Tag Archives: Beauty

10 YEARS HEATH (AND THE FUTURE PERFECT)

May 16, 2013

During New York Design Week, Heath Ceramics is celebrating their 10th anniversary at The Future Perfect, one of our favorite design stores. Friends Cathy Bailey, Robin Petravic, and Adam Silverman chose to celebrate with The Future Perfect for their like-minded dedication to good design, community, and collaboration. The display features ten Heath Ceramics designs, including an Alabama Chanin collaboration, a limited edition New York bowl (also for sale at The Future Perfect), and a wall of post cards representing 10 moments in 10 years that you can take with you.

We are super proud for our Heath collaboration to be represented in the exhibition. Drop by The Future Perfect from 10am to 7pm daily; 11am to 7pm Sunday, at 55 Great Jones Street (between Bowery & Lafayette) through Monday, May 20th.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

May 10, 2013

MOTHERS DAY Lately, we’ve dedicated several journal posts to Mom in anticipation of her holiday this Sunday. Mother’s Day often feels like a holiday remembered at the last minute – a rush to find a card, a brunch reservation in lieu of a gift. But when we started brainstorming for posts about mom a few months ago, we began looking at women, and mothers, through a different lens and gained a deeper appreciation for the women who birthed us, nurture us, care for us, and stand by us through everything.

The Dust-to-Digital book and CD compilation Never a Pal Like Mother is a collection of vintage photographs of and commercial recordings about mother. It’s an unusual and unique gift for any book lover. Just one of several Dust-to-Digital publications we sell in our online store, it may be our favorite.

Our post on Mom and the Casserole explored the history of the American casserole, a memory most of us share and strongly associate with Mom.

We dug deeper into The Craft of Midwifery, possibly the oldest DIY pursuit known to (wo)mankind, and the growing interest in home births.

Mark Twain’s Advice to Little Girls added some much needed humor to our routine.

We look forward to Sunday and sharing a few moments (not just a card) with our mothers (and those who have mothered us) and perhaps a few moments mothering ourselves.

We wish you all a HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY—whatever that means for you…
xo from all of us @ Alabama Chanin

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REFUELED NO. 11

May 8, 2013

The newest issue of Refueled Magazine is out and features friends Jack Sanders of Design Build Adventure and Otis James in Nashville. The images in Refueled No. 11 are (once again) beautiful and stunning.

Thanks and a hug to Chris for including Alabama Chanin in the new issue (see our two-page spread below). Hugs and love to Rinne Allen for the beautiful image of me picking cotton last fall.

xoNatalie

REFUELED NO. 11

Read the online version of Refueled No. 11 below.

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MARIMEKKO: FABRICS, FASHION, ARCHITECTURE

April 8, 2013

MARIMEKKO

This week, we highlight the Finnish design company, Marimekko. As a long-standing leader in the fashion and design worlds, Marimekko has created timeless and colorful prints for over 60 years. I’ve followed the company from my days at NC State University and, as a designer, I have deep admiration and respect for Armi Ratia, the founder who created an empire by seeking beauty through design.

After World War II, Armi Ratia, a one-time weaver who was trained in industrial design, took interest in fabric printing; she wanted to bring happiness and color to distraught, post-war Finland. Working with full-time designers and buying from freelance artists, she began printing designs on fabrics that we now identify with an era, a culture, and a lifestyle.

MARIMEKKO Continue reading →

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52 DEGREES – A PERFECT MORNING

October 15, 2011

ON BEAUTY

September 15, 2011

From page 51 of Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers:

“Beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness,

Wabi-sabi is ambivalent about separating beauty from non-beauty or ugliness. The beauty of wabi-sabi is, in one respect, the condition of coming to terms with what you consider ugly. Wabi-sabi suggests that beauty is a dynamic event that occurs between you and something else. Beauty can spontaneously occur at any moment given the proper circumstances, context, or point of view. Beauty is thus an altered state of consciousness, an extraordinary moment of poetry and grace.”

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ON THE UNIVERSE

September 13, 2011

I have immersed myself in Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers over the last weeks and these three, short sentences on the nature of the universe (see pages 46-47) make me so happy:

1. All things are impermanent.

2. All things are imperfect.

3. All things are incomplete.

To me, this seems the essence of wabi-sabi. When I read these, it is like I have been given the okay to just be me today, and every day. Sigh, what a relief.

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50 ANS

September 12, 2011

I made it! 50 years old and going strong.

On my daughter Maggie’s birthday each year, I send (or do my best to send) an invitation to celebrate that includes the following text. Today, the invitation is for me:

“Join us in celebrating 50 years of life.

No presents please, plant a flower or a tree for me.”

Thank you for all your support for Alabama Chanin… and me.

As my father reminded me: “This is going to be the best decade of your life!”
xoNatalie

P.S: For those of you who have been asking, my cleanse was a success – or should I say a beautiful and permanent change of lifestyle: 25 pounds lighter and I feel 10+ years younger.

Now, on to cleansing my life, home and studio! It is going to be a wabi-sabi life – starting today…

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PRAY FOR GOOD THINGS

September 7, 2011

Tattoos are not something that I ever particularly wanted (and don’t have – yet); but, I appreciate a beautiful tattoo and love this one from our friend Mary Quinn – visiting in the studio this week.

It is just a beautiful little reminder for her: PRAY for good things.

Danielle LaPorte has a great list of 8 things to keep in mind when considering a tattoo:

Tattoos. Go Scared Or Go Home

Mary Quinn says that she has a “two-year incubation period for any tattoo.” If she still dreams of ink after her period of reflection, she proceeds with joy.

More on tattoos coming soon from our friend Sara – who has just tattooed the shape of the state of Alabama with reverse appliqué.

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(RE)DETOX – DAY 7

August 28, 2011

(Re)Detox – Day 7 – and I have to say that it is so much better to detox with friends than alone. We have been sharing lunches, telling stories, laughing, and, at times, commiserating. This round has been easier for me (although I had a little slip on Friday night that involved a bottle of beer) and I continue to feel better and better. I made this soup last week which was a favorite – and everyone wanted the recipe you find below.

The preparation is very simple – slightly off the plan since it contains tomatoes, but they are still growing in my backyard and dropping on the ground. I will stop eating tomatoes in October when there aren’t any more good ones to eat.

My friend Sara cringed, “Seriously? No tomatoes? That is upsetting to me.”

Continue reading →

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