It’s here! As promised, I am letting you all know that we received jewelry from artist Amy McClure yesterday. Her boldly hued pieces are unabashedly feminine, and are just the thing for the easy t-shirt and jeans days of spring. For the most unexpected look, pair Amy’s pieces with clothing in contrasting colors (I’m wearing the Chatham Batik Necklace in yellow with a dark indigo top)…but hurry, we’ve already sold some of my favorites! -Liz
My new love is the sweetest little pottery by Tennessee artist, Susan Smith. We met Susan at the Buyer’s Market in Philly, and were instantly charmed by her work. It was one of those cosmic moments when Barb and I both thought, “THIS is Poppy.” We’re just crazy about the stylized birds in bright and pastel colors paired up with minimalist shapes. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
This 10 oz. mug is “perfect for coffee,” says Susan…she obviously isn’t a serious coffee drinker.
A super-charming 4 oz. tea bowl, that I would use for equally sweet ice cream.
Susan also has a nice little blog that is fun to read if you have time to enjoy. -Liz
Every Sunday evening I pack up my family and head over to Mama Lou and Doug’s house for dinner. We sit around the table and enjoy a wonderful meal featuring good food and jolly conversation. There is always a cast of characters popping in and out (think Kramer and Newman from Seinfeld), which adds to the coziness of the occasion.
This past weekend I was sitting in Mama Lou and Doug’s kitchen thumbing through the latest issue of Gourmet magazine, when I came across a story about eating beach side. All of the people were sitting around a rustic looking dining table, eating octopus salad and roasted vegetables off of beautifully mismatched dishes and looking perfectly disheveled. They were all very obviously enjoying each other’s company, and on an Italian beach no less. (My questions of course included: How did they get that very heavy looking table down to the beach? Why aren’t there any wind-burned faces or tangled hair-dos? How are they ever going to get all of that stuff back up the rocky slope?). All of my questions are beside the point, which is that food brings people together. Think about it. Every holiday and get-together involves eating, and as my husband notoriously says, “You eat with your eyes first.” So of course the food and its presentation should be inviting, appetizing and stunning. Which leads me to a great find from Philly: Double Creek Pottery.
Double Creek Pottery is the result of mother-daughter team, Joanne and Betty Barwick (Eustis, FL). Each piece perfectly pairs whimsy with function, and the matte glaze adds the finishing touch to its handmade nature. The bright colors and stylized shapes add instant merriment and festivity to your table. My favorite piece is the Square Seafood Plate. How lovely would it be to receive this plate as a gift, and then invite all of your friends and family for a New England style clam bake on the beach? You would of course all be jovial and suitably warmed by the setting sun. The food would be divine and the evening would end with laughter and hugs and promises of future clam bakes. Until then…-Liz
Our last and final trip for the season took us to Louisville, Kentucky for Kentucky Crafted: The Market on March 6-7. Barb was selected to participate in the Kentucky Art Council’s “Fly the Buyer” program, where the state pays for Barb’s transportation, lodging and food expenses. It’s a great way to expose buyers to Kentucky artisans and the Kentucky Buyer’s Market in general. We did place a couple of orders (look for a new line of children’s accessories and toys by BJ McHugh for Sweetie Pies in the next few weeks), but I think the best thing that we took away from the experience were the other “Fly the Buyers” that we met. It was really nice to sit down and have dinner with other people who have the same vision as you do, and to share their successes as well as their failures. The group as a whole reminded us, “Oh yeah, this is why we do what we do…and love it.” Many thanks to Vallorie and the state of Kentucky for their hospitality and southern charm.
Barb and I have never had good luck in Iowa. We drove to Des Moines last summer to walk through the Sticks studio and attend the Des Moines Art Festival. Getting there proved to be easy enough, and gave us just enough confidence to think we knew the lay of the land. However, after we left the Sticks retail gallery in West Des Moines to make it downtown for the Art Festival we ended up on a desolate highway presumably heading in the wrong direction. Our fears were realized when we saw a sign showing 20 miles to the birthplace of John Wayne. Hmmm. We pulled off of the highway as soon as we possibly could, and called our new friend Liz Lidgett, who worked at Sticks downtown and was a recent graduate of the University of Missouri (she was also a Poppy customer and a talented jewelry artist). The conversation went something like this:
“Hi Liz? This is Liz and Barb from Columbia…and, well, we’re lost in Iowa.”
“Where are you guys?”
“I don’t know. We are in the middle of a cornfield (stereotypical,I know) and 20 miles from John Wayne’s birthplace.”
“Okay…”
The “okay” was rather long and drawn out, more like a question than an answer. But somehow, someway Miss Liz Lidgett got us to the Art Festival in downtown Des Moines. Thank you, thank you Liz.
Our next Iowa trip took place on February 27, this time to pick up a Sticks order for the store. With Google maps we left Barb’s house at 6:30 a.m. in a large pick-up truck with fellow Poppette, Stephanie, in tow. The drive to Iowa again was easily navigated, and we saw lots of unusual things along the way, ranging from two bald eagles to two of what we are guessing to be windmill propellers. As we drove further and further north, more and more snow was piled on the side of the highway, and several cars were in the median or the ditch. But never fear, we made it to the Sticks gallery in West Des Moines. After looking around we had lunch at P.F. Chang’s and then went to the Sticks studio. There were several small detours along the way. We loaded up the truck bed (I would like to say effortlessly, but that’s a story for some other time) and went on our way. By this time it was 16 degrees in Des Moines not counting the wind chill and we were all frozen from head to toe. We were ready to be home, but still had at least four and a half hours driving time ahead of us. We stopped a couple of times to make sure that everything was still there, and we stopped a couple of times to get a drink. On one of those fateful stops we took a wrong turn. Stephanie was in charge of navigation, and at one point I thought, “Something doesn’t look right…” The four lane highway had turned into a two lane highway that had no shoulder and was very curvy. Finally, finally we saw a sign and referenced our map to find that we were headed west instead of south. We were lost, in Iowa, again. Stephanie was clever enough to call the reference desk at the Daniel Boone Regional Library at home to find the quickest route back to Highway 63. The conversation with the reference desk help read something like my conversation with Liz Lidgett (see above) minus the bit about John Wayne. Anyway, we made our way back home, and plan on printing out even more Google maps the next time we decide to venture into Iowa. -Liz
One of the most amazing things we saw in Baltimore was a clothing line called UNIFORM Studio by designer Martha McQuade (Minneapolis, MN). Although Poppy doesn’t carry handmade clothing (yet), this line made us question our current status without clothing. Martha’s use of subtle color emphasizes the design, shape and folds in her understated and modern clothing. Martha herself couldn’t have been more humble about her wealth of talent and eye for detail. Her 2008 collection, Land, is “inspired by the colors and textures of Iceland.” I have never been to Iceland, but her collection translates to a place of serenity and simple beauty. Her clothing is a drastic (but welcome) contrast to the opulence found in past seasons ready-to-wear collections.
You can view Martha’s 2008 “Land” collection on her website www.uniform-studio.com. The starkness of her website forces you to focus on her brilliant tops, skirts, dresses and jackets. Not to be missed is her children’s collection, modeled by her lovely son, Calvin. Be sure to read the Journal section of her website to get an insight into the design theory behind UNIFORM Studio…I’ve been reading on a daily basis. -Liz
Immediately after the Philadelphia show ended Barb and I helped our good friend and talented jewelry artist, Jamie Cassavoy, pack up her booth to head to Baltimore for the American Craft Council (ACC) show. It is no small feat packing up a booth. All of the jewelry has to be individually wrapped, fabric and lights taken down, and fixtures dismantled. Barb and I had great fun (we thought of it as a novelty), and for Jamie it was business as usual. It took three of us a good hour; I can’t imagine Jamie breaking down her booth by herself! We then schleped-Jamie’s word-our stuff into a stretch limo (yes! limousine…cheaper than taking the train, and much more relaxing) and were off to Baltimore.
We pulled into the Baltimore Convention Center about two hours later. Apparently Jamie was quite embarrassed that we drove up to the loading docks in a limousine. Other artist thought it was hysterical and were giving her quite a bit of grief. Funny! We helped Jamie set up her booth (another two hours!) and then went to dinner at the Radisson (a very cool art deco hotel). The next day Barb and I walked the entire show in about seven hours. Again, we found several new artists for the store. The quality of the work in Baltimore was top-notch, and we were pleasantly surprised to find lots of new ceramic and glass artists. One of the most interesting was a glass studio named Arentzen Ohlander. Rich Arentzen and his wife, Tove Ohlander met at the Orrefors Glass School in Sweden. Their technique, Swedish Graal technique, was developed in 1917 by artist Gate and the glass blower Bergqvist. It includes carving, sandblasting and glass blowing. We instantly took to the idea of modern forms and design using age-old technique. Rich was a delight, which made us want to carry his work all the more. We opened the shipment yesterday, and fell in love all over again. -Liz
In addition to buying new hand crafted things for the store, Barb and I were honored to participate in a couple of extra-cirricular events at the Buyer’s Market. First up was a seminar on young collectors, what they are interested in, what they are buying, what drives their purchases, etc. I’m curious to know what our Poppy friends think young collectors are interested in…any thoughts? I was fortunate to be on the panel as a retailer with none other that Matt from www.etsy.com. It was probably the closest I will ever come to meeting a celebrity (in the craft world that is). The seminar turned out to be a pretty fun event, and we met a couple who happened to be jewelry artists. We fell in love with their sweet little line, Figs and Ginger, and will be getting their stylized woodland creature jewelry sometime in April.
Next, Barb was invited to be a presenter at the 2008 Niche Awards; essentially the Oscar’s of American craft. One of our favorites, Chihiro Makio, won for the Jewelry: Sculpture to Wear category, for her “Lotus” necklace. It was a nice evening, and we were delighted to be in the company of such talented artisans.
Here is the “Nestlings” necklace by Figs and Ginger. I’ll let you all know when it comes in! -Liz
Hello Poppy friends-
Barb and I have been on the road and in the air for the past couple of weeks looking for new things to bring to the store.
We first attended the Buyer’s Market of American Craft in Philadelphia, PA from February 16-18. Philadelphia has a giant convention center located somewhat near Chinatown. Every morning we went to Reading Terminal Market to buy our lunch for the day. If you ever find yourself in Philly looking for something to do or something to eat, this downtown farmers market (est. 1892) is the place to go. There are several vendors there from all different backgrounds selling food and other things for breakfast and lunch. I swear I could spend a day in Reading just walking around and sampling all of the varied fares. Barb and I found several great new artists at the Buyer’s Market, including a gal from Birmingham, AL named Amy McClure. Amy makes of-the-moment ceramic jewelry in lovely “Sweet Tart” colors. Her studio, Olaria Studio, is aptly named for the Portuguese word for pottery or hand-made objects of clay. Amy herself is very sweet with a charming southern accent. I imagine she would bake a pie and make a pitcher of tea if she knew you were on the way over. Here is a sneak preview of her work, which we expect to have in the store mid to late March. I can’t wait! -Liz
