Pendants!

A few months ago Lori Patton, a jewelry maker in Culver City California, contacted me regarding a collaboration. Well, the fruits of our joint labor are now available in my store as well as Lori's Etsy shop. Each photograph measures 1"x1" and is printed on Kodak's gorgeous metallic paper. Lori then mounts the photograph in an antique oxidized brass filigree frame. They are rather stunning, if I may say so myself.

Anthony Minghella (1954-2008)

I was saddened to hear that Anthony Minghella, the director of the films "The English Patient", "Truly, Madly, Deeply", and "The Talented Mr Ripley" (among others), died on March 18.

The English Patient will always hold a special place in my memory. It was one of my favourite movies for a while. I must have seen it five times the year it came out. In fact, it inspired a trip that I took to Turkey in 1997. I know, I know, the movie isn't set in Turkey. But, my entire trip was inspired by the following scene:

Almasy (Ralph Fiennes): " I claim this shoulder blade -- no, wait -- I want -- turn over -- I want this! [Tracing the hollow indentation of her throat] This place, I love this place, what's it called -- this is mine! I'm going to ask the king permission to call it the Almasy Bosphorus."

And that was that. I had a huge crush on Ralph Fiennes at the time, and that scene put the idea in my head that I had to get to the Bosphorus, which it turns out, is the strait that separates the European part of Istanbul from the Asian part. Basically, what happened was:

That year, Ralph Fiennes was appearing in a Chekov play in the West End, so I stopped over in London for a few days just to see the play. Inspiration is a funny thing. So, thank you Anthony Minghella, for inspiring a wonderful trip, and for many wonderful movies.

Featured Etsy Seller: Vintaj

Before waxing poetically about jewelry designers Vintaj, I'll first explain a little bit about Etsy. To put it simply, Etsy is an online marketplace where people sell handmade goods. You can find all manner of items on Etsy. The only criterion is that the seller has to have made it with their own wee hands. You’ll find jewelry, soaps, lotions, clothing, art, furniture, paper goods, toys, makeup, and, of course, a $500,000 handmade motorcycle.

You might be thinking ... oh, like Ebay! Take my advice and don't mention Ebay to an Etsian. Items aren't auctioned, but instead have a fixed price. It's more like an online arts and crafts fair than a garage sale. And, it's a far more pleasing aesthetic experience. If you haven't already, check it out for some wonderful, unique handmade items. And don't bother asking what Etsy means. When it comes to this topic, they're as secretive as the Bush administration.

From time to time, I'll be featuring an Etsy seller. It may be someone from whom I've made a purchase, or it may be a seller whose work I simply covet. I'm starting with one of my favourite Etsy sellers: the jewelry designers collectively known as Vintaj. I know a thing or two about this seller, as I own a thing or two or six of theirs.

Vintaj specializes in natural brass (bronzey brass, not brassy brass) jewelry with a vintage flair. I love the intricate swooping filigree patterns combined with beautifully coloured stones, pearls, and art glass. Many of the designs are inspired by nature and include motifs like butterflies and dragonflies. I own a few stunning necklaces and earrings that I can easily mix and match. Here’s an excerpt from their profile:

“We hand embellished each and every piece of natural brass to achieve it's rich unique bronze color and luster without the use of chemicals or plating. We have an exacting, 7 stage, environmentally friendly, hand process. This bronzey vintajey color that we achieve is what we have painstakingly built our findings company on.”

Spring is just around the corner ... can't you tell?

Okay nature, enough with the snow already!

Here in Montreal we got hit with two whopping snow storms this past week, bringing the total snowfall this winter season to 347 cm (135 inches). This is just shy of the record set in 1970-71 of 383 cm. Are we going for the record this year? Is that it?

In case you're curious, it took three people a total of 45 minutes to dig out the car (that's over 2 man hours)!

Northern Exposure

Last fall I entered the Canadian Geographic Photography Contest. I won the runner-up prize in the Landscapes category for my photograph "Tumbledown beach", which was published in the January/February issue of the magazine. In addition to getting published, I won a pair of Nikon binoculars. Last year, when I won the Photo Life contest, I also won a pair of binoculars, but a very snazzy (translate $$$$$) pair of Swarovski binoculars. I sold them on Ebay, as I just didn't see myself (har har) using them enough, and ended up putting the money towards a Canon L-series lens, which I do use a lot. Win-win! But I think I'll keep this Nikon pair. They might come in handy this summer on the trip I've begun daydreaming about ....

Cue Carmina Burana

TB created a very special box set of DVDs just for my birthday. This gift stems from my peculiar fascination with 1970s horror movies, and my more general and rather recent bout of 70s nostalgia. Even though 70s retro has been popular for a while, I've never experienced this nostalgia until now. In fact, while living through the 70s, I couldn't stand the 70s, couldn't wait to get out of the 70s, and throughout the 80s and even some of the 90s, thought "thank God the 70s are over"! So, how does one know that one is suffering from creeping 70s nostalgia? I think that a sure sign is a sudden, inexplicable ability to sit through many an episode of Fantasy Island; a truly, truly, horrible show. A show I never even watched when it was originally on TV. I think it's some kind of yearning for simpler times in contrast to our current glossy, highly corporatized world where everything is focus-grouped to death. Or maybe it's just middle age.

Unlike today’s crop of high-gore torture movies, these movies don’t aim to shock. They just very quietly get under your skin in rather unsettling and unnerving ways. And for some reason, the spooky, evil child was a particularly popular theme (witness “The Exorcist”, “The Omen”, and one of my favourites, “Rosemary’s Baby”, though not technically a 70s movie). I’m sure film historians and critics would point to societal issues such as the crumbling family unit and the rise in popularity of birth control. Yes Dina and Maggie, THAT’s why I have no children ; )

At any rate, thanks TB for another awesome gift!

Has anyone invented a time machine yet?

... so that I can go back in time to this past Saturday night, to the moment just before the moment I stood up from the sofa and knocked over a glass of red wine, creating a spray pattern across the rug and slip-covered sofa that, as TB pointed out, could only be analyzed by the likes of a Dexter. Panicked pouring of various substances with magical stain-removing properties ensued, followed by a machine-washing of aforementioned slipcover, which resulted in major shrinkage and its current state of not-fittingness. Anybody?