The Colorful, Sweet Art of Traci Bixby

Kenmore's Traci Bixby can barely remember a time without crayons or some other drawing instrument in her hand.  Some of her earliest memories are coloring at her little bedroom table with her mom and dad.


Drawing and coloring continued through her school years, and took her to Seattle's School of Visual Concepts.  SVC began in 1971, at which experts in the field do the teaching.  These experts had a huge positive effect on Traci, who studied there for four years.  She says " I took everything from figure drawing to pastel, oil painting to color theory. But when I took the watercolor class, my heart just soared. I had found my medium."

Moonlight Picnic

Traci's paintings have an illustrative approach, and seem to lend themselves to telling a story.  She tries to capture the images and feelings she sees in her head and her heart.  According to Traci, "sometimes I'm overwhelmed with those images and feelings and the best way to express them is through my paintings."  Her most successful works lead viewers to dive in and participate in the story, adding their own imagination to it.  

Studio Set-up: easel, light, laptop, straight edge,
and color options

Sweet 16

Traci finds herself surrounded by inspiration on a daily basis.  She's always got her sketchpad at the ready, waiting for that vision to appear so she can capture it.  But rather than simply drawing a scene, Traci draws how the scene feels, taking it into a whole new realm of emotional value.  When asked about her sources of inspiration, Traci said "Inspiration can be as simple as sitting in my car on the darkest of gray Seattle days and a woman will walk across my path with a bright red coat and yellow umbrella. All I see are shapes and colors. It's the contrast of that one moment in time that inspires me."

Traci at the drawing board, at the table seen
in the image above in her studio

Magnolia

One of my personal favorite pieces of Traci's was, she says, inspired by a visit to Seattle's Discovery Park - a favorite place of mine to visit.  The many magnolia trees there inspired Traci to paint this work, with the view of the water in the background.  This card has words on it, with the front saying "Wish Upon A Star and..." inside it says "Dream Big Dreams."  If you've ever visited Discovery Park, and been awed by the trees, the water and the mountains beyond, it truly lends itself to dreaming big dreams!


Meet Traci in person on Thursday, June 21, from 5 - 8 pm!  She'll bring along her paint and paper and do a demonstration for us, too.  You can purchase prints and greeting cards, and perhaps some other little lovelies, too.  And if you can't make it, find her cards on hand at the gallery any time!


Hope to see you,
Manya Vee


ManyaVeeSelects.com

 

Exceptional American Artisans

Each year since 1989, a contest is held to determine the very best works in a variety of categories for Fine American Craft.  An industry magazine, Niche, hosts the awards each year, selecting a panel of judges from within the field to work through the many applications they receive to choose the very top in each category.  The goal is to celebrate excellence and innovation in American and Canadian Fine Craft.

Over 1000 applications are received each year, with only 38 winners chosen - one for each of 38 categories.  Truly, this is the best of the best our country has to offer.

Since this only happens within the retail industry, most of you don't even know such a thing exists, or get a chance to see the amazing work being created by artists right here in our own backyard.  I am blown away every year by the beautiful pieces selected by artists who have mastered their medium so much that they are expanding our idea of what can be done within it.

I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you this year, as well as the link to see all the winners.  Be sure to let me know which one(s) are YOUR favorites!

by Peter Muller and Joe Peters

This piece amazingly combines blown glass with flame-work glass.  First the vessel is handblown and then, following the cooling cycle, cut, polished and acid etched to create a weathered, sea glass finish.  At that point the flameworked sculpture is created to fit within the lines of each piece.  Look closely to see bees hard at work in their beehive.  Created by the artistic team of Peter Muller and Joe Peters and their Furnace & Flame company.

"Brindille" by Felix LaPierre

In the wood furniture category, Canadian artist Felix LaPierre won for this amazing table/bench that uses branches to hold up one end.  The beauty of the wood comes through in spectacular style, yet the group of branches cut flush with the surface, and cascading gradually down to finally touch the ground is beautifully done and very innovative.

Necklace by Lisa Hawthorne

Metalsmith and enamelist Lisa Hawthorne won two awards this year: one for this necklace, and another for a brooch.  I loved the detail and intricacy of this necklace.  She told me it is made of enamel on fine silver with 24k cloisonné.  The enamel is given a matte finish.  It's set in a 22k gold bezel, and the rest of the piece is combo of oxidized sterling and 22k gold, along w/gemstones.  What a show-stopper it is!

Be sure to check out all the other award-winners, and then let us know what stood out for you.  We are excited to hear!

Jeff and Manya

ManyaVeeSelects.com

The Hat Makes The Woman

Two summer hat styles by Pandemonium Hats

It is a series of happy coincidences that has brought Leigh Young to her current place in life as a successful entrepreneur of handmade hats, made under her Pandemonium Hats label.  Currently based out of her home studio in Burien, Washington, she has experienced the strange phenomenon of having her business explode during these recession years.  So, how did it all happen?  Let's find out!

"Grace" hat

I asked Leigh when she started sewing.  She said, "I don't completely remember.  However, my mom once showed me a rather hideous-looking doll which she said I made when I was 7.  I made a few things back then, but was mostly messing around.  I'd lay down on a piece of fabric and cut it out around me.  Then drape it together and sew it up.  None of it was any good."

Unable to get a class she wanted in high school, she ended up in a sewing class.  Happily, she liked it enough that after graduation, Leigh went on to design school at Seattle Central Community College.  Their program is quite excellent.  "I really developed excellent technical skills there."  After graduating in the early 90s, she developed a line of 1920s-inspired clothing with an edgy feel, and thus was born the Pandemonium label.  She sold these at retail shows and fund-raisers, but it was tough going at the beginning, so Leigh held down three other jobs to make ends meet, including loading trucks for UPS.

Acrylic "patterns" for various
hat styles

One day, she got a call from the owner of We Hats, an independent hat maker in Seattle, who was looking for help making hats, and started working there.  And thus, another happy coincidence occurred.  When that owner retired, Leigh took over the label and continued making and selling the line.  At this time she was still working on her clothing line on the side, but getting buried by the costs.  She noticed how much fewer capital costs were involved in making hats, and gradually switched her focus to this.  By 1998, it was all hats.

Bolts of fabric waiting to become
hats, scarves and handbags

Happy coincidence #3 happened here, when she did the large wholesale clothing trade show in Las Vegas.  While the show itself didn't go so well, she got her first sales rep - which led to other reps, and ultimately sales to boutiques all across the US and Canada.  And then, just a few years into it, came 9/11.  Like so many other small businesses, her sales plummeted.  But she just hung in there and kept at it.  Business grew ever so slowly, but followed an upward trajectory.  As things grew, she gradually added scarves and handbags to the line.

Leigh Young herself
in a new product for 2012,
the fur collar!

So now here we are in 2012, and still feeling the effects of an economic recession.  Yet for Leigh Young, the past two years have seen explosive growth in her business.  Why?  The luxurious faux fur fabrics she added to her line back in 2000 suddenly took off.  "The demand for these faux fur products is just crazy", she says.  The orders have come rolling in so fast!  With more orders coming in than she could possibly make by herself, she had to suddenly become an employer.  Finding workers with the necessary technical skills to get the quality results for which she was known proved frustrating.  For the 2011 winter season, she had thirteen sewers working hard at the peak.

Two women hard at work in May, sewing the
faux fur products in preparation for
the many orders soon to come in for winter.

In preparation for this third winter with many and large orders for the faux fur, Leigh is preparing well in advance.  Rather than waiting for an order to come in, and then begin making it, she is looking at order history to determine top sellers.  Many of her sewers are hard at work creating a nice back stock supply!

Faux Fur finished back-stock

Leigh's spring/summer hats are also quite wonderful.  With lovely fabrics and easy-to-wear styles, she describes her customer as a woman between 18 - 50 who has a little more confidence and style than the masses.  She's not afraid to stand out a bit.

Leigh is looking forward to continued business growth, but wants to stay with small stores and boutiques.  No big box stores for her; she prefers working with small independent business-owners like herself.  She loves the freedom of working for herself, despite the many hard knocks along the way!  I think we'll be able to enjoy many more years of casual yet fun hats from Pandemonium.

Enjoy this video of Leigh herself, showing the variety of ways to wear another new product this winter - a 3-button scarf!  And then, look forward to getting one for yourself this coming winter!  Click on the link below...

Demonstration: the 3-button scarf

Join us Thursday, May 17, 2012 for a trunk show featuring Leigh Young's Pandemonium Hats for spring and summer!  We hope to see you that evening from 5 - 8 pm.

Cheers,

Manya Vee

www.ManyaVeeSelects.com

Manya's Fashion Philosophy

Comfort and style.  That about sums it up!  I like to look nice and feel comfortable.  I also like it if my clothing is pretty easy to care for.  So, naturally, that's what I look for when choosing clothing for Manya Vee Selects.  I think I'm in the minority about jeans.  I don't find them comfortable, and I don't think they're particularly stylish.  I think another issue is they are pretty ubiquitous.  Since I like to look distinctive, jeans don't fit the bill there either.

I had a chance to show off some of the comfortable and stylish outfits at the Edmonds Fashion Show last Thursday.  It was great fun putting things together, and finding two wonderful Manya Vee Selects customers to model them for us.

Kris Browne and Laura Hamilton
modeled for us at the 2012 Edmonds Fashion Show

Kris Browne shows off her
sassy outfit.

Stretchy waistbands are a must for me.  In fact, in Kris's first outfit, the waistband on her skirt is super expandable, which also translates to super comfy.  This is one example of the one-of-a-kind skirts made by California designer Marcia Bloom.  Each skirt is a full circle, making it swish sassily when you move.  She's paired it with a nylon cami from California's Luxe Junkie.  These are also super stretchy and comfy.  We've got women with 4 or 5 in their closets, and still looking for more because they come in a huge array of colors.  Also available as a tank, a cap-sleeve and a 3/4 sleeve.  Finally, she's wearing a pewter jacket of the softest cotton around, made by Testimony Los Angeles.

Laura Hamilton looks awesome

Laura's first outfit featured pants and a jacket from Testimony Los Angeles.  Made of cotton with spandex, it just doesn't get more comfortable.  But the style doesn't stop!  The jacket is their new design for spring.  She's paired it with a red tank top from Luxe Junkie.


Best of all, everything they are wearing can be washed in the washing machine.  Just turn it inside out while washing.  Hang it on the line to dry.  That will keep its shape and color in the longest-lasting condition.

I was so excited watching the cat walk that I forgot to go back behind the scenes to get photos of their second outfits.  Instead, Jeff was practicing with our new video camera, and so we'll have to watch a video of round two.

Manya in Testimony's
brown skirt and vest

For Kris in round two, we get to enjoy Testimony Los Angeles' rayon/spandex line.  She's wearing their new "gypsy" skirt in brown.  Later you'll see Laura wearing hers in black.  Kris paired her skirt with a brown suit vest (also Testimony's) and a coral 3/4 sleeve shirt from Luxe Junkie.  She's got her own brown boots with it, and it really looks smashing. Here's an image of me wearing that outfit, then click on the link below to see Kris in action.

Kris Browne at Edmonds Fashion Show 2012

Elana Kattan Jacket over
Luxe Junkie tank

Laura has gorgeous white hair and pale features, so bright colors look just great on her.  As you recall, in the first outfit we put her in that bright red top.  Well, for outfit number two, she's wearing the wonderful "gypsy" skirt in black from Testimony.  Her turquoise top is from Luxe Junkie, and with that she's wearing a gorgeous multi-colored mesh jacket from Florida's Elana Kattan.  This jacket is very versatile due to all the colors.  You can pair it with turquoise like Laura did here, or also fuschia, coral, lime green, black, white, mocha, aqua and more.  That makes it a very useful piece for travel.  Alas, but our novice video skills made this video not turn out at all.

Come on in and let us put together a comfortable and stylish outfit for you!  And know that every single piece is Made in America!

Manya Vee
ManyaVeeSelects.com

May 1, 2012

It's a Wonderful Mystery: Birgit Moenig's Silk Scarves

Birgit Moenig has been sharing her love of painting on silk for over 25 years. What she loves even more than painting on silk is meeting women who feel happier because they are wearing one of her scarves. And that's what it all comes down to: bringing as much happiness as possible, through the beauty a silk scarf can bring to a person and her world.

A happy customer, wearing her
new Birgit scarf

Hailing from Germany originally, Birgit was exposed to silk painting very early. Many German housewives know how to paint on silk, so it was a common, everyday thing to do. Initially, she just picked up some silk, opened some dye, and put it on the silk as she had seen so many others do so effortlessly. She applied her artist eye to it as well, and got inspiration from other artist friends also applying dye to silk. “It's an on-going learning process even today,” she exclaims. “I still talk to my artist friends, and we are always trying new things to see what works best.”

Before painting on silk, Birgit had tried watercolor on paper, “but it didn't take,” she says. Acrylic on canvas was better, and in fact she painted and sold miniature folk paintings at the Pike Place Market when she and her husband first arrived in the States in 1980. But dyeing silk was what she really loved to do. “Designing something and staying inside the lines isn't very fun,” she says. “So I developed my silk dyeing to avoid that. It's a more abstract approach with colors overlapping and flowing together.”

Using a brush to "paint" the dye
onto the white silk

People are drawn to the beautiful colors Birgit uses on her scarves. At Manya Vee Selects, we love to watch people have their eye drawn to our scarf rack and its colorful array of her scarves. They can't resist walking over and touching them! Birgit finds the color choices and blending to be a constant challenge. “It's a wonderful mystery. When it's all done, that's when you know whether it worked or not.”    

Multi-colored scarf by Birgit

The technique is what causes the challenge. A non-toxic, water-based liquid dye is applied to dry, white silk. Colors are always more intense when they are wet, so controlling the strength of each hue is difficult. In addition, not as many colors are available as before, so that means more blending is required to achieve a full palette with lots of variety. In the end, Birgit confesses that her color choices are very intuitive. Of course, I have a feeling her 25 years of experience helps guide the intuition to get her beautiful results.

Birgit's scarf rack at Manya Vee Selects

Birgit works with her husband, Dieter, closely these days. This teamwork began when he lost all contracts for his own business after 9/11. He had been making high-tech satellites for ships. That left him with a lot of time on his hands. One piece of equipment he used in his business is a water-jet, which can cut cleanly through metals. He designed some 3-D ornaments made out of Boeing surplus aluminum, each one cut with that water jet. They were very successful. More designs followed based on customer requests.

Next, customers began asking for 3-D earrings. This required much smaller pieces, and thus more precision in cutting. His huge machine wasn't made for such detail. Upon discovering it would cost $28,000 to re-tool it, he gave up for a while. But the requests kept coming, so he figured out a way to re-tool it himself, costing only $2,000. He graduated the metal to titanium since aluminum has such a low perceived value, and grew his own customer base with this new product.

Three notKnot styles

A scarf woven into a
notKnot

The next product he invented ties Dieter's and Birgit's respective products together very closely – the notKnot! Based on a concept floating around in Birgit's head, each notKnot is cut out with the water jet using thick stainless steel. It allows a person a great deal of flexibility in how to wear the scarves, by weaving them in and out of the openings, making the scarf a bit more like a piece of jewelry.

Now, in addition to showing her scarves at Manya Vee Selects in Edmonds, they tour the country together doing art fairs and selling their wares together, finding new fans at each new show they do. Birgit loves returning to a place and meeting customers for a second, third and fourth time. It gives her great joy to hear how much the women enjoy wearing her scarves. It is an extra special day when someone sends her a card or email letting her know how much they love wearing her scarves.

Birgit and Dieter at an art show

We're in our 12^th year now at Manya Vee Selects, and Birgit is one of just a few artists whose work we've carried since the beginning.  Her scarves find passionate new wearers almost daily. We love passing along those stories to Birgit from our own customers, who simply can't resist that scarf rack and end up buying one, then two, then another for a gift, and so on. Go ahead and write your story here in the comments about your Birgit scarves, so we can share it with her too.

And of course, make your own pilgrimage to The Scarf Rack, and see for yourself how happy and beautiful a new Birgit scarf can make you feel!

See you soon,

Manya

P.S.  Here are links to previous blogs that show some scarf-tying methods.

http://manyaveeselects.blogspot.com/2011/11/3-scarf-ideas-to-spiff-up-your-wardrobe.html

http://manyaveeselects.blogspot.com/2010/07/from-neophyte-to-expert-in-2-hours.html

April 16, 2012

Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend

Yes, yes.  We've heard it hundreds of times before.  And indeed, diamonds are a pretty amazing stone!  The hardness and clarity make it capture all the colors of the rainbow, even without having any actual color inside the stone.  This optical illusion has mesmerized many of us over the centuries.


And they take a while to get such beauty, too.  According to Wikipedia,  "most natural diamonds are formed at high temperature and pressure at depths of 87 to 120 miles in the Earth mantle.  Carbon-containing minerals provide the carbon source, and the growth occurs over periods from 1 billion to 3.3 billion years (25% to 75% of the age of the Earth).  They are brought closer to the earth's surface through deep volcanic eruptions."

Rough diamond crystal in matrix

First recognized and enjoyed in India possibly 6000 years ago, where their use in religious iconography, and also for engraving tools, dates back to the earliest human history.  But what we now think of as a rather ubiquitous stone, hasn't always been that way.


It was the discovery in 1867 of large diamond deposits in what is now South Africa that radically changed our conception.  In the subsequent 10 years, diamond production increased more than tenfold.  Several fortunes were made, and we now think of diamonds as an easily-available stone.  


And now it is April, with diamond as the birthstone.  As you well know, we at Manya Vee Selects enjoy how artists use these amazing materials in unusual ways.  So of course, you can find some beautiful diamonds for both men and women.  Check out this 10-point diamond set in white gold by Seattle jeweler Michelle Logan.

10-point diamond in white gold

The white gold chain is diamond-cut, so it sparkles in such a way as to enhance the diamond.  Truly amazing.


We just received five rings from master metalsmith Sarah Gascoigne, all of which include diamonds.  Two are wide-band rings for men, and three are delicate and unusual rings for women.  Simple, but far from boring.  Come on in and check it out!


ManyaVeeSelects.com

What does intimacy have to do with Valentine's Day?

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and it brings up so many mixed feelings for people.  It's supposed to be a day we celebrate the people we love most in our life.  A lover, spouse, our kids, special friends - all those could be put into the mix.  I see a lot of longing in the eyes of those coming into the store these days, and I'm convinced that what they seek is a lot more than a simple "I love you".  Based on some comments I've heard, intimacy is the missing factor.

What is intimacy?  Manya's definition has intimacy as a safe meeting of the minds.  First of all, it must be a safe place.  Far too often, we move away from that safe place after the romantic bloom has faded.  Life gets hectic, conflicts arise, disagreements leave us feeling undervalued, unheard, and dehumanized.  Clearly, that's not a very safe place to be.  So we start closing those formerly-open doors one by one, and before you know it, very few remain open.  We share less and less with each other.

How sad it is that you share so many things with a person (i.e. living space, refrigerator space, household tasks, child-rearing tasks, a few similarities in music and movie choices) and yet feel quite alone at the same time.  There may not be a lonelier feeling on the planet.

Secondly, it's a meeting of the minds.  It seems to me that true intimacy can only take place between those who share similar values and goals.  That might be one of the reasons you feel safe with a person - because you think a lot alike.  Or at least you used to.

This Valentine's Day, re-claim that intimacy by arranging for a special time that just the two of you share.  Think about that sharing of the minds, and choose one of those shared things to re-create in your home, or some other special place.  Set the scene with things you know you both enjoy.  It could be candles everywhere, a bottle of wine, and some great cheese and crackers.  Turn off all phones, pagers, and other communication devices so you have uninterrupted time.  Tell each other stories about those early days when you began to learn about all the ways your minds met, and how amazing that felt!

Someone's got to take the first step.  Everyone on this planet wants to be known.  And then to be loved for being known so deeply - flaws and all.  It is always so risky to open up and reveal those not so pretty parts of oneself.  Remember - you had that at one time with your lover.  He or she is probably missing it too, and regretting its loss.  So be brave.  Take that step.  It's going to be scary, but the rewards are great!  It might be awkward at first, because your lover is feeling insecure about things too.  Just hold on tight, knowing that if you can break through the barriers, that wonderful place can be yours to share again.

That's my wish for you all this Valentine's Day.  Let me know what happens...

Manya

Manya Vee Selects
409 Main St
Edmonds, WA  98020

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