Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Treasures from India: A spring trunk show



Samia Shalabi and Kathy Schultz have just returned from the enchanted land of India with stylish treasures (just for spring), including jewelry and scarves. Join us for our first trunk show together!!

Saturday April 10
1-4pm
6016 1/2 24th Ave. NW
Seattle, Wa 98107
lite snacks and vino...



I will also have my jewels there.

And by popular demand, I did make more elis'



They are for protection and to help you remove fears in your life and
to help you have good dreams..

They are filled with symbols to help do this.

tikka powder: represents the goddess (within you)
puja ash: represents the god (within you)
fishing net: to help catch evil spirits
elephant tail hair: represents Ganesha, the remover of obstacles
tumeric: for health and also represents the goddess

Each Elis has been blessed in a ceremony and is made of pure silver
and 20k gold, they are delicate. The purchase of this elis will help
support a hard working artist in S. India.

The elis' are handmade in the ancient Indian way, over a fire. Because
each piece is handmade, they will have slight variations and
character. It is approx 27mm long by 5mm in diameter.


$180 without a chain
$200 with an 18" blackened silver chain

Friday, March 26, 2010

amama...a remarkable life...






amama... Remember amama?

About a week after I had left Kerala, I was sitting in my room in Mysore and I got a text from Divya.. 'Grandma has gone' My heart jumped a beat, and then I thought, well maybe it doesn't mean what I think it means. I called Divya and she was crying and said she would call me later.

I sat, for a while thinking, saddened by the news and decided the only thing to do was sing. So, I got out my guitar and started singing her name amama... amama...amama...

Most of my life has been lived in the absence of grandparents. Although my Teta is alive and well, she lives on the other side of the world and I see her rarely. I love granparents. They have life knowledge we don't have, they have love to give and time to be present. So, whenever I meet an older person, I like to sit with them and learn from them or just soak up their energy.

Amama and I did not speak the same language. In fact, she spoke very little, even in Malayalum (language of Kerala), but she liked to show me how to roast fresh cashews and pick wild basil. She like to show me how to make an ox cart of out palm fronds and dry tamarind pods, but most of all, she liked to sit quietly and read her prayers.

She was in her 90's. She raised 9 children in rural India, in a poor family. As I sat singing to her, I thought of her life and the challenges she faced throughout. She was quite a remarkable women, still physically and mentally strong after all her years. She was the matriarch of the family, 5 generations below her and she had just seen all 200 people two weeks before.

Divya called me the next day. She was still crying and told me. Amama woke up that morning, drew water from the well, made her tea, pruned her garden and suddenly didn't feel well, within a few hours she passed away.

If only we could all live such a life!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Trunk show in Bend, OR March 23

It's really hard for me to believe I've only been back in the US for a week and a half. I'm leaving town again tomorrow. Yikes! It's all good and I am very excited to announce, I will be showing my jewels in Bend, OR next week Tues.




If you are in or around Bend, please stop by.

Tuesday, March 23
5-7pm
Pandora's Backpack
920 NW Bond St.
Bend, Or

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

oh the things you see.

One week back and it all seems like a dream. I was just looking at some photos of some of my yoga friends in India and I was thinking, "if we dressed like that here, we would be so weird." Not that it's bad to be weird, it's just that, it's one of the things I love so much about India. You see things you would NEVER even dream of seeing here.


a renunciate holy man singing to Ram, outside of our hotel. varanasi


a low caste man, in trance manifesting himself as the Goddess Chamundi. he is very revered during this special ceremony called a Theyyam (only in N. Kerala)


monkeys hanging out in the street..well, pretty much everything in this photo, we would not see.. Jaipur


although this is an advert to not do this, a)it is hilarious that there is an advert for such things b)it is a common sight to see 3+ adults (without helmets) riding on motorbikes c) i love that is says "reach alive"... this is in mysore



here are a few more examples:

An ox cart driving downtown next to the buses and cars and motorbikes.

People bathing in public, with all of their clothes on, of course.

a rickshaw filled to the brim with school children


The list goes on forever, and one of my goals, as I am in India, is to try really hard to not get immune to these treasured sights. They are amazing, they keep my mind busy and my heart smiling.

It's great to be back in full on work mode, wearing my jeans and driving in a straight line. I do miss all the color though.. really miss all the color!!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

golden goodies

Phew.. I made it back in one piece. Although for a while I didn't know if I would, I had a bad case of Delhi belly and it wasn't much fun.

I've been home now a few days and have been working almost non-stop trying to get all my new pieces ready to sell and also I've been preparing for a 3 day show I have starting Friday. It is a fundraiser for the YWCA and should be fun.

RAGS
When:
Friday-Saturday, March 12-13: 10 AM - 6 PM
Sunday, March 14: 10 AM - 4 PM

Where:
Mercedes-Benz of Tacoma
4001 E. 20th, Fife, Washington (just off I-5 at Port of Tacoma exit)

I am so excited to show you some of my new pieces. This is work Kumar and I did in Mysore. If you are interested in any of these please email me I only have 15 pieces (5 of each)





Ganesha. Remover of obstacles

Ganesha the elephant God is the son of Shiva and he removes those nasty obstacles from our lives and makes sure we succeed in our efforts. He is very revered throughout India!

Wear Ganesha to help you plow on through and keep going. He will guide you as you are challenged with all the twists and turns in your life.

$285: 100% recycled 20k gold, 19mm circle pendant, with adjustable (16"-18") oxidized silver chain.



Shiva. the auspicious one, the destroyer..

But wait, he is a good destroyer. He shakes things up so we don’t get stuck in one place, suffering. He provides the opportunity for us to shift our perspective and create a new way, a new life, a new thought. Without ‘destroying’ our old way of being we would not be able to make room for the new way of being. Just as we need night to have day and we need winter to have spring. He guides us to enlightenment. He is the king of all yogi’s.

Shiva rocks and you can wear him around your neck to remind yourself change is possible.

$285: 100% recycled 20k gold, 19mm circle pendant, with adjustable (16"-18") oxidized silver chain.



Lakshmi: Goddess of prosperity.

Lakshmi helps us achieve prosperity in our lives, not only material prosperity, also spiritual prosperity. She is our guide to internal and external wealth.

Wearing Lakshmi can help you reach your goals and keep your motivations in balance as you move forward in your life.

$285: 100% recycled 20k gold, 20mm by 11mm rectangle pendant, with adjustable (16"-18") oxidized silver chain.



golden goodies.. more to come soon.. stay tuned.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

pondering my departure


goat with ankle bracelets, covered in a burlap sack, in front of a small shop. Varnasi (oh how i love this photo)

beggar in Bodh Gaya

at Balan's family guru puja. Kerala

The coconut stand. Mysore

the Amber Fort at dusk. Jaipur

Here I am in a cafe in Delhi, engrossed in the familiar mixed feelings of leaving this land.. This time, it's easier for me, I am ready to go back home.

This past week has been exhausting. I was working on a new project with a friend of mine. We worked ourselves ragged and during my many moments of "get me out of this place". I had to stop and say to myself, "enjoy.. this is the place you love and you only have a few days left." It worked sometimes.

Jaipur, Rajasthan is a crazy place with a rich history, full of merchants and old haveli's. It is a walled pink city with camel carts and beautiful women walking with bright colored sari's. I love seeing the flashes of color in the all the dust!

This trip has been full of work and full of travel. Steven and I started in Delhi then to Varnasi and Bodh Gaya. Then, we spent a month in Kerala and I headed over to Mysore for 3 weeks, and then back up to Jaipur and finally ending it with a few hours in Delhi!

Phew! It's been amazing. It always is, but it is also always different and I'd have to say this time around, I was much more calm, letting the flow happen in it's wild meandering way. I met so many amazing people and saw so many things. India always delivers on the sights, the sounds, and the smells.

oh mother India... until we meet again.

here are a few photos.