an invitation...

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come see new gift ideas in  the emporium

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~FEATURED ITEM~

LOVE LOVE LOVE!   

Meet my new Nespresso milk warmer/frother!  Sorry for the high drama, but I just got it and I really do love this thing.–It works so well!  With the press of a button it quietly and perfectly warms and froths in just seconds.   (You can opt to froth cold, too.)

my Nespresso frother at home in my coffee cupboard. :)

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Nespresso Aeroccino Plus

The perfect gift for the cappuccino lover in your life.

I'm finding more items I love all the time so visit now and check back often!

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Is this what we might call...

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...the skull-inary arts? (!)

Artist's Statement: 

{Currently, I use ceramics as my material in my method of expression, incorporating various decorative styles, patterns, and symbolic forms as my principal axis in creating my works.  The decorative styles and forms I allude to and incorporate in my works each contain a story based on historical backgrounds and ideas, myths, and allegories.　Their existence in the present age makes us feel many things,; adoration, some sort of romantic emotions, a sense of unfruitfulness and languor from their excessiveness and vulgarity.And on the other hand, they make us feel tranquility and awe that can almost be described as religious, as well as an image as an object of worship.By citing such images, I feel I am able to express an - atmosphere- that is a part of the complex world in this age.In fact, the several decorative styles and forms I cite simultaneously hold divine and vulgar meaning in the present age, having an irrational quality that contradict each other, which I feel express an important aspect in the contemporary age in which we live.Also, the technique of ceramics has a tradition that has been a part of the history of decoration over a long time, and I feel the delicateness and fragile tension of the substantial material well express my concept.  -Katsuyo Aoki}

Visit:

Katsuyo Aoki

to view other extraordinary works by the artist.

Amazing!

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Noa = movement and light

Absolutely love these beautiful pieces

by Maria de Haan, Noa Ceramics.  

 ~Functional art at its best!

Noa

is a feminine Hebrew name, derived from a root that means “movement”.

Noa

is also Arabic, with the meaning of “light”.

Maria makes functional tableware with Eastern influences inspired from her travels abroad. Using antique Indian stamps to decorate her work and combining beautiful glazes with a special blend of textured clay, Maria’s work is both elegant and enticingly tactile.

She began potting in 2005, completed an apprenticeship at North Street potters in south London, then in 2006 she studied under Simon leach at his pottery in Spain. In both 2007 and 2008 Maria spent the winters working alongside Mike Goddard at Spring pottery in Bequia, The West Indies.

Since returning from the West Indies in 2008, Maria has established her own studio in West London from where she now works full time.    ~excerpt from the Noa Ceramics website. 

 

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Photographs: Maria de Haan

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Artisan Feature - Brocchi Workshop

Hand-hammered cache pots, (80 euro*)

Brocchi workshop, Siena



Laura and Alessandro Brocchi are the great grandchildren of coppersmith, Giuseppe Brocchi and hail from a long line of master forgers.  Though they continue to specialize in the tradition of copper-forging passed down through their family for the last 200 years, they now also work with all metals ranging from iron to silver to brass; making everything from cache pots to kitchen tools to lamps and including artistic, award-winning commissions for Il Palio.

The Brocchis' shop and workshop are a short walk from the main square in Siena, Piazza del Campo and located within the premises of San Martino, a church known from the 12th century, renovated and enlarged in the 16th century. 



San Martino

 How inspiring it must be to work in a space where

masters before you have been creating for generations...Can you just imagine?! 

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Find the Brocchis' bottega at 41/43, Via del Porrione, Siena, Italy. 

(*2009)

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Design Daily - Chandelier by Deborah Thomas

 Deborah Thomas, A triangular chandelier, c 1983,

Frame is built up of glass segments arranged around
eight Halogen bulbs 137cm wide x 69cm high (54" wide x 27" high)

Estimate: £1,500 - 2,000

Deborah Thomas has designed for various theatre and dance companies including Hesitate and Demonstrate. She has exhibited widely including a commission for the V&A's 'The Cutting Edge' in 1997 and Christie's 'The Light' in 2000.   -excerpt from Bonhams' website:  Bonhams

See another creation by the artist: Deborah Thomas

linen & lavender

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Source Sharing - A Must Have: The Little Black...

...Broom?(!)

Yes.  That's right.  I'm excited about a broom I found, not a little black dress.

I have to say, this is typical of me and I know my daughter would concur.  While I love clothes as much as the next girl...it isn't uncommon for me to head out in search of an outfit, only to become distracted by the antiques shop we've just passed.  My daughter will be immersed in the handbag section, only to turn and realize I've wandered off to check out rugs in the boutique next door.

That's not to say it's always something extravagant I'm interested in.  Case in point is this handmade fireplace broom for just $21 I found today via Remodelista .  I don't know exactly why it appeals to me so much, but I had to have it.  I can just see it hanging on my white wall as a piece of functional art.  Never mind that the fireplace I'm imagining it next to has yet to be installed.  (I'm in the middle of renovating a 1920's English cottage style home. – More on that in posts to come.) 

In any event, I've already ordered the broom and though I might not have the perfect spot just yet, I knew I'd be happy owning it.  For some, inexplicable reason I felt a connection to a dark little fireplace broom and when you know, you just know.  —You know?!  

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Remodelista Post - Handmade Brooms

Be sure to support Remodelista's great research efforts by clicking through their links to order products they source for us!  ~L

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