Behind the Counter- September

Welcome to Behind the Counter. Take a glimpse behind the scenes at Thistle & Bess to connect with people who inspire, hear the thoughtful stories behind the goods that I love and find out what is currently sparking joy in my life. 

I have forever been a fan of Liberty London. The bright and historic (they were founded in 1875!) floral fabrics are just so classic. The Liberty London department store is also an absolute favorite of mine. No trip to London is complete without a visit. 

You can imagine my delight and surprise when I learned that one of the biggest suppliers of Liberty London fabrics in the US is actually located in Ann Arbor and are actually our neighbors in Kerrytown! DuckaDilly Fabrics is a treasure trove of inspiration, stocking hundreds of Liberty prints, quilting patterns, and other exciting ideas for sewing projects.  Each season DuckaDilly even creates new and bespoke prints that the UK Liberty studio designs exclusively for them. DuckaDilly is mostly run online, with a couple of open studio days a year. I was lucky enough to recently visit the studio and learn more about what DuckaDilly offers. While I am not a sewer, you cannot help but be inspired by the colorful and historic Liberty patterns. 

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I am so excited to welcome the DuckaDilly team to T&B on this Sunday, September 15 from 2-4pm for a special hair bow-making activity. Come learn more about this special woman-owned Ann Arbor business and make a charming Liberty London hair bow while you are at it. This event is free and open to walk-ins. We hope to see you there. 

When I first discovered Golden Age Botanicals online I was instantly mesmerized. These life-like botanical art pieces were made of PAPER?! How? The skill and detail that goes into each piece is just incredible. I am thrilled to soon carry a collection of Golden Age Botanical pieces at T&B. I recently asked Kathryn Bondy, the Toronto-based artist behind Golden Age Botanicals, some questions about her process and inspiration. 

What led you to start making botanical art? 
A combination of a few things! I've always loved nature, and as a weird little kid I'd be outside making potions or climbing trees or reading fairy tales. After art school I got a job doing in-store displays for Anthropologie. My favourite displays to make were always nature-inspired, like making logs and mushrooms out of cardboard and fabric in the fall, or huge flowers from cupcake liners and clear plastic straws in the spring. So I've always made botanical art. Different expressions of it over the years, but the focus has always been the same: simple materials that get transformed into something spectacularly lifelike with an especially close attention to detail. 

What does your design process look like?
I don't really work things out in sketches. I prepare a process in my mind first, then I'll pull reference images or track down a live model, and then I go right to the paper or clay or whatever material I'll be using.

The thinking phase is when I recall previous projects to see if parts of those processes can be applied to a new piece. I learn a lot from close observation, either by wandering the aisles at Michael's, studying the way a flower actually grows in nature, or from lots of other creative practices. Pastry chefs have some amazing techniques when it comes to forming pliable materials, and pattern drafting can teach you a lot about how to go from something flat to something with flow and dimension.

After I collage together a bunch of different techniques and materials in my mind first, then I look for reference photos, research dimensions of whatever I'm recreating (what's the wingspan of a certain moth, or how tall does this flower actually grow, etc) or I'll take measurements of a live flower if I'm working from one. At that point I'll also mix swatches of paint for all the components of the piece I'm making, writing down the recipes of each colour so that I don't forget later!

Then I'll start with materials and process testing, making a few drafts that are more like prototypes, as well as testing out different painting techniques. I'll take what works from each draft and apply it to the creation of the final piece, be it a flower or a snail or a moth. I take a lot of notes in my sketchbook as I work, documenting each step of the process, so that I can recreate it later and to help it stick in my mind better for the next time. 

So it's not a very intuitive design process, but it still feels like there's some magic in it because ideas will often come to me out of nowhere! 

Do you have a favorite real flower? What is your favorite paper flower to create? 
I love every flower! My favourite real flowers are roses and tulips, but they're my favourites just for enjoyment, not to create. I don't know if I have a favourite paper flower to create, I actually love making them all, so I'd say my favourite flower to create is one I don't have to repeat in the same way twice! I like making so many different things and make them in a different way every time. That approach doesn't make for a great business model but it's kept me focused for almost 10 years! 

Is there a specimen that you would like to make that you haven't yet? 
I would love to start making birds, and also more insects and the dwellings they make. I also want to start making water! From dew drops on petals to puddles and ponds, it would be so cool to reflect that part of a growing environment too. 

What is currently inspiring you or bringing you joy? 
The absolute best part of making this kind of art is how it connects people together. In making commissions I get to hear the most touching stories of connection. These stories are alive, they're entwined with plants and flowers, with memories and love, and grief and loss too. It brings me so much joy to create a flower that is an embodied reminder of someone treasured, or of a place that is beloved enough to call home. To help people remember, to reactivate those living memories (and all the feelings that come with them) through the wonder of our natural world and of the astonishing magic of transforming simple materials into art. Whatever I'm making already has a reference in the world, either it's growing in a garden or it's a sparkle in your heart. Recreating that in paper is just a round-about way of coming back to what's already there. And that is so inspiring, beyond inspiring. It's as much of a material as paper or paint is! 

I was recently inspired by the instagram account Okay____Fine to start playing with how I wear and store my jewelry. I have a really wonderful collection of jewelry, but I typically wear the same few pieces in the same way. I think that this is partially because of how I was storing my jewelry. My most frequently worn pieces were strewn on a tray by my bed, where my lesser worn pieces were hidden away in storage trays in a dresser drawer. 

In order to play more with how I wear my jewelry, it was time to rethink how I store it so it could be more easily viewed and accessible. Enter the search for the perfect new jewelry box. This was a tough search! There aren’t a lot of good options out there, in my opinion! I am obsessed with these stunning trunks by Trove, but I wasn’t ready for that kind of monetary commitment at the moment. I love the look of these YCL boxes, but felt that the storage inserts wouldn't work for my collection. I finally decided on this box byQuince, a brand that I wasn’t familiar with but discovered during my search.  It isn’t the most exciting, but it does hold my pieces well and allows me to easily view what I have. 

Since organizing my collection in the new box I have been switching up my jewelry much more frequently! It has brought me so much joy to rediscover things that I haven’t worn in a while and to come up with new jewelry combinations. I am so excited to continue to play with how I wear my collection. Do you know of any amazing jewelry boxes? Please send them my way!