highway beautification, air quality, and water and sanitation systems in rural areas, among other areas. The Water Quality Act combatted water pollution by seeking higher water quality standards, and the Wilderness Act formalized the process of designating wilderness areas for protection.

In 1965, he signed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allowed immigrants of color – not just immigrants of European descent – to come into America. The Social Security Amendment in 1965 created Medicare and Medicaid. While the system needs an overhaul today, it remains, in my opinion, a critical safety net for older Americans, and indeed, for us all. I for one can say that without Medicare my sisters and I would have had to borrow money out of our homes to pay for the seven-plus total weeks that our mother was in the ICU and then an acute-care facility. Our mother was a hard worker, paid into her pension and Social Security, saved a lot of money, and even took out secondary health insurance, but there was no way she could have paid for those last weeks of her life.

LBJ also passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the Higher Education Act, which provided financial assistance for low-income families. The latter act provided Pell Grants, which my sisters and I received – and put to good use. The Heart Disease Care and Cancer and Stroke amendment to the Public Health Service Act and the Cigarette Labeling and Advertisement Act paved the way for research of diseases caused by tobacco use and awareness about the dangers of smoking.

The staircase from the 3rd floor to the 4th floor gives you a view of the impressive collection of LBJ’s archives.

The Child Protection Act of 1966 ensured that manufacturers made safe toys. The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act mandated safety belt use. (He also signed the Highway Safety Act the same year.) It reminded me of an older friend who used to give me rides to the evening choral rehearsals with the San Francisco State University choir. Whenever we would come to a stop sign, her right arm instinctively shot out, a reflex of the pre-safety belt days when it was common practice to put one’s arm out to protect the passenger. In that same year, LBJ signed the Freedom of Information Act, which allowed citizens to access formerly classified documents, and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, which was designed to provide more information to educate consumers.

In 1967, the Public Broadcast Act enabled the formation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in turn established the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio, which David and I enjoy, as do many of our friends. LBJ was responsible for creating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities under the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. And in that year, he appointed Thurgood Marshall as a justice to the Supreme Court.

A photo-engraved magnesium mural of "A Generation of Presidents" includes LBJ in the Great Hall o the 4th floor.

A photo-engraved magnesium mural of “A Generation of Presidents” includes LBJ in the Great Hall of the 4th floor.

In 1968, he signed the Fire Control Act, Fire Research and Safety Act, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The Fair Housing Act guaranteed that people of color were not discriminated against when they tried to buy a home. By signing the National Trails System Act, LBJ created the 2,663-mile-long Pacific Crest Trail enjoyed by many a nature lover.

We spent three and a half hours at the museum, and that was only because the museum was closing. We hurried through the 10th floor, which had a smaller-scale version of LBJ’s Oval Office. I think another half-hour would have sufficed, but I learned so much about a man who had a vision about creating a better America and world through his Great Society but was tortured by an unwinnable war that he could not end. (A side note: The Fog of War, a 2003 documentary by Errol Morris about LBJ’s secretary of defense Robert McNamara, illustrates the complexities of the Vietnam War and LBJ’s dilemma. This documentary is highly recommended!) What is amazing is the legacy LBJ did leave, which I so anal retentively and chronologically cataloged.

Here are some amazing statistics that I took with me: When LBJ entered the presidency, the percent of Americans living in poverty in the U.S. was 22 percent. When he left, it was 13 percent. (Another source in the museum said that the reduction went from 20 percent to 12 percent.) No other president has been able to make such an impact on this scourge. He was instrumental in adding 36 sites – a total of 10 million acres – to the National Park System. And he was the founder of the U.S. space program, which fostered the belief that humans could achieve anything.

A statue of LBJ greets you at the entrance of his library and museum.

LBJ understood poverty after his freshman year in college when he took a teaching assignment in a small rural town in Texas called Cotulla, where his predominantly Mexican-American students were poor and often came to school on empty stomachs. Back then he understood that poverty is a symptom not a cause, and that in order to eradicate poverty, we would have to as a great society work together to ensure quality healthcare, education, housing, and job training, and address violence in our communities. The vision of the Great Society was not meant to be a handout but rather a hand up, to make individuals and their communities self-sustaining.

I doubt my kids – at ages 10 and 12.5 – would have had to patience to go through every display and exhibit as we did, but even if they could retain just a smidgeon of what I learned today, their knowledge of one of the most visionary presidents in modern times would have been enhanced greatly. There is truly not a day goes by that someone in our country is not impacted by legislation signed by LBJ. That’s quite a legacy. To quote LBJ: “The Great Society asks not how much, but how good; not only how to create wealth, but how to use it; not only how fast we are going, but where we are headed. It proposes as the first test for a nation: the quality of its people.”

A Meal to end an eventful day
How to end such a full day? After hitting up Feathers again, we decided to take on another suggestion by our friend at Uncommon Objects. We settled ourselves at Woodland (1716 S. Congress Avenue, 512.441.6800), which features appetizers such as spiced pork empanadas, southern corn fritters, and crispy fried Gulf oysters. We enjoyed the roast duck tostada as appetizer (slow-cooked pork seasoned with cumin, cayenne, and red chili in a masa crust with a tomatillo dipping sauce) and the porcini-dusted salmon on a blanket of leek risotta and drizzled with truffle oil. Both were worthy meals to close out my last full day as a tourist in this fun city.

Peasant Jewelry by Michael Hickey features deconstructed rosary pieces and a bone.

Peasant Jewelry by Michael Hickey at Feathers. The religious medallion at the top opens up to an engraving inside.

Exploring Austin, vintage style

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Patty

Fashions fade, style is eternal.
– Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer

Ever since I read an article in Elle Magazine a year and a half ago about Esperanza Spalding, American jazz bassist and singer who won the 2011 Grammy Award for Best New Artist, I’ve nurtured this desire to visit the city Spalding moved to from Jersey City – Austin, Texas. So when I found out I was going to moderate a roundtable event in Austin in early February, I gleefully pulled out the article and made a little list of destination spots.

So here I am, after a week-long business trip. I flew from Dallas to San Antonio, where my sister lives. Slight detour: We saw the movie, Quartets, which stars Maggie Smith and a cast of actors who had played in the symphony, sang opera on stage, or had some professional musical connection. The British comedy-drama is set at a retirement home for musicians and revolves around an annual concert to honor Verdi’s birthday and to raise funds to keep Beecham House afloat. As reviews have noted, it’s predictable, but it’s sweet and the performances of the veteran actors are touching, the scenery is quite beautiful, and one of my all-time favorite actors, Dustin Hoffman, debuted as the director.

Okay, back to the travels. On Saturday, Heidi drove us to Austin. It was in the upper 70s temperature-wise, which is a roughly 60-degree upswing from what it was when I landed in New York last Saturday. I ditched the parka and ski socks, but alas, I didn’t bring sandals, shorts, or short-sleeved tops, which is pretty much what everyone else there was wearing. It didn’t just feel like summer, it was summer in Austin.

Once we unloaded our things, we headed for South Congress Avenue, where two of Spalding’s favorite vintage shops reside. One of Spalding’s frequent haunts is Feathers (1700b South Congress Ave., Austin, 512.912.9779), which is actually tucked away on Milton Street, a side street of South Congress Avenue. One of the sales associates there told me that people are familiar with the store, thanks to Spalding’s article and honors it has earned such as Top 15 Vintage Shops in the U.S. I have to say that the four-room shop is quite impressive in that it is well curated and displayed by color. Dresses from the 1920s through the 1950s were fun to look at.

A hand-tooled leather purse from the 1930s-1940s, according to the salesperson at Feathers.

The moment I stepped into the shop, I immediately spotted a beautiful hand-tooled leather purse from the 1930s-1940s era, with a velveteen-lined interior and a pocket with what looked like it was once a mirror. I was told by the sales clerk that the jewelry designer – Michael Hickey of Peasant Jewelry – whose works I was admiring used to be local but has since moved to Pittsburgh. Upon further investigation, I’m not so sure this critical-access-nurse-by-day and self-taught artist ever lived in Austin, but his jewelry, which combines found objects, bones, reclaimed vintage, and deconstructed rosary beads to name a few of his materials, is popular here. In an interview from a 2009 Pittsburgh news media, he said that he customizes his jewelry according to the requests from shops – Austin gets his “truly dark stuff.” Hmmm.

Uncommon Objects’ storefront on South Congress Avenue.

Spalding’s other vintage shop recommendation is Uncommon Objects (1512 S. Congress Ave., Austin, 512.442.4000), whose tag line is “raw materials for creative living.” The shop is deep and stuffed with an unimaginable number of vintage objects. It’s pretty dizzying, and it was pretty crowded. In fact, South Congress Avenue was teeming with college students, food trucks, and big SUVs and trucks (the automakers must make Texas-size SUVs and trucks just for the state’s citizens). We literally had to wait for a line of people to file out before we could walk in.

Every nook and cranny of Uncommon Objects is packed with vintage treasures.

That said, once you step inside, you are greeted – or assaulted, depending upon your level of love for vintage – by a wonderland of antiques, vintage finds, and reclaimed vintage jewelry! What I found really appealing about Uncommon Objects is that the curators displayed the goods in an aesthetically pleasing way. Some of the stalls, or areas, comprising 24 purveyors of “curious goods,” were arranged by color – red, creamy white – while others were arranged by decade or era, such as the 1950s-style lamps, glassware, chairs, chandeliers, secretaries, and tall lava vases, which we had in our living room growing up, that defined one stall. It was fun to walk through and check out the many items. If not rushed and not having to avoid bumping into people all the time, I would have spent a good couple of hours exploring this fun shop.

Just one slice of Uncommon Objects’ vintage jewelry display.

My favorite area, of course, was the jewelry cabinets, which would have been dripping with jewels because there were so many in the case except that they were displayed in a very organized (read: anal retentive) way. The shop had an amazing amount of 1930s to 1960s rhinestone earrings, brooches, and necklaces, but though I oohed and aahed over the dazzling pieces, I had to remind myself of a jewelry case full of eBay treasures back home (darn, the memory was good in that instance). Antique evening purses and gloves, reminiscent of nights out for the opera or symphony, broke up the rows and layers of jewelry.

I was mesmerized by a whole cabinet of reclaimed-vintage and found-object necklaces and bracelets by Ren of Lux Revival. We were told by the very patient sales clerk who waited on us that the artist is local, but upon further investigation, thanks to the internet, I discovered that the company, which was formed by longtime friends and collaborators Lisa Yesh and Ren Guidry, is actually based in Los Angeles. I’d rather support local artists, especially if I’m bringing something home and want to proudly say, “They’re local artists.” Maybe one or both were originally from Austin or spent some time in Austin, but the most I can say is that I got this beautiful, unique necklace from Uncommon Objects in Austin. And Heidi generously got me a necklace from the same designers, as well.

Lots of vintage cameras to choose from.

We checked out a cowboy boot shop, where you can’t touch the boots but you are encouraged to ask for help. Though lovely, hand-tooled, and with heels hand-stacked, the boots were out of my price range. The rest of the five or so blocks of South Congress Avenue were okay. By five o’clock, after not having lunch, I was ready to eat dinner.

All things cream-colored are on display here.

Dining in Austin
We sought the recommendations of our Uncommon Objects sales clerk for a local dining experience that had good food, fewer crowds, and was reasonably priced. His co-worker gave him a hard time for not recommending many good places on South Congress Avenue, but we were done with the crowds. If we were to stay in the neighborhood, he recommended Woodland (1716 S. Congress Avenue, 512.441.6800) and Enoteca Vespaio (1610 S. Congress Avenue, 512.441.7672), a bistro-inspired café, which serves antipasti, pizza, pastas, and pastries.

He suggested going to another part of town, where a trio of restaurants would meet our needs. Justine’s Brassiere (4710, E. 5th Street, Austin, 512.385.2900) is a candlelit French bistro that features old jazz and reggae. East Side Show Room (1100 E. 6th Street, 512.467.4280) is a vintage live music bar and serves gulf shrimp and fried oysters, pork belly ravioli, goat meatballs, and grass-fed blue cheese burgers.

We settled on Hillside Farmacy (1209 E. 11th Street, Austin, 512.628.0168), which I imagined was a farm-to-table concept since the name of the restaurant played with the word “pharmacy.” The eatery and grocery, however, resides in an unassuming green building with a dirt parking lot, which was once called the Hillside Pharmacy in the 1950s. It was warm enough to dine outdoors in front of the restaurant, but once you walk in, you appreciate the theme, which recreates the drugstore vibe, complete with original restored pharmacy cabinetry, black-and-white tiled floor, and drugstore-type tables and chairs. We ordered the cheese platter and braised short ribs. While the cheese platter was good, the braised short ribs were bland and I had trouble (in the candlelit room) determining what was fat and what was meat. The bread pudding was more of a raisin French toast than what I’m usually accustomed to, and service was spotty.

All in all, it was an okay meal. If only I had read what restaurant Spalding had recommended – Justine’s – because I completely trust her taste in vintage shops. Next time!

We were slated to attend a Sunday gospel brunch at Threadgill’s, go to the LBJ Library and Museum, and return to South Congress Avenue for a quick review of the vintage stores again. Stay tuned for a review of these places on Wednesday.

Reclaimed vintage rosary beads, hook and hardware, and metal matchbox by Ren of Lux Revival, designed for Uncommon Objects.

A longer chain holds a reclaimed vintage metal matchbox by Ren of Lux Revival, designed for Uncommon Objects.

Transitions and Transformations: Pilar Zuniga of Gorgeous and Green

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Patty

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though I have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skillfully,mysteriously)her first rose
– e.e. cummings, American poet, from “somewhere I have never travelled,gladly beyond”

Pilar setting up floral arrangements for a wedding. (Photo credit: JRotsenphotography.com)

I first discovered Gorgeous and Green (2946 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705, 510.665.7974) after receiving a beautiful set of reclaimed vintage earrings for my 50th birthday last year. The earrings came in a box with the letters “GG” stamped on the lid. The letters were Art Deco in style – the first G backwards, as if mirroring the other G – and on either side was a flourish of Art Deco-style flowers and greenery. Curious, I asked my friend who gave me the present where she got the earrings. She explained that she was on San Pablo Avenue in West Berkeley and came upon a floral shop that sold unique jewelry. Intrigued, I made a little discovery trip, and I’ve been back to Gorgeous and Green many times since.

A colorful storefront display greets visitors to Gorgeous and Green.

The warm and inviting entrance to Gorgeous and Green.

Step inside: A Mix of gorgeous and green goods
The majority of Gorgeous and Green customers are neighbors who live in West Berkeley, although commuters who work in the area also come in during the week. On weekends, the shop is filled with visitors to the East Bay. It’s not uncommon for people to walk in and be unsure of what the shop is selling, admits owner Pilar Zuniga. Her concept is a mix of goods that she and other artisans have created that embody her distinct style – encompassing color, attention to design, vintage feel, sustainability, and the ability to be marketed and displayed in a beautiful and creative way. The gifts in her shop are either one of kind or “embodies the intention of the artist,” she said.

A rustic display of greeting cards from local small presses.

Thus, greetings cards displayed on a white-washed picket-fence gate hung on the wall are made by local, small-scale printing presses. Colorful glassware reclaimed from thrift stores and antique and garage sales dot the shelves throughout the shop. Hand-blown glass by local artisans is re-envisioned as planters for succulents and other plants. Body and bath products are made with natural ingredients and produced in an environmentally friendly manner. Zuniga stocks her shop with goods crafted by artisans whom she researches and finds on the Internet. “I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback,” she said, of her selections. She continues to stock what sells well, but tries to bring in new items.

Reclaimed vintage jewelry dangle from a suspended branch.

She designs and sells her jewelry, which comprise vintage pieces that she incorporates into a new design. “I like to redo jewelry to make it better or to make it into something someone would enjoy,” she explained. “I’ve always been interested in art – painting, drawing, other craftwork, sewing, making jewelry – I got really into reusing reclaimed vintage. That was always a side thing,” she said. Zuniga showcases creations by other jewelry designers as well, most of which are fashioned from reclaimed materials. Gorgeous and Green carries M.E. Moore‘s jewelry, which I discovered in Zuniga’s shop.

Artwork on the wall seems to spill out of this beautiful arrangement.

Roots in sustainability
Sustainability is an important aspect, and Zuniga has ensured that it is expressed in her shop. The San Diego native developed her environmental consciousness when she was a student at UC Berkeley, which opened her up to thinking about the greater good of the world. Not surprisingly, she found her way into the nonprofit sector of public health as a career and remained in northern California because of the area’s “down-to-earth sensibility” and the fact that “everybody is really close.”

When Zuniga was planning her wedding in 2005, she had difficulty finding a sustainable florist, though today there are more environmentally conscious florists. She saw a need to fill and was energized by the concept. Though she enjoyed working with people and in the nonprofit sector, she was losing interest as she moved into management and got behind a desk. Zuniga started her company in 2007 with a focus on floral design and events while still working full-time. She took classes but didn’t go to school for floral design, though she also learned about the industry through her aunt, who was a florist. When she was younger, she helped her aunt with weddings. Zuniga was able to rely on various skills she had learned in her job – designing and evaluating marketing materials. She transformed her garage into her workspace and created gift items specifically for weddings, and her business took off in 2008.

Vintage suitcases hold unique gifts and treasures.

Challenging times
“I really enjoyed the design and artistic piece of it, so I quit my job and opened up a shop,” she said. Zuniga had been eyeing her current storefront and convinced the landlord to rent the space to her in January 2010. Within three weeks, she had opened the first week of February, just in time to take advantage of Valentine’s Day. (In an anniversary of sorts and a repeat of history, Gorgeous and Green moved to its new location, 2946 College Avenue, near Ashby Avenue in Berkeley, this past February from its San Pablo Avenue location.)

Succulent terrariums featuring locally hand-blown glass.

At the onset, Zuniga faced significant financial challenges, which were exacerbated by the recession. She and her husband – who had started his business years before – had saved money, but in the beginning there were months when she made very little money or none at all. Zuniga logged 60 to 80 hours a week, seven days a week. Despite the grueling schedule and unstable earnings, by the end of the first year, when her lease was to be reviewed, she decided to try another two years. The holidays had buoyed her, and she added, with a laugh, “It could only get better from where it started.” That said, Zuniga burnt herself out the second year with her workload and made the strategic decision to hire people to help in the shop. Though staffing is one of the biggest line items in her budget, she believes the benefits outweighed the cost. Despite being “shackled” to the shop, she says the best thing about being a shop owner is flexibility. “I’m a hard worker, but I don’t have to keep going 110 percent all the time,” she said. She allows herself time to power down or take a break.

Wall-mounted terrariums and planters share a cozy corner of the shop with dried pressed flower earrings.

She has since pulled back doing events because of the time and effort involved and competition with larger events companies, and is investing more time showcasing her shop, which she feels needs her support to keep it going. This year she plans on cutting back on the number of events she produces in order to enjoy the few that she plans to take on. The wedding events that were the most memorable for her were the ones in which she was granted creative license. She has done a number of weddings at the Piedmont Community Center, but one in particular enabled her to use brilliant colors and planted materials such as succulents and ferns. “I really enjoyed having the space to do what I wanted to do,” she said. She also did a wedding in Moss Beach, which enabled her to enjoy the drive down the coast and then transform a garden into a vibrant place with washed-up wood that the bride had collected on the beach and had Zuniga incorporate into the floral arrangements.

The shelves are stocked with glassware, jewelry, natural bath and body products, and more goodies.

Taking risks and “throwing up some dust and some dirt”
Zuniga touts the support of her husband as being very significant in her decision to start her own business. When she and her husband first got together, she was the breadwinner while he was trying to get his business going. When his San Francisco-based video production company, Corduroy Media, finally turned and grew, the strain of being the breadwinner eased. “We both have our own businesses now, but I don’t think I would have done it without his business doing well,” she said. When her husband’s business was going strong after its first decade, Zuniga felt it was now her turn.

Gorgeous and Green’s San Pablo location before the shop moved to College Avenue.

She never questioned her decision to open her shop, buoyed with the philosophy that things would take care of themselves. She didn’t worry about being saddled with debt should the business venture not work out. “I’ve been there before and I’ve paid it [debt] off. You just move on and you learn from it,” she said, simply. “It’s just money. But it’s also a chance to be happy and to enjoy what you do and give yourself a chance. You’ll regret it if you don’t [try]. You’ll always regret it.”

If she hadn’t made the change, Zuniga emphasized that she would have missed out on the entire experience – the difficulties and challenges, the enjoyable times, and especially the fact that she overcame so much to get to where she is now. “I continue to do so [overcome adversities], and I surprise myself,” she added. “You just have to put yourself out there.”

Turning serious for a moment, Zuniga noted that society teaches women to eschew being a risk taker. “Part of it is genetic, part of it is maintaining your uterus as a safe space because you want to have children at some point or you might not,” she said, with a laugh. “Evolutionarily, it works that way.” But Zuniga has grown comfortable with embracing risk. “It’s okay to take a risk and not be sure and make big mistakes,” she said. It may not work out, but she says, “At least I jumped on it. I threw up some dust and some dirt, and it will eventually settle.”

Spend a lazy Saturday afternoon checking out boutiques in West Berkeley in a comfy chemise and platform boots made for walking.

A Gorgeous and Green find – a rose necklace made from corn! (Earrings by Carmela Rose and ring from Lava 9, Berkeley, CA)

Close-up of the rose necklace made from corn from Gorgeous and Green.

Gray matter

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Patty

Be comfortable in your own skin, and your style will come out.
– Ikram Goldman, Ikram boutique owner, Chicago

My parents show off their cake at their 25th wedding anniversary, May 1982.

When my sisters and I were going through my mother’s photographs to put in a slideshow for her memorial last January, I came across ones of my parents’ 25th wedding anniversary party. My mother was a month shy of 31 when she got married to my father. So she was nearing 56 when we celebrated their anniversary at a restaurant with our family and all of our relatives. In December 1984, when my sister, Heidi, my mom, and I went to the Philippines – to commemorate the end of my college career and also to embrace my heritage after taking many Asian American Studies classes – my mom was 58 years old.

Me, my lola Salud, and my mother, Baguio City, the Philippines, December 1984. My mother shows just a little gray along the hairline.

I marveled at how in the pictures from those two events, my mother looked incredibly young. No sign of gray hair. My middle sister Joyce recalled that she berated my mom for plucking her gray hairs, telling her she would go bald. It was around the early 1990s that Joyce introduced my mother to coloring her hair. So at the time of her 25th anniversary and our trip to the Philippines, my mother had plucked her grays – but clearly still had a healthy production of melanin.

No doubt, genetics played a major role in her youthful looks. But at some point, she did color her hair. I, too, plucked at the gray hairs, and when they multiplied to the point where potential baldness had to be considered as a real risk, I faced the decision of either coloring or leaving the gray strands alone. I had always thought I would be the kind of woman who would eschew coloring her hair. Just age gracefully, I argued in my head. But at the age of 44, when the gray hair began exposing themselves around my hairline and at the crown of my head, I succumbed to the practice.

Does she or doesn’t she?
In my neck of the woods – the Berkeley area – more women than not embrace their gray. Was it a defect on my part that I did not? My hairdresser, who has been cutting my hair since I was 29 and whom I have followed from salon to salon through the years, has been badgering me in the last few years to stop coloring my hair. He tells me that “modern women” can carry off gray hair. He also insisted that the owner of the beauty shop where he worked had developed leukemia from having undergone too many Japanese hair-straightening treatments. In all honesty, I don’t know anything about the pros and cons of the treatment and can’t comment on whether the chemicals contributed to her death. I do worry about the chemicals that are seeping into my scalp, which is one of the reasons why I don’t color that often and traded permanent color, which made my hair dry as straw, to semi-permanent color, which seems less harsh, relatively speaking, and fades in a more “natural” way.

My husband, David, whose hair is salt and pepper, keeps reminding me that there’s nothing wrong with gray hair and he’d prefer that I go au natural. Some people look distinguished with a head of gray hair, but I don’t put myself in that company just yet. One of my good friends from college feels that gray hair makes women look older than they are, which is true depending upon how the hair is styled, how the woman dresses herself, and the coloring of the gray. While dull gray is not a flattering color, white or silver can be stunning.

Comfortable with gray
While one can argue whether or not a woman looks better with colored hair, I’ve come to see it as a personal decision, which should be respected and even celebrated. My sister, Heidi, who turned 53 in mid-August and noticed the gray in her mid-30s, has never colored her hair, which is even more dramatic and pronounced given the longer length of her locks. She prefers low maintenance when it comes to grooming, which was especially critical when she was an elementary-school teacher (she has since retired this past year). She doesn’t blow dry her hair because she feels it’s a health hazard and has the same health concern about hair coloring. My sister grows her hair long so she can cut it every three years and donate it to such organizations as the American Cancer Society and Ulta, which require hair to be free of chemicals. She tells me that they don’t accept donations with too many gray hairs, so this may be her last contribution.

My sister, Heidi, and me at Rockefeller Center, New York, September 2012.

“There have been a dozen women who have told me that they are following my example and are not coloring their hair anymore,” Heidi wrote to me in an e-mail. “They just don’t like the look when transitioning from not coloring to going all gray. I think they are becoming more comfortable with the idea of having gray hair. I think they also got tired of coloring their hair and they’re doing it for themselves and not for appearance anymore.” (Although I feel compelled to note that you can color your hair and do it for yourself and not for others.)

A friend of mine, who has a lovely thick mane of silvery hair, decided to dispense with the many years of maintenance, time, and expense associated with hair coloring. “You’re finally comfortable with it, and you just grow into your gray hair,” she told me in an e-mail. Through the years, she had gotten close with her colorist, whom she considers an adopted daughter and also followed as her colorist changed salons. While my friend doesn’t get to see her former colorist on a regular basis anymore, when they do get together it’s “for coffee instead of coloring,” she wrote.

Hair as an ‘artistic medium’
One of my colleagues from my company, Diana Manos, 53, who is a senior editor with Healthcare IT News, said that turning 50 has liberated her to experiment with hair color. “I like hair as an artistic medium (involving color),” she wrote to me in an e-mail. Diana doesn’t believe that hair color should be age-related. She sported a big bright fuschia stripe, noting that getting the flash of color was something she has wanted to do her whole life. “I feel that being my current age finally freed me to do it,” she wrote, although she has since moved on from pink because it fades too easily.

My colleague Diana sporting her fuschia streak.

“Color is color. If you don’t like the color gray – and I don’t – you don’t have to wear it, in our day and age,” she wrote. “I feel hair is a very distinctive aspect of our outer selves. If we want, we can use our hair to represent our inner selves. How you feel about your hair is very important to how you see yourself. No one at any age should accept hair they don’t want to wear.”

While Diana noted that she doesn’t like the color gray on her, she recognizes that some women can carry it off. “I am always fascinated by and on the lookout for women who wear it like they mean it,” she said. “Emmylou Harris is one famous example, but I see good examples around me all the time. If I had to one day wear gray hair, I would probably put some black stripes in it to spice it up.”

Celebrating silver – in my dress for now, Las Vegas, February 2012.

What feels right
As for me, I’ve made the tentative decision that I’ll go completely gray when my wrinkles become more pronounced. I’ll admit that I raise my eyebrows when I see an elderly Filipino man or woman with jet-black hair and wrinkles to rival an elephant because it seems like a disconnect between hair and body. I can’t imagine that I’ll do anything to my face, so when the wrinkles deepen, the gray will be let loose.

I’m always fascinated by other women’s opinions about and reasons for coloring or going gray, but the bottom line is: Respect other women’s decisions and do what feels right for you. Whatever you do, first and foremost, do it for yourself. Once you embrace that, the decisions come – of course – nice and easy.

The best way to accent silver and gray is with lots of beading, sequins, rhinestones, and shiny metallic.

Gray is the perfect backdrop or a lot of shine from different materials and accessories, both vintage (earrings, ring, and bracelet) and new (necklace, stack of rings, pumps, and skirt).

The Dress at 50

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Category Archives: Vintage Love

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Gray matter

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