California Roadtrip

The last few weeks I’ve been making straw hats again.  I have a show in Napa on Saturday the 13th and a show in Benicia on Saturday the 20th. Both shows are daytime events, 10am to 5:30pm and 10am to 4:00 respectively.  They are juried for variety and quality.  

I love both these towns and they are completely different.  Napa is full of good art, good food and of course the wine flows from city faucets (for a small fee, you can drink).  It is typically hot and sunny, and you can smell the dirt if you get off the main drags.  The event on the 13th is 32nd Annual Napa Wine and Crafts Faire.  Come visit my booth on Second St and Coombs.  

Benicia is on the Carquinez Straight and seemed to be in the process of regenerating their downtown when I visited a few weeks ago.  There is a good breeze that slices through the straight and gives the air a freshness I don’t have access to at my Oakland studio.  They have a waterfront, a beach and a series of back alleys off of Main Street that draw your eye to the historic relevance this town has held as one of our state capitols. Captain Blythers is a restaurant and bar shanty at the end of Main St, right on the river.  The watering hole is up on the second floor with a great view, the perfect place to wet your lips after touring the works in the 35th Annual Benicia Fine Arts & Craft Fair.  

Hope to see you there.

American Craft Council at Fort Mason

I will be at Fort Mason this weekend, August 15th, 16th and 17th with a selection of hats from the fall line.  My table is in the AltCraft section in the back.  This is a new section for artisans who have never applied to the American Craft Council shows before.  The show is renowned for the quperb quality of work and I recommend  checking this show out.  You will be inspired and amazed.  the entrance fee is 12$.

An Exuberant Homecoming

I just returned from a family wedding in Southern California.  It was hot and sunny and I was the only one who brought hats.  I suited up three of us in some spectacular straws that are part of my new line.  It continually amazes me by how few people wear hats, even among my fabulous family, many of whom live in tropical climates.  They are the best accessory, practically speaking, and the number of complements they bring is only roses on the cake.  Hats are growing more popular and yet, i travel around and unless it is a fashion event, I often am the only one wearing a hat.  (Like other hat enthusiasts, i have acquired the moniker, hat lady.  This nickname sounds sort of old fashioned for a hip 30 year old, but I love it.  I guess I wouldn’t have taken up millinery if I didn’t have some nostalgia for earlier times flowing in my blood!)  This trip, and so many other excursions has fueled my desire to design.  There are so many heads out there waiting for the right hat.

It is exciting starting a business doing something you truly enjoy.  Many relatives and friends want to contribute their ideas on where I should promote my work.  I am grateful for the interest and I love how it is indicative of human nature’s desire to connect people.  I believe it is true that no one exists in a bubble and that momentum is gained quicker when more mass propels it.  I used to get frustrated when people would tell me where i should take my hats or what I might do to assist my growing business, since I already had a long list of action items that I had not yet been able to pick up and incorporate into life’s grand juggling act.  I am becoming more comfortable with the process of growth and learning to enjoy it, as opposed to being stressed out by it.  I see that my designs are also benefiting from relaxing and releasing into the process.

Mission Bazaar

Mission Bazaar ran two long 10 hour days over the past weekend, opening San Francisco’s Armory building up to the public for the first time in 30 years. Thus, almost all participants and attendees were unified in our fresh experience of this cavernous building. Booths for local artists and designers lined the sides and nestled in between the two centrally fixed stages that flip flopped musical and dance performances ranging from Gaucho, a Jengo Reinhart jazz band, to the sultry women’s choir, The Conspiracy of Venus, to Indian and flamenco troupes.

The Armory is modeled after a 14th century Moorish Castle, yet the gaping space reminded me of an old train station in scope with Gare du Nord in Paris. The lofty ceilings of the main central room housed a cool light that washed in from high flung windows. The building has been abandoned since before I can remember, although i have heard stories of people breaking in to assess the mysterious, reinforced monstrosity of brick that sits ominously in the mid-Mission corridor. Rumors spoke pictures of concrete floors covered with bullet shells and creepy dungeon like rooms. It has been a big story locally since Kink.com purchased the building for a whopping 14.6 million at the tail end of 2006. In return for the city allowing the internet porn company to use their new space for filming, Kink has promised to restore the space and use it for community events, Mission Bazaar being the first of this trend.

O’Lover Hats set up a booth all weekend with SuperSugarRayRay. I had such a good time watching people try on my latest hats. I learn so much every show, as I get to see the variety of my designs on all different statures and face shapes. It was interesting how few people tried on straw hats, immediately attracted by the variety of styles and colors of fur felt hats. I can attest that a felt hat is never completely out of season in the bay area, with the cool breeze that so often blows in off the ocean. Thanks to my new clients who made the show a success and to everyone who had a good time trying on hats. I have two more shows this week, the Marin Association of Female Executives’ Spring Bling fashion trade show on Thursday and Capsule in Hayes Valley on Sunday.

Ciao