In the Studio: Q & A with Michael McConnell
In the Studio: Q & A with Bay Area artist Michael McConnell
Back By Popular Demand... More Blogs We Love!
Our last blog post spotlighting SF Bay Blogs We Love was so popular, we decided to do a Part Deux. For your blog rolling pleasure, here are a few more to add to your morning coffee routine. These gals are based around the country (from LA to Brooklyn), have awesome taste, and are sure to help bust you out of any creative rut you might be in. We hope you take a linking to them like we did!
Jennifer Chong is a designer who posts inspiring, gorgeous photography documenting her beautiful finds from around the country. Her blog is a great resource for recipes, as well as finding undiscovered restaurants and shops.
The Post Punk Kitchen was created by Isa Chandra Moskowitz in her cramped Brooklyn kitchen in 2003. It's an awesome resource for fun, healthy and delicious vegan recipes. The site always makes us smile, and has been known to get us out of our food ruts.
The Jealous Curator is by a fine artist and designer who wanted a place to show gorgeous contemporary artwork that "made her jealous." It's great for a quick injection of culture and art, especially if you enjoy a bit of self deprecation.
It's Wedding Season at the Shop!
It's wedding season here at Marion & Rose! And more and more folks are coming into the shop – either to find the perfect, heirloom-quality wedding present or a card that lovingly celebrates the tying of a knot.
And you know what wedding season means… lots of anniversaries happening as well! Our jewelry cases are chalk full of unique, one-of-a-kind items by local metalsmiths that are keep-sake worthy and could be worn until you're old and grey.
Come visit us, and we'll show you what we've got for the love birds in your life!
An Artist Reception and Q&A with Tallulah Terryll
We're really looking forward to having Tallulah Terryll's art up in the shop beginning on September 27th! Please come by from 6-8 p.m. to welcome her to the Old Oakland and see her show, "Willow Paintings" (up through November 1). Tallulah is an old friend of Kerri's (the shop owner) and an amazingly talented artist. She uses handmade stencils, paint, and Chine-collé techniques to create stunning mixed media works with lots of color.
We visited her studio in August, and were excited to see what she's got in the works. It's always fun to go behind-the-scenes with local artists and see where the magic happens. Plus, she sent us off with some zucchini from her garden, and a bottle of homemade jam (what a peach!). Here's a Q&A with her so you can get to know her work better:
What are your works inspired by, and where do you get the ideas for your patterns?
What's your arts background?
We love that you're local. How can we support your work as an artist?
SF Bay Blogs We Love
Keeping the shop stocked with lovely things is a full time affair. When we need a creative boost the designers, photographers, writers, and visionaries that make up the lady blogger force in the Bay are a wonderful source for inspiration and fresh product ideas. Since we have such a fun variety of blogs in our feed, we thought we'd take a moment to share some of them with you. Hope you enjoy following them as much as we do!
Conundrum is written by freelance graphic designer and "visual nerd" Maia McDonald in Oakland. She shares everything she finds beautiful or intriguing on her blog, mostly in design, fashion, food, photography and illustration. With almost 2 million followers on Pinterest, it's worth checking out her boards as well. She always has something inspiring to share.
SFGirlByBay is by designer, journalist, and stylist Victoria Smith. It's mostly an interior design blog, with a variety of posts that reflect her passion for Bohemian modern style. This blog will make you want to redo your entire home! If you want to find unique household items that will reflect your personal style, this is your blog.
SpottedSF is a relatively new kid on the block. It's a photo blog by Leslie Santarina capturing her favorite neighborhood spots in San Francisco + other travel gems, too. She has impeccable taste, so it's really worth giving her a follow to see what restaurants and shops she's hitting next.
Modestics is by artist and designer Linda Geiser (also the founder of Wallter Design home goods). It has tons of wonderful interviews with craftsmen and women who lean towards modern design. Here at Marion and Rose we only carry American-made goods, so we follow this one pretty closely.
Today is going to be awesome is by Oakland artist Lisa Congdon. She posts much of her new artwork on the blog, as well as some design finds, inspiring quotes, personal journal entries, and photos from her travels. Her posts are always unique and inspiring!
For the Dreamers Out There... The Nonplanner Datebook!
We thought we'd take a moment to spotlight a product that's been super popular in the shop – the Nonplanner Datebook! Keri Smith, an illustrator and author for Little Otsu in Portland, got the idea to create a datebook for people who prefer unstructured thinking, and the outcome is sheer brilliance.
Turn to any one of its pages, and you'll find non-traditional lists, whimsical journal entries, empty thought bubbles, idea maps, monthly calendars, and more.
This is not your average datebook! It's much more free form.
Doesn't this planner make you want to just throw your boring to-do list out the door, dust off your big ideas, and get brainstorming?
It's a great gift idea for all of the artists, dreamers, creatives, big picture thinkers, zen meditators, innovators, and freedom lovers in your life. Come on down and pick one up at the shop! Or, if you're too busy to stop by, you can purchase it in our online shop as well.
Vegan Goodness in Chickpea Quarterly Magazine
We're now proudly carrying Chickpea Magazine in the shop! It's a beautifully designed vegan print quarterly inspired by the hipsterfood – a popular blog started by Cara and Bob (pictured below) who post all kinds of expertly photographed vegan eats and recipes for their foodie followers.
Chickpea showcases a their favorite things in the vegan world at the moment, whether a personal story, a new book, a great recipe, or photographs that capture the essence of the season at hand. The magazine supports a whole-foods, plant-based way of life, but offers recipes that anyone can try.
We have the summer issue in the shop currently, and we can attest that it's a goodie. The features include fresh fruit desserts, a trip to the berry patch, a vegan travel guide to the south, a summer skin survival guide, refreshing chilled soups, and a tribute to the farmer's market.
And, of course, we'll have the Fall Issue in the shop this October. Some of the features include: make your own hard apple cider, fair trade vanilla, jam-making, dating omnivores, DIY candle holders, an ode to oats, and a Portland, OR city guide. We can't wait to check it out – it's sure to be chalk full of autumnal inspiration.
A MODify/d Trunk Show This Saturday! And a Q&A with Lisa and Candice
Lisa Solomon and Candice Gold of Modify/D are two very talented local ladies with a passion for turning high-end fabric scraps (think cashmere and lush jersey cotton) into all manner of wearable and and usable things for the home. Their stuffies, pillows, dog beds, and infinity scarves are always a big hit in the shop. Be sure to drop by the shop THIS SATURDAY the 7th between the hours of 12 and 6 p.m. to meet them in person and peruse the MODIFY/D TRUNK SHOW! Lisa and Candice will be workin' the shop and have a bunch of their merch on hand, including their beloved owl stuffies. Here's a Q&A with the gals to whet your appetite:
You have such fun products. How do you come up with new ideas?
A lot of the inspiration comes from what fabric we get. We look at a swatch and say, "Oh, that will make a great pillow!," or, "That is perfect for an elephant ear, " or, "That pocket is so cute! We have to find a way to use it," or, "We can just take the hood off of that sweater and make a head/scarf thing…"
So all of your items repurpose garments that would have been discarded otherwise?
YES. We work directly with companies and get their extra yardage, damages, discards, samples, overruns, etc. It's fun because we never know what we are going to get. And we try really hard to use up what we are given with very little waste. We even keep tiny scraps to make patches, or scrap flower pins… we even save tiny scraps to use as stuffing. Most of our cashmere and sweater materials come from White + Warren in New York. Most of our knitwear and denim comes from Isda & Co. in San Francisco.
What are your favorite MODify/d products right now?
Hmmm. Always a fan of the stuffies. They are so cute and each one turns out a bit differently since they are hand-cut. Also, we're really loving our super soft infinity scarves, made from an amazing bunch of really lovely high-end jersey. Finally – our Jacquard Pillows are definitely high on the list. We got these super pretty swatches in, and it was fun to match the knit with menswear.
How did MODify/d get started?
Candice and I have been friends for quite awhile now. We're both interested in fashion (shoes in particular), design, and the environment, and Candice has a history of working in the garment industry. At some point she was working with a cashmere sweater company and showed me the boxes of stuff that were going to end up being thrown away. It seemed criminal to allow such amazing fabric to end up in the landfill… so MODify/d was born. It's great because we have really similar aesthetics. We are also driven to try and make a difference (even if it's small. You have to start somewhere, right?).
What are your arts and apparel backgrounds?
I'm a mixed media artist who moonlights as a professor and freelance graphic designer. I'm currently working on an exhibition that is exploring the number 1000 – sen in Japanese, with an installation featuring 1000 doilies in 100 colors pinned to the wall. Candice is an apparel industry executive (she owned her own company in New York) and is currently a consultant with Isda & Co. in San Francisco.
