By Nicole Solis  October 27th, 2009 11:34 am  |  Comments (0)

A double-cloth wool blanket by Eleanor Pritchard

British textile designer Eleanor Pritchard finds inspiration in limitations. That’s one reason she’s so drawn to dobby weaving, a simple weaving technique that uses a limited number of colors and small repeated patterns.

Within these parameters, the bold geometric patterns and vivid colors of her double-cloth wool blankets and cushions are free to pop. Though her designs are modern, the textiles are produced using traditional weaving techniques by a Welsh woolen mill.

If you’re in London, see Pritchard’s work at these upcoming shows:

• November 15: Midcentury Modern, Dulwich, London
• December 4–6: Christmas Open Studios, Deptford, London

[Hat tip to Tea for Joy for reminding me of Pritchard's lovely work!]

By Jennica Peterson  October 19th, 2009 6:00 am  |  Comments (1)

A hei matau pendant by Maori artist Hepi Maxwell.

The hei matau, or fish hook, is an important symbol to New Zealand’s indigenous Maori people. “The Maori fisherman was greatly respected because of his tireless efforts in catching food for his village. So the hei matau becomes a symbol of providing or prosperity,” says artist Hepi Maxwell, who is of Maori descent. Maxwell carves contemporary hei matau pendants (pictured) out of pounamu, a nephrite jade found in New Zealand. Visit him in his Creative Jade workshop on the North Island (call ahead). Pictured pendant costs $349. Creative Jade, 229 Vaughan Rd., Rotorua, New Zealand. 64/(0) 7-345-6622, creativejade.co.nz.

Photo by Maren Caruso.

By April Kilcrease  August 28th, 2009 8:01 am  |  Comments (1)

Hot and spicy on the tongue, harissa seems to inspire similarly fiery passions in the hearts of many cooks. But nothing compares to the erotic rapture of Abdelmajid Mahjoub, head of Les Moulins Mahjoub, a family-run farm in Tunisia’s Mejerda Valley. Posted on the food blog Sugar Cauldron, Mahjoub had this to say about his first taste of the chile paste:

I can still hear the enchantment of women crying out of pleasure, they weep out in ecstasy when they see it, unfolding its charms on a slice of bread.

After reading this, and the rest of his rhapsodic poem (“Virgins are bursting away with pleasure, elbowing their way through to reach ecstasy…Its flame, lingering on in my fragile memory, has marked me…with all its sensations.), I had to try it. I ordered a jar and tossed Les Moulins Mahjoub’s mixture of sundried peppers, garlic, cardamom, salt, and coriander into a chicken and pasta dish. While I wouldn’t call the experience transcendent, it was tasty.

As ubiquitous in Tunisia as hot sauce in Mexico, the condiment gets spread on almost everything—pizza, eggs, cream cheese, all food tastes better with a harissa kick. The basic recipe calls for dried red chiles, salt, and olive oil, but north African variations include onions, tomatoes, mint, and rose petals. Mahjoub recommends adding harissa to lablabi, a traditional chickpea stew.

If you’re hankering to pound some chiles with a pestle, food historian and cookbook author Clifford A. Wright provides a Berber-style recipe on his Mediterranean food Web site. A merchant in Tunis gave him the original ingredient list, which required fifty pounds of chiles. Thankfully, Wright has scaled it down.

You can order Les Moulins Mahjoub Harissa from Cube’s online market.

For a simple harissa dish, try Kitchen Caravan’s Harissa Deviled Eggs recipe.

By Nicole Solis  August 12th, 2009 12:20 pm  |  Comments (0)

10-gruppen makeup case available from From Sthlm.

If our Finds article on 10-gruppen (also known as 10 Swedish Designers) piqued your interest in its graphic-printed textiles, you can now get some of its products from a U.S.-based source–but only for the month of August.

Each month, online retailer From Sthlm chooses an independent Swedish designer and sells a limited selection of their work. (The items are shipped from the company’s San Francisco office, saving you trans-Atlantic shipping costs.) But the site is more than a mere store; it also includes articles and interviews with the designers about their influences and where they see themselves in the Swedish design tradition.

For the month of August, From Sthlm is featuring 10-gruppen’s Kim shoulder bag, a toiletry bag, a makeup bag (pictured), and a set of two baby bibs. Previous collections have included Lotta Kuhlhorn kitchen items emblazoned with ’70s-style bold prints and Fuldesign’s ironic (English-language) cross-stitch kits.

Photo courtesy of From Sthlm.

By April Kilcrease  August 10th, 2009 2:33 pm  |  Comments (1)

In Mumbai, you’re never too old for mom to pack your lunch. Thanks to deliverymen known as dabbawallas (box-carriers) office workers can have mom’s home cooking delivered to their desk for about $10 a month (presumably, mom cooks for free). To learn more about the 120-year-old  system, check out this dabbawalla video from London’s Journeyman Pictures. Mom, if you’re reading this, where’s my chicken curry and rice?

Be your own dabbawalla with this stainless steel tiffin carrier from To-Go Ware, featured in our premier issue’s Feast department.

Dabbawalla photo by Steve Evans. CC 2.0.

By Nicole Solis  August 6th, 2009 11:40 am  |  Comments (0)

One of a series of four Puti Tree prints by Nod Young. Courtesy of L'Affiche Moderne.

In Nod Young’s limited-edition Puti Tree series of prints, the Chinese graphic designer and devout Buddhist reinterprets a 1,500-year-old Zen text, the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, and explores what it says about modern creativity.

The poems used in the four prints encourage people to overcome the boundaries of existence to reach a state of Zen. “I believe that creativity generally follows the same path,” Young wrote. “It is difficult to achieve true creative freedom because we are overly concerned with aesthetics and meaning.”

In the captions to his Flickr photo set of the designs, Young goes into more detail about his interpretation of the text and his inspiration for the series.

All four prints are available from L’Affiche Moderne.

By Nicole Solis  August 4th, 2009 9:14 am  |  Comments (0)

An alebrije by David Linares. Courtesy of Zocalo Folk Art.

In the Finds department of Afar, we’re always looking for the story behind the souvenir. One story that absolutely captivated me was that of Mexico City’s famous Linares family and the alebrije papier-mache sculpture.

Suffering from a serious stomach illness, “Papa” Pedro Linares had a feverish nightmare. Clouds turned into frightening creatures: part insect, part dragon, part lizard, and part devil. When Linares recovered, he christened the creatures alebrijes and vowed to recreate them in his art, papier-mache cartoneria sculptures that were collected by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

The alebrije quickly caught on with galleries and museums, becoming a popular subject of Mexican folk art. (A Mexican wrestler even adopted the name El Alebrije.) Linares’ children and grandchildren–and some of their wives–have continued the family tradition, making alebrijes and the familiar calacas skeleton figures. Their work is sold in galleries and exhibited in museums including the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

To buy an authentic Linares family alebrije in Mexico, visit Zocalo Folk Art, which has locations in San Miguel de Allende and Patzcuaro. Owners Rick and Deb Hall have a great collection of Linares work by several members of the family, some of which is available for sale through their Web site.

In the United States, San Francisco’s Polanco Gallery carries many larger cartoneria Linares sculptures, from more traditional Tehuana designs to the very contemporary Punkero (complete with skateboard and mohawk). Polanco’s friendly and extremely knowledgeable owners Aldo and John have worked with the Linares family for more than 15 years, importing their artwork and commissioning special cartonerias from Leonardo Linares, such as a Frida Kahlo to commemorate a recent traveling exhibit of her work.

By Jeremy Saum  July 28th, 2009 5:59 pm  |  Comments (0)

Wood nymphs know best.

Did you know that the necktie originated in Croatia? The word “cravat” is derived from “Croat.” You can learn all sorts of fun facts about ties at the Academia Cravatica site. We recommend clicking on “Interesting Facts: What does a cravat say?” That’s where you’ll find out that green ties—oops, green cravats—”express the wisdom of wood nymphs,” and that “small circles stimulate smiling!”

Photo by Jerry Daykin. CC BY 2.0