These items are hand screen printed, hand spun cotton and fair trade:
1. C.C.F.C. Napkin in Ebony only $5, C.C.F.C. Placemat in Carmine Rose only $5, Middleton Row Placemat in Drizzle Gray / Vibrant Yellow only $12.50
2. C.C.F.C. Napkin in Foliage Green only $5, C.C.F.C. Placemat in Living Coral only $5, Middleton Row Placemat in Fuchsia Red / Light Gray only $12.50
3. C.C.F.C. Napkin in Sunny Lime only $5, C.C.F.C. Placemat in Sunny Lime only $5, Middleton Row Placemat in Moonlight Jade / Light Gray only $12.50
4. C.C.F.C. Napkin in Mustang only $5, C.C.F.C. Placemat in Sunny Lime only $5
5. C.C.F.C. Napkin in Lavender only $5, C.C.F.C. Placemat in Foliage Green only $5, Middleton Row Placemat in Moonlight Jade / Light Gray only $12.50
6. C.C.F.C. Napkin in Foliage Green only $5, C.C.F.C. Placemat in Bachelor Blue only $5
7. C.C.F.C. Napkin in Carmine Rose only $5, C.C.F.C. Placemat in Lavender only $5, Middleton Row Placemat in Foliage Green / Light Gray only $12.50
8. Living Coral only $5, C.C.F.C. Placemat in Mustang only $5, Middleton Row Placemat in Drizzle Gray / Vibrant Yellow only $12.50
9. C.C.F.C. Napkin in Bachelor Blue only $5, C.C.F.C. Placemat in Ebony only $5
These items are hand screen printed, hand spun cotton and fair trade:
1. C.C.F.C. Runner in Carmine Rose only $30
2. C.C.F.C. Runner in Living Coral only $30
3. C.C.F.C. Runner in Sunny Lime only $30
4. C.C.F.C. Runner in Foliage Green only $30
5. C.C.F.C. Runner in Bachelor Blue only $30
6. C.C.F.C. Runner in Lavender only $30
7. C.C.F.C. Runner in Mustang only $30
8. C.C.F.C. Runner in Ebony only $30
These items are 300 thread count luxurious cotton sateen, printed with reactive dyes, allowing for multiple washes with very little fading:1. Sammelan Bedding in Seeing Red only $150
2. Middleton Row Bedding in Drizzle Gray only $150
3. Middleton Row Bedding in Jade Gray only $150
4. Sammelan Bedding in Going Green only $150
These items are durable cotton canvas with a 300 thread count luxurious cotton sateen lining, three pockets and zippered pocket inside, printed with reactive dyes:1. Small Sammelan Bag in Seeing Red only $20, Large Sammelan Bag in Seeing Red only $35
2. Small Sammelan Bag in Going Green only $20, Large Sammelan Bag in Going Green only $35
3. Small Middleton Row Bag in Drizzle Gray only $20, Large Middleton Row Bag in Drizzle Gray only $35
4. Small Middleton Row Bag in Jade Gray only $20, Large Middleton Row Bag in Jade Gray only $35
1. C.C.F.C. Pillows in Foliage Green only $40, C.C.F.C. Pillows in Living Coral only $40, C.C.F.C. Pillows in Carmine Rose only $40, C.C.F.C. Pillows in Bachelor Blue only $40
Also available: Sunny Lime only $40, Lavender only $40, Mustang only $40, Ebony only $40
These items are hand screen printed, cotton canvas and fair trade:
2. Middleton Row Pillows in Foliage Green only $30, Middleton Row Pillows in Moonlight Jade only $30, Middleton Row Pillows in Light Gray only $30, Middleton Row Pillows in Drizzle Gray only $30
These items are hand embroidered, linen and fair trade:
3. Mullen Street Pillows in Retro Linen only $60, Mullen Street Pillows in Mustang only $60, Mullen Street Pillows in Living Coral only $60, Mullen Street Pillows in Retro Mustang only $60
These items are machine embroidered, hand spun cotton and fair trade:
4. C.C.F.C. Bolsters in Ebony only $20,
C.C.F.C. Bolsters in Mustang only $20,
C.C.F.C. Bolsters in Bachelor Blue only $20
Also available in Living Coral only $20, Sunny Lime only $20, Lavender only $20
These items are machine embroidered, hand spun cotton and fair trade:
5. C.C.F.C. Pouf in Living Coral only $60
Also available in Carmine Rose only $60, Sunny Lime only $60, Foliage Green only $60, Bachelor Blue only $60, Lavender only $60, Mustang only $60, Ebony only $60
These items are hand embroidered, hand spun cotton and fair trade:
6. New Market Pillow in Bachelor Blue only $35
Also available in Living Coral only $35
Sunny Lime only $35, Lavender only $35
These items are hand screen printed, cotton canvas and fair trade:
7. Middleton Row Pillows in Fuchsia Red only $30
Thursday, January 8, 2009
OM home signs on with Sales Rep Firm Karen Alweil Studio
Los Angeles based Karen Alweil Studio participates in approximately 10 tradeshows a year and has developed solid relationships with some of the largest retailers across the nation, including Barneys, Bloomingdales and Neiman Marcus. With over 20 years experience, Karen Alweil Studio is a well-known company with a formidable reputation. Visit the Karen Alweil Studio booth and view our product line at the following tradeshows:
Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market
Jan 9-13, 2009
High Design
Booth 1-809
Atlanta, GA
Los Angeles Gift and Home Market
Jan 13-19, 2009
Permanent Showroom
Suite 338
Los Angeles
New York International Gift Fair
Jan 25-29, 2009
Accent on Design
Booth 4155/4054
Jacob Javits Center
We're very excited!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Sammelan Line Pictures
Going Green
88 x 92 with 2 matching pillow shams, 300 thread count cotton sateen, printed with reactive dyes, button closure, plain reversible back. $200 USD, Retail. Click here for more information. Seeing Red
88 x 92 with 2 matching pillow shams, 300 thread count cotton sateen, printed with reactive dyes, button closure, plain reversible back. $200 USD, Retail. Click here for more information.Going Green
16l x 12w x 4d, 100% Cotton Canvas with 300 thread count cotton sateen lining, printed with reactive dyes, button snap closure, zippered pocket, cell phone pocket and additional pocket. $35 USD, Retail. Click here for more information. Going Green
16l x 20w x 6d, 100% Cotton Canvas with 300 thread count cotton sateen lining, printed with reactive dyes, button snap closure, zippered pocket, cell phone pocket and additional pocket. $50 USD, Retail. Click here for more information. Seeing Red
16l x 12w x 4d, 100% Cotton Canvas with 300 thread count cotton sateen lining, printed with reactive dyes, button snap closure, zippered pocket, cell phone pocket and additional pocket. $35 USD, Retail. Click here for more information.Seeing Red
16l x 20w x 6d, 100% Cotton Canvas with 300 thread count cotton sateen lining, printed with reactive dyes, button snap closure, zippered pocket, cell phone pocket and additional pocket. $50 USD, Retail. Click here for more information. Going Green
100% Cotton Canvas, printed with reactive dyes. $15 USD Retail. Click here for more information.Seeing Red
100% Cotton Canvas, printed with reactive dyes. $15 USD Retail. Click here for more information.Going Green
100% Cotton Canvas, printed with reactive dyes. $10 USD Retail. Click here for more information.Seeing Red
100% Cotton Canvas, printed with reactive dyes. $10 USD Retail. Click here for more information.Going Green
100% Cotton Canvas, printed with reactive dyes. $50 USD Retail. Click here for more information.Seeing Red
100% Cotton Canvas, printed with reactive dyes. $50 USD Retail. Click here for more information.
Monday, November 10, 2008
About Alpona
Alpona or alpana is a common Indian folk art form, primarily deployed in decorating both the inside and outside of homes, temples and sometimes public buildings on religious and festive occasions. Using simple ingredients, rice powder emulsion, vegetable dye and a strip of cloth formed in a wick, the techniques of Alpona have been passed down for generations. While its sister forms are known by different names, such as Rangoli and Kolam, and used in other parts of India, Alpona is very specific to the eastern Indian subcontinent, West Bengal and Bangladesh in particular.
THE ORIGINS
The name is derived from the Sanskrit word Alimpan, which literally means whitening or painting (of walls, floors etc. on festive occasions), which, in turn, derives from a root that means smearing, coating, plastering or anointing. It is believed that Alimpan predates even the Vedas1 in primitive religions and cult practices where the local inhabitants in various parts of India used paints and scribbling to appease their gods.
The Vedas themselves were full of descriptions of many rituals and as time went by, local rituals and religious practices like Alimpan merged into this body, increased the collection and eventually permeated the folk traditions all over India. Alimpan itself spread by breaking off into many regional tributaries, becoming Alpona in Eastern India, Rangoli in Western India and Kolam in Southern India and was further diversified and enriched by the numerous subcultures of each area. It appears the derivatives of Alimpan flourished along a belt bracing the seaside villages of India, slowly becoming scarce as one traveled inland away from the seas.
THE PURPOSE
Alpona is a required element of religious occasions or social occasions of joy or festivity, such as weddings, Hindu communions, harvest celebrations and pujas2. Practiced primarily by womenfolk using techniques based on local customs, Alpona patterns are meant to adorn the venue of celebration. A form of worship based upon the long standing belief that the artist would express her deepest desires to the one who may fulfill these desires, an Alpona design placed at the seat of worship ensured her desires would come true. To the uneducated, nearly illiterate women who used to decorate the platforms of worship, this unspoken principle was a strong motivator for preserving the art form for almost 4000 years throughout history.
THE ELEMENTS
The basic Alpona consists of a symmetric design with occasional breaks in the symmetry that serve as an element of surprise, making the design unique and appealing. The prime elements of the design are simple geometrical forms, such as triangles, squares and circles and these anchor the design and give it a subtle character and a utilitarian aspect. To these elements are added many motifs, some are common across the region, some are very unique to the subculture. The elements in the Alpona design are either procedural or decorative: elements and structures of the first set are required by tradition to be present in segments of the Alpona whereas a good part of the second set is left to the imagination, training and ability of the Alpona artist. So, in a sense, an Alpona is somewhat like an Indian classical music composition where the structure is specified by the raga3 being performed, but the performer can freely improvise within that structure.
Alpona has invariably been practiced by the womenfolk of the community, primarily agrarian, and the motifs used in Alpona reflect this -- sun, crescent moon, paddy, plow, fish, betel leaves, flowers, lotus, conch shells, ducks and flowering creepers of many varieties. A peacock may show up, as may owls if the Alpona is being used on the occasion of the worship of goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, who uses owls are her carriers. Little footprints often point the way for the goddess Lakshmi to find her way from the entrance foyer to the special seat set up in her honor. Sometimes, elements are symbolic and may not have any relation to reality and are simply a form of artistic expression by the artist.
THE MEDIUM
A level surface is required for Alpona such as floors and steps inside the house or in the atrium, rarely to walls and ceilings. For weddings, Alpona decorates wooden seats, rattan trays and other utensils used in the rituals; for religious ceremonies it is used to decorate the special seat of the idol, the columns in the room of worship and special earthenware used in the ceremonies. Alpona is painted in most applications, unlike Rangoli, where designs formed by piling and spreading multicolored powders are more prevalent. Alpona is usually white, the medium, known as pituli, being derived from the paste obtained by finely grinding a special type of white rice softened by soaking in cold water. The base may be colored sometimes with organic dyes, such as turmeric for yellow, spinach for green or charcoal for black, but such use is rare in Alpona.
THE PROCESS
The process of Alpona painting is very simple and unequivocally freehand. Four fingers of the dominant hand grasp a small piece of rag dipped in the pituli and the middle finger draws the design with the pituli kept flowing from the soaked rag by pressure from the other fingers. Before launching, the artist forms a broad picture in her mind of how the Alpona should look and then the painting starts, almost always from the center. She then fleshes out the design on all sides, making sure that the essential elements are placed correctly with the prescribed orientations. She also embellishes the design around them with the creative aesthetic elements, the proverbial moment where the artist expresses her desires!
THE FUTURE
With rapid urbanization and demise of the age-old traditional agrarian economy in India and the decrease in religious festivals and rituals, the concomitant weakening of crafts including Alpona should not come as a surprise. Gone are the farming villages and their womenfolk who devotedly practiced Alpona, expressing their desires in earnest and hoping for fulfillment. In its place are mass produced stickers, hastily placed on religious occasions, the meaning usually lost on younger generations.
But, even if Alpona dies as a ritualistic practice, the art form of Alpona does not need to die. While the many stairs, floors and Lakshmi's seats may be devoid of traditional Alpona, an effort to make it more secular and open to individual expression and evolution will allow Alpona to evolve into different incarnations and enjoy a much deserved revival. Artists at Shantiniketan4, the school founded by Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel-laureate poet from West Bengal have made a lot of progress in these directions, as have Muslim Bangladeshi artists. Alpona designs of OM home specifically address this need and successfully bring this venerable age-old form into twenty-first century by integrating it with the daily lifestyle of the modern home -- pillow covers, linens, bed sheets, wall murals and more with only imagination being the limit.
Help keep traditions alive. Make your home an OM home.
Photos Courtesy of Claudine Sauvé
Footnotes:
1. Vedas are the ancient Indo-Aryan scriptures dating back to 1500 BC, considered to be the birth of Hinduism.
2. Pujas are occasions of worship where Hindus perform rituals to show respect to a particular God.
3. Ragas are frameworks for musical composition usually comprised of five or more musical notes.
4. Shantiniketan, north of Kolkata in West Bengal and centered around a University has long been a haven for artists and creative minds.
Bibliography:
1. Bangiya Sahitya Parishad. Bharatkosh Vol 1, Calcutta.
2. Sarkar, Sebanti. Stick-on art for Alpona. The Telegraph. 6 October 2006.
3. Alim, M Rafiqul. Alpana (ritual painting). Banglapedia.
4. Aroon, Preeti. "Sari Weaving Unravels in India". Foreign Policy. 30 July 2008.
Thank you to my father, Sumit Roy, for his research and write up of Alpona.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Sammelan Line
The new “Sammelan” line refers to Banga Sammelan (Bengali Festival), but lovingly called Sammelan. The gathering is an annual festival where the North American Bengali diaspora celebrate their "Bengali"-ness every year with families, friends, music, food and nostalgia about all things that have been Bengali in some other time at some other place. Of course, traditional Alpona adorn the halls at the Sammelan and the designer chose to capture and revive, in her products, this wistfulness for days past and traditions fading. The Sammelan line uses modern colors and pattern placement to capture time-honored shapes of traditional folk Alpona --a new and exciting take on Alpona for OM home.
If you're at the show, come visit us at booth 5506 in the Handmade section.
Broken Arm? Aaah. I Got to Ride a Camel!
This picture looks CGI but it's real! I was riding a camel named Bob Marley and Sanj was on Jimi Hendrix. Our guide Rashid brought us to a valley in the Sahara Desert where we spent the night under the stars. It was a dream come true for me.
The next morning we climbed up a 100 foot dune and watched the sunrise. Because I'm emotional and everything makes me cry, it should come as no surprise that the sunrise choked me up. Sanj, always loving, pinched my cheek and told me, "that's why I love you." I wonder if he thinks that when I cry during Reality Show finales?But I digress... Shortly after our return, I was riding my bike down the hill near my house, as I do everyday. I crossed the streetcar tracks, as I always do and then unexpectedly, my wheel got caught in the track followed by my face getting caught on the hot pavement. OUCH!
Scaphoid fracture (the worst fracture possible), broken forearm (getting worse), twisted knee (will I be able to do yoga again) and multiple bruises. Eight weeks later, I am STILL in a cast. Seriously, in the last two years, I've learned to snowboard and surf, I rock climb and ride my bike all the time and THIS is how I break my arm? Coming home from grocery shopping? How anticlimactic.
But tonight I am excited, not sad because tomorrow morning, my cast comes off!!!!!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Nice People and Gardening
Ever since the weather warmed up, I've made it a point of smiling at every person with whom I make eye contact. This is probably a more selfish pursuit than it sounds because it is such a pleasurable experience to smile at someone and have that someone smile back. It's a simple, non threatening gesture (like small talk) but since I'm new to town, it also makes me feel like part of the community.Believe it or not, as cultured as New York was and as cool as Montreal was, those places became home to me mainly because I became a part of the neighborhood. From the cashiers at Gristede's or the college guy helping out his dad at the Pizza place downstairs in Kip's Bay to the saucy Portuguese lady at the bakery or the Bangladeshi dishwasher on our corner in the Plateau were among the things I missed most when I left each of these homes (well, that and the murals I painted).
With each person, it started with a smile and a bonjour and this weekend, we got a taste of home here in Toronto while trolling the neighborhood looking at gardens. We're working on our own garden and needed a little inspiration and direction.
We came across a lovely "low maintenance" garden that we both adored so we started taking notes and pictures when to our surprise, the owner came outside! She was so sweet and spent time explaining her garden, naming all the flowers, blooming times, tips and tricks. Of course, I became overwhelmed (re: I faded out) but Sanj was right there with her writing everything down and asking questions. She must have spent an hour with us and we were so thrilled!
Of course, talking to her also gave us an idea of how much effort it actually takes to start a low maintenance garden. So, we decided it was best to do our research and build the garden up in stages.
Imagine our surprise when we found a package at our front door the next day. Our neighor had left a bag of some gardening magazines, a card and a bunch of notes on local nurseries.
Together now, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww."
Is that the sweetest thing you've ever heard? We were so touched and inspired to work that much harder on our garden. Besides, another great way to feel like a part of the neighborhood is to be outside gardening, everyone stops to say hello!
We're so happy we have a new place to call home.
