Anahata Katkin

June is for Peonies...

For those of you who were wondering what kind of flowers to send me the answer is definitely PEONIES! (What? I heard you wanted to mail me some?) I used to work for a Peony farmer at Seattle's Pikes Place Market. It was a sea of Peonies and it is still a magical memory for me. It's the one month of the year that we can actually get our hands on these babies and I have been taking full advantage. At the NY show we had giant Tree Peonies which I had never seen until last year. The blooms are literally as big as my face. They start out magenta and slowly fade to peach. YUM! Whatever you do make sure to spoil yourself this month with armloads of the empress flower! (and not just because Martha would!)
I have been having a whole new affair with plants lately and I can't get enough of them. All I have is my patch of porch though so I have to make the most of it. This week after visiting a friends creekside property I came home and spiffed up the porch with this summertime altar full of wishes. It faces my front door so I see it everytime I leave the house. I love me some kitschy, inspiring goodness. Why not! I give you permission to get woowoo on your porch too!

Back from NY

We are back from the Stationery Show in NY. As usual I barely even have pics from the show. I end up getting nervous asking other designers for a snap shot.
Kathleen was my partner in crime for the week. Well there were five of us- but since we were outnumbered by stinky, PaPaYa! boys we pretty much stuck to our girl power out and about town.
For the most part our booth was slammed so we only snuck away for some crazy NY rapid shopping. We even managed to hail a cab with trees and armloads of flowers at the wholesale flower district. I have to admit that I am becoming a "bumpkin" and got a little flustered rushing to and fro in the madness. The wonderful, colorful, dynamic and inspiring goodness of it all was indeed at times too much for my country-gal nerves. (It's wierd. Suddenly I am not a city girl but I really don't make a good granola bumpkin either. We need a new word for this!) But one of my favorite stops during the week was at Pearl River in SoHo. It was as Kathleen had said. China town in one store! I loved it. If I hadn't been limited by my suitcase I would have loaded up on completely unnecessary goods. The every best kind. I finally got my armloads of tea tins I'd been after for years and lots of plastic goodness. Oh and the cutest little "kung-fu" outfits for my son and his friend. They have been obsessed with Jet-Li lately. So their dragon outfits are probably not even in the kung-fu ballpark. But to them it's a perfect match.
At the show I was thrilled to find Wendy Addison milling around the edge of our booth. In classic groupie-fashion I lept on her with adoration! (You really must go to her studio!) we tried a few shots in front of her letters, now available through Tinsel Trading. But my camera decided to malfunction! Oh-lordie!

The Whimsy Press ladies were our show neighbors and they are the best! I was smitten with their card line. My current favorite is their SONSABITCHES card.
(The back says "don't let the bitches get you down.")They are so clever it makes me crazy! All in all it was a wonderful trip full of great food, lots of people watching and people adoring, and a refreshing glimpse of the all encompassing city of New York. And I'm happy to be a bumpkin again...

Wallpaper Demo

I finally got my scans done from Artfest. This image was from the wallpaper class. It was my demo. I haven't added to it since then but I am looking forward to finishing it up. I am so excited about doing the wallpaper class in Bali next year and integrating more of the Balinese themes into them. It seems like the perfect medium to play with there. But in the meantime I am gearing up for another Stationery Show in NY! Those of you who will be there please stop by and say hello. I am looking forward to being in NY again. Each trip I am able to sink a little deeper into the place. But I'll be back on the ol' blog before I head out...

Been dabbling with paints again this week. It has been sooooo long since I did any painting. I had just about given up and was going to paint over her face when she took this Asian look on. I have a lot more to do on her but I am thrilled to see a new face emerge. I am also gearing up for Art Nest retreat this week in Utah. Classes with Amy Hannah, Pam Garrison and me. But the cool part is that I get to take classes from them! I have been combing antique stores for jewelry components and holy medals for Amy's class. (I will update links Monday) The talented Ms. Kathleen from Liquid Sky arts and I have been working our butts off in the PaPaYa! studio. I cannot wait to show you the nearly 45 new products we have been working on since she started last month. Quite the first team effort! I will try and get a glimpse for y'all soon enough. Think- the cutest office supplies you've ever seen!