THE BLUES

THE BLUES

"Yes, indigo is trending at the moment, but more importantly it has a brilliant history."

I came home this evening to find my new Pottery Barn catalog in the mail. As a designer, I'm always interested to see what they put out each season because most of my clients love their look. I must admit that I do as well. It has always had an approachable quality with a great feeling of warmth. Of course, I would never design an entire space with PB -- Remember that episode of Friends (The One with the Apothecary Table) where Phoebe and Rachel share an apartment, and Rachel keeps purchasing items from PB, but telling Phoebe they all came from a particular flea market, knowing Phoebe would hate the mass-produced PB stuff. In the end, Phoebe finds out the truth about where the objects actually came from, but doesn't want to let them go and, in fact, buys more.

Can't we all identity with that? We want to have really cool, romantic stories about the history of our decor but end up saying, "Oh, that's from Pottery Barn." Well, like I said, it's a great place and we love it, but we want real stories to tell our friends. We want some of our decor to have a rich history and artistry.

Back to my catalog I received today: the cover was simply titled Indigo, and it was full of images featuring this wonderfully saturated hue. Immediately, my thoughts turned to my childhood friend, Rowland (who I knew way back when as Boomer) always creative, now an artist. He’s one of the few people in this country who goes through the arduous process of growing indigo and weaving and dyeing his own textiles. His work is nothing less than stunning, and I am so excited to have an opportunity to share it with you.

Yes, indigo is trending at the moment, but more importantly it has a brilliant history. Follow this link to learn more about Rowland, his wife Chinami and the exquisite work they are creating with their home-grown indigo. I promise you'll see past the mass-produced for a moment and experience true art.