Recommended Inspiration: Mottainai: The Fabric of Life- Lessons in Frugality from Traditional Japan

rope and textiles made form kudzu

yarn from cast-off cotton scraps

sashiko  stitching, used to re-inforce older fabrics for continued use

We woke up early this morning to view the fall colors at the Portland Japanese Garden and had the good fortune of happening upon the  Mottainai Installation -- if you are a textile junkie like me, it's not to be missed!
A display of intricate, gorgeous textiles created in Japan over a century ago with found, natural elements like linden bark, wisteria vines, and kudzu, woven with cast-off cotton scraps in an effort to use everything and waste nothing.. "All of the textiles and garments on view were made from bast fibers foraged from the forest, or patched and quilted together from second-hand scraps of cotton garments of city-dwellers who traded their hand-me-downs with the farmers for rice and vegetables."
On view now at the Portland Japanese Garden

Design Inspiration: Flora Grubb Gardens

On a late winter escape to San Francisco I stopped by Flora Grubb.
Coveted every corner and brought home some lovely succulents.
Can't wait to return..

New Arrival: Tiny Tillandsias

Spring came early!
Just arrived are 30 new little Ionantha Tillandsias
-or air plants- for you to take home and keep warm- they are beautiful, lively and some are blooming a deep velvet purple.
$5--$10 each.

new arrival: mudpuppy ceramics

mudpuppy airplant pods hang next to forestbound bags, eden bakti miniature planters, a megan boganovich crystal vase, papermode blank books, and elizabeth benotti porcelain drinking cups in the shop.

Just in are 3 ceramic air plant pods, handmade in Denver by Mike McDowell.
All of his work features clean lines and stark colors, and still feels organic and earthy.
These pieces are painted with a metallic moss green glaze, and hang from heavy twine, with an air plant tucked inside.
$35-$60 each, the plants are included.
I am excited to be carrying more plantlife in the shop, and these pods are the perfect complement to Tillandsia spp., or Epiphytes, or "air plants", they need no soil because water and nutrients are absorbed through the leaves. The plants slip out easily when it's time to water them. How to care for Tillandsia:
-Give them bright, filtered light.
-Thoroughly wet them 2-3 times per week; more often in a hot, dry environment; less often in a cool, humid one.
-In conditions of extreme drying, and consequent moisture loss, Tillandsia cannot get replacement water from their roots like a terrestrial plant, or draw on internal reserves like a succulent.
(In general, if you are growing them indoors and the air is dry, you will need to submerge the plant in water for 10-20 minutes about every two weeks.. )

things today:sunny spring times and summer gear wishlist

***note-
these things are not for sale at sword+fern..they are just on my personal birthday/wishlist..but hmm..maybe i should think about carrying some of it?**
above:sweet 90's love from Cerrone+Frankie
machinefabriek- experimental drone from the netherlands-click here to listen
images from top:
1.vintage floral sunglasses
2.jupiter swimsuit from we are handsome
3-4. jumpsuit and grey sweatshorts from isabel marant @maryam nassir zadeh
5. ian mculloch's hair, 1978
6.blooming Magnolia X soulangiana in my backyard today
7.plume poppy leaves
8.different alphabets

burle marx, jarman, gardens everywhere

above: this one's for you, mandi! amazing vertical wall garden. gardens can happen anywhere..









with the weather changing, garden ideas are spinning around in my head nonstop.
just thought i'd share some images of my favorite inspirations for gardens and design new and old.
derek jarman is a longtime inspiration of mine- his stark, arid garden designed in the midst of a nuclear facility near the coast of kent, used found objects in the simplest way. his garden epitomizes my idea of landscape beauty. minimal, low maintenance, and full of bold, dramatic, interesting foliage.
i find his deliberate concepts and use of old metal, stones, and junked wood re-occurring often in my garden and jewelry designs.
for as long as i've been designing gardens, roberto burle marx has had just as much of an influence on me, but in a more abundant and colorful way.
his tropical gardens in brazil are huge, bold, and bright, full of greens, blues, and colorblocked abstract shapes that don't bother with the perfection of geometry, but come alive with the passion and aggression of organic curves and rough,wild,spilling life. i wish i could have the land/yard space to catch up with that side of myself and design HUGE. for now, i have to keep it contained, and that's okay, i think i am on the way to designing a new jewelry collection that uses some of those ideas..

1,2-gardens designed inside shipping containers at this years' philadelphia flower show
3,4-the filmmaker/landscape designer derek jarman at his home-prospect cottage, in dungeness, kent, UK
5-painter/landscape designer roberto burle marx, painting his garden at home in rio de janeiro
6- burle marx at home in 1993
7-portrait of burle marx's estate in rio
8-detail of a burle marx tapestry on view
9-painting of one of burle marx's landscape designs at MOMA
10-burle marx tribute show at the new york botanical gardens on his 100th birthday