Featured Artisan ~ Sue Hodgson

Sue Hodgson is a wonderful  jewelry artisan from the UK.  Her designs have a beautiful organic feel to them and I especially love the collections inspired by nature.  The pendant pictured above made of fine silver  is called "Water Lilies" and hangs from a sterling silver chain. It has a gorgeous deep purple blue patina and is one of my favorite pieces. Another necklace that has great patina colors is the one pictured below called "Midnight Poppies". The silvery illuminescent blues of these modern flowers are very eye catching.

Sue's collections of  flower necklaces with  patinas are my favorites but she has so many more designs like her popular Peas in a  Pod series. The picture below is of her peas in a pod cufflinks handcrafted in fine silver. The peas are also available as pendants and charms.  The peas can symbolize children or members of a family and are available as a single pea in a pod or in groups of up to five !

To see more of Sue's jewelry designs you can visit her website SomethingXtraSpecial  or her Etsy shop and there is also her blog. You can click on any of the pictures or links above that will take you directly to her sites.  Enjoy !

Eva Yerbabuena ~ flamenco artist

Have I mentioned that I love Flamenco ? Yes, I even took flamenco classes but I'm saving that for another post this time I'm sharing one of my favorite flamenco artists, Eva Yerbabuena. She's a petite fireball ! My husband and I saw her perform at the Zellerbach theater in Berkeley California, an outstanding show. Even my husband the sports enthusiast was in awe of her performance.

 It's amazing how so much power and passion can be contained in such a tiny frame. At one point in the show her feet moved so fast it looked as if she was gliding across the stage.  Below I've included two videos of her performing.

The first video is a clip from the documentary "Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey" directed by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas 2002. The second clip is taken  from  "Hotel" directed by Mike Figgis 2001

For more information on Eva Yerbabuena you can click on any of the links or photos or visit her website EvaYerbabuena.com. You can also visit these websites to see her biography and all that is Flamenco :  Flamenco-world.com and esflamenco.com

Peruvian Connection packaging

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In 2010 the Peruvian Connection clothing company was honored by ID Magazine in their Annual Design Review with a design distinction award for their retail packaging. The beautiful designs were a

blend of 1934 Peruvian portrait photos by Martin Chambi, floral patterning from a Peruvian Connection fabric, and antique etchings.  The rich warm and deep colors can be seen in the photos above and below of the different size shopping bags and clothing hangtags.

The exceptional photographs that were used are from Martin Chambi bringing to light a very important but little known figure in photography. Martin Chambi was born in 1891 in Puno, Peru.  He was one of the first well known indigenous Latin American photographer of his time.  It has been said that " His life and accomplishments represent a unique combination of historical, cultural and aesthetic considerations that are of unusual significance in regard to the history of photography in Latin America." To see more of his photographs click HERE to enter the Martin Chambi website.

*  The top photograph was taken by Martin Chambi in his Cuzco studio in 1934 and is titled "Indian woman and child"